Today I'm launching a new collection of tiny, meticulously stitched hand embroidered mushrooms.
My embroidery work is heavily inspired by my natural surroundings in Southwestern Colorado. Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in mycology (the study of fungi). During late summer and early fall hikes, I’m on the lookout for various species of mushrooms, from the classic red cap with white spotted Amanita muscaria mushrooms (which are poisonous!) to the delicious and often elusive chanterelles.
This time spent foraging and identifying fungi has inspired my latest collection of hand embroidered mushrooms. I used my own personal photographs as well as vintage botanical drawings to create Amanita mascara, Bolete (porcini), and Hygrocybe conica (Witch’s Hat) designs. Each mushroom was stitched using a thread painting technique and just one strand of embroidery floss. To further elevate the designs, I’m presenting them in hand painted frames featuring a simple yet bold vine motif. Shop the new collection here.
Want to learn new stitches? Or feast your eyes on images of beautiful embroidery? Here are my top three picks for embroidery and needlework books that should be on your wishlist.
This book is hands-down my go-to guide for learning new stitches. Compared to other books that may be more limited in scope, the RSN guide is comprehensive and covers a variety of techniques, including crewelwork, bead embroidery, stumpwork, canvaswork, goldwork, whitework, blackwork and silk shading. It's nearly 400 pages and includes project ideas and guides for finishing your work.
Hand Embroidery: Timeless techniques for beginners and beyond from Search Press
This is an updated edition of another favorite book (The Stitching Book: A Step-By-Step Guide to Surface Stitching Techniques) and an excellent resource guide for learning both introductory and advanced stitches. Each section contains a project idea where you can put your new skills in action.
Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches
This is the classic reference guide for stitches, covering over 400 different stitches! I appreciate the clear and concise full color stitch diagrams that are provided.
There are many methods to organizing hand embroidery threads, whether you want to do so by color shade or by the thread's assigned number from DMC. If you're planning a big organizing project, it's essential to order the DMC thread color card. It features real samples of each and every color DMC offers. Learn more about my top hand embroidery tips and tricks with my guide, Hand Embroidery Essentials.
BIG News! Today I'm introducing the newly updated Second Edition of Hand Embroidery Essentials, my comprehensive resource guide.
What's in the guide? I've compiled all of my favorite tools, supplies, and resources for hand embroidery into one digital guide (a downloadable PDF). You can expect 33 pages of tips and resources including direct links to my favorite must-haves.
What's special about the second edition? This newly expanded edition includes an abundance of new resources in each section since the guide was first published in 2019.
Sections include guides to selecting the best hoops, needles, threads, fabric, scissors, and various supplemental tools and aids, as well as methods to transfer your designs (including onto dark fabric), different ways to finish your embroidery (including framing), and an exhaustive resources list, including my go-to books, videos, online and in-person classes, patterns, and kits. Frequently asked questions are answered in many sections as well. Trust me, you won't find anything else like this on the market.
I love reading. I love escaping into another world, delving into a mystery I can't put down, or deep diving into a subject or person I want to learn more about. Now that we are all staying at home to "flatten the curve," I thought I'd share my top book picks from those I've read over the past few years in case you are looking for something good to read.
I'm so thrilled to be launching my first collection of 2020: hand embroidered monograms with floral embellishments. Last year I experimented with my first monogram, creating a special guest towel design (read more about that here). Fast forward about 6 months and I began working on monograms again in late 2019.
These one-of-a-kind monograms may appear machine stitched, but each was delicately and precisely hand embroidered with a single strand of thread. Floral embellishments were then added to the letters. I finished them with a mat and frame, with my hope being that they will feel like modern heirlooms.
You can shop the new collection here.
It's hard to believe that Christmas is just a few short weeks away! I wanted to share my top gift picks from my shop at varying price points.
$20 and Under
After the gift giving comes the thank you notes! I created stationery sets featuring high resolution images of my hand embroidery that are like no other note cards out there.
$30 and Under
Tiny hand embroidered pins - for your jacket lapel, your tote bag or backpack, or Christmas sweater. These are little wearable miniature pieces of art.
$75 and Under
Guest towels make the perfect hostess gift. Growing up in the South, it was not uncommon to go into someone's powder room and see towel bars full of beautiful hand towels. I decided to create my own this year - one of a kind designs on beautifully soft Italian linen.
$150 and Under
I have a wide variety of hand embroidered artwork in the shop and many pieces are currently on sale! Design motifs include bold florals, tiny cacti, and modern monochromatic designs.
$350 and Under
My one of a kind pillows take many months to create, from stitching the design to sourcing the trims to having the pillows professionally finished. They are truly home decor pieces to be treasured.
I recently launched a brand new product line - one-of-a-kind hand embroidered guest towels. It took many months of sourcing towels, figuring out packaging, dreaming up ideas for the towels, and finally stitching the designs. I'm so happy with how these have turned out.
Most of the towels from the first collection have sold, but I'm busy working on more which will be added to the shop regularly. See what's available in the shop here.
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
Want to be the first to hear about Happy Cactus Designs' latest products and promotions? Sign up for our newsletter here. Curious about my favorite embroidery tools and resources? Find my new comprehensive guide here.
I've created a handful of white embroidery designs on black linen and have been pleasantly surprised by their popularity! The previous pieces of artwork have all sold out and I've received a number of emails asking if I will be creating more...YES! I anticipate releasing some new black and white designs later in October.
Want to be the first to hear about Happy Cactus Designs' latest products and promotions? Sign up for our newsletter here. Curious about my favorite embroidery tools and resources? Find my new comprehensive guide here.
I've been stitching up a storm lately. After returning home from some recent travels, I settled down to re-focus on a variety of hand embroidery projects. The holidays will here before I know it, so I've been busy building up an inventory of new pieces.
Here's a peek at what I've been up to!
The white on black pieces have been very well received, so I'm working on a few more.
I call this my "Desert Southwest" color palette because it reminds me of the terrain, flora, and fauna around these parts. I first used this palette when I created a piece for House Beautiful magazine.
Experimenting with black floral outlines.
Little blue flower.
Another monochromatic floral design experiment - this time using white perle cotton on blue linen.
Want to be the first to hear about Happy Cactus Designs' latest products and promotions? Sign up for our newsletter here. Curious about my favorite embroidery tools and resources? Find my new comprehensive guide here.
I've blogged about the best embroidery hoops and fabric, but one of my most frequently asked questions over on Instagram is how I organize my embroidery threads.
Keeping my threads organized is so essential to making stitching easier. I primarily work with DMC six strand cotton floss. This type of floss is typically sold in skeins. A skein is a loose coil of thread and has two label tabs on either end. DMC gives each color its own identifying number.
When I first started, I never undid the coil; I just pulled the thread. Big mistake! Over time, these coils get knotted, twisted, and/or impossible to keep track up.
A peek at my thread boxes.
So what to do? I finally got smart and ordered plastic bobbins and divided thread storage boxes. They are game changers!
In my new guide, Hand Embroidery Essentials, I share direct links to where I source these supplies as well as my methods for winding bobbins and organizing the colors. In addition to these tips, I go in depth about different types of embroidery thread and where to buy them, what to do with leftover threads, and what to do if your thread color bleeds. Find the guide here!
Want to be the first to hear about Happy Cactus Designs' latest products and promotions? Sign up for our newsletter here.
