The Downsides of Creative Work-Drumroll Please

14 count Aida spider-web print purchased from
Stitched Modern. Vintage Brooch from my collection.

Something to mention here is that creating art is hard. I have visited so many artists feeds and web sites and none of them ever mention frustration, exhaustion, confusion, or guilt. I realize that this is not a topic of conversation you want to have with or for your potential customers and so we never share the hard parts of making. Just because you love creating what you do doesn't mean that it is all unicorns and rainbows. I start second guessing myself as soon as my piece is framed with all the "what if's". Maybe there should have been a different bead, a different color fiber, aligning the brooch differently, etc.. Then there are the do overs. It took me three tries to get my last piece, "Flower Maiden" right. I first started work on it December 2020 and got the final version back from the framers this month, October 2021. There were problems with the fabric and then the bead color and then a change with the flower beads. I won't tell a customer that when I decide to sell it but that is a small sampling of the aggravation and frustration I went through with just one piece. As a matter of fact, of four pieces I have finished, only one was started and completed once. I won't even go into how many revisions my designs and patterns go through before I'm satisfied, but they are numerous. In addition to all this, there are vendors to deal with for supplies, price increases of supplies, unexpected glitches that made my heart sink, delayed deliveries, and just good old fashioned stupid mistakes I made that could have easily been avoided. 

Then there are the lost needles, spilled beads, needles embedded in my fingers (yes, I have had to pull them out of my fingers and there was blood involved), tangled and knotted fibers, carpal tunnel from holding the Q-Snap, etc., etc., etc.. When I see photos or videos of needlework artists in their sunlit studios that look like they were staged by House and Garden Magazine while they enthusiastically gush about their excitement and love for their projects, I am duly impressed and happy for them, but in the back of my mind I am wondering how much hair pulling and gnashing of teeth went on behind the scenes, plenty I'm sure. Don't think ever that this is the reality of their daily life, sorry, even Martha Stewart's perfect planning does not follow script most of the time I can guarantee. At least not without a cast of many others helping.

So here's the deal. As much as I may be tempted to throw up my hands and walk away from my work, I never could. Believe me, I think about it once or twice on every project when everything seems to go down the proverbial toilet. But here is where the artists are separated from the hobbyists because artists can never walk away. Before one piece is done I am already thinking about the next one, and the next one and the next one.....you get the picture. I love it too much and it is such a part of me now that I can't imagine not doing it, ever. A nurse once told me that women have this uncanny ability to lose the memory of what the actual pain of childbirth was like. If they didn't, there would never be multiple births by mothers. I think that applies to art, because when we at long last "birth" our creations we are so overjoyed by the finish that we blur all the horrible parts of the process and happily embrace the doing all over again. If we didn't, we would all be one work wonders. 

So don't be discouraged by the all the not-so-fun parts of creating, the mistakes are many but so are the rewards. The good thing is, we have short memories that forgive, and that proves what we do is a true passion.

I hope you always, Keep Creating!

This Last Year-What Was Going On

My last post was a year ago this month and it is incredible to me that it has gone by so quickly. The world seems turned on its ear and the turmoil and sheer craziness of it all is something I have never witnessed. Just wow!

So what was up the last twelve months? In all honesty, I think I was tired of doing this blog and just not seeing anyone that was much interested in it so I turned to Instagram (IG) for a while. I posted pictures and followed a lot of people that were inspirational and extremely talented in their creative endeavors and I actually garnered a bit of a following myself along the way. I guess I was hoping to absorb some creative mojo by virtual osmosis and learn some new things along the way on it.

What I learned instead is that the creative life is best lived by just creating and not concentrating on garnering an audience. Before IG my inspiration had a wealth of ideas and a solid foundation of trusting in myself about those ideas. I had two pieces stitched and framed and was working on the third and thought I would just post updates about its progress. But as I scrolled through all the various people's postings I followed I found myself thinking about posting other things that would be comparable like studio pictures, pictures of myself, our wild rabbit photos and just really a lot of useless garbage that didn't really pertain to the work itself. I wasted hours and hours scrolling through feeds and watching videos that in the end did nothing to expand or enhance my work. That time should have been spent on working on my creativity instead. 

IG is a wonderful place with a lot of positive and amazing things going on, but it is very easy to lose yourself in it. Like a maze you go deeper and deeper into and get further and further from your final destination and even where you started. It is a great place if you are just trying to garner followers and not care who they are and how pertinent they are to your interests and advancing them. There are no real friendships and "likes" are only indicative that they saw, or more accurately, glanced at your photo. As for reading your caption, that will only be done be a very few of those that "liked" it. Comments are non-existent so valuable feedback you should be getting is a big fat zero. 

I became a cheerleader for so many others whose work I truly enjoyed and admired, but after a while that got pretty tiresome too. Some people would acknowledge the comments and many others didn't. It was a crapshoot at best and real relationships with fellow artists cannot be built on that or any of the things you hope will happen but never does. 

I canceled my account and it is sad to leave my barely over a hundred followers that sometimes would drop a "like" and rarely ever a comment, but not really. They will probably not even notice I am gone and that is okay, I don't really expect them to, and why should they in the first place. I may go back someday after I have completed a larger body of work and use what I learned from this experience. IG is not a magic bullet for gaining success or visibility. It is a place you can direct people to look at your work without all the trappings of a blog or website. If people find you and follow you, and if you have the desire to follow others without feeling obligated to do so, then it can be a rewarding experience. It is too large to really grow a group of like minded buddies with whom you can exchange ideas and cultivate close professional relationships. Those are better served by small Facebook groups, professional organizations, and societies you can join. 

So this is my take away from my IG experience. Use it as a photo viewing platform you can utilize for people interested in seeing your work. Do not worry about "likes" or followers, those are irrelevant to what you are doing, which is making and enjoying your own art. Getting lost down a rabbit hole of overwhelming unimportant information is not going to do either.

Until next time, Keep Creating!

Don't Question Your Talent

This is for all you awesome creatives out there and let it be your mantra, "Don't question your talent!". Ever! And never stop doing it. Long ago I bounced aimlessly from one creative hobby to the next. Collage, oil  painting, sketching, machine sewing, jewelry making, rug hooking, ceramics, embroidery, crewel work, gardening, knitting, etc., etc., etc., and then, drum roll please, counted cross stitch. I fell head over heels for this craft and I say craft because that is what it was for me in the beginning. Every minute of my spare time was spent pouring over catalogs and shopping at local needlework shops and craft stores. Like any addiction, "Hi, my name is Debbie and I'm a cross stitch addict", I couldn't get enough of it. When the internet came along, I really was a kid in a candy store, I could shop the world for not only what I knew, but now all the awesome stuff I never knew. The years passed and I never grew bored with it, although my life did make me take breaks from it for, well, life! I learned a lot from other stitchers, from manufacturers, from needlework stores and books. As time passed, my passion went from a blazing fire to a warm glow. I found I no longer just wanted to stitch the patterns and kits I bought but wanted to change them. My attention wasn't so much what new pattern I wanted to buy but how I could customize the one I was working on. What new fibers were out there that would make it more interesting and give it more texture? What kinds of beads were out there and charms and buttons? The next step was to try my hand at designing, using my own colors and imagination. Then it came to how can I integrate all these wonderful embellishments and fibers into my designs and what was the best way to actually make the designs? This is when I realized how much this art helped me evolve into my creativity and still keeps me hungry for more. I never doubted my love for this art and I always enjoyed the ride and that is why I never doubted my talent for it. 

That doesn't mean that it's easy or that I don't second guess myself when it comes to a design or materials or even how to execute them because that is part and parcel of creativity. However, I learned early on that trying to make what I thought would trend with the current wave of design failed me miserably. I never was happy with that work. If I am true to myself and sincere, the work always thrills and satisfies and actually challenges me on some level that makes me grow.

So here is my takeaway. If you are listless and uncertain, listen to that voice that is telling you, hey, this isn't right for me somehow because that is your early warning system to not waste more time on it. Keep yourself open to trying things that spark your interest because that is the only way you will find that perfect fit. Don't think you have to be a pro in 6 weeks, 6 months or 6 years because the journey is never predetermined and expertise is ever growing. 

The last thing is to never question your talent. If you truly love something, and you certainly know when you are crazy in love with something, you will be good at it because you then are willing to do the work to keep improving and evolving. That evolution will give you your own voice and signature creativity. Don't think that you aren't good enough or will never be good enough because I guarantee you will. It's the unabated passion that will drive you on and keep you focused and never let you question your talent!

La Petite Fleurs

Got this project back from the framers on Monday and they just wowed me with the great job they did. Of course a photo cannot do this piece justice but it is a good try.

La Petite Fleurs, framed. The photo makes it look
off-white but the mat and frame is a nice bright
white and I'm glad I opted for the custom mat.

Star Maiden

I had to rip the corona stitches out because I just wasn't happy with it. I came up with something different and will get to stitching it up either today or tomorrow. I have learned that when it comes to the quality of my pieces not to settle for less than the very best possible work I can produce.

Until next week, Keep Creating and Stay Safe!

October Update 10-7-20

Hello all my lovelies out there in stitching land! Here in Oklahoma we are enjoying the most awesome fall weather. The trees are just beginning to turn colors and the temps are in the high 70's and low 80's. Such a great time of year.

14 COUNT AIDA 

Last time I talked about ordering white 14 ct. Aida cloth from Michael's and I got the order within a week. Let's talk about this cloth.

First of all, I look for a tight weave. A loose weave will have larger holes in it that are easily pulled and distorted. Not a big deal so much if you are only using, say, two or three strands of cotton floss or a thick strand of wool. The thickness of the fiber will fill the holes enough where they will not have to be pulled tightly. However, if you are using other fibers, such as metallics or silks, where they do have to be pulled tighter to lay flat, larger woven holes are going to get even larger. Note too that if you are adding a large amount of glass beads or crystals, they are quite heavy if grouped together and also will distort your holes. Actually, any heavy embellishment can do it. Rule of thumb is to get the best quality heavy fabric you can find and afford because no matter what you are stitching on it, it will help you produce the best quality work possible. It's like the difference between using Crayola color pencils and Faber-Castell color pencils, they will both do the job but they will not have the same results.

My recent purchase of larger sized Charles Craft
14 ct. white Aida cloth from Michael's. Great price
and quick delivery made a great experience.

SIZE MATTERS 

I learned the hard way that it is a disaster when you have worked a design and then not have enough material for a border sufficient to get it framed or mounted in some way. The rule of thumb is a three inch border around the design size and mine will have four inches sometimes just to be on the safe side.

STAR MAIDEN UPDATE 

Work on Star Maiden is coming along. I am stitching around the corona a second time with a heavier Kreinik metallic so there is nothing to really show right now. Once I start the embellishments on the corona I will show more pictures. Because the Kreinik I am using is wrapped around a small spool, it is curly as heck and really knots up easily which causes delays. The fiber itself is just gorgeous though. 

APPLE CRISTP 

I made the apple crisp recipe I talked about last time and it turned out great! It was easy and delicious. Here is the recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/229088/apple-crisp-with-oat-topping/ 

Six cut-up Jonathan apples.

Easy Apple Crisp is perfect with a dollop of 
vanilla ice cream and the aroma throughout the
house of cinnamon and brown sugar was heavenly.

THOUGHTS ON OCTOBER AND HALLOWEEN-MOVIES AND BOOKS AND TRICK OR TREATING

October, for me, is the month for horror and mystery reads. I recently re-read the "Dunwich Horror" by H.P. Lovecraft which is a great read for two reasons: the story itself is a great example of the genre and secondly the writer is just a great writer. The short read I just finished up yesterday was "The Haunting of Owensboro Mansion" by Carrie Bates via Amazon Kindle. It was a good short story and even though the elements are a rehash of often used devices, it kept my attention and did not contain anything of a gory or sordid nature. I will probably try another of her books in the future to truly get an idea of her style. I have also been working on another book that I really am enjoying but it is lengthy and not something you can breeze through called "The Essex Serpent" by Sarah Perry. This is an intriguing book and Sarah is a very good writer. The characters are very well developed and the mystery of whether there is a serpent in the water or not is only part of the mystery that carries you along its pages. I am about half through it and hope I can get it finished. or close to it, in the next week or so.

I really, really love Halloween because of trick or treating. I look forward every year to seeing all the kiddos in their wonderful costumes, homemade and bought. However, for the very first time in over 40 years we will not be handing out treats and it breaks my heart. Right now it is just too risky with COVID and so after discussing the pros and cons with my husband we thought it was the best decision for us and our costumed visitors. 

And what's Halloween without a scary movie? Well, I am the only one brave enough in our family to watch them. I'm not a fan of slasher films with gratuitous gore but I can put up with it as long as it's not the primary story line. For instance, the Halloween series, I mean really, c'mon folks, the laws of physics and reason can only be stretched so far and then it just becomes a failed joke. I am hoping on Halloween there will be something worth watching on TV after my hubby goes to bed. That is if I am not too tired too! LOL!

More to come next time and as always, Keep Creating! And Stay Safe!

Debbie

OCTOBER

It's easy to see the changing of the seasons but have you ever smelled it? I know this sounds crazy but as soon as October hits, I can not only see the changing season but I can smell it too. The air is different somehow, not crisper, because here in Oklahoma October usually stays pretty warm, but a drier kind of smell filled with nature drying up and going to bed for the winter. Since burning leaves is not allowed within most city limits you don't get to smell that as often but when my husband and I go motorcycle riding, you can smell it in the country air. That is one of my favorites!

Speaking of motorcycle riding, I may be taking a little more time away from stitching because fall is the perfect riding weather before it gets too cold. 

With the start of fall I thought it would be fun to talk about some fall projects. There are two Mill Hill kits that are languishing that I am dying to start and finish. I love Mill Hill Kits and their kits are great to learn on. I learned many things from doing their kits, especially beading. Don't pass up an opportunity to try one of them out if you get the chance, particularly their earlier ones.

I don't know if I will get to them because I have to continue working on Star Maiden, especially since I stepped away from it for about a week because my carpal tunnel was acting up. I especially would like to get the "Family Frolic" completed and turn it into a box-it. I can then show you how to do those too!

Cooking is another distraction I like to do in the fall. I hate heating up my kitchen in the summer but love baking in the fall. I found an apple crisp recipe I want to make and if it is a success I'll share it with you. Apples and cinnamon are the scents of autumn as far as I'm concerned. I have never cooked so much as I have since COVID started here in March. I'm still working on the perfect meatloaf but got the perfect stew down!

I have also been neglecting my online book club and need to get busy reading. Right now I am reading a book appropriate for October, it's about a haunted manor house. It's a new author and the book is a quick read so we'll see if I will want to read any more of her work when I'm done with this one.  More on that next time. 

I did finally find some Charles Craft better quality 14 ct. Aida in a decent size for my work from Michaels. I also had an order for some Etoile from DMC and after a month emailed them this week and found out it had been misplaced and they were going to process it immediately. All this time I thought it was a delay because of COVID. I'm glad it was just to replace what I used and not that I needed to continue working. 

What are you working on? What is your favorite time of year to stitch, cook, read? I'd love to find out so let me know. 

Until next time, Keep Creating!

Debbie

Quality Needlework Supplies

Circumstances are difficult now, for everyone and just about everything. One of the things that has been a hurdle much of the time is getting supplies via internet. Let's face it, for many of us ordering on the world wide web is usually what we have done in the past for many of our needleworking supplies. I do not have a local needlework shop and sometimes have to rely on big box stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby. The problem is they do not stock a very comprehensive supply of needlework supplies like they used to. Typically they are down to half an aisle at best. I used to go to them all the time for my fabrics in the 80's but now my best bet is to shop online for them. I use larger pieces of 14 ct. Aida and most places do not stock it. I have noticed that online shops do not stock it like they used to either and those that do are usually sold out of it, especially now. Many times you are not even sure about the manufacturer since they don't list it. I asked to be notified recently of a sold out large size 14 ct. Aida. I was notified alright, but it seems hundreds of others were on that list because when I checked my email that same day and went to order it, guess what, it was already sold out! 

So, I can opt for a much larger piece than what I need and pay a hefty price for it or I can keep hoping and praying that suppliers will start making sure that we have good quality supplies available when we need them. I understand there are delays due to COVID19 and we are all in the same boat when it comes to shipping. Believe me I get it because I am always waiting on something to be delivered in 4 or 5 weeks that used to take one. But there is a bigger issue here that concerns me. What kind of quality are stitchers getting in their supplies? Why has there been such a slowly diminishing pool of them, especially with retailers?

I'll be honest, I personally don't see a shortage of stitchers, especially counted embroidery. When I shop online, even before the pandemic hit, many things were always sold out and you had to wait on them on reorder. Social media platforms have no lack of cross stitch sites and designers with thousands of followers. So what's up? I know there are lots of great small businesses that have sprung up that dye their own fabric, but I'm just looking for plain old white 14 ct. Aida. And who knows who makes it and what kind of quality it is. Charles Craft, Wichelt, Zweigart and MCG were the go to companies but Charles Craft has been absorbed by DMC and MCG is no longer in the counted cloth business. Here is what I found when just trying to get a high quality black 14 ct. Aida. If you don't think there are differences, think again, this should change your mind.

Here are 3 different pieces of 14 ct. black Aida.
As you can see, the darkest black is on the right. 
That piece was made by MCG and I was lucky to
have it in my stash, otherwise I would have to
settle for the others. So why can't I get a truly
black piece of black Aida? 

My question is simple. Why aren't manufacturers giving us the best quality for our money? Why should we settle for varying degrees of gray when we actually need black? Counted embroidery is important, I don't care if it is an ornament for grandma or a museum collector piece, and deserves the high quality you would find in paints, sculptures, ceramics, basket weaving, etc.. Our ingredients determine the quality of the product we produce and we need high quality. 

My goal is to not only produce my own artistic interpretation of counted embroidery but to also make people aware that this is a serious art form. Whatever label you want to attach to it, Fine Art Craft or Fine Craft, it is Art and it is about time it is given the place it deserves in the art world. Right this minute, we have thousands of people, men and women, doing cross stitch. They may not ever want to do more than stitch ready-made patterns and kits. But there are others that are going to expand on what they have learned and decide to do more with it, and those others deserve to have a place in the world where they can show what this art is all about. The difference between paint by number and fine art is no different than stitching a kit versus making a piece of original counted embroidery art. Give us the tools we need to make it so and let us thrive. Let others enjoy the beauty we create and let our fellow stitchers cheer us on in this journey. What I do now I hope will make a difference for everyone else that follows and that is worth the fight. In the meantime, what do we do now to make suppliers realize it and produce what we need? 

Happy Fall to All and a First Look at "Star Maiden"

So here we are again in the fall season and I don't know about you but I am glad to see the end of 2020 getting nearer. What a crazed filled year it has been and I look forward to 2021 with hopeful expectations.

Right now I am going through some transitions with my art and art career. I decided last September that I was going to step away from my column on Mr. X Stitch and devote my full time attention to creating art work. So far I have completed two pieces (one of which is at the framer's) and working on the third which is in its final phase. The work at the framer's is not part of the series, it is a stand alone piece that I started then stopped quite a few years ago. I revised the fibers and their colors and started fresh with it. The title is "La Petite Fleurs". I'll get to that in future posts. 

I decided to work in a series I call The Maiden Series. The first was "Iron Maiden", the second is "Star Maiden" and the third is "Flower Maiden". These works have been in progress, design wise, for years, so it was about time to get it down on paper and stitch them up. Now here's the thing about needlework art, speaking exclusively to cross stitch, it is slow going. That means only a handful of pieces can be produced in a year. I have found that in making my own work, and doing it the right way, is a back and forth of design changes, fiber changes, and fabric changes. Some designs, such as "Star Maiden" that I am working on now, is a difficult one because my stitches have to lay all one way, yet my design is sideways and upside down. It is also on black Aida which is extremely difficult for me since the holes are near impossible to see and that means stitching by feel of where the needle goes more than seeing it. Oftentimes the needle finds the wrong hole and it has to be redone. Sometimes more than once. Very time consuming indeed. The struggle is very real.

Speaking of the black Aida, I went through three different kinds of black Aida before I found one that was truly black, which of course took about two weeks since I had to order them. The best pick was by MCG, which I had in my stash all along and was very fortuitous since they stopped making it two years ago. If I ever have to use black again, and I am hoping I never do, I will probably have to dye black Aida even blacker. That's crazy, but that is what I have to do in order to keep quality standards high. So be warned that black Aida is not that black with most manufacturers now. 

This brings up another topic I will address more in future blogs, that of quality supplies for cross stitch.

I will update soon on the project and posting more on important subjects of needlework art in the future so stay tuned!

Progress so far of "Star Maiden"

Framed and matted "Iron Maiden"