Hi all, Sarah here. I’m so happy to be able to share with you another hybrid project that I’ve been working on. Let me start by saying I’ve been doing needlework since I was in elementary school, and I just fell in love with all of the stitched journal cards that I’ve been seeing in so many pocket scrapping pages. I decided to find a way to turn some of the digital elements that I love so much into stitched journal cards using my Silhouette.
I decided to use Pocket Stuffers No. 4 by Valorie Wibbens from the 2014 DYD collection
I began with a little trial and error. My first thought was to try to use the rhinestone setting in the Silhouette software but I found that the smallest holes were still too large for stitching. After playing around with the cut line settings a little bit, I decided that the smallest dashed line with a thickness of zero was the most promising. I began by pulling in the elements from Valorie’s kit that I wanted to use and placing them, making sure that I would have enough room to place my journaling card outline around the image. I then traced each image and changed the cut line to the dashed line settings I mentioned above. After I had everything in place I created a 3″x4″ rectangle around each image that would be cut out as well. This allowed me to make sure that each image was on the journaling card exactly where I wanted it.
I love all of the gold that is popping up right now in the scrapbook world so once I got everything cut out I selected some metallic thread from my cross stitching supply and an embroidery needle so that it would fit easily through the eye.
To begin I pulled the thread through from the back and secured it with tape (I used an acid free scrapbook tape).
I then back stitched the entire design using the metallic thread.
This is what the reverse side looks like. I needed to use two lengths of thread to complete the design.
Here’s the front. It’s not perfect but I still love how it looks.
Here is another card I did with the same thread.
I found the large braid and large needle to be a little difficult to work with. There were a couple of times that the paper ripped a bit, so I decided for the two more intricate designs to search through my stash for metallic threads that were a little thinner and that I could use with a regular sewing needle. I just love the red on this card.
Here’s a close up of the stitching.
I found this iridescent blue thread that was perfect for this snowflake. This was by far the most intricate and time consuming card but I just love it. I definitely think it was worth the time and effort.
These cards definitely have their imperfections but I think they turned out marvelous anyway. I can’t wait to use them in my pocket scrapping projects this month.
Have you ever tried stitching on your journaling cards? If you use digital elements from TLP to create your stitching make sure to link up your projects in the Hybrid Projects gallery. I’d love to see them!
Jewelle says
Absolutely gorgeous Sarah! I love the idea and may have to try it myself sometime. I used to do a lot of cross stitch and loved how calming it was.
Allison Pennington says
OMG. These are incredible.
Kate says
Oh these are fabulous Sarah!