Thursday, September 20, 2012

Penguins and scary things!

Scissors are such scary things, don't you think?  And I don't mean when you are snipping off the end of your threads. I mean when it actually comes to cutting something up or cutting into something....especially if that certain something is a piece that you have taken hours to stitch!

I have to admit that when I have to trim my stitching  to fit a coaster, or a card or even a cushion insert, I get a little bit nervous and worry that I might have miscalculated the measurements etc. The old rule of measure twice, cut once certainly comes into play. Actually, for me it's usually measure twice, check again, walk away, come back, find another ruler or tape measure and check again! Yup, I'm a bit neurotic about making sure everything is correct. Well, can you imagine the anguish I was feeling when I had to cut into my stitching? This is the little cutie I had stitched up.....


....and I wanted to make him into a card. My idea was that since his list to Santa is so long that it would look super cute if it was bursting out through the aperture of the card. I could have cut the aperture to fit the shape, but I didn't think I would be able to cut the precise shape that I needed......hence having to cut my stitching!!

So, gathering my courage in both hands (well only one hand as I had the scissors in the other!) I snipped....and snipped..... and snipped some more!

And this is the result....



Cute or what?!!! And much less scary than I had originally thought.

Here's some close ups of how I made the card.


I used some iron-on interfacing to stop the aida from fraying when it was cut.


Pop the scroll part through the aperture to the front of the card.



Glue in place!

And if you think this little penguins list is long, you should see my stitchy wish list!




Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

18 comments:

cucki said...

Such a lovely idea...he is a cutie :)
Love x

Pull the other thread said...

He is so super cute. Well done it looks amazing.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rhona

He's gorgeous and thanks for showing us how to do this!

Le trame della Galaverna said...

The penguin is adorable,
wonderful idea.
:) Giovanna

Shebafudge said...

That is so so cute. He looks adorable!

Debbie (Little Gingham Bear) said...

He is very cute - I feel your scissor pain - great idea with the aperture and the interfacing xx

Mii Stitch said...

Was worth the hard work! He looks fabulous ☺

Annie said...

Very cute, and such a clever idea! Your bravery payed off....you have mad cutting skilzz;)

♥ Nia said...

That looks really but really cute!!! =)
Well done! Such a great idea :D Congrats!
Hugs&smiles

Denise said...

What an adorable penguin and what a clever way to finish your card. Love it!
Happy Stitching
Denise

Valma said...

what a great idea you had !
super cute
great stitching on your penguin
lovely card =D
xxx

Faith... said...

Wonderful job, it looks great! Can you tell me where you got the Penguin chart from?

Faith... said...

Found the charts...will be ordering soon! :)

Anne said...

Super adorable Rhona! Glad the snipping went well!!

Helen Philipps said...

Your card looks fantastic! It worked really well.... I know what you mean about that scary feeling when you cut out some carefully sewn cross stitch!!
Helen x

The Merry Stitcher said...

What a neat idea! :) Thank you for showing how you did it, I'd have been afraid of cutting too!

Caitlin @ Naughts Cross Stitches said...

awesome card :D I hate using the scissors too it is always a worry.

I love those designs :D I do love stitching your penguins.

Joysze said...

That's a darling card, Rhona!! :D He's adorable!