2009 Stitching Resolutions

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Why not make some stitching goals and see how many you can achieve this year?

My Stitching New Year's Resolutions:

I will make time to stitch every day.

I will keep my supplies organized because this will help me make more time to stitch.

I will purge my collection of cross stitch & embroidery patterns and supplies. I will keep only what I intend to use and sell the surplus, give the other items to another stitcher, or donate them to a charity.

I will complete any unfinished projects.

I will learn some new stitches or techniques.

I will try a new fabric or stitching surface.

I will stitch a project for charity.

I will teach someone to stitch.

I will share my experience with others by posting more in my blog.

I will pass my tips and tricks along to others through my blog, and my Yahoo! craft group - Crafty Frenz.

I will purchase a new tool or gadget for myself.

I will display at least one of my stitching projects whether it is at the local fair, at my workplace, or elsewhere in my community.

I will design my own pattern(s).

I will sell some of my Cross Stitch projects.

Do you have any other stitching resolutions? How about crafting/card-making resolutions??? Leave me a comment if you do, and I'll add them to my list - thank you.

And, have a wonderful Christmas all of you!! Enjoy your time with your loved ones, and don't forget to remember the reason for the season ...

Cuttlebug 90th birthday card

I made this card for a friends 90th birthday - she belongs to our local Embroidery Guild group, and they were having a party for her - and needed a birthday card, which I was asked to make. I consider this to be an honour, as she is a very special lady, with a wonderful attitude, and a wicked sense of humour - which is why I think she got to be a wise, wonderful and healthy 90 year old!

The card is quite a bit bigger than my usual ones, as it needed to be large enough to add a few names and messages, so I started with a large envelope, and made a card to fit! lol As you can tell, I used my cuttlebug for all the backgrounds - and all that I added was a few rhinestones, and a bit of Kindy Glitz ... the ladies were very happy with it, and tomorrow I'll find out if the recipient liked it ...

Blog Action Day

October 15th is Blog Action Day - click here for more info. This years theme is the subject of poverty.

Poverty is not only a pressing issue, it is a complex one. It's easy to think that there isn’t much an individual can do. Fortunately this isn’t the case at all. With activities ranging from advocacy and professional contribution to charity and financing, there is in fact many ways that we can act.

You can find a range of resources about poverty, about what the average person can do as well as dozens of post suggestions and ideas in the Blog Action Day Resources section.

World Cardmaking Day

These are the cards that I made on World Cardmaking Day - I had these x-stitch images ready to make into cards, and this was the right occasion to finish them. I really do enjoy x-st, and am very happy with how these cards turned out - now I need to get busy, and stitch some more!

If you want to find out about World Cardmaking Day - have a look at this site for the history of the day, lots of ideas, card gallery & more!

Inked Cuttlebug folder

I made this card after reading in one of my Yahoo groups about inking the inside of Cuttlebug folders - brayer ink INSIDE your folder (on the underside), insert card, and run thru your cb. This works well with Adirondak inks - it doesn't hurt or stain your folders, just clean well when finished. The flowers have been stamped then cb'd with the "Textile" folder, and the bg with "D'vine Swirls" - the cat is from my "Cat" folders - outlined with Silver Sharpie.

CPS Sketch Challenge card

These are two cards that I made today for this weeks CPS sketch challenge - I changed it slightly by flipping the sketch around, and leaving out one of the circles. This was a fun challenge, I really enjoyed using circles, made a change from squares and rectangles.

The background paper on the top card is a NZ flax weaving sb paper, and the circles (and the sb paper on the lower card) are from the Warehouse. I used hemp cord to attach the buttons.

X-stitch Cat

And while we're on the subject of cats - my daughter stitched this cat for me, and I wasn't sure what to do with it. Then I bought a cuttlebug cat die that was just perfect! I've used the cat die-cut on quite a few cards (will share some soon), and these are the little extra's. Isn't the mouse cute??

Cat cards

I recently bought these cat stamps (Inkadinkado), and have had a lot of fun with them! There's 18 different stamps in the set, including words, some of them are elegant cats, and some are playful - and I love using them all!

The top cat was stamped on white card, and I used a corner punch to put notches in the corners, then I wrapped #8 Pearl cotton around it. Under the image is builders tape (this is self adhesive), and corrugated card, and the sentiment is from Rubber Bandits Stamps.

The middle cat was mounted onto black card, then onto a cuttlebug (Fantasy Flowers) and sb paper background. The flowers were punched out - the sentiment is from the set.

The last cat has a Sharpie border, as does the sentiment (W/house). The cuttlebug backgrounds are Stylized Flowers, and Bubbles.

Autumn

This was made for a Yahoo group swap, the theme was Autumn - I love the season, but am not that keen on the colours, orange, yellow and brown are not me. So this took me out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing.

I used my Birds and Swirls cuttlebug folder for the background paper, and brown cardstock for the card. The leaves (from the Warehouse) were stamped onto sb paper, as well as the letters (WH). The chiffon ribbon is from the $2 Shop - gold complimented it perfectly - and I used brads to attach the sb paper to the background. I'm really happy with how this turned out, and will probably make more cards with these colours!

Fish card for a man

Cards for men are always difficult to find - especially nice hand-crafted ones, most of us struggle with masculine themes. Fishing, sports, hobbies, sheds, gardening, cars, animals (not cats usually, unless they're BIG cats!), trucks, boats ... these are some ideas for you to use for the men in your life.

This fish pic was given to me by a friend - she knew that I needed to make some cards for men, and thought that this would be perfect - which it is! The flourish stamp (Hero Arts) looks like a fish hook, and the colour of the sb paper complements the fish. The sentiment is from the Warehouse, and yes, that is a small piece of cuttlebugged card behind the fish! To give the fish dimension I used foam squares to attach it to the card.

A friend is forever - x-stitch

I LOVE X-STITCH!!! I do quite a lot of it, and always have a couple of large projects on the go, but I enjoy doing small projects that I can put onto my cards. I made this for a good friend - the x-st is done on 14ct Aida, the background is two different sb papers, with red cuttlebugged strips to cover the joins. The flower is stamped (from Kiwi Stamping), then cut out.

Dress & Flourish on acetate

Another stitched card. I stamped the dress image (unknown) onto acetate, attached sb paper to cardstock, used my flourish stamp (Hero Arts), and hand-stitched the acetate to the card. The sentiment is a Warehouse stamp, and the rhinestones are from the $2 Shop.

I like the way this card turned out, and have made a few more in different colours.

Thank you card with green heart

I recently got a new sewing machine ... after my old one died :-( ... and this is one of the first cards that I stitched on it. The heart is cut from wallpaper (love my wallpaper books!!), the backgrounds are scrapbooking papers (I buy large packs from the Warehouse), and the stamped sentiment is also from the Warehouse.

I layered the pink flower paper, and the heart onto white card first, then stitched, so that no stitching would show at the back - not that this really matters, as I always put an insert into my cards, but the card looks good with the extra layer.

Welcome to Nanni Mouse

My first post, on my new card-making blog!! I've created this blog so I can show pics of my new cards, how-to's, interesting links, websites etc ... so ... lets make a start!!