New career... new blog

Well, seeing that I have really and truly become a designer - though my official first release won't be available until later on in the week - I thought I should set up a new blog to go along with it! Of course this page is under construction and will be fiddled with lots and lots as I have the time and patience to do so, but I thought I'd get the ball rolling!

A little bit about me and my designs....

Well, I love all things sampler. The fun in designing for me is to take old traditional styles and give them a modern flair. I love Celtic knotwork, it ties into my heritage (English, Irish and Scottish) and is so much fun to play around with! I also love playing with colours and textures and different stitches.

I love working with silks. I don't like to stitch with cotton and I avoid it at all costs. I don't care if I have to spend a little bit more money, I'd rather enjoy what I stitch. I've experimented with just about every brand of silk on the market, and I like using them all for different things. My favourite is Hand Dyed Fibers, it's easy for me to get and I can get ANY colour I can dream up. However, I use and love them all - Gloriana, Belle Soie, Thread Gatherer, Waterlilies, Dinky Dyes, NPI, they all have a special place in my heart. Some have colours that are just to dye for, some work better for certain counts of fabric, they all have different light reflection properties and when you mix them all up together, you get some really cool effects - so I do, and will continue to do so!! Every piece should be an adventure, and that's how I hope that people will see my projects.

I'll admit, some of the cotton overdyes are really cool, and I do play with them from time to time. I don't know that I'll ever design with them, but they can make for some really wonderful projects too, so it may happen.

My favourite designers include Sampler Cove, Needlemania, Ink Circles, Needle's Prayse, Drawn Thread, Dinky Dyes, and many others. I rarely ever stitch with the recommended threads, and these designs really lend themselves to experimentation.

A little bit about me personally...

Well I learned how to stitch when I was young, but I never really got into it until about 10 years ago, and even then it was sporadic until the last five or so years. I think the discovery that there was more out there than Dimensions and DMC is what led me back and got me hooked. It's not in my nature to follow directions, I like to be an individual so I think that's why I never had the patience for it back then. The Needlework shops in my area don't carry a great deal of selection, so the internet became my enabler. Since then, every spare moment I have a needle in hand. My life until now has been a pretty rocky road, and stitching has become the keeper of my sanity. It helps me to relax my body and clear my mind, which anyone who knows me knows is not an easy task! My brain is going in 100 different directions at the best of times, so being able to find that clarity is wonderful.

The inspiration to design came from a number of sources. You know it's time to start creating when you look around you and see things in terms of thread and fabric colours. My muse is often nature itself - where you can find fantasy and imagination lurking at every turn. The simple elegance of a snowflake, the wonder of a flower, the drama of a sunset, the pure, raw power of a thunderstorm.... all awe inspiring in their own way, and I think my need to capture some of that in thread is my form of tribute.

Man, that was way too deep and meaningful.