Stitched Cards

I have recently fallen in love with stitched cards. They’re so versatile and easy to create while binging tv shows. Crafting while vegging?!? Perfect life balance. Anyway, while my son and I were watching Shark Tank, he noticed how cool the wall backdrop was behind their guest entrepreneurs. We hit pause and I set about turning it into my best card design yet. I just love how it turned out. Here is the original wall:

Isn’t it neat? I love that my son is on the lookout for Mom’s crazy craft ideas. I made many failed attempts but the final copy is so great and now available in my Etsy shop to download and make your own on your Cricut, Silhouette or whatever cutting machine you use.

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1375875622/stitched-card-a2-die-cricut-digital-die?click_key=e34a54ab550f4c40c077e811da16cd0607c81ba5%3A1375875622&click_sum=5c27a6ca&ref=shop_home_active_1

Can A DIY Die Cut Be Just As Effective As A Store Bought Version?

Welcome to my first ever blog post!

It may or may not be my only, we shall see. I just wanted to set aside a space to explain why my Etsy shop, which has always catered to hairstylists and brides (because I’m a bridal hair stylist by trade) suddenly has listings involving my other passion in life. I’ve always been obsessed with all things craft supplies. You name the craft, I’ve tried it and purchased every gizmo on the market to play with along the way. I think I might prefer shopping and investigating all the newest craft tools more than sitting down to play with them. It’s a real problem.

I’ve just wrapped up a full year of single mom homeschooling (cue the lifelong PTSD and lasting admiration for anyone crazy enough to take it on) with ample time on my hands.

I took the opportunity to dive headfirst into cardmaking, something I’ve only ever really dabbled with in the past. There aren’t many hair-centric supplies but I think I now own most hair stamps and die sets on the market. I watched and read everything card related and fell in love with layering dies. These magical metal cookie cutters for paper that coordinate together to create a stunning backdrop. It basically makes the card for you, you just have to glue it together. The only issue? My favourites cost $110 Canadian for 3 little metal pieces to be shipped to me. As much as I love blowing any disposable income on crafts, even I cannot justify that kind of a purchase.

So what to do? Did I mention I’m a DIY queen, frugal and usually find a workaround? I set out to design my own to send to my home cutting machine and save a fortune.

What a task! Most of my first prototypes came out of my machine looking like this…

I was determined to make it work. Another tough part was creating my own without copying the gorgeous existing dies already out there.

Finally, success! I’ve been playing with my designs and, being a perfectionist, I haven’t listed my hair cards yet but I’m almost ready. More importantly, I was able to list my dies at a mere fraction (3/100) of the cost of those metal beauties for other crafters to enjoy. Aren’t these pretty?

Please do check out the designs I’ve listed so far on Etsy, share with fellow crafters and let me know what you think. If you’re a card maker who already uses a Cricut, Silhouette or Scan N Cut I know this will be a valuable resource to you! I’d love to see your results as the possibilities are endless.