Want to give handmade cards as a holiday gift?

I love the convenience of giving gift cards at Christmas.  But I never feel like I'm giving a real gift when I give one  . . . you know, a real gift - a package with wrapping and ribbon.  So, what I've taken to doing is to give a handful of homemade cards with the gift cards.  I have A LOT of cards in my stash, so I choose a nice assortment and bundle them up with the gift card.  Most people really seem to appreciate them (because people always need cards but many people don't have the time or know-how to make cards). A few years ago, for my brothers and sisters, I took collage sheets I made with family heritage photos and used them to make simple note cards.  They were a big hit.

What if you want to give handmade cards but don't have any on hand? 

Here's an easy recipe for using collage  images in cards:  patterned paper + image + ribbon + embellishment.  Need more detailed instructions?

1.  Choose a collage image. It can be vintage, fun, grungey, whatever.  Mat if desired.

2.  Choose a patterned paper for the background - coordinate color and mood, but a small and fairly busy pattern works best. 

3.  Choose an embellishment (or set of embellishments) that captures the same color and mood of the card.  I like to use small embellishments in groups of three.

4.  Choose a coordinating ribbon.

5.  Arrange the image and embellishments.  Adhere.

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Acknowledgement and Variation

I got this idea from a pair of cards I received in a card swap.  The cards were created by Debbie B, and her original card (with the Dubai postage stamp) is below.  If you would like more layers on your card (or if your patterned paper background is not busy enough), you can add some stenciling on the patterned paper and stamped script, like I did in the "Daddy's Girl" card below.

You may be wondering - what is a collage sheet?  It's basically a collection of images that you can cut up and use in your art.  You can buy them at places like artchix, or you can find lots of free downloadable collage sheets by googling free downloadable collage sheets.  Here's a link that's a nice start (you just click on her image and it will give you a screen that you can print out).  

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p.s. This post is a combination of a couple of posts from 2009. I got the idea to freshen them up and repost from Sian's "Blog cos you want to" Suggestion #2: Play on the Popular. You can read her great idea here.

Vintage Photo Cards with my Counterfeit Kit

I'm always looking for good ideas for using my large collection of vintage photographs, and this month's Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Sketch seemed to me like it would work. The sketch came from the Unscripted Sketches Blog (Sketch #141):

What I found intriguing about the sketch is that it reminded me of many scrapbook layouts I see, but that I would never copy,  because they only use one photograph (I usually scrap 3-6 per page) and because I have trouble leaving that much white space (I know I'm supposed to "learn to love white space," but it's hard for me).

But I love, love, love how this sketch worked for making cards which featured my collection of heritage photographs and which used the counterfeit kit I put together for January. Have you ever used a scrapbook sketch for cards? Or vice-versa?

Feedback Friday: altered books, collage sheets & art journals

A couple of posts lately have generated a few questions, so here are the answers!

Many of you commented on my heritage photos and use of photos in my art in general. I do not use original photos in any of my collages. I do use original photography in my other types of art work, which I posted about here, and in photo greeting cards, which I posted about here. Instead, I have created a whole bunch of collage sheets using original photos.  I make them in a very old fashioned way.  I arrange them onto a 8.5x11 sheet of paper, adhere with repositionable adhesive, and then take them to a copy store and have them color copied using a toner process to make multiple copies.  I know I should just learn how to scan and print at home, or at least scan and manipulate at home, but I don't know how and it's just not a big priority for me right now. So, I go old school.  I have three types of collage sheets:  those created with heritage photos (the two in the upper left of the photo above); those created with current photos (see the travel ones in the bottom row); and those created with ephemera (the two sheets on the right).  I sell the sheets at craft fairs and would sell them online, if I ever got my act together to open an etsy store. I love using my own images in my art because it makes it feel like the art is more of my own total creation. Although I use rubber stamps and other clip art/collage sheets sometimes, those pieces don't feel as totally my own as when I use my own collage/photography.  Using my own collage sheets also makes  my art more original because these images aren't generally available.  Finally, by repeatedly using certain images, I continue to create my own style and look. 


Deb asked about my art journal pages and where I store them.  Basically, I create them in bound journals and they just stay there.  My every-day art diary pages are done in these small (6x9) journals:

The page on the left is about how dd Clara leaves all her hair supplies, make up and clothes all over the house  (LOL!).  The page on the right is a completed background.  I usually have a bunch of completed backgrounds in my art journals, to jump start a journaling session. I also find creating backgrounds to be a relaxing and satisfying bit of creative time.
When I feel like using a big format, I used these spiral bound watercolor paper pads:

Finally, many of you asked about the girls altering book groups, which I posted about here.  The group is a local group - most of us met through our membership in Club Scrap.  As we completed our pages, we sent them to our Queen Bee.  Once we are done with all our pages (next month), we will all get together and people will get to choose one page from each theme.  You can then bind them yourself.  Each page has been punched with three aligned holes, so I'm just going to create a cover and bind them with a big d-ring.
Coming tomorrow - more feedback; this time on storage!