Now, what is all this about green paper?  This was my initial thought when I first heard the term KIWI paper.  Oh, its paper and you can supposedly embroider on it.  We've all done that before but it is so hard to find really fun designs that don’t ruin the paper. 

OK, I’ll admit that I was skeptical.  But as an embroidery fanatic I often use designs in my other crafting and as I have said before my favorite thing is to see what all I can do with my embroidery stuff.  So, I ordered a few pieces of this KIWI paper – just to see.

Here’s what I did first:

Now, Anna is my second granddaughter and I am soooo far behind in scrapbooking her pictures that it is beyond ridiculous.  For the KIWI paper the challenge was will this paper really work with ANY embroidery design?  So, I picked something fun.  I loved the way it stitched out.  And it really was easy.  Just hoop the Amazing Designs self adhesive stabilizer (or use temporary adhesive spray with your stabilizer).  Then place the KIWI paper on the top of the adhesive and embroider the design.  The monkey and banana came from Amazing Designs Collection Monkey Around.  I used Alphabet Xpress for the title (but of course you could easily use Ann’s Alphabets if you prefer those).

Next I tried this card.  The design is a free one I got from Deegee some time ago.  She said it was OK to share it with you so if you want to try it click here. 

This was so much fun I had to do something else.  Here’s my other granddaughter Emma on July 4^th.  I am so very lucky that they live close by and I get to see them often.  The designs are from Annthegran's Americana Festival collection.  I didn't have enough forthought to order any white paper so I just turned some of the scraps from Anna's page over and used the backside.  It worked out great.  A little celebration glitter and another page is done.  Yippee!

This picture reminds me of the funny story of the week (and believe me, with Emma there is one every week).  While we were waiting for the parade on the 4^th she asked “Meesy, what are taxes?”  Now how do you explain that to a three year old?  So, I just said that it was the part of our money that we give to the people in charge to do things like build roads and bridges and schools.  The money is used for things that everyone can share.  “Oh.” she said, “Just like City Hall.”  (And that’s another story for another time.) 

Anyway, I can think of lots of things to do with this KIWI paper.  I bet you can think up even more but here is my list:

-         Make designer note cards and monogrammed stationary sets for all my friends like this: 

-         Frame a set of embroidered daisies for the baby’s room or make embroidered frames for her precious pictures.

-         Make fun inserts for those acrylic insulated coffee cups something like this:

 (photo and inspiration for cups courtesy of Nancy at Keeping You in Stitches)

-         Or for in the sippy cups for gifts like this:

-         And then there are luggage and backpack tags, birthday invitations, place cards, napkin wraps, album fronts, checkbook covers, party favors and ……

Here is what I have learned about KIWI paper

-         It is GREAT for embroidery and not with just the outline designs.

-         It folds, prints and cuts like regular paper.

-         I can stamp it, paint it, emboss it and use it in my inkjet printer as well (and use the backside).

-         The manufacturer says is acid free, biodegradable and basically waterproof.

-         And it comes in lots of prints as well as solid colors. 

It gets my thumbs up.  Try it when you get a chance.  And I think you'll have just as much fun as I did.   

Take care,

DB

Just a note:  It's a good idea to change the needle after any projects using adhesives whether sticky paper or spray.