ATC Update - or Spoiler Alert for sh.nava

First off, I don't know if sh.nava reads my blog, but I did send her a personal message letting her know that pictures of her ATC were posted here, and if she would prefer a surprise she should skip reading this post. ♥

Last month I was browsing for birthday gifts I'd like to have, and sending my husband the links so he'd know that whatever he picked out would be a winner. Well, I stumbled upon a Japanese embroidery book that I didn't have yet, and I spied storybook characters inside. Be still my stitchy heart!

Of course he did the right thing, and gifted me the book. Thanks again, honey!

With the subject of this ATC swap being fairy tales, and me having a soft spot in my heart for THE WIZARD OF OZ, I now had the perfect pattern source.

This book wastes no time getting to the cuteness. Here's the first page:

There they are, the Wiz Kids. (Oh, don't think I'm not still swooning over Peter Pan and the gang!)

These patterns are small enough to accommodate the ATC, but they couldn't be spaced out so much. After a little tweaking, I got the placement just right.

Since the designs are so small, I only used 3 strands of floss, and primarily used the back stitch everywhere except for the occasional French knot or daisy stitch. In the book's photo, it looks like the designs were stitched using only 1 strand of floss. Wow.

I'm headed to the post office tomorrow to ship this off to Israel! My ATC will be coming from Australia and I'll be sure to share it with you when it arrives.

Which fairy tales do you love?

Recycled Ring

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted a very clever creation from a Flickr contact. She made a pin cushion ring out of a plastic pull tab that you can find on a carton of soy milk, juice, coffee creamer, etc.

I decided to give it a go, and I must say it's my new favorite sewing accessory. Not only is it totally functional, it's fashionable.

Ok, maybe not wear it to the Sex and the City premier fashionable, but pretty cute for sitting at home or riding in the car while stitching.

I decided to wrap the ring with some embroidery floss, and I added a felt circle on the bottom to hide the messy bunching.

Since this is the first time I made one of these, it has a few flaws, but I still love it. (Note to self: Use just a tad bit more stuffing next time.) It's up there with my organizer.

This is a really great way to put those tiny scraps of your favorite fabrics to use. Plus, you can feel all warm and crunchy for recycling. I like that it's small enough to go just about anywhere, and would be prefect for travel stitching. Not that I do a lot of traveling, but when the occasion arises, I'll be prepared.

xoxo

Stitched by Hand ATC

I've decided to participate in my first ATC swap. I only recently found out what ATC stood for: Artist Trading Cards. It seems that the only real rule for the cards is that they must be 2.5" x 3.5", the size of a baseball card. This swap is organized through the Stitched by Hand group on Flickr, and here is the pool for the ATC swaps.

This is the second ATC swap for the group, and this time the theme is Fairy / Folk Tales. Fairy Tales are a favorite subject of mine, so I signed up. I started on mine yesterday, and it's almost finished! I hate not being able to post pictures until after my partner gets it, but I can't resist giving just a little sneak peak.

This little guy is just smaller than a quarter. It's a lot of fun working on such a small scale, and I'm loving all the tiny cuteness. I can't wait to show you the entire piece!

Any guesses?

xoxo

Stitched in Translation - Spoiler for Melisser

Thanks to everyone who let me know which bird was your favorite. I think the aqua bird has the popular vote. I really love them both and it's hard for me to pick a favorite.

I started a new embroidery project yesterday, and I had so much fun working on it. I've had ideas swimming around in my head for a few weeks on just what to stitch for Melisser's pay it forward gift. I knew I wanted to do something baking related, but wasn't really feeling any of the designs I had previously stitched. Even though she's loved every single one of my cupcake related embroideries.

I started looking through my saved clip art, and found this great image I had saved a while back.

This illustration was done by one of my favorite artists, Mizna Wada. She makes the cutest little gothic illustrations and dolls, as well as sideshow beauties and other goodies.

Anywho, I decided this would be the design for Melisser's tea towel. I really did have a lot of fun with this design. The hair was the best part.

(I sent Melisser an email this morning, warning her of the spoiler. I can never keep a gift secret!)

I think I might try stitching up another one of Mizna's illustrations soon. I think this one translated wonderfully to embroidery. What do you think?

xoxo

Naptime Stitching

Here's what I made today while Darcy took her nap.

1, one pretty bird tea towel!

2, two pretty bird tea towels!

Which one is your favorite?

xoxo

Baker Got Back

I'm combining two of my favorite things on today's post. Cupcakes and embroidery. I met up with my friend Kimmy earlier this week, and I decided to bake cupcakes for our visit. I went with a recipe I came up with last year for Almond Joyful Cupcakes. I posted the recipe on my old blog, but I will save you the search, and I'll post it here.

Once again, these cupcakes were wicked awesome. They're very easy to make, and the cake is moist and creamy. The frosting recipe makes just enough to modestly frost the cakes, so if you're a frosting fiend, you might want to double it.


Almond Joyful Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup coconut cream (or coconut milk)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, & line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder & salt.
3. In a larger bowl, mix together the coconut cream, sugar, & the extracts.
4. Add the flour mixture to your coconut mixture in batches, mixing well after each incorporation. Mix until smooth & then fold in the shredded coconut.
5. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake for 24-26 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack & cool completely.

Coconut Frosting
1/4 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons coconut cream
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Directions
1. Beat the shortening until it's light and fluffy. Add the sugar and the coconut cream, mixing until smooth, about 3 minutes. Then stir in the shredded coconut by hand.

After I frosted these cupcakes, I put them in the fridge for about 15 minutes to let the frosting set. You could also top each cupcake with a chocolate covered almond if you have them on hand. Perfect!

Now for the embroidery! Floresita posted a vintage Vogart embroidery pattern a while back on Flickr, and I just loved it! For one thing, I'm a sucker for just about any pastry related pattern, but combine that with a big booty baker, and I'm all over it.


I decided to put this cutie on a tea towel. The shirt was a lot of fun to stitch, and I chose two different shades of blue. Overall, this pattern only took about 4 to 5 hours of stitch time. You can see more pictures here.

Ok, I'm off to watch Thursday night awesomeness. I've made my husband wait long enough.

xoxo

Gnome Sweet Gnome

I'm sure most of you already know about the embroidery mastermind, Andrea Zuill, aka badbird. But if not, allow me to introduce you! She creates the most amazing quilts and embroidered pieces, often combining the cute with the creepy. My favorite combination!

She is also a great painter, and sells wonderful prints in her Etsy shop. You can also find original embroidery patterns for sale in her shop too. But just for funsies, and because she rocks, she's been posting free embroidery patterns on her blog. She aspires to post a new pattern every month and so far, she has not disappointed! I'm a little behind, but I finally got around to stitching up January's pattern.

It's an adorable, disgruntled gnome surrounded by mushrooms. I knew right away that I wanted to create a wall hanging with our family name on it. My machine sewing skills aren't the greatest, and it seems like one side is always a little wonky, but I really love it.


I ended up putting ours on the front door. I'm not sure that's where it will stay, because it's so cute, and I can only see it when the front door is open.


I think everyone needs to have this gnome somewhere in their home. Maybe a wall hanging or a pillow. I like the idea of a family name, or something cute like, "Gnome Sweet Gnome," "You Don't Gnome Me," or "Home Is Where The Gnome Is."

I'm sure this won't be the last pattern of Andrea's that you see me stitch. Next on the agenda of personal items is the pegasus and unicorn. I'm thinking patchwork pillow for Darcy.

So go, meet Andrea, fall in love, and get your stitch on.