Bits of this & that

Attitude of Gratitude

Happy memories of my time with Teddy Joe.

New opportunities involving my artwork that are presenting themselves.

Drama free, successful children.

The Garden Gate, Daily 45 & A Darker Daily 46

The newest design in my sampler collection, The Garden Gate. Finished size 63w x 123h. Recommended fabric 28ct Blue Glass Monoco from Charles Craft (over two). DMC Threads, both six strand floss and gold metallic.  Available now on my website, Carolyn Manning Designs

Daily 45

Daily 46

Daily 41

Daily 39 & Bits O Gold

It has been a very busy day.  I almost didn't get to the daily stitching, but had, fortunately, started this last night-- at least pinned together. So of course, it was sitting on my side table all of today whispering to me.  Picked it up and started digging into it and here it is!  

I used cotton and sheer scarf scraps, and I also added some of the fringe from a table place mat that I had recycled.  Stitched a bit (okay a lot!) and sprinkled in a few beads.

Continuing my work on The Garden Gate, and while I had originally thought to bead portions of this, I decided to add a few pops of metallic gold.  It needed something as it was stitching rather flat.

Lots of designing going on right now, too. Hope to have some scans in upcoming days to share.

March 10 Twinchie Challenge

March 10 Twinchie Challenge

This set was created with some of my usual materials, along with netting and wire.  I really enjoy working with these small compositions. I am still trying to figure out how I can do something with these for my Etsy shop or maybe a section on my website.  It will all come together over time. Meanwhile, I'm just going to continue on with the exploration and daily and weekly creations. It definitely has me thinking outside of the box! 

Daily 35

Daily 35

3"x3" Cotton base, sheer scarf scraps, hand stitching and embellished with bits of natural stone.

I've been working on the model for The Garden Gate. I had thought to embellish this, and even picked up the beads already when I was choosing the thread colors, but the deeper I get into it, the more I'm thinking I might just ditch the beads for this one. We'll see. More on that as we progress.

Daily 34

Today's stitching meditation:  cotton, tulle and silk, hand stitching.  I think this weekend I will play with piecing some of these together. Maybe four squares. I'm also thinking of doing some smaller pieces over the next handful of days, maybe twinchie size, and giving them a trial run in my Etsy shop. (which currently sits empty because I just can't find a direction for it.)

Daily 33

Today's little bit is a 5"x5" composition, cotton fabric base layered with more scraps of cotton and sheers. (My usual materials!) I got to hand stitching last night with over dyed Valdani cotton threads, and just continued to run with it this morning.  While I had beads picked out for embellishment, I was tickled with the texture the stitching provided, so I left them off. 

Now I'm off to pick out goodies for tomorrow's daily, and to stitch for awhile on The Garden Gate. I'm having fun with this model, and am really looking forward to beading it.

Daily 31, Twinchies & A Garden Gate

It's been so much fun, this dive into the daily creative. Today I played with a bigger bit of cotton base, a cotton gingham that I then layered with sheers and other bits of cotton, stitched it all up and added a few beads. 

I made a trip to the store today, in search of framing ideas for a few of these pieces, but I didn't see anything that really said 'yep.' I think I might instead mount and mat them and just leave them like that. Sort of...floating. More on that later.

With the blizzard howling outside, I had time to do four twinchies for my Tuesday play. Cotton 2x2 squares as base, bits of sheer scarves and tulle, and punched up further with tiny tiger eye beads that I forgot I had, rediscovered when I made an attempt to clean up the studio.

And finally, what will be my work for the remainder of the snow-strewn day, The Garden Gate, which has already been edited from this first image.  I found some lovely bugle and seed beads while shopping this morning, and after deciding on a fabric color, (which is now glass blue 28ct. Monaco from Charles Craft) I also changed up the thread colors. 

Now off to poke some serious holes in the tips of my fingers!

Daily 30

So I have continued doing my dailies even though February's challenge has come and gone.  I have gotten to a point where I anticipate the creation, and I can't wait to get up in the morning to dig into something that can just evolve into whatever it wants to be. 

That's not to say that I am finding any less joy in designing. On the contrary. I think that this daily exploration-- without boundaries or expectations-- loosens up the right brain and gives me a bit of spark in my other designing adventures. 

It can be tough to come up with new ideas. My biggest fear with the cross stitching is that it would become stale, but with my daily work, I am trying new color combinations and patterns that I might not have thought about before. I am exploring different stitches in patterns that for a long time were outside of my comfort zone. I am thinking of embellishment in a different way, too.

I am embracing a little more chaos.  

And I am finding such delight in it.

Squared (Cross Stitch Quilt Blocks)

Introducing Squared (Cross Stitch Quilt Blocks Collection).  

Pattern available on 

Carolyn Manning Designs

Daily 24 & Weekly Twinchies