2010 HSMG conference

The Handcrated Soap Makers Guild (HSMG) will be holding its 2010 Conference in Denver, Colorado. It will be at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center, April 30 – May 2, 2010.

Conference attendance is open to members and non-members of the Handcrafted Soap Makers Guild, Inc. The registration fee includes attendance to all classes, demonstrations and workshops, participation in door prizes, drawings and prize awards and optional participation in the Soapers Showcase. Meals and snacks are provided as part of the conference fee.

Registration starts on the evening of Thursday, April 29th and continues on the morning of Friday, April 30th. Conference classes and activities run all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday, culminating in the Annual Awards Dinner on Sunday evening.

For more information, visit their website. Register now for early bird rates!

I’ve done embroidery on paper before and it’s a lot of fun. You can use a needle to punch out a particular shape to stitch, or my favorite thing is to take a copy of an old photograph or a page from a magazine and add stitched details to the original picture.

One thing I haven’t tried but would also be fun to do is cross stitching on paper.

This is a technique that requires a fair amount of preparation because you need to find a pattern you can easily transfer and print it at actual size, then use the pattern itself to help you decide where to put the holes in your paper. And then after all that you can do your stitching.

It’s a pretty straightforward process, but Crewel Ghoul has a great tutorial that walks you through how to do it step by step. It even includes a sample pattern you can print out and try for practice.

The post also has tips for starting and finishing your threads so that the back looks as neat as it can, if that’s something that’s important to you. (When I have done embroidery on paper I usually just tape the thread end to the back. If the back were going to show I’d probably just cover it with more paper.)

Stitching on paper is a fun way to make bookmarks or greeting cards, but you also need to make sure your paper is thick enough to support the holes you’ll be making in it. This post has a good rundown of materials you’ll need and what kind of paper is best. She used watercolor paper but I’ve used card stock and scrapbook paper that was a little thicker than the average printer paper.

You can always test a little on the paper you’re considering to make sure it will stand up to the project.

Check out the post, which includes a video, over at Crewel Ghoul for more tips for cross stitching on paper. Is this something you’ve tried before? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Crewel Ghoul]

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