Holiday Stitching Cards

Located near the historic English market town of St Albans, Hertfordshire, just north of London, the Stitching Cards design studio was launched in 2004 by its proprietor and pattern designer, David John Jefferson.

The following photos of beaded card holiday patterns are from StitchingCards.uk

About Greeting Cards (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Before we dive into creating these sweet beaded cards, I got curious about greeting cards in general. Here’s a short history lesson about sending greetings. 😊

The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of good will to celebrate the New Year, and to the early Egyptians, who conveyed their greetings on papyrus scrolls.

The Germans are known to have printed New Year's greetings from woodcuts as early as 1400, and handmade paper Valentines were being exchanged in various parts of Europe in the early to mid-15th century.

By the 1850s, the greeting card had been transformed from a relatively expensive, handmade and hand-delivered gift (a practice reserved for the wealthy) to a popular and affordable means of personal communication, due largely to advances in printing and mechanization.

How-To: The Beads

I’ve now made two Stitching Cards samples and am happy to say that the directions are clear and easy to follow. I’d never made anything quite like these before, but had no troubles. The additional information provided on the website, under the Tutorial tab, is fabulous and much appreciated!

Without a doubt, silver-lined seed and bugle beads are quite spectacular in stitching cards, particularly on richly coloured card stock. (I purchased card stock from my local craft store and will then glue my finished pieces onto purchased card blanks.)

Patterns are made with size 10/0 seed beads and 7mm bugles in mind. Now, I enjoy the look of Miyuki 3mm bugles, and will experiment with using two 3mm bugles with a 15/0 seed bead in between. I might use a closely matching colour, or perhaps a metallic bead, depending on the design. There’s flexibility in how you interpret the design, of course! Miyuki makes a 6mm bugle, which would certainly still work in these designs.

A size 10 English beading needle, for example, are perfect for this project.

(Photos courtesy of The Stitching Card)

How-to: Paper & Tools

You’ll find a list of requirements and ideas for sourcing these at Stitching Cards/Tutorials.

Cardstock: Stitching Card designs are scaled to fit on 4.5” x 6” cardstock (or 104 x 152 mm). I suggest that stitching on a piece of cardstock and then gluing the finished piece onto a 5” x 7” card blank (or thereabouts) would be the way to go, to hide the thread ends and to be able to select the colour of card stock to showcase the design (the readily available card blanks are either white or off white).

Pricking tool: The Pergamano tool, available on Amazon, for example, is perfect. Alternative ideas include a hat pin (available at sewing stores), an open safety pin, or inserting a needle into a cork.

Clamps: Mini Spring Clamps from The Beading Room hold the transfer sheet and cardstock securely without leaving an imprint on the cardstock.

Underlay: The Beading Room’s Non-slip Bead Mat was perfect for supporting the cardstock while allowing the pricking tool to do its job! A piece of firm foam would likely work well also.

Threads: In my samples, which follow, I used KO, a durable, strong Japanese nylon thread that will withstand a bit of pressure from bugle beads used in some designs. It comes in many colours. Alternative ideas include embroidery floss, Kreinik metallic threads, or perhaps even doubled sewing thread might work.

Card Blanks: These kraft coloured card/envelope sets (Amazon.ca) would be lovely for darker designs, or a more casual look and these white versions are a good bet for any “look.” I have seen similar sets at Michaels Canada. Stitching Cards also has links and ideas under its Tutorial tab.

My Samples and My Gifted Card

Dabble First

If you’d like to dabble before you purchase, check out the free patterns, some of which are beaded. The free PDF files show you exactly what you receive when you purchase a pattern – easy to follow, step-by-step instructions. And if you love additional inspiration, be sure to check out the gallery of cards made by purchasers who added personal touches and embellishments such as ribbons, patterned backgrounds, and more.

These are a few patterns from the generous free pattern category at Stitchingcards.uk.

And there you have it! Yet another way to use beads creatively for the upcoming seasonal holidays.

A special thank you to David John Jefferson for allowing The Beading Room to profile his bead-i-ful designs!

Until next month my beadlings…Cathy