Tag wallpaper

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

card laying down, top in focus

A Red Haired Mermaid

CraftyK Leave a comment

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

bottom

Sleepy cat with books

CraftyK Leave a comment

This card is for a second cousin of mine and the brother of the Scholarly Cat recipient. This is the family where one of the kids is allergic to cats and they can no longer have one as a pet. So I’m creating a cat they can have around.

This one does have a fur from one of my cats that got caught under the interfacing fabric while I ironed it on. So there is some real cat on this card. Hard to avoid when they insist on sitting in my lap while stitching.

most of front of card top

This pattern and overall card is pretty straightforward, nothing too fancy this time. The cat body is in the colors recommended by the pattern. The rest are from my scrap collection to continue using that up. Once I got started counting the stitches was pretty easy.

side view

This one is mounted on a slightly textured wallpaper. Like his brother he is into something called Larping. It sounds Medieval to me so I found a more antique type wallpaper I thought was fitting. Using foam tape I mounted the cat onto the wallpaper. I used double sided tape to mount the wallpaper to the cardstock.

Stitching

Started: July 3rd
Finished: July 10th

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full front of card

side-up angle view

Palm Tree Island

CraftyK Leave a comment

This card is for my husband. And yes, I took it to work and had it mailed back to the house. The best part, we get to keep one of the scratch n’ sniff stamps I bought.

pull back of side

I sort of tried to hide the making of this one. He’s not really a suspicious person, so I think he’ll be surprised. I’m posting this late so he doesn’t see the Twitter post before he gets to open it.

For this one I needed to start while out of town, so there’s no “beginning” photo like I have done for the rest of these. Not that those photos were very exciting. Also in my rush to get done I didn’t take a photo pre-backstitching.

the bottom

Overall this was a pretty simple card. I did have some trouble with the birds. One didn’t fully stay anchored. So right before I used the interfacing fabric I pulled it tight and ironed it in place. Should stay in place now.

view of left side

The pattern called for yellow variegated thread for the sun, beach, and border. This was interesting to remember to work one stitch at a time. I’m so used to rows and rows.

super top view

I knew I wanted to cut out the pattern and use foam tape to hold it to the card, but the paper for the card was harder to decide on. I ended up finding some silver dollar wallpaper border sample that worked really well. I had a couple of color options and went with the lighter one so the stitching could really stand out.

Stitching

Started: June 21st
Finished: June 26th

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full front of card

laying top corner

Steampunk Stitched

CraftyK Leave a comment

Sometimes there are patterns that come through my email from Daily Cross Stitch that just scream, “This is for [enter name here]!” This pattern was one that did just that. I had a former co-worker from maybe 3 jobs or so ago that I still keep in contact with. She likes Steampunk, as do I, but she is much better at it. I’m more of a passive lover of the genre.

starting out

To get this pattern to fit on a regular sized note card I had to stitch it on Hardanger (22 count). If you remember from my Wine pattern I learned that 1 thread is much better than 2 on this cloth. I was super excited to have a cream almost antiqued Hardanger on hand, which goes perfectly with this mostly brown pattern.

side view top

For the background I knew I wanted to use my gears embossing folder I had purchased. It was just how to mount the stitching and what paper to use.

Eventually I settled on cutting out the stitching after using interfacing fabric to keep the edges from fraying. To make the card very 3D I not only embossed the back, but also used foam tape to mount the pattern.

top view embossing

The background is wallpaper. I think the colors work well with the overall feel and grunginess of this card.

front view standing

I really like how this one came together in the end. It seems like a very cohesive piece and can for sure double as art.

Stitching

Started: May 1st
Finished: May 8th

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full front

close up of stitching

Gamer

CraftyK Leave a comment

Do you have a video gamer in your life? Maybe this pattern from dailycrossstitch.com is for you. I have a cousin who loves video games, and regular board games too. In his new house there is one bedroom that has bookshelves full of video games. Special chairs to sit in, big tv, and probably more than one console. I’m hoping one of those is an Xbox.

gamer colors

This pattern includes 4 different shades of grey plus black. unfortunately 2 of them are very close in hue. This makes it hard to see the knob things in real life, in the photos the color difference shows up better.

This pattern was easy and fun to work on. Once you get a few of the key pieces stitched it’s just filling in from there.

front of gamer card standing

I ended up cutting out the wallpaper background with a box cutter. To keep the edges of the fabric from fraying I used my new go to interfacing fabric on the back. A few cat hairs are now a permanent part of this card. I mounted the cross stitch using foam tape to stand off the card a bit.

This was a very straightforward uncomplicated card which was very nice.

Stitching

Started: April 7th
Finished: April 13th

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front of gamer card

bottom of card Huskers

Go Big Red!

CraftyK Leave a comment

I could make this exact card for just about anyone in my family. Almost everyone loves their football and the Huskers. It’s a Nebraska thing if you aren’t familiar.

starting out GBR

In my attempt to keep each card unique, only one family member is getting the beloved Huskers stitched onto a card. This card is for my cousin (and my mom’s godson). He’s been living in Texas almost 2 decades now, but that doesn’t take his love of the Huskers away.

To bring a little Huskers to him, this is the ONE Husker card that I am making this year. I found the pattern years ago with a random image search. I’m pretty sure it’s not licensed so hopefully I won’t get in trouble for it.

final card front standingThis card was pretty simple overall. I used the Cricut to cut out the card, background, and red pieces. This card is a little larger at 5×7. The pieces were too crowded looking on the smaller card. I wanted to do frayed edges and mount with foam tape.

top of card close up

While Huskers are known for red, they are also known for the Blackshirts, which is why I chose the marbled black wallpaper as the background on this card. I didn’t have red paper like I would normally use, but did have some red construction paper. I went old school and used that instead of buying scrapbooking paper.

I used double sided tape to mount the wallpaper to the cardstock and the construction paper to the wallpaper. for the cross stitch I used foam tape to make it stand off the card a bit.

Stitching

Started: April 6th
Finished: April 7th

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full front of Husker card

from the top

Scholarly Cat

CraftyK Leave a comment

When I asked my cousin what her sons like, I was told Larping. That is something I’m not sure has ever been captured in cross stitch form. I was also told they like cats (although one is allergic) and reading. Luckily these are things much more readily available in the cross stitching world.

all laid out

I found a pattern on dailycrossstitch.com with a cat sitting on a pile of books. This was the perfect fit! Logan is also off at college so the extra large books are also quite fitting for this stage in his life.

Yet again I found myself lost as to how I was going to assemble this card. The ideas aren’t coming like they were before. I’m in a Cross Stitch Club on Facebook and the day I finished this card she answered how she was able to cut around her patterns for cards and not have fraying.

Interfacing fabric. Who knew that you can make your own iron ons?! Luckily for me JoAnn’s was having a sale the weekend I learned of its existence, so I purchased a yard of the stuff to try for myself. Cost under a dollar with tax! Great price for trying out something new.

side view

You can see a little bit of separation of the interfacing fabric and the Aida cloth in the image above, but I don’t think it’s too bad for a first try. I was told it would be quite stiff, but it didn’t really do that to me. I think it was the kind of fabric I was sold, it was called “Lite” and I was told there were thicker ones, but the salesperson felt it probably wasn’t what I wanted. This seems to work ok, it holds well and give more “stiffness” to the piece than just tacking it on would.

from the side

The background is from my massive wallpaper collection. I thought the pattern fit a kind of Larping theme. It makes me think Medieval, something from a family crest maybe.

It was fun trying out a whole new way to mount a cross stitch to a card. Now I have square with frayed edges, mounted in a “frame”, and this, cut out no fray.

Stitching

Started: February 28th
Finished: March 10th

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full front of card