This is card #14 of approximately 50 hand-stitched cards that I created over about an 18-month period, and I gave 44 of them in a large set to my Mom. I had been looking for several years for a way to incorporate somehow hand-stitching onto my cards, so that I could make some special cards for my Mom, who is a master cross-stitcher to give to her crafty friends. When I watched a video by Jennifer McGuire, whom I very much respect and admire, and she was introducing a hand-stitching die by Paper Smooches, I knew that I had perhaps found a way to have hand-stitching on my cards. Fortunately, she also gave a brief introduction into some basic stitches, as I knew almost nothing about stitching, except what I had observed my Mom doing when she did needlepoint when I was a young girl, and what I saw her doing with cross-stitch which remains her passion to this day, although she is very talented at a number of crafts, including sewing, knitting, crocheting, and quilting plus cross-stitching to name but a few.
All of the patterns that I have uploaded and color combinations have been my own. I have made 2 hand-stitched pieces that I made into cards that I copied the patterns, if I upload those, I will acknowledge my source.
This card is made with a larger hand-stitching die by Altenew, and it also is made with an outer edge cut, whereas the Paper Smooches smaller hand-stitching die does not have an outer edge--which means you have more options with the Paper Smooches, but both are great. Altenew has also made a Cross-Stitch hand-stitching die, but this is a much finer hand-stitching die with tiny holes very close together, and I haven't played with it yet.
When I started this project, I thought that I would be making cards for my Mom to give to her stitching friends who also do other crafts, but then I realized that since I had greatly enlarged the card set size from about 12 to 44, that it would make the most sense to make a number of these cards to be for her non-crafty family and friends as well. So, some cards do not have die-cuts of crafting tools as I had first planned. This card, which has die-cuts of leaves is one such example. The stitching is done in a variety of colors that only uses the basic half-stitch that forms v's but usually in two colors, so a very loose pattern at best. But I did use an embossing folder with a plain knitting stitch embossed in light green, but it almost looks like leaves. The embossing folder wasn't large enough, and I played around to try to get it to work on a larger piece of cardstock and the result isn't perfect, but I decided to use it anyway. There's a small space where the embossing isn't quite right but most of it is covered with the card layer. It was the best that I could manage with that embossing folder. In the meantime, I am looking for larger embossing folders, specifically 5 by 7 ones for my larger hand-stitched cards to use as embossed layers, and it's why I sometimes use the same one especially for envelopes, for I found that it worked much better to use a larger embossing folder to emboss my envelope flaps, and I really like the look of the Kitchen Weave embossing folder by Cuttlebug and it was one I had in my stash that I felt looked stitched, and so it's why I didn't use the knitting embossing folder on the envelope flap, as the embossing folder wasn't big enough. Right now, I am only looking for larger embossing folders for that very reason...
Thank you so much for taking a closer look at my hand-stitched thank you card. When you take the time and the trouble to leave a comment, you really make my day! It's incredibly encouraging.
Date: Monday, July 20, 2020 GMT Views: 477
Favorited:3
Registered: March 30, 2008 Location: Somewhere between the Shire & Mordor! Posts: 4643
Wed, Jul 22, 2020 @ 8:42 AM
OH MY GOODNESS!!! WHAT A GENEROUS GIFT for your mother! I'm SURE she will SO APPRECIATE your generosity! I saw MANY cards in your gallery that are stitched. It MUST take SO MUCH TIME to do these! You do a LOVELY JOB on them! AND you know they came out with LARGE stamps now, JUST MAYBE, they will come out with those LARGE EMBOSSING FOLDERS you are looking for too! You BARELY NOTICE the LITTLE gap from the embossing folder! I SO FEEL this too, when I work on larger cards! AN EXCELLENT JOB & BIG INKY HUGS for your SWEET VISIT!!! ;)<3
Registered: May 18, 2008 Location: Virginia Posts: 24623
Wed, Jul 22, 2020 @ 12:05 PM
Oh, this is so fun. Love the dimension of the leaves and, of course, your masterful stitching. The colors are so pretty and I love the EF you used. Take care!!
------------------------------ Pam Co-Founder of The Punchkateerz! Fan Club Member FS149, QFTD44
Registered: October 19, 2007 Location: Packer Country, WI Posts: 72191
Wed, Jul 22, 2020 @ 1:09 PM
Amazing!!! Do you have a pattern to follow for your color choices, or do you create them? This is another beautiful creation. Clever using the fun fold for your die cut. All the details are outstanding. TFS