The Lowly Zen of Cardmaking

No one uses paper any more. I know. Just a quick email or text…how are you? what’s up? how’s everything? hey, thanks (I may be using too much punctuation.)

But I am a card writer. I would much rather tell someone how I feel in long form. And if I want to confound my son, like sending a message in code, I use cursive, which no one in younger generations can interpret.

Last year, or maybe the year before, or maybe even 2019, I purchased some card stock for machine embroidery.

The two best places I have found to purchase card embroideries are Embroidery Online, Embroidery Library.

The designs you see here are a mix of the two.

I did not purchase anything new to make these. That’s part of my new goal, to be as much of a non-consumer as possible unless it is electronic. The designs don’t count, at least not in my book, as they are digital–a simple download, and off we go.

Here are a few tips if you want to work with machine embroidery and cardstock:

  1. Use designs specifically digitized for cards. Unless you are daring and a pro, I don’t recommend trying to use any design that is stitch-heavy. It’s just not worth the hassle.
  2. Use a sticky back cutaway stabilizer like Stabilstick Cutaway from OESD
  3. Score the paper side of the stabilizer, and remove it from inside the hoop. You hoop the stabilizer first, paper side up, then score it with a straight pin. Don’t be afraid. Then just tear it out of the inside of the hoop.
  4. On OESD designs, the first stitch is for placement of the card. The first color of the design is a stitched rectangle that goes directly onto the stabilizer and shows you where to place the card. It saves you from some fiddling you might have to do with other designs to get the placement centered.
  5. General machine embroidery tip: If the machine says it will take 15 minutes to stitch out, allow 30 minutes. The time allowed for stitching is just that: stitching time. It doesn’t account for any thread changing time, or cutting of jump stitches or your general speed that you like to work. The more thread changes, the more time you should allow “over” the predicted time.
  6. Always start with a well-oiled machine, a full bobbin and a new needle (sharp or Microtex 80/12.)

This Christmas card from OESD was quite stitch heavy, and I’m not sure I would do it again. It required an applique for the black background. I measured the placement stitch and cut a piece of Kraft-Tex to fit. It turned out well, but I did not appreciate the amount of time involved for one card.

You can see the back of one of the cards. I think you can cover that up with another piece of cardstock. But I thought that some of the charm was that it looked as nice from behind as it did from the front.

As someone who loves stationery, I found these lovely and easy to stitch, for the most part. The designs do come with thread charts and instructions, but it’s a lot more fun to choose your own color way.

Finally, for the last card in the box, I took one of my photos (a peace lily bloom, with a pointsettia background). I transferred it onto the card using Transfer Artist Paper. It was simple and easy, and now I have a set of personalized cards for all occasions.

I hope you still write letters from time to time. I love to receive them and I think others do too. In a world where everything is fleeting, fast and electronic, let’s cherish a little bit of slow communication.

Peace out.

Kraft Tex, Transfer Artist Paper and Living on the Island of Lost Tools

Me: “I’ve lost my mind.”

Husband: “Now what?”

Me:  “I no longer know what I own. And even if I know what I own, I can’t find it.”

Husband: …(no response)

Me:  I’ve looked everywhere for my edge punch that I bought last year to do favors for Auntie Geri’s 80th.”

Husband: “OK. You know you just haven’t looked deep enough. We’ve been through this.  It’s in a bin somewhere. It’s in a shoebox in a bin. It’s in a plastic bag in a shoebox in a bin.  It’s in a paper bag in a plastic bag in a shoebox in a bin.  Look deeper.”

I hate it when he’s right.

When I went back to the place where I would put it away NOW if I had it and looked inside a few bags…there it was.

My main sewing machine needs a new part, so I am working on some sewing-related projects (even though I have another machine that works just fine.) Above, with the “Martha Stewart” logo is the punch I could not find.  She doesn’t make it any more, so it’s not even available online anywhere that I could find.

Been playing with both Kraft Tex and Transfer Artist Paper to make cards and Valentines and to just see what I can do with the combination.  Both are readily available online and I’m sure your local quilt shop can get them in too.

The beauty of working with these products is:

  1. Kraft Tex doesn’t fray at the edges, so it doesn’t need any finishing.
  2. It’s washable.
  3. So is anything that’s been transferred via the Transfer Artist Paper.
  4. TAP can be used on cloth, wood, glass, basically anything you can iron …and on Kraft Tex too.
  5. I can sew on any of this, and I can mix in some card stock tools like the paper punch.

So conceivably, I should be able to wash any of these finished cards.

This  little cherub is from my own photography.

This one reminds me of the scene from Holiday Inn, “Be Careful, It’s My Heart…” Free clip art is all over the place for Valentine’s Day.

And in this one, I used some free vintage art and added a pic to personalize. A good place to try is thegraphicsfairy.com.  I think this one will end up as this year’s Valentine. It will fit perfectly into one of the lace envelopes I recently created.

On this card, the transfer of our pic was on top of the first transfer, and I probably would not recommend that. I should have used a graphics program for that work and only transferred once.  Still, the photo looks old and worn and I love it.

Hmmm…so when I throw all these in the wash, they should come out whole.  I know that they will soften and get a little wrinkly like the Levi jeans tag.

Even so, I can’t wait to play around with this more. I’ll share some after a washing…should be interesting!

 

Adventures in Transfer Artist Paper

I love transfer artist paper.  I’ve used it a number of times with differing effects.

transfer artist paperYou can purchase this online or at craft stores, possibly your local quilt shop.

It works only with an ink jet printer, and your results will come easier to you if you have a little bit of experience in photo software, like Photoshop or Corel.

You print the image onto the paper and then iron the image onto your fabric.  The BIG difference between TAP and printing directly onto fabric paper is that the transfer actually becomes a part of your fabric…any fabric.  It never washes out.  It’s permanent.

botanical transferYou can see on this image that this botanical transfer prints right over the fabric and the underlying pattern shows through.  This particular print worked beautifully because it ended up looking like dew on the plant.  The instructions say you can print on wood, glass, stone, basically anything, as long as you can iron on it.  It takes a little practice but here are a few tips:

–Always use a hot DRY iron —  no steam.

–Remove the transfer while it’s still hot.

–Illustrations tend to look more interesting than photos, but worth trying both.

–Reverse anything with lettering before you print it on TAP or it will read backward.

–Cut as close to the image as possible before you iron it on your fabric.

–Try ripping the edges of your paper before ironing.  It gives a torn, aged effect.

–Experiment, experiment, experiment!  If you are a photography junkie like me, this is a great way to play with your images.

Here’s an example from the upcoming Software Inspirations program I’ll be teaching next week:

transfer artist paper 3I also added some embroidery to this project, which is actually a travel pillow.

cameraThe final image is from a Messenger Bag, the project I created from a previous Software Sampler lesson — a good text example of using Transfer Artist Paper to convey an emotion, a worn timelessness.

I’ll leave you with my all-time favorite quote from Macbeth:

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

transfer artisp paper3