Some news!

I’ve had this little blog for over 6 years now and it’s been a really fun space for me to talk about things I make, things I like, and art and people that inspire me.  I’ve met some great folks through blogging as well and love the support I get from the stitching community in particular.  I’ve never been too concerned about becoming a big-time blogger or anything, I just wanted a little part of the internet to call my own. But I did recently notice that I have reached 50 followers, a number that I don’t pay that much attention to, but seeing  a nice even number made me give a second look.  So, to mark this occasion I thought I’d do a little de-stash giveaway!  I’m going to put together a few little things and have a giveaway as a way of saying thanks for sticking with me all these years.  So watch this space for some little doo-dads and thingamajigs as I go through my stash to find the perfect goodies for my fellow crafty friends! 

For a Fairy

I want to share this embroidery piece I finished at the beginning of January. I made it for a little girl who turned three and had a fairy woodland party.  Her family is one that I've become close with all thanks to my dear son and I'm so happy for these new connections.  So I wanted to make something for her room that she could enjoy it. I decided to stitch up the little angel from the Kurt Halsey pattern set from Sublime Stitching.

I left off the halo so I could make her more fairy-like and added a few of the flowers and stars from the pattern as well.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out.  So sweet and girly!

I stitched it on a floral fabric that I had on hand and situated the larger floral pattern along the bottom. The colors in the fabric were a great fit for the sweet design.  I chose to finish it in a hoop and added a few little beads to the ribbon at the top.  I think it's perfect for a little girl's bedroom.

It was also really nice to do some embroidery having been on a cross stitch kick lately.  I think it's nice to change things up from time to time and oh boy does embroidery take much less time than cross time! 


**Again, these photos are just a couple that I took on my phone.  I took some with my regular camera but not having a computer right now leaves me no way to offload them.  So for the time being, I'm stuck sharing phone pics.  :(

Halloween Countdown: Gypsy Fortune Teller

Today I'm sharing the last piece I made for the 13 Days of Halloween swap.  I was very proud that I made 12 out of the 13 things I sent to my partner.  So last but not least, I embroidered this pillow of a lovely fortune teller.

You can find the pattern here, part of the Gypsy Magic pattern set from Colonial Patterns. It's a gorgeous pattern and was fun to stitch.  

I used a pretty variegated floss for her hair.  It has dark blues and purples.  

I used a multi-colored metallic for her bracelets.  It really sparkles!

I loved the little sun, moon and stars on the crystal ball pedestal.  A nice touch.

I'm so pleased with how she turned out.  The pattern has such wonderful details and it was fun to pick out different threads including variegated and metallics. She can tell my fortune any time!

Halloween Countdown: Embroidered Ornaments

I'm back to share a couple of embroidered ornaments I made for the 13 Days swap. My partner has a Halloween tree so I wanted to make some ornaments for her.   I love making little embroidered ornaments, so that's what I decided to do.  I took a couple Sublime Stitching patterns and tweaked them to spook them up a bit.

I used one of the houses from this pattern set and turned into a haunted house.

I added a little ghost in the window.

Then I used a nesting doll from this pattern set and added spooky elements.

Like a little blood drip.

And a jack-o-lantern face.

I backed them both with Halloween fabric, stuffed them and added a bit of ribbon so they could hang on the tree.  I love how they turned out and it was fun thinking of ways to spookify the original patterns.   

Have you ever altered a pattern  to fit a theme or holiday?  

Thread stash: part two!

So in my last post, I shared my thread stash as part of a little blog hop.  One of the questions was how to build a stash and I casually answered to check thrift stores, because you never know what you find.  Well my friends, I had to share what I found a thrift store yesterday!  65 skeins of hand-dyed floss for a quarter each!!!  I couldn't believe it!  It seems (sadly) that a needlework shop went out of business and donated things that were left over.  So here's what I got!

These are from Stranded by the Sea, which I'm not familiar with, but they are beautiful hand-dyed colors and all have sea-inspired names. 

These are a few random ones I got, a few silks and what I think is linen, but it's not labeled.

 

A few Crescent Colours

 Then, the jackpot...43 skeins of Weeks Dye Works!  I seriously about flipped out in the store. I grabbed every skein that was on the rack.  I couldn't believe I was going to get these for a quarter each. 

Such beautiful colors.  Now I've got to find a way to store all these new goodies!

So be sure to peek in a thrift store every now and then, because seriously, you NEVER know what you will find!

Show Your Stash: Threads

Over at Stitch Bitch, Anna is asking us to show our thread stash.  Seemed like a fun thing, so here goes!

What thread do you usually stitch with? I use DMC cotton floss primarily but I’ve recently purchased some Weeks Dye Works and The Gentle Art overdyed floss for a few projects which is really lovely to stitch with.  But DMC is readily available and not expensive so it's what I use the most.

When you shop for threads, do you buy on impulse or do you buy only what you need?  I have a lot of threads so I don’t really buy anymore unless I’ve run out of a particular color.

How do you sort it?  Since I embroider more than I cross stitch (even though I’ve been cross stitching way more these days) I've sorted everything by color so when I’m looking for pink, I can look at all the pinks together to decide which shade will work best.  It does make it a bit difficult to look for colors by number though when I’m kitting up a cross stitch project.  I’ve spent a lot of time looking for a certain color, knowing I most likely have it, but just don’t know what color I sorted it with.  If I win the lottery, I will buy all the DMC colors and sort them by number and have another set to sort by colors.  How wonderful would that be!! 

My stash!!

 How do you store your thread?  I use the little bobbins for my DMC and store them in the little plastic boxes.  I also have a large plastic bag that I have some specialty threads in—like my metallic, linen, variegated etc.  I could probably use another plastic box for those now.  I use the metal rings when I kit up a project to keep them all together.

What tips do you have for building a stash? Look for sales.  Every once in a blue moon, the craft stores will run a sale on DMC.  A few years ago, AC Moore had them for 4 for a $1!  I stocked up on a bunch of floss then.  Also, you never know what you find at thrift stores and yard sales. 

I store all my boxes in this storage cube beside the couch which is where I do most of my stitching

 How much is too much? Never too much.

How do you whittle your stash down when it's gotten too large? See above answer.

Do you have a current favorite in your stash? Let’s see it!  I’m loving Bubblegum from Weeks Dye Works right now.  Such a fun, bright pink! 

Go ahead and show your thread stash! Link your post in the comment section of this post to link up!

An artsy/craftsy Blog Hop!

I was tagged by the lovely Sophie from Threadhead to join in on a crafty blog hop.  I just have to answer a few questions about my crafty habits and tag three other bloggers to play along.  I love this kinda thing, it's such a great way to 'meet' other artsy/craftsy bloggers. So here goes!

1.      What am I working on? Right now I’m working on some swap pieces so I can’t really show photographs for fear my partner will see.  It’s a Halloween swap so there’s lots of spookiness going on.  I am still working away on the Quilty Stitches and Gingerbread Lane as well….a bit behind but still plugging away!

Gingerbread Lane by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

Quilty Stitches by Little Miss Shabby

 2.      How does my work differ from others of its genre? Honestly, I’ve been feeling lately a bit ho-hum about what I’ve been doing.  I’m not sure what it is….a creative rut maybe?  I’ve been doing a lot of cross stitch lately and I enjoy it but I really miss making my own things.  Not that there is any ‘wrong’ with stitching patterns.  I enjoy that very much and frankly, it’s what been keeping my needle moving.    Not to get too blah, but I’ve been feeling down about not having enough time for myself. I miss painting.  My easel has been packed away since my son was born. My sketchbook hasn’t been opened either.  I keep telling myself that I’m going to just do some small-scale mixed media works.  It will keep my creative juices flowing but having difficulty finding inspiration.  So for now, I will keep doing my patterns and swaps.  The swaps especially at least keep me making things and challenge my brain to come up with things for my partner.  I’ve missed swapping and so glad I’ve gotten back into it. But I miss painting and expressing myself in that way.

3.      Why do I create what I do? I am a maker.  I studied fine art in college focusing on fiber arts, painting and photography.  I love using my hands to make things.  I feel better when I’m creating something—whether it’s a painting or a holiday wreath.  I enjoy it immensely, especially when trying a new technique or trying to make something I’ve never made before.  Plus, it’s fun! 

4.      How does your creating process work? For my mixed-media pieces, I usually start with a story or a memory.  My work is usually auto-biographical.  I like to throw on bright colors of paint and then white wash over them and then layer more bright colors and white wash over them again. I love the effect it creates. I normally layer fabric and embroidered pieces on the canvas to create the full story.  I truly enjoy it. 

"A Place to Be" 2011

So I'm going to tag the following folks and see if they would like to play along. 

1. The amazing Olisa over at cocoa eyes the stitcher. She's an amazing artist and stitcher who does fascinating mixed media pieces with explosive and graphic quality.

2. QuirkieCraft--she does Ah-ma-zing embroideries.  Please go check her out.  I'm fairly new to her blog so I'd love to know a bit more about her!

3. Let's see if Bascom will play along.  He stitches amazing redwork, paints and welds.  He's a regular jack-of-all trades. 

And please remember to check out Sophie at Threadhead at the top. She's an amazing embroidery artist.  Thanks for tagging me!

Teeny Tiny Foxes

My last post I shared the Vespa I made for Lisa in a tiny embroidery swap.  Now I want to share the most adorable embroidery she made for me. I'm pretty sure I screamed a little when I opened it.  She made the teeniest, tiniest mama and baby fox.

Could this be any more adorable?  It's so perfect.  I love foxes and she made one to represent me and my son.  I can't express how much I absolutely love this.

It's about two inches and look at the detail she put into it...the tails, the french knots, the baby fox's little hands. It's amazing.

Please check out Lisa's blog here!  Tell her how awesome she is!  Thank you Lisa!!

Vroom Vroom Vespa!

Hello lovelies!  I've got a little something to share with you today and by little I mean little.  I have recently finished a piece for another Craftster swap!  I haven't done one of those in ages!  I missed Craftster swaps and this tiny needlework swap was the perfect one to get me back in the swing of things. I had a super fab partner too, my friend Lisa!  I knew right away I wanted to stitch her a Vespa because she has one!  How cool is she right?  So here's her tiny Vespa.

The pattern is from here, I just shrunk it down quite a bit.  She also said she liked rainbows so I added some rainbow swirls firing out of the back.  The goal of this swap was to stitch something no bigger than two inches.  I would guess that the Vespa and the rainbow are about 2 inches wide.  I added a little eyelet along the bottom and then tucked it in a little wooden hoop I had on hand that I wrapped with some ribbon.  I was very pleased with how it turned out.

I loved this little swap.  It was fun and not a lot of stress.  Exactly the way crafting is supposed to be.   I loved this swap so much that I signed up for another one...Halloween In June!!  I can't wait to see what Lisa made for me!  I'll post as soon as I get it!! 

'Til then!

Wow Six Years!

Friends, today this little artsy/craftsy blog is 6 years old!  I can’t believe it’s been that long.  I know I’ve been a bit sporadic with posting throughout the years, but I still come back here to share my crafty bits and bobs.  I’ve met some wonderful people through the blogging world and it’s so nice to be a part of a community of like-minded folks.  So keep a look out here, I may try to plan a little giveaway soon to celebrate 6 years of blogging.  As always, finding pockets of time is a little hard for me right now, but I’ll try my best!  

Thanks for a great six years and I hope to see you around for another 6 more!  

Just a few highlights of the past six years!

Dapper Fox Embroidery

I did another little swap with my lovely stitchy pals recently. This time around I was partnered up with the wonderful Bascom.  Through Pinterest, we share an adoration of foxes. I knew I wanted to stitch him a fox. I looked around for things, even tried to draw something myself but just wasn't liking it.  Then I remembered the Ryan Berkeley patterns for Sublime Stitching....with a dapper fox.  Bascom being ever the dapper fellow, I thought it would be a great pattern to stitch for him. 

I am very pleased with how it turned out. Love the bright orange and creating texture in his fur.  These really are great patterns. 

 

 

I can't wait to show you what Bascom made me!   Seriously, come back to see!

Til next time!

Christmas Catch Up: My swap stuff

In my last post I mentioned a little craft swap I did with some super stitchy folks.  I'm finally sharing what I made for my pal Jacquie!  She mentioned elves twice in her 'likes' so I just knew what I had to do....a really cute elf.

The pattern is from the Aunt Martha's big holiday pattern pack.  I thought this elf with the little tree was so cute.  It was really fun to stitch.

I used a bit of metallic thread on the star and the garland.  That stuff can be a pain to work with, but I find if I just take my time, it usually works well.

Look at that face.  Too cute.

I finished as a wall hanging backing it with some Christmas fabric and adding a little red trim along the bottom and a couple of buttons at the top with some rick rack to hang it.  I struggled a bit with my sewing machine not having used it in over a year!  It got sticky and it took me forever to even remember how to thread it.  But it all worked out and thankfully Jacquie is OK with its imperfections.

So that wraps up the little Christmas swap!

Fancy Roosters

Hello friends!  I hope fall has been treating you all wonderfully.  I'm certainly enjoying the cooler weather and the leaves here in NC are just beginning to change. I love this time of year.  I wanted to drop in and share this tea towel that I stitched up a few weeks ago for a bridal shower gift.  My brother got married to a wonderful girl and I just adore her.  People that I adore get handmade gifts.  It's just a fact.  She is doing roosters in their kitchen so I thought I'd stitch up something with roosters on it...and why not this most adorable pair!  I like to think they are heading out for a date...maybe dinner and movie?  Perhaps they are watching Chicken Little or Rock-a Doodle...heck maybe it's a double feature! Either way, they look sharp.

This pattern is from Aunt Martha's Barnyard Happenings set.  I've stitched several from this set because they really are fun designs. I stitched this all in red but used several types of stitches which gives it a little depth.  I'm very pleased with it. 

I have actually been crafting and stitching quite a bit since I've been furloughed for the government shutdown so stay on the lookout for more posts!

'Til then!