A couple of pretty 1970s cards

This card features both knitting and embroidery.

 First, I'd like to thank all of my readers and blog friends who stopped by to visit my Christmas kitchen during Christmas in July!  It was a great mental health booster for me to spend that time in my Christmas kitchen, and I'm thankful for all of you who visited and left comments.  So thank you!  Now, to the topic at hand ...

I may be all wrong about this, but from my limited observations of greeting cards in recent decades, it seems that the 1970s -- as the United States approached and then observed its bicentennial, were a time to re-emphasize traditional handcrafts.  A number of the cards I've seen from the 70s reflect this.  Here are a couple of examples I've recently found.

The mitten card at the top of the post features a knitted mitten embellished with embroidery.  To me it looks as if the mitten may have been sewed from a repurposed sweater.  A veritable sampler of embroidery stitches adorn the mitten, from simple cross stitches and chain stitch on the cuff, to satin, chain, and straight stitches, plus French knots, on the hand part of the mitten.  I like the design of poinsettias, holly, and snowflakes and am thinking it was no small challenge to stitch these on the cable-knitted mitten.  Very unique and pretty.

This one features embroidery and applique.

Then I also found the card above.  This one has applique beautifully embellished with embroidery, and features a cross-stitch border around the edge of the design.  If you'd like to see more of the detail, remember that you can double-click on the picture to enlarge it.  I love the sprigs of fir and holly (especially the fir) tucked in with the poinsettias.  How I'd love to duplicate this!  But I have so many want-to-make projects already that this one probably won't get done anytime soon.  Maybe I will frame the card and enjoy it that way.  We will see!