Stitched Hearts Cards

Now that I have a full tummy, I'm back to post the other cards I made today. I did some more stitching! I remembered I bought <---this book a long time ago and pulled it out the other day to see if there was anything in it I wanted to create. While the style of cards and pages in it are not my style, I think I'm getting better at being able to take a design and make it my own...finally!

Here's what I came up with using ideas from the book:

On this card, I used two strands of DMC floss in three coordinating colors. I store my floss in numerical order and these three colors were in the same slot in the box. I love how the hearts look, but on this one, I confess, I wasn't quite sure what else to do to dress up the card! I suppose I could have made the card larger so that I'd have more room to play with. Simple is okay though, right? You can see I used my SU piercing template/mat to add a little "something" to the corners, at least.

This card pretty much just evolved. I stitched the heart using one strand of floss. Well, I started out using two strands, but realized that was too thick to see the criss-crosses, so I took it out (carefully) and started again. **Oops, I just noticed a stray scrap in the picture. I took it off.** Anyway, this book shows how to fold squares of dp to make the shape you see in the center of the heart. It's 8 folded squares layered on top of each other and I glued them using a glue pen and some photo splits. I cut the shank off a button from Joann's and added a small rhinestone to the center. I liked the hearts on this button. After piercing holes again, I added larger rhinestones for a little more bling. The dp is more of that same paper from DCWV's Spring Matstack.

I appreciate your stopping by! It's been a good, productive day. Now I'm going to go see if I can finally figure out a knitting pattern that has been driving me to distraction for the past several days. I've started, pulled apart and restarted the same pattern at least three times! But the stubborn side of me wants to figure this out so I can finish! Wish me luck!

Jeanne

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!

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