Even though I’m never without some kind of beading on the go, in the heat and laziness of summer, I don’t want a complicated pattern or anything that takes longer than a beading instant!

And so, I’ve been beading Christmas cards – a perfectly quick, easily organized, and simple project, ideal for travel or sitting on your balcony, deck, or in the park, beading away contentedly.

We’ve profiled UK’s Stitching Cards before, and with this month’s deep dive, you’ll appreciate how easy it can be to make distinctive cards, which will very likely be treasured by their recipients and displayed year after year. The card above was made in less than an hour, from a free beading pattern available at stitchingcards.uk – just follow the embedded link!

Supplies

Cardstock: I used dark blues – like a night sky. Almost any weight of cardstock works. If it’s too flimsy, it won’t hold the pin pricks with any resilience and if it’s too thick, you may need to prick only one page at a time.

Beads:

·         Czech Seed Beads, 11/0, Crystal Silver Lined

       ·         Czech Seed Beads, 11/0, Crystal Silver Lined AB

       ·         Heck you could go with white cardstock and Dark Aqua Silver Lined AB!

Cards:

You can always make your own, with a good quality paper cutter and scoring tool, but you can easily source cards online. The easiest ways are to either purchase a card that offers a built-in window – you simply cut your cardstock to size and slip it in. To make use of plain cards, I purchased photo corners, available from Amazon in transparent or coloured versions.

      Here are a few options from Amazon.ca:

Plain single fold cards – you’d glue your piece onto the card face with double-sided tape or paper glue.

Cards with inserts (which is what I’ve used).

Spring clamps to hold the pricking pattern in place on the cardstock without damaging the paper.

Pergamano pricking tool. You can fashion your own with a wine cork and sewing needle, of course, but I do find this tool easy on the hands. If you’re making one of your own, keep in mind that you don’t want a large needle, but a rather thin and strong one. (Pergamano is based in the UK.)

Threads:

       I purchased both these silver threads at Michael’s. The Coats & Clark is thin and easily passes through beads. In contrast, the DMC is thicker and textured and makes a nice “presence” on the cardstock. I tend to use both now, depending on the “look” I am going for or which weight is appropriate in each section of the design.

       Beading Needles – any size 10 or 11 will work with 10/0 or 11/0 seed beads.

Patterns:

• ·         Stitching Cards UK offers a free snowflake pattern, pictured at the top of page one. The link takes you directly to this pattern, where you can download it immediately.
• ·         And Stitching Cards UK offers a paid-for pattern, which is the one I used in the samples below. I mixed and matched the components for variety; some of my cards are pictured on the left, below. The link takes you directly to the paid-for pattern (very reasonably priced).

The middle photo, above, is how a friend of mine devised a way to display of not only festive seasonal cards, but also thank you cards and other mementos that she has received. It’s brilliant, especially where space is tight!

Mounting Your Stitched Pieces

Another idea is to mount these for framing. The mat has a beveled edge – visible on the close-up – that accommodates embellishments such as a crystal, without touching the glass.
Wouldn’t this be a lovely gift!?  

(These 8” x 8” mats, with a 4” x 4” opening are available on Amazon at a reasonable price.)

And that, dear beaders, is your easy summer project, and one that will impress the friends you choose to gift these to. I love getting snail mail and actually don’t know anyone who doesn’t! (Especially if it’s not bills or anything like that, of course!)

Until August, bead well, bead happy, and bead with love.

Cheers, Cathy