New work in progress - embroidered swallows & bespoke purses

Eeek! time is flying by don't you think?....and the sun has been shining. Yippeeee!
I've been enjoying some sunshine stitching as a welcome change from the kit side of things; marketing, assembling and everything else related.

Ages and ages ago (infact it is documented here on my previous blog, so that IS ages ago!), I set out to embroider a bear inspired by a number of artists that use their thread to "paint" with.
I got as far as this.......(which is a little further than originally shared so I DID attempt to finish off poor ol' bear) 

But even despite those pleading eyes I know nothing can tempt me back to finish off this project...why? Well, because (I realise now) a 10" embroidery hoop is way too ambitious a size to fill with tiny stitches for a first time project, especially when I'm using colours that don't "grab" me. 
Lesson learned.
So when I set about  to embroider this time, I was thinking of a more manageable size...the smaller the better! Something that would captivate me and incorporated some bright colours. After flicking through a vintage bird book my Dad gave me, for inspiration, the swallow jumped out as my perfect subject.....

It was really exciting to see this bird come alive in stitches and colour, and while it's not perfect I'm so happy with how this little fellow turned out

....so much so I turned him into a bespoke purse.....

Another day followed and the sun still shone so my roll continued and I stitched another swallow...

 And turned it into another bespoke purse!
I love the idea of wearable art...not sure you can put a purse in the "wearable art" category but I reckon these purses are worthy of a title something a little bit special..... any ideas?

With the summer holidays fast approaching I'll be confining most of my working time to the evenings, and cutting back so I can give my girls the summer hols I had growing up...so you won't see much of me for a while over here.

BUT! my plan is to keep stitching these little embroideries amidst the summer shenanigans, and turn them into something "wearable" , so by the return to school there will be a wee collection to show. 

I look forward to that ...lets see if I can keep it up (unlike the bear!)

Big hugs to you all  xx

Sewing In Progress... "Stitchbook" so far

I'm enjoying a bustle at this end, sewing cushions and assembling kits then sending them off to their new homes. Excitedly this includes  2 new shops (Teasel and Tweed  Home /gift shop  in Aberdeen and a Jinty and Baa Needlecraft shop in Argyll, opening on Dec 2nd) 
It's so great to see that people are following their dreams in the form of  a bricks and mortar shop, and a great honour that they want to include my items!
Anyhoos point to that is I've been busy and had little time for much else other than what I've been stitching away in the evenings...my "stitchbook" (my new take on a sketchbook which I explain here). So I'm sharing the "pages" I've completed so far..... I'm really liking where some of these spontaneous creative notions have taken me!

This last birdy one is my favourite so far , but there are still plenty "pages" left which are half done..... more to show soon! :)x

New embroidery and sewing patterns - lots of them!

Hello there! How are you all? 
I've been busy this last week or so, trying to complete some designs I've had in the pipeline for a while. I've been workings away on some of them since the summer holidays, so it feels lovely to finally put them out into the world. 
I was beginning to think I'd never get them finished!

I have to start with the one below as I think it may just be my all time favourite (its funny what tickles the heart!).... if you look back at my sketchbook snippets you may notice the beginning whispers of this design. Meet Mathilde and Celeste, they are the BESTEST of buddies.

available as a PDF pattern here

I seem to have featured Bluetits a lot in my stitchery pieces, but I do love the BIG character that these little feathery fellows possess. I created a Birdie Banner design and tutorial available as a downloadable PDF here. There are 2 versions of the design included in the PDF. One version has a background of triangles (below) and the other version has cherry blossoms in the background and a blank ribbon to be personalised with your own meaningful quote, special date, special name etc.

Another embroidery pattern is this Barn Owl.... she's rather special and most definitely a little magical! I used Fishbone stitch to embroider the leaves in this design, and so wanted to create a tutorial on how to embroider FISHBONE STITCH ,which you can find here.

Instant download of Barn owl Pdf is available here.

And finally I got my Gathering Acorns and Winter Fruits Embroidery Kits finished which I shared in progress some months ago Yay!

They are also available in my shop here

Phew! 

I have been a busy girl! More to come soooooooon :)xx