Tuesday 3 September 2013

Art Tuesday: Simple Stitches Flower Card

Hey everyone! Today I have another card tutorial for you - it was recently my friend Natasha's birthday (as I mentioned in this post) - and this is the card I made her. I've never made it before - it was sparked by, you guessed it, the Usborne Art Ideas book, but it is mostly my own idea! - but I was really pleased with how it turned out! :D

You will need
Coloured card - I chose dark blue
White card
Pencil
Scissors
Glue stick
Tissue paper in two or three bright colours - I used red and orange
Thread in six-eight bright colours - I used purple, pink, orange, green, blue, red and yellow
A needle
Sellotape
PVA glue + brush

Instructions
1. Fold your card in half.
2. On your white card, draw a simple flower shape and cut it out. 
3. Now glue it onto a piece of bright tissue paper ...
4. ... and cut it out! The reason I did this was because a) if you stick a needle through tissue paper, IT WILL RIP and b) if you stick tissue paper directly onto dark card it loses its brightness.
5. Get out your sewing box ...
(OK, I admit it, this isn't really a step - you don't even need a sewing box! - just an excuse to show you pictures of mine)
6. ... and choose some thread! (Again, this step was mainly an excuse to show you the needle book my grandma made for me.)
7. Thread your needle. In terms of length it's definitely best to err on the side of caution ...
... but I was, perhaps, a little enthusiastic about that. This is what I had when I had finished -___-
8. Now, just start doing long running stitches from the centre of your flower to the end of its petals! 
I would advise taping it down at the back or else you'll just pull it right through - that's what I did, as that lonely-looking second hole will testify. 
9. And, uh, stitch!
Again, I taped off my end.
10. Now it's time to build up your colours. As you can see I made all my stitches different lengths - I think it's quite effective. 
11. Aaaand, the last layer of colour! Isn't that a pretty little thing? My original idea was to make lots and cover the card with them, but this one took AGES and I quickly decided to change my plan. I may have speeded up with practice, but I didn't have the time or the patience to find out!
12. Thread your needle with green for the stalk (unless your flower is eclectic and doesn't stick to conventional norms, in which case thread your needle with any colour for the stalk!). 
13. Sew one long stalk, like so ...

14. ... and tape at the back!

15. Now it's time to stick your flower down. As you can see, that mess of thread and Sellotape is not going to take kindly to a glue stick ...

... so PVA is your new best friend!

16. Stick it down. If any glue seeps out when you press it down like it did here, use your NINJA SPEED and SKILLS WITH TOILET PAPER to wipe it off. That's what I did. ~nods~ Ninja skills. 
17. Now, it's leaf time! Cut two leaves from white card ...
18. ... and stick them under tissue paper. 
19. Sew a long line of thread down the middle of each leaf - as you can see I didn't take a picture of that step ~sheepish grin~ - and, say it with me, tape it at the back!
20. Now, you are sewing on the veins. I basically went back and forth and back and forth all the way down one side, and then all the way up the other.
Hopefully it'll end up looking like this!
21. And, repeat! As you can see I used red for one and yellow for the other :)
22. Stick your leaves down. "What a lovely card I've made!" you may be thinking--
-- BUT LOOK HERE! ~dramatic music~ This cannot be!
23. White paper comes to the rescue! I just cut some the same size as my card and stuck it down! Hopefully you'll do a better, less bumpy job than me ...
TA-DAAAAAAA!!!!! Cute, right? I was really pleased with the final result! :D
As always-always, feel free to actually, I don't know, follow these instructions and make this card - and if you do, please please please tell me and send a picture! I'd love to think that someone actually made one of these things I post! Love you,

2 comments:

  1. So cute! I love it! Also, the Usbourne art books are so cool, I get so much inspiration from them :)

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    Replies
    1. Aww, thank you! And yes. They are amazing. That is all.

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