Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Trend and Product Review: Digital Stamping

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image by Heather Holbrook

image by Heather Holbrook

A big buzz word in the stamping world right now is Digital Stamping.

What is digital stamping you might ask? Well, it’s simply buying a digital image that you download to your computer and then print out and use like a regular stamped image. There are several advantages to using digital stamp images such as: storage, no need to store so many bulky stamps; cost, they are much cheaper than buying an actual stamp; helps the environment, no trees were cut down for wood blocks.

I recently gave digital stamping a try for myself and got some super cute images from Angel’s Landing. For each group of images I received an Adobe file with all the images and then each image separately in a PNG file. Their website has an easy to follow tutorial and helpful FAQ on how to download your images.

I really like the idea of being able to easily print them out on not only regular cardstock but other surfaces as well like printable canvas or vellum. I made the sweet card featured above by printing out the images of the birds on vellum and coloring them from behind with markers. I also liked how the images worked well with stamps I already owned, the music notes and words are from the April Word Puzzle stamp set from Close To My Heart. For my first try at digital stamping I found it really fun and easy to do.

The wonderful card shown below is from the Gallery at Angel’s Landing.

-Heather

 

image by Angel's Landing

image by Angel's Landing

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Crow Cross Stitch Patterns

In all my years writing about cross stitch, I don’t think I’ve ever had a post dedicated to crow cross stitch patterns. That’s a shame, because crows are cool, and they’re a great motif to use in the fall that has a bit of a Halloween/spooky vibe without necessarily being all pumpkins and ghosts (though we have some of that, too). 

Actually, these little crow cross stitch patterns from LaSelva Design could be up in the house year round, especially if you’ve made friends with crows or are trying to cultivate your own murder. This set of four patterns is each worked in four colors, and they’re shown in 3-inch hoops, though they vary in size a little bit. 

This Art Nouveau crow from Needle Lot Designs is stunning and reminds me a bit of a tarot card. It would be the perfect thing to stitch for a witchy friend. It measures 74 by 98 stitches, which comes out to 5.25 by 7 inches or 13.4 by 17.8 cm on 14 count fabric. It uses 14 colors and has no backstitching. 

Or keep it monochrome with PandoraXstitch‘s cross cross stitch pattern. I love how this one looks like a woodcut, and it shows you that even stitching in a single color you can make something really interesting. This design is 283 by 284 stitches, which is a little more than 20 inches or 51.5 cm not quite square on 14 count fabric. The pattern includes measurements for other counts if you want to make it a different size. 

The Book of Lost Keys design from Haunted Frames feels a little more Halloween, but it doesn’t have to be. It tells the story of a mama crow whose baby is locked in a cage, but the mama has the key. The design is shown worked on 18 count fabric and measures 109 by 79 stitches. That’s 6.1 by 4.4 inches, or about 15.5 by 11 cm. It uses four colors of regular floss as well as gold metallic floss. 

Speaking of more Halloween, I love this spooky cake stand featuring a crow and other characters from Ulysses Blue Stitching. You’ll find a creepy cake, eyeball in a jar, owl, ghosts and more haunting this house. It uses nine colors and measure 109 by 143 stitches. That’s 7.4 by 9.8 inches or 19.78 by 25.94 cm on 14 count fabric. 

I also like this kind of folk art crow (or raven as the pattern calls it) sitting on a pumpkin from MIYAstitch. This one measures a manageable 71 by 81 stitches and uses seven colors. On 14 count fabric it comes out to a little more than 5 by almost 6 inches (or 13 by 15 cm). 

Another pumpkin and crow pattern (this time with a witch hat) comes from My Lovely Embroidery MB. This dare I say cute design uses seven colors as well ans is 81 by 80 stitches. That measures 5.79 by 5.71 inches, or 14.7 by 14.51 cm, on 14 count fabric. This one uses full and three-quarter stitches as well as French knots.