A little bit early with the Christmas cards - but otherwise when would I have time to do them?

I did two of these snowflakes on pale purple mulberry paper mounted on cardstock. I used tape-runner around only the outside edges so I could stitch through both the paper and the cardstock at the same time. One was stitched in silver but does not show up in the photo as well as this one.

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This card was done a while back. It is called faux batik.

Using glossy white cardstock, stamp with clear versamark and emboss with clear powder. Use alcohol inks and metallic pens to create a polished stone technique over the background. When it is completely dry, place the cardstock face down on absorbent kitchen paper towels and place a single layer over the top. Use a hot iron to press, moving it about to clean parts of the paper towel until all of the embossing is out of the cardstock.

Finally, trim off the messy edges of the card and mount on a card front.

For this sample, I used one of my hand-carved rubber stamps.

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Here are a couple of stitched cards made from one of the free patterns I have collected. It makes a nice 'mans card'.

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The technique to make this card is extremely simple, but it makes such a statement.

On a small sheet of small labels (try 1/2" x 3/4" up to 3/4" x 1") ink up and stamp your image. Apply removable tape to the front in a grid formation so you can carefully peel the label liner away without upsetting the alignment.

Apply the labels to a card front and press carefully in place. Then peel away the removable tape and complete your card with any desired embellishments.

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I have used the ink-jet transfers for several different projects over the years. Beyond the standard t-shirts (my favorite is hubby's 'Disgruntled Employee of the Month'), I have done illustrations for covers on handmade books, illustration transfers to the pages of altered books, and most recently a set of aprons.

These aprons were designed for the ladies who attended our retreat in Pittsburgh in July. The group began as instruction in parchment craft so the design was made to resemble parchment white-work.

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This project was made a few years ago.

I started with three old ring-bound computer manuals that came with slipcases. The slipcases were glued together and then covered with shantung silk by using heat fusible webbing. I then covered each of the ring binders in a similar manner and lined them with black water-taffeta. The 'drawer pulls' are beads and are sewn on, with a locket charm caught in each one. A locket and key on ribbon are attached to the side of the case as well.

I adapted page sleeves to serve a photo holders in the three binders. When the binders are in place the unit sits on the table looking like a small chest of drawers.

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I have wanted to do this project since I saw it on Carol Duvall about a year ago. Today I finally made the time.

This is a box that is made to look like a stack of ribbon-tied love letters. I make mine with larger envelopes than the instructions and I love how it came out.

The instructions are on episode CDS-1329.

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This is a card I make to try out a technique from Tim Holtz's first DVD, "An Altered Journey".

A rubber stamp is inked with a variety of colors of water-based dye inks. Have your cardstock and heat gun at the ready. Use a sprayer to liberally spritz the stamp and immediately impress on the paper. Hit it with the heat gun to set the colors. You can make a few impressions before reinking the stamp.

I really like this technique with leaves, florals and the like that have 'loose' design. They lend themselves well to this look of handpainted watercolors.

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I read a terrific book on painting different flowers with the 'one-stroke' technique and had to give it a try. These are two of my efforts, not bad for the first try, I thought.

The book is "Flowers A to Z With Donna Dewberry : More Than 50 Beautiful Blooms You Can Paint" By Donna Dewberry, North Light Books, 2004, ISBN 1581804849

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Many moons ago someone overseas (Netherlands, I think) sent me sheets for these cards. They have the full picture, a small colored spot, and a spotlight area of the picture (some have two). These are all cut out and mounted with foam tape like a 3D card.

Backgrounds and embellishments are added to complete the cards.

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Here is the second house converted from the 'string art' pamphlet I have. It is not my favorite so I only pricked out one to stitch. My least favorite I haven't even pricked out one!

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I made this card in a workshop. It is stamped and embossed with black powder on dark brown cardstock. Then the image was lightened using bleach. Final step was to paint with Pearl-Ex powder mixed with water and some gum arabic.

When these techniques are combined, the results are quite stunning.

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I don't know why, but of the 30 sunflower seeds I planted, not a single one sprouted. Maybe the birds stole the seeds - or perhaps it was the squirrels.

Anyway, I'll have to settle for these stitched ones designed by a member of one of my online groups. She designed it to be stitched like my card on the left. I then made it again but stitched differently.

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Here are two more stiched cards. These were designed by the same lady as the last geometrics that I showed.

The one on the left is stitched on irridescent cardstock and layered over a metallicized paper and some paste paper I made.

The one on the right is layered on a watercolored background and burgundy cardstock.

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Here's a couple of different takes on the same theme (sort of). At this site http://www.wga.hu/tours/sistina/index1.html  you can click and view different scenes of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, zoom in, view background information, etc.

Here http://www.pacorosic.com/sistine_chapel_pictures.asp  you can view the work of Paco Rosic who recreated the Sistine Chapel ceiling in half-scale on the ceiling of his parents' restaurant - using Krylon spray paint!

Way Cool!

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This is a collage card I started from the parts-n-starts drawer. The background is printed tissue paper, the mummy case is from a catalog ad, the caravanners are from a sheet of collage art images. I added some 'scraps' from gold peel-off stickers, and finished with blue rhinestones eyes and a fabric text sticker.

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Here are a couple more cards made with the torn spotlight technique shared some time back. This hydrangea stamp was one I picked up for a dollar in a clearance.

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