Birthday card with a handmade paper background and a bevy of gifts in red and blue

 I wanted to make my exchange cards using fabric scraps and handmade paper.  It is so easy to stitch the scraps to the paper and I love all the texture that is created in the process of combining the two.  After stitching all the way around the gifts in blue I added two lines of red to simulate ribbon.  I added the bows after I had stitched on all the gifts but on hind sight I could have added them when I did the vertical center red stitching as I simply laid the center of the ribbon/tie over the gift and stitched in place then tied a bow.  I had not figured out how to add the bows when I was stitching the gifts.  I limited myself to red and blue but next time I will be more vibrant with my colours and mix up the ribbons as well.  This one is a little too predictable in its colour scheme which I not how birthday gifts happen in real life.  They are usually very different and more colourful.  It is a celebration after all!!  After all the stitching was done I glued this large layer to the front of a navy card which fit in a large envelope.  I will be mailing it off to my partner this week!!

Therese