this week’s work-in-progress

Sigh.

That’s how this week’s felt. I had great plans – as per usual – to get loads of things done, make some progress on a few projects that I’ve let slide…

And then I spent two days doing nothing but going to work at my new job. And even then, it was only for a few hours, so I essentially wasted two days where I could have done so much.

But I’m trying really hard not to beat myself up for failing to accomplish what I had planned. I did start my new job and I’m enjoying it a lot, so there’s that. And I did clean up a bit more of the yard to get the gardens growing and show off the huge yard to potential buyers.

always a surprise when these pop up in the spring

There were some down points, too. We’re still trying to sell the house and I have no idea why we haven’t yet. Keith and Maddy are back a day early from Winnipeg, but I still miss them so much during the week. And it’s been a struggle to keep my anxiety and depression in check, being by myself, starting a new job and trying to keep this business afloat.

so happy to see these beauties in bloom this year

I’m not big into meditating or anything like that, but I do have a copy of Desiderata hanging over my desk that I read when I need to calm my mind and get back into a good (or, at least, better) place. My grandmother gave it to me when I was confirmed 25 years ago and it’s one of my most treasured items. The glass in the frame broke long ago and it’s got a couple of water stains, but it’s a wonderful reminder that yes, the world can be pretty shitty, but it does get better.

last year, I had a few – maybe 10 – tulips. This year, dozens & dozens :)

So as terrible as this week may have been in some aspects and this whole year has been a massive struggle to stay sane and focused, there are parts of it that have been pretty awesome. Just because I didn’t get everything done I wanted to this week, it’s not the end of the world – I did what had to be done and took a break. Sometimes you don’t realize you need a mental break from constantly dealing with problems and struggles and obstacles until after you take the break. And looking back, I’m happy I did. Yeah, I’ll have more to do later, but it’s better to do with a fresh mind than one that’s cluttered.

Or, at least, that’s what I’m telling myself today :) Have a great weekend!

lovely little hoops

When I was setting up my to-do lists for the week – my Saturday evening job – I certainly didn’t expect the week to be nearly as chaotic as it ended up being. Job interviews and visits with my parents and just a lot of non-nisseworks-related stuff kind of took over a lot of this week. But I’m not complaining – being by myself most of the week, waiting for the house to sell, it’s nice to have a chance (or a few) to get out of the house. And if that means I get to wander around a local garden centre (twice!), then so be it :)

I finished the hoops above to use as samples for a listing I plan on getting into my Etsy shop next week. They’re going to be a nice addition to the small line of custom/personalized hoops  that I’ve been working on – these ones are geared more towards being wedding or anniversary gifts. There’s a bit of a vintage look to them, with the daisies and script letters. Check out my shop early next week for the listing.

this. this is spring :)

And spring! Spring is here! The snow is almost all gone – there is just a bit under the lilac bushes and along the fence line, but the gardens are starting to sprout and I’m beyond thrilled to see flowers popping up, after the six months of winter we’ve just gone through.

first flowers – striped squill

And yes, the house is still up for sale, but that doesn’t mean I’m going quit taking care of my gardens. Oh, no… there’s compost to set out and last year’s plants to clean up. I don’t think I’ll be doing any transplants or putting in a new rose bush like I have in other years, but I’ll be working hard to make sure the gardens are ready to be showcased for potential buyers.

drip

I love spending time tending to my gardens for a variety of reasons – it’s an awesome feeling knowing that you play a really significant role in growing things. Worrying over flowers that aren’t blooming on schedule and making sure nasty pests don’t invade and eat up all your hard work. Tending a garden – flower or vegetable – is hard work, but so much fun. If I could, and who knows, maybe I will once we move, I would gladly spend all my time working with plants and flowers and growing things, in hopes of bringing a bit of happiness to someone’s life. But for now, I’ll just stitch flowers and gardens and share them with the world :)

bright sunshiny day

And working outside gives me lots of time to think and brainstorm, all while getting a healthy dose of vitamin D and fresh air. I’m looking forward to spending a couple of hours in my backyard this afternoon, fixing things up and relaxing, letting the world pass me by. If you can and it’s nice in your area, get outside this weekend – it’ll do you a world of good :)

Well, that’s changing now :)

The dimensions of the room I’m thinking off (hence the ‘dream’ aspect of all of this) is roughly 10′ by 12′, so a standard bedroom size. Two windows along the long wall without the door, a medium-sized closet along one of the shorter walls. In a perfect world, it’d be a room that was gigantic and massive and had tonnes of light, but I’m trying to keep this whole thing as grounded in reality as possible.

First up is the flooring. I love good, sturdy hardwood, but the cost of it is a bit out of reach, so I’ve decided to look at hardwoods as well as laminates. I briefly thought about going with lovely fluffy carpeting, but I’m an embroiderer – I’d be spending more time vacuuming bits of thread off the floor than actually stitching, so a wooden floor is the way to go (and it gives me a chance to find some really nice rugs, too).

I’ve been lucky to live in a lot of older homes with their original hardwood floors still intact – narrow boards, inconsistent grains, squeaks and groans and creaks… the hardwood floors in our wartime house were one of the biggest selling points for me when we bought this house in 2008. As I was looking for samples of flooring I wanted to find floors that had a lot of those same characteristics. I’d rather have something that looked a little ‘odd’ than a floor that was so consistent that it was boring.

A few of the flooring samples that caught my attention (and my eye) are below. You can click on any of the photos and follow the links below to the manufacturers or shops they’re in stock at.

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Head over to the Pinterest board I’ve set up for this little project – it’s got links to the other flooring choices I came up with, as well as some other pieces and ideas I’ve come across. For next week’s post, I’ll have a post on the wall colours I came up with. Compared to my flooring choices, the wall colour choices may be a bit less exciting.

There’s only a couple of days left to place your orders for Mother’s Day – check out my shop for some great gift ideas that any mother (or yourself!) would love to get this year :)

Give the gift of a bouquet that doesn’t need to be watered & will always be in bloom :) In my shop now.

I missed doing up a post for last week, thanks to a blown hot water tank and a trip to my parent’s for the weekend, but I don’t want to give up doing a weekly post just as they’re starting, so here’s some highlights from the last two weeks.

Like so many others last week, I was caught up in all the chaos and mayhem happening around the world. And I’m a sponge when it comes to things like this – I’ve been a news junkie for most of my life and having Twitter and constantly updated news sites is perfect for someone like me. I didn’t get much work done until Saturday when I was at my parent’s and away from the constant news flow.

a nice little burst of flowers :)

I wanted to make something that was just happy and colourful and the opposite of a lot of the emotions we saw – and experienced – last week. So I came up with the piece above, bright flowers scattered in a hoop that is just so spring-like… it’s kind of like the piece I made for my mother-in-law last year. I’ve been trying to incorporate more colour into my pieces rather than just creams and greys and neutrals, because colour makes us happy. And if we need anything more these days, it’s happiness.

This week has been full of getting ready to send out packages to shops to see if they’re interested in carrying my work (and if you are, and I haven’t contacted you, drop me a line!). It’s a lot of work to make sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed before reaching out to shops – I still need to work on my packaging and some branding, but I should be able to send out emails within the next week. I hope.

And in other news, spring has finally arrived… sort of. There’s still lots of snow on the ground, but it’s melting. And while that’s a good thing for lawns and gardens, it’s not the greatest news for towns and farms in the valleys around here. There’s a fairly decent chance of a sizable flood again this year – the last was in 2011, the 1-in-300 year flood that we still haven’t recovered from – so there’s lots of prep work going into trying to keep the water at bay and protect property along the rivers. Thankfully, our house is far away from the valley so we’re not under the threat of flooding, but friends are and you can feel the stress levels rising daily as there are more and more sandbags being put up along the river, which also happens to run under two of the main streets in town.

Oh, and our house still hasn’t sold. Hurray. Five months and counting… so to take my mind off things, I’m spending my day stitching and relaxing. It’s been a while since I’ve had a day to myself with no errands or meetings and who knows when the next one will be, so I’ll put my favourite DVD boxed set on and enjoy the day :)

Just a reminder – Mother’s Day is coming up quickly,
so place your order before May 2 to receive it by May 12.
I’ve got a shop full of great gift ideas that any mother (or yourself!) would love to get this year :)

I’ve reduced the price of pillow covers in my shop to $45, framed wall art (black frames only) to $45 and decorative pillows are now $25 (all prices in USD).

You can find all the pieces in the Spring Sale section of my Etsy shop. And don’t forget Mother’s Day is just 19 days away – I’ve got a whole range of products available to make any mother smile on her special day. Order today :)

How stunning is this crochet?

No, really. Tell me. It’s breathtaking.

Beautiful little flowers and vegetables and plants. So tiny and so perfect.

I can’t crochet to save my life, but this work by Jung-jung, a Japanese artist is just so amazing I don’t know how anyone would want to even try to emulate her work.

Her website is in Japanese, but thanks to Google Translate, we know that she’s been doing this type of work since an early age. She’s been featured in various exhibitions and events, and has a book – Itoami Plants: Japanese Craft (translated version from Penguin Books Australia)-  with a range of projects to try and photos to be amazed by.

Be sure to check out her website – even in the original Japanese, it’s simply inspiring :)

All photos are from jungjung.jp

Hurrah.

But I did manage to get a few things done, small as they were, so the week wasn’t a total write-off… next week, though. Next week is going to be oodles of fun (not really).

my first attempt at an alphabet sampler and it turned out ok. except for the spacing, but that’s a minor detail I think.

pre-rinse, pre-ironed alphabet sampler. it should look much better once it’s completely finished & framed… I hope.

I’ve never done a sampler before and I’m not even sure that what these two pieces are could be called samplers, but here we are. If I were to offer something like these in my shop – and I’m not sure I will… yet – there’s a lot more I could do with them. Add some little ornamental flourishes here and there, or make them a bit more kid-friendly with an embroidered animal or something to jazz it up a bit.

The main reason I did the two samplers was to make sure I could actually embroider the entire alphabet in those styles. As I mentioned in a couple of posts last week, I’ve been thinking about creating something for Mother’s Day and maybe wedding season that could be personalized with these letters. I like the idea of offering something that is a bit more original, more unique than the tried-and-true gifts that people tend to give, and a personalized piece of embroidery is a wonderful way to go. It’s memorable, from the heart and doesn’t need to be watered, eaten or polished… pretty good reasons to go with embroidery as a gift, eh?

So there’s a bit of self-promotion to end the week. And next week, oh… sending out letters to shops to see if they’re interested in carrying my work, sending out a few pitch emails to blogs (that’s got me terrified), and hopefully getting healthy again. Have a great weekend!

Don’t forget – Mother’s Day is less than a month away!
I’ve put together a list of great gift ideas from my shop
that would make any mother’s day :)

So, this year, I thought ‘Why not get mom a gift that won’t die before the next weekend? Maybe something that she doesn’t have to water or eat, but still brings a touch of joy into her life?’ And that’s where my Etsy shop comes in :)

Purple and blue blooms – embroidered wall art 8″ hoop, $50 USD

Rather than spend time waiting in line at the store, battling the crowds, or at a busy restaurant, check out my shop for some wonderful Mother’s Day gift ideas. You can pick out something completely original, like the piece above, or have something customized with her favourite colours.

Personalized initial heart pendant neckalce embroidered with chain, $14 USD (customizable)

Scrollwork embroidered heart – 3″ wooden embroidery hoop, $22 USD (customizable)

Doesn’t your mom (or step-mom, wife, grandmother, aunt, best friend, whomever she may be) deserve something a little original for Mother’s Day this year? Something she can treasure for years to come?

Embroidered brown tree on cream cotton wood – 9″ embroidery hoop wall art, $50 USD

And I can make custom pieces, too – if you see something in my shop you like but want different colours or design, or whatever, drop me a line. There’s only a month until Mother’s Day, so get your shopping done soon!

brand new in my Etsy shop – Ecru embroidered flowers on olive green linen – 4″ embroidery hoop, $32

The sun’s been cooperative the last couple of days so I could finally (!!) get new products photographed for my Etsy shop. I actually ended up shooting all the new pieces (and some older ones that needed some sprucing up) twice, thanks to a bit of a miscalculation on my part yesterday (weird shadows gave everything a blue tint), but it’s all done and the new pieces are making their way into the shop this week.

I’ve been working on an alphabet sampler (you can see a bit here on my Instagram {follow me!}) that will have a dual purpose – one, to make sure i could actually embroider the letters I plan on using in a new piece; and two, as a wall hanging for Maddy. She’s been bugging me to do something like this for a while and I figure this is the perfect thing to make for her. And it’s educational, too (she’s got half of her letters down pat, this should just help her along to get the rest of them).

This is the first week that both Keith and Maddy are gone and I’m the only one in Brandon, waiting not-so-patiently for the house to sell. It’s a blessing and a curse to have the house to myself – I can focus on my work for hours without any distractions, but when I do get distracted, oh boy… I’m trying a few different techniques to stay on track more than not, and I hope to write a bit about what works for me and what doesn’t in the next couple of weeks.

But for now, the sun is shining and it needs to be enjoyed – have a good day :)

tulips! they’re kinda frozen & still surrounded by snow, but tulips!

Spring still hasn’t arrived here in my area of the world, but it’s coming.

Slowly, but surely.

Hopefully. There’s a bit of snow in the forecast for this afternoon and evening (5-10 cm) and it’s fairly chilly for this time of the year (-6C/feels like -13C right now)… so, yeah. But there’s a handful of tulips that have popped up in one of my gardens, so that’s a good sign. I think.

So what have I been up to this week? Well, lots of Easter chocolate and family time and traveling. But I did manage to fit in some work, too :)

more lazy daisies. yep, I’m hooked :)

I finished these two small hoops (the one on the left is 4″, the right is 3″) and hoped to get them and the hoops I did last week shot today to get into my Etsy shop this afternoon, but – shock of shocks – it’s cloudy and will be snowing shortly. We were away most of the week so today was the first day I could have done the photoshoot, but nope. And the forecast for the weekend is more clouds and snow, so hopefully Monday I’ll get these new pieces shot and listed.

I think I ended up erasing more than I left on this page…

I’ve been working on creating a font to use on a couple of new pieces for this spring/summer – one for Mother’s Day and the other for weddings. I want something that’s got a bit of a vintage-y feel to it, but not so fluffy (flowery?) to get bogged down and become difficult to reproduce on demand. I spent a good portion of last evening getting lost in vintage monogrammed linens and 100+ year old embroidery books looking for inspiration. One thing I did realize looking at all the beautiful linens was I need to work on my stitching. Perhaps creating a sampler is in my future…

blank slate.

The lack of spring seems to be influencing my work and what I chose to stitch. I’ve always been a fan of working with nature-inspired designs and flowers and things like that, but the last half dozen or so pieces have been full of blooms and fun colours and unique layouts that just say spring to me. And happy and good things and just put a smile on your face. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see a bright bunch of flowers hanging in their home, ready to perk up your day?

Monday, I’ll be posting a bit of a shop ann0uncement (nothing bad, I promise!) and hopefully, if the sun cooperates, a few new pieces in my shop. Between now and then, I’ll be snuggled under a blanket, waiting for the snow to stop, the temperature to warm up and my flowers to bloom some more. Have a great weekend!