Wired for Display

 Craft away!

Craft a Wire Picture Stand

  These Great Stands are made

 using 9 gauge, coated bottom wire for chain link fencing.
 Use of pliers are required to bend wire.

* Pictures *Cards * Recipes
 *Lists *Note Holders.


Coat hanger wire will work but a heavier wire is preferred.
Use a coated wire hanger for a finished look.
OR try spray painting the wire for an awesome effects.
 Spray after forming the stand to avoid scraping off paint with pliers.

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 For the added adornments

 you are limited by the diameter of the wire. 

The hole in the adornment must be big enough to fit over the wire.

Above I fed on beads and jewel baubles.

I created paper beads to thread on which were coupled with plastic beads

in the knotted and looped stands above and below.

The stands are all created with a single length of wire.

Create your own Card for the stand HERE  

Potato Stamp Card

 Wire used in Jewel Display. Check it out HERE

Make your own Greeting Cards

  The gift of greeting agrees with me.

The enjoyable experience of crafting and posting a greeting cards
 is only compounded by the recipients joy of the experience.

Greeting Cards are in season every season.  

A reason is not required.

Through the love of another we are inspired

to share the words that transpire

on the greeting card of your hearts desire.

 

DIY CRAFTs

I have been crafting and selling Greeting Cards for over 30 years. 

                              The production of same has been a great source of pleasure for me. 

                             

                    HANDMADE CARDS PROVIDE THE SPACE
                                                         FOR CREATIVE FREEDOM TO ROAM

       

Craft Blog  DIY Cards

 The brown corrugated cardboard above left on the card was rescued and recycled from a box of biscuits.
 The black corrugated card was taken from a box of chocolates.The gift tag with coin, is a sticker that I mounted on foam core before gluing into place. The ribbon was saved from a satchel of sorts, somewhere along the way and glued on top.The writing is done with fabric paint that comes in fine tip bottles.

             Keep it simple. Limit the writing on the front of each card. Personalize to perfection.

Greeting Card DIY

#1Gold corrugated cardboard.#2.Pink and yellow Dollar Store card/scrapbook accessory. #3. Buttons and Feather. #4. Wire bangle.
                                    
                                                Work to a finished card - one layer at a time.

Greeting Card @ Lillian the Domestic Engineer

#1. White paper square. #2. White corrugated cardboard. #3. Red parcel Dollar Store item,
#4 Fabric paint writing and parcel tree glitter.

Greeting Card DIY Craft

#1.Sketch out your thoughts lightly in pencil.  #2. Detail outline in fine black pen. I used a water soluble ink so I could smear it slightly with a wet fingertip. I did the writing with a black fine tip sharpie. I did not want it to smear.. #3. Pink crayon.

Simple can be super too.
Sometimes a little humor is necessary.

Simple black and white with a touch of Gold Metallic Foil.


Paint between the lines.
The following two cards are painted on a water color paper.

Best Craft Blog -Cards

 Greeting Card- Water Color

Using strips of masking tape, create a border shape to paint within.
Make sure the tape is pressed firmly against the paper to avoid having the paint bleed under the tape edges.
Once the paint has dried carefully remove the tape. Don't forget to sign your original artwork.

Stamping it out. HERE
 One potato - two potato

Lillian the Domestic Engineer.Blogspot.ca

Life is a great bundle of little things.

Create your own Potato stamp and stamp away.

Make Greeting Cards

Embossing Tinsel is a simple, effective way of bringing a degree of shine and professionalism to your card.
Sprinkle tinsel onto wet stamp print and set with a warm iron. Click above on Stamping it out for details.

Recycle.  Recycle.  Recycle.

Make use of the marvelous 

Make your own Greeting Cards

                                                                Think inside the box.
The following three Cards are created using the marvelous selection of papers and prints from old greeting cards. The bits and bows were all dug out of the drawer where I keep the little, shiny things that hold the promise of commitment to card.

                                                          Put your Heart into it!

                              Give it a Gift Tag

           Pretty pastels pieces of paper, pinking shears and gift tags help turn the simple into the superb.
          Fabric paint finalizes the thought behind the project.


    Pop it up a bit....


Although pop up cards do require some fore thought and a little more work,
 I am always thrilled with the results

More Cards HERE

Don't let the blank slate intimidate. Build up your card one layer at a time.

Easy to make Greeting Cards

Greeting Cards

 Simple Traditions

I'm a little old fashioned. 
I believe that there are a few 
holiday traditions that should not be tampered with-
one of those being the paper Greeting Card .

The Greeting Card is the perfect example of the fact
 that wonderful things do come in small packages.

Greeting Cards are the keepers of cherished memories
and a fine forum for fond sentiments. 
Their paper folds harbor a safe place for the scent of souls passed
as sure as the graphics present a feast for the eyes to behold..


The satisfaction of perusing the past never grows as old  as the sender and the receiver of the stories told.
 Only time will tell what a greeting card can do for the soul.

 A blank stare?
If the thought of a blank page or a believed lack of creativity
has kept you from creating your own Greeting Cards then you'll be glad to know that these cards basically create themselves!

 Use a card stock paper to create your blank card stock.
Any white glue will work as an adhesive for most things.
I shop for envelopes in second hand store, where I can often purchase packages of up to 50 for a dollar or two. The cards can then be cut to fit the envelopes.


Create your own Greeting Cards
 
For a full size Card from a full 8.5x11 inch sheet of card stock
Place sheet on table with 8.5 inches as width and 11 inch side as height. Fold in half down from top.
 Keep fold at top and match bottom edges before rubbing down the fold.
Next fold from left to right matching front edges to card size 4.25x 5.5 inches.
Keeping fold at left rub down the fold.

Lillian the Domestic Engineer.Blogspot.ca

 I purchased a pkg. of Gift Tag stickers in a set of 6, each roll with different images.
I like the snowmen for their simplicity.
A perfect starting point for each of  this series of Cards.
#1. Stick a single gift tag label on the front of your folded card.
I put this sticker on the top half of the card with the intention of writing underneath.
It could easily be placed in the center
with the writing being inside the card.

I like to create many cards at a time. Try it, Lay out ten cards and place one label on each

#2.  Add a shiny, 1st dimensional element to the card.
 Broken and unwanted Christmas decorations are an excellent source for inspirational pieces.
 The small parcel glued onto the card above at left was once part of a Christmas Corsage.
The stars at top right are a sequence typically sewed onto fabric, simply glued into place..
 The rhinestones used at bottom right are from the dollar store and are applied with glue
as is the broken tree garland bit used below left.
  The shiny element adds a bounce for the eyes and is meant to enhance the main graphics. Keep it simple.

Make your own Cards

Crafty Greetings

#3 Add a 2nd layer to your gift tag card.
On several of the cards I simply glued a colored rhinestone to the buttons on the snowman.  It is very subtle but adds a lovely layer of depth and interest to your card. 
Glitter fabric paint is also an easy way to add dimension. Once applied be sure to wait for the layer to dry before moving on.


#4 Add the greeting to your card.
Keep it simple! Basic stick letters can be enhanced by simply dotting the top and bottom of the written letters. I used a thin black sharpie but a blue ink would also have worked well. Fabric paints can also be used to write with.
Personal notes can then be hand written inside the card.
Don't forget to sign and date your piece of art on the back of the card.

Homemade Card

Create your own holiday greetings

The card on bottom right has been started by pinning on (through the front layer of card paper only)  a seasonal brooch. It can be removed and worn by the card recipient. I enhanced the brooch by first gluing rhinestones to its branches.
Happy Holiday to you and yours.
Check back for my series of Cards created with buttons.
Click here for other craft projects 

Start your own creative collection of Cards! Vintage Rubber Stamp Set

All that Glitter

Lillian the Domestic Engineer
All that Glitter is Embossing Powder!
Make your own Cards shine
 Available in a multitude of colors, Embossing Powder is a home made Card finishing must.

 Used with Gel Pens, Rubber Stamps, Lino Cuts and even white glue it does add a wow factor to all that you do.

Embossing Powder

.
The Powder requires a wet surface to stick to before heat setting. Do not delay with the application of the embossing powder after you have written with pen, made your rubber stamp impression or lightly painted with white glue.

 The powder is then "set" with the heat of a house hold iron or a hot hair blow dryer
When you are ready to set simply hold the embossed area as close to the heat as possible. Almost instantly you will see the powder begin to swish and liquify as a result of the heat. Once all of the powder has been heated  and melted the area is "set".

All that glitters is like gold to me so I apply my powder carefully and sparingly.. it does tend to be a little pricey...
I sprinkle and shake over top of a piece of clean card stock, ensuring that every grain of "over shake" will be gathered on the card stock and recovered by gently folding the paper in half and finally funneling the powder back into the original container.

Handmade Card bits

 Dig out the envelopes you have collected through out the year (keep your eyes peeled... envelopes can be bought in all sizes, usually fastened together in bunches) I then cut and construct my cards according to the envelope sizes that I have available.
 Gather together your paper bits and stickers, scissors and glittery bits, your pictures and embellishments.. set up your iron in a clean work space and craft away.

                                                    

 Creating CARDS is a joy! 

 Valentines Card 

I have been creating Greeting Cards for as long as I can remember.

Costing up to $6.00 each for some of the beautiful cards out there, it now makes more economic sense than ever before to create your own  personalized GREETING CARD !

I look for inspiration and ideas everywhere. I see all small things as having opportunity for attachment!

From shoe laces and ticket stubs, to photo snips and things of love..

Christmas Cards

 I only purchase retail accessories that I find on sale. The full cost otherwise is terribly overpriced ( in my frugal and humble opinion) Recently while looking for key chains in Walmart, I stumbled across a sale on a small selection of ribboned flowers with a flat glass bead at center. Although I didn't have anything in mind when I purchased them, I knew they held great potential.The sparkle and shine over took me and the price allowed me to take them home.

sI store all of my nicks and knacks in a clear plastic zip up freezer bag.

The contents are then further organized within the bag into baggies or small boxes.

I also keep corrugated cardboard pieces that I removed from many a prepackaged food product (cookies)

 Brightly colored gum and candy wrappers, used copper or colored wires that you often find LITTER- ally laying in the street, and broken or mismatched jewel pieces all add personality to your card.

  Never a shiny item passes  my way without my first giving it careful scrutiny and a Crafters consideration.. You know, where there is a will there is a way!

                                        This is a POP UP card

                                              that I created for my Aunt and Uncle.

                                          POP UP cards are a great brain workout.

         I like the challenge of having to think outside the box while working within one!

 As the card opens the table pops out and the wine bottles and the Birthday Cake are viewed on the table.

Although it be better to give..I do love to receive
 Hand Made Cards addressed to me!


I fondly recall the many years I wandered up the railway tracks which made their way through the little town that I lived in, passing along side a beautiful lake and curving through a half mile stretch of wild flowers (which had apparently been tossed about 30 years earlier by a railway worker) before arriving at the local Post Office.
 There I would greet the Post Master, run into my neighbors and pick up my mail.  
   
 "Catching Up" required getting up. If I didn't make the journey up the road one way or another I wouldn't discover what happened down the road nor what await me in the shiny little box that I liked to check daily and so religiously. Only opened with a special key my little Post Box still captivates me ...

         Oh JOY

I will attempt to dig up some old Pictures of a few more of the many Cards I have created in my day.