Embroidery I'm bored already

Just joking there, I don't think I could ever be bored by this lovely form of decoration. My goal this weekend is to finish the dinner sets I have prepped and ready for completion. I decided to add this to the inventory of sewn items I will be selling as I get really excited about them, who doesn't love a little decor at the dinner table? :)

So here is a sample of the product, I finished two sets but I hope to have a huge amount of them by Sunday eve. Each set consists of four reversible, embroidered placemats and four organic cotton napkins (which I will add matching binding to). Lately each evening I have been drawing cute little flower pods and such for embroidery design, so I am excited to see how they turn out once i start the stitching.

My wonderful girlfriend, an amazing crafter, gave me the greatest book before she left to meet her man, who's pursuing his MD on the caribbean island of Dominica (yes i am incredibly jealous :), named The New Crewel by Katherine Shaughnassy. It is a book about crewel embroidery (e.g., wool thread on linen) and it has an entire breakdown of embroidery stitches, tips, and projects. It has the cutest designs that are very contemp and hip which I have been so inspired by. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes hand-embroidery. Thanks Jess!

Well it is my rule to stay away from computers all weekend so come Monday we will see how productive I can be :)

Wish me luck!

Emmy B

For the love of the craft.

I love to create things, beautiful, natural things.

I was thinking of how I functioned with the stress and competition in persuing a degree in college and realized that I always had an artistic outlet there to help me through it. I think about my college life and realize that ceramics was a huge part of me accomplishing two degrees in science. If I didn't have that outlet I wouldn't have been able to keep up with the schedule and pace. It was a time where I simply didn't have to think so hard but rather just let go and flow with my emotions.

When I think about my past with ceramics, I go all soft. I didn't just dabble with this artform, I actually minored in it. For four almost five years I dedicated all my free time to this art, I was accepted into the honors ceramic program, i.e., the "back room", where I had my own studio space with key and all hour access for the last two years of my college life. I had my work in mutiple shows and even a solo show at the school.

Seeing photos had me thinking of all this and how much it was a part of me and how much I really miss it. Of course i will go back to it when the space and materials are right but thinking back and looking at photos got me thinking. It is weird how I duplicate that same need now. Working in an environmental firm during the day and crafting at night has become a daily ritual that I come to love. Unable to get my hands on the pottery wheel or a space to get messy in, I replaced ceramics with jewelry making and sewing.

Well, intermixed in this are photos of my work, as I was a botany/biology major you will see what inspired me then :) And the last one is of me cracking up at that show I mentioned.

Wishing you a great Wednesday

Emmy B

Fun with Paper

So I am determined to diversify a bit for this summer faire and was inspired by some simple journals I saw. Thinking that it would be a great to have a little section of handmade cards and stationary I decided to give up my weekend to this task. I had a some frustrations (the how-to guide on the coptic stitch was a bit cryptic) but in the end I had some good results and had a good time.The journal making process is pretty simple it just about having the tools in hand and getting a rythym going. All you really need is compressed cardboard (or book board really cheap and pre-cut) nice decorative paper for the cover, embellishments (optional), linen thread (french linen embroidery thread can be found in most craft shops), and paper.

For my embellishments I found a rub-on transfer paper that i just love...you can print or stamp on it and then transfer to your project. It comes in 4 sheets of 8.5X11 for about $8-10 but depending on your designs you can make them stretch out (I used photoshop to compile as many images as possible on a page). It is a nice alternative to printing on paper, it's transparent in the white areas and it has a nice sheen that gives a silkscreen-like effect. For the covers I used handmade block-print or hand-painted paper from a local import store, although pricey I think it gives the journals a nice depth and feel. Then there is the most time-consuming part of the process, making the signatures (pages in the book). I used high-quality recycled paper and folded, then nested them in stacks of 10. After that it was just a matter of punching holes with an awl (I used a ceramic pin tool) and sewing it all together with the coptic stitch. The coptic stitch is a great stitch because it makes the pages lie flat no matter what page you turn to, which is great for writing in the margins with ease! Majority of the larger journals have 60 pages and the smaller journals have about 40 pages. So Fun! I recommend doing this if you have extra paper and some time on your hands!

Here is a close up of the coptic stitch it seemed to get much better by the end of the process. The bottom journal had the most signatures and shows off the chain stitch that the coptic stiching results in.

Happy Crafting!