2021 Photo Card

I try to make at least one Christmas photo card every year.

I was given this dove ornament a couple of years ago by one of my sisters.  I decided this year to use it for my photo card.

I wanted Peace on Earth so I needed to create myself an earth. I set the dove up in my photo studio so assess what size the earth should be.  I determined it needed to be about 8 inches in diameter.

I found a dish in the kitchen and traced that onto a piece of bristol vellum card stock.  I found a tutorial on line on how to draw an earth.  Using the instructions I drew an earth in pencil so I could erase until I had it right. I then painted it in watercolor ensuring that I had enough texture in the land and water.  I then added the borders in black Sharpie marker. 

Once it was dry, I installed it in the studio adhered to a blue material background I have for the studio.  I used several Zots to hold where I wanted it.

Then I found many shots with different lighting and angles.   I reviewed my shots and took some more and repeated the process one more time.

I was finally happy with one of the shots.  

I added the greeting and the olive branch in post processing.  I printed the card at 4x6 inches.  Once those were back from the developer, I got ready to create the cards.  I was glad that I had used black borders and black shadow on the greeting which worked really well with a black 110lb card base.  I adhered the photos to the card front of a 5x7 (A7) card base.  I printed a sentiment in keeping with Peace on Earth on letter paper and trimmed those to fit inside.  I adhered those with glue stick. 

Just like that I have 15 photo cards to add to my stash.  Very happy with these.  The ornament is headed to my other sisters house for Christmas because she loved it.  I am sure the earth will come in handy in the photo studio again.  Win Win!

Christmas Cards - Photo

I worked on Christmas card all day today.  

I decided to work with the supplies I had at home so I put together these gold trifold cards with my tiny nativity photo.  These are A7 5x7 cards.

Looks great.

I bought postage a while back so I have what I need with to trip out of the house.

I can just drop these in the mailbox.

The next card I paired the same gold tri fold cards with my Green Holy Family photo where it fit inside the card.

These will be in the mail tomorrow.

Another task complete.

On to Christmas tree, lights and door decoration.

Birthday Photo Card

I made this card for my aunt who is celebrating a birthday this week.

The photo is one of grasses that I have added a watercolor filter in order to enhance the shapes.

I mounted it to a 8.5x11 sheet  ivory heavy card stock onto which I printed my credits then trimmed the letter size card stock to 10 x 7 inches.  I then scored it at 5 inches and folded in half.

I decided on a photo card as she is a fellow photographer so she will appreciate a photo rather than a paper crafted card.

Sympathy Cards

My uncle Dave passed away early last week and the funeral was today.  He was a farmer and a real family man.  He was married to my aunt and she passed in 1997.  He did remarry so I prepared a card for his 3 kids and his wife.  I spent time with these cousins when we were kids.  I see some of them at reunions.

I added greetings to my photo cards because the cards were ready and they needed to fit the occasion.  

These are sunlit maple tree seeds.  Love the pale green color against the dark background.

I added a Old Olive Modern Label punchie with a color coordinated greeting punched with the Word Window.

The greeting was mounted with 3D foam tape.

This is for one son and his family.

 This is the bridge in the Japanese Garden at the University of Alberta Botanic Garden.  It is a serene place and I felt appropriate for a sympathy card.

I chose a much brighter green for the label punchie on this one.  It is Garden Green and the coordinated word window.  Mounted with 3D foam tape.

This was for the daughter.

I chose this Japanese Barberry leaf photo with a mossy green Modern Label with a coordinating Word Window greeting.  Mounted with 3D foam tape.

This was for the other son and his family.


This card I made for his wife who was unwell and could not attend the funeral today.  Sunlit Rose with pink greeting.

Sympathy Card

I prepared this large A7 photo card for my aunt on my Dad's side of the family who lost a son. 

It must breaks a mother's heart to lose a child.  She is in her eighties but that does not matter.

I added Modern Label punchie with a black greeting to this simple Rose Hip and grass still life.  Mounted with 3D foam tape.

Donations to a Fundraiser

I prepared a couple of photos to donate as prizes at a fundraiser being held this weekend.

The 8x10 inch frame is metal in a gun metal gray color.  It has very angled edges.

I chose a black mat 8x10 mat with an 5x8 inch opening. It is archival but in a size I would not likely use for the gallery.

The photo is a black and white photo 8x8 inches of chess pieces I took a couple of years ago for Flickr Macro Mondays. It fit perfectly in this frame.

I placed the pawn and shortest piece in the front then aligned the knight in the middle ground and the queen in the background.  I was just making an appealing presentation of the shapes of the pieces.  I have since learned a bit of how chess is played from my grand nephew.

This frame is a warm white color.  It is plastic in an 8x10 inch with a very narrow profile.  It was very easy to assemble the sandwich to insert in the frame.  Very well designed.

I paired it with a shot of The Wilson`s Snipe I took at the wetlands when I first got my zoom.

An oval mat is not likely something I would use for the gallery and it is archival as well.

The photo is an 8x8 inch which I printed a while back.  The color of the frame works really well with the colors in the feather of the bird.









I put together a gift pack of 10 A7 5x7 photo cards as well as a prize at this fundraiser.  I have decided to go back to making A2 cards as those are more efficient in materials and time.

I hope the folks that receive these will enjoy them in their world whatever that may be.

HB - Sister

I chose one of my oil on water abstracts for a birthday card for my sister. Her favorite color is green and she likes things that are more muted.

I will see her tonight at the Solstice Party one of my other sisters is hosting. She is hosting a party as she has just finished another summer course and it is the longest day of the year!

I love the dark edges of the bubbles and their evenness of their surface. 

There is a good variety of sizes and they sit on this ledge of muted green which is a large pool of oil along the bottom.

Sympathy Card - Funeral

I attended the funeral for a friend today who was gone much too soon at 64. She was hospitalized for about 3 weeks and then gone.

She attended my Card Club for a few years.

She moved on to the quilting group and participated for quite a few years.  She was involved in the Fabric Frenzy fundraiser for grandmothers in Africa.  The fundraiser is being held today.

I did not know her very well but she was a service oriented person who sang in the choir, cared for her small dog, regularly met with friends, visited family and baked really good cookies.

Sympathy Card - Photo

I am sending this photo card to my aunt who recently lost a friend.  They share mutual interests and were walking buddies.

The friend she met in the last few years and was much too young to pass away.

This is a petrified wood tree trunk taken at the Royal Alberta Museum.  I love the colors in this image with the off center focal point.  As you can see by the number of rings it was a very old tree.

Large Photo Cards - Gallery

I am dropping off card to the Art Gallery today.  I was hoping that it would have warmed up nicely in the last week but not really.  So I am just doing it!

This watercolor brush card should be a hit with artists.  We shall see.









The dahlia and rose card make great cards for birthdays.








The Leaf on Still Pond and Red Barn provide a great card for guys.

AAC Gallery - Photo Cards

These are the 5x7 A7 cards I took to the gallery today.

I have no idea what will sell so it was a guessing game.

Photo Cards - Craft Sale

This is a photo of tree rings from a very old tree at the museum.

I chose auto enhance and it brought out some beautiful color and textures in this object photo.

Another shot from the museum.  This is a lava related rock from the gem room in the Natural History exhibit.  This is a great place at the museum.

I loved how the light shine through these amber colored transparent areas.

This is a fish net rolled into a ball in the Human History Exhibit.  It was displayed along with tools like fish hooks, and needles used in the repair of the nets.

Photo Cards - Frameable Art - Craft Sale

I love the leaves on this bush with their rounded ends and beautiful coloring of green transitioning to red as fall arrives.

My best guess is this is the Barberry - Crimson Pygmy bush.  I love the shadows captured along with small and medium leaf sizes.

With that coloring it could almost do a Christmas card if you did not expect it to have snow.

Love it.













Here I have captured a group of maple leaf tree seeds back lit by the morning sun.

I love how as your eye goes up the photo the seeds become darker and but still outlined by the light providing texture to the overall image.









A red poppy converted to the 4x6 format for this card.

It was taken at the Community Garden this summer.

These all make wonderful all occasion cards.

A note to the friend, a birthday greeting, the maple seeds could be a sympathy card.

You may recognize this image which I submitted to a photo competition this summer.

Resized into a 4x6 for photo cards.

Love the calm water and the water drops on the leaf.









These cards are easily framed in the 5x7 frame.  Arranged singly or in a trio would quickly perk up a room, front hall or office area. Great value too.  I`ve selected a small profile frame in basic black with makes the most of the Nine Bark flower in the photo.

All Occasion Photo Cards - Craft Sale

I am working on photo cards for my craft sale tomorrow at the Millwoods United Church.  This is my first time being juried for photo cards so I decided to work on 5x7 inch cards which were very popular last year at a sale I attended.

This is Mrs. Bear all decked out in her finest.  I took the photo during my visit to the antique mall a while back.  It required a good amount of editing to create a pleasing image.  Turned out pretty good. 

This would make a great all occasion card for any female recipient. 











Love this beautiful Dahlia - Alpen Diamond - taken at the St. Albert Botanical Garden this summer.  I love how the petals are separate which makes it a bit unusual as far as dahlias go. They usually have many petals tightly organized around a barely visible center.

Again, perfect for an all occasion card. 








These are the cosmos flowers I planted and harvested in a friend`s garden this summer.  I did not get very many but these are lovely. 

I paired them with my yellow glass vase.  Love how the yellow in the center of the flowers is repeated in the vase.  I was able to hide the water mark behind the yellow in the neck of the vase.

Super all occasion card.

I initialed all the photos to confirm my art work.

Photo Christmas Card - 5x7 - WC Nativity

Here's my little nativity again with the great stable background.This time a wide or landscape layout.

This time I removed the words from the garments of Joseph and Mary and left the ones on Baby Jesus.

The ceramic star in hung in the sky in the background that helps to ground the focal figures to the composition.

You get more of the stable in this photo so it comes down to personal preference.

Photo Christmas Card - 5x7 - Pebble Art Nativity

I created my own art for this card.

I discovered Pebble Art this summer.  I was inspired and started collecting small rocks with flat one side. 

This fall I put together this Nativity and photographed it.  I added the sentiment and had it printed.

This is a 5x7 card.

There will be several of this one on my sales table as well.

Photo Christmas Card - 5x7 - WC Nativity

I photographed my little Nativity with a wonderful painted triptych background I found this summer.  I loved it because it has a real watercolor feel to it but it is painted on wood so it has to some sort of acrylic.

I hung the ceramic star that belongs to the Nativity in the sky and I think that really finishes it off.

I have several packages of these gold tri fold greeting cards so I just slipped the 4x6 photo inside. 

Works really well and I a very happy with the results.

I have several of these for my sale on the weekend.