Photo Cards

I've been looking at some of my photography, as well as many of the wonderful comments that you've been making about them and I decided that I would use some of them to make greeting cards.

I have been making my own greeting cards for a while now, but this is the first time I've used them for greeting cards.




Ironically, these two pictures were taken with pretty poor lighting on my iPhone, so they don't do the cards justice.  I've written where the photos were taken on the backs of the cards so that the recipients will know a little more about the images.

If you're interested in seeing some of the other greeting cards I've made, using collage, paint, stitch, etc., you may see them by clicking on these links:
collaged cards,
lettered & collaged card,
machine stitched surface designed fabric,
acrylic paint,
hand stitched cards,
and handmade paper & machine stitch

Anniversary Greetings

This is just a quick post today to show you another greeting card I made.  This one combines some of the fun new skills I've been learning in Joanne Sharpe's classes on lettering.  I had a lot of fun creating a beautiful background paper, lettering and then adding my own handmade washi tape to add some accents.   

Collaged Greeting Cards

This is just a short post today to share some new greeting cards I made using acrylic paint, some bits of old leftover pages of text from a previously altered book, tissue paper and a black sharpie marker.  I start by using a 9" x 12" sheet of watercolour paper which results in 6 cards since the window on my trifold card blanks are 3" square.

Recycling An Old Pair of Jeans = Journal To Go!

I've had an old pair of my husband's jeans lying on the studio floor since I used a bit of the denim in a piece of mixed-media art that I'm working on.  Today, as I glance down at them while doing something else I suddenly got a great idea.  This is where my husband would say, "Self praise is no praise." but I really do think it's a great idea :o)

I used the back of the jeans, pockets and all to make a journal cover.  It has a pocket on the front and back to hold a selection of your pens, markers, your aqua brush, etc.  You could even fit a few small rolls of washi tape (see note at end of post and click here for a DIY for making your own washi tape) in the pockets.  I used a bit of left over upholstery weight cotton to add a pop of colour.

Now you've got an easily portable journal so you can do "art every day" no matter where you are.  Wouldn't this be great on a long plane trip?  Australia is on my bucket list and the idea of being able to journal along the way would certainly make the long flight seem to pass faster.

I also found a bit of time to make a birthday card for one of my great nieces, so it's been a good day!

Note:  Someone in my Letter Love 101 class shared a wonderful link on making your own washi tape.  It's absolutely brilliant and so easy!  

Make Art Everyday

Today I've been journalling about my new philosophy of making art everyday, while continuing on in the Letter Love 101 course.  As you can see, I've used some of yesterday's wonderful papers to create this page.  I love how that white correction pen made this page come to life.  I'm sorry to say I forgot to take process pictures today, but when I had finished the journalling I was disappointed by the dull, dark appearance of the page.  Then I started to add some white and it just made things pop.  As an artist, I know the importance of contrast, and I guess this is a great illustration of just how important it can be.

On another note, I now make all of my own greeting cards.  They are generally little pieces fibre art or paint and mixed media, but I needed to make a birthday card for my little great nephew so I thought some bright marker and doodles would be fun.  Here's hoping the little guy doesn't read my blog in the next week or so.  :0)

Art Everyday - Today that means more greeting cards.

The greeting cards I made on Saturday inspired me to pull out the paints and make some more.  I started with some papers I had made months ago by collaging the tissue paper from old sewing patterns along with acrylic paint and alcohol ink.  Today I did some stamping with rubber stamps and various old lids, the edge of an old credit card, etc.

Art Cards

Today I joined some friends at Sandra's 'Open Studio' and we had some fun creating art. Under the guidance of Sharon Chalmers, we did some painting (although I didn't follow the rules!) using acrylics. The cards displayed are the result of my efforts. Not quite where Sharon was trying to take us, but I had fun and I've got another 8 cards to add to my greeting card stash.

Christmas Cards

Yesterday my friend Heather showed me a beautiful hand stitched Christmas tree she had stitched to make into a pin cushion.  The idea came from Stitch Magazine.  I decided to use the same idea to create a few special Christmas cards.  They're quick to make and fit right in to my new personal goal of getting back to working on my art every day.  Instead of wasting time in front of the TV, I can accomplish something useful while watching/listening to TV.

The centre card was made using painted Aida cloth.  This is a great tip because you can use any acrylic paint and create Aida cloth in virtually any colour to suit your needs.

Handmade Paper and Stitch

A few months ago I made some wonderful handmade papers.  I've been hanging on to them because they were too special to use for just anything.  Well, at some point you just have to get on with it and use your 'special stuff'.  There's no point hanging on to those little treasures forever, so I decided today was the day to start using them.  

As you may have read in a previous post, I make all my own greeting cards so I started playing with some simple machine stitch in the handmade paper and I'm really please with the results.  The paper stitches beautifully and I love the simplicity of the cards.  Fortunately the cards only need small pieces so I have enough left to make many more greeting cards in the future.

Greeting Cards

A little over a year ago I decided to make a better effort to remember the birthdays of family and friends with an old fashioned card in the mail.  I used to be terrible about staying on top of this, but thanks to the calendar on my Mac (and now my iPhone) and a system I've established to write and organize cards once each month for the upcoming dates, I'm managing to send cards out to everyone (and even on time!).

The second commitment I made to myself was to stop buying commercial greeting cards but rather to put a personal touch on my greetings by making my own cards.  This latest batch uses trifold card blanks (from a Canadian company http://www.cardblanks.com in Victoria, BC - they will ship to the US too) which allow me to put a little piece of my own art into the 'window' in the front of the card.  Here are some examples of cards I made using some of the fabric I've designed while playing with acrylic paint, stamps, etc.

As you can see, my cat just couldn't miss the photo op. The poor neglected thing was a bit desperate for some attention!