Embroidered Cards

   This is yet another off-subject post. I really do try to keep focused on nails, but I just can't help myself!
    My newest artistic endeavor is embroidering cards! I had these blank card-shaped bits of card stock lying around my room, and they were pretty lonely. I had been trying to think of how I wanted to decorate them and yesterday it hit me! I wanted to embroider them! But I had no idea how.... So after lots of research I finally figured it out! I found this awesome post about how to embroider cards (apparently you have to poke all of the holes before hand, which makes it super complicated if you want to do anything more than a regular stitch!). It was super helpful! I also found this amazing site that shows you step by step (with awesome, helpful pictures) how to do millions of different embroidery stitches! It's awesome!
   So far I've made three cards and am thinking up a fourth. I think I'm probably going to put them up on my Etsy to see if people like them. If they seem to do good, I'll make more and maybe open up a different shop for them so I don't have this random mish-mash of stuff in my current store. :)

   Here are some pictures!

 

  In other fun news (still not nails, sorry), I have a new (to me, anyway) old fairy tale book! Fairy tales are my weakness, and so are old books, so I absolutely can't resist an old book of fairy tales! Last week I bought an old book full of French fairy tales (it's written in English though, so I can read it!) from 1869. 1869! My oldest book yet for sure. Before this one my oldest was 1896 or so. And it's in pretty good condition. The front cover is barely held on by a bundle of threads on the inside, but other than that and one loose page the binding is great! It's amazing! 
   It's interesting though, because instead of the fairy tales being 5-15 pages like you usually see them, they're lots and lots of pages and have chapters! In my book there are only around 5 tales, but it's a decently thick book. I haven't started reading it yet (I'm waiting to finish my current book), but I can't wait! I'm so excited!

 
   I got so sidetracked raving about its awesome-ness, that I forgot to tell you guys the name! It's called (predictably) French Fairy Tales and was written by Madame la Comtesse de Segur. I absolutely loved her dedication! It reads:

To my Granddaughters,

Camille and Madeline de Malaret

My very dear children:

Here are the tales with which you were so well pleased, and that I promised you to have published.

In reading them, dear little ones, think of your old grandmother, who, to please you, has left her seclusion, and offered to public criticism the name of 

Comtesse de Segur 

   Isn't that great? She loved her grandbabies for sure! :)


   That's about it for now. And I might be getting a little sleepy...

   Have a wonderful night! (Or day, depending on where you are)  :)