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Today I took the gift card holder to a whole other level and made one out of vinyl I got out of the remnants pile at a fabric store I frequent and lined it with material from a thrift store shirt I found a few weeks ago and wanted to reuse the fabric for something.  I’m beginning to see this as a stepping stone to making an eventual wallet. 

Next time I make one with vinyl, I’ll find a different type of stitch because the blanket stitch doesn’t really work well with this kind of fabric.  I might also round the corners or fold the material inward for a much cleaner look.  But, hey, it’s all a learning process and this was fun! 

I had attempted to make a realistic stuffed animal bird, but while trying to cut out a pattern for it I came to the conclusion that this was waaaay above my skill level and would take longer than an hour to make.  After skulking, I worked on a variation of an old standby, the gift card holder.  Instead of using felt, I used pieces from a paper bag I had from the grocery store.  The idea came to me when I remembered a conversation I had with Adam the other day about making a little curve in the opening to make it easier to remove the gift card/business card and when I noticed the paperbag already had that kind of curve, I just incorporated that into my design,  I wasn’t sure how hard it would be to sew on paper, especially a paper bag, but it was super easy.  Now after making it, I can easily see this as a great craft idea for a rubber stamper.

Is it okay to be boring sometimes? 

Today I had planned to do a paper collage, but I couldn’t get the inspiration for it.  Paper just isn’t giving me the love today so I decided to go back to felt for one day and I made another gift card holder instead.

 I made the eyes using that french stitch and the eye on the left came out like it’s supposed to look!  I’m real happy about that.  It pays to be persistent and practice!

 No promises for tomorrow.

Well, today I did everything free hand by cutting into the felt and just letting the forms emerge.  I knew I wanted to do an owl themed card holder, and today the owl came alive for me.  I even gave him a little branch to sit on.  He was a joy to make.

 Ok, so today I stepped it up a notch and used a blanket stitch!  I did it by watching this tutorial someone posted on youtube and it really made the whole thing very easy.  I tried to do a french stitch for his eyes, but that was a lot harder than I anticipated.  Makes him look a little goofy, but eh.  Anyone got any advice on doing a french stitch, I’m all ears.

I didn’t have a lot of time today so I decided to do another gift card holder, but modify the design a little bit.  I added a flower onto the front.  I’m happy with it, but I think I need to practice stitching more, and maybe, slow down.  More pictures and instructions on flickr.