Monday, January 12, 2009

Paper Embroidered Flower Card

Happy Monday to you! I hope the beginning of your week is going well. We woke up to snow falling, softly at first, then much more heavily. We were expecting snow, just not so much in such a short amount of time! Steve said it dumped about 3 inches in an hour! Steve's commute took a couple of hours, where it's normally about 30 minutes, max. It was done by noon and the skies cleared, so it's all good.

I have a card to share with you that I have to confess I absolutely love! I worked on it yesterday and was SO looking forward to sharing it, but I didn't get it done and had to finish it today.

I was completely enthralled with this card made by Joanne on the blog called Mainly Flowers. Joanne creates the most beautiful paper flowers! Well, when I saw the daisy and stitched card, I HAD to find that pattern so I could recreate it. The link Joanne put up didn't have the pattern posted any longer, but I took a chance, and emailed the owner and asked if I could have access to the pattern. Ann, of Ann's Paper Art, very kindly emailed me and included the file! Then she posted the pattern again. It's a freebie, folks! If the link doesn't take you to the pattern, just click on the free patterns button on the left side of the screen. Here's the card, which is a case of Joanne's, but I love it!

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close up embroidered flower card

I've done this technique before, but it's been a long time. It's not difficult at all, but takes time, patience, and tape! I printed off the pattern and used a T-pin to prick the holes. I used a foam mat so I wouldn't mess with the table top. You do have to be careful not to poke the holes too close together (or rather make the holes so big that they blend into another hole). Then you create the pattern using a needle and thread. I used one strand of DMC embroidery floss (from my counted cross-stitch days). Ann has directions on her website that explain the technique well.

To make the daisies, I confess, I bought the punch specifically for this card. I had some punches but I wanted a larger flower than the punches I owned. I had a 50% off coupon from Joann's and picked up the Fiskar's squeeze punch called Oopsie Daisy at Michaels...the store is closer. My flowers are a little larger than the inspiration card, but I think they work well. I punched two flowers for each daisy and inked the edges of the petals with CTMH's Baby Pink ink. I also sponged some Sweet Leaf in the center. I punched the PTI Lemon Tart cardstock with a 5/8 inch circle punch and inked the edges. Then I rolled a tool over the cardstock to shape it. The tool looks like an extra large embossing tool with the name  "Studio By Sculpey Style & Detail Tools Set Of Three" (picked up at Joann's). Link above should take you to the item on the website. Anyway, I rolled the tool over the cardstock circle on a soft surface and it shaped the circle enough that I could add a small pop dot to adhere it to the center. I hope that makes sense. I used a smaller tool from the same set on the flower petals to allow them to curve up just a bit.

I used a Corner Adorner punch called Iron Eagle to punch the corners and finally used the Martha Stewart fern leaf punch.

Textured cardstock is from Hobby Lobby (white) and DCWV (Fall Cardstock Stack).

The card size is 6x6.

I think that explains everything. I had so much fun creating this one and want to thank Joanne and Ann for their inspiration and help!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Jeanne

10 comments:

Felicia Fernandez said...

Beautiful, as always! And at least you're making headway with the mice. Does Steve read your blog? I'm just curious. I'm headed to California for 10 days, by myself!!! My jewelry business is having a conference that is conveniently an hour from my parents. So it's a good excuse to go and when Mike said he'd stay home with the boys, I started packing!!!!

Kathi Carlson said...

Holy cow! Exquisite is the only word that comes to mind. I have tape. I might have the patience. The time? I doubt it. It sure is fun, though, to come here and see something so wonderful. Thanks for sharing. As massive amounts of snow, I might be willing to trade that for the bitter cold that's coming our way. Wind chills in excess of -40. Brrr . . .

Anke said...

Oh Jeanne, do you seriously send these to people? You need to just frame that! How gorgeous it is!! Then again you can send it to me LOL

Anonymous said...

Jeanne,
This is absolutely freaking gorgeous! Wow. That's all I've got to say. You did good!

Lisa Stenz said...

Oh my Jeanne. This is beautiful! I love it. I don't know if I would have the patience to make one. Even if I did, I don't know that I could actually bring myself to send it to someone. LOL! *Ü*

Kim Burmeister said...

Holy Moly, Jeanne! This card is beautiful! You are great at this technique. Absolutely perfect!

mE said...

Jeanne,

I've already told you how GORGEOUS I think this card is and how much it wows me... but I have to tell you again that I just love it! I explored the pattern website and just droooled... lol!

Hugs to you!

Erin

stampmonkey said...

Breathtaking!! I'm soooo impressed, Jeanne! Your stitching is wonderful and so delicate. Beautiful job with the punched flowers and corners -- great job with the entire thing! And thanks for sharing the links (I had fun browsing around). ;)

Barb said...

Well isn't this just beautiful! My goodness, you are very creative! The colors are so soft and comforting and I love those flowers. The stitching is amazing! You go, girl!

Joanne said...

Fabulous card Jeanne - I like your bigger flowers! I am hugely flattered that you liked the card enough to make one yourself - best complement I could have. Thanks for linking as well - much appreciated!