Cafe Creations Tutorial: Stitching and Stamping

I'm so excited! I finally have a tutorial to show all of you. I know, it's been a LONG time. Today, I wanted to showcase how to combine stamping and stitching for a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted project that's sure to make you smile.



To begin, make yourself a nice frothy cup of decaff...you'll want a steady hand for this project! (Actually, I'd had an Iced Cafe Mocha from my local McCafe, and I was over-caffeinated yesterday!) For this project, you'll need a nice line art stamp set. I chose Give Thanks from Stampin' Up. You'll also want a light-colored ink (I picked River Rock), a heavy piece of cardstock (Gina K's Pure Luxury Ivory cardstock is perfect for this!), and some nicely colored DMC floss. You'll also want a paper-piercing tool.



Stamp your chosen image (I picked the pumpkin) with River Rock ink. Don't worry if it's not perfect. This will be the back of your finished project, anyway.




Now, using your paper-piercing tool (and a cushion of some kind underneath your cardstock to protect your work surface), place holes of equal spacing on your image, using the stamped lines as your guide.




Now, turn the project over to the side that is not stamped. Using the holes as your guide, begin filling in with a simple backstitch using three strands of DMC floss. For this project, I stitched the pumpkin in a nice rust and the stem in a chocolate brown.



When your stitched focal point is finished, trim the surrounding cardstock to the desired size and mount on your card. I decided to add a few buttons and stitch them on with the coordinating floss (I don't like unstitched buttons on projects...they just look naked to me!). Now, isn't this cute? See, I told you it would make you smile!

{recipe: Give Thanks (SU), River Rock ink, choc. chip cardstock, really rust cardstock, Gina K's Pure Luxury Ivory cardstock, Autumn Vine paper, buttons, dmc floss, really rust and close to cocoa markers, soft suede ink for sponging, word window punch, modern label punch}