2025 Cards

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My annual card gallery is here! Check out every card created in 2025 by month of creation. The end of 2024 brought on just shy of two dozen new cards. Each year I strive to improve, learn and try new techniques and create some beautiful cards. 2025 saw twice as many with 49 new cards created. I started up my Ko-Fi shop at the end of 2024 where you may find some of the cards below listed for sale.

I set out the year to grow in the card making space. This meant posting about it and at the very least making at least one card per month.

For 2026 I plan to release a post each month with the cards made the previous month. There may be a little more info about how they were made, but I still strive to keep my musings short. I feel that you shouldn’t have to wait all year before seeing all the cards created.

Use these as inspiration for your own cards!

Most of my supplies are second-hand, so I’m not always able to point to where you can buy more.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

See finished projects on Instagram @craftyk.3

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Turtle in clear keychain.

Turtle & cat on linen

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I went to a local cross stitch store to get fabric for my next project (which turned into two) and came away with a sample of Jobelan and linen scraps to try out.

I think it was expected that I just make little x’s of nothingness, but I have so many patterns, I found a cute little turtle in a World of Cross Stitch magazine to blow up large enough to stitch. And mark off progress.

I decided to try the 40 count linen first as it came highly recommended (once you get used to it). Day one I put in 43 stitches and I’m not a fan.

Day two or three taking the project outside and using sunlight helped immensely. I could finally see the holes! Stitching went easier. Since I stitched using 1 thread, I finished up some backstitching when working on the eyes.

Turtle on brown linen minimal backstitching

Finishing, it paid off to stitch over 2. Which I decided to do because of the backstitching. It meant built in holes for all the backstitching landing in the middle of a square.

Part two of the sample pieces from the local cross stitch store. The cat is from the same issue of World of Cross Stitch magazine. Again, recharted in WinStitch. This time not only to make it bigger, but because the key is two pages away.

It paid off again to stitch over 2. There is backstitching in the middle of the square. This one I timed and it took 2.5 hours all in. I didn’t take a progress pic of the cat, it went from stitched to backstitched the same day to finish.

Stitching – Turtle

Started: August 8, 2025

Finished: August 12, 2025

Stitching time: didn’t track it

Turtle in clear keychain.

Stitching – Cat

Started: August 17, 2025

Finished: August 19, 2025

Stitching time: 2.5 hours

Light and dark grey spotted cat in clear keychain

See finished projects and updates on Instagram @craftyk.3
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or buy stuff

3 mini Christmas cards

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Christmas bird

The first pattern of three. After stitching this and working through the backstitching, I recommend finding 28 count fabric if you can and working it over 2 holes, effectively still stitching 14 count. I used what the kit came with, which included a lot of making new holes for quarter stitches and backstitching details.

Stitching

Started: June 10, 2025

Finished: June 15, 2025

Stitching time: 3.25 hours

Christmas tree

The second pattern of three. At this point I’m determined to get these done and get back to my full coverage pieces. This one wasn’t the most fun to finish, and the backstitching was a pain. But it’s done now and ready to be placed on the card.

Stitching

Started: June 15, 2025

Finished: June 16, 2025

Stitching time: 5 hours

Holly

The third pattern of three. This one was easier overall. Except I missed a lot of half stitches and had to go back and fill those in. The backstitching went much smoother with most stitches starting and ending in a hold that already existed.

Stitching

Started: June 16, 2025

Finished: June 21, 2025

Stitching time: 4.25 hours

These patterns did come as a kit with square cards and envelopes. Originally I was going to assemble these as intended, but since I intend to list them on my shop, the branding on the back wouldn’t work so well. I changed course, found a stamp with the same sentiment, got out all the Christmas paper I have and set to work making three new Christmas cards. I think they turned out well!

See finished projects on Instagram @craftyk.3
Updates on Snapchat

and watch live on Twitch craftyK3

or buy stuff

New home

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When my in-laws moved to a new house, I wanted to make a little card commemorating the move. I came across a pattern I liked in Helen Phillipps’ book with samplers and card designs. I changed the colors used to match the house and used a favorite color to personalize the design more.

If you read this blog, you probably know my new found addiction to Pattern Keeper. I charted out the pattern in WinStitch and exported for Pattern Keeper. Sadly, it still can’t read backstitching, so I did print out a large copy for when I get to that stage.

Somehow I managed to not actually finish the stitching, marked it done in Pattern Keeper, and took a photo before I started backstitching. I made it a couple stitches up the right side of the house before I realized the roof was missing. Instead of taking a different photo, I kept what I had, got my slightly lighter grey out and stitched the roof. Then I continued on with the backstitching.

I did something very different this time when it came to assembly. I live streamed the process on my day-old Twitch account. Yup, that’s a thing now I guess. While setting up my Ko-fi shop again, I decided to look into Discord and Twitch since they seem to be big integrations. Turns out, I think those platforms are better for what I make, so I’m trying it out.

I couldn’t believe my luck with the bottom strip. It’s a piece of wallpaper that matched the aqua and purple in the cross stitch so well!

Stitching

Started: December 31, 2024

Finished: January 19, 2025

Stitching time: 8.25 hours

See finished projects on Instagram @craftyk.3
Updates on Snapchat

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2024 Cards

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If you don’t want to read the nuances about the cards I created in 2024, this is where you can see them all by month of creation. After the surge of cards made in December 2023, I hope these cards don’t disappoint. I’m also hoping you see an increase in quality and creativity.

Use these as inspiration for your own cards!

February

May

June

September

October

November

December

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Nightmare before Christmas, well sort of…

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A family member who loves Nightmare Before Christmas unexpectedly came to town for Christmas. I was told two days in advance. The day before Christmas I decided to make her a keychain. I had patterns from a little Disney kit for Nightmare and a couple of them are small enough, if stitched on 25 count. My full coverage projects are coming in handy. Without those, I wouldn’t have 25 count fabric on hand.

Sound familiar? I did the same stitch count for my Secret Snowflake Pokรฉmon keychain. It’s actually not that bad stitching so small. I do like the one strand of thread instead of two as well.

In addition to the two cross stitches I also made one of my first Christmas cards now that I have more stamps. Normally I don’t keep Christmas themed stamps when I get them, but I did save a few and they came in handy this year.

I used Winstitch to plot out the patterns from the itty bitty book. There was no way I could keep count from the original patterns. By doing that I was also able to put the stitching part into Pattern Keeper and I printed a huge copy for the backstitching. I think they turned out really nice.

I found a way to use my ho ho ho paper. It didn’t work so well with the cross stitch mouse, but for this card it worked out well. I’m pretty sure the Santa stamp is part of a retired Stampin’ Up collection. It was part of a large set of stamps donated to me in CD cases. I used my dotted embossing folder for the red paper on the right. I also added some glitter to Santa’s beard after I took the photo. This card is also larger than my usual at 5×7.

Stitching

Started: December 24, 2024

Finished: December 25, 2024

Stitching time: 2 hours Jack and Sally, 1 hour Zero

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Joy Bears

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I pulled out my last vintage Christmas card kit. This one features two teddy bears setting up an outdoor Christmas tree. They are stringing on the lights and the plug is out in the snow on the ground.

This cute scene reminded me of the Cherished Teddies my sister and I used to buy my mom for just about every holiday from Hallmark. There was usually some new figurine that my mom wanted and my sister would take me to the store nearby to pick it up. Several years ago I made her a large teddy bear cross stitch kit that also looked like the bears from the figurines.

This little cross stitch had its challenges with the white on white stitching. I managed with minimal mistakes. I’m also not used to paper patterns anymore. With Pattern Keeper for my full coverage projects, I’ve been pretty spoiled.

I managed to take a before backstitching photo of this one. The backstitching was needed to really bring out the character of the scene. This didn’t take too long to stitch and was finished with plenty of time before I delivered it to my mom for Christmas.

Stitching

Started: November 23, 2024

Finished: December 5, 2024

Stitching time: 11.75 hours

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Secret Snowflake

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The company I work for decided to take a twist on Secret Santa and offered a Secret Snowflake. On a bit of a dare, I decided to take part.

The total limit was $20 and gifts are to be dispersed across 8 work days. It wasn’t specific if you are supposed to do multiple things, but I decided to get something for each day.

I did stick with the spend limit with three days of handmade using materials already on hand. I’m not sure how many people at work know I do crafting on the side, but I think many more know now.

To learn more about our Snowflake, everyone filled out a form answering questions about favorites, likes, dislikes, that kind of thing. My person likes Universal Monsters, crows, and Pokรฉmon. The other things were related to food and drinks, which was where my $20 went.

I made a journal/sketchbook (the last time I attempted this was 2013), this attempt went much better. I created it with two covers so my Snowflake wouldn’t have to pick where to start. I also figure they could make a second book if desired. For the covers I used the Universal Monsters and a crow. Because of the general theme, the parts that pull off worked out great.

The next thing I made was a window cling cut out of a crow. This I packaged up and did not photograph before delivery. I happened to have black window cling since I got my Cricut in 2017. It was never opened, so I took this opportunity to give it a try. I hope it’s clingy!

The last handmade was for the Pokรฉmon theme. I did use Co-Pilot to help me figure out which Pokรฉmon would be pink, purple, or green (favorite colors) and small enough to fit in the mini keychain I have. I found a site with lots of free individual characters and pokeballs. Something I learned was there are multiple pokeballs, which took me back to Co-Pilot to ask what you catch a Ditto with. Which is how I landed on stitching an Ultra Ball. Turns out the Ditto is pretty cool.

All the gifts were a hit. I’m glad I chose to participate. It was the highlight of my week for sure. All the planning and plotting to keep my secret and deliver above expectations.

Stitching

Ditto started: December 8, 2024

Ditto finished: December 11, 2023

Ditto stitching time: 5.5 hours

Ultra ball started: December 12, 2024

Ultra ball finished: December 13, 2023

Ultra ball stitching time: 1.75 hours

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Class of 2024

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My nephew is graduating high school this year. I designed this pattern based on the other two I made for his older siblings (Class of 2018, Class of 2021). This pattern is 1,118 stitches in total, no backstitching. I used his favorite color for the text and school colors for the triangles.

I did some correcting to the triangles. This time they are all the same pattern. Rotating the ones on the end was a challenge. I am not very adept at WinStitch. I thought it was supposed to be easy to use, but it was a lot harder than I thought to select, rotate, and place the triangles.

I’m working on a couple of full coverage pieces and using Pattern Keeper to track progress. I exported this pattern for Pattern Keeper since I am now used to being able to zoom way in on a pattern and have the current color selected throughout the project.

While the design was supposed to be 5×7, somewhere along the way it ended up narrower than that. Of course I was being lazy about trimming it up and ended up cutting too much off the left side and to even things out, cut the same amount on the right, leaving a small gap on each side.

My nephew loves Star Wars and I have been using a page at a time from a daily calendar I received several years ago and didn’t open. So on the edges, you can see just a little hint of that.

I also made my signature graduation card using adhesive foil and thread from the cross stitch project.

Stitching

Started: April 4, 2024

Finished: April 23, 2023

Stitching time: 9.25 hours

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Succulent keychain

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If you remember the travel keychains I made a while back, this project began by (a semi-joking) request from someone else at the office. We don’t know what happened to the original set so I asked some questions so I could find a more personalized pattern. Instead of adding a photo to the back, I found two fitting patterns to use.

The patterns also come from World of Cross Stitch magazine. Both patterns are from issue 335 design library. Aloe is stitched on 18 count and the cat + plant is on 22 count.

Aloe was a very quick stitch, about an hour including the back stitching. The cat + plant one took a but longer because there are a lot more stitches to begin with, plus more colors.

I used colors from my leftovers container for all except one. I wasn’t able to find a suitable replacement for one of the greens. On Aloe I replaced the pot color with a variegated purple I have in my leftovers. It added more dimension to the pot for sure.

Stitching

Started: February 11

Finished: February 12

Stitching time: 1 hour (Aloe), 3 hours cat + plant

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Also on Instagram @craftyk.3