You Are Sew BeeYouTiful | August Button Lover’s Club Tutorial

Can you believe how fast these summer months are flying by?  In just a few more days August will be half way over!  The good news about the middle of the month is that it is time for the monthly Just Another Button Company Button Lover’s Club box to ship!  A new box means a new art card and tutorial to share with you, and best of all, new hand-made and hand-dyed buttons to create with!

This month the theme of the club box is all about Bees and sweet little posies… two of my favorite things!  I was inspired by a fun little play on the word “beautiful”.  I knew I wanted to incorporate some hand stitching on this month’s card so the “sew” seemed perfect to include.

I drew the lines under the words with the vision that they would show the flight path of the bees.  I decided that it would be fun to add hand stitching along these lines and on the stems for the flowers.  To make stitching easy, place the card on a foam mat or soft surface.  Use a piercing tool to poke holes through the card along the lines.  Try to space the holes about an 1/8″ apart.

Stitch your thread or floss through the holes using a needle just as you would through fabric.  I used a back-stitch to create a solid line.  You could also stitch through every other hole to create a dashed line.

Note- I stitch with Sulky 12wt cotton thread.  If using embroidery floss, stitch with just one or two strands.  More strands will look very heavy on the card.

Now the fun part, begin playing with placing the buttons on the card to decide which you want to use.  The flowers in the Sprinkle pack fit nicely on the flower stems.

The tiny swirly bud flowers are also perfect for the flower stems.

Next, add bees to the stitched lines.  I used the smaller bees.  You could also place the bee hive next to the flowers.  When you have decided which buttons you will use, use a small drop of glue (I recommend Therm O Web’s Mixed Media Glue) to adhere the button to the card.  When the glue is dry, use a needle to pierce through the buttons to make holes to stitch through on the card.  Add a couple of stitches through the button and card to finish the look.

Brush the edge of the card with brown ink using an ink blending tool.

Cut a piece of pattern paper to 5 3/8″ x 4 1/8″.  Brush the edge of the pattern paper piece with brown ink using an ink blending tool.  Adhere the art card to the pattern paper.  I chose a bright green paper by Carta Bella with a small floral print.  The bright green helps really play up the green of the grass and flower stems and lets the yellow and blue text stand out.

Cut a piece of cardstock or pattern paper to 5 5/8″ x 8 1/2″.

Fold the cardstock strip in half to create a top fold card 5 5/8″ x 4 1/4″.  Adhere the art card/pattern paper piece to the front of the card.

Look at how cute these itty bitty flower buttons are up close!  Can you believe they are all hand-made?

And the bees!  The wings have a transparent look with little tiny details in them.  All of the bees are so cute in this month’s box, it is hard deciding just which one to use!

I really love how this month’s card turned out.  I love the added touch of adding stitching and how it works so well with using buttons.  All together it is a fun and playful card that will be as fun to give as to get!

Don’t forget, the monthly Button Lover’s Club boxes from Just Another Button Company ship on the 15th.  There is still time to reserve yours if you aren’t already a member.  AND… as always, if you love the selection of buttons but can’t commit to the club, all the buttons are available ala carte on their website.  I have linked them in the supply list below to make it easy to find them.  I warn you though, you are going to fall in love with all the button goodness available!

PS- I’ve gotten a few emails asking about making a printable version of the club tutorials.  Look below the supply list for the bar of links for sharing on social media.  There is a print button there that will give you a printable version of each post.