tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57096312024-03-13T06:24:52.532-04:00Stitch BitchOpinions on the fine crafts involving needles with eyes.Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.comBlogger2724125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-26210337867053915762022-03-06T21:25:00.000-05:002022-03-06T21:25:05.417-05:00Maggie's Turning 100!If you were a fan of Maggie Monday's--which focused on my grandmother's antics--I'd like to invite you to participate in her 100th birthday celebration. Her birthday is in ONE WEEK. We are making a Tribute for her. Because she has gone blind, cards won't do. We're using Tribute even though she will only be able to hear it. (That is, don't worry about what you look like!) If you're still out thereAnna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-24723557933093449632021-09-12T19:02:00.002-04:002021-09-12T19:02:12.870-04:00Double Flap Front Cards I hope you didn't miss me too much! I have been off making fifteen double front cards. With these cards, I've been able to start to use up card stock as well as the Designer Series Paper. The design for these comes from Heidi Collins at On Y Go Stamping. I have got quite a pile of new cards going!The card starts with a folded piece of DSP, which is mounted on cardstock with just a small Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-26334377310717502922021-09-06T16:44:00.001-04:002021-09-06T16:44:15.919-04:00Collars CompleteHey followers! I managed to finish those collar cards I started the other night. Funny story about the Christmas cards. I bought something on eBay and the seller sent me some unsolicited paper samples. Yay? I was looking online to confirm the colors used, and as I was looking at the whole series together, I realized that I already have this paper but I've never opened it. [sad trombone]Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-49885542899828324772021-09-04T22:02:00.003-04:002021-09-04T22:02:53.481-04:00Collar CardsToday, I made collar cards. These have a nice pop of contrast and you get to see both sides of the designer series paper. I think my favorites are the bear peeping out of the paper fold. Most cards of this type have an embellishment that covers up the point of the fold (it's not real pretty). I'm sure I'll find something even though I haven't found it yet. I am also thinking I might add some pinkAnna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-38751991825750034152021-09-03T19:01:00.000-04:002021-09-03T19:01:57.503-04:00Scrappy AccordionsI decided I should start with the largest scraps and work my way to the tiny bits because there will inevitably be more of the latter as we make cuts to the big stuff. Coincidentally, Connie Stewart posted a video about accordion fold cards on Thursday. I went through the big box of' scraps and retrieved every piece that was at least 5 1/2" x 12". There were eight of these. It's easy Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-5240951608767126382021-09-01T21:22:00.002-04:002021-09-01T21:22:28.761-04:00Scraptastic SeptemberHello, friends. I have been away stitching (gasp!) and reading, but what's brought me back to the blog is an idea I formulated as I was sifting through my paper scraps. I have a giant collection of scraps in two 13x13 boxes--one for printed papers and another for colored card stock. When you take it out and throw it on the dirty floor it looks like this:Not gonna lie, there's more!What can I Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-58005968924150710212021-03-31T21:49:00.001-04:002021-03-31T21:49:54.599-04:00A Cardful of FlowersWe've come to the end of another Craft Month. Here's the Big Finish: a card in a box. I used a couple of tutorials--a British one for the concept and another one to convert to inches. I used "share what you love" (how apropos) DSP in the razzleberry stripes and the dots. I pulled the colors from the dots to make the flowers. I stamped with rich razzleberry and blackberry bliss (stamping off)Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-67812484492388164502021-03-30T20:15:00.005-04:002021-03-30T20:15:59.603-04:00Magical SwirlsI mentioned earlier that I would like to try the wreath in green for Christmas and here is the result. I added flowers in real red and a bit of bling. The designer series paper is Nordic Noel. It's cute, and I could add a sentiment, but the really interesting bit of this card is on the inside...It's a magic wallet. (Watch the gift card closely.) I used JanB's directions but that is way more videoAnna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-54138360439583935092021-03-29T21:51:00.001-04:002021-03-29T21:51:31.907-04:00Stella SwirlsI love this card! This is the card I want someone to send me if I have some kind of illness where I am confined to bed and need cheering up. This is Connie Stewart's version of a gatefold. I used her measurements and then stopped paying attention, clearly. Because I stuck the focal image on the wrong half of the card. (In my defense, I had the card the wrong way round when I did the tone on Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-90541289002442214192021-03-28T21:24:00.001-04:002021-03-28T21:24:03.266-04:00W-fold Kite At yesterday's stamping retreat, one of the demonstrators showed how to make a W-fold card. I think it is definitely the lesser of the letter-fold cards. (See Z-fold here.) I embossed the blue (balmy? soft sky?) with the cloudy day embossing folder and mounted it on a night of navy card base. The poppy parade, granny apple green, and night of navy kites are on a background stamped with blueAnna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-51622890404692798772021-03-27T19:59:00.005-04:002021-03-27T19:59:40.675-04:00Stamping Retreat Swirls I have spent all day in a virtual stamping retreat with the Creativate team. I have watched a bunch of tutorials and made some cards of my own. I even did my first mystery stamping! But first!One of the team made this gift card holder, and I put my version together pretty quickly. I "made" DSP with the stamp set using highland heather (first and second generation), not quite navy for the Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-24554362103081424542021-03-26T20:59:00.002-04:002021-03-26T20:59:16.697-04:00Snowman SwirlsTonight, I went with a center stair card. I used a couple of tutorials as a guideline but cut the sides to 1.25" because I didn't want the snowman floating on a too large center panel. The DSP is from the merry moments stack (ret). I stamped two of the swirls and die cut the swirls from a sparkle paper. I added a wink of Stella on the large bottom swirl to give it some additional sparkle. I Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-82463578907459683222021-03-25T21:20:00.005-04:002021-03-25T21:20:37.202-04:00Done is GoodI just couldn't get the design to come together for this one. I probably needed a third color for the flowers. Eh. Stairstep card. These directions.Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-49238091274806616562021-03-24T20:01:00.002-04:002021-03-24T20:01:17.182-04:00Bird Bath Shutter cardLongtime readers may recognize the tri fold shutter card; I made one for Craft Month in 2013. For a while, I was making these for everyone because they are pretty easy, and because they are impressive. For this card, I started with pear pizzazz cardstock. I added flirty flamingo dots and pear pizzazz stripes. There are four small blocks that I stamped with crushed curry, flirty flamingo, pear Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-48129410861578824572021-03-23T21:06:00.001-04:002021-03-23T21:06:38.614-04:00Double Summer Sails Summery! Isn't it? I went back to the popular joy fold card for inspiration. Here I paired the swirly DSP (from birthday bash, ret.) with Bermuda bay paper dry embossed, and a backing card of mango mambo. It doesn't actually match with the colors in the paper, but close enough! The boat is back with crushed curry sails topped with pumpkin pie stripes. The keel is stamped in mossy meadow and both Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-23436534830032694482021-03-22T22:06:00.000-04:002021-03-22T22:06:00.516-04:00Fancy Foil Card Stock Fancy FoldTonight, I went with the super-quick corner tuck fold from Lisa's Stamp Studio. I needed to finish my book for book club, and happily I was successful (and The Memory Police is amazing!). I used a piece of foil paper cut with the large spiral and the medium spiral die cuts. I layered these as the focal image and stamped the small leaves in mint macaron. I also stamped the sentiment (Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-13916298310109104152021-03-21T20:30:00.001-04:002021-03-21T20:30:40.718-04:00Spring KitesI hope your day was as beautiful as ours was. We took the dog to one of the Natural Lands Preserves nearby. The dude marveled at the mildness and said, "This is like 10% of our weather; it should be 70%." It is unfortunate that it will be oppressively hot and humid before we know it. But for now...Today I made Lisa Curcio's Kite fold card. When I saw it, I thought I could incorporate Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-40137148670958902152021-03-20T22:29:00.000-04:002021-03-20T22:29:09.687-04:00Spring DaisiesI've been thinking about using the daisy from the swirly bird set with white ink on colored card stock. (Seriously, I put myself to sleep--that is, allow myself to relax enough to sleep--by thinking about making cards!) Today I was scrolling through some fun fold videos and I came across this one at Ruth's Stamping Corner. She had also used the ornate garden DSP (this one is current!). Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-16450668984002262172021-03-19T21:11:00.002-04:002021-03-19T21:11:32.843-04:00Crossover Gate This card is a crossover gatefold. Like the gatefold card I made on March 7, the base folds to meet in the middle. On this card, instead of a focal square overlapping the middle, you have two focal strips. The DSP is all my love. The cardstock is lovely lipstick and whisper white. The swirly flower is stamped in whisper white on lovely lipstick and then heat embossed in white. That is Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-77463703951903846382021-03-18T21:51:00.001-04:002021-03-18T21:51:05.495-04:00A Little Birdie Told MeToday's card features a little crumb cake and calypso coral. I don't think that designer series paper (the irregular beige dots) is crumb cake, but close enough. The calypso coral is birthday bash (ret). The flower that became yesterday's rolling seas is today's nest. The nest die cut is overlaid to create texture. The crow is black (to match the true love dsp just peeking out around the focal Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-69155578827157666112021-03-17T21:06:00.001-04:002021-03-17T21:06:37.400-04:00Come Sail AwayNot going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed with the black ink on this one. It was really sticky and came out spotty so I had to fill in with a marker and bleurgh. I also think I could have aligned the sunset circle and the pink die cut a bit better. I used poppy parade, melon mambo, mango melody, daffodil delight, flirty flamingo, and summer sun with the splatter stamp in a circle template. I Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-59245649695992488662021-03-16T21:20:00.001-04:002021-03-16T21:20:09.219-04:00Holiday GreetingsI haven't completely recovered from Monday. The poop just shifted from hobbies to work. {Sigh.} Do you think this is because I literally dropped poo on my shoe when we were hiking with Frida on Sunday? Just a bad omen for the whole week? If so, can you send the counter spell or direct me toward a talisman?I was in bed thinking about my cards last night, and I wondered what if the wreath was a Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-16996101566611084292021-03-15T22:02:00.002-04:002021-03-15T22:02:52.579-04:00Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays False starts; measuring twice, cutting once in the wrong direction, lack of color inspiration; general malaise and a sense of dissatisfaction... Tell me why I don't like Mondays! This card took much much longer than it should have. You probably can't tell much about this card because of the black cardstock on black striped paper but it is a narrow card on a regular (A2) size backgroundAnna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-15556120558719805522021-03-14T22:04:00.002-04:002021-03-14T22:04:31.239-04:00Berry Apple FlipHeidi Collins designed this "flip up and flip out" card. I also cased the stamping from Chris Smith--on the outside anyway. I used granny apple green ink on granny apple green card stock and stamped the swirl and the spatter. I cut the curve from some random darker green. Sorry I can't tell what it is. I die cut the flowers from berry burst a 2017-2019 in color. I stamped them with blackberry Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5709631.post-63117894126815501222021-03-13T20:47:00.002-05:002021-03-13T20:47:19.208-05:00Wherein I Do Not Become a MurdererHappy Saturday! I spent the morning stamping with some friends on Zoom. I made three cards, designed by my friend. (Only one was a fun fold but I didn't use it for my Craft Month challenge.) She sends our directions on Wednesday and lets us know what we are making and how to cut all our papers. Here's what I made:I think my favorite is "You're the Greatest." I think I like color too much for the Anna van Schurmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545037218589039870noreply@blogger.com5