Happy February! Right click and save as.
Circular Ceilings II: Sacramento
The next embroidery in the series of five is my best representation of the ceiling of the capitol rotunda in Sacramento.
Photo by Willivolt
As you can see, I took a few more liberties with this representation in order to make it work in the medium.
I also stuck with a warmer color palate to reflect the sunny warm climate in the Central Valley.
Circular Ceilings I: San Francisco
Quite awhile back a friend requested a series of embroidery representing five locations around the US. I hadn’t done much custom work, so it took me quite awhile to come up with a concept and execute it. For each of the locations requested I found architectural landmarks, specifically buildings with large round ornate ceilings.
Rather than trying to cram all the different images in one post, I will be breaking them into separate posts. The first is the Palace of Fine Arts, representing San Francisco. Most people probably overlook it, but under the dome of the main building is a pattern on the ceiling:
photo by Amy Snyder
With some modifications I did my best to represent it in embroidery. This is the result:
Overall I tried to use bright and cheerful colors from a limited palate for the entire series of five. This way there would be more cohesiveness across the works. In addition, matching the colors to the actual ceilings would have been either ridiculously difficult or rather boring (eg the reddish brown of the Palace of Fine Arts).
Four more to come, stay tuned!
Tarsier Embroidered Notebook
I have a friend who studied tarsiers in Indonesia on a Fulbright scholarship. She recently celebrated her birthday in New York, so I thought I would attempt a tarsier notebook as a gift for her.
This is what a tarsier looks like:
I drew over this image in illustrator and then transferred the lines to embroidery on a sketchbook cover. This is the result:
I went with bright colors since I thought brown/black would get boring, though he does have a bit of an acid trip feel to him. The giant eyes aren’t helping 😛
I doubt there’s much demand for tarsier notebooks so I don’t plan on adding them to the shop, but I think my friend enjoyed something a bit more customized for her day.
Free January Desktop Wallpaper
One of my goals for 2014 is to put a lot more work into the shop, which includes putting a lot more work into this blog. As part of this effort, I plan on posting a free desktop wallpaper each month featuring one of my designs.
So one day late, I present to you: January!
Right click and save –enjoy!
Baby’s First Christmas: Embroidered Snowflake Ornament
I’m afraid I’m a bit behind on this post since Christmas is over, but our tree is still up so I thought I would share anyway. I wanted to make a handmade ornament to commemorate the baby’s first Christmas.
On one side I embroidered a snowflake, using a pattern I found online here.
On the other side I embroidered the baby’s name and the year using this font. I finished the ornament by sewing up the edges, adding a loop and stuffing the interior. In the stuffing I included a tiny lock of hair from his first haircut (more like trim) as a sentimental/old-fashioned/creepy tribute.
It’s a great little ornament on our tree that we can look forward to hanging each year.
Bike Mini-Notebooks
By far, the best selling item in the shop are the bike mini-notebooks. I expanded the line for the holiday season, adding four more colors.
They’re a great stocking stuffer, but be warned…I’m close to selling out for the holiday season! I’m running out of notebooks and certain colors of thread and won’t be able to resupply before Christmas. So if you’re interested, buy quickly!
Support Independent Shops
I am currently buried in holiday orders and diapers, but I wanted to quickly highlight a self-serving cause 🙂
Door Sixteen is a great design/DIY blog run by Anna Dorfman. Anna is collecting links to handmade shops in the comments in order to help people find and support independent businesses during their holiday shopping.
I added my shop to the list and thought I’d try to pay it forward. Check out the entire list here.
Holiday Card Roundup: Part 3
Presenting the final roundup of holiday cards in Koto this year!
First up is a modified version of the spring flower card, a festive poinsettia.
I also made some modified versions of successful cards from last year. Above, a geometric Christmas tree. Below, penguin card!
Finally, I created another version of the popular stars card. I had two versions but the other sold out already!
Click images for links to item listings, or see them all here.
Holiday Card Roundup: Part 2
Next up in this year’s holiday card roundup for Koto are snowflake cards!
Above are a set of four embroidered snowflake cards. Each set features a different snowflake design.
In addition to the blue on white card set, I made a robin’s egg blue on kraft set.
These are my favorite I think, I love how the blue pops on the soft brown. The pictures don’t quite do them justice, definitely an area I need to keep working on.
I also created another single card that features a trio of snowflakes.
This closeup shot gives you a much better idea of how it looks in person. I used iridescent thread on metallic midnight blue cardstock, so that the card has a nice shimmer to it in the light. Click the images for links to the individual item listings, or find them all here.
Koto Embroidery 
