SSS Sugar and Spice Blog Hop

 *This post contains affiliate links to Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Friday! Today I'm hopping with Simon Says Stamp celebrating the new Sugar and Spice release. As usual, there are prizes! Simon is giving away a $25 store credit at every stop along the hop. All you need to do to be entered is leave a comment. In addition, with any purchase from the release this weekend, you'll receive the set above for free. You should be arriving here from Heather Ruwe's blog, and I have the full list below if you need it. Now onto the cards.

Today I'm sharing a couple more cards created using my new Patchwork stencil.

This is one of my favorite techniques - using your stencils, or stamps, as a guide for stitching. It's a lot of fun to see how you can expand on an existing design to create something totally new and unique.

For today's cards, I used just the two basic stencils from the Patchwork set, the ones with the large chevron shapes.

For the card on the left, I inked with Sprout and Tropic, and for the card on the right, I used Butter and Watermelon.

Then it was time for stitching. On the left, I used a complementary green and focused on those sections of the design where the two stencils intersect. 

Here are my basic guidelines when I'm stitching on cards:

1. Use a very heavyweight cardstock
2. Use two or three strands of embroidery floss depending on how full a look you want. These cards use two strands.
3. I use a foam piercing mat when I stitch, placing the cardstock over the mat and piercing a hole with my needle where I want to stitch, and then going back and actually doing the stitching.

For the second card, I used three different colors of floss which roughly corresponded to the colors of the ink I used. I mostly outlined the design, but also added stitches that cut the basic shapes in half

For the sentiments, I used Thank You Basics for the blue/green card, and Dreamy Leaves for the pink/yellow card.

I'm really happy with how things turned out, and they were really easy to create. That's all for me today. Your next stop on the hop is Rachel Alvarado. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win $25 in the store, and enjoy the rest of the hop!

Simon Says Stamp Blog
Nina-Marie Trapani
Cathy Zielske
Jennifer McGuire
Laura Bassen
Heather Hoffman
Mindy Eggen
Barbara Tarayao
Yana Smakula
Keisha Charles
Cheiron Brandon
Heather Ruwe
Miriam Prantner
Rachel Alvarado
Caryn Davies
Barb Engler