• Hello and Welcome! I’m Ella and I’m something of an artistic, creative, curious and fanciful spirit. I love vintage doodads, cuddly animals, pink squirrels, embroidery, soft sculpture, stuffies, books, words, history, tacky tourist sites and a ton of other random, quirky things that make up my world.

  • Contact me at lawhimsy(at)gmail(dot)com or go here and use the form.

  • Whimsical Babble

  • LINKwithlove

    Read the Printed Word!

All posts tagged embroidery

Leprechaun Embroidery

My LeprecaunSt. Patrick’s Day has a very special meaning to me because not only is it just a happy-go-lucky holiday, it’s my birthday! Leprechauns and Faerie Folk have been huge influences in my life and I decided that in light of of this I would stitch-up this mischievous retro leprechaun that I shared with you all last year on St. Patrick’s Day. He’s a sketch I made from this great vintage graphic that a friend sent my way many a year ago now.

LaWhimsyLeprechaun3

This is my drawing hanging out on my inspiration board this year.

As you can tell, I altered him up a bit just because I love to play around with photo-editing sometimes, plus I think he looks rather dashing all green. To the point, Here is my embroidered version…

LaWhimsyLeprechaun4

This is him done with a back-stitch outline. I could’ve stopped here, but since I didn’t color-tint him like I did my narwhal, I decided to go ahead and fill him in with satin-stitch and then I added the word Sláinte (it’s Irish for Health) just because it felt oh, so right to.

LaWhimsyLeprechaun1

Here’s the completed piece (which is about 7inches by 7inches measuring the whole piece of fabric)

LaWhimsyLeprechaun6

Here’s a detail shot of his face (and slightly wonky hand, lol)

LaWhimsyLeprechaun7

And here’s a fun, different angle shot to show some more of the stitching detail.

That was a ton of satin-stitch and I did most of it with an injured hand (which I blame time-change for, btw, since I have never once ever hit my hand on the bookshelf before Monday morning). Luckily it was my left, so the majority of the time it was my right hand doing the work, but still. I do think it will be awhile before I tackle that much satin-stitch for a single project. The letters of Sláinte were done with stem-stitch and that’s my free-style handwriting.

So there you have it – one very happy LaWhimsy Leprechaun who want’s to wish you and your’s good health and good cheer each and every day of the year!

LaWhimsyLeprechaun5

Namaste ~ Ella

2 Comments
by lawhimsy on March 14, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, embroidery
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on March 14, 2013

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/leprechaun-embroidery/

A Morning’s Work

Lovely Lady by Władysław Teodor “W.T.” Benda

It’s a wonderful Monday, the start of a fresh new week filled with all sorts of goodness just waiting to happen and I, after finally getting that proverbial monkey off my back by declaring my opting out of the stitch-a-long, felt a rush of inspiration and set my needle and thread straight to work…

A Morning's Work 1

Here we have the results of a semi free-hand face. I sketched a pencil version in my sketchbook and then went all artsy by just sort of winging it with my fine point Mark-B-Gone pen (not my favorite to actually get out of fabric, but it was all I had on hand) and going from there. Then I stitched him up, stuffed him and made a pom-pom mane…

A Morning's Work 2

Too cute, right?! The darling fits right in the palm of my hand and is charming. I think his name is Chesterfield, after crazy uncle, of course. Chesterfield is missing ears here and I knew just how to fix it…with some needle-felting!

A Morning's Work 3

Ta-da! I used the reverse side of the two pieces I needle-felted together so that the ears were fluffy and the I whip-stitched them on and fluffed the mane a bit. I absolutely adore the outcome and now I’m think that perhaps Chesterfield may want a body, though right now He’s content being a cute little head.

That’s quite a morning’s work and I’m feeling very accomplished and content too! Happy Monday!

Namaste ~ Ella

1 Comment
by lawhimsy on February 25, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, embroidery, Stuffies
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on February 25, 2013

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/a-mornings-work/

Mondaze

I generally like Mondays since I find them to be such a nice, fresh start to a new week and I’m usually fairly energetic and all pumped-up, ready to tackle all sorts of things. Today I’m feeling a bit hazy, however, and while I am dead-set on actually accomplishing a few things, I do wish my head would clear-up. I do blame the weather, what with it’s insane highs and lows, but still, urgh… So as not to get all cranky, I’ll share what I’ve been doing this morning (you’ve been warned, hehe).

FebruaryPlans

I’ve started a February plans list, just to try and get my head in order. The Calendar page (oops, my spelling was off) is done – I printed out the DesignLoveFest Calendar in January and I’m planning on making each month pop, LaWhimsy style!

FlossBoxI also got out my floss box and started working on a small project that I had started the groundwork for last month but then promptly pushed aside for whatever reason (yeah, okay, I can be super lazy sometimes). Here are two of the results…

StitchedGemsOh yeah ~ Stitched Paper Gems! They are not as big as they appear here – only about 2inches tall, and they are darling. This was my first time stitching paper and I made it easy on myself by using card-stock since regular paper rips so easily.

PrismacolorfunI only stitched two because I decided to get out my Prismacolor pencils and play with a water-color effect for the rest. Here they are drying and waiting for their threads. I think I might share a small tutorial for making these – what do you think?

Well, that’s my Monday morning so far and I’m planning on keeping Happy Thoughts and hopefully some more momentum as the day and week progress. Here’s to a great week for us all!

Namaste ~ Ella

2 Comments
by lawhimsy on February 4, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Images, Musings and Mutterings
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on February 4, 2013

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/mondaze/

Illustration Stitch-A-Long : Step 1

A new year naturally means new projects and one of those projects for me is joining in the Illustration Stitch-A-Long (I’ve added the button to the side of my blog). I was a bit intimidated when the first illustrator was set as Edward Gorey. I adore his work and his rather dark, twisted sense of humor is awesome (hello, The Recently Deflowered Girl), but for embroidery purposes – eep!

I mean – that would be a ton of wee, little stitches to make and in black! My poor eyes and fingers just aren’t up to that task (seriously, with the cold weather and the slight nerve damage I have in my fingers it can be a bit difficult at times – not impossible, just hurty). The intimidation lasted for only a brief moment, however, because I remembered a favorite Gorey illustration of mine -

It’s one of his beloved ballerinas and it’s from a stamp (made by kidstamps until 2010, I believe). Gorey’s love of the ballet was well known and I think this particular ballerina is simply divine. I enhanced the image from above and darkened the lines to get it ready for transferring to fabric.

EdwardGoreyBallerinaEmbroideryPrep

click to see the full size

I think this will be a really great project and the final piece is going to be presented in a frame as a gift to a terrific gal I know who not only loves dance but is a wonderful dancer herself (and yes, you do know who you are *wink*). Now to choose the right fabric…

Yeah, okay, maybe not plaid flannel (as if my fabric is that nicely stacked)…

What new projects do you have going on?

Namaste ~ Ella

3 Comments
by lawhimsy on January 8, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, embroidery
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on January 8, 2013

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/illustration-stitch-a-long-step-1/

December Stitchalong ~ A Very Merry Stitchalong

December is such a delightfully hustle-bustly month filled with what seems to be endless projects, rounds of shopping, silly times, decorating, laughter and goodness knows what else and when I saw that there was going to be a Stitch Along I about said, “doh!”.  However, I made a promise to myself that I would do every Stitch Along that FeelingStitchy had this year and since it was the last one I thought ” I can do this!”

Ta-Da! Truth be told, I had already finished the Stitch Along before it was actually confirmed and quite by a happy accident! The very first day of December I sat down and made this very adorable Santa that Shelly of Gingermelon Dolls was kind enough to share the pattern for.

I added a few whimsical, glossy white curls to his beard and left off the holly and what a darling result, no?! I have always loved the look of Gingermelon Dolls and this was an absolute treat to make (and, let me tell you, the direction were so clear and easy to follow – so beginners do not be afraid to attempt this cutie!)

Then there is this sweet little Rudolph. I whipped him up right-quick after seeing one similar on Pinterest. There are actually a few really cute ideas in that particular pin, but I fell in love with the deer and with a few whimsical alterations made on the fly, I had my own made up of a few felt scraps.

WhimsyFeltOrnaments

So there you have it, one very Merry Stitch Along and I even managed to complete my goal! I am really enjoying seeing all of the felt ornaments that are already out there and I cannot wait to see what everyone else creates!

Happy Weekend and Happy Holidays!

Namaste ~ Ella

1 Comment
by lawhimsy on December 7, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, embroidery
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on December 7, 2012

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/december-stitchalong-averymerrystitchalong/

Stitched-Up Memories : A Tale of Two Bunnies

I have made many things over the past few years but I haven’t always shared them (mostly because I didn’t have a blog to share them on). I’ve been trying to get photos of everything as of late both to share here and for prosperity’s (and my design portfolio’s) sake. It’s also been nice to see how I’ve grown in my design abilities, my stitching skills and just in confidence and creativity. The two I’m going to share today are both bunnies (I have made more bunnies than almost anything else. Why, I dunno – they are just so cute!).

First up is this piece of embroidery. It’s taken off of two sketches of mine that I combined and then stitched  up with a combination of split stitch, chain stitch, satin stitch, stem stitch and french knots.  I haven’t yet decided what to do with the piece and so it’s currently sitting  in an embroidery hoop I have propped up on the radiator next to my craft room desk. It makes me happy to see it.

Next up is this sweet little bunny. This guy was an early practice in french knots. I decided that I wanted to master that particular stitch and so I did just that by outlining my bunny pattern with only french knots.  I then gave him a button eye and just this past Spring stitched him to a soft backing and added a handmade pompom tail. He’s been hanging on my inspiration board, though sometimes he’ll visit with his buddies (I made two fellow matching bunnies as gifts, only they are both stitched with a chain stitch and have no pompom tails – I hadn’t quite mastered the pompom yet and those suckers can be tricky…at least for me, lol).

So there’s a tiny peek into some past work. I think I need to do more of my own sketches and designs – not because others aren’t awesome – but because I really do enjoy the entire process.

Here’s to a creative day!

Namaste ~ Ella

1 Comment
by lawhimsy on October 24, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, embroidery, Stuffies
Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on October 24, 2012

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/stitched-up-memories-a-tale-of-two-bunnies/

October Stitchalong ~ A Kitsch Witch Banner

Ta-Da ~ one gloriously spooktacular kitsch witch banner curtsey of the Feeling Stitchy October Stitchalong (pattern by the talented Bridgeen of Cherry and Cinnamon) and my mad embroidery skills (yeah, I like to brag myself up sometimes ~ it’s awesome fun!).

…and in real life…at least in my mind, tee-hee!

Back to the point,  I really had a blast with this one, from the color-tinting choices (blue/green hair, orange kitty and the purple/green/back outfit combo – woo-hoo!) to the stitching (I added a bit of broom-ish texture with a combo of stitches) to the much anticipated making of the banner it’s self (I knew from “GO” that this is what I’d be doing with the finished piece).

After I was done embroidering, I cut the finished piece into a nice square with an inch all around from the edge of the embroidery. I then folded and pressed evenly all around (and I didn’t burn my fingers – yay!). Then I prepped my purple felt (a nice wool blend) and blanket stitched all around ~ For a great blanket stitch tutorial (and quick brush-up) check this out.

Yes, those pale legs are mine, lol.

Then I cut out four black felt bats (well five since I made one too small) and stitched them to each corner with an X stitch in the middle and I did the same with my extra bat at the bottom. The top part I just folded down with my fingers and made a quick, neat stitch to create a space for the string (or in this case yarn) to go. I’ll probably replace the yarn with a stick or rod for longevity, but at this point I was so excited and wanted to hang it.

Sorry about the grainy photo, the camera battery was dying – oops.

I figured that in banner form I could enjoy this as Halloween decor for years to come and that is always a great thing!

Check out everyone else’s terrific takes on this stitchalong here with the tag oct2012stitchalong!

Happy Weekend and enjoy all the fiery colors!

Namaste ~ Ella

4 Comments
by lawhimsy on October 19, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, embroidery
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on October 19, 2012

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/october-stitchalong-a-kitsch-witch-banner-2/

LaWhimsy Lamb and Cutie Owl

What a Busy Kitty!

Here it is, already the middle of September and Autumn’s official start is but a few days away and I’ve been so busy that I can hardly believe it! September, for me, is not only the beginning of my Autumn schedule – It’s also the celebration of two major birthdays (one of which is the always wonderful Glory’s). That means I have surprises and gifts galore to think up, create, wrap and spring upon the birthday ‘victims’. There are also Festivals to attend, Flea Markets to dig through, the house to decorate for the season and, oh so much more. In light of this, today I’m going to share a few past projects that wanted to introduce themselves…

This sweet lamb is embroidered on both sides in a matching style and along the top of her tiny head. I think that the bright colors I choose add such a charming pop against her white felt body. She is about 4inches long and 2inches high and she was tucked into a stocking last Christmas (yeah, time flies, no?).

In this view of the top of the little lamb’s head you can see a bit of the matching embroidery detail on her sides as well as her sweet head details. I ever so carefully embroidered that teeny-tiny piece before blanket stitching it on. I also did each side before sewing the whole thing together so as to match the sides up as best as I could. They are really spot on and I would show better proof of this had the pics turned out better (shadows can be so cruel).

This little cutie owl is all of 3 inches tall and He has some charming seed stitch and french knot details.  He was also tucked into a stocking as a surprise. The white felt is actually sewn on behind the brown to add some charming dimension and I once again added the embroidery details before blanket stitching him together.

Here they are chilling out together with the phone girl on my craft studio desk. I actually had to borrow them back for these pics, but their owners didn’t mind and Glory even got in on the action…

Great Shoes on the Lamb, no?

Yeah, we have our fun, lol! I hope you enjoyed these two cuties ’cause I have more to share and since one of the birthdays has passed, a few of the gifts I made can be shared without ruining the surprise (Glory, you, however, will have to wait until next week to see your surprises, bwahaha). I even think one of the gifts I made will become a freebie embroidery pattern, so keep an eye out!

Hope you’re all enjoying your day ~ anyone else been getting super creative this month?

Namaste ~ Ella

2 Comments
by lawhimsy on September 19, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, embroidery, Stuffies
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on September 19, 2012

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/lawhimsy-lamb-and-cutie-owl/

Headaches Lead to Inspiration – Or, what I did instead of what I probably should’ve been doing

It’s Friday and a rather pleasant one at that since the sky is blue, the humidity has broken and the day promises to be warm in a last day of Summer kind of way. I am glad of such a day, minus the fact that this weather has been doing my poor head in and in doing so has robbed me of my desire and ability to do much since my mind is all swimy and my focus is shot. I was going about my morning just fine until I happened upon a link to Pinterest and that was all she wrote. I swear time ceased to be as I wandered about, quite merrily, discovering one awesome idea after another. Inspiration began sending sparks flying about my muddled brain and before I knew it, it was afternoon and I was still buzzing about the various boards I had just found, their various treasures spilling out and providing me with an overabundance of sheer creative delight. I figured I might as well share some of the bounty and let the  inspiring magic spark a few flames for all of you, too. Enjoy…

I about died when I spotted these adorable Pine Cone Lions. They originate from the Etsy site WAWAYA and they don’t have a DIY, but I think I could figure a way to create my own version of these cuties.

This is actually a link for how to make and use your own cold porcelain and I have to say that Memi The Rainbow is a fantastic blog and she has a bunch of other cute tutorials up too!

While not a tutorial, Wild Olive has these darling, free printable thread bobbins and now I want to print out a bunch and organize my new floss!

I am loving this idea and I am going to be on the lookout for old, lonely teacups and other cups at the thrifts for my take on this.

This wool-felt cutie is a DIY by Pip’s Poppies and I want to make one super bad…so now I need to learn how to needlefelt!

How totally awesome is this Travel Activity Case made from an old book?!? The DIY is from Cosmo Cricket and it looks fairly manageable to do and customizing it would be super easy too.

This also isn’t a tutorial, rather it’s Zakka Inspired’s embroidered take on a kawaii doll face pouch. I am in love with it’s sweetness and I am itching to do something similar, though maybe not a pouch since I have yet to tackle zippers.

These darling paper mache tea cups from Ann Wood are fantastic and I’m thinking a garland of them would make for a fairly fantastic decor piece, no?

Seriously, my head is spinning (and not just from my meds). These are but a taste of all that I saw and re-pinned and liked today and I have a feeling more will be following! There are toys, dolls, stuffies, cloths, photos, decor delights, holiday inspirations and more just waiting to strike a cord in my zany, whimsical mind. Isn’t getting lost in the whirl of Pinterest such a marvelous time-suck?!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Namaste ~ Ella

1 Comment
by lawhimsy on September 7, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, Images, Musings and Mutterings
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on September 7, 2012

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/headaches-lead-to-inspiration/

Passionfruit Perfection ~ Another Finished Stitchalong

Another Stitchalong is done and I am delighted to present my cuddly little Passionfruit dolly. She is seriously the sweetest thing, measuring in at just about 8inches tall. She is filled with extra soft cluster stuff and poly-pellets, both of which make for super cuddleability (it can be a word, why not). It’s hard to believe that the month of August is all but gone now and this stitchalong is done. I went from this ~

To this ~

To this ~

To This ~

And all of it before I even knew it! Oh, and I simply had to get a picture of May and Passionfruit posing together. I mean that much cuteness should be illegal!

There has been a touch of melancholy to this month and that was with the sudden and completely unexpected passing of Mojo, one of the truly greatest cats there ever was. Glory put it best, since he was her baby, and so I shall leave a link to Her tribute and say only this ~ Mojo, thank you for all your cuddles and the time you gave us. You will be missed but never forgotten.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful month and please, give all your pets, and everyone you care about, an extra hug and cuddle!

Namaste ~ Ella

5 Comments
by lawhimsy on August 29, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Creating Whimsy, embroidery
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by lawhimsy on August 29, 2012

http://lawhimsy.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/passionfruit-perfection/

« Older Posts


  • I’m the type of gal who will burst out laughing today at something that happened yesterday…

  • Thank You for Visiting ~ I hope you have a whimsical day!

  • Archives

  • My Instagram

    Messy Desk

  • Follow Me on Pinterest

    Illustration Stitch-a-Long

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 603 other followers

  • Topic Delights

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 603 other followers

%d bloggers like this: