Tag 14 count

bottom up view of Americana Eagle

Americana

CraftyK Leave a comment

The first of the December cards. Also one of the last 3 cards for 2019. As of right now I don’t have any intention of doing any more birthday cards for 2020 and beyond.

This card is going to the stepson of a friend of mine. Her children received the Precious Moments patterns for L and H. Since they were animals it was cute and made sense. For A and J it was angel and jogger, so I decided to ask her what the kids were into so I could come up with something else for them. For the little girl was a mermaid and for the older boy he likes Americana.

I searched my books and magazines that I have been collecting over the last year and found this pattern in once of those motif books. I redrew it in the WinStitch program so I could make the pattern bigger and color on it. This pattern does have some extensive backstitching for how small it is.

eagle before backstitching

I made sure to wait on the backstitching so I could have a before/after photo of this one.

front angle view of eagle

Assembly was pretty straightforward. I found a piece of wallpaper that would look good and let the eagle really stand out. I ironed on interfacing fabric to the pattern so I could cut around it with less fraying. Then I attached the wallpaper to the cardstock with double sided tape. The motif is attached with foam tape.

Stitching

Started: November 2nd
Finished: November 5th

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full front view of "Americana"

cactus card laying down

Cacti, Cactus?

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In my quest for the perfect pattern for 50+ people I have acquired several magazines and books over the last year. Originally this card was going to be a cactus pattern from dailycrossstitch.com, I was never overly excited about it, but it would have to do.

Eventually through all of my pattern acquisitions I came across some Southwest style table runner that had these three potted cacti on it. I transferred just that part of the pattern using WinStitch so I could print it out and mark off where I am without disturbing the original pattern. I believe in the cross stitch industry this is called a “working pattern”.

3 cactus plants no backstitching

These cactus in pots are way cuter and much more card sized than my original pattern. I even took a picture of it before I added the backstitching. That’s what ups the cute factor.

cactus cross stitch complete

Since the cross stitching is on the smaller side I decided to add a Happy Birthday stamp. The modern handwritten font is what I went with. While I don’t have green ink I used a blue-green type one for it on yellow paper. The frame itself is wallpaper.

Happy Birthday stamp

As with just about all stamping that I do, I added embossing powder to it. The picture kind of shows it, but the camera doesn’t do well with focusing on something so solid like that. I chose a clear embossing powder over glitter. I didn’t want to detract from the stitching.

I also learned, don’t cut down the fabric until after the hole is cut in the frame. The top is laying just inside the frame, which is probably for the best since it is so close to the edge. Overall I am happy with how this one turned out.

Stitching

Started: October 27th
Finished: October 31st

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cactus full front of card

birghter card text

You Are Sunshine

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Some of the cards I have made this year went through a few changes. Originally this cross stitch pattern was going to be made for my uncle, instead I made it for his wife. I was having a hard time coming up with what to make her.

My uncle is my godfather so in our family that meant I would exchange gifts with him every year at Christmas. He is also the godfather to one of my cousins. We would both receive a cross stitch ornament of some religious Bible theme (Christmas based) as the bow of our wrapped gifts. Every year my aunt would pick out a different pattern and stitch it for us, put it into a tiny frame so we could hang it on the tree.

sunset stitching bottom of card

My aunt is involved with several volunteering activities along with watching most of her grandkids on a daily basis. If you need her somewhere, she finds a way to make it happen. I’m not sure if she cross stitches much anymore, but a cross stitch card is very fitting for her.

The saying on this card is Some people make the world brighter just being in it. I feel like that is something very fitting for her. She gives of her time and talents as often as she can.

brighter card laying down

I chose the simple brown paper for the frame to really let the colors of the stitching stand out. I also used a lighter tan paper as the base instead of the standard white.

Besides the Cricut ripping up my first 3 attempts at cutting this frame, assembly went well. Double sided tape and interfacing fabric can be your best friends when making cross stitch cards.

Stitching

Started: October 26th
Finished: October 27th

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full front of brighter cross stitch

top of 40 card

Life Begins at 40!

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Oh where to start with this one! It was stitched quickly, but the card making was one problem after another. This one was quite improvised due to extreme time constraints. When a birthday lands on a Sunday I lose a day. My goal is to have it arrive via mail on Saturday. Luckily it is only going a few blocks away (I think).

40 in progress

This card is going to a former co-worker of mine. We took walks pretty much daily for several months. During those walks I learned she was turning 40 this year. After acquiring several new cross stitch books this year I came across this pattern and decided that it would be the 50th card for the year. While it’s more like 45th in order of birthdays, this one brought me to a total of 50 cards to be made in 2019.

backstitching 40

Since this person shares a birthday with my brother the pressure was on to get them both done in time. And a mad rush to the post office to get them out on time! This pattern had backstitching which slowed down progress a bit.

The stitching and interfacing fabric went just fine for this one, it was the actual card part when things fell apart. Remember, a bit rushed on time for this one.

This person is super positive and bright. Even if things are going terribly, she’ll have a smile on her face and do whatever it is that needs doing. So a bright yellow paper for the card base what what I chose. This card is a 4.25×5.5, minus a little due to measuring errors.

angled view from bottom of 40 card

The butterfly paper was supposed to be a frame, but I didn’t measure correctly and cut too much fabric off the pattern. I was very glad to have the yellow base. Creating a floating cross stitch in the middle wasn’t so bad, unexpected, but it works. First time for everything!

I entered the wrong numbers in the design space for the Cricut, so the ‘s’ on ‘roses’ was cut off by time I was done trimming it back to fit the actual card base. As I was laying the frame on using double sided tape the paper bubbled up. I’m assuming in my rush to finish everything lots of things went wrong, but the card is bright and exciting to look at, which is all that matters.

Stitching

Started: October 21st
Finished: October 23rd

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full front of Life Begins at 40! card

top of Boba Fett card

Boba Fett

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Anyone else have some Star Wars fans in their life? I have a few and bought the AMAZING Star Wars cross stitch pattern book (not an affiliate link). It’s so nice to have a book of patterns that are official to use for people who really love this universe.

Boba Fett in progress

You may remember in February I made the 3 Stormtrooper pattern for my nephew (my brother’s kid). My brother is more known for his Chewbacca costume, but I swear at some point he has mentioned Boba Fett. So on that point I’m hoping for the best. There just weren’t any Chewie patterns that I liked.

This card ended up being a 5×7 because it is fairly tall. I special ordered some sage colored 14 count Aida cloth. I think the book called for something even darker, but I think this worked out well. The photos don’t capture the color of the cloth, either too blue or yellow, just wasn’t into balancing today.

laying down angled view of Boba Fett card

The inside of the card is also unique. I have a daily calendar from 2016 that I’ve been slowly using on Star Wars cards for my brother and nephew. This time I used 3 pages to line the inner left side of the card. This makes it even more Star Wars-y right? Even though it’s from the beginning of A New Hope, it’s still the right movie series.

reusing daily Star Wars calendar

The frame and stitching are mounted on regular white card stock. The black frame was cut out with my Cricut. Everything is taped down using double sided tape.

Stitching

Started: October 16th
Finished: October 21st

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Boba Fett full front of card

card laying down, top in focus

A Red Haired Mermaid

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This card is going to my best friend’s step daughter. I made cards for her own children and now that she remarried I have added on 2 cards this year for her step-kids.

I’m not quite sure how old this little girl is, but I was told that Ariel is her favorite character. I was so excited to find this mermaid pattern in a book of small designs.

pre-backstitching of mermaid

This design may be small, but it is detailed! The tail alone has 3 different colors. I didn’t go bright red for the hair, but the idea is there of who the mermaid can be. The mouth was supposed to be another french knot, I thought that was weird and tried stitching on a smile instead.

top view of open card

I went simple with this card and decided I wanted to do the frayed edges again, something I haven’t done in a while. Once I learned about interfacing fabric the frayed edge design idea went by the wayside. I did use interfacing fabric on this and still pulled off some ends for the frayed look.

I started with a 3×3-inch piece of blue 14 count Aida, so there wasn’t much side to work with. I also decided to use pink paper for the card base since it’s going to a young girl. The background is a piece of wallpaper that has silver dollars on it. This is a different version of the paper that I used for my husband’s card earlier this year.

I also didn’t place her in the center, but off to the top right a little and angled. I wanted to still show the silver dollars. I mounted the cross stitch to the wallpaper using foam tape. The wallpaper is attached to the cardstock with double sided tape.

Stitching

Started: September 29th
Finished: September 30th

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full front of mermaid card

finished card laying down side view

Birds on the House

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This card has gone through several patterns. The first one was from dailycrossstitch.com. Every time I went to order it, there wasn’t a pattern. The one pattern that is missing from their site. I tried reaching out, but no one responded.

in progress birdhouse

I had found a different pattern that was more complex, but not as bright and fun. Then I got a new cross stitch book and ended up finding this pattern that seemed to fit what I wanted. I don’t know my aunt all that well, so my mom came up with birds and flowers.

pre-backstitching of birdhouse

My aunt used to make beautiful cards for people by stamping and coloring them in. She stopped making them years ago and I am a little sad I wasn’t able to fit any stamping onto the finished card. I do like the paper I found though. I think it really fits with the style of the cross stitch.

I used the Cricut to cut out the frame, used up all the paper since the Cricut messed up as usual and cut off the paper and on the mat instead. Sometimes it likes to do that, other times it works just fine. I never know and can waste a lot of paper and need to pick something else before it cuts right. I’ve been told what it’s doing isn’t normal, so if you end up with a Cricut it will probably work just fine.

Stitching

Started: September 26th
Finished: September 29th

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full front of birdhouse card

ice cream card laying down

We ALL scream for ICE CREAM

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The actual cross stitch on this card is probably the smallest one I have done all year. When I asked my cousin’s husband some things she likes one of his answers was ice cream. I remembered I had saved this pattern years ago from a cross stitching website that had free patterns from their magazine available. It’s so cute I knew it was just what I needed.

close up of ice cream cone

Since the stitching wasn’t going to take up a huge space on the card I wanted to add some stamping. This included a few firsts for me. I tried out a white pigmented ink. I have a purple fine glittery embossing powder that I decided to try out on the white ink. I still haven’t figured out how to keep the powder on just the ink and not loose it all from everywhere, so it looks a bit messier than I intended. I’m still trying to figure out this whole embossing thing.

focus on stamping

It was fun to watch this one as the heat gun finally started to solidify the powder. It did take a really long time and the paper warped. The card was under a big book to try and flatten it out before sending.

ice cream cone with no backstitching

I also remembered to photograph it before the backstitching. It’s amazing what some outlines can do to a pattern. You can tell what it is, but it really pops once it’s done. I almost forgot the stem, but luckily realized it before I put everything away.

front top view of ice cream card

I know I said that I did some new things, another new thing was mixing stamps. I didn’t want a bunch of white space so I went through my stamps to find something to fill in the space with. I chose the lollipop as it’s another type of sweet. In the same set I found this small confetti looking stamp. I don’t know that I used it as intended, but I tried to put it around in different areas to fill in the space. I feel that I could have done some more maybe? It’s like using a brush in Photoshop, but this can’t be undone. Once you stamp, it’s on there. Makes me scared to use it.

So this was a first in trying out layering different elements. The different ink colors, stamps from different sets, and embossing some ink. I took some hot pink construction paper to put behind the ice cream cone. The pink paper is attached with double sided tape and the cone is attached to that with foam tape. I think I might have a foam tape addiction? I’m using it on just about every card that doesn’t have a frame. I felt that the yellow paper would mean losing the pink of the ice cream, so I made the shadow thing behind it to bring back the pinks.

Stitching

Started: September 7th
Finished: September 7th

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full front of ice cream card

laying down ferret card

Dapper Ferret

CraftyK Leave a comment

We’re getting a little closer to the end of the #cardproject2019! This ferret was a pretty quick stitch. I got the pattern from dailycrossstitch.com. I chose to only do the Mr. Ferret part of the pattern. Partly for time, but mostly because of the space on the card.

This card is headed to my brother in law who once had a ferret toy. I was pretty young when my sister was dating him (and married him). I remember he bought this ferret toy that didn’t work right. I begged to go to the store with them while he got a new one.

This toy was a ferret attached to a ball, the ball was battery powered and when you turned it on it jumped around and looked like it was playing with the ball. I’m sure by today’s toy standards it’s pretty boring, but at the time it was the coolest thing ever.

side front view of ferret

Now you know the story behind this card. And I have no clue if he actually likes ferrets or not. When picking out cards I tried to find something that I know the person likes, or something that was from a memory I had with them to make the card personal. I chose the background paper for it’s pattern since my brother in law is a mechanical engineer. I was going to emboss dots on plain paper, then ran across this and changed my mind.

Stitching

Started: September 4th
Finished: September 7th

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full front of ferret card

another fisherman laying down photo

Gone Fishing

CraftyK Leave a comment

The second birthday today. And this time it is for twins. This card is for the twin of the uncle who received the golfer card (sorry it’s not linked because the post isn’t live yet).

My husband and I took a quick trip to Texas while I was stitching this one. I didn’t have much time to work on it while we were away, and with a cancelled flight, well it put things a bit behind.

fisherman before backstitching

I did manage to take a picture of this one before I started any backstitching. Most of the way through I really debated whether I should backstitch as I went. Obviously you now know the answer to that one.

just the fisherman stitching

This pattern does have quite a bit of detail to it. The hardest was making the plaid shirt. I had to go back and add some lines that I had previously missed, but I think I got it all in the end.

laying down fisherman

I used the Cricut to create the frame for this card. I have a thicker blue paper with texture to it that I really liked. I felt that the browns and greens were a bit overpowering so I wanted to show more “water” and added the blue paper frame to create that effect.

Stitching

Started: August 28th
Finished: September 2nd

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full front of fisherman card