Do you like to do needlepoint? Or not? I don’t do needlepoint for real but I sure had fun doing some with Nichol Spohr’s collection from Spellbinders. I will show you you can use these dies for something other than a needlepoint look as well!
Here I used elements from the Faux Embroidered Spruce Etched Dies to create my wreath on myfront door!
I have found the most helpful thing to do when faced with lots of dies is to just cut them all out at once. If you think you might need more than one –cut out lots as I did with the sprigs. I also cut out two candy canes. There were already multiple stockings in the set so I cut them as well, and figured if I didn’t use them all I would have extras for another card.
Since I chose to make this a wreath on a door I created my house using the latticework embossing folder and used some Distress Lumberjack Red ink to make it look like brick. Then I cut out the door and the ‘stoop’ rom the Open House Base Die.
To make the wreath I used somewhere between 9-12 sprigs die cuts and I just eyeballed it to make it look as round as possible and very full. Adding the stockings on the wreath were easy with a bit of Gina K Connect glue. I wasn’t sure how many stockings to hang but decided I should use a bow…as most wreaths have bows on them. I found some red ribbon in my stash and created the bow, adhering it with a Zot (Good for holding on tight).
Since the Candy Canes were turned opposite directions I had to do a little trick to make them look good. After die cutting both the red and the white parts I ran the left white piece through the die cutting machine on its own…This flattens the paper a bit so you can’t tell that the piece was actually turned over.
Another tip is…don’t forget to stamp your sentiment before it goes on the card! I had not done this and had to recreate the stoop over again. HA! Lesson Learned! When it was done I also decided to make my house look a little ‘softer’ and rounded the corners. I hope you think my house is more inviting now and you’ll come to visit me!
Now to the needlework. There are 6 embroidery hoops in the package…2 of each size. I chose the middle size. I glued the two together and added a piece of acetate on the top just bigger than the opening. I die cut the faux canvas out but before gluing it to the back of the hoops I die cut all the flowers and stars and elements from the set to create shaker filling. I added a few iridescent rainbow sequins as well then glued the hoop on top for a closed shaker.
Since there was a rainbow theme to the set I chose to ink blend a piece of cardstock just using the ink that was already on my brushes. It made an especially pretty pastel rainbow! I ran it though one of my all time favorite embossing folders – the Diamond Plaid. All that was left was to finish assembling the card by gluing all the pieces together. The sentiment from All You Need Sentiments was just right for something handmade.
Hope you like my shaker and all the pretty colors. So you see, you can use these die sets in many different ways…whatever comes into your mind. What will you do with it? Will you embroider or take a different path? Whatever you do, please tag me at @pennypynnonen on IG or Facebook. I’d love to see your work also.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs, Penny
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