embroidery

I'm teaching myself how to embroider. Nothing fancy, just some stitches around one of my petals motifs for a little project I'm hatching. I'm using this book to give me ideas and show me how to do some of the stitches, but mostly I'm just winging it. I'm really enjoying it ~ I've discovered that embroidery is very relaxing as long as you embrace the wonk!

Have a great weekend!

mail loot + my brooch!

Yesterday, I picked up the large pile of mail that had been collected while we were away. There were the usual bills and such, but also this lovely loot ...

You might think that these two lovely items came from the same person, but one of them came from the USA and one from Sydney, Australia ...

I can't believe my luck ... this is my brooch from Jess at A Life so Peachy, who (unbeknown to me) was my partner in the Flowerpress Brooch Swap. I am so impressed with the design and thought behind this brooch. I'm wearing it today! Be sure to pop over to Jess's blog, especially to see the amazing layer cake she just made!

A few weeks ago I spotted this beautiful framed embroidery over at June at Noon's etsy store, and I knew it had to be mine. It is so beautiful - the design and the colours. Thanks Gretchen - I love it!

I hope the postie brings you something nice today!

my {temporary} creative space

I have created a temporary creative space for myself in the attic of the house we are staying in while we are in Spain. I salvaged and old table from the laundry, bought an antique chair at a market for next to nothing (which I love - but how to get it home to Australia!!), and decorated with some of my own bunting and Crayon Chicks crocheted circles ... if only the walls were not sickly yellow!

See the little case on the table? You might remember that I bought it a few weeks ago at the Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza - just a few days before we flew out. As soon as I saw this case I knew it would be a perfect, compact vessel for my crafty things. So, I packed everything I thought I might need into it, wrapped it in a towel and placed it safely in my suitcase for the long journey here. What did I pack? A small amount of fabric (mine, of course!), embroidery threads, an embroidery hoop, needles, pins and a pin cushion, good scissors, linocut tools and some speedball rubber to cut, a roll of linen ribbon to print on, some decorations (the bunting and crocheted circles below), an embroidery book, a sketchbook and a pencil case.

There has been a little bit of crafting  - mostly starting things and then getting distracted. I want to do some embroidery while I'm here - it's something I'd like to be good at. I started ... 

I did manage to print some linen ribbon using the little stamp I made ...

But aside from that, it's mainly been about the camera - as I am sure you have noticed with my past few blog posts. Being here has made me slow down, which is a good thing. 

More creative spaces over here!

machine letters :: part 2

After a bit of trial and error, this is the latest version of machine letters with my logo uploaded into the Janome ...

Now that I see it with finer font, I think the fabric is too busy. Maybe a natural linen might be better? This was one of the trials (the thread got caught on a couple of the letters) ...

All fun and games - and all will be put to good use, regardless! Have a great weekend!

my creative space ... part two

OK, the laptop has had a very stern talking to and is now on board with my new software and its needs! Last week I went to a Janome demo session with their new flash sewing/embroidery machine that does everything. The great thing about the session was that I learnt about some pretty cool stuff that my machine can do. In particular, with the addition of some software and a flash drive, I can machine embroider my own designs. So I did!

Can you guess what it is?

Yes! It's my artichoke drawing ...

Me likey!

My brain hurts with all the possibilities - fun city!
P.S. The multicoloured thread is cool too - it's a bit darker in real life - noice!