June 24, 2009

Always Love You

Whew! That was a lot of writing yesterday. I need a break. Bring on the photos! (And some more writing. I can't help myself.)

Always Love
Here we have one of the little projects I just completed. It's a little pouch for keeping written memories for my daughter. The idea came from here.

The basic idea is that you cut up small cards (I did 3"x5") and decorate them (we have used watercolors and markers so far). Then you store them in the pouch for easy access when something happens that you want to remember. It's the type of stuff that doesn't usually end up in a baby book, the type of stuff you want to keep forever. And the bonus is that the memories are written on a piece of the child's artwork. Double nostalgia bonus! The cards can then be put into a scrapbook, made into their own little book, or stored in the pouch permanently.

The design was inspired by this photo:

Four Flowers
While we were on a walk, my daughter picked these wildflowers, and when we got home she laid them out on the walkway like that. I took a photo thinking that would make a great embroidery project. I stitched them on linen and used stem stitch, some satin stitch, and some other ... I don't know, freedhand stitch. I just made it up as I went!

Always Love (3)
The lettering was done freehand and says, "I will always love you," which is a phrase I've always said to my little girl. I used some fabric that reminds me of vintage bedsheets to line the inside of the pouch.

The whole thing was meant to be a little more organic--rustic, for lack of a better word. It was a nice departure from some of the super detailed stitching I've done in the past, and I have to say I'm really pleased with the results. I'm thinking it might even translate well to some little pouches or cushions to be sold some day down the road....

Always Love (2)
In the near future I'll share photos of the pouch I made for my son's memory cards. Have a good day!

15 comments:

Flora said...

That is so so gorgeous! I love the flowers, you've really captured them perfectly. It looks very "vintage" too, in the best possible way I mean!

(^v^)

Mom Wald said...

Make sure to develop the photo, and put this story with it, to put into her memory bag. What a great start!

tintocktap said...

Wow - what a wonderful idea! I might have to do that for my kids.

Lola Nova said...

I just love this. What beautiful work! I really like the stitching you did, it looks so much like the photo. Wish I had more time to work on a project like this. Well done!

Tweed Thoughts said...

This is such a lovely project and you did a gorgeous job of embroidering the flowers - so natural looking.

I enjoyed reading your 'meme' post, I will have to go back and read it again! :)

Leah said...

I love how you did the flower thing, its so beautiful and a great idea!

Glenda said...

This is absolutely gorgeous!! I love the linen and inner fabric and your stitching is beautiful.

Ali said...

This is a really beautiful idea, I love this! And your embroidered flowers are perfect.
I *really* love that lining fabric, it's gorgeous!
Ali

Diana said...

Wow.. You did a great job on the bag!!

small forest said...

beautiful workmanship! sooooo inspiring.

Bird Bath said...

this is so pretty. those dainty flowers are perfectly captured in the embroidery. I love the fabric you picked and most of all the phrase.

Rosalind said...

ummm BEAUTIFUL!! Love those embroidery 'sketches' of the flowers - very clever :-)

Shipra Panosian said...

oh I like this so much! A perfect little thing of beauty.

Jana said...

This is lovely and I'm sure you will treasure all those memories. My oldest heads off to college in 3 weeks. It happens fast.
Love Jana

Nell said...

They're so beautiful - you've captured them amazingly! xx