Large Scale Cross-Stitch

June 8, 2018June 8, 2018 by Katie | 1 Comment

At the beginning of the year, I encouraged our readers to “make with me“. In that post I shared a few of the many benefits that you may get from picking up a hobby, and I gave you a few simple suggestions for how to turn your hobby into a regular habit (that’s good for you!).

If you follow our Instagram feed or have been a long-time reader, it’s no surprise that my primary hobby is knitting. I always have a project (or ten) in the works. While I don’t need the encouragement to knit more, I’m taking this resolution as a nudge to share more of my projects, in their many phases, on the blog. And if you’d like to find me on Ravelry, my username is winterfoliage.

If you like this project, you may want to check out our large-scale cross-stitched pillow.

Have you ever tried cross-stitch? It’s a relatively simple embroidery technique where you make a picture by sewing a series of x-shaped stitches using colored thread. Today I’m improvising on that basic technique by making everything BIGGER (and bug-ier). Continue reading …

Make with Me : God’s Eye

May 3, 2018May 4, 2018 by Katie | Leave a comment

At the beginning of the year, I encouraged our readers to “make with me“. In that post I shared a few of the many benefits that you may get from picking up a hobby, and I gave you a few simple suggestions for how to turn your hobby into a regular habit (that’s good for you!).

If you follow our Instagram feed or have been a long-time reader, it’s no surprise that my primary hobby is knitting. I always have a project (or ten) in the works. While I don’t need the encouragement to knit more, I’m taking this resolution as a nudge to share more of my projects, in their many phases, on the blog. And if you’d like to find me on Ravelry, my username is winterfoliage.

Five months into the year, and I’m finally sharing a project that doesn’t involve knitting!

Growing up, this was a project that we would make every so often. We always made them using two sticks, creating four points, and we called them God’s eyes. As you can see, this one is slightly more complicated, and I’ve seen these referred to as either a God’s Eye or a mandala. I use both names throughout this post.

Read on to get pattern info and to see how big this beast really is.

Cheap Oversized Photo Art

August 12, 2015March 24, 2016 by Sarah | Leave a comment

How many times have you google searched cheap prints? I have a l o t. Pretty much every time I have a show or event. I’m always trying to figure out the best way to produce LARGE photographs inexpensively. Katie recently introduced me to a new method: Engineer Prints. Engineer prints reproduce line drawings and graphics with high definition and contrast, but they’re also really great for making large black and white photography prints. Engineer prints are the perfect low-cost option when you’re looking for a statement piece without the price tag. Since these prints range from only a buck to $10, the quality is obviously not fit for The Louvre, but they’re definitely awesome enough for a wall in your home or as a focal point at your next art show.

In addition to sharing our love of engineer prints, we also wanted to show you a simple way to add some structure to your print before hanging it. This will help to turn the image from something that looks like a poster into a more substantial piece of art.