New Year, New Beginnings – Blue Collar Red Lipstick

I at first wrote this article just before my impromptu sabbatical, and the title was less on-the-nose at the time. But, what the hell, let us go with it! There have been plenty of beginnings this yr. The major news — on the creative front, primarily — has been the fact that I wrote a e book. Very well, to be exact, I wrote some thing I hoped, just one working day, could come to be a ebook that other folks could browse. It was an unbelievably consuming but also fulfilling venture … till I ran into a whole-on disaster of faith, not just in excess of the top quality and merit of my writing, but of my suggestions. I want to be clear listed here: I consider I’m fairly intelligent, and I assume my thoughts are very fantastic. But not just about every very good idea is so unique or so exciting or so worthwhile that it Requires to be portion of a public discourse. Possessing to make a final decision about what to do with my writing — go after the guide route, or hold it individual — compelled me to confront the dilemma: what do I carry to the general public discourse, and does it need to have to be there? And, honestly? I don’t know.

I wasn’t heading to begin producing the website yet again until I had the response sorted out in my personal brain, because what’s the position of carrying out a little something in weblog-kind if it’s not worthy of performing in book-type. I have not acquired the reply yet, but in this article I am. I just skipped writing … which signifies, I guess, that as a great deal as I’ve often felt that producing (in contrast to my other resourceful stores) demands an audience, it’s some thing I also do for myself. I’m figuring out what that indicates when it arrives to this blog, but in the meantime, I’m back again. Additional or significantly less.

But, for now, let us converse about other inventive enterprise.

At the beginning of the year, crafting took up most of my cost-free time, so I did little embroidery for a handful of months far more a short while ago, my tempo has picked up all over again. Later on this month, I will even be performing a compact art industry! It will be a awesome small diversion, while my focus lately isn’t actually on offering, but alternatively earning parts that sense joyous to perform on. Plenty of color, of course. Plenty of bouquets. A little bit of whimsy.

In this article is what I have been performing on in 2024:

I did a bird of paradise hoop a pair of yrs ago, and required to revisit the topic as part of a recent floral nonetheless-daily life series I’m establishing. I appreciate how this just one turned out!

Speaking of that series, in this article is a further a single that includes just one of my favorite bouquets to embroider — pansies. A pal ended up finding this hoop, and I somewhat miss it, so I may well do a unique version quickly for myself. Actually, I could embroider pansies all the time — they are so vibrant and exciting.

This hoop was encouraged by a quilt I thrifted a whilst back again. Hollyhocks remind me so much of my childhood, it was charming to bring this design to existence. I commonly work with a broader color palette, so this was an work out in restraint for me.

My greatest mate has been asking me for a black cat hoop for A long time, and I ultimately created it! I actually had the style and design ready for far more than a year, but in some way it under no circumstances felt like the proper time to embroider it … right up until now. It is encouraged by a Klimt painting, of course.

This is another design and style I’d drawn a even though again and determined it was time to carry it to lifestyle, as I preferred a little something compact and (comparatively) swift to complete in between marathon crafting periods back in February. I enjoy this far more real looking take on a pansy as a lot as the enjoyment, pop-artwork-y kinds. It does consider a lot a lot more time, nevertheless, haha!

You realized it was only a make any difference of time just before I went back again to yet another favourite flower for my however everyday living collection. Sure, irises motivated by Van Gogh. I took a chance with the darkish qualifications, but I believe that paid out off once I added the white outlining. This hoop was a keeper for my individual selection (for the time becoming in any case).

My daughter is obsessed with frogs at the minute, and I alternatively appreciated creating a frog prince final calendar year, so I went back to the drawing board and drew up a queen. As always with these mixed media “portraits”, the clothes and gildings took the longest to make — owning no sewing abilities to start off with, producing these 2D outfits is a true obstacle for me. But I enjoy how it turned out … and so did my daughter. And I appreciate that for us 🙂