New in my shop: Wren Embroidery Pattern

There's a new embroidery pattern for sale in my shops!

The pattern is called "Little Things" and features a wren (a small, sweet bird) and the motto "unto little things is a certain grace annexed". The motto is from a 16th Century book of proverbs (I've slightly modernised the spelling!) and is basically a fancy way of saying "small is beautiful".

I originally designed this pattern for &Stitches Ezine (published this spring) - I was so pleased with how this little bird turned out, I'm really glad to now be able to offer it as a printable PDF in my shops.

The PDF includes a list of the DMC embroidery thread colours I used to stitch my wren and a couple of different versions of the pattern - just the wren on its own (without the ribbon) and a version without any text so you can make the bird say whatever you fancy.

Like all the PDF patterns for sale in my shops, you can use it to make handmade items for sale at craft fairs or in your Etsy/Folksy/etc shop.

The wren pattern is available from my Etsy shop as an instant download.

New Projects & PDFs in Progress

It's been a busy few days here... After blogging last week about how great my Nice Days Out have been and how I totally need to stick with them I got a bit of last minute work with a short deadline and stayed at home to work on that project instead. Tsk tsk. I'm determined to make up the "missed" day this week though with two days out instead of one, fingers crossed that goes to plan!

I've been also been working on some tutorials that'll be popping up here on my blog later this autumn/winter. I can't show you what I've been making this week, but here are some of the colourful threads and scraps from my "in progress" pile:

The weather has been so grey over the past few days, it's been great to have so much colour happening in my studio.

Oh, and I'm working on some PDF patterns which will be coming to my shop sometime soon - starting with this wren embroidery pattern which was originally published in &Stitches ezine earlier this year.

There are some Christmas-themed patterns in the works, too :)

Wren Embroidery Pattern for &Stitches Zine

Ugh, I have been ill with a horrid cold/flu thing this week so things have been a bit quiet round here... but I'm feeling much better now (hurrah!) and have some nice news to share with you guys...

... I'm the featured designer in the new issue of &Stitches Zine! Yay!

In case you've not heard of it, &Stitches is a quarterly e-zine about embroidery and other hand stitching. I was thrilled to be asked to contribute to their Woodland-themed issue. They've interviewed me about my work....

... and I've designed an embroidery pattern for the zine: a sweet little wren. Regular readers might remember me choosing new threads and doing some research involving bird books at the end of last year... well, this is what I was working on :)

Issue 5 also includes interviews with Abby Glassenberg, Mother Eagle and Trish Burr, plus several woodland themed projects: embroidery patterns, an appliqué pattern, woodland-inspired stitch combinations and an "owl girl" softie.

You can find this issue in the &Stitches shop HERE... and you can get 10% off Issue 5 with the discount code TEALOVER until Feb. 3rd. Hurrah!

UPDATE: My wren embroidery pattern is now available directly from my shop! Visit my shop to see all my printable PDF patterns

A Celebratory Shopping Spree

Most of the money I've earned from writing Super Cute Felting will be spent on sensible/boring things like paying rent and bills and taxes (I'm doing my accounts this week: ugh!) ... but I wanted to spend it on something special, too.

I always have a long wish list of prints from artists and illustrators I've discovered on Etsy or elsewhere online, so I decided to treat myself to some art:

A fox and a wren from KateFete.


Kate's work is so charming, if you're a bird fan you must check out her lovely brooches.

Seed and Sow from Swallowfield. Just gorgeous.


And three birdie prints from Geninne.
I bought some of Geninne's birds a few years ago, they're on display in our kitchen, I love them and they're always much admired by visitors.

As well as enjoying these prints for their own awesomeness I'll always connect them with that lovely happy "finished book" feeling. I can't wait for them to arrive!

Have you bought any art / discovered any artists on Etsy lately?