A Stitch in Time Challenge

Happy Thursday, friends!

I'm thinking it's time for our next challenge! Are you with me?

So far in the Moxie Fab World we've focused on trendy icons, color combinations, and inspiring fashion--but one thing we haven't focused on (with the exception of stamping) is a trendy technique.

Whether it's the product of the homespun movement echoed by the success of sites like Etsy or whether it's a part of the vintage, shabby chic, or textural trend, stitching on paper crafted projects has never been hotter.

So hot, in fact, that we did an entire feature on it in our May/June issue, currently on newstands today.

Now, I'm not talking about a simple machine stitch "just because" it might add a nice element to your design--I'm talking about machine or hand stitching that is the focal point of the design. For example, check out these awesome projects from our "A Stitch in Time" feature beginning on page 70:

Happy Birthday Card by Dawn McVey, p. 79

Now that's a focal point!

In this card, Leslie Webster has filled in the flowers with stitching to create color:

Follow Your Dreams Card, p. 76

Look how Alisa Bangerter has created the petals of this cool flower with different colors of machine stitching:

For You Gift Bag, p. 80

Kim Hughes has used variegated thread to hand-stitch this moxie fab design:

Birdie Gift Bag, p. 76

While Maren Benedict has accentuated the rainbow with a zig-zag stitch in this trendy card:

Over the Rainbow Card, p. 74

Wanting more inspiration? I decided to do a bit of blog hopping to verify the trend and came up these seamly projects by these fasten-ating designers. Click on the links to find more bind-ing inspiration:

Becky Olsen: Clever treatment of the cloud, don't you think?

Carolyn King: Love the trail from the pirate to the "x"!

Danielle Flanders: What a great idea to connect the angels and the stars in the layout with a handstitch!

Lauren Meader: Scroll down to see the way she's added dimension to the tree by stuffing it, then stitching around the felt for a strong focal effect.

Roree Rumph: I love how she calls attention to what she wants the focal point in her layout to be by stitching a heart around the dog and the girl! Too cute!

Ready to play? I've got a new procedure for you, so head's up! You may or may not have noticed, but CK Media has a new website. The kinks for the community portion have not been ironed out, so we are currently unable to post projects to the Moxie Fab World Group. So, I've got a work-around for you. I've created a group for this challenge on Flickr!

To access the Moxie Fab World Stitch in Time Challenge Group, click here. Once you've accessed the group page, join the group using your Yahoo ID--if you don't have a Yahoo ID, they're SUPER easy to create, just click on "Sign Up" and follow the instructions. Once you've joined the group, simply upload the photo of your project. Now listen up, because the next part is important. You need to use your name or screen name in the title of your project, otherwise, I'm not going to know who posted it. OR you can put your name in the description of the project. If you upload more than one project, then use numbers to identify the different projects, i.e., Cath1, Cath2, Cath3, etc.

All projects must be uploaded by midnight MST on Monday, April 13. I'll be looking for clever uses of stitching as the focal point of your paper crafted project.

Sound good? If you have any troubles, leave me a comment on this post or email me at cedvalson@ckmedia.com and I'll make sure I'm available to troubleshoot for you. And since uploading to Flickr is sew easy, I'd love to see everyone's project uploaded to the group so we can all see them all together. You're welcome to post your project on your blog as well, but it will need to be posted in the group in order to be considered for a prize. There's also a place to post discussion topics--so feel free to woot one another up as you're posting your projects.

I can't wait to see what you do with this challenge centering on the trendy technique of stitching, ladies! I hope you have a stitchingly good time!

In stitches,

~Cath

PS You still have until midnight MST tonight to leave a comment here to win the Debonair collection from GCD Studios! Good luck!