October Moss & Lichen ATCs

 

Gosh I really love these Moss & Lichen cards! They are utterly delightful and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting these in the post. They are definitely my favourite so far (I think I say that every month but I'm not going to go back through all of the posts and check), all so tactile and interesting with fluff and bits and gathers and textures and colours and so many stitches! 

I should probably note, for any of the stitchers who join in with the swap, that quite a few of these cards are a bit on the chunky side - they are meant to go home as normal letters which are only 0.5cm thick and there are definitely some borderline ones here. The excitement of the theme may have taken over in this case for some and I can totally sympathise and agree but equally the cost of post has just gone up again!!

But, cautions aside, lets jump in and have a look at this totally touchable collection of wonderfulness. The colours are beautiful, very synchronised together if looking at the cards as a collection. Unfortunately the day I took the photos it was grey and gloomy and my hometown was encased in fog so these are as bright as I could get them in the natural light and they are much warmer in tone in person. 

The positioning of the moss and lichen is really lovely - some are on fallen logs, some growing on upright tree trunks, others tucked into stone walls and some zoomed in to just the texture of the green and yellow and brown fronds. Does moss have fronds? What would you call the little fuzzy sticks that poke up? Leaves? Arms? 

Ooh, let's dive into the techniques shall we, and have a close up look at these gorgeous cards? Jacquie has used beautiful scrappy kind of couching with lots of colours of what looks like thin perle threads with a slight twist to them. I love her log with the pistil stitch upright mushroomy looking beings and french knot mosses. I wonder if she painted the background herself?

Batik fabrics are my absolute favourite, they can be turned into all sorts of things. Stone walls in this case I think, with the most amazing french knot moss amassing a mossy army along the top. There are at least 5 colours used in those knots, how fantastic!

This card is so delicate - the way the lichen has been translated with the creamy embroidery is utterly fantastic. I'm not entirely sure what the stitch is actually called, it looks like a kind of blanket or button hole stitch? Ideal for that kind of representation though, especially if you were doing a stone wall type image and used it in greens and oranges, how fab would that look?

I think the trunks have been cleverly created over the top of a striped fabric, picking out the lighter colour stripes with a whip stitch (maybe?) in two colours and bark texture added just with straight stitches across the trunks. 

Hehe Abi's little snail, isn't he cute with his two-tone shell? He's one of the pretty ones for sure and what a great habitat for him to live in with the patchwork of different fabrics making up the wall he's sliming along.

This one was very padded and textural with the felt, stuffed fabric balls - which I couldn't see if they had been needle turned over a padding or if it was like trapunto quilting or just stuffed and stitched but it is certainly effective! I love the different colours of green too. 

Ah now this is what I was thinking of with the greys and oranges and greens - just like those plastered low stone walls you see with the flat lichen. This one is by Jackie and she always writes on the back of her cards which stitches she has included which I really like. The green fluffy bit is Turkey Stitch and I did take her advice and floof up the moss (next photo down). 

She even managed to get the knotted little flower bits you see on some of the velvety mosses! So, so clever! Makes you immediately want to rush to a hoop and have a go yourself. Maybe I should start running workshops on creating moss hoops rather than rockpool ones for a change?

Lots of different stitches used in this card, as well as felts and beads - everyone has been really creative which is so wonderful. I especially enjoy the different colours used in the lichen (with the beaded edges) to make it look more natural  where the colours would change in real life. I wonder whether the ladies all went out moss and lichen hunting to get their inspiration (I did!).

This card from Sharon was just astounding. I spent ages looking at it, the closer you look the more you see! Fancy ribbons or trims twisted and stitched down then surrounded with fly stitches, french knots, cast-on stitches, turkey stitch, straight stitches and goodness knows what else. It's just so much fun with the combination of everything, she has absolutely gone to town. 

Do you see in the top of this photo where there are gathered pieces of fabric and then the fly stitches are worked upwards, starting in the background fabric and then literally lifting up to go over the fabric and the thread being raised off the fabric completely - you can create such amazing three-dimensional effects by layering and just playing. All of these cards seem really playful and I really hope that everyone had so much fun with them. It looks like they did when you look at the collection. 

Ooo, I love a handful of these Stitchscape cards! This swap brings me so much joy and I'm so privileged to be the host of it and get to see - and in this case touch - the cards up close and in detail.