valentine ATCs

I've been admiring the beautiful artist trading cards that Kristin has been making, and finally decided to try my hand at it. I joined Amy's Valentine ATC swap and finished everything up this afternoon. At first, I was going to make them with felt and embroidery too, but I had a sudden idea one night and decided to go in a completely different direction.

I crocheted the base with tea-stained cotton crochet thread, and a US #7 steel crochet hook (1.5 mm). Just single crochet, then a scalloped border. I didn't try to make two the same, I thought it would be nicer to just see what I got. I made some freeform flowers, some hearts, and found various bits that kind of "fit," and sewed them on with thread.

I hope they're okay, they aren't exactly like I'd imagined, but pretty close. This swap had a quick turnaround, so I didn't get to fuss with them as much as I'd have liked, or crochet as many embellishments. But maybe that's for the better.

Part of the swap was to include little goodies with the ATCs, so I made these matchbook notebooks, inspired by one of my rubber stamping magazines that I was attempting to organize the other day. And guess what? I actually managed to take some photos of each step, and I'll be posting a little tutorial soon. Stay tuned.

September 2014