Cutting the Cards

Sometimes the baby sleeps, and while the baby sleeps, I Get Stuff Done.

Sometimes that Stuff is crafty:

I want to say something clever about a bushel, but honestly I'm exhausted.

These little ornaments are a lot of fun to make, once you have the hang of it (it took me about three tries before I stopped consistently derping them up.)  Here, have some process photos!

Cut into 1/2" strips and ready to go!

When I first started doing them, I didn't really pay attention to the pattern my cards were making: I was too busy focusing on the actual craft part to worry about design.  Which means that for the first few I only needed three cards per ornament, to get my fifteen strips.  By the time I did this one, however, I'd gotten fancy, which means I sliced up like five or six cards to cherry-pick the strips, and also used sixteen rather than fifteen, to get an even repeat on the pattern.

Pierced, strung, knotted, and fanned! (looking at it from the "back")

 This has been a fantastic way for me to use up my scraps of embroidery thread!

Now comes the tricky part... thread from the top of the stack to the bottom... and curve!

 This was something I screwed up multiple times in the beginning.

This is, obviously, not the same ornament.  Tra la la...

This is the hardest part: keeping the strips curved as you thread the next one.  I had to step away from this ornament in the middle of the process (someone woke up and needed attention) and it held its shape well enough for me to snap a photo of it.

You can make them more flat...

...or less flat...

...or even LESS flat to the point that it looks like...

...a lovely seashell!

So that's what I've been up to, lately.