Life…
I’ve had much going on in my family life and I needed a break from personal projects and self-imposed vanity to-dos. I still need a break but it’s ok for me to check in today with a few creative accomplishments. I’m making myself do something creative about once a week and sort of hoping something will reignite a handwork passion. No luck yet but I did make a few things that I’m happy about!
First is this beautiful beaded bracelet from the Potomac Bead Company.
I saw it advertised on social media a few years ago and made it part of my Christmas gift. For some reason I thought, since I haven’t followed a bead jewelry pattern since I was a little elementary school Girl Scout, it would be hard. It wasn’t. It took one long morning to make. My middle daughter was doing a diamond dot painting and my little daughter was building a new Lego and my son was making a wood marble run kit and we just had a crafty morning together. I was very happy how this came out and now I’d like to decide on my next pattern from this company. They don’t sell many kits at the moment so you get the PDF pattern then order the supplies from them. There are so many fun choices.
The next thing I made was this sweet Cathedral Window pincushion from Arabesque Scissors.
The pattern looked doable for me with my limited sewing machine skills and I’m happy how it came out. The hardest part was turning it right side out when it was finished because the hole was so small. I think I need it more generous than stated next time! But I am very happy with it and I have some really cute fabric to make another one. Stay tuned.
My counted work project at the moment is this petit point ornament from Kreinik…
It’s a real challenge for me because it’s so small but it’s coming out beautifully. I should have taken a picture with something to represent scale better but it’s just about 2” tall. I might get it done this week.
My last make is another pin cushion, this one hand stitched, by Corinne Lapierre. I couldn’t resist the sweet kit.
It is all freestyle embroidery which really scared me! How to space the motifs with no guideline pattern?? I used my thumb. I think it came out pretty good! I have a little more confidence now. I realized Corinne also contributes to Inspirations Magazine and I would love to attempt one of her larger pieces. The hen is particularly attractive to me but sourcing all the materials will be a challenge I think. It takes many colors of wool felt and part of the charm of the project is the colors so I want the right ones.
I have been poking away at Mary Ellen Turner a few days this summer too.
The house is done and the big urn plant is done and I’m working on the verse now. A little at a time does add up and I would still like to finish it this year. Just having a hard time sitting still long enough to get into a rhythm and a flow.
Next up on my agenda is to make another ribbon embroidery. I really enjoy it and it is pretty quick to do compared to cross stitch, so hopefully it will be satisfying. I also have a couple bead embroidery kits in the wings and I think picking the simplest one might be a good idea. I also want to get back to a challenging needlepoint project I started a while ago and see how I feel about that. It’s important to continue to have some creative work in my life.
I ought to catch up on a late spring recap for the sake of having it written down. Maybe I can get another little project done and post again in a week or so.
