Eight-Year-Olds, Dude.

Holy smokes, 3 posts in one day!  Can you believe it?  Yep, you are that special.

Remember those errands I mentioned on Thursday?  One has been a long time coming.

That's right!  I finally finished The Jesus!!!  Took long enough, huh?  Poor Shannon had to wait forever for him.  I'll be honest, I set him down quite a few times.  Ready to give up and completely start over.  Unsure of my choices and a wee bit over the purple, after having it in several of my recent projects.  But I kept on truckin' and he's finally done.  He's arrived at his new home and now I can share some pictures with you.

(Click for a larger view.)

I ventured a little beyond my usual embroidery style, incorporating paint into this piece.  Feels good to bring my two loves together.  And of course, I had to fit in some metallic floss, even if I was embellishing a bit there.  Perhaps that'll end up being my signature.  I'm not much of a glitter/bling girl but I can never resist the urge to bring a little shine to my pieces.  I don't really know why.

The whole thing is stitched with DMC.  I only used 7 colors and the thickest was 3 strands.  Last time I made my own pattern for the piece.  However, this time I was inspired by the cover art for the book, I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski, illustrated by Bill Green.  Which is a hilarious read, by the way.  It had to be kid friendly and surprisingly, there are hardly any pictures of him online (that don't involve him licking a bowling ball.)

This was the first time that I signed one of my pieces.

I still don't know how I feel about it.  Part of me thinks it's a bit presumptuous, like it really matters, right?  And then part of me thinks, well, I would sign a painting.  So, I'm not really sure.  What do you thing about signing pieces?  Does it make me look like pompous ass?  Honestly.

Free Form Fun!!

Free form
Originally uploaded by Giggly Mama & Fam

Check out what I got in the mail right before I went to Michigan. An awesome, one of a kind, free form embroidery piece!! Sent to me from the lovely and talented, Shannon aka Giggly Mama. Not only was I super thankful to receive this piece, I was humbled by the Mama's stitching skills. Just check out that Satin Stitch, holy cow. This lady is AMAZING!!!

When asked about the straight lines running across the design, she explained that it illustrates, "Feeling a little trapped in my mind. *showing my crazy*" I thought it was so fitting that this piece went to me, as that is how I feel a majority of the time. Stitching really does help to keep me sane.

Since she already knows what she's getting from me, I guess it wouldn't be spoiling the surprise if I let you guys in on it. Shannon requested a piece featuring Jesus Quintana. That's right, The Jesus, from The Big Lebowski. (I have a feeling I'm going to be stitching that movie for a long time.) That's fine by me though since it's pretty darned great. I'll have a sneak peek of the progress later in the week.

Thanks for looking, I hope you have a creative day!

A Silly Set of Stitches.

After working on so many time consuming, on-going projects lately, I needed a break from that type of stuff.  I wanted some quick little projects that I could make just for fun.  Nothing too precious, nothing too big... you get the idea.  Not sure what I'm going to do with them but I guess I'll deal with that later.  Besides mounting them on boards, I'm stumped.

A little tribute to the one and only, Leslie Hall.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I freaking love that woman.  For some strange reason, I can't get her song Craft Talk out of my head lately.  Singing it constantly has even lead to Dillon occasionally mumbling, "You can build it however you want."  Poor guy.

The second was inspired by an online conversation about the ability to offend people by simply being who you are.  It basically means that your awesome level is set too high.  ("Awesome Level" being the phrase used by Maggie.  Isn't it great?!)  I realized that my level is set pretty high, and occasionally it goes even higher.  To the "Kill" level.  Not often, but it does happen.

I used a freebie pattern from Urban Threads for the dial and Sublime Stitching's Glow-in-the-dark thread for the numbers.

I'm using this Light Effects Floss in everything lately!  These last projects went a little haywire though, see how the metallic floss bunched up like crazy?  Well, I can't smooth it out for the life of me.  Not even with an iron!  Any ideas?  It's going to drive me nuts if I can't fix it.
 
Thanks for looking!  Have a craftastic day.

The Swap That Really Tied The Room Together. Part 2

My turn!  Now that Sam has her package, I can share my pictures of it with you guys.  The idea behind the swap was a movie surprise.  A scene and a quote from a film, and the recipient had to guess what they were from.  Okay, so mine we're really easy to figure out but I just had to do those ones.

First up- The Dude and his special lady friend, Maude.  From The Big Lebowski.  Isn't it funny that we both picked the same movie for each other?

(Please excuse the massive amount of pictures.  When I was all done, I was rather smitten with it.)

Maude took over a whole skein of copper floss.  That's one shiny lady friend.

I also made a Fight Club embroidery.

 I'm sure that you can finish the rest of this quote.  I don't want to get too risque, ha ha.

So, yeah.  Those were my big, secretive projects that I have been so mysterious about.  

 Thanks for looking!  I'll be back later with more stitchy stuff.

The Swap That Really Tied The Room Together. Part 1

HOLY GUACAMOLE!!!!!  I'm excited, can you tell?  I received my package from Sam for our private embroidery swap.  Of course, she spoiled me.  Check out her awesome piece.

There's painting...and about a gazillion French knots.

And The Jesus even has a real net on his hair.  This pretty much blew my mind.

She even sent me a toe!

I'm such a lucky duck!  Thank you so much, Sam.  You rocked my world.

Thanks for looking.  In Part 2 of this swap, I'll share my pieces with you.  For now it's still a secret.

P.S. Here's a little something to cheer up those of you who weren't lucky enough receive this greatness in your mailbox.  Enjoy. 

Swaptastic!

I'm not sure if I told you guys or not, but I joined Swap-bot.  As a crafty gal and a mail enthusiast, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to join a group of like-minded people.  Check it out, I would be willing to bet there is a swap or two that will catch your eye.

I signed up for my first swap too, an embroidery swap with a fairy tale theme.  And even though send-outs are over two weeks away, I already received my package from the talented Snifferooski in Ohio.

Isn't it darling?  I love the tassels she made by putting the knot on the front.  I'm going to paint a frame to go with it.  Can't wait to show you when it's up on the wall.

It's exciting to get a little something a person with a totally different style than your own.  I never would have interpreted it this way, which is why I love it so much.

Now for my piece, to show or not to show?? 
I'm 99% sure that my partner doesn't read my blog but I'm still torn as to what to do.  I've already decided I will not be showing personal swap stuff on here until after my partner has received it.  (Sorry, Sam.)  But what about Swap-bot stuff, is there a protocol?  Since you don't know who your partner is, does it matter?  What do you think?  Help!

Thanks for looking, I hope that you all have a creative day.  I'm off to be productive...hopefully.