Just a quick red & white post from me today, a stitched Christmas card that I've started ages ago, but never finished until recently. I've used the flower-ish part of the pattern before, but I wanted to use it in combination with the "Noel" sign this time. However, once both parts were done, I didn't seem to like the combo at all. Was it too plain? Too full? Too red & white?
As I still didn't want to throw the sentiment away, I put it aside while trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the embroidery. Since my original plan included a floral pattern on each side of the sentiment, I was hesitant to cut the embroidered cardboard in half to use it on two separate projects. On the other hand, I couldn't seem to find a replacement motif that would fill the space of the missing "Noel".
Additionally, my problem was that the embroidered cardboard itself wasn't white as in "white". Rather than that, it had some kind of ebony/beige shimmer due to the fact that I was stitching on the back side of a recycled paper box. And what turned out to be helpful when it comes to put the focus on the white yarn, turned out to be a curse when I tried to add background papers which included the actual "white".
Then, however, I came across a vintage red & white background paper which proved to go well with the Christmas spirit last year. I remembered my old red & white Christmas stitching and gave it a try, but I didn't expect to really like the result.
Long story short told: I was wrong. I did like the subtle red and white pattern in the background, and, even the "Noel" seemed to fit suddenly. The only thing I added were a couple of whte pearls for the flowers and some tiny ones to decorate the sentiment.
A little contribution to the October collection of Create in Austria - artwork created by Austrians and/or in Austria.
A little contribution to the collection of hand-stitching at made with Blümchen.
challenges:
- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a bit more time to craft: ATG
- allsorts challengeblog: Christmas
- C.R.A.F.T.: Christmas
- crafting with an attitude: ATG
- crafty catz: ATG
- craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge: ATG as long as it's Christmas
- craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper
- creative moments: ATG
- friendship challenge: ATG
- kreativtanten: ATG
- love to craft: ATG
- moving along with the times: for a man
- pennys papertake: ATG
- 12 months of Christmas: ATG
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- worldwide open design team challenge: ATG
And as it's a stitched card I'm showing, I'd like to invite you over to our new Fadengrafik Challenge. We're looking for autumn-themed creations this month, so if you happen t create something using paper embroidery, feel free to play along and maybe you'll be the one winning a cool prize ;)
Finally, to make the red & white post complete, I have bought some red and white flowers at the flower market. A little bit of everything with some greenery, placed in a simple dark grey vase which was - if I remember correctly - a souvenir from Greece.
A contribution to the Friday Flowerday at Holunderbluetchen.
Something from my stash today, namely: a portrait of me which I've gotten as a birthday present from my little sister a couple of years ago.
Apparently, I have completely forgotten about it as I had no opportunity to hang it back then. However, since I have tried to bring some order into my apartment, I have now re-discovered it. Honestly, it's still not hung up yet, but I have at least placed it on my shelf as it would certainly be a pity to keep hiding it.
Not quite the artistic soul in terms of crafts I do (but a fantastic knitter!), my sister had started to prepare "something" without mentioning much more than, "I hope you do like the anime/manga style". Well, I had absolutely no idea what to expect until she came up with this anime picture of me, nicely done with watercolours she had purchased just for this particular occasion.
Needless to say, she not only created a lovely image but also paired up with mom's man to get it framed and protected by glass.
And what a stunning picture it is! Apart from a tiny black scratch scrawl, I couldn't find the slightest imperfection.
As for the accuracy, I'd say my hair is a little darker, but as I'm finding more and more grey strands I should probably think of getting it dyed or coloured sometime in near future :)
I haven't quite figured out what the colourfu ornaments in the background are, but I like think of blooming cherry trees.
A little contribution to the October collection of Create in Austria - artwork created by Austrians and/or in Austria.
Matching the piece of art on my shelf, I got myself a bouquet of flowers.
It has been ages ago that I've last gotten myself flowers, but as I was shopping in my local supermarket, I just couldn't walk past them at the counter. Maybe it was the interesting contrast between violet and red that caught my eyes or just the discount sign that meant they wouldn't have long to live anymore, but since the blooms were almost entirely intact, all I had to do was to cut the stems a little bit, get out an old compote glass and voilà:
A contribution to the Friday Flowerday at Holunderbluetchen.
challenges:
- 4 crafty chicks: ATG
- a bit more time to craft: ATG
- crafting with an attitude: ATG
- crafty catz: ATG
- crafty gals corner: ATG
- create and inspire: ATG
- creative moments: ATG
- cute card thursday: ATG
- kreativtanten: ATG
- love to craft: ATG
- morgans artworld: ATG
- path of positivity: shades of purple
- pennys papertake: ATG
- scrapping4fun: ATG
- through the craftroom door: ATG
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- pinspirational something different (watercolour portrait, anime style)
Today, it's going to be a different kind of projct in my corner: a decorated piece of driftwood that I've picked up at the seaside last year. Despite immediately thinking how pretty it would be with a bunch of flowers that would create some kind of mixed media, I've kept it in my stash for more than a year before I finally took the time to figure out what this "bunch of flowers" should look like.
Needless to say, my try to do "some kind of mixed media" is rather simple and beginner-ish. And that being said, I decided to stick with basic embellishments from my cardmaking and jewelry stash only, which would be paper flowers and beads.
My first challenge turned out to be figuring out my preferable colour for the flowers, meaning: what kind of "flower bunch" did I want at all?
Since my idea was to create a decoration for mom, I had to find out what colour she prefers without actually asking her. I know that she finds violet shades depressing and didn't think she'd want to have blue flowers around either, so my main decision was to be made between pink/rose/purple and orange/yellow/red. Long story short told: after a "random" chitchat which led to mom's conclusion that the latter combination fits almost everywhere and would therefore be generally better for decorations, I knew my task.
Taking out my box of yellow, orange and red paper flowers, I picked different shades and sizes of flowers, trying to align them between the cracks in the bark. Once that was done, I took out my jewelry boxes to look for matching beads.
Additionally, I punched a couple of leafs which I could place in between the blooming flowers in case the blooms and beads alone would look a little too boring.
Then, I first glued the flowers to te bark, making my way from one side of the wooden piece to the other. When this was done, I added the different beads to create a little distraction, followed by the leafs as the final touch.
And then, I just kept adding beads until I thought I had enough of them: Big beads, tiny beads, brown beads, orange beads, beads in the cracks, beads atop of the flower petals, beads underneath the leafs.
The step-by-step process allowed me to slowly work my way towards the final image, which I didn't really have in mind yet when I started. Also, it gave me the chance to work with liquid glue which I normally don't use as I prefer duct tape for my paper projects.
And finally, I thought this would be enough of everything. Not quite the mixed media I see from real masters of the craft, but still I fun thing to do way outside my comfort zone. And who knows, maybe, when I grow up, I'll dare to add more - a different approach, a different decoration, a different technique, a different result?
A little contribution to the October collection of Create in Austria - artwork created by Austrians and/or in Austria.
challenges:
- 4 crafty chicks: ATG with a twist "happy fall"
- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a bit more time to craft: ATG
- allsorts challengeblog: autumn glory
- alphabet challengeblog: N for nature
- as you like it: favourite season (I really like every season as each of them brings certain joys to me, but as we're currently having fall, I'll just stick by this one - of course, this counts for warm autumn days with blue skies, colourful trees everywhere, and lots of things to harvest, by no means it includes the rainy, foggy days... even though they, too, have something magical, but usually, I'll just be cold, and not in the mood to leave my apartment at all ;) and probably, that's what makes fall so beautiful to me: the contradiction it brings with a beautiful goodbye, a colourful dying, an ever-present feeling of transience)
- C.R.A.F.T.: autumn
- craft-alnica: autumn colours
- crafty catz: ATG with optional twist "colours of autumn"
- crafty gals corner: ATG with a twist "fall"
- crafty sentiments: fall colours
- create and inspire: ATG
- creative moments: ATG with a twist "fall colours"
- cute card thursday: autumn
- everybody art: orange/brown
- kreativtanten: ATG
- love to craft: ATG
- love to scrap: ATG
- modsquad: fall is in the air
- moving along with the times: autumn
- pennys papertake: ATG
- scrapping4fun: ATG
- through the craftroom door: ATG
- unicorn challengeblog: autumn
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- pinspirational something different (different technique)
- worldwide open design team challenge: ATG
