8 Bit Heart Cross Stitch Journaling Card

I have collected a lot of hobbies over the years; jewellery making, cross-stitch, scrapbooking. As I move from one to another, it all gets stored away, with the chance it will never be used again.
Last night, while trawling the internet for scrapbooking inspiration (my "current" hobby) I came across the idea of sewing paper! What a wonderful idea! Then I found... cross-stitching on paper! WOAH! You mean I can combine two hobbies? I don't believe you, but I will give it a try.
It was successful, so I decided to do a quick how-to post.

May I present for first attempt of combining Cross-Stitch and Scrapbooking...

♥  8 Bit Heart Journaling Card! ♥ 

First, you need to decide what design you're going to use, you could use any cross-stitch pattern, or I googled "8 Bit Heart" and found this:

Note: The more difficult the design, the more holes you will need to punch (and trust me... punching holes is very tedious, and a little painful... (more on that later!))

Figure out the dimensions of the design. It this case, the widest part of the heart is 9 pixel, and the height is 8 pixels.

Gather your supplies!

♥  Card*, in appropriate size (depending on the size you want each pixel to be. I used Project Life 3x4in Journaling Card in Grid.
♥  Pin (for the punching. I used a needle (but it's very hard to push a needle through the paper with stabbing your fingers... OUCH!) A drawing pin, or dress makers pin will be prefect!
♥  Craft Mat (or I used my mouse pad) to put under the design while you're punching! TRUST ME! It makes it heaps easier)
♥  Needle (for the sewing. I used a Size 25 Cross-Stitch Needle)
♥  Thread... what ever colour you want! (even wool could work, but you will have to punch bigger holes, and use a bigger needle)
♥  Scissors.
*I recommend card, paper would easily rip. I also used grid pattern, but you could use plain or patterned, you just need to draw a grid pattern on the back (or glue a bit of grid paper on the back)

Once you have your supplies, draw the design on the back. Remember to reverse letters etc.

Very rough drawing... but it's all you need!

Then punch, every corner of the grid within the design. It takes awhile. DON'T USE a NEEDLE, your fingers will pinned, it it hurts! Just a pin with a nice big head, makes it heaps easier to push the pin through... and don't forget the mat underneath, the thicker, the better!

Once you have finished punching the holes (which I didn't in these photos, because I was already finished :P) It's time for the fun part!

The sewing. ♥ ♥ ♥

I didn't have any black cross-stitch thread left, so I just used thread from my sisters sewing machine (I just used two threads at once. I also only used 2 threads from the red. That's DMC 321.
You don't have to use a cross-stitch, you could do whatever you like, once you have punched the holes, anything is possible.

You could sew a simple border around a photo, or go all out and do a huge embroidery piece! The possibilities are endless.

♥  Heres a link to a website to show you how to cross-stitch... I don't really have any way of doing it, as long as the crosses are on the front... it's pretty much it! I'm not too fussed on how it looks on the other side.

The good thing about using paper, is when you're finished you can just sticky tape the back, to hold the threads in place!

♥  The finished product! ♥

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial. It's my first, but hopefully not last... Let me know what you think in the comments. Thank you for reading.

<3 Molly