the start of a busy week....

Well, I'm starting my week out with some cards and a free pattern for you to enjoy! This pattern is a release from my book, "All Ways Stitching". I'll gradually be releasing these patterns on my website, and on Circle of Crafter's from time to time, as the book won't be printed again. Enjoy!

This next card is very versatile as it fits a lot of occasions. I made this for my mom for Mother's Day. I used the new Fiskar punches and I did a tutorial on using them in a previous post. Once I punched my card, I put it through the Swiss Dots embossing envelope and Cuttlebug.

Though it's hard to see in the picture, I used another 2x2 embossing folder and embossed the sentiment "I Love You" onto white cardstock, backed it with black cardstock, and attached it to the card. I cut strips of ribbon and framed the sentiment from punch corner to corner.

Lastly, I cut out two hearts from a red and black heart scrapbooking paper, and added red rhinestones to finish the card. Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

This sweet card was fun to make, and you could choose any accent color instead of blue. I started with a blue notecard, and attached a pretty black and white scrapbook paper from Kaiser Craft.

On white Bazzill cardstock, I stamped "Melange Background" (Hampton Art) with blue ink then mounted it to the card. Next, I stamped the birds (Inkadinkado) onto another piece of white Bazzill cardstock using black Marvy ink. Below the birds, I stampd "just a note" (Stampendous) in black, then mounted that piece to black cardstock. (You can get all these stamps from Michael's.)

Lastly, here is my latest bead set! Is this too much fun? I'm also learning how to do pumpkins, cats, ghosts, ladybugs, and daisies. I'm still working on getting pictures of my bead sets up on my website. If you like this set and want a bracelet made or want to just buy the beads, feel free to email me. (The small crystals are Swarovski and I only use Sterling Silver, Bali Silver, Tibet Silver and Gold Filled findings.)

New patterns posted!

Here's a free new paper embroidery pattern I've designed for Spring! Right click on the image and save it to your computer. This pattern fits a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch note card.

I've also designed 11 other patterns that are perfect for Graduation, All Occasion and Mother's Day! My daughter will be putting them up on my website, "A Stitcher's Dream" tonight or tomorrow! I will email those on my Paper Embroidery mailing list as soon as they are up! If you'd like to be added to this list, please email me!

For those that are looking for some new pretty cotton threads, here's a great site for Sassa Lynne Perle Cotton Variegated threads! I, of course, have to have them all! You'll find them on Maureen's Vintage Acquisitions, and you'll get a glimpse of what I used to do before Paper Embroidery. Maureen makes beautiful Crazy Quilts and if you click on "My Blog" on her website, you'll see some of her work.

had fun today...

Here's a touch of spring for you today! It's been chilly this week, and this pretty stamp from Sweet Stamps it just what I needed to remind me that spring is on it's way!

I used Marvy Black ink on white Bazzill for this unmounted stamp. I punched the corners from a punch/embosser from Ecstasy Crafts, then colored the image with glitter markers from Marvy. They have such a shimmer to them! Then I attached the piece to a nice shimmery paper I got from a cardstock stack from Michael's, and then mounted both pieces to a polished stone cardstock by Murdock Papers.

I added gold peel off borders, corner stickers and a sentiment to finish the card. Card size 4 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches.

This next card is simple yet elegant. Unfortunately, my scanner didn't pick up the silver well enough in the swirls on the background paper. This would be a great card for Graduation, I think!

The background paper is black with shiny silver swirls which I adhered to a white card. I stamped the tree image by Inkadinkado (one of my favorite stamp companies) using Marvy Black ink onto white Bazzill cardstock. I mounted the stamped image to a piece of black Bazzill cardstock, then added it to the card.

I wrapped pretty silver ribbon around the tree image (as shown above), added a silver bow, and silver peel off sentiment and it's done! Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

New Cards finally...

Here's a pretty card I made for my good friend, Sue Iven, for her birthday! We had a lovely evening celebrating at the Olive Garden with great food, wine, and friendship. I used one of the new Stampin' Up Textured plates in the Cuttlebug for this card.

I love these new plates, and you get 6 designs for under $10! You can't beat it, and they are so diverse! You do need a silicone mat to emboss these plates in the Cuttlebug. You'll need your A plate, C plate, cardstock and the silicone mat. Here is how to make the sandwich: A Plate, Texture Plate, Cardstock, Silicone Mat and C Plate. It will be a bit tough to put it through the machine, and you can always try the B plate if it won't go through no matter what you do. If you do have to use your B plate, use cardboard as shims to make it work.

I used a pretty double-sided floral paper from a paper stack I got at Michael's by K & Company and Brenda Walton. One side is the green floral, and the other side is the pink floral. I punched the edge of my embossed white cardstock with one of the new EK Success punches (from Michael's). Next, I mounted a pink strip of paper on the inside of the card, where the punched edge would show.

I punched both ends of the green floral strip with the Fleur-de-lis border punch from EK Success and threaded a pretty pink and gold ribbon through it, then tied a bow. I glittered the embossed white cardstock, added a "Happy Birthday" gold peel-off greeting and it was ready for Sue. She loved it, too! Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

This next card is a favorite of mine. I love the color combination and I adore the dandelion rubber stamp by Hero Arts. The mottled background paper is by Murdock papers, and comes in a wide variety of colors. I used the Martha Stewart Lace punch on the background paper and mounted two punched pieces to a white card. Next I tied a black gingham ribbon to the card then stamped "thanks so much" in the white space between the two background pieces. This stamp is from Hero Arts as well.

Lastly, I stamped the dandelion onto white cardstock, adhered it to black cardstock, then mounted it to my card with foam dots. A simple yet elegant card! Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

Here's a sweet baby card that would work for either a girl or a boy. I used background papers from the "Nursery" stack from Die Cuts with a View that I purchased from JoAnn Fabrics. I cut one strip at 5 1/4 x 2 inches of the words paper, and the same from a green gingham print and adhered them to an olive green card.

I tied a pretty satin lavender ribbon around the card and added a sweet button for fun. I stamped the "baby shoes" from Stampendous on white cardstock and used colored pencils for a touch of color. I glued this piece to darker purple cardstock, then mounted it to the card with foam dots. Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

and something new.... I've been playing with glass these past two months!! I've been learning lampworking and am making my own glass beads. I absolutely love this medium. It is so challenging and so much to learn! I've been fortunate to have already sold some of my beads and several bracelets, a necklace and earrings. It's so exciting and I'm having a lot of fun! Stay tuned for more information about my glassmaking!

I haven't posted in a while....

As you can see, I haven't posted in quite a while. I am still alive and kicking, but there are lots of changes going on in my life. I hope you'll be patient with me, as I work out these changes, and get back to creating cards and other fun projects for all of you.

I am currently working on some new Paper Embroidery Patterns, and will be posting a free pattern to Circle of Crafters soon.

Thanks so much for your continued encouragement and friendship.

More Black, Red and White Cards...

As you can tell, I like putting these colors together! I had a class at the store using red, black and white and the ladies had a good time making the cards! We used a variety of stamps, Cuttlebug die cuts and folders, ribbon and a touch of glitter!

For this card, we use a background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms and with black ink, stamped two-thirds of the design onto the cardstock. Next, we used the swiss dot border folder and put it through the Cuttlebug at the top of the card. We used one of the new Die Cut/Folder combos (Everyday Greetings) and cut out "get well soon" on red cardstock and attached it the upper left corner. Then we tied a red and black ribbon with a knot across the top of our stamped image (just in case it wasn't stamped straight) and added three tiny red pearls from Kaiser Craft to the lower right corner. Card size is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.

For our next card, we stamped a darling panda bear with her baby from Coronado Island Stamps in black ink on glossy cardstock. Next, we took a piece of black cardstock and punched photo corners into each corner. We saved the waste pieces for our third card. We tucked the panda piece into the photo corners. Then we glued our polka-dot background piece to our black notecard, and attached red strips from side to side and top to bottom. We attached the panda piece to the card and for our final touch, we cut out "friends forever" from the Cuttlebug combo (Friends Forever) and attached it to the card. Card size 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.

Our last card is a simple card but has a pretty elegant look to it. We stamped our rose from Holly Berry House Stamps in black ink to the left of our white cardstock, then stamped our vertical "Thank you" from DRS Designs Stamps in red to the right. With a Quickie glue pen, we added crystal glitter to the rose for a shimmery effect. We glued our waste punch pieces to the corners of the piece, then mounted it to black cardstock. The XO's background paper fit well onto a red cardstock notecard. We attached our rose to the notecard at an angle and topped it with a pretty checked red and white bow. Card size 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.

Parchment and Valentine Cards

I love Rainbow Parchment! I get it from Ecstasy Crafts in a package of 10 and it goes a long way! I dug out another parchment grid for this pretty card. It's one of the 8 1/2 x 11 border grids from Ecstasy's Exclusive line.

I taped the shiny side of the rainbow parchment to the grid, turned it over, and proceeded to emboss, then prick my borders. It goes fairly fast, but I always recommend going over it a second time just to smooth out any lines that might be showing in your embossed areas.

I assembled a pre-cut 3D from (you guessed it) Ecstasy Crafts with foam pads and mounted it to my parchment piece. I added a pretty bow, and attached the parchment to a pretty lavender notecard with pastel purple brads. I finished the card off by using the waste pieces from a gold peel off sticker sheet, and added a "Thank You" for the sentiment.

Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

My next card was based on the tiny vinyl heart stickers I found at Wal-Mart. They are so cute with their polka-dots and stripes! My new color is brown! I love it! Can't get enough of it, it seems! You'll find these cute hearts in the Valentine section at Wal-Mart.

For this card, I used the Heart Blocks folder and embossed 2/3 of the card with the hearts. I then used the Scor-Pal and scored five lines next to the heartblocks. Then I added the tiny heart stickers to the right of the scored lines in a rambling pattern. Next I tied a red grosgrain ribbbon near the first scored line and placed a tiny brown polka-dot heart on another scored line.

I purchase a pretty Alphabet Stamp set from Inkadinkado and stamped LOVE in brown ink on a scrap of white cardstock, then I placed a tiny heart sticker inside the "O". I mounted the scrap to a velvet polkadot paper that had been cut out using a rectangle scalloped Nestabilities in the Cuttlebug. I attached that piece to a beautiful filigree paper from Deja Views called "Old World" in brown with darker shades of brown. I also put that piece through the Cuttlebug with a larger rectangle scalloped Nestabilities die.

I was going to attach that piece to the card, but it looked a little lost amongst the heartblocks embossing. The right side seemed heavier than the left. I dug around in my stash and once again pulled out a die cut heart from that Valentine set I purchased from K & Company. Who knew I'd use those diecuts so much? Um, sometimes I tend to buy things and tuck them in a box without a clue to what they will be used for!

I mounted my "LOVE" piece to a large heart diecut and attached it to the card and am quite pleased with the result!

Card size: 4 1/4 x 6 inches.