I gave my nephew, Ben this 18th birthday card plus his HS graduation on the same day, his birthday this past July. We wanted this to be very special because Graduations had been postponed at that point, but now have been canceled. I wanted the two cards to be different, his grad card wasn't a hand-stitched card, and I believe that this is the only hand-stitched card that I have given to him. I decided to make it very bright and used rainbow colors, but I chose the lime green color to be the dominant color. I normally would have gone for his favorite color of blue, but because his grad card used his HS colors of navy blue, red, and white, I wanted this to be different, and I hope that he liked it. In both cards, I wrote quite long notes to him from his aunty Sarah (who lives on the other side of the country and couldn't be there because of the lockdowns with COVID-19) and myself. How his aunty Sarah and I love Ben, and we are very proud of the young man that he has become, he's a kind and thoughtful young man! It's an extremely difficult time for young people of his age, as these COVID-19 conditions and restrictions are making it very challenging to receive an education in the normal sense, as most is now online. Please pray for Ben and for anyone you know at this age and stage of life, they need our prayer support.
This card uses a very simple stripe pattern, all in a basic cross-stitch pattern, using the larger of the 2 hand-stitching dies I had, this one is basically the size of an A2 card, but I like to have some room for some layers to mat, so I used an A7 white card base. My favorite card bases for hand-stitched cards are made by Scrapbooking Made Simple in their own brand called Simply Defined. These are 200 pound and I believe 300 gsm in a bright white, with matching envelopes with a v-flap. I do wish that the envelopes had a rectangular flap and were a little big heavier, but this package of 25 A7 cards plus envelopes was only $9.99 US, they also sell A2 and A6 sets of 25 for I believe $8.99, and these are imported from England. This is what I have found to work best for my hand-stitched cards for me so far... I die-cut the big, chunky Happy Birthday die from metallic silver glitter cardstock from Crafter's Companion's luxury line, and I also cut out the numbers for "18" from a Sara Signature line from Crafter's Companion. The "th" were die-cut in the same metallic silver glitter cardstsock from a set of Simply Defined dies by Scrapbooking Made Simple's number set. I would like to find a chunkier "th" die, but this is what I have at the moment. I cut several layers of each of these die-cuts from heavyweight white cardstock and stacked them because I wanted these die-cuts to have more presence and to stand out more than a single layer would do just of the metallic silver glitter cardstock--likely that is not seen in this photo, so I wanted to mention it. Because I wanted it to be "cool" for a guy on his 18th birthday, I kept it pretty simple, and I used another stripes embossing folder (as opposed to the diagonal stripes embossing folder I used for Ben's graduation card) so as not to make the card too busy, but I didn't want to take away from the rainbow hand-stitched stripes. Another time, I might make the stripes wider, just a thought...
The white envelope (not pictured here) was also embossed on the v-flap with the same stripe embossing folder. Inside the card, I die-cut from a Sizzix die in purple fun-foam "happy birthday to you) and used the same Anna Griffin "happy birthday" die in orange fun foam to go along with the rainbow theme all over this birthday card.
Thanks so much for stopping in to take a closer look at my hand-stitched card (this is not part of the 50 hand-stitched cards I made earlier with the set of 44 of those given to my Mom). When comments are left, know that you have been a great encouragement to me, and that I try to leave comments on cards on the gallery to be an encouragement as well.
Please stay safe and healthy in these very unusual and challenging times.
Best wishes,
Joanne
Date: Saturday, February 20, 2021 GMT Views: 1092
Favorited:2
Paper: GKD Lucky Clover cs, 110-pound white, Crafter's Companion luxury silver glitter cardstock, Scrapbooking Made Simple Simply Defined Distinctions heavyweight A7 card bases and envelopes
Paper Size: A7 (5" by 7")
Accessories: Gemini, Altenew Pegboard hand-stitching die, stripe embossing folder, Anna Griffin Happy Birthday die, Sizzix Happy Birthday die (inside), Crafter's Companion Sara Signatures numbers die set, SMS "th" Simply Defined die set, fun foam (inside/envelope)
Techniques: Hand-stitching on cardstock, Die-cutting with metallic glitter cardstock and fun-foam, embossing with an embossing folder
Wow! Amazing that you hand stitch, and so many. I do love stitching on cards, and scrapbook pages, too. Beautifully done. I am sure he loved both cards.
------------------------------ Sharon ♥Blog: Foxy StampingScrapbook Goal: 2024: 30/60 as of 06/30/24
Registered: June 4, 2009 Location: Deatsville, Alabama Posts: 83925
Sat, Feb 20, 2021 @ 2:59 PM
Wow - this speaks so much of your love for your family! All your cards are full of time, energy, talent, and love. Even your choice of colors is thoughtful and sweet! I know he loved this! So happy and fun! Hugz
------------------------------ Nancy Williams - Hope your day is Spirit-filled and ink-filled (in that order)!DRS Designs-DT, Punchkateerforever, Dirty Dozen Alumni
Registered: February 5, 2007 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 92694
Mon, Feb 22, 2021 @ 4:19 AM
Joanne, this is indeed a SPECTACULAR card! One can only imagine the hours and hours you spent creating all those rainbow-hued, hand cross-stitched stripes. It is all SO perfectly done. The effect is glorious. In the photo they look like jewels. The sparkling number and birthday die cuts are the perfect finishing touches. A very special card for obviously a very special young man!
Splitcoast Dirty Dozen Creative Crew SU Design Team Alumni
Registered: January 7, 2007 Location: Southern California Posts: 42928
Thu, Oct 19, 2023 @ 6:07 PM
WOW! Before I was obsessed with making cards, I loved spending time doing cross-stitch, so this really grabbed my attention. I love your choice of bold rainbow colors on this unique and special card. How wonderful that you put extra effort into acknowledging your nephew given all the kids missed during Covid. Well-done in every aspect!
------------------------------ Kathy Stamp n Sip with me