Using the Quick Stitch: Sewing Staples Kit on Cards

Thank you so much for all the positive response to my first Quick Stitch Kit. I feel a kinship with all you fellow hand-sewists. We've got such a passion for it, don't we? New stitching dies make me just as happy as they make you. I love them so.

I thought I'd share a few more projects with you today using the new kit. I wanted to focus on using the elements to make cards. The dies are an investment, absolutely. So I want to show you how to get the maximum use out of them. Turns out, they lend themselves quite nicely to paper projects.

First up, this card that demonstrates how well the Needle Book Stitching Dies fit across the A2 card. The scalloped layer just happens to be 5.5" across! I'm trying to remember if I planned it that way, but I can't recall. So we'll just go with it and say I did!

The card base is cut down a little bit from an A2. Probably 5.25" across. I wanted the scalloped panel to hang off the edges a bit. Rest assured, it fits nicely in an envelope for easy mailing.

I've noticed a lot of "card panel" die sets out there in the marketplace lately. If you think about the price points for those, the Needle Book Die Collection is comparable. You just get lots of different extra dies within the rectangle dies to create a Needle Book:).

There is an even number of holes in the two large rectangles of the Needle Book Stitching Dies so you can do a quick running stitch and tie with a bow. Saves some time and is the perfect "extra touch" to your project.

I used the exclusive stamp set and coordinating dies from Sewing Staples to create all my flower clusters in shades of Enchanted Evening and Tropical Teal on Aqua Mist cuts. And we've got Ripe Avocado and Simply Chartreuse on Spring Moss cardstock for the leaves.

The sentiment is from my previously released A Little Inspiration stamp set.

Here's another card that uses the Needle Book Stitching Dies and A Little Inspiration. I cut the "needle keep" die several times in shades of Summer Sunrise, Melon Berry, Harvest Gold, and Berry Sorbet card stock. I also made a point of cutting the "holes only" version of the die into the white card stock panel. This way the empty holes go all the way back to the True Black card base. If I hadn't done that, those holes would be white and not nearly have the visual impact.

I used black floss to cross stitch a few of the strips together. This was to reinforce the "strong" them of the card. Those stitches hold everything together, both literally and figuratively.

We saw yesterday from some of the girls how the Needle Book Stitching Die Collection makes the most darling little mini cards. Today, I'm showing my version. I created four, each featuring a different color against Stamper's Select White Cardstock. We've got Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss, Summer Sunrise, and Blueberry Sky.

Again, I used the exclusive Sewing Staples Stamps and Dies to create my flower accents on the top. It's nice to have option of just stamping these elements instead of sewing them. You need something quick every now and again.

Simple sewing around the outside of the cards uses floss in the same colors as the ink.

I also made the happy discovery that the large cross stitch block from the Cross Stitch Mini Stamp Set (previously released) fits really nicely on a folded Needle Book cut. Sew perfect.

On the inside, I have the coordinating card stock colors sewn in. It's a nice surprise to see that burst of color when you open the card. Sentiments from the old favorite Mega Mixed Messages are the perfect fit.

I mentioned yesterday that when you make a lined mini card from the Needle Book Die Collection that both the outside and inside of the cards are completely smooth and don't show any scratched up areas from your cutting plates. Because the holes are symmetrical, you can face the two "bad sides" together on the insides, hiding them from view. Sweet!

And lastly, I had to stitch some paper flowers up from the Floral Cluster for a card front. I did all these individually (I did not cut the corresponding "holes only" dies in the card front).  I had to apply my liquid adhesive to the stitching on the backs to glue them down. The thread ended up acting like pop dots, elevating the flowers and leaves a little bit from the background. Very nice.

The "channel pocket" from the Needle Book Die Collection makes up my flower pot. Just a few cross stitches put in with crochet thread. It doesn't take much to get a sweet look.

Again, I found the Cross Stitch stamp set to be a nice companion here. I stamped the single "x" a few times on my card in Royal Velvet Ink for the perfect accent. It matches up with the Royal Velvet cut from Wonderful Words: Thank You Die.

Whew! That's a lot. Hope you enjoyed and can see how all these sewing elements can easily be adapted to paper projects. I don't think I used a single piece of felt on these cards. So nice to have that versatility.

The Quick Stitch: Sewing Staples Kit will be available for purchase on March 9th at www.papertreyink.com. And if you are just popping in today for the first, check out my blog post yesterday to see how these dies are used on fabulous felt projects.


Supplies

Don't Ever Change Card
Sewing Staples Quick Stitch Kit: Needle Book Dies, Sewing Staples stamp set and Dies
Stamp Set: A Little Inspiration
Cardstock: Classic Kraft, Aqua Mist, and Stamper's Select White
Patterned Paper: Enchanted Evening Simple Stripe
Ink: Enchanted Evening, Tropical Teal, Simply Chartreuse, and Ripe Avocado
Turquoise Crochet Thread

Be Strong Card
Sewing Staples Quick Stitch Kit: Needle Book Dies
Stamp Set: A Little Inspiration
Cardstock: True Black, Stamper's Select White, Melon Berry, Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush
Ink: True Black

Mini Card Set
Sewing Staples Quick Stitch Kit: Needle Book Dies, Sewing Staples stamp set and dies
Stamps: Cross Stitch and Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: Spring Moss, Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst, Blueberry Sky, Raspberry Fizz, Melon Berry, Simply Chartreuse, Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist, Winter Wisteria, Enchanted Evening, Berry Sorbet

Thank You Card
Sewing Staples: Floral Cluster, Needle Book Dies
Stamps: Cross Stitch
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Royal Velvet, Aqua Mist, Spring Rain, Winter Wisteria, Classic Kraft
Ocean Tides and Winter Wisteria Simple Stripe Patterned Paper
Dies: Wonderful Words: Thank You