I am stitching on cards this month, but it is a long process so these upcycled Christmas cards were stitched on the sewing machine.
A simple star frameA pattern stitch sandwiched between two wandering straight stitch framesMy favourite: the machine’s version of cross stitch lifts this cardStitching with gold thread is subtleMounting the stitched card to set it offSimple so I added lots of stickles for dimensionA zig zag stitchDelicate straight stitch on this one
Each card has a tailor made envelope using the plain side of 12x 12” patterned paper. The stash for Christmas 2023 is underway!
The peel is dehydrated to become pot pourri and car freshener
The core is simmered with spices and caster sugar to become a syrup for boosting soft drinks (and adding to rum of course)
Half the flesh is cubed and fried in brown sugar. Half of that is eaten hot with yoghurt. The other half is added to cubed left over turkey in a tangy burrito.
The remaining flesh is cubed and simmered in vinegar, spices and sugar to become relish.
Finally the leaves are boiled and the water strained and sweeten to make a (reputedly) healthy tea
Multi media pillows have been created to use up some of the fabric stash. I combine free motion, appliqué, hand embroidery including lots of French knots, fabric pen drawing and pearl drop embellishments.
Short quotes stitched and framed in recycled photo frames. These take longer to plan than to make to centre the words as each of my available frames is a different size.
I made a stack of these for advent ‘calendar’ bunting. I used squares of 15 cm lightweight paper (and half A4 sheets of magazine papers), scissors and glue. That’s it.
With pretty side face down fold 1 cm in from the right, then 1 cm in from the bottom then bring the left side over to the (folded) right edge and crease, then finally fold down 3 cm from the top.
Unfold and cut along the crease lines. Chamfer (angle off) the edges as shown.
Glue the pretty sides of the two 1cm remaining tabs. this leaves the top flap open until filled when it can be stuck down or tucked in
These pockets are great for little gifts or gift cards and can hung on a tree or sewn into bunting. Halloween versions are fast and an advent series could be hand numbered and pegged on a string.