sandySTC @ blogger

Memorial Day

2012-05-28T08:29:00.002-04:00

cosmic mint

2012-05-27T22:34:00.000-04:00

I received this floss and fabric as a freebie from my most recent order at JacksonFabricArts (thanks!). don't you think the fabric has a cosmic 'feel' to it? And the floss, it's just so cool and minty. Soooooooo, as you know, I've been learning to embroider. All stitches are new to me. This is a cretan stitch and it's great for leaves. Now, this isn't great embroidery, but I'm practicing and this fabric and floss were perfect together.

turquoise, ruffles and fringe

2012-05-14T10:27:00.000-04:00

fabric from fabrics-store.com

ruffled!

2012-05-08T20:18:00.000-04:00

This is for my mother on her birthday. I love the big ruffle and she'll be happy with the earthy browns.

I left a fringe. I have fringes on my bath towels and love them, so why not on a tea towel?

strawberry lavender sachet

2012-05-08T12:17:00.000-04:00

This was a great way to use up quite a bit of my small linen scraps. I'm giving these as a part of birthday and Mother's Day gifts. Lavender is always welcome by my friends and family. :)

I added a few french knots to some of them. I guess I just ran out of steam after a while.

soap just for fun

2012-05-04T11:19:00.000-04:00

I used to make soap professionally, but realized I was made for bigger and better things! (just kidding)

Now it's just when we need/want more soap or for requests by friends/family, just because I can or if I have a fantastic idea.

I am enjoying the lack of consistency. I can do what I want when I want. My lavender soap doesn't have to look the same from batch to batch. For example, this time it's a very dark gray with a marbling of pale gray.

The various scents for this session were Lavender, Rosemary Lemongrass, Basil Citrus, Ginger Bergamot, Ambrosia, Tea Tree Eucalyptus and Peppermint Ice. This is my standard 41% olive oil recipe. My personal belief is that without olive oil, it's just another old bar of soap. :) Of course, your mileage may vary. This is a sudsy soap with a rich cream lather as opposed to big fluffy bubbles (which are lovely, too). Olive oil provides a nice 'slip', so it's great for shaving. 100% olive oil soap can be slimy, but the addition of the palm kernel and coconut oils give a harder, sudsier soap with no slimy feel.

I use botanical colorants. They are more fun to use. There are often surprises and they do oxidize over time. A lovely pale green olive leaf colorant will eventually fade to a soft beige. I like that. Change is something I embrace. I also use clay colorants, these do not fade and they give such a great substantial feel to the lather.

wow, i don't blog for a while and now i can't stop typing

#StopCISPA

2012-04-20T14:01:00.001-04:00

Please take the time to listen!

pressed flowers pattern

2012-03-28T19:17:00.001-04:00

Moving along with the pressed flower embroidery. I'm still surprised at how much I am enjoying this.

inspiration: do androids dream of electric sheep

2012-03-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

I want to learn to embroider. It's got or requires everything I love: linen, texture, silk (not yet, but someday), satin, big learning curve, color, subtlety and dexterity.

This particular piece was for me to learn to be more consistent with french knots.

I used variegated perle (or pearl) cotton.

edit to add novel by Philp K Dick

the Easter basket buns and chicks

2012-03-17T18:28:00.000-04:00

are ready to go. I wasn't very good at this! I'm glad it's not something I love to do or I would be so disappointed in my progress. :)

from The Floss Box: Pinterest people -- Be careful!

2012-03-16T08:04:00.001-04:00

I decided to delete my Pinterest account, too. Who needs little worries floating around in one's head? :)

The Floss Box: Pinterest people -- Be careful!: I haven't decided to post my original entry I made regarding Pinterest, I was very worried to sound a bit heavy-handed. But frankly, I have ...

fun little cross stitch

2012-03-05T10:45:00.003-05:00

I think I want to make some more of these and put them on the front of handbound journals.

this is from something i read somewhere on the web

potato cross stitch

2012-02-26T14:28:00.000-05:00

for my niece

ArtXchange Project

2012-02-24T09:13:00.000-05:00

This is for the ArtXchange project. I sent it off today. Let's hope the recipient likes it - or at least doesn't hate it? :)

This was a freehand design (by me, can't you tell?). I also chose the thread and stitched freehand without a pattern. I'd never used variegated thread before, so now I know I should have used narrow columns. The colors wouldn't have been so stripe that way.

dummy who is spamming my blog

2012-02-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

I can delete your posts faster than you can post them. :)

finished!

2012-02-16T17:20:00.000-05:00

This is my second kit and it was above my skill level. I didn't know how to even do a back stitch when I started this. The outline stitching is terrible, period. But I learned a lot.

I made one change, the world 'chianti' was supposed to be 'chablis'. But that's not a chablis bottle.

mediterranean cross stitch pattern

2012-02-10T06:54:00.000-05:00

It's moving along now. I just have the border and a little shading to do.

subversive cross stitch

2012-02-04T20:26:00.000-05:00

I love it. It's fun and it's real. It's what I thought of as a 'lady's' pursuit that has been taken over by real women. I'm only on my second cross stitch project, but I plan to make something subversive very soon!

Here are some examples:

radical cross stitch

progress

2012-01-31T20:42:00.001-05:00

progress

Lemon upside down cake

2012-01-28T22:39:00.001-05:00

lemon upside down cake
recipe

basil

2012-01-20T11:12:00.003-05:00

for a winter windowsill garden

black-out

2012-01-18T08:07:00.001-05:00

Tell Congress: Don’t censor the Web

barolo - this was the first racking

2012-01-17T17:42:00.001-05:00

barolo - this was the first racking, a photo by sandySTC on Flickr.

my first cross stitch (or any stitch for that matter)

2012-01-14T08:42:00.000-05:00

I used burlap. Everyone is telling me about Aida cloth, so I'll try that next time. :)

botanical dye tea towel revamp

2012-01-06T16:45:00.000-05:00

This is a washed out natural color linen tea towel. It was one of several dingy looking towels that have been used for a year or two in the kitchen.
They are fine for use, but didn't look so good.

Before

Botanical dyed tea towels now have new life. :)

I feel like I have new tea towels.

From top to bottom:
alkanet - didn't expect that color, it's more purple in soap
indigo (2) - much lighter than I expected, but that's because i deviated from the directions
henna - i thought henna was auburn, but i do like this color
red sandalwood - this was a wonderful surprise
tea (2) - very subtle
turmeric (3) the bottom two were taken out allowed to dry and then put back in the dye bath - is this one great or what?

After