This week I'm sharing my very favorite piece of Happy Cactus Hand Embroidery. Delicate purple and pink flowers are hand embroidered on a light blue linen.
It's my largest piece to date measuring 4.25" in diameter. When I began this piece, I started with the large flower in the center with the various shades of purple. From there, the piece took on a life of its own!
I do not use a template nor do I sketch out what I am going to stitch; I just go for it. From that first flower, I added more vines, other large flowers and smaller buds until I was satisfied. It look a long time to complete, but I couldn't be prouder of my work with this one. You can find it in the shop here.
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One of my absolute favorite products to launch this year is a 2016 wall calendar! The goal was to create a wall calendar that captured the entire year on a small amount of space. I like being able to look up from my desk and see ahead to the months ahead.
For this calendar, I hand painted a bunch of imaginary wildflowers from my mind. "2016" and the months are hand-lettered by yours truly as well. The calendar measures 8" x 10" and is printed on beautiful 100% tree-free cotton paper.
These are a limited edition item - once they sell out, they are gone, so plan ahead and purchase yours now before it's too late! Shop the calendar here.
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I'm excited to highlight another piece of Happy Cactus Hand Embroidery for you this week! Two features set the following piece apart - its square shape and the incorporation of gold thread.
Many of the other pieces in the collection are circular in shape. Granted, it's easier to create circular works when using a round embroidery hoop. For this piece, I embroidered an array of rainbow flowers in a small square shape. Quite small, in fact! It's only 2" x 2". Working this small takes a lot of patience and focus, but I've impressed myself with the amount of tiny flowers I can fit in such a small area.
To really make this tiny piece pop, I incorporated metallic gold thread into some of the flowers. Gold thread is much tricker to work with than standard cotton embroidery floss - it has a harder texture and takes a bit of practice to figure out what works and what doesn't. It really makes the flowers stand out.
Add a bright red mat board and this piece of artwork really makes a statement. Small, but mighty! Find it in the shop here.
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I'm back to highlight another new hand embroidered piece of artwork in the shop. This week, I'm sharing a look behind Red and Pink Flowers on Pink Linen.
These have been some of my favorite flowers to embroider - a delicate mix of blooms in different shades of red and pink embroidery floss. The pink linen really stands out against the bright red mat board - quite a statement for your walls. You can find this piece in the shop here!
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If you follow me on Instagram, you have noticed that over the course of the past few months I have begun sharing many photos of my hand embroidery work.
As I explained in a guest blog post on Oh So Beautiful Paper last month:
At the end of 2014 I was sidelined with a major ankle injury I sustained while running (note to self: watch out for those curbs!). Being on crutches and laid up for weeks, I knew I would soon be going stir crazy. I had dabbled briefly with hand embroidery a few years before and thought now would be the perfect time to pick it back up. I ordered a number of supplies online (since I couldn’t drive anywhere), delved deep into some online video tutorials I discovered via my old pal Google, and began creating some pieces of work.
As with my hand-illustrated paper goods, I am completely self-taught in the art of hand-embroidery. What started as a fun side project has turned into something more as folks have begun inquiring about purchasing my work, if I offer patterns, and requests for custom pieces.
I am in the midst of planning to sell pieces from this one of a kind collection in the near future. My intention is to offer them as contemporary pieces of art ready to hang on your wall. This is not your grandmother's old timey hoop art (no offense to your grandmothers!) and I am excited to soon offer unique pieces to adorn your walls. To learn about when the collection launches sign up for my newsletter here or at the bottom of this page.
