Stitched Gifts in Country Living Magazine!

I've been waiting for a good moment to crack open my County Living Magazine. With a tall cold glass of water and a tiny kitty (more on her soon!) by my side I sat down with it, flipping pages anxiously. It's such a great feeling to see a project (Embroidered Photo Corners) from Stitched Gifts featured in print. Gorgeously photographed and I love being able to share a fun and easy diy project with so many people.

And I was surprised to see the project upfront & center in the contents page, too. Funny that my love for vintage images of animals, this one being a lady holding a Boston Terrier, would finds it's way into a magazine...

You can see a sneak peek of the project, Embroidery-Hoop Photo Frames here, and go get yourself a copy of Country Living! 

Stitched Gifts Inspiration II

Photo credits (clockwise from the left): poster: unknown,  interior: unknown, textured wall: full circle images,  bottles: souvenirs du passé récent,  cyanotype: Anna Atkins,  Hindsvik vintage glass domes,  Nikole Herriott, ethanollie,  Skona Hem,  horseshoe: Clip Art etc.

My last mood board of Stitched Gifts inspiration was mostly dark colors. For my second one I concentrated on whites, glass, and natural specimens. I wish I could live in this one. More and more I want white walls with a little organized chaos.

I used this inspiration to help guide some of my prop selections, color choices and imagery in the projects. You can really see it's influence in the image below, which is the lead image introducing the "Home & Hearth" section.

Hope you liked this peek at some of my inspiration for Stitched Gifts & found something to inspire you!

Stitched GIfts: Creative Process & Mood Boards

I thought it would be fun to share some of the process and inspiration behind Stitched Gifts today, which is being featured on the Etsy blog. Head on over and get your stitch on making an embroidered Message in a Bottle. It's a perfect Valentine's gift.

Before I started making any of the projects or writing, don't laugh at me, I made mood boards. I already had the project ideas outlined, but I wasn't sure what they would look like exactly or what the overall feel of the book would be. I really wanted there to be a visual and conceptual consistency throughout the book, and felt totally overwhelmed. There was just so much to consider- the projects themselves, the photographs, the text, props, styling, and all the details in between. It's a pretty thrilling conundrum though- oh, the possibilities!

To help clam the creative overload I was feeling, one of the designers at Chronicle suggested that I make mood boards to help define how I saw Stitched Gifts looking. I started collecting images of colors, textures, props, lighting, design, and even camera angles I liked. It was an incredibly helpful and fun exercise that allowed me to narrow my focus. It helped inspire and define the visual look for Stitched Gifts.

I looove these images. They are delicious and still inspire me, so I'll be sharing all the mood boards I made throughout the month. I hope they can inspire you to make something too!

Very curious - how do you plan out a big project and turn inspiration into action?

Photo credits (clockwise from the left): color inspiration from Creature Comforts, Honey and Jam, SF Girl by Bay, Young Girl Daguerreotype, Still Life by Amy Merrick, Silhouette portrait by candlelight, star map, vintage chalkboard, paper moon

Etsy Holiday Shop: Embroidered Card Workshop Pt. 2

Etsy in real life + Me!!
Teaching at the Etsy Holiday Shop was a blast.  The shop was insanely cool. No nook was left un-bannered, glittered, decorated and untherwise, Etsyified. There were people letter pressing on the spot, drawing your portrait, creating one of a kind jewelry right in front of you, artists creating all day in the storefront window, workshops all throughout the day, AND music in the evening. I even got to attend The Moth at the shop!

Oh, and did I mention there was a swing? I took it for a spin after my day as a featured artist in the window. Read about it here.

My workshop, Embroidered Cards & Gift Tags, came straight from the pages of Stitched Gifts.  People stitched holiday cards with laurel wreaths and snowflakes.  Some went rouge with hot air ballons and one girl even embellished her backback with embroidery thread.

Definitely get a creative high from teaching, love meeting new people, seeing what they make and sharing my love of making with them.....

They did really good huh?

Thanks to all who came out! & Thanks Etsy! It was such a great time & I'm so honored to have been involved with such a rad project. THANK YOU!!

Stitched Gifts Launch Party at Purl Soho...

You are invited!

I'm so very excited to invite you to the launch party for Stitched Gifts at Purl Soho!

The original embroideries will be shown, fancy drinks will be severed, I'll demo some sweet embroidery skills, sign some books, answer any questions you may have, and everyone who makes a purchase during the event will receive a free holiday embroidery kit I made just for the event featuring a project from, you guessed it, Stitched Gifts. More info on the event here on the Purl Bee.

I'm over the moon to have the event at Purl. I remember attending the book launch for Penguin Threads first set of books featuring the amazing stitch work of Jillian Tamaki. This whole book process has felt so surreal to me. It's about to get real real with a book launch party!

Please come out and say hello. It'd make me so happy to see you there...

What: Stitched Gifts Book Launch Party
When: Saturday, November 17th from 6-7:30pm
Where: Purl Soho, 459 Broome Street (Between Greene & Mercer)

Here are just a few of the projects from the book that you'll be able to see at Purl!

And here again are the details...
What: Stitched Gifts Book Launch Party
When: Saturday, November 17th from 6-7:30pm
Where: Purl Soho, 459 Broome Street (Between Greene & Mercer)

p.s you are invited for all time 

Cover Story...

The past couple days I've been getting tweets & instagrams of my book arriving to people's homes. Just yesterday a package of books my father had ordered was delivered. So sweet. I thought it'd be fun to share the story of the cover and a bunch of the out takes with you today. First I spent a great deal of time designing the cover embroidery piece and stitching it up. All those little leaves!

I shot and reshot this cover so many times. I struggled with finding the right props, lighting and design. I knew I wanted to include my grandmother's sewing scissors and some threads with the embroidery piece....








Each time I shot I had various family members help by hold reflectors, being my hand model or assistant. Most of the images were made in the backyard of my parent's house. I hadn't planned on shooting there, so I felt kind of naked with out my usual props and equipment. Sometimes having limitations helps you focus and asking for the opinions of trusted advisors really helped too.

No one was feeling the doillies, so out they went. Keep it simple was my new focus. I found a vintage dishtowel at a thrift shop, used an ikea saucer to hold my threads, and wrote the subtitle on a piece of vellum (twenty odd times to get it right) and then shot atop an upside down wooden tray.

During every step of the process of this book I felt lots of pressure to make the best projects and photographs I could, especially for the cover since that's the first thing you'll see. I'm so very happy with how it came out. I've never seen anything quite like it. There's no digitized text. It's all hand written or embroidered, and just a single photograph. Love it.

If you're getting this in your mail box right now, thank you & hope you're enjoying it!

Drum Roll Please.....

I don't think words can express how excited (and anxious, nervous, thrilled, and seriously joyful) I am to announce that I have a book coming out! It's called Stitched Gifts and is a craft book published by Chronicle with projects that will have you stitchin' up gift-worthy embroidered keepsakes. I've been dying to tell you for the longest time, and have hinted at it so many times. Since I just got my own copy about two weeks ago (and cried like a happy fool while opening the box on a park bench in Brooklyn), I knew finally it was time to share. It feels epic to me – a book I wrote and photographed, and poured all my energies into for the better part of a year. I really hope you can feel this happy excitement from where you read this...

I've been creating custom embroideries for weddings, new babies, anniversaries, birthdays and just because for a while now. My arm has been sore for about 5 years straight, so I thought it was about time to share my embroidery know-how so that everyone can make beautiful embroidered gifts, too. The projects are customizable, so you can personalize each piece! I wanted you to have lots of flexibility with these patterns, which I love so much! You get a bunch of alphabets to customize your embroideries, step-by-step instructions, lots of info on transferring patterns, detailed stitch images, creative ideas, and delicious photographs.

I couldn't be happier with the book – Chronicle has done such an amazing job designing a book that feels so me. I am so very grateful. It's aesthetic, clean layout, and subtle design elements are so nice. Here are a few peeks inside, but I really can't wait for you to be able to see it in your own hands....

The book comes out in October, but is available now for pre-order on Amazon. Please head on over to pick up a copy now, or to just "like" it - it'd mean so much to me!

I'll be sharing more about the book process: behind the scenes images, sneak peeks, my inspirations and such. Let me know if you have any questions & I'd love to hear what you think...