The last year has been an adventure to say the least. Some things went very well but others not so good. I found that someone that I thought was a friend was willing to betray me in a very ugly way, but that others gave me support when I needed it most. What is the phrase "Things that don't kill you make you stronger"? The year came to a close with something that on that day was the last thing that I needed but now it is funny. Here is the Christmas tree - good thing that the table was next to it.

I finished the piece that I was working on in the last post and here it is. I find that people can't resist touching it. The butterfly and some of the leaves are wired and stitched so that they are dimensional.

I am working on a long term project that is one of what I call my insanity pieces. They are things that as you are doing them, you wonder why you thought that starting them was a good idea. They usually take several years to complete but are worth it in the end. This embroidery is by James Christensen, one of my favorite artists. It is called Faith, Hope and Charity and has 32 stitches per inch. I will try to post updates on my progress.

Here is the original painting and here is how I am progressing. .

Bugs and Butterfly

When we travel, the souvenirs that I usually bring home are pieces of jewelry. I wear a lot of silver so it doesn't have to cost a bunch but I decided when I was about 16 that if it was not real I was not going to wear it. I have softened my position a bit because large diamonds and rubies are not in the budget and because of a book that I read. It is called Utopia by Thomas Moore. In it the Utopians value things a bit differently. If something is beautiful, the materials that it is made of are of secondary value to the craftsmanship of the object. Tiffany art glass is a perfect example of this. The value of Favrile is in the wonderful surface and shape of the glass.

Anyway, all of this rambling is actually going somewhere. When we were in Arizona last month, we found the most fantastic jewelry in the shop in Mesa, AZ. The jeweler's name is Matt Muralt and he creates the most wonderful, magnificent art jewelry in glass, gold and precious stones. I had him make a pendant of green glass and gold in the shape of a scarab. It glows like it has a light behind the glass. Here are a couple of his other creations. The wings on the jeweled scarab move. The Luna moth is divine and could be compared to the best of the Art Nouveau work.

I am also working on a fun piece of embroidery. It is titled Metamorphosis and will have many of the stages of the Monarch butterfly. I have finished the surface work and am working on the detached elements now.

Ebony and Ivory

I have been stitching a lot for the past few weeks. The first weeks of the new year are crunch time if an embroidery teacher wants to submit proposals to teach at the next EGA National seminar. The new pieces need to be finished along with the paper work. I really should have finished stitching them long before now but with 10 people in the house, life never follows a smooth path.

It has been a fun creative time for me with a couple of new designs for both retail and teaching.

The creative process is always an interesting one and when I start I never quite know exactly how it is going the look when it is finished.

Now comes the hard part.....doing the paper work for the submissions and then writing the directions.

I can't show you the whole designs but here are a few sections. One of the designs is stitched in both blackwork and pulled thread (which is a tone on tone embroidery, usually white on white).

The other is cross stitch but finished as small accessories.