Crafty Ladies: Meet Aimee Ray

This week's Crafty Lady is Aimee Ray whose new book "Doodle Stitching: The Holiday Motif Collection" I was thrilled to be a part of! 

Aimee sells her work in her shop, Little Dear, and blogs about her creative projects and inspirations at Little Dear Tracks. Whether she's designing felt tutorials & embroidery patterns, making things from clay or customising dolls Aimee's creations are always completely adorable and quite magical. 

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Hi! I’m Aimee, I’m the author of the “Doodle Stitching” series of hand embroidery books. I also sell my original craft and embroidery pattern PDFs and hand made goodies in my Etsy shop, and I do freelance illustration and design. I love to experiment and I’m interested in all things creative. If it’s artsy or crafty, chances are I’ve dabbled in it at some point.

I am lucky enough to be a full time crafter/artist, that is, when I’m not chasing around my almost-3 year old son. I live in NW Arkansas with him and my husband, Josh. We are a houseful of creative people, not to mention toy collectors, so it makes for an interesting environment to live and work in.

 

Recently I’ve been making… 

Things with acorns! Autumn is my favorite time of year and this year we live in a house with two huge oak trees, so our yard is full of fallen acorns. I’ve been harvesting and using them in my craft projects. Every year I make NŌMs with acorn hats (NŌMs are OOAK tiny clay gnome figures sold exclusively in my etsy shop, I’ve made well over 1000 now.)

I’ve also incorporated acorn caps into some felt jewelry embellished with embroidery and needle felting.

  

 

 

Another ongoing project I’ve been doing is the Free Art Project, something I conceived of as a way to send art and love out into the world. You can visit my website or blog to read more about it and request an original piece of art to be mailed to your door.

I’ve been working on…

My newest embroidery book, The Holiday Motif Collection, has just been released! (Thanks Laura, for your awesome projects!) I’m so excited to see it out in the world. It’s full of 100’s of embroidery motifs for holidays throughout the year, with a big emphasis on Christmas, plus lots of fun projects to sew. I’ve also just finished working on an iron-on transfer book containing a selection of embroidery patterns from all of my previous books. That one will be out next Spring.

Now I am gearing up to make Christmas presents and Christmas ornament NŌMs. It’s a very crafty time of year.

 

I’ve been blogging about…

Besides giving a sneak peek into my new book and doing giveaways, I’ve posted recently about my latest embroidery pattern, stitch details and a new color palette and every Friday I post an inspiration mosaic of awesome images I’ve collected online or been inspired by.

I’ve been reading…

I’m not an avid blog reader, but I’m rather addicted to Pinterest. I’m always so inspired by the craft projects I find on there, not to mention recipes I wish I had the time and energy to make.

I’ve been interested lately in weaving, gypsy flags and dreamcatchers. Just do a Pinterest search and you’ll find tons of amazing DIY inspiration for any of these! I’m storing them up for someday when I have time to play.

My favorite craft book I’ve seen this year has to be Craft-a-Doodle by Jenny Doh. (I’ve got a little project in there as well!) It is so much fun and full of inspiration, definitely one I will pick up again and again. It is great for any age, I would have absolutely LOVED it as a kid as well.

I’ve also read I Just Like To Make Things by Lilla Rogers, and also took her Make Art That Sells e-course earlier this year. It was incredibly inspiring and motivating, I highly recommend it to any artist who is ready to take the next step in developing their work.

While I craft, I’ve been watching…

I don’t watch a whole lot, but Doctor Who (new and old), Mystery Science Theatre 3000, and vintage Sesame Street episodes get aired quite a bit at our house. Lately we’re tapping into old horror movies after the little guy is in bed (we love the old Draculas with Christopher Lee!)

I listen to music more often while I work, I love The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Air and Stan Getz to name a few. Radio Paradise or iTunes radio stations are frequently in rotation. My husband and I have very eclectic tastes in music and setting our huge music collection on shuffle always brings up random surprises.

 

Aimee’s 3 Top Tips for a Life You Love

1. Find something you love to do.

2. Do it every day.

3. Keep doing it and learning and sharing it as much as possible. When you love what you do, it shines through and others will want more and more of it!

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You'll find Aimee's embroidery patterns, NŌMs and other creations over in her shop along with signed copies of her new book. You can keep up with what she's making by visiting her blog or following her on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

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Please note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links.