First of all I want to thank everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. I'm still reading blogs--fighting for the computer is getting old. I'm excited to see that most people register above a six on the cross stitch passion meter and that our love for our craft of choice is solid. I plan to answer my own questions in the next day or two but today I want to share a bit of embroidery I've been doing.
I have never been big on embroidery because one thing I love about cross stitch, I know exactly where to stick the needle, I know that if I come up in this hole and go down in that one(hmmm, sounds a bit like, ahem) my stitch will be perfect(we won't get into that whole railroading/laying tool thing right now) but embroidery, well, you have to pay attention. You have to kind of know what you're doing or your stitches will be all over the place, different sizes, not straight, etc. That doesn't stop me from trying though. One of my treasures is a shirt my Mamaw embroidered me when I was 12 or 14, I can't remember exactly but I still have it and can't let it go. She didn't embroider much, so it makes that shirt even more special.
I love the look of embroidered linens and I have a dresser scarf my great grandmother embroidered. My Mamaw always said Mrs. Gibson and I would have loved each other because that woman loved her some embroidery.
The other day I was browsing the
feeling stitchy blog and ran across this:
katie.cupcake: embroidery--scroll down a little. Her embroidery inspired me to stitch this:
Yes my picture is craptastic, but you can click on it to enlarge it and maybe it will be better.
Here's the indoor shot. I know I need to read some book or something about product placement, lighting, aperture(is that the right word?). I was going for the "bored student doodling in class or maybe what Ally Sheedy(the Basketcase in The Breakfast Club might have doodled in detention)
The notebook paper--all I did was flip over a piece of regular old notebook paper and trace over it with a heat transfer pencil. The tattoo is a Jenny Hart design from her Stitch It Kit. I've had that forever and never make time to embroider but I'm always inspired to do some embroidery after I browse Florasita's blog,
things I've made: Finished! This link doesn't take you to her main page but to a project she recently finished.
Another item I'd like to share with you all are these:
and
I first saw these on the
feeling stitchy blog and decided to order them for myself.
Yes you have to print and cut them out yourself but it's pretty easy with a pair of detail scissors like for scrapbooking, Martha Stewart's are $10 at Walmart and I know there are cheaper ones you can find at AC Moore or JoAnn's.
I printed out my first sheet of each on 110 lb card stock. I'd like something a little sturdier so I'm going to see if I can track down some 140 lb cardstock. It seems to be hard to find, but these on the 110 cardstock don't seem to be any flimsier than the inexpensive bobbins you can buy and I've used those for years. These are pretty sweet and really glam up the boring old floss bobbin. But I do think sturdier cardstock would make them just about perfect.
Since I mentioned The Breakfast Club, I'd like to say R.I.P. John Hughes. What a genius. He really captured the feel of a generation with his movies. He gave us the Brat Pack. We quote from his movies all the time around here and my 13 yr old loves The Breakfast Club.
I mentioned that I am feeling creative. I pulled out my Jenny Hart Sublime Stitching book, found the practice sampler, and worked on it yesterday. I think I like embroidery. A few years ago I don't think I would have written those words. I've been taking my time, trying to get comfortable with the stitches, stitching on muslin instead of evenweave linen and basically enjoying the process of learning. I think we forget how fun learning can be. I'm one of those people that wants to be able to do something correctly from the beginning, to start out an expert and that's such a joke and only leads one down the path to craft disaster. So I'm taking my crafting slow these days, embracing the process. If I spend a few days learning something and it's a big old fail, then it's a big old fail and maybe when I try again later, I'll get it. I have to remember to love the process. 
I am seriously digging this Clover hoop. Sorry I'm not adding links, my computer is being a butt and I'm just hoping to get this posted before the post goes "poof" into cyberspace, anywhere but my blog! 
My stitches are not perfect, a few of my French knots are questionable, some of my flowers are wonky, but isn't that what makes it handmade instead of machine made? 
