Story of the Stitch: Aunt Bea

Aunt Bea

Once upon a time there was a young bride who wielded a brush and painted cute little signs with silly sayings on them. Sayings like, "If Mama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy".  She would paint all sorts of barnyard animals but far and away her most popular character was a chicken known only to herself as Aunt Bea. Aunt Bea sold many a sign and took an early retirement when a cute little baby showed up on the scene and took the young bride off into the world of motherhood. 

Aunt Bea waited patiently in the background of the brides mind manifesting herself as a real chicken when homeschooling brought real chickens into the backyard. (You can read all about our chicken raising days here.)

The Real Life Aunt Bea

And then one day the real life Aunt Bea became egg bound and went to that big chicken coop in the sky where her wings weren't clipped and she could catch all the worms she wanted without fear of her sister chickens stealing them from her. 

So Aunt Bea returned to the back of the bride's mind. The children grew and needed less direct attention from the bride and she decided to go back to her crafting ways.  (You can read about that here.) It seemed only natural that Aunt Bea would once again make an appearance only this time she would be rendered in thread. And she would have a newer, hip saying..."Fresh". Because if ever there was a hip(ster) chicken it was Aunt Bea. 

Aunt Bea

And in case you wondering where her name came from and thought perhaps of another Aunt Bee from a certain 1960's series....you are right. She is a bit of an homage to Aunt Bee from The Andy Griffith Show. And so was the original painted Aunt Bea. And there were other members of the female cast that showed up in our little backyard flock as well! (Thelma Lou, Helen, Skippy and Daphne (the Fun Girls) and Clara...all chasing worms in chicken heaven now.) 

And that, in a corn kernel, is the story of Aunt Bea.  You can find her in my Etsy shop, LuhuStitches, as a PDF Instant Download and very soon she will be available as a hard copy pattern that will also be available in my Etsy shop. 

Aunt Bea

Story of the Stitch: Modern Love Birds

This is the first in a series of posts called "Story of the Stitch".  In each post I hope to give a little background on what inspired the design and how it goes from being an idea to a finished piece. 

Modern Love Birds by LuhuStitches

I have always loved color. My Mom used to tell the story of one my earliest coloring projects in which I was coloring a birthday cake and put together almost all the colors from my crayon box on the cake and, she says, made it look great.  Of course your mother always likes everything you do but as I grew up I did notice that others would come to me for advice in choosing colors for their own artistic endeavors. My Mom considered it a bit a coup if she could have me along for the choosing of fabrics/colors for any new quilt project.

And my favorite class in design school was color theory.

With that said, the inspiration behind my Modern Love Birds pattern was a very colorful bird tray that I purchased at IKEA.  The birds on it are lovely bright colors that makes one think of a fiesta.  In fact one of my favorite things to serve on it are the toppings for tacos. Yum!

IKEA Bird Tray

I wanted very much to capture the spirit of that tray and somehow translate it into a cross stitch pattern.

I sketched out a lot of ideas before I landed on the idea you now see. In looking back at my idea book I think what helped me get there was the fact that near my sketches of the birds I had sketched some more traditional (as in tole painting traditional) motifs.  The thought occurred that I could maybe marry the two in some way.

Final Love Birds Sketch

The colors were inspired by Valentine's Day.  But I didn't want it to seem too Valentine-y so adding the blues, yellow and green help keep it from being exclusive to any one season. 

When I choose colors I usually begin by coloring my sketches with my Prismacolor pencils (absolutely my favorite!) and then using my DMC Thread Book to help me find just the right shade of thread. This particular pattern uses only DMC thread but my personal selection of "fancy threads" is growing and I'm beginning to draw from them more frequently for new projects.

Close up shot of Love Birds

Choosing color feels very intuitive to me but I know that it is also informed by my color education.  I can at least explain why some colors work together better than others and how their value and hue play a part in that.  (For more on color theory stay tuned for future posts!)

I did not end up stitching this piece as at the time I was working hard on a couple of other projects and was keen to get more than five patterns in my Etsy shop. My sweet Mom, who has since gone to heaven, stitched it for me, which, of course, makes it all the more special to me.  I even recall her saying to me, "Cyndy, I would have never put these colors together but they work."  She may have even told me the coloring book story again.

If you want to stitch up these pretty little Modern Love Birds you can find the pattern for them in my Etsy shop as an Instant Download PDF.  Coming soon-ish will be a hard copy!

Last Minute Valentines

     Per usual I've been a little last minute in getting ready for Valentine's Day.  Fortunately I've embarked on a new artistic endeavor...well I guess it's an endeavor, it might be a rabbit trail, but I hope not.

Hearts & FLowers

     I've been having fun playing with my pastels. It all started when I volunteered to do the decorative, seasonal bulletin board at my younger daughter's school. I really didn't want to do typical bulletin board cut out stuff. And I needed to include a Bible verse which meant buying lots of cut out letters or cutting them out myself.  However, in the process of doing the first bulletin board it dawned on me I could use chalk on the background bulletin board paper! Yay!

Sunflowers and Pumpkins

     And then I remembered my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Schmidt. Every month he would do a colorful drawing on one of the chalk boards in our classroom. I wish I had a picture of one of those chalk boards. They were amazing!

     I did a little research and discovered that they make black bulletin board paper and that it's perfect for using soft or chalk pastels on.  And so I started doing drawings kind of like Mr. Schmidt, my fourth grade teacher.

Flowers & Bumble Bee

     They have been a big hit. I decided to make mini versions this last week to sell at a fund raising auction for my daughter's school. My husband loved them and told me I ought to find a way to sell them. Now I was racking my brain...do I have to figure out how to get this printed and then figure out how to do mailing from Etsy?

     My older daughter saved the day, she told me about a site called Redbubble.  Have you heard of it? I hadn't...frankly I find it difficult to keep up sometimes.  But it's such an amazing site full of original art on everything from cards to t-shirts to coffee cups.

     So before I handed over my chalk pieces for auction I pulled out the tri-pod and camera and found a really good spot in the house to take some photos of my work.  I then downloaded an open software called Gimp (Photoshop isn't in the budget) that helped me do some editing.

Rain Boots & Umbrella

      Long story short, I now have a "shop" at Redbubble for my chalk drawings. There is another site called Zazzle that I hope to also open a "shop" at. Those sites will just carry items with my chalk drawings on them for now.  AND I still have my Etsy shop in which I sell cross stitch patterns. Also I do have plans to convert some of the chalk drawings to cross stitch patterns. So I'm branching out and continuing to refine my style.

     But back to the last minute Valentines!

Bumble Bee Valentine

      So in the process of all of this I forgot, and so did my younger daughter, that she needed some Valentines cards for school this week. Because of course making your own is waaaaaay easier (not) I decided to do six quick little drawings and print out cards for my girl.  The winner is I get to offer them free to you right here!

Love Bug

     I printed them out on card stock and trimmed them with a quarter inch border...they end up being approximately 3"x 3".  Daughter has them all addressed and all we need to do now is get some little candies to tape to them!

So go ahead and click on the link below

 This one right here:
FREE VALENTINE DOWNLOAD

And have some fun letting your friends and family know how much you love them!

And please stop by my shops! 

Artists always appreciate you showing them a little love too!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Inspiration

"Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration."

~Thomas Alva Edison

This is certainly a true statement.  It takes only a split second to be inspired by something, but it can take many hours and many attempts to bring something to fruition. Whether that is the electric light bulb or a simple cross stitch pattern.  

In fact finding the inspiration can in itself cause a lot of perspiration.  I have recently gone through a rather dry spell in which it felt as though literally nothing was inspiring me.  Then one day I was scrolling through my Instagram and came across a picture of the book below.

Colour Confident Stitching - Karen Barbé

I have long been inspired by color.  As a design student in college one of my required classes was entitled Color Design and was a prerequisite to all my other classes.  I have played with and worked with color my whole life.  However, even color confident people can use a refresher course every now and then so when I saw the title I immediately looked it up on Amazon.  There it was!  Of course, owing to the fact it is a published in the UK there was a wait time.  I didn't hesitate though and went ahead and ordered it.  

Last week it finally arrived.  I couldn't wait to open it and dive in.  Well, life has conspired in such a way that I am more or less wading in, but I am impressed.  This is a color theory book of the highest caliber.  From the most basic description of the color wheel to how to create a palette, the explanations are clear and succinct.  And at the end of the book are a few patterns that one can practice their new color expertise on.

This book has definitely inspired me.  

Other things that have been inspiring me are all the beautiful spring wildflowers that are starting to pop up in my little corner of the world.  Yesterday our family took a hike to find and enjoy as many of these beautiful creations of God.  The blues and purples were so rich!

Maiden Blue Eyed Mary - this is my favorite

Lupin - looking spectacular

Shotspur Seablush - en masse most impressive

Common Fiddleneck - the yellow is so rich

Yellow and purple are opposites on the color wheel, beautiful

And my family, who are my biggest inspirations

 Above and below this paragraph are my biggest inspirations.  My family.  The picture above was a rather hilarious attempt at a timer photo on my camera which was somewhat precariously balanced on an outcropping of volcanic rock...which may explain why it is not centered. I am blessed with a wonderful husband, Tom, who encourages me daily, two beautiful daughters, Gladys and Olivia, who keep me young and a little exhausted, and a wonderful son who is out on his own and so gets his own picture.

My son, Isaac

With all this inspiration in the last few days I am happy to say there are ideas bubbling around and spilling out onto graph paper. 

What inspires you?

Stitcher's Block

What happens when a stitcher has the equivalent of "writer's block"?  When no new ideas are coming?

Lots and lots of Pinterest happens. Lots and lots of pinning things that touch the heart and spark the imagination.

Currently I am in love with what I like to call Storybook Illustration and Storybook Cottages.

Illustration by Blanch Fisher Wright

This style of illustration is born out of the late 19th Century Art Nouveau Movement or Arts and Crafts Movement which values natural forms and muted colors.  In writing this I looked for a nice succinct description of this branch of art but came up with wildly varying prose.  None of which really did the art justice.  So I'm just going to add some pictures to give you an idea of what it is I am talking about. 

 

Art Nouveau Style Cottage Illustration - Artist Unknown

What I enjoy about this style of illustration is, to a degree, it's simplicity.  That even though the colors are muted there is a brightness to them.  The illustrations hearken back to a time when life may have been a little simpler.  They are cozy.  

If you follow me on Pinterest you will know that I have been pinning these sorts of illustrations as well as English thatched roof cottages.  Many of these can be found in the Cotswolds, a place I am longing to visit. 

Cute Thatched Cottage - somewhere in England

There was also a trend in home architecture that occurred mostly in the 1920's and 30's called Storybook Architecture.  Many examples of this trend can be found in Carmel, California.  

Carmel, CA Storybook Cottage

The question that arises from all this pinning, of course, is how does this help with the "stitcher's block" that I've been experiencing.  I'm not sure, but at least I am sketching again, dreaming of my own sunny cottage. 

Dreamy Cottage

The Adventures of Luhu Bird

Luhu Bird - Snow Bum

If you are following me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter you have, by now, been introduced to Luhu Bird.  He's just a cute little bird looking for adventure and I am having a lot of fun seeing what he is going to do next!

So far he has been a Snow Bum and today he is going to the beach to be a Beach Bum!

Luhu Bird - Beach Bum

He has his swim ring and his flippers and he can hardly wait to get out there and play in the water.  

My sister asked me where I got the inspiration for me and to be perfectly honest I don't remember.  I just remember that one day about a year and half ago I sat down and drew a picture of him.

Luhu Bird when he first hatched

I knew that I wanted to translate him into a counted cross stitch project but that didn't happen until more recently. 

Luhu Bird becoming a cross stitch pattern

He is a fun and fairly quick little cross stitch pattern to do.  Which, I have to admit, is my favorite kind of pattern to stitch.  And now you can stitch him too!  The pattern for Luhu Bird Snow Bum and Luhu Bird Beach Bum are both available at my Etsy shop.  Just click the links and you'll be there!  

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you have a great stitchy day!!!

Sun, Moon and a Freebie!

Sun and Moon Sampler - Luhu Stitches

                           
At last, I am so happy to be introducing and telling a little of the stories behind the patterns I am offering in my Etsy shop, Luhu Stitches. The first piece is a sampler I designed about 15 years ago. If you would like to know a little of what inspired the design you can read about it here.

I also thought it would be fun to show you a little of the process of designing a pattern, at least for me. The first step is brainstorming and sketching, which I usually do with colored pencils.

It begins with doodling

Many times I find that my sketches don't translate very well to a grid so there is a little redesigning to do on graph paper.  In the old days I would use colors that most closely matched the threads I wanted to use and color in my graph paper accordingly.

Then I do some graphing

I would then label the colors with their corresponding thread codes.  Now 15 years ago this is when the stitching would begin.  Now I do things a little differently, I am not as detailed in the hand graphing and I do the main pattern work on the computer.

Then on it goes to the computer

After I've input my design on the computer I print out the design and stitching begins.

I like to stitch up my designs before making them available online in case the colors don't look like I want them to or a stitch formation needs adjusting.  It has been my experience that things can look great on the computer and not so great when actually committed to fabric and thread.

There were some adjustments that went into this design, but I like the way it finished up and I hope you will too!

And just in case you want to give it test run I have a little freebie for you!

Mini Moon Magnet by Luhu Stitches

Here is a magnet I made using one corner of the sampler.  And you can download the pattern for it HERE!

I added checkered border to the design and lost all the half stitches due to the fact the I used Janlynn Vinyl-Weave and there is just no making half stitches with that. I was worried about making the French Knots but they turned out to be no problem at all.

To make your Mini Moon Magnet you will need the following supplies:

           - Janlynn Vinyl-Weave Fabric, 14 count
           - DMC threads indicated in free PDF download
           - size 22 Tapestry needle
           - scissors
           - 1/2 inch wide strip magnet (can be purchased at any craft store)
           - glue gun and glue stick

After you have finished stitching your moon motif trim off any excess fabric. If you look at my example in the above picture you will see that I left a "one stitch" border.  The great thing about the vinyl-weave is that it doesn't fray.

Warm up your glue gun.

Now turn your moon over and from your magnet strip cut two one-inch sections of magnet.  (If the strip is self adhesive you can try getting it to stick with that, however in my experience the adhesive does not work well with thread and other textiles.)  Peel off any paper that may be on the magnet and apply some of your hot glue to the magnet and place on the back of your moon motif as pictured.

 Let cool, turnover and now you have a cute little magnet for your fridge or magnet board or wherever you choose to use it!  If you have any questions please comment below.

A happy moon!

I hope you enjoy your Mini Moon Magnet and I hope you will be by to visit me at my Etsy shop, Luhu Stitches!

Thanks for stopping by!!!