Prick and Stitch Mother's Day Card 2013

In my previous post, I mentioned that I’d tried my hand at stitching a card using the prick and stitch technique. Because I wasn’t sure if it was something I would take to and be any good at, I’d only purchased the supplies I required to stitch the Stitching Cards design I had chosen for the wedding card.

Well, as soon as I’d finished the card, I wasted no time in re-visiting Stitching Cards to purchase several more designs, along with a design from Form-A-Lines, and the supplies I needed to stitch them (an ongoing process).

From Craft Creations, I ordered a quantity of Hammer White double-fold cards, measuring 104mm X 152mm (DF03U), and white Centura Pearl envelopes (CNTE2) to fit, which look more of a pale-silver colour. All the designs require Kreinik Cord thread (part of the Kreinik Metallics range), and I was able to purchase the colours I needed from Sew and So.

Some of the designs I purchased require seed beads, bugle beads, or both. Within the Tutorials section of the Stitching Cards website, it states that their designs are based on 2mm (size 10/0) seed beads, and 7mm (Czech size 3) bugle beads. From The Bead Shop I ordered a pack of silver-lined medium-gold seed beads (which look great), a pack of transparent green seed beads, and a pack of transparent blue seed beads (which don’t look so great). The conclusion I have come to is that silver-lined beads are a must, but trying to find stockists of 2mm (size 10/0) seed beads is a complete nightmare. There were several other colours of seed beads I was after, but was unable to find. In addition, I bought a pack of Gütermann silver-lined green (8320), red (4580), and gold (1870) bugle beads.

Anyway, it occurred to me that one of the designs I’d purchased would be ideal for a Mother’s Day card (10th March in the UK). The same could be said for quite a few of the other designs I had purchased, just that the one I opted to stitch really appealed to me and immediately made me think of my mother. For the benefit of those of you who may not know, Mothering Sunday in the UK is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent; three weeks before Easter Sunday.

Unlike the other prick and stitch cards I’ve made, I can actually include an image of this one, which I really do feel immensely proud of.

Design Copyright © www.stitchingcards.com

Now, I must admit that when it comes to colours, I’ve never been a fan of pale pink, purple, or the shade of green thread that was used to stitch the design. However, for the first day or so after finishing the stitching, I found myself unable to stop smiling when I looked at the card, and feeling overjoyed at how good the colours looked together.

Out of everything, I thought the addition of the seed beads would be the tricky part, given the fact that they are so small. In actual fact, it was the basket that proved to be the real challenge. The basket base was what I had started working on first, and after the end of the thread had been sealed down on the reverse of the card, it had worked its way loose. The only way I could get to it was by unpicking the basket base and rim and starting again.

I could have stitched the words ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ on the card, using one of the stitching fonts I’d downloaded from Stitching Cards. I decided against it though, thinking that if my mother wanted to frame the card, the design would look better as it was.

The Tutorials section on the Stitching Cards website suggests the use of a No.10 embroidery needle for stitching, and a size 10 beading needle. I’m not actually sure what size beading needle I used to add the gold beads, just that it was from a pack of John James size 10/13 beading needles. For the stitching, I used a John James size 28 cross-stitch/tapestry needle.

When I have previously used beading needles to add beads to cross-stitch and blackwork projects, it hasn’t always been easy to get the needle to come up through the right place on the Aida. This is not a problem when stitching directly on to card.

If you study the Flower Basket image, you will see there are five seed beads at the centres of the flowers with five petals. For each section, I passed the needle through the first four beads twice, and three times for the fifth bead, just to ensure the beads would be secure.

I did read in the Tutorials section that the pricked holes can be made less noticeable by placing the card face down on a hard surface, and rubbing gently across the stitched work with the back of a teaspoon. However, this is not recommended for cards with beads. Personally, I think the appearance of the pricked holes adds to the overall charm.

There’s a fascinating article on the StitchingCards website that provides a brief history about the progression of string art to stitching cards. It includes a link to the website String Art Fun, which is part of the Stitching Cards family and well worth a visit.

Anyway, the card was greatly appreciated by my mother, who informed me that if it is viewed upside down, it looks like a hat, so let’s test this out.

When an aunt visited my mother and saw the Mother’s Day card, she asked if I’d ever considered selling my cards on eBay. I’ve received wonderful comments from the recipients of stitched greeting cards I’ve made in the past, and although I’ve often thought about selling them, I’ve never put the wheels in motion. My aunt’s comment spurred me into rectifying that, and I’ve since set up an Etsy shop. It’s not open for business yet because I need to build up a collection of stock to sell, but watch this space, as they say.

March 2013 Catch-up

After more than six months of procrastinating and allowing Delphiniums to gather dust, and feeling guilty that progress had ground to a halt, my motivation thankfully returned. This was around the end of September, I think.

 

I’d set the beginning of December as my deadline, and stitched like crazy. After a fortnight, I realised Delphiniums would be finished well ahead of my self-imposed deadline, providing I continued to devote as much time as possible to stitching. The one thing that helped to keep me going was that the sooner Delphiniums was finished, the sooner I could get to work on a project that I actually wanted to do.

 

Somewhat frustratingly, as Delphiniums was nearing completion, I ran out of a handful of threads. Having contacted Derwentwater Designs, I was then in a state of limbo whilst I waited for the threads to be posted to me. I really wanted to be stitching, but the issue was that I’d been using my No-Sew Table/Lap Stand for Delphiniums, and wanted to use it for my next project as my other No-Sew roller frames weren’t wide enough. In addition, I couldn’t find my masking tape.

 After a couple of days of being stuck in limbo, I found my masking tape, which made me feel deliriously happy. Delphiniums was promptly removed from the table/lap stand, and replaced with the Aida for my next project; Wedding Couple by Design Works. Two days after that, I received the threads for Delphiniums, which I completed on November 12th.

 

As yet, I don’t have any images of Delphiniums. It was far too large too scan, and after it had been washed and pressed, it was promptly taken to Betty Stitchkit to be framed. This proved to be an interesting experience for me, as I had naively believed it would be as simple as choosing a frame and that would be that. How wrong I was! It was felt that Delphiniums would look better with a frame mount, and what a vast selection there was to choose from. After that, we (me and my mother) got to choose the frame, and were then asked what type of glass we wanted! Although the cost didn’t come as a surprise to my mother, I almost had a heart attack. There was no opportunity to take any photographs of Delphiniums after it had been framed, due to several layers of bubble wrap that had been bound around it, which I didn’t want to disturb.

 The good news is that my gran absolutely loves Delphiniums, which now has pride of place in her room at the care home. Apparently, it’s sparked a lot of interest from staff and visitors. Of course, things like that are always lovely to hear.

 After Delphiniums was completed, I had Wedding Couple straight back on my frame. Much to my amazement it took me just over a week to stitch, and was completed on November 20^th.

 Immediately after Wedding Couple was removed from the frame, I made a start on Wedding Arch by Bothy Threads. The kit included Madeira threads, which I must admit was lovely to stitch with. It felt lovely and soft, and just seemed to glide effortlessly though the Aida. There was a small section of the design (I won’t say what) that was stitched with ‘glitter thread’. It was rather like Kreinik blending filament, which I’ve never been a fan of. I did consider substituting the ‘glitter thread’ with DMC metallic thread, but quickly dismissed the idea because the effect just wouldn’t have been right.

 

It had always been my intention that in addition to the wedding samplers, I would stitch a wedding card. After months of looking at cross-stitch charts, blackwork charts, and card kits, I had all but given up hope of finding anything that appealed. Then, one day, I just happened to spot Stitching Cards; a website packed with e-charts. Instead of stitching on Aida, one stitches directly on to card using a prick and stitch card-making technique. There is an excellent step-by-step tutorial (with images) on the website, and all the charts have an ease of use rating.

The design I opted for required Kreinik metallic cord, which I’ve never worked with before. It is a fine single-strand thread, but very strong, and looks divine. I had truly believed I would find the card challenging to stitch, but it proved to be incredibly easy, and immensely enjoyable. The most time-consuming aspect was pricking the holes, which resulted in an unpleasant burning cramp in my left upper-arm. There are pricking tools and foam pricking mats one can purchase, but I managed perfectly well with a glass-headed pin and a (clean) tea towel.

 Whilst I don’t think the intended recipients of the wedding samplers and card visit my blog, I’d rather err on the side of caution and delay posting images until after their wedding (August).

Summer 2012 Catch-up

After much thought, I have concluded that my friend’s band (The Dale Von Minaker Band) deserve their own page on my blog. Because my blog is primarily intended to be a stitching-themed blog, it just didn’t seem right to have posts relating to the band appearing on the same page as stitching-themed posts.

Unfortunately, I have nothing to report stitching-wise. For the past few months, Delphiniums (by Derwentwater Designs) has been gathering dust. I really do need to pull my finger out, but just cannot seem to get myself into the right frame of mind to stitch. Because it’s for my gran, I had initially thought that would be enough to motivate me and spur me on. The crux of problem is that the design just doesn’t appeal to me. In addition, the chart has been printed on four sheets of A5-sized paper, which I find somewhat overwhelming.

On a positive note, a close friend of mine is getting married next year. As soon as I found out, I was on the internet looking at wedding samplers, but couldn’t really find anything that seemed quite right. What I’d wanted was a wedding sampler with space for the bride and groom’s names, the date, and the name of the church. In addition, I wanted there to be an image of a church, along with a bride and groom. My friend and her fiancé are fun-loving people, so I wanted a design that reflected this, as opposed to sickly-sweet. I don’t ask for much, do I?

Trying to find the perfect wedding sampler, which ticked all the boxes, was impossible. Eventually, I didn’t purchase one wedding sampler, but two – a spur-of-the-moment decision.  I happened to be out one day, and saw a wedding sampler kit by Design Works called Wedding Couple. It wasn’t the design itself that grabbed my attention, but the font (as bizarre as this may seem).

Wedding Couple by Design Works

The second kit was more along the lines of what I had been looking for; Wedding Arch by Bothy Threads. The kit includes glitter thread and beads, and the option to personalise the hair and eye colour of the bride and groom.

Wedding Arch by Bothy Threads

Initially, I had thought of stitching the smaller kit as a large greeting card, but have since dismissed that idea. When the time comes, my friend can choose if she wishes to display both samplers in different rooms, or just display one of them, and replace it with the other when she fancies a change.

Spring catch-up

It’s been some months since I last paid a visit to my blog, and you might be wondering what I’ve been up to during my absence.

At Christmas, my services were volunteered to complete a cross-stitch kit, which my gran had received as a present. Her vision isn’t as sharp as it once was, and to be fair, she’s more accustomed to working with tapestry kits.

The design (called Delphiniums by Derwentwater Designs) is considerably larger than the size of designs I’ve been used to stitching in more recent years. Progress has been slower than I would like, not helped by the fact that the design really isn’t my cup of tea. Therefore, I feel it would be highly accurate to look upon this project as a labour of love.

At the beginning of February, I succeeded in achieving a BCS Level 2 Certificate in IT User Skills, which I was extremely relieved about. The latter part of the course had proven to be incredibly hard-going, as my mind had regrettably been on more pressing matters. During the weeks leading up to the final exam, I’d found it impossible to get myself into revision mode, and had felt certain I would fail.

While I am proud of my achievement, and learnt a great deal, it hasn’t resulted in opening any doors for me as far as job hunting goes, or at least not yet! However, perhaps that’s a story best left for another day, and certainly not for the likes of this stitching-themed blog.

Festive Blackwork

Towards the end of September, I published a post with the title Cross-stitch Software Evaluation, which had included several images. Well, after publishing that post, I decided to go ahead and stitch some of those festive-themed designs, but before my stitching could commence, I was required to have S.E.X. (a stash enhancing experience). Sorry folks, but that stitchy acronym never fails to amuse me!

All the designs you see featured below were stitched on 18-count Aida, using metallic thread. The cards I used measure 144mm x 144mm, and the dimension of the aperture is 96mm x 96mm. I purchased a bulk quantity of the cards from Craft Creations several years ago, so that was one thing less to worry about when I had S.E.X. Having checked the website, they are still available for purchase, along with envelopes, clear card bags, and plain insert sheets. Craft Creations do stock printed inserts sheets, although not for the size of cards I used. However, it’s not that difficult to turn a plain insert sheet into a printed insert sheet, bearing a greeting of your choice, but I’ll explain more about this later. Finally, the cards were embellished with peel-off stickers that had also been purchased from Craft Creations.

Christmas Bauble

This was the first design I stitched, using one strand each of DMC E310 (black) and E3852 (gold).

Christmas Bauble

This was stitched with one strand each of DMC E321 (red) and E3852 (gold).

Christmas Bell

On the chart I followed for this design, the clapper (the bulbous part at the bottom of the bell) hadn’t been filled, nor had the bell’s hook, and I personally felt the design would look so much better if they were. I used one strand of DMC E3852 (gold) for the Blackwork and the cross-stitches.

Christmas Present

I have to confess that I found this design to be an absolute nightmare to stitch. The ribbon on the chart I followed hadn’t been filled, but I opted to fill it because I really wanted it to stand out. For the present, I used one strand of DMC E3852 (gold), and E321 (red) for the ribbon. I should add that I used two strands to outline the ribbon.

 

 

Christmas Stocking

When one looks at a Christmas stocking, furry fabric is often used for the trim at the top. I wanted to try to replicate that look when I stitched this design, so used two strands to outline the trim. The rest of the stocking was stitched with one strand of DMC E3852 (gold), and E321 (red).

 

 

Christmas Tree

The tree was stitched with one strand of DMC E699 (green). On the chart I followed, the trunk had been stitched using the same colour that had been used for the tree. Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a tree with a green trunk! As the DMC range does not include metallic brown, it was a matter of searching for a brand that did. Eventually, I took a gamble and placed an order for Madeira Metallic No.4, colour 4029. This is the first time that I’ve used Madeira, and separating the strands was quite a challenge. However, the shade is perfect, so the gamble paid off.

 

 

Christmas Wreath

On the chart for this design, all the stitching for the wreath (not the ribbon) was green, and I found myself thinking, “But one can’t have a Christmas wreath without berries!”  I used one strand of DMC E699 (green) for the wreath, and one strand of E321 (red) for the ribbon. As for the all-important berries, I used Mill Hill glass seed beads (shade 02013).

 

There are some more festive-themed items that I’ve stitched, but before they can be made up into cards, they will all need to be washed. This is something I prefer to do in bulk, and as there are more items I would like to stitch, I’m afraid it will be a matter of waiting and watching this space.

 

Printed insert sheets

Unless you have the patience to use whatever tools are at your disposal to cut a quantity of paper to size, I would advise using pre-cut insert sheets. At the time of writing this, Craft Creations are charging £0.07 per printed sheet measuring 88 x 114mm, and £0.03 per plain sheet, meaning that it’s more economical to purchase the plain insert sheets.

 

When printing on to plain insert sheets, I prefer to use Microsoft Word. The first step is to change the paper size to Custom size, by accessing Page Setup from the File menu. In this instance, the dimensions of my insert sheet (for a 144mm x 144mm card) are 138mm (height) x 276mm (width). After entering the dimensions (in centimetres), I then switch to the Margins tab. Now, I don’t want to add any text to the left-hand side of the insert sheet, and I know that I’d like a margin of 1.5cm around the right-hand side of the sheet. In order to set the left-hand margin, the width of the insert sheet (27.6cm) is halved (13.8cm), and then added to 1.5cm (15.3cm). In addition, the orientation needs to be changed to Landscape.

 

The next step is to add the text, and I prefer to do this by entering it into a Text Box, simply because it’s easier to reposition. By the way, you will need to ensure your view is set to Print Layout before inserting the Text Box. By default, Word will add a black border around the text box, but it’s easy enough to get rid of. All you need to do is right-click the Text Box and then select the option to Format Text Box. From the Colors and Lines tab, select the drop-down menu for the line colour, and choose No Line.

 

I hope I’ve explained the above clearly, but in the event that I haven’t, please let me know and I’ll see if I can put together a visual tutorial.

 

Introducing Laurie

I’ve been intending to post this for a while, so I hope I can be forgiven for the delay.

Several weeks ago, my mother unsubtly hinted that she was sure my gran would like to see my Blackwork, and so I decided to stitch Laurie, by designer Jeanne Dansby, over at Byrd’sNest.

 

Laurie

 

Laurie was stitched on 14-count Aida. I used DMC shade E3852 for the gold outline, and DMC shades E703 (green) and 4018 (pink) for the filling stitches. The card was one that I just happened to have in my stash, and it’s down to pure luck that the colour of it happens to work so well with Laurie. The piece of batting I placed behind the Aida could have done with being fractionally larger, and because of this, I feel it spoils the overall look of the card. It’s only been during this past year that I’ve started to use batting, and in my opinion, cutting it so that it is exactly the right size, is definitely an art within itself.

 

Getting musical

When I was at high school, there was a guy in my year that could often be found playing the drums in the school’s music room. Since then, his musical abilities have gone on to include (amongst other things) song writing. Earlier this year, my acquaintance entered a YouBloom song writing competition, which is judged by a panel of industry experts (including Sir Bob Geldof).

The current state of play is that my acquaintance has done well enough to become a semi-finalist (which I am absolutely thrilled about), and has been required to make a supporting music video.

When I listened to the song for the first time, I was immediately hooked, and found myself playing the song over and over again. Although I have an eclectic taste in music, I am quite choosy about what I like and dislike, and it’s not often that I hear a song that I feel compelled to listen to repeatedly. I consider the lyrics to be catchy, along with the music. Possibly because of my acquaintance’s musical influences, it feels familiar (in a good way), as though it’s a classic that was always meant to be, if that makes sense.

Anyway, if you like the song as much as I do, I’m sure my acquaintance would be delighted if you were to show your support by sharing the link to his video.