January 2019 – Athena's Craft Den

In my last blog post, I briefly mentioned some of the new ranges I have planned for this year. Well, today I thought I would tell you a little bit more about them!

I have a number of brand new ranges in mind, to work in conjunction with the commissions and one-offs I already offer.

First up is my new Fairytale & Literature range – embroidery hoops based around some of the most popular traditional fairytales, and literary works. The first up was released last week – Rapunzel in all her golden haired glory! More in this range will be appearing throughout the year – I already have a long list I want to tackle!

Next up is the continuation and expansion of a range that I started last year – Floral Creatures. These super pretty designs started with the Vixen and Fox. I love these designs – they are so pretty, and are a real joy to sew! There are several more creatures planned, including one which I am building up the confidence to do! The lion would be the most detailed and challenging hoop to date, and I really don’t want to mess it up!

I have already released some parts of the Botanicals range – this is a range of elegant, simple, but effective designs featuring leaves, flowers, and trees.

Whitework is a traditional form of embroidery that features white thread on a white background to create the most gorgeous effect. More modern techniques use a base colour background with shades of white thread to create depth and texture. I recreated my vixen design in whitework last year, and have got several more designs ready to get started on!

There are several other ranges planned – Endangered Species, Mixed Media, Gods/Goddesses and Elements/Seasons – more about these next time!

I also have jewellery ranges planned! I will be continuing to expand upon my chainmaille range – I have invested in a selection of coloured rings that I am hoping to put to good use soon.

There will also be more in my Shibori ribbon range – I have released one new heart brooch recently, and have more new designs ready to make.

Another range that I am going to be expanding on this year is my bead embroidery brooches. These proved popular last year, and again, I have new designs planned out – including the much requested rainbow!

I am continuing to work through my lampwork bead stash – there will be new pendant released soon.

The final range I have planned is one that I am very excited about! Over the years I have amassed a collection of semi precious gemstones, which I am planning to pair with sterling silver to produce a beautiful collection of jewellery with. Watch this space!

I think that is all the ranges I can tell you about right now – no doubt this will get altered and expanded upon as the year goes on!

I would love to hear what you think of the new, and planned ranges! Please pop a comment below to let me know your thoughts, or if there is anything else you would like to see!

Zoe xx

Upcoming events;-

The Makers Emporium will take place on 31^st January 2019 – starting at 8pm. You can find the group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/498933563623248/

The next LLD/Paper Panda Emporium is starting at 9am on 1^st February, and runs through to 9pm on 4^th February. You can find it here https://www.facebook.com/groups/LLDsEmporium/

Happy New Year!

I would like to wish you all the very best of wishes for 2019 – may you all be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise in 2019!

The beginning of a new year is the time when I like to do a little reminiscing of the previous years – the highs, the lows, and everything in-between.

2018 was, on the whole, a good year for me. I was able to combine my love of crafting, with learning new skills and techniques, and put them to (hopefully) good use!

To finish off this year of blog posts, I thought I would have a little run through of my favourite projects of the year!

1 & 2. Early in the year I started to combine my love of embroidery with my love of beads – the first project I did was this pretty beaded butterfly. A range of insects and creatures followed, including the little bee!

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3. While learning bead embroidery techniques, I came across Shibori ribbon. This beautiful hand dyed ribbon used in jewellery creates the most beautiful effect – This was my first necklace, and I was super pleased when one of my gorgeous friends purchased it, and it went winging its way to the US.

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4 & 5. In my Facebook group, I have a challenge post whereby group members can challenge me to design a hoop based on a theme of their choice – My two favourites this year have been the Northern Lights, and Sunset.

6. Summer saw my friend’s daughter getting married, and I was super proud to stitch this hoop to commemorate the big day. I am thinking of offering similar as a commission next year!

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7. More experimentation! This time with beading! I taught myself to do Peyote stitch beading, and had sooooo much fun learning how to make these little tube pendants.

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8 & 9. This is perhaps my most favourite hoop I have ever made. I love this fox design. It is so pretty, and intricate. I really wanted to push myself to work on a more detailed design, and I think I achieved it with this. I followed this up with a whitework version! I love how the same pattern looks so completely different just be taking away the colour.

10. If you follow my Facebook page, you will already be aware of my love of thread! I am a compulsive thread buyer, and I am not ashamed! Hand dyed threads are my weakness – they come in the most beautiful colours, and variations, and I think the seahorse sets these off beautifully.

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11. October & November saw me making forays into the world of chainmaille! This came about following discussions in my Anglo Saxon history nightclass (have I mentioned I’m a bit of a geek!) The first weave I learnt was Byzantine, which is shown beautifully in this copper bracelet

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12 & 13. Never satisfied with keeping things simple, I experimented a little more with the chainmaille after I came across these fabulous coloured rings! One of my beautiful friends promptly named the first colour range unicorn, and I absolutely could not resist making a rainbow version.

14. I have been collecting (or hoarding) lampwork glass beads for literally years now! I finally decided it was about time I got to using some! This rainbow bead came from the fabulous Sally Sutherland, and I think it paired perfectly with the Swarovski sparkles!

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15. One of the new ranges I will be working on in 2019 is a botanical range – this simple, elegant leaf design is the first in the range. I envisage this on the wall in a beautiful conservatory!

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16. My last hoop of 2018! I thought it was very fitting to end on a unicorn! Again, this is a much more detailed design, stitched with gorgeous threads I purchased at the Knitting and Stitching show in Harrogate.

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So there we have it! A few of my favourite makes of 2018. Throughout the year I was privileged enough to work on a number of commission pieces for people, and I attended some fantastic classes, which have really helped to expand my skills, and my confidence. I am looking forward to more in 2019!

I will be releasing some new embroidery hoop ranges, which I am very excited about, I am working on some different mixed media makes, and I am expanding my jewellery range to include more sterling silver pieces, and some new chainmaille designs. Just because I love you, here are a couple of peeks!

Well, if you made it to the end of this looooooong post – thank you!

Here’s to a fabulous 2019 – see you all soon!

Zoe x

Month: January 2019

2019 – Plotting and Planning!

2018 Round Up!