Comfort Zone Crafting Dies + Giveaway

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I've told you before that when we finally got a TV when I was nearly 18, some of my happiest TV moments were spent watching Simon & Simon, Murder She Wrote, Magnum PI and Moonlighting with my mom while cross stitching. I LOVED cross stitch and needlepoint, and still to this day I cannot watch TV without doing something - probably because I didn't watch TV until I was technically an adult, and it felt weird (and still does) to just sit there.

So now when I watch TV, I either stitch or do crossword puzzles. So when my friend Nina asked if I wanted to try out her new Stitchables dies I was all YES PLEASE! So I've happily spent many evenings doing mini stitching projects which you will see today. 

Jennifer McGuire told me she prefers #5 Perle Cotton to embroidery floss for stitching paper and she's right. That's what I used for this whole project and it's awesome. I bought mine from Herrschner's which has great service. It's not as fiddly as multi-strand embroidery thread.

I actually MUCH prefer stitching on paper to stitching on cloth - it's so much easier and neater. I just used my normal stamping cardstock from the place I get mine cut. 

So to start with, I purchased these adorable, inexpensive Pokemon patterns on Etsy. OH MY GOSH. If you are playing Pokemon Go, you will love these. If you're not, you will love these. SO CUTE. This seller has a few great Pokemon patterns.

I created the coasters with these blanks - these are the right size for the dies, but they come in various sizes, and this super strong sticky tape to hold them together, and then this foil copper tape to make a finished edge. You will need medium binder clips to use as clamps, as you'll see. I never buy black ones - I always buy cute ones like these smiley ones. 

So here are the finished coasters using this adorable round die - you will see how to make them in the video below! 

Here is the view of the sealed sides of the coasters.

Here's the video for these coasters, and there are more stitched projects below!

The very FIRST project I did with this release was a beloved sugar skull. I downloaded this Dia de los Muertos pattern for free from DMC - I love that both Nina and DMC give you the stitch counts so you instantly know if your pattern fits your die cut. I ignored the colors on the pattern and went with my beloved aqua/red combo. The sentiment is from this bundle, as are the die cut and colored skulls, and this awesome square stitching die was perfect for this pattern.

Now for the Pokemon coasters! I started with this round Stitchables die and white cardstock. I used this ingenious plate for removing the chads, which you'll see in an upcoming video as a shaker card! Waste not want not! Remember, because stitching dies are making many tiny, intricate holes, depending on your cardstock weight you may need to run them through a few times before using the removal plate. Nina has a great video on this plate.

I used this download to stitch all five Pokemon characters - again, disregarding thread numbers and using what I had - just visually choosing the colors. 

Two other free DMC patterns stole my heart - I only have one of them today, but the other will be coming soon. I loved the Taste of Japan free pattern so much - the three girls are so cute I forgot about the sushi, and just stitched one of them on this beautiful Stitchables rectangular pinked die.

Here are all the supplies I used today - come back for giveaway details and a coupon code!

Pokemon Starter Sprites Mini Cross... [ ETS ] https://waffleflower.com/collections/... [ WFF ] Stitchable Pinking Circle Die [ WFF ] Stitchable Pinking Rectangle Die [ WFF ] A2 Piercing Panel Die [ WFF ] Stitchable Pinking Square Die [ WFF ] Hola Mexico Combo [ WFF ] Thinking of You Stamp Set [ WFF ] Taste of Japan pattern - Free Cross... [ DMC ] Mexican Day of the Dead Cross Stitch... [ DMC ] Amazon.com : Medium Metal Paper Clips... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com: MEYA Set of 20pcs Clear... [ AMZUS ] Therm O Web 0.25 SUPERTAPE Double... [ SSS ] Amazon.com: Zehhe Copper Foil Tape... [ AMZUS ] Perle Cotton | Herrschners, Inc.   [ HRR ] My Sweet Petunia [ MSP ] Pre-Cut & Scored Cardstock [ CTC ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Mermaid tidy towel case and glue... [ ETS ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ] New Releases – WaffleFlower.com [ WFF ] Last Chance – 25% off with code... [ WFF ]

AND - the amazing Nina has created some free, downloadable patterns herself! You can get those here. This is just a tiny sample of what's available. 

There is an awesome blog hop happening with these dies today - and you can win one of THREE $25 gift certificates by leaving comments on the hop. Your next stop is Tessa, and you can see the full hop list starting here. Entries close on Sunday the 9th and you can see winner info here on the 12th. And while you're shopping, use code LASTCHANCE to get 25% off HERE. 

Have fun stitching! Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES 
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15. 
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10 
5% off at LBC here with code LYDIA5
Phone stand for filming link below in the banner - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE