Tag foam tape

the cross stitch

Yellow Bird

CraftyK Leave a comment

This little bird is tiny and somehow there are 13 different colors! I couldn’t believe it as I was collecting the thread/floss for this project. I must admit it looks pretty lifelike now that it’s done, so all those color changes were worth it.

the beginning

This card is for my aunt whose birthday is today. I’m not sure on her age and feel it’s not appropriate to share anyway. She loves to photograph the birds that come to her backyard to eat and if they found a home in a birdhouse, sleep over. I am pretty sure I have seen some sort of black and yellow bird in her photos and this one made me think of her.

As you can see below this pattern came together extremely quickly, which is good because I was very much behind (and still am) on getting these done in a timely manner.

Because of the size I decided before I began this one would not be “framed” as I have done to many of the other patterns. I wanted to use my embossing machine again. I have a folder (I think that’s what those are called) with happy birthday all over it that I wanted to use. It’s similar to the Purple Morpho from last year.

 

Instead of using scrapbook paper I went with wallpaper. I did two colors and discovered that the softer less “papery” wallpaper does not emboss. I wasn’t sure how it would go and I was happy with either as the background, the silver won.

For mounting I used a small piece of grey paper foam tape mounted to the card then used some double sided tape and E-6000 for attaching the fabric to the paper.

Something I learned while studying for my CPP exam was that if you want to show texture, light from the side. So this go-round of highlighting the embossing on a card I was able to show better what it looks like.

the embossing

Stitching

Started: January 28th
Finished: January 29th

Follow along on Snapchat!

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cropped in full card view

Purple Morpho

CraftyK Leave a comment

Today’s my cousin Rhonda’s birthday! Her nonprofit logo is a purple butterfly, so I took the pattern of a Blue Morpho and turned it into a Purple Morpho.blue morpho with opened wings

About the card

cloth, thread, pattern

After working on so many cross stitches that take weeks if not months (and a few a while back pretty sure years…) these last couple of cards have been a wonderful “break”. The base design I used for this butterfly was from Donna Kooler’s Cross Stitch Designs book. I recreated it in WinStitch so I could mark off what I finished, and change the butterfly from blue to purple.

While I was at Joann’s a few weeks ago I found thread that looked to be sparkly thread. Once I cut it and definitely once I started using it, I’m pretty sure it’s filament. Of course that didn’t stop me from using it like thread the way I wanted to and add some sparkle to my butterfly.

close up of stitching

Like the Care Bear I thought I was finished and I got so excited I almost forgot to finish the back stitching on this one! I finished all the wing details and completely spaced the outside. I woke up the next morning and it hit me that I wasn’t actually done.

Once I finished the back stitching for real I began collecting all the pieces to put together the card. While I was working on the cross stitch I decided I wanted to used one of my new birthday embossing folders. I pulled out my paper drawer and thought I was going for one foil embossed paper I have and instead ran across the butterfly paper (still foil embossed).

detail shot of the embossing

Although the colors match nothing in the cross stitch I loved the butterfly theme. I used that as the background and embossed it using the happy birthday folder I have. It’s fairly hard to see and photograph, but you can feel it.

To help the cross stitch stand out more I chose a neutral color to mount using foam tape to the card. The cross stitch is attached with some double sided tape in the middle and E-6000 on the edges. That stuff is powerful and the butterfly won’t be going anywhere.

side view of card

So there you have it! That’s how this card came together in just a few days.

 

Stitching

Started: October 22nd
Finished: October 25th

Follow along on Snapchat!

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The beginning of stamping

CraftyK Leave a comment

I started collecting stamps last year. For whatever reason I have been terrified to use them. Partially I think it’s the mess and clean up that stamping entails that has kept me from using them. Whatever the cause I finally pushed through, grabbed a stamp and ink pad and tried something new.

One

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My first stamping was to add something to a mostly plain wallpaper card. Add a little pizzazz. I didn’t know what would happen with applying ink to wallpaper, but it turned out ok. So far it hasn’t wipe off either.

Two

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The next card I made I got a bit fancy with. Adding layers and foam squares to really give a 3D look to this card. I kept with a greyscale color palette. The wallpaper backing is much shinier than the picture shows. The black and white papers are matte. The thanks is a clear stamp. When I put ink on it there were just bubbles, so it doesn’t have solid coverage like I was expecting, but it works to keep with an industrial look. This card is staying in my personal collection to use.

Three

Can be found here…it’s a doozy!

Four

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I already had used this paper for a regular “classic” wallpaper card and I was having such fun using stamps at this point to make cards different I came up with this idea. I had to buy some darker red ink and pink paper (I also bought blue to see what I liked better). I did learn that buying the cheapest ink is not the best idea.

I had to get out the embossing powder to try and get this design to show up better the ink was so faint. I also used the Cricut to cut the pink paper into an off kilter square. Giving this a funky look to match the stamp style.

Five

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This card is the result of just wanting to keep going. I started to get into this whole stamping thing. I happened to have bought espresso colored ink a while back and it went perfectly for this card. Again stamping direct on the wallpaper and then I embossed it as well. I wanted to have it stand out.

I’m not sure if it’s because of the heat or what caused this, but there is now a bubble under the ‘no’ of note. I did the stamping and embossing with the heat gun (seriously spend a little more to get a good one) before I applied the wallpaper to the cardstock. So that might be a bit of a learning curve.

I did learn that you should probably hold small paper that need embossing with tongs, even low powered heat guns get super hot.

And here they are the completed cards using stamps. (Minus number 3, like a said whole story on that one)

Follow along on Snapchat!

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May Day

CraftyK Leave a comment

How are you planning to celebrate May Day with your family?

Growing up I would make a basket for the neighbors who lived behind us growing up. It was like a friendly ding dong ditch, because you left them treats in a basket. Once I was older they informed me that they knew it was me, and I was terrible at hiding. Either way it was fun for both sides.

Last year I made some cookies and took them to my previous temp job and the neighbors. This year I won’t be ringing any doorbells, just sending some snail mail. These will be arriving in DC hopefully today!

I decided some May Day cards were in order.

T2S photography

They are a mix of paint, wallpaper, scrapbook paper, and of course a dab of glitter glue. I used the Cricut to draw the word outlines and to cut out the tulips. I think I did fairly well lining up the text pretty close to the center. I’ll get there eventually with this more complex cards. I know they aren’t the most gorgeous things you’ve ever seen, but it’s a work in progress.

 

This post uses affiliate links. This just means that if you go to the site and end up buying something I’ll get a small percent, this doesn’t increase the cost to you at all. 🙂