I've jumped into this new challenge of creating with a small stitched piece at least once a week. A fellow artisan on Facebook is also participating, and we hope to keep each other on track!  At the end of this, we both plan on putting these little bits of art into a cloth stitch book. 

I think I will probably try to do more than one a week. It is a thoroughly enjoyable thing to do. I want to push myself to explore different and maybe even unexpected combinations of cloth and fiber with some embellishments tossed in.

1*21*15

 Another of my obsessions lately has been these little winged things. As I have a ginormous stash of beads, I thought I would try and bling up a few butterflies. I also played around with the size, too.

Threads picked up to start the new design, which at this time is nameless. I did change up the colors a bit, and I will be posting progress as I get going. 

Attitude of Gratitude

The support of friends during this difficult time of grieving.

Finding inspiration from other creative souls.

The feeling that what I do is worthwhile.

Hoot & Shabby Stuff

Finished up Hoot today, a fun little eclectic owl who has had his feathers dipped in a dozen different colors.  He was a lot of fun to stitch.  Chai tea 28ct. hand dyed jobelan from Wichlet Imports, DMC floss and Kreinik braids.  Stitch count of 92x92 over two threads. 

Also working on these funky little flowers using my clover flower loom. Am having a ball with these. Shabby chic, scraps of cotton fabric torn into strips and wrapped 'round the loom.

Not sure what I'm doing next. Working on a few new designs, but nothing is screaming NEXT! 

embellishments

While I have been working on new cross stitch designs, I have been trying to find new and fun ways to embellish the work.  I like to include buttons and beads and sequins in my pattern packs, and have in the past used a lot of found beads and buttons giving each person's piece a one of a kind finish. I had thought about making ceramic buttons, but they can get too heavy. So today, I played a bit with wooden tiles and my own ephemera and graphics on them.

1 1/4 x 1 1/4" tiles

1 3/8" x 1 3/4" tiles

They have been fun to experiment with, and I will post pictures of them again when I have finished with the varnishing. 

I hope to have the next Snowballz design done as well by the end of the weekend. I found this really neat bag of beads at a flea market, and I plan on embellishing this design with those little bits of colorful glass. It has been a productive weekend so far!