Our group did a Christmas card exchange again this year and I was partnered with Antje.  (You can see Antje’s post with the card she made for me here.) My first card attempt turned into a disappointing failure.  After casting about for more inspiration I decided to try using some of my handspun to make a card.

I cut out some felt the size of a blank card, and sketched out a design using chalk.  Then I decided that would be challenging to sew.  So I loaded a larger piece of felt into a frame and started over.

Next I did a chalk sketch.  I outlined the size of my working area and the tree element I wanted on the card.

The handspun I wanted to use was a very pretty singles.  It was quite bulky and not really suitable for traditional sewing as it would fray if tried to sew through the felt with it.  As a result I used a needle and thread to tack down the handspun at each edge of the tree.  (I actually had 2 working needles going, one for each side of the tree.)  The handspun was thick and thin which made the tree somewhat textured.  I dug around in my stash and found this very crazy gold fizz yarn that I used to make a bold star.

At this point I decided my card was a bit too plain.  So I bought some beads and then started playing with laying them on the felt.  I took my project to one of our guild socials and got some feedback from the ladies there about what beads to use.  Once the beads were selected, I started sewing them on.  There are dark beads as shimmery snowflakes and some white snow below the tree.  When adding the snow at the base of the tree I purposely changed the direction of the beads instead of doing plain rows.

Next I cut out the panel and made sure it was the correct size for my card.

Ann suggested that I sew the panel onto the card.  That way if Antje wanted to repurpose the panel it could be easily removed from the card.  (Unlike gluing which would be more permanent and possibly not good for the felt.)  I used some clips to hold the panel to the card and sewed it down at each corner.  I then decided to add a couple more stitches along the long sides.  Sewing the panel to the card was easy to do and the threads don’t show very much on the front of the card against the dark felt.  (Thanks Ann for the terrific suggestion.)  Success!

My next job was to send the card.  Unfortunately Canada Post went on strike and so mailing my card was delayed.  I did attempt to send the card via courier.  After waiting in a long line I was quoted a price of $117, which is crazy.  So the card went back home with me to wait till the strike was over.

I was nervous about sending the card since the beads could be damaged by some of the post machines.  So I padded out the envelope with a few hand knit dish cloths and hoped for the best.  Antje let me know that my packet finally arrived at her place on December 31st.  I am resharing the photo Antje took of the card and dish cloths once they arrived in the UK.