Funky Flower Note Card

I call this one the 'Funky Flower' note card, not perfect but you get the picture... I just listed it on Etsy. It's done in acrylic on watercolor paper, trimmed and matted with a complimentary paper, and mounted onto the front of the note card.

Believe In Yourself Collage

I had to find a way to incorporate one of my favorite quotes into a piece of art. So I decided to work it into a mixed media collage that I was working on. It's a simple piece -- acrylics, paper, pages from an old thesaurus, and moulding paste -- but I like the message in the art.

Mini Abstract Art For Cards

Sometimes abstract pieces will add just the right amount of movement and color that you're looking for when you're working on a card. I created this mini abstract painting using water colors and acrylics. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it until I pulled out this fluorescent white card blank with the gold deckle edge -- then I knew exactly where it was going -- and 'Abstract Splash' ended up on a card and in my Etsy store.

Happy Girl Card Made From The Scrap Paper Pile

I've been trying to get back into the swing of things since I got back from my little vacation, and I've been playing in my scrap paper pile again. This card I've called 'Happy Girl', mostly because it pretty much sums up my post vacation mood.

Punched Water Color Flowers

I had some left over paper that I had done a water color wash on for another piece, and I couldn't bear to throw the paper away because I liked the way the colors had blended together. So I decided to salvage the scraps by using a flower punch to punch some flowers that I could use for a flower pot design that had been floating around in my head.

I used handmade paper for the background, some type of construction tape (I have no idea what it's called -- I just liked the way it looked) for the flower pot, and added the punched flowers above the pot to finish it off.

So I was happy... I was able to make a card and put the left over paper to some good use.

Mini Art for Cards done in Water Color and Ink

I love to create mini art for cards because when you give the card you also end up giving the person a small work of art that becomes a real keepsake. You can choose to mount the original art, or a copy of the original to the front of your card. The art for this card is done with water colors and ink on water color paper. I made copies of the piece and mounted the copies onto card blanks. It's available at my Etsy store as well as at my Greeting Card Universe store as a print on demand card.

Working with mini art pieces is always a lot of fun. Try putting some cards together and see what you come up with.

Final Product

Well, we finally finished the piece. We added a few more elements -- some splashes of green (acrylic paint) and flowers made from raffia -- and we framed it out in a cherry wood frame.

Mixed Media - Wire,Fabric, and Acrylics

I've been working with a friend of mine to create a mixed media piece to hang in a room that she is re-doing. We painted the background fabric with moulding paste and acrylic paints (for a textured look), bent and twisted wire to make the shapes for the women, and cut and shaped fabric to dress them. When all is said and done, we'll mount the piece in cherry wood frame and get it ready to hang.

Working In Ink on Card Blanks

Sometimes I like to do simple paintings directly onto a card blank using ink. I always choose a heavy weight, high quality acid free paper for these cards so that I can make sure that the paper is able to support the ink without it bleeding through to the other side. Then when I'm done I'll usually add my sentiment on the front of the card usually underneath or beside what I've drawn or painted. In this case it's 'Thinking of you..." Truth be told, I'm always thinking about somebody, so it gives me an excuse to make a card and send it off!

Another Leaf Printing Idea

This is another take on the leaf print idea. It's has more muted tones and is a bit more subtle, but it still adds a nice touch to a botanical card (or print if you want to frame it). All you need is some acrylic paint and watercolor pencils. Use the acrylic paint to create the image of the leaf and then use the watercolor pencils to do a wash for the background. If you reverse the process and do the background wash first and the work the image on top of the wash after, then your leaf will stand out more. It all depends on the look that you're going for. Just have fun with and see what you come up with.

Be Inspired By Nature

Don't overlook the beauty of nature when thinking about artwork to use on your cards. Leaf prints make wonderful cards, and if you're creative with the colors you'll be able to come up with a botanical print that will not only look great on the front of your cards but could also be a neat print that's suitable for framing.

Making Cards from Original Artwork

I love to give original art as gifts and recently I started making cards that complimented the artwork that I was giving. I make reproductions of the piece and add it to the front of a card blank making a neat gift set. That way whoever gets it has something to frame and hang on the wall as well as a matching card that is filled with whatever special sentiments I'm sending their way.

More Mixed Media

Sometimes the strangest things become the inspiration for a piece. With this one I wanted to do something with the threads from a fraying piece of fabric because I liked the shimmering effects of the thread. So they became the top layer of the piece. I added some texture to metallic acrylic paint for the background, used handmade paper to create the image of the girl, and put the buttons on her dress for a little bit of added dimension.

Mixed Media Art with Sea Glass

Every now and again I try something different and I put the papers and cards away (not too far away) and I'll do some work on stretched canvas or canvas boards. This is a mixed media piece called 'Tribal Markings'. I was playing around with some burlap threads (left overs from a card project) and this is what I came up with. I used acrylic paints to create the background and added the sea glass for a variation of textures. That's the beauty of mixed media -- so many different elements can work so well together.

Mixed Media Fabric and Handmade Paper Card

It's always nice to be able to work on a card using different mediums. I made this card using different scraps of handmade and Mulberry papers and fabric (I just can't stand to throw anything away). I chose bright vibrant colors, patterns and prints, and layered them to create the house adding the stitches to the paper to add a little extra detail. I love playing in the scrap pile because you never know what you'll end up with once you start putting those scrap pieces together.

What To Do With Mini Paintings and Doodles

Don't do away with those doodles and mini paintings that you do on small bits of left over art papers, if they're half way decent, they'll look great when mounted onto a card blank. I tend to 'practice' all the time on papers left over from a project (because I hate to waste the paper), and I've discovered that sometimes these doodles and practice pieces don't turn out too bad. If they are worth saving, I'll trim them down and mount them on the front of a card. They're like mini pieces of original art ready to be mailed off to someone special.