HAPPY: Mojo Monday 222

The first time I saw the beautifully coordinated papers and embellishments from The Girls' Paperie, I was smitten. Unfortunately, by the time I discovered them, they had already ceased production. I am slowly collecting all the goodies I can find, many of them on clearance. I do love paper, especially on sale!


I created this card bases on the Mojo Monday 222 sketch, using papers from The Girls' Paperie "Kitch" collection. I discovered these on Etsy at Discount Paper Crafts, a classy shop with a polite, helpful owner. The embellishments are from my collection of collections: brads, stick pins, ribbon flower, button, and vintage ric rac. I distressed and inked the edges of the papers and added some machine stitching. I like to have some non-holiday-specific cards on hand, and this is such a cheerful card!

Hope you have bits of HAPPY in your day too!

Fly Away with Me CPS 249

For some reason, I thought I might keep working on winter holiday cards; you know, get a head start for next year while I still have all the supplies at hand. My, do I have a lot of supplies for Christmas cards. When I cleaned it all up, I needed one of my old suitcases in order to store everything together (and I haven't tried to close it yet.)

Front of card, CPS 249

But alas, I remembered I had one more new Tim Holtz Sizzix die to try, the winged heart. I was saving it for Valentine cards. So, I've let go of Christmas (though I'll listen to the music a few more days) and I made a few Valentines. I used a simple sketch from Card Positioning Systems (#249) and went wild with glitter, vintage lace, buttons (French glass) and postage stamps. The paper is 7gypsies "Lille" and Papertrey cardstock on a PaperSource Luxe card. So many lovely bits collected and brought together on this card!

Interior of above card

I did some machine sewing around the edges, a straight stitch with zigzag accents. I had a few comments on a previous post where I mentioned machine stitching, and I am embarrassed to say I have yet to answer the questions, so I'll do that now!

I have a sturdy old Singer machine, Model 401A, that I use for all my sewing (fabric or paper.) I use a ball point needle when sewing on paper to avoid dulling sharps. (Ball points are normally used for sewing knit fabric, something my machine refuses to do.) Sometimes thread tension can be a problem, so I recommend sewing on a scrap of paper and then adjusting before sewing the final project. Longer stitch length will make fewer holes and therefore create less chance of tearing the paper. You can use an unthreaded machine to create perforations, if that's what you're trying to achieve. I have mailed postcards with machine stitching naked (without an envelope) and they seem to travel well. If I add buttons, the cards always go into envelopes. Better for the cards, better for the postal machines!

Happy crafting!