Following on from my post about seed beads, here is some information about bugle beads. Bugle beads come in a variety of lengths but will always be longer than they are thick. This creates a bead with a tubular shape…

I am often asked about the beads used for my card embroidery patterns on the Stitching Cards web site. I like to use silver lined glass beads because they give a jewel like effect when they reflect the light. The small round beads are usually referred to as seed beads. The beads are 2mm in diameter or 1/8 inch or aught size 10/0 (ten-aught). Various bead sellers uses different measurements when describing the beads so I have given the three most popular…

Emma J, who is a member of my Stitching Cards forum, suggested that I design some art nouveau style text to go with the rose patterns that I recently added to the Stitching Cards range. The proposition appealed to me because I believe that a hand stitched greeting can add the finishing touch to a hand stitched card…

Nike posted a message on my Form-A-Lines forum saying “I’m in love with stitching cards, but here, in Italy, there is nothing about it. Can you tell me what I need?” So for Nike and any other beginners here is my guide to making prick and stitch cards.

Assemble your materials and equipment. You will need…

My latest set of designs for the Stitching Cards web site feature an Art Nouveau style rose. The rose design was influenced by a popular motive of the Glasgow Style known as the ‘Glasgow Rose’.

This cabbage like rose is said to have been adapted from drawings by Aubrey Beardsley by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the late 1880′s and 90′s…

When your card goes in the post it will pass automatic sorting machines that have a series of guide rollers. It may be turned around sharp bends and squashed in the franking machine. Not to mention the rough time it may have in the mail sack.

If your delicate stitch work or bead work has only the paper envelope to protect it there is a good possibility that it may suffer…

If you are making a lot of cards with the prick and stitch method it is well worth getting one of the purpose made pricking mats that will be sold by your favourite craft store. Pricking mats are usually made from compressed fibre, felt or polyurethane foam. The size will be around 9 x 6 inches (22 x 16 centimetres) and ½ inch (1 centimetre) thick…

You want to try the prick and stitch technique but do not want to spend out on a purpose made pricking tool until you are sure you will enjoy this card making technique. The solution is to look for a sharp pointed object that you already own. Here are some suggestions…

A by-product of a prick and stitch design is the holes that the thread passes through. Some people regard them as an important part of the design that should show and others think that they are better minimised…

Two different names for a method of stitching that at first glance seems to do the same job. So what is the difference?

On backstitch more thread ends up hidden on the back of the work than on the front. Stem stitch is the opposite, more thread is visible on the front of the work than on the back. I often wonder why the opposite to backstitch was not called front stitch…