It’s Trendy and You Can Do It Using Supplies You Already Have!

Hi friends!  Since Christmas I have been going through all of my art and craft supplies and seeing what I have, use and need to let go of. As you know I have a home based business and over the year things can accumulate. Plus I get asked to review a lot of products that turn out the be the same as other stuff I already have. I tend to have a bit of a hoarding tendency (I think all crafters do because we see potential in everything but this optimism can be out downfall sometimes LOL!) So I called a teacher that runs a drama program and she is taking some unneeded leftover paint, fabric and yarn off my hands and I feel good that my excess will get used. While going through my huge totes of yarn I found all of my embroidery floss and craft thread. It was in a large ziplock bag with copies of crochet patterns for little flower and butterfly patterns I used to like to make for embellishments for cards and scrapbook pages. I would haul this bag of supplies with me everywhere and crochet up a storm. I realized when I did my huge Konmari clean out of 2017 I never touched the yarn totes. I guess I decided that the totes “sparked joy” as is and there was no need to open them (HaHa! What a naughty cheater I was!) but I did go through them last weekend and found lots of treasures! Both for me to keep and use and some to give away. I almost didn’t open the floss bag, I figured they were “organized enough” right were they were but then I thought I’d probably use them more if they were organized by color and I had a couple empty clear tackle boxes in storage so I decided to get to work!

As soon as I started running my fingers over the smooth colorful threads I knew I wanted to use them! Any new skeins I sorted by color in flat open clear boxes and any open skeins I untangled and wrapped around cardboard bobbins and put in a divided tackle box by color. I will look first to the bobbin thread and if I don’t have the color I need I’ll go to a new skein and wrap the excess on a bobbin. When I crochet flowers I try to use up a whole skein in one go making about 3 mini flowers. One of my first ever YouTube videos was of me making the crochet flowers LOL! Remember that old camera that made me sound like I had a lisp? I redid a flower tutorial in my Crochet Basics video that might be better if you are brand new to crochet. I started thinking about how stitching was really popular right now in the cardmaking world and about all of the specialty products (stamps and dies) sold to incorporate stitching in your cards. These cards are pretty but I know I wouldn’t probably do it a lot so it would be foolish to invest in something so specific so I used what I had and made these cards:

The stamp set I am using is Apple of my Eye by Stampin up. It seemed to be retired soon after it was released but I really liked it. I sometimes wonder if stamps get discontinued because they are unpopular or because they are trying to urge people to buy now. Stampin up keeps some stamp sets around for years so maybe it was unpopular, who knows? If you don’t have this set you can use any stamp you like that has a bold image. It doesn’t have to be fruit but I think fruit is fun for this technique because it reminds me of vintage embroidered tea towels. The technique I’ll show you today is satin stitch and backstitch. It is just like embroidery but when working on paper there are a  few things to keep in mind so it doesn’t tear through. Watch the video to learn more!

Supplies: (Keep in mind many supplies may be discontinued. As always feel free to substitute. You will get truly original cards that way! I have tried my best to find all the supplies I used and affiliate links may be provided.)

• Stamps (Apple of my Eye by Stampin Up) *This set is retired but used sets can be found on ebay or Etsy
• Jillybean Soup Lemonade stamp set
• Small wood fruit stamps (Michael’s Dollar Bin)
• Embroidery floss or craft thread *I recommend craft thread if you like to crochet with it as the threads are wounds together like yearn as opposed the floss where you can split the skein into smaller threads but either will work equally as well for this project.
• White cardstock
• Dye ink cubes (Gina K)
• Dye markers (Ohuhu)
• Dye for focal point (spellbinders label 22)
• Ribbon polkadot (citrus slice ribbon is by American Crafts but I can’t find it anywhere)
• Enamel Dots *Here is a diy video!
• Foam squares

It feels so good to use what you have. You can erase any guilt associated with a purchase by using it. Then you can feel good again by mailing your creation off to a friend or family member! Remember, you bought these supplies to USE them! Besides, I’m pretty sure consumable supplies like embroidery floss multiply when you are not looking so don’t worry about running out LOL! I don’t know what goes on in my craft room when I leave for the night! I hope you found this post inspiring and if you have suggestions for older supplies you would like to see used and made new again let me know in the comments below. Happy crafting!