I love the look of stitching and piercing on my cards... unfortunately, my sewing machine isn't easily accessible. So, I do all of the stitching on my cards by hand, which I don't mind, other than the time it takes... and being the procrastinator that I am, time isn't always on my side! Of course, there are some neat tools out there for creating this look, but they can be spendy, and, well, I'm also on a budget! So, I recently thought of a cheap, quick, and easy way to achieve a stitched look on my cards.

You only need a couple of tools to do this (and you might already have them on hand!) - a ruler (I like the Tim Holtz Ruler because it is see through, and has marked grid lines at every 1/8", which comes in handy for this technique), and a tracing wheel (you can find these in the sewing department of your craft store. I picked mine up at Walmart for under $2).

Color up your image, and get all the layers of your card cut and ready to go.

Place the first layer to be "stitched" on a cutting mat or foam pad. Line the ruler up against an edge of the panel to mark a 1/8" border.

Then slowly, but with firm pressure, guide the tracing wheel against the edge of the ruler along the entire length of the panel.

(The more pressure you use, the deeper of an impression the wheel will leave.)

Turn the panel, re-align the ruler to mark a 1/8" border on the next edge, and repeat.

Repeat on all edges of all layers that you want "stitched". Here are the 3 panels I "stitched" for my card.

Then, assemble your card as usual. Easy peasy!

Here is my finished card featuring Sweet November Bufly Brynn with a sentiment from AmyR Winged Greetings. I smothered Brynn's wings with glitter, and added teeny white dots with my gel pen to liven up her eyes.

Supplies: Hammermill White CS; Bazzill Pinkini CS; My Mind's Eye Happy Day 6x6; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink;

Recollections Extra Fine Glitter; Ribbon; Tracing Wheel; Ruler; White Gel Pen; Copics

Copics Used:

Wings - YR04, Y38, Y35, Y32 and Y17, Y15, Y13, Y11, Y00

Dress - R83, R81, RV00, RV000

Skin - E11, E00, E000, YR0000, R30

Hair - E18, E17, E15, E13

Eyes - BG05, BG01, BG000

And there you go... a faux stitched edge for a fraction of the cost and time!

I would love to know if you give it a try!

Entering the following challenges:

MarkerPOP - Add Glitter

Flutterby Wednesday - Any Winged Thing

Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Sentimental Sunday - Anything Goes + Sentiment

Oozak - Anything Goes + Spring