Paper Piecing technique - Rakhi card - Crafty Meraki

Hello dear friends,

Paper Piecing Technique

I am here today with a very old but loved technique, often forgotten - Paper Piecing. The pretty pattern papers by Crafty Meraki are perfect for this lovely technique. If you have missed out checking the stunning paper collection, which comes at the most versatile size 6 x 8.5 inches, check out the collection - here.

Today, I am here with a Rakhi card - getting ready to celebrate the festival of Rakhi which is also called Rakshabandhan. Rakhi is short for Raksha Bandhan or Raksha Bandhana. Rakhi is a Hindu festival celebrating the bond between siblings and families and can be called Brother and Sister Day. Translated from the original Sanskrit, “Raksha Bandhan” meaning translates to “bond of protection.” On this day sisters apply tilak (religious mark) to their brothers’ foreheads. Next, they tie Rakhi to their brothers’ wrists. This thread represents the siblings’ love and wishes for each to find fulfilling happiness. In doing so, they pray for their brothers’ good health and long life. You can read more about this festival  here. 

When you can't meet your brother, you mail them a Rakhi (a thread that can be decorated - kind of a bracelet) and every year I take this opportunity to create Rakhi theme cards and the adorable Happy Rakhi Stamp set by Crafty Meraki is just perfect for it. incorporating a lovely technique with it. Also sharing with you a creative way to use your Pattern Paper for the Paper piecing technique.

I love to incorporate Pattern Papers for my cards as they make your cards look more elegant! But as a lover of CAS cards - I also feel that incorporating pattern paper makes a card look very busy! So few of the ways I follow to add pattern paper is by Die cutting words with Pattern paper and another way to add pattern paper is by using - Paper Piecing technique.

Paper-piecing is a fun way to add texture, interest and patterns to your design. It's a great alternative to colouring stamped images and a fabulous way to use any scraps of patterned paper that are just too good to throw away! Paper piecing is also a technique that makes more of your stamps.

Products used (Linked below):

Happy Rakhi stamp set

Luxe Plaid Paper Pack

For the Love of Flowers Paper Pack

Hugs slimline tag die

I wanted to combine the cute brother sister image from the Happy Rakhi Stamp set and add Hugs from the Slimline Hugs tag die. I took the Luxe Plaid Patter Paper - and die cut it with Hugs word from the Slimline Hugs tag die and created a shadow with a darker shade of green. 

I stamp the cute image on a Copic friendly paper and colored the body first with copic markers. Then for doing the Paper Piecing Technique, the same image was stamped on some Pattern paper. I chose to stamp the girl's clothes on the For the love of flowers pattern paper. The blouse and the Skirt were cut out from different sheets. But because the color scheme is similar, they matched. For the boy's shirt and pants - I chose Luxe Plaid Pattern paper. I cut out the dresses and did the Paper piecing by adhere them on the Colored image and then I colored their hair and shoes.

Tip:  I run my black marker along the cut edges of each paper piece so the pieces blend with the lines of the image when they are glued down.  It just takes a few minutes and makes a huge difference with the finished image.

On a top folding white cardstock, first I adhered the word Hugs - and on the right I foam mounted my Paper - pieced brother sister duo. 

To finish off the card, I added my Rakhi at the bottom. Rakhis - the thread that is decorated with beads and embellishments are mostly handmade and in India. Rakhis are also made with seeds, flowers and even rice. They are made by of artisans from women's self-help groups (SHGs) and traditionally some communities where the women of the household  make them all year round. Quite like our card making community - just incorporating selling to it :D

 

Next time - you are being lazy to color or want to use the scarps of pattern paper you are hoarding because they are too pretty to throw out - do some Paper Piecing. You can not just add dresses wit pattern paper, but also use them for floral cards, by stamping the flowers on the pattern paper or also use geometric designs for this technique.

Check out the beautiful Paper Pack collection at Crafty Meraki Store - to combine them with your dies and stamps.

If you are looking for ideas to use the Happy Rakhi stamp set, you can check my previous posts -  here &  here.

If you've enjoyed this post and found it helpful, don't forget to share it with your fellow craft enthusiasts. Stay tuned for more inspiration and tips to enhance your card-making journey!

Sending Crafty hugs ~ Ishani