Friday Instagram Finds No. 27 with The Mason Bee

I hope you're having a spooktacular Friday today! Halloween is tomorrow, and here in the United States, it's a very popular holiday, right up there with Christmas and the Fourth of July. I've included some information at the end about an auction on Instagram I've donated two pieces to, the proceeds of which go to the Van Drie family.

@themasonbee

I've followed Laura for a while now, and just love her work. She's trained in hand embroidery, and her skill comes out in every piece she makes. Laura also has a blog called Mason Bee where she chronicles what she's making and posting on Instagram. Laura's work is intricate, and beautifully detailed.

She's one of those hand embroiderers whose work makes me want to be a better hand embroiderer! Remember to use #feelingstitchyig, like Laura did, to make sure I see what you're making. Let's take a look at Laura of @themasonbee!

Image by @themasonbee

Image by @themasonbee

Image by @themasonbee

Image by @themasonbee

Image by @themasonbee

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Laura's work at @themasonbee, and make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos like Laura did with #feelingstitchyig!

I'm so sorry to have to tell you that the cutie in the picture above, 6 year old Kaylee, passed away suddenly and tragically early last week. Kaylee is the daughter of one of my stitchy friends, Kristen, who you know as @kaymaboutique on Instagram. As you can imagine, this has been a very difficult time for Kristen and her family. A group of us stitchy girls thought maybe an auction on Instagram would be a good idea to help raise money for Kristen's family, and Kayla, who you know as @knottydickens cleared it with Kristen and ran with the idea.

All I can say is, boy is our Maker Community a great one!! As of right now when I write this post, when you go to the official @candlesforkaylee Instagram page, you'll see there are over 150 posts. That means that there are over 150 items that makers from around the world have donated to be auctioned off. I don't know about you, but it makes my heart swell.

The auction officially starts this Sunday, November 1st at 7:30 pm EST. I hope that you will take a look, open your heart, and open your wallet to help out Kristen and her family in their time of need.

MooshieStitch Monday: Halloween Ghosts Pattern

Halloween week is upon us and I have one more spooky project to share.

I have a pattern for you! It's a vampire ghost and a Frankenstein ghost.

I decided to use the pattern to make little hanging decorations for Halloween!

I traced the ghosts with a water soluble pen and stitched them up.

For the vampire, I added some "blood" on the teeth :)

Using my pinking shears, I cut the ghosts fabric and black felt into rectangles. 

Then, I attached the ghosts onto the felt rectangles with straight stitches around the edges and trimmed the felt down a bit - I thought the felt rectangles were a little too big...

I attached a piece of black ribbon with french knots onto the felt so I could hang them!

Up close!

If you don't want hanging decorations, you can stitch these ghosts however you like! 

I was thinking maybe stitched onto little fabric treat bags? 

Or stitched on a pillow case that will be used for trick-or-treating? 

(Or maybe I am the only one who used a pillow case as my candy bag for trick-or-treating as a kid?) 

Print the pattern, stitch up these ghosts, and share your photos on the Flickr Embroidery Group!

Happy Halloween!

Patterns: Mushrooms

Mushrooms stitched by Sew Jenissance

Sew Jenissance has stitched up this lovely vintage pattern provided by Doe C Doe, isn't all the different stitches used on this one gorgeous? I particularly love the fill stitching.

Friday Instagram Finds No. 26 with Homestitchness

Hello Stitchy Friends! Can you believe that October is almost over? One more week until Halloween, which is my second favorite holiday (my first being my birthday, of course :p ) I'm going to tell a little story that will perfectly tie in to why I chose Jenny of Homestitchness as our feature today.

Five years ago my husband (boyfriend at the time) moved from my (adopted) hometown of Rockford, IL where I had lived for over 30 years to a Chicago suburb. We moved here for my job, and didn't know anyone. We're only 1.5 hours away from Rockford, but we may as well be on the moon! Few friends want to travel out this way, and a three (or more, sometimes) hour car trip in one day is a bit taxing. I had a particularly hard time being separated from my adopted hometown, family, and friends. I had a large social circle, and there was always something going on in Rockford - bands, hockey, art, or just hanging out with friends. Even after five years, we have not found that here in the southern Chicago suburb where we live. That means I do end up taking frequent trips back to Rockford, and, even five years on, my homesickness is real.

Jenny is a New Zealander living in the United States, and her business name, Homestitchness (Get it? homesickness, but with stitches.), says it all to me, and I feel her longing for all that is familiar to her.

I'm convinced that every single person who lives in New Zealand and Australia is an amazingly nice person, and Jenny helps to continue that perception. We met on Instagram, and she is incredibly supportive and kind, with a sunny outlook on life. She creates beautiful cross stitch patterns and samplers featuring New Zealand and Australia. Take a looks at her beautiful art, and make sure you check her out on Instagram.

@homestitchness

Image by @homestitchness

Image by @homestitchness

Image by @homestitchness

Image by @homestitchness

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Jenny's work at @homestitchness , and make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos like Jenny did with #feelingstitchyig!

Stitchy Snippets - Stumped

Lesley Turpin-Delport and Nikki Delport-Wepener

Stumpwork or raised embroidery fascinates me. The three dimensional aspect of this type of needlework perfectly demonstrates the versatility of embroidery. I've collated a few fantastic examples to show you today.

Firstly let's take a look at Mary Corbet's adorable pumpkin which is built from boullion knots. Mary has created a handy tutorial for this festive pattern. Her site is well worth a visit and full of helpful tutorials!

Mary Corbet

Cakes, biscuits and all manner of patisserie are currently popular themes for stumpwork.

Kaoru Sato

Kaoru Sato

Yacmii

Can you spot which match is embroidered?

Yacmii

Yacmii's shading work is incredibly realistic. These leaves and berries would make a beautiful autumnal table or wall decoration.

Yacmii

Have you found any great examples of stumpwork on your cyber travels?

Patterns: Stitcharama

Japanese Embroidery Bookmark PDF from Stitcharama 

A company worth checking out for some interesting embroidery patterns is Stitcharama, they've partnered with embroidery designers around the globe to create some interesting folk art pattern .pdfs such as the Japanese embroidered bookmark above.

They've also started offering an interesting service where, if you send them your artwork, they can create an iron on embroidery transfer for you, which could be something useful to remember.

Let's meet: Joelle Gebhardt

Today I have the pleasure to introduce you to the beautiful work of artist Joelle Gebhardt, who reached out to us recently to share her portfolio...

Recently featured in the magazine Daphne's Diary, Joelle is a talented illustrator who is currently based in Berlin, Germany.

I adore the tiny, fascinating scale of her work, and of course, her preliminary sketches - it's always a treat to see sketches, as they reveal so much of the artist's process...

Learn more about Joelle Gebhardt:

http://www.joellegebhardt.com/

http://blog.joellegebhardt.com/

All photos are courtesy of Joelle Gebhardt, and used with her permission.

It's a pleasure to meet you Joelle - thank you for introducing us to your lovely work!

Friday Instagram Finds No. 25 with Jordan Harmon Fine Art

Hello Stitchers! Welcome to this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Can you believe that, not including today, there are only 10 Fridays until Christmas?! October is half way over, and there are only 11 weeks, or 76 days left in 2015?! Is it only me, or does it seem like time has flown by in 2015? Quite honestly, it feels like 2013 was just a few months ago...

Today let's take a look at Jordan of @jharmonart! Jordan's embroidery art wowed me the first time I saw it. It is unique in the way she combines fabric, paint, and floss to create stunning hoops. The scenes in her hoops appear to very simple on first glance, but when you take a closer look at them, you see all kinds of detail that evoke pleasant feelings. Her beach pieces, in particular, fascinate me in their simplicity and detail.

My favorite hoop in her feed is the one of the Ferris wheel. The 3D texture of the arms of the wheel, and how she placed the arms of the wheel stacked so that you get the sense of what the arms look like in real life, give it motion, and I can envision the wheel leisurely turning. (I always think a ride on a Ferris wheel is a good idea until I get on it and get stuck at the top as more passengers get on.)

Here's a look at some of my favorite hoops from Jordan's feed. Click on the link under each picture to go to that picture in Jordan's Instagram feed.

Image by @jharmonart

Image by @jharmonart

Image by @jharmonart

Image by @jharmonart

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Jordan's work at @jharmonart, and make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos with #feelingstitchyig!

MooshieStitch Monday: Embroidered Halloween Pumpkin Lollipop Covers

Last post I embroidered some Halloween ghost lollipop covers.

Up next: pumpkin lollipop covers!

What you need:
5" x 5" squares orange fabric
Black or yellow embroidery floss
Green ribbon
Lollipops (I used Tootsie Pops)
Basic supplies: hoop, scissors, pencil/transfer pen
Optional: coins (such as a penny or nickel)

1. Draw a pumpkin face on your orange fabric square.

2. Stitch the face with a satin stitch.

3. Remove the fabric from the hoop and grab your lollipops, ribbon, and coins!

4. Tie the fabric around the lollipop with the green ribbon.

If you want the pumpkins to stand up, include the coin when you tie the fabric around the pop - it will work as an anchor to stand up.

Up close....

I stitched up more pumpkins using yellow floss for the face, outlining it with black.

These do not have a coin inside and are just laying down.

I hope you try stitching these little pumpkin covers! If you do, be sure to post photos in the Flickr Embroidery Group.