Hand embroidered accessories by Galaborn

I'm sure many of us own one or two hand embroidered pillows or wall decorations inherited from our grand mothers. Often times hand embroidery brings memories of the past and something old fashioned. However, nowadays hand embroidery got a new twist. A few very talented and creative artists made hand embroidery fashionable again. One of them is Gala of Galaborn who lives in São Paulo, Brazil.



Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm originally from Russia. Some time ago I moved to Brazil with my husband and that changed my life completely. I feel like I belong to the whole world now and can pretty much live in any place. I started my on-line shop a few years ago. Having an on-line shop gives me a lot of flexibility. I can plan my own day and yet I'm able to do something I really love.



How did you start?

I started with making gifts for my friends and family. People I know really loved my items and started ordering not only small hand embroidered accessories but home decoration pieces as well. The word spread around and before I knew it I was hand embroidering items for my clients. The time has come to open my own shop. I believe that each piece should not only be beautiful but unique. It has to have its own character and style. I've graduated from an art and design school in Russia and my training helps me a lot.



What inspires you?

Folk ornaments and crafts inspire me a lot. Sometimes my friends come up with a new idea and share it with me. I very much love what I do and this positive attitude somehow makes me very creative and productive. I know that eventually every piece will find its owner and will be mailed to a place far away.



I really like to work with natural fabrics and yarns like cotton and linen. They are so great to work with. They basically radiate positive energy and are a real thing. Most of my embroidery is done on thick cotton by cotton threads. I try to use only natural and eco friendly supplies. My buttons are made of wood or coconut shell. They have unique designs and shapes as I pay a lot of attention to details. I very much believe in handmade and in every item being totally unique and special.

Greeting cards embroidered and cross stitched by AleksandraRoo

As the holiday season is approaching we will be looking for greeting cards for our friends and family members. There are great artists out there who hand embroider and cross stitch greeting cards turning them into art objects. One of the amazing greeting cards' artist is Aleksandra of AleksandraRoo.



Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Originally I am from Russia, but today I live in a beautiful American city Pittsburgh (go Steelers!) with my husband Buzz and our precious Maltese Chewy. Me and my husband met 4 years ago and since then I couldn’t imagine my life without him – I had to travel half way around the world to find my best friend and my love. I am an Early Education teacher by day (I convert terrible twos into little individuals), and a craftoholic by night.



How did you start?
There was a time when I had 24 hours a day to myself. I wasn’t able to work nor go to school at that time, so I decided I will teach myself graphic software, something that I was – and still am – so passionate about (my dream was to make 2D animation films). I learned Photoshop and Illustrator, and was fascinated by what you can do with colors. I think my love for crafts started just then. I found myself crocheting, making wire jewelry, quilling, scrapbooking, cross stitching, sewing (you name it, I’ve done it). I think I’ve found a creative volcano inside me that was waiting to erupt. I couldn’t decide on what to focus my attention, so I kept on going. 4 years later I find that the best creations I make are the ones that combine two different crafts in one finished product.



What are your main sources of inspiration?
Minimalism has been my very early inspiration (thanks to my older brother Vladimir). I love being able to send a strong message by using only few (yet enough) elements in my cards. I often like to use a single element and let one’s imagination do the rest. Being an Early Education teacher I know how important it is not to give away all the secrets at once and let children figure out the rest – something that a grown up definitely can benefit from, as well.
My two year old friends are my great source of inspiration also: genuine, honest, and joyful. I can not create anything but greeting cards filled with happiness.

Along with my minimalistic nature, I am an extreme perfectionist. I constantly try to have my finished products looking polished, clean, and simply perfect. If something doesn’t look right, I start from the beginning. I am very harsh on myself when it comes down to my crafting (and everything else, really). But I know one thing - it all worth the time.

Giveaway Tree of Life felted wool brooch

I'm hosting my new Autumn giveaway. One lucky giveaway participant selected by a random number generator will win my Tree of Life felted wool brooch. I hand felted this brooch of white wool and hand embroidered it with my own design. I used cotton brown thread and glass beads to decorate the brooch. To read more about the brooch please go to my CityCrochet shop.



The giveaway ends on Friday, October 26th. The winner will be announced on Monday, October 29th.

To enter: Please visit my CityCrochet shop and leave a comment below about any item(s) you really like. Don't forget to leave your contact information (e-mail address, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest) so I can contact you in case you win. Your info will NEVER be used for any other purposes!!!

Extra entries: Please leave one separate comment for each extra entry following the instructions below.

Open to US and Canada only. Winner will be chosen by online random generator. Winner will be notified by Monday, October 29th and will have 3 days to reply or another winner will be chosen.

Thank you and Good luck!:)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Colorful hand made bird brooches by Moloco

From time to time I come across amazing artists who make unique and special hand made items. This time bright and colorful birds of different shapes and sizes caught my eye. They are so happy and positive that it's impossible to ignore them. Colorful birdies turned out to be felted brooches created by a talented artist Marina of Moloco.



Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Marina and I'm from Kiev, Ukraine. I work as an architect and designer but my true passion is hand making. I sew and stitch in my spare time creating different accessories out of natural fibers. To decorate I add embroidery of my own design.



I've been creating my little birds for some time now and have accumulated many birds of different designs and colors. At some point I've decided I have to share all my little birdies with the world and opened my own on-line shop. My birds are for people who love and appreciate unique handmade things just as I appreciate handmade creations by so many talented artists around me.



Many items that surround us in our everyday life inspire me. I find my inspiration in architecture, landscapes, beautiful interiors and traditional embroidery.
My favorite fibers are felt, wood and cotton. Natural fibers are the best to work with. They are so pleasant to touch and beautiful to look at!

DIY How to recycle wool scraps

I felt a lot of scarves, bags, brooches and, thus, I have a huge bag of wool scraps. The bag sits on my shelf. It's not heavy but takes a lot of my space! To somehow use all these bright and cool scraps I came up with an idea to turn them into felted wool brooches. Scraps will serve as an organic filler to make my brooches nice and puffy.



I have many scraps of different colors as I felt scarves in different techniques using different types of felting wool. Wool scraps are very nice to touch and they are totally eco friendly. I first decided to separate them into small piles by their color.



To make a wool felted brooch I cover a handful of wool scraps with felting wool and felt it in soapy warm water. As a result I get a base for my brooch that pretty much looks like a white pebble stone.



Once the brooch base is ready, I let it dry. Now it's time to turn it into something unique and beautiful. I embroidered a tree of life design adding small glass beads in blue, red and green. It's a great opportunity to use your imagination and come up with something totally different and special!

Embroidery and stitching on unconventional materials by STEDI

So many wonderful artists work in traditional techniques of embroidery and stitching. Some of the best items were inspired by folk ornaments and designs, others by pieces by great artists of the past and present. Yet it's not often we come across an artist who creates her embroidery and stitches on unconventional materials like wall racks, shelf key holders, bed headboards. I've recently got to know Lena of STEDI who does just that.



Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born and raised in Russia. For the past 13 years I've been living in Utrecht, Netherlands. I'm a fashion designer by training and spent many years working for different fashion labels. These days fashion design is all about computers and I love being able to actually make things with my hands. As a designer I like to combine different styles, fibers and objects. I like to try out new ways of decorating every day objects we are so used to.
Traditionally embroidery is applied on different fabrics. However, if one has necessary tools he or she can embroider pretty much anything.



How did you start?

We started adding embroidery to simple items everyone has in his or her household. When I add embroidery to coat-hangers, small shelves, racks they turn into different objects with their own style. Such objects radiate new energy and add style and coziness to every home.
Our first ever embroidered item was our bed. My husband came up with a design and I embroidered its headboard. The idea was to create a country style bed with embroidery made of raw wool threads of different colors. Although the original ornament was pretty simple, the bed turned out to be a great addition to our bedroom. Since then we worked on numerous objects using different stitching and embroidery techniques.



What are you sources of inspiration?

My family helps me a lot in creating my embroidered objects. My husband who has some technical background helps me with his knowledge of different types of materials and textures. My children inspire me to create my designs. The name STEDI is actually a combination of my children's names: Stefan and Diana.
I get a lot of inspiration from just looking at old embroidery patterns.



What are your plans for the future?

I constantly come up with new ideas. Small embroidery holes I make to let thread through gave me an idea of a new design. I enlarged those holes and started wrapping them in bright threads. Such bright holes look very contemporary and stylish. I'm currently making a few items embroidered in that way.
I plan on developing my metal embroidery techniques. The combination of metals and fiber threads looks very unique and fresh. This process is extremely difficult and time consuming but the result is always fantastic!
I try to recycle and upcycle as much of my materials as possible. There is no need to by new wood panels when one can always use pieces of old furniture or scraps from large furniture producing companies.



While hand making my unique embroidered pieces I get very happy and inspired. I believe that my clients get much of that happiness and inspiration from my objects incorporating them in their everyday life.

Hand embroidered jewelry by Skrynka

Many countries have deeply routed traditions of folk music, art and dance. It's amazing to look into how people used to live centuries ago and how they tried to make their lives bright and beautiful by decorating their homes with traditional ornaments. I find Eastern European folk art quite unique and inspiring. I've recently come across a fantastic artist Natalka of Skrynka who creates distinctive and beautiful hand embroidered and cross stitched jewelry and home decor pieces.



Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Natalka. I live in Ukraine. I've been sewing, knitting and hand making items since I was a child. However, embroidery is my main passion. I may occasionally fall in love with a different technique or fiber but I always come back to my main obsession which is embroidery and cross stitching.

I'm a mom of a 2 years old and try to share time between my family and my business of making folk inspired jewelry. I dream about developing my business into something feasible one day. I would love to travel, see the world together with my family or even move to a place next to the sea. It's all in the plans for now. I hope one day I'll be able to combine my dreams and aspirations with my business and family life.



How did you start?

I started embroidering and cross stitching when I was a small child. I used to embroider large images but my true passion was always unique Ukrainian folk ornaments and patterns. I dreamed about combining folk embroidery with contemporary art and craft.
Soon after I had my son I decided it's time to turn my hobby into a business. I started making cross stitched jewelry and home decor items. Most importantly people like what I create. It's such a great pleasure to make items that actually inspire other people and make them happy.



What are your main sources of inspiration?

My main source of inspiration is traditional Ukrainian ornaments and patterns. I collect pictures of old traditional folk dresses such as blouses, skirts, festive towels, etc. I often visit our local museum of ornamental and folk art. I also collect books about old and traditional home decorations, designs and Ukrainian medieval clothes.

Each region has its own distinctive patterns and colors. I've noticed that nations living on different continents sometimes have somewhat similar ornaments and patterns. I keep finding similarities between Ukrainian folk embroidery and embroidery of native Americans and Mexicans.



What fibers do you work with?

I mostly work with natural and eco friendly fibers. I prefer to work with linen fabrics, wool felt and rarely with eco-friendly manufactured felt. To create my jewelry pieces I use lead-free and nickel-free jewelry making supplies. I take it seriously and have an equipment set up at home to check levels of different metals in my supplies. It's always better to double-check suppliers and make sure items I use for jewelry making are lead and nickel free. I myself have very sensitive ears and, thus, always use only non-sensitizing ear hooks for my earrings.



Our planet is suffering from over development and over use. I believe that we should all be concerned about the future of our planet. Even small improvements we could do to make our life more eco-friendly will benefit our planet and us as a result. I strongly believe that by buying hand made items people not only get high quality and unique things made with love but help individual artists and their families to keep their creative process alife. It makes a big difference for everyone!

Marionettes art felted dolls by TwoSadDonkeys

I love felting as there are so many amazing things one can make out of simple wool. Art dolls and toys always fascinated me. They look so precious and sophisticated. It’s hard to comprehend how someone could possibly turn a piece of wool into something so unique, delicate and beautiful. I had a chance to talk to Olga who is an artist behind TwoSadDonkeys.



Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Olga. Since I remember myself I’ve always been fascinated by marionette dolls. It comes as no surprise that my life these days is closely connected with theater and art. I was born and raised in small and beautiful Estonia on the shores of the northern Baltic sea. I graduated from the Textile Academy in Moscow, Russia with a degree in art and design. These days I live with my husband and our three boys in sunny Georgia located in Caucuses mountains on the shores of the Black sea. I work in a puppet theater as a stage and puppets designer.



How did you start?
Felting has been known to the people of the Caucuses mountains for centuries. Ancient Georgians used to wear felted coats as part of their standard outfits. When I moved to my husband’s native country Georgia I fell in love with felting. It’s a miracle how mixing a bit of wool, hot water and soap one can create firm and durable fabric.

I started felting art dolls and marionettes for our theater. It was great watching children gather around my art dolls after every theater performance. Children are always eager to touch art dolls, to play with them and to make them a part of their imaginary world.

I should admit that art dolls we use for our performances in the theater are fragile and are more like art objects rather than toys. That’s how I came up with an idea of creating felted toys for children that are somewhat easier to play with and are more durable.

My first creation was a white dapple Horsy. It’s so rewarding to watch children play with felted toys. One can see children exploring mysterious lands of fairy tales together with their felted companions.



What inspires you?
My main sources of inspiration are children, nature and art. Children’s drawings are masterpieces that help me come up with new ideas for my projects. Drawings are so simple, kind and unaffected by any outside influence. I try my felted toys to be exactly like children’s drawings.

Rock carvings by prehistoric people are another source of inspiration for me. Their neat forms and unusual color combinations provoke many thoughts and help me come up with new patterns and colors for my felted toys.
Of course beautiful nature offers a lot in terms of design ideas and creativity.



What fibers do you use for your toys?
My first toys had simple color combinations reminiscent of nature and animals. Later I started experimenting with different colors adding hues that normally don’t exist in nature. Thus, my animals look like fairy creatures of vivid and bright colors with sophisticated prints and decorations on their bodies. Each color brings a new attitude and makes people dream about different things. Some creatures made of pastel colored fibers look somewhat melancholic. Others made of brightly colored wool look happy and positive.

I incorporate nuno felting techniques and embroidery into my doll making process to add texture and to make my toys visually more complex.

I use only natural fibers like wool and silk. All my toys are stuffed with 100% wool. Wool adds natural warmth to my toys and that’s another reason why children as well as grown ups love to hold them in their hands.

Originally my felted toys were designed for children. It turns out, however, that grown-ups are avid and true admirers of my art.