Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop - Embroidery Stitching on Paper

The Papertrey Ink Blog Hop challenge this month is to incorporate embroidery stitching on your paper project. The first stamp set that came to mind for this was Doodlie-do - it has simple images and lines that almost suggest the type of stitches to use. Here is what I came up with- (no sun today so not the greatest picture)

I stamped the image that I wanted to embroider in Soft Stone ink and the rest with Versafine Onyx Black. The sentiment was heat embossed - I did this before I started stitching in case it didn't turn out. Using a straight pin I pierced the holes for the section of the image I wanted to embroider first being careful not to put the holes too close together. I used three strands of floss and worked my way through the image, piercing and stitching each section as I went. I used mainly an outline stitch, french knots and a modified satin stitch. Stitching on paper has it's own unique challenges, you are handling your paper a lot more than usual so you have to be careful, your thread starts to shred a bit after being pulled repeatedly through the paper, so keep your thread fairly short and if you work the paper too much and put too many holes in it you essentially perforate it and your work can fall apart.

I have embroidered on scrapbook pages in the past, and when I first saw this challenge I wondered why I hadn't carried that over onto my cards. After spending I don't know how many hours embroidering on this card I remembered why - it is a huge time investment. This card is going to a very special someone, so it was worth it. I enjoyed the challenge of embroidering on paper, but after doing all of the stitching I was really worried that I would mess up the card in some way I was almost afraid to put it together.

Supplies:
Stamps - Doodlie-Do, Birthday Cheer (PTI)
Paper - Stampers Select White, Soft Stone, Enchanted Evening CS (PTI)
Ink - Soft Stone (PTI), Versafine - Onyx Black, Versamark, Blue EP
Other - embroidery floss (DMC), bitty rhinestones

Make It Monday #241 - Ombre Stenciled Backgrounds

Monday's 'Make It Monday' challenge at Papertrey Ink is all about Ombre Stenciled Backgrounds. Betsy Veldman does a great video tutorial here. We are still under construction and my house is still upside down, but I did manage to quickly stencil a couple of pieces of cardstock and really liked the way this one turned out. Took a few minutes today to make a card out of it and get it posted before tomorrow's deadline.

Edited to add a second picture to show the sentiment as silver, people were seeing it as gold. Had trouble photographing this card because I didn't have a lot of light or time. Hope that helps.

 
  I thought the background was so pretty I didn't want to embellish it too much (which I can't really do anyway since most of my embellishments are still stuck in the back of a room stacked with furniture that is hopefully going back into the basement soon.  Received an order late this week so had to use my new stencil and the new to me Birthday Cheer Die. I cut it out 3x in black CS and once in Silver Foil CS. I layered and staggered the final bottom black die cut  and added a few foil chevrons since it did need something.
Thanks for looking.

Supplies:
Dies - Birthday Cheer, Chevrons, Modern Background Stencil (PTI)
Paper - Stampers Select White CS, True Black CS (PTI), Silver foil CS
Ink - Sweet Leaf, Sky, Moonstruck (CTMH)