Sunshine Card - Embroidery Floss

Another card experiment, this time with cotton embroidery floss. I have several dozen skeins of different colors, bought 25 years ago to try some freehand art embroidery, another one of my unsuccessful non-marker art attempts. So I decided to try using it like ribbon on a greeting card. And one thing led to another.

Technique: All the floss is adhered with Scor-tape, an extremely sticky double-sided tape. For the sun's rays, I used 1/8" tape - just wide enough for 2 full strands of floss side by side. Then for the grass, I used a horizontal 1/2" strip and placed little U shapes of floss across it. All pressed down firmly.

The center of the sun is a small round plastic "gem" embellishment, tinted with orange Copic marker. Around that, I laid down a spiral of light yellow floss, streaked with Copic, on Scor-tape on top of a scrap of card stock, then more Scor-tape on the back of that, all cut into a circle and pressed down. (010b)

• Paper: Top layer - Neenah; Card base - Papertrey Ink Perfect Match card stock (New Leaf, from the 2009 cardstock sampler) - 4.25 x 5.5" when folded.

Bright Dots and Wavy Lines - Four Cards

When a friend saw my first "bright dots and wavy lines" drawing, she said it would make a good card, and she was right! Click here for the first drawing, and here for another more complex version.

For these cards, I used PowerPoint to print a page with varying sizes of circles up to 1/2". The wavy lines are freehand. The frames (middle layer) and ribbons ( 3/8" grosgrain knot or 1/4" silk bow) are colored with the same Copic marker colors as the circles. I used my Copic black multiliner (brush medium) along the edges of the middle layer. The sentiments "Thinking of you" are computer-printed using "Lucida Calligraphy" font.

I made these cards in four different color combinations (two at top of post, the other two below) for Operation Write Home - "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (002)

• Copic marker colors used: Top left B24, Y15, YR04, R24, G14; Top right V12, G21, B41, Y21, R32;
  Bottom left BG72,75, E11,33; Bottom right Y11, G40, YR00, RV10, B000 .
  
• Paper: Neenah for dot and frame layers, on an A2 card base (4.25 x 5.5" when folded)
  

Twelve Cards for Operation Write Home

Edited November 2010: Originally, half of these designs had handwritten sentiments. Since September, when Operation Write Home requested "no more handwritten sentiments," I recreated them with computer-printed sentiments, replacing the ones that were posted here. The new versions are all very similar to the handwritten originals, except for the blue cards above. The Love You" on the left is handwritten. The "Love You" on the newer card on the right is computer-printed with "Curlz MT" font in a dark blue outline, then hand-colored with Copic markers B05, B24, and B01.

Now, back to the original post from June: Last weekend I decided to create some greeting cards for Operation Write Home. "Supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." I've made 12 cards in total - all different, except for the yellow Psalm 23 card, where my watercolor background was enough for 2 cards.

It was fun to try so many combinations - ribbons, colors, styles, buttons, drawings, vellum, backgrounds, lettering, and more. A great way to increase my repertoire of card techniques! And all for a good cause. I hope my cards will bring a smile to the senders and the recipients.

Except for the colored card stock (Papertrey Ink), the colors were done with my Copic markers, including the various colored ribbons and buttons. (001)