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December 14, 2018

Feeling Random Friday #4 with Oz and Belle



Did you notice I didn't post last Friday? My good friend, Colleen, had her baby a week early on Tuesday, December 4th, and I have been absolutely smitten with him!! Until this past Saturday evening when I became ill, my life was focused on baby Caden and helping Colleen out around her house.

This week we feature Oz and Belle. They are two women, Gina and Sarah, who are friends, colleagues, and first-time mums. I love that the two of them are creating together with embroidery! I would love to have someone local to me who would want to stitch, create, and blog together.

I enjoy the colorfulness of their art, and also their use of mixed media in their embroidery. You can find them on Instagram, Etsy, their Website, Facebook, and their NuMONDAY shop.

Here are some of my favorites from Oz and Belle's Instagram feed!







December 13, 2018

12 Months of Christmas: Piper Piping

12 Months of Chrsitmas Stitchalong 10 Piper Piping pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy

Well, here we are at our final month of the year, and the suspense is on, huh? Will I finish this series in time for Christmas? Hmmm, indeed! Well, I am happy to be done with this cute Piper Piping, which means I have only 2 left to go before I'm done! This is #10 in the series of 12 Days patterns by Mmmcrafts on Etsy, in case you would like to stitch along!

I last left you with this teaser of my pieces all cut out and threads selected:
Piper Piping pieces

Again, I am using all Benzie Design felt - I have started getting a few questions about which specific colors I used - would anyone like that info in these posts? Which colors are you most interested in? Let me know in the comments, please!

Also pictured are 2 of the 3 DMC Etoile floss shades I used. I love the versatility of that pea/olive green floss - I used it on the green felt coat and the beige-ish felt hat, and it looked great on both.

Here's a pic of my process stitching, apologies for the night photo:
Piper piping

I love the Ecru Etoile floss - it has a really nice texture to it - again, it doesn't lay exactly flat, but I think that gives it a nice crewel effect.

Piper piping

Here's the back side of the coat - I used Etoile again on the pink #10 - I believe it was 4 strands there, and all 6 strands for the heavy pink border of the coat. As I've gone along, I've become more and more liberal with my use of glue - I was afraid to muck up my stitching at first, but now I love the way it makes this process so much quicker!

There's something downright charming about this little guy - and as so many have been saying of their finishes on Instagram, every finish is my new favorite!

Piper piping

Here's my finished work, along with a few of the threads I used:
Piper piping


What do you think? I am loving these colors so far, and feeling so lucky to have a huge tin of sparkly Etoile to choose from!

Here's a sneak peek of the colors I've chosen for the next ornament - #11 Lady Dancing!
Lady Dancing

JOIN THE 12 MONTHS OF CHRISTMAS STITCHALONG!

This stitchalong is easy, and no-pressure! To join, visit Larissa's shop to purchase the Twelve Days pattern of your choice. Tag your pictures with the hashtag #twelvedaysornaments and #12monthsofChristmas on Instagram so we can find them.

Leave a comment here with a link to your blog, or any space on the internet or Instagram where you are tracking your progress. And don't miss the page Larissa has set up with lots of tips for stitching this series: http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/p/twelve-days.html.

Previous Stitchalong Posts

12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 1-2 Partridge Pear and Turtle Dove from Larissa Holland's pattern, a series by floresita on Feeling Stitchy 12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 3 French Hen, pattern by Larissa Holland, stitchalong is a feature by floresita on Feeling Stitchy

12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 4 Colly Bird, a feature by floresita on Feeling Stitchy 12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 5 Gold Ring pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy

12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 6 Goose a Laying pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy 12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 7 Swan a swimming pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy
12 Months of Chrsitmas Stitchalong 8 Maid a milking pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy 12 Months of Chrsitmas Stitchalong 9 Drummer drumming pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy

November 30, 2018

Feeling Random Friday #3 with Shimunia


The embroidery artist I'm featuring on today's Feeling Random Friday is one that many of my friends have shared with me on Instagram, Facebook, and by text. Her Instagram account is @shimunia, and her name is Vera. Vera lives in Russia, and she creates vividly bright and texturized hand embroidery that fills the whole hoop and pops off of in in 3D-type effects. You have got to check her out! You can find her on Instagram and Etsy

Besides the one above, here are some of my favorite pieces:






November 21, 2018

12 Months of Christmas: Drummer Drumming

12 Months of Chrsitmas Stitchalong 9 Drummer drumming pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy

Here is my Drummer Drumming, #9 in the series of patterns by Mmmcrafts, and I am quite happy with him! Working this pattern was a joy- now that I have embraced the complexities of the "people" patterns in this series, I am very pleased. My best tip on the latter half of the series is to follow directions carefully - even if you are 3d challenged, like myself, if you follow the directions, it will still come out nicely!

This was also the first ornament in which I used the free Etoile threads sent to me by DMC threads (thank you, DMC!)

mini thread review for DMC Etoile floss

I had a lot of fun experimenting with these threads, so I'm doing a mini-review of my experience stitching with them in this post. I used 1 dark pink shade of Etoile, as you see pictured above - color C915, and I used that to stitch together the body and drum.

Let me take you in closer to this thread, so you can get a true picture of its fluffiness:

mini thread review for DMC Etoile floss

See that texture? Wondering if it will lay flat? Well, it depends.

mini thread review for DMC Etoile floss

I found Etoile floss lays best when used sparingly- I used 2 strands for my stitching on the edges, and I had no issues with it laying flat. It's easy to separate, didn't fray, and stitched very smoothly, unlike other DMC metallic threads, which can be very stiff and unpleasant to work with.


Now have a look at this example -
mini thread review for DMC Etoile floss

I used all 6 strands on the yellow sash and it was much harder to keep the threads laying flat. It requires a lot of tugging. I've heard thread conditioner can help, but I didn't use that in my example. The sparkle on Etoile floss is subtle, but nice.

My take so far on stitching with Etoile on felt is that it is lovely to work with, and works best in moderation.

You may remember from my last post, Maid a milking, that I wondered if I'd used the wrong size bead for her head, and indeed, I did!
Drummer drumming head outtakes

Classic case of me just using what I had, rather than buying more - my beads are 25.4 mm, as opposed to 20 mm. They still worked fine- I just had to make my hat a little larger for it to fit.

Here are some head outtake / rejects that didn't pass my stringent quality check:
Drummer drumming head outtakes

Went a little too crazy with the gel pen.

Drummer drumming head outtakes

Got too lazy and cut straight to the chase with the permanent marker, and the edges bled... A friend on Instagram had a nice tip to prevent bleeding - paint your head with acrylic paint first to provide a nice base.

Here is my finished drummer, in all his big-headed glory!
Drummer drumming

Got lazy and didn't do anything fancy with the drumsticks - just poked the pipe cleaners in, thought they looked cute, and left as is. I'm really enjoying these people ornaments, and I'm glad I had nothing to be afraid of. Once again I am grateful for Larissa'a excellent directions - follow those, and you'll stitch something just as lovely!

Drummer drumming

Next up is Piper Piping, and I've got my pieces cut and ready! Please join us - let's stitch!

Piper Piping pieces


JOIN THE 12 MONTHS OF CHRISTMAS STITCHALONG!

This stitchalong is easy, and no-pressure! To join, visit Larissa's shop to purchase the Twelve Days pattern of your choice. Tag your pictures with the hashtag #twelvedaysornaments and #12monthsofChristmas on Instagram so we can find them.

Leave a comment here with a link to your blog, or any space on the internet or Instagram where you are tracking your progress. And don't miss the page Larissa has set up with lots of tips for stitching this series: http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/p/twelve-days.html.

Previous Stitchalong Posts

12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 1-2 Partridge Pear and Turtle Dove from Larissa Holland's pattern, a series by floresita on Feeling Stitchy 12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 3 French Hen, pattern by Larissa Holland, stitchalong is a feature by floresita on Feeling Stitchy

12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 4 Colly Bird, a feature by floresita on Feeling Stitchy 12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 5 Gold Ring pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy

12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 6 Goose a Laying pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy 12 Months of Christmas Stitchalong 7 Swan a swimming pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy
12 Months of Chrsitmas Stitchalong 8 Maid a milking pattern by Larissa Holland as stitched by floresita for Feeling Stitchy

November 16, 2018

Feeling Random Friday #2 with Salt Stitches


The first time I saw Emily's work, I was blown away! She uses every bit of the face of the hoop and fills it with intricate stitches and textures. She adds details like glass beads and semiprecious stones to add more depth. The abstract pieces are based on landscapes and waterways from her travels.

You can see Emily's work on her Salt_Stitches Instagram, and you can purchase it in her Salt Stitches Etsy shop.

Here are a couple of my favorites.








If you or someone you know is a fiber artist you'd like to see featured, please either comment on this post or drop me a line at amy [at] randomactsofamy [dot] [com].