NEW THIS WEEK - September 13th, 2006:
Season's Greetings and Gifts
'Tis always the season for embroidering. And, as the calendar pages turn and the holidays approach, we begin to take special pleasure in our embroidery craft. Busy as Santa's elves, we're checking our lists of ideas and adding up the quilts, shirts, caps, kitchen accessories, linens, and myriad special holiday gifts we've been making to surprise our loved ones.
As one embroiderer recently wrote, "It is always more fun to have something that no one else has, and to make a unique gift that no one else can buy."
The designs and projects this week are an opportunity to extend that creativity to holiday greeting cards as well as gifts. New designs for Christmas and Chanukah cards are accompanied by matching designs for ornaments and bookmarks in freestanding lace -- wondrous little tokens of affection to tuck inside a card as a special remembrance.
Colorful holiday card designs in many favorite themes -- Season's Greetings, Mary and Child in stained glass art, Santa and his sleigh, a woodland Christmas tree, a Chanukah menorah, and Star of David -- will suggest a greeting for everyone on your list.
Free project instructions for a ribbon-covered card!
Watch the free video to learn a variety of techniques for crafting your cards, from sewing directly on card stock to affixing embroidered fabric and ribbon. With a dozen weeks to go before holiday card mailing time, you can craft unique, embroidered cards for a sizable list of special friends and family.
Victorian Angel designs are so beautifully detailed, they're sure to give you lots of ideas for exquisite gifts. And, turn to Trapunto designs when you are looking for ideas for making quick but elegant quilts, linens, and apparel.
Start early, and get a head start in creating both greetings and gifts with a personal, embroidered touch.
Many of the following card designs can be embroidered directly on cardstock. (Look for designs that are labeled "-- cardstock." ) You can buy cardstock at craft and specialty paper stores, as well as many discount stores -- at discount chains you may need to check in the scrap booking or office sections. Cardstock that has long paper fibers will work best. Check out the free project instructions for tried and true techniques.
Designs digitized for cardstock may also be sewn on fabric, but because they have a lighter fill, it's best to choose fabric that you will want to see peeking through some areas of the design. Enjoy creating and sending these works of art to your friends and family this year.
We won't spoil the surprise by enumerating all the dining room accessories she has in mind to make, but suffice it to say, Marty is very busy. With two daughters and "at least 20 people to make Christmas gifts for," she says, "I start early!"
Want to see more? Click here to see designs released in previous weeks!