Clever Crafts : Add Texture with an Ombre Thread Background

October 14, 2025

Lisa Tilson

Welcome back to Clever Crafts! This series is all about thinking outside the box and making the most of what you have—pairing your Hero Arts products with creative (and maybe unexpected!) materials from around the house. Whether you're stretching your stash or looking for fresh ideas, we’re here to turn limitations into inspiration—one clever idea at a time.

Hello there, Lisa here and today I am sharing a way to use your floss/threads without any stitching involved at all. I am creating an ombre background which has a soft stripy vibe to it.

I started off by taking an A2 panel of Deluxe Smooth White Cardstock and die cutting a circle from it using a Nesting Circle Infinity Die. I also took a piece of white card which I trimmed to fit behind the circle window.

Next, I added double-sided tape onto the two side edges of that panel and just peeled the backing tape off a little bit so that I could start to add my threads. Just peeling it back a little at a time stops your fingers from sticking to it as you work with the floss.

I rummaged through my stash and selected a whole bunch of teal and purple threads which I thought would work well together. I also pulled out some silver DMC diamant thread but I didn't end up using it today. I do think that it would look really pretty just added randomly through the different colours though.

I started my ombre with my darkest purple floss at the bottom and I stuck one end down onto the double sided tape. It was then threaded around the panel several times and when I had the width of colour I wanted, I cut it and secured the end to the double-sided tape. You can see how it's starting to look below.

I repeated the process using the medium and light purple threads and then found an almost white thread which I then added above the lightest purple. This creates a more neutral colour in between the two main colours and helps give it a more seamless transition.

I then added the three different shades of teal to finish the panel. You can see below how it looks now that it is finished. To make sure that I positioned my threaded panel correctly onto my base card, I drew a pencil line onto my base card using the circular window panel as a guide.

I added double-sided tape to the back of my threaded panel and adhered it onto the base card. This is a top folding A2 white note card that I created using Deluxe Smooth White Cardstock.

A double layer of thin foam tape was adhered onto the back of the window panel and it was placed down on top of the threads.

Next, I took the Snowflake Star Etched Dies and die cut the snowflake twice from white cardstock. They were adhered together using Precision Glue and then added onto the threaded panel, again with liquid glue.

I heat embossed the Holiday Sentiment Strips onto Pitch Black Cardstock using Clear Embossing and Watermark Ink. I then added White Detail Embossing Powder and heat set it. I used the Sentiment Strips Fancy Dies to cut out all the sentiments and I popped the "Let It Snow!" sentiment onto my star using foam tape.

I finished by adding some Spellbinders Crystal Mix Color Essential Gems onto the snowflake. I hope that this gives you some inspiration for using threads on your projects. It gives a lovely texture, is a great way to use up spare threads and especially good if you don't fancy stitching!

I hope you enjoyed this Clever Craft! Thanks so much for stopping by today.