Stitched Stockings...Oh, How I Love Them!

Hello, friends!  I'll let you in on a little secret...the Stocking Stamp & Stitch Bundle is one of my absolute favorites from the entire Concord & 9th Holiday Release.  I love it so very much!  In 5th grade I went through a cross stitching stint, and now I'm wondering why I ever stopped.  I have stitched a time or two here or there, but I really love how easy it is to stitch a design on cardstock with precut holes.  And these dies do just that!

The Stocking Stamp and Stitch Dies made me so happy that I just had to use a bright color scheme.  I'm a huge fan of Melissa Bickford and she used these cheerful colors on this cute sign.  They translate to Concord and 9th's Sweet Pea, Poppy, Pink Lemonade , Sprout, Oceanside, and Aqua Sky.  

And if you are wondering whether or not I took my Concord and 9th cardstock swatches to the craft store to make sure I had perfect floss matches, yes, yes, I did.  I had everything all laid out on the floor and thankfully another costumer who came to look in the same area just smiled, laughed, and was willing to carefully shop around me. It looked quite comical now that I think about it.  I should have taken a picture! 

In case this could save someone some time, here are the colors I used: 

Sweet Pea = DMC Floss 3806

Poppy =  DMC Floss 3801

Pink Lemonade = DMC Floss 963

Sprout = DMC Floss 15

Oceanside = DMC Floss 958

Aqua Sky = DMC Floss 964

I started my card with a bright Poppy base and layered the Plaid Card Front Thick Die on top.  Next I set about stitching up my two stockings.  I used the stitched lines in the Stocking Stamp and Stitch Dies for both stockings, only I die cut the lines twice on one of them.  This allowed me to vary the stitching patterns. 

I dressed up the stocking cuffs and then filled them with greenery from the Ornament Stamp and Stitch Dies (leaves in Sprout and Oceanside) and the Festive Corner Cuts Dies (pines in Oceanside).  I found that the berries from the from the Ornament Stamp and Stitch Dies are a perfect fit for the sprig/stem of little flowers in the Petal Pushers Dies, so I combined them to make the little berry sprigs on my card using Pink Lemonade and Sweet Pea. 

Finally, I embossed a sentiment from the Over the Rooftops Stamp Set and added a few stars from the Festive Corner Cuts Dies. (They are technically the poinsettia centers.)

I was having too much fun to stop, so I made a second card. 

This time I used a scalloped frame die from the Simply You Dies and added a little holiday magic with the Snowfall Card Front Die.

I did a zig zag stitch to cover the entire stocking.  It kind of looks like a knitted stocking to me. 

Afterward I added the toe, cuff and some greenery.  The poinsettia comes from the Festive Corner Cuts Dies.  The final touch was a sentiment from the Stocking Stamp & Stitch Stamp Set. 

What do you think?  I hope you love them as much as I do!  

Thanks so much for joining me today!  I'll have more to share tomorrow.  I hope to see you back! :)