In the late spring and summer, I took a few road trips through northern New Mexico, including visits to the towns of Abiquiu and Santa Fe as well as the reservations between Durango, Colorado and Albuquerque, New Mexico. I always find the landscape in this area so inspiring. I especially enjoyed visiting the Santa Fe Botanical Garden. These trips inspired me to create some new Desert Southwest inspired pieces of embroidery incorporating the colors, sights, and scenes I came across. Here are two new pieces available in my shop.
Cactus Grouping (2.5") on Pink Linen
Agave Plant and Mountains on Pink Linen
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Despite my company name, it had been a few years since I had created any cactus embroidery designs. Within the past 6 months, though, I stitched a revamped and more detailed cactus series, designs that I'm really proud of.
I wanted to create very small groupings of different cacti, including prickly pear, organ pipe, saguaro, agave, and cholla, using only 1 to 2 strands of thread. By using fewer threads, it was possible to create very intricate details, including subtle variations in color and tiny needles and cactus flowers.
Much of my inspiration for this series came from a few trips to Arizona. The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix is one of the coolest places I've ever visited and I referred to the many photos I took there when brainstorming these new designs.
Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona
A number of these pieces have already sold, but there are a few framed designs available in my shop now. Click on the links below for more details.
Cactus Grouping on White Linen Hand Embroidered Art (in the shop)
I've completed a few new pieces of hand embroidered artwork in the past few weeks and have just listed them in the online shop! I have shared some behind-the-scenes looks at these pieces on Instagram when they were just works in progress. Here they are in their finished framed and matted form.
Rainbow Flowers on Turquoise Linen: A bright and bold piece. The various colors of the flowers really pop off of the turquoise linen.
Prickly Pear Cactus and Wildflowers on Natural Linen: I've done a few different versions of this design. This is the first one with the pink prickly pear bulbs. It was inspired by my time living in Austin and the beautiful wildflowers that bloomed each spring.
Rainbow Flowers Square on Blue Linen: Hands down one of my favorite pieces I've stitched to date. It's a larger square (3.25" across) with some intricately stitched flowers. This piece took a number of hours to complete and I will be sad to part with it!
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If my business name is any indication, I love love love cacti and succulents. I thought it would be fun to round up some unique and fun cactus-themed holiday gifts.
Gifts clockwise from top left: Cookie cutter via Sur La Table, Art print via Arminho, Wall hook via Land of Nod, iPhone case via Sonix, Notepad via Happy Cactus Designs, Succulent planter necklace via Plants Are Friends, Saguaro cactus cuff via Leif
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The cactus notepad, one of my best selling products, is back in stock! Over the weekend, I packaged dozens of new notepads.
We have these scattered around our house - one by my desk to write little thank you notes to customers in their order, one on our kitchen table for quick lists, and my husband keeps one next to his laptop. I think they make a great stocking stuff, too! Find the cactus notepad in the shop here.
1. Beautifully hand-crafted wood veneer sunglasses from Tumbleweeds.
2. Turquoise chandelier earrings perfect for any fiesta.
3. How awesome are these cactus embroidered cocktail napkins from Lettermade? I think I need a set asap.
4. A thank you note inspired by the colors of the desert sunset.
5. The perfect planter for succulents.
One of my favorite products that I developed and recently launched is the assorted set of cactus flat notes. While the designs are an obvious nod to my company's name, they were also greatly inspired by a few trips I have taken to Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, and other areas of West Texas.
Each card features a hand-drawn cactus design. Then, to further set these designs apart, each cactus is hand-finished with gold paint by yours truly. Each card is truly one of a kind. They are sold as an assorted set of 8 cards - 2 of each design. You can them in the shop here.
Springtime means getting my hands on a new batch of cacti and succulents for the yard. Here are some fun and functional tiny planters I came across that are perfect for these new plants.
From Wind and Willow Home
From HRUSKAA
From Leif
From Flip & Tumble
From West Elm
I really enjoy browsing Net-A-Porter and checking out beautiful patterns, prints, and color combinations from the world of high fashion. As someone who has a huge love of cacti and succulents (if the name of my company isn't a dead giveaway), I am swooning over these Matthew Williamson cactus garden dresses. They are now at the top of my fashion wish list!
A few weeks back, I featured a cactus on the Wednesday doodle. I'm back this week with even more - a trio of cacti!
Our own Happy Cactus has been thriving this summer. What once was a tiny little cactus has turned into a huge Happy Cactus that can't stop growing. It loves the Texas sun! To read the store behind the Happy Cactus, click here.
Happy Cactus (on the right) and its sidekick
