Isabella - an embroidered portrait

I wasn't sure how this project would turn out so it hasn't even been instagramed-- 

WHAT?! I know! 

We headed up to the Sacramento area for a week after the new year to hang with family while Matt was on a business trip. I wanted to take something with me to do... and I had pinned a couple of embroidered portraits for ever ago... though mine ended up looking nothing like the originals.....

I LOVE IT! It took hours. HOURS. I think I worked on it for a couple weeks in my free time.

 So much fun to play with thread like this. 

 I snapped some in progress shots- first I found a photo I liked and then I traced it onto the fabric and used that as my guidelines. As you can see there was trial and error. I started the embroidery with straight stitching as in my original pin and then hated it so ripped it out and did more searching for portrait embroidering and decided to go more organic with it. 

I jumped all over trying to make sure I was going to be happy with the overall look

Once I felt comfortable that it was going to work out I went down to the super labor intensive/time consuming clothing part. I really wanted it to look like her clothing 

 Here's a comparison. I was almost done but something wasn't right. So photoshopping them together helped point out the problem. Somehow her chin had gotten pointy in the transfer so I pulled out the bottom of her chin and redid it rounded 

just pulling up that chin made the whole face look right. 

P.S. If you check out my Pinterest Embroidery board you can find a lot of really neat examples of this type of embroidery. 

Eden Rose

Randi (the mom to be) does just about everything crafty you can think of. So thinking up something to make for her that she hadn't already done for herself or didn't have plans to do was hard. And then I ran across one of these organizers at Joann's. I hadn't seen one in years (and haven't seen any since... where can you get these things?!) It was actually one of the first baby gifts I did followed by this one, and this one (I never even found these to do for my own kids!)

Seriously love me some embroidering! 

Tiny felt flower hair clips (why won't Bella wear these... or stop cutting her hair... lol)

And a screen-printed onesie with one of my first graphics on it. Apparently I revisited quite a few of my first projects on this one. 

Pretty wrapping never hurts... 

I just love making stuff for new babies! 

Sherrill's Quilt Tag

So originally Sherrill's quilt tag was a pillowcase. Then once I finished I realized there was a massive flaw on the back ... So it became her quilt tag. Which will probably get more use then it every would have as a pillow case... 

Micah wanted to help me so he actually did quite a few stitches for me on the wording. He's not bad at it... I think he enjoyed the fact that he was stabbing something. 

Mendocino Mermaids

Did any of you guess what I was up to? I am totally going to blame Jan she showed an awesome pouch that she received in a swap and I was super jealous (she even named the post- Jealous?- how did she know)! Then Mum sent me a pin that linked to this embroidery. So when we came upon this frame and Mum asked me what I was going to do with it. I was all 'I am thinking of doing an embroidery...' mermaids never crossed my mind and when she mentioned it (DUH!) we both knew that had to be it. 

Please excuse the photos I tried really hard but it was super difficult to get even these photos- I'll try to get better ones at some point but I couldn't wait any longer to show you guys!

The opening on the frame is 16" so these are very large-compared to the originals. 

I did a mix of the two inspiration embroideries and then added my own touches. The solid color of the tails is actually 3 different threads to give them dimension. 

The girl on the lefts face is a little truer to the fabric, the girl on the right isn't quite right but I liked her expression so I went with it. 

I tried to remain true to the fabric. The fabric is linen I backed it with a fusible cotton - the kind you would use to stabilize a collar. It was a super fun project. 

It was originally done for Bella's room but who knows maybe I will hang it somewhere I will see it more- Uber likes it which I wasn't expecting so we will have to see where they end up!

My Sister Made Me Do It

A few weeks ago while talking to my sis on the phone she mentioned some bracelets she liked on sundance. They are funky leather bracelets at a precious price and she wanted one. Bad. My sis is has style. There are things she can do/wear that I can only wish I could pull off. The fun part about this conversation was, I had leather......

I have some butter soft leather left over from a project I have yet to show you. It's one for the all but defunct house blog. You know, the one I haven't posted on in two months. I'm busy, don't judge. Jess and I got together and made a few to try things out and maybe send a couple off to "someone"...

I'll be making more unless someone tells me to stop.

Made with lots of love for me!

Have I said lately how much in awe of my darling girl I am? She amazes me everyday. The only thing that surpasses her cleverness is her kindness. She got together with Jennifer and made my labels which I love probably beyond reason. Then as if that wasn't enough, she embroidered and embellished this organizer around the logo she designed. I wish I could have watched her do this, watching her is as fun as seeing the end result. Intense much? I would have made her coffee and cinnamon bread and watched her go to town! This doesn't do the nest justice. Hopefully you get the idea.

Layers of felt and little embroidered birdie feet.

Look close at the wings. Oh my word, what patience!

My dear husband suggested that since I spend more time at work than at home, that I hang it by my desk. I think I will. It's a good suggestion even though I think there was a not so hidden statement in there somewhere.

I love you Jessica!