I love hand stitching!

It does take a long time, but for a very special card there is nothing I love more than hand stitching. This baby card is for my brother and SIL who just had their first baby (yay, I have a niece!), and I really love the handstitching on the buttons. For this card I used this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You -- it was just perfect for this stamp! A friend gave it to me unmounted, so I have no idea what company it came from, but I think it's just adorable.


For the birthday card I used a Bazzill In Stitchz template and added the french knots for a little extra pizzazz. This is actually last week's sketch from 2 Sketches, but I didn't finish it in time to upload it there.

Supplies used
(Baby Card) Velvet ribbon -- Fancy Pants
Buttons -- All My Memories
Glitter -- Stickles Cotton Candy
Jewels -- Westrim Crafts
Scalloped square -- Cricut Mini-Monograms cartridge, cut at 1 1/2" on RDS
Embossing -- Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder
Other - chalk ink, cotton thread, foam squares, mystery stamp

(Birthday card) Patterned Paper -- Scrapworks
Flowers -- Making Memories
Stitching Template -- Bazzill In Stitchz
Stamp -- Imaginisce
Jewel brad -- Joann Craft Essentials

Fun with needlepoint, plus a great sketch...

Another great sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You this week! It is so fun to bloghop through all the submissions each week -- I am just amazed at the talented cardmakers from all over the world who take on the sketches. Here's this week's sketch, from Laura:



And here is my take on it!


I pulled out these felt flowers from Fancy Pants and felt like they needed something a little extra, and for me that usually means some decorative stitching! I had fun with these especially because I relearned how to embroider a french knot, which I had learned to do in junior high but could never quite get the hang of again. I found a great video tutorial at Needle'nThread that made it so easy.

For these cards I used the Fiskars Threading Water punch to make the flower stems (see a tutorial here), and the Cuttlebug Olivia font for the "thanks." The pp is from My Mind's Eye, Magnolia collection.

More fun with 2 Sketches 4 You

I just can't say enough about the beauty of a good sketch -- I think of it as the scaffolding on which I can create any kind of card. These sketches from 2 Sketches 4 You are the perfect example -- this first one is this week's sketch, created by Laura, and the next two are sketches provided for trying out for the design team (wish me luck!). I decided to create cards in three totally different styles with these sketches, and it was so much fun! I already had the "bones" of the design, so I was able to spend my time being creative with everything else instead of worrying so much about that. I love it!





This card is based on this week's sketch, and I love the bold, graphic style. The journaling card is special to me because I found it among my grandma's things after she passed away a few months ago. In her office supplies she had a whole bunch of fun things like this, and of course I couldn't let them just get thrown away! The pp is all from Scenic Route (the flowers are cut from the PP), and the scallop chain is done with the Fiskars Threading Water punch. The word NOTE is cut with the Cuttlebug Typewriter font.





This one is a brighter, more summery card, made just for my little sister who is away on a Church trip for the next three weeks. It's made using this sketch by Laura, and it's also my first design team entry. This cute little penguin chick is an Imaginisce stamp. The scallop circle was cut with Mini-Monograms at 3", and popsicle is from Doodlecharms, cut at 2 1/2". The green border is meant to be like a grass skirt, and the background is embossed with the Cuttlebug.





This one is based on Kazan's design team sketch, and I went for a softer look with this card. The paper is from Crate Paper, and the "Thinking of You" rub-on is from Pebbles, Inc. The swirl stamp is from Autumn Leaves -- I stamped the blue paper all in one piece, then cut it into three and added the punched flowers.

TFL!