This is card #8 of 50 hand-stitched cards that I made over an 18-month period. I gave 44 of those as a special gift to my Mom. I had been looking for several years to find a way of incorporating hand-stitching onto cards for my Mom, as she is a master cross-stitcher, and I wanted to make a set of cards that she would enjoy giving to her friends and family. At first, I was thinking that she would only be giving these cards to her crafty friends, she has many, but then I realized that she may wish to give some of these hand-stitched cards to other friends and family, so some cards contain die-cuts of crafting supplies, and others will not. Also, at the beginning, I expected to use many more embellishments on these cards, but I realized that it was important to let the beauty of hand-stitching shine, and so these cards became somewhat simpler and less fussy than was my original concepts. I am glad that I went for less of the embellishments details.
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.
Since I would not be choosing these cards nor writing messages, I chose to keep the insides of each of these cards blank, so as not to hinder my Mom from liking the front of a card for a specific friend or family member, then to not feel that the inside message was appropriate for the occasion and to express the sentiment she wanted to send. But I also think that if I was making such a set for myself, I would probably have left the inside blank as well, but I could have later stamped a message appropriate for the sentiment I wished to convey. I might in future create inside tags with various messages and sentiments complete with adhesive tape or foam strips, to add a message inside if the person I gave the set of cards wished to use them, just a thought.
This giant set of hand-stitched cards is the result of that search, which ended when I watched a wonderful YouTube tutorial on Jennifer McGuire's channel (hers is one of my all-time favorites) where she was introducing a Hand-stitching die by Paper Smooches, as well as a fantastic introduction to hand-stitching on paper. I knew that this could be the answer that I had been looking for, and I immediately ordered that die at Simon Says Stamp online, and I began to play and learn once it arrived.
I have found Simon Says Stamp to be an excellent place for me to order online, and it is especially a great online resource for Canadian paper Crafter's, as they offer reasonable shipping to Canada, and they often offer a $5 coupon which brings down their shipping price to almost free. Plus, I absolutely LOVE their own Simon Says Stamp line of products. My favorite time of year for SSS is September, when they have Stamptember, and they collaborate with other major stamping companies who create an exclusive stamp set often with dies, and these sets sell out quickly. My other favorite time of year at SSS is their Black Friday sales, I save up for those sales!
The envelope in this photo is A2-sized and it is from SSS's line of metallic envelopes, which are my favorites, this is their Green Leaf metallic envelope, which comes with a line of adhesive on the flap. I embossed the flap with an embossing folder from Cuttlebug called Kitchen Weave. I like this pattern when paired with a hand-stitched card because the pattern has a stitched look, and I think that it blends well with the hand-stitching.
Just a note, I wish that SSS made envelopes in the metallic line that would fit a 5 by 7 card!!! I struggle to find colored envelopes for my 5 by 7 hand-stitched cards, and often had to use the V-flap white envelopes that came with the card bases that I use when I would prefer to use beautiful colored envelopes with rectangle flaps to coordinate with the cards. It's just a wish, and I understand that A2 cards are the most commonly used size of cards especially in the US. But if you don't ask...
On this card, I used the same white very heavyweight card bases that I have used for all of my hand-stitched cards, which are wonderful, and very reasonably priced, especially considering that they are a bright white cardstock, they are 200-pound weight, and can handle any extra weight from the hand-stitching. These sets of cards and envelopes are made in Britain, come in sets of 25 card bases plus V-flap envelopes in 3 sizes--A2, A6, and 5 by 7. They are very reasonably priced, and are available exclusively at Scrapbooking Made Simple, an online store, with their physical shop located in Southern California. I highly recommend shopping online there, although because they are a small shop, their usual shipping time line is about 30 days. The wonderful store owner, Stacey has gone through unbelievable tough circumstances in the last several years culminating with her husband having a very debilitating massive stroke after heart surgery, which is just the tip of all she and her family have gone through. If you can support them with your crafting business, you will be helping out a very hard-working wonderful family who need our support. Check out the YouTube channel of Scrapbooking Made Simple and/or their Facebook page for more information. They have a lot of exclusive products for papercrafters...
For colored cardstock, I used my favorite line of heavyweight cardstock by Gina K Designs. She creates cardstock in very rich colors, and they look so elegant, and they perform like a dream. When I can, I am trying more of her cardstock colors, and I am starting to use her inks. Gina's online site, then Stamp TV was one of the first online tutorials that I watched, and I learned so much from her. Because of chronic health issues, I tend to learn by watching online tutorials vs going out to classes, and I found Gina K to be an excellent teacher, very easy to understand and to create right along with her. I believe that she creates some of the very best products in the papercrafting area of crafting, and her kits are WONDERFUL!!! I tried to order her last kit, but it sold out SO quickly that I missed it. They are a great value, and always tend to contain some of her wonderful cardstock. For Canadian papercrafters, know that Gina K Designs has a very reasonable shipping rate to Canada, but except for cardstock within a kit, they do not ship cardstock to Canada. When I have purchased their cardstock, I have had it shipped to a US address, then had to drive to the US (I live not too far from the US border) and pay to have the order sent there, then have taken it back across the border where I claim everything I bring in and usually have to pay duty. Of course, right now that is not possible during this pandemic to go across. But I hope to be able to order more of Gina K Designs cardstock in the future, and I hope someday to be able to have a full complement of her cardstock which I consider to be the very best on the market of all that I have tried.
Thank you for stopping by to take a look at my card. When you take the time and you go to the trouble of leaving a comment, please know that you have been a great encouragement, and I appreciate it. Have a very blessed and enjoyable day, and especially now, please stay safe and healthy.
Date: Sunday, July 5, 2020 GMT Views: 572
Favorited:2
Paper: Gina K Designs Passionate Pink and Green Grass heavy base weight cardstocks, 110-pound white cardstock, Scrapbooking Made Simple Simply Defined Distinctions A2 heavyweight card bases
Paper Size: A2
Accessories: Gemini, MFT Cross-stitch Tag Die-Namics, Hello die, pink fun foam, colored embroidery yarn, pink ribbon, glossy accents, wonky stitches die, SSS metallic green leaf envelope, Darice foam strips, Crafter's Pick The Ultimate glue
Techniques: Hand-stitching on cardstock, die-cutting on fun foam, die-cutting on cardstock