I am an artist, a writer, a mom and a wife. I have lived, loved and laughed as often as life has allowed. I have created most of my life, not all of it I would call art, but all of it came from my heart. I promise to endeavor to bring you one of a kind, unique creative expressions from my hands to your eyes. May you enjoy perusing through these entries.
Happy day to you, and come back again real soon! Christen Brown
I am happy to announce that my newest set of fast2mark© Embroidery Stencils, the Darling Motif Collection is now out, and ready for you to use on all manner of embroidery projects.
Select, mark and stitch! It’s so easy to embroider accurately with this second collection of four easy-to-use stitch templates featuring over one hundred popular motifs, including garden elements, household items, vintage sewing accessories, the alphabet, and more. Expert instructions and tips in the how-to booklet give you confidence in where and how to make your stitches. Laser-cut into durable, translucent, medium-weight plastic, the stencils are easy to handle and position and create perfect markings every time.
The four-stencil collection includes 100+ easy to mark designs. The stencils are made from durable, translucent medium-weight plastic. The templates are laser-cut, and easy to handle to create perfect markings. They can be found at C&T Publications.
The first stencil includes sewing room motifs such as a dress form, needle, scissors, spool, thimble and pincushion; the other motifs are a teapot, spoon and teacup; a dress, a hanger, a hat, a key and a boot.
The second stencil takes you out to the garden with these motifs: 2 trees, a fence, a bird house, 2 birds, a bird’s nest, a glove and watering can. Also included are a spider and web, a ladybug, a bee and a butterfly.
The third stencil allows your imagination to wonder at the possibilities, with 2 vines, 2 sprigs, 2 stalks, a vase, and a window. These items can be adorned with a pansy, a rose, or a grape bunch; also included are 6 generic shapes for a variety of flowers, and 2 leaves.
The fourth template includes an alphabet and set of numbers that can be used for your labels and written words. This stencil also includes 4 decorative motifs to combine with the templates in the collection. I have also included 3/4”, 1/2”, 3/8” and 1/4” markings that can be used for spacing out your designs.
Here is a sampler of all of the stencils in the in the collection and was used in the booklet included with the stencil set. The booklet explains how to use the stencils, gives you some valuable tips, instructions on how print and enlarge any image, and how to use Wash-Away Stitch Stabilizer© by C&T Publishing.
Each stencil has a few dedicated pages of each template illustrated with embroidery stitches. I have included the directions and illustrations of these 6 popular stitches, to help start you on your creative journey.
May that journey be a long and happy adventure, and may your needles always fly!
~Christen
My special thanks go to thank Colonial Needle Company for providing the Finca perle cotton and needles that were used in the samplers included in the booklet.
Stunning Stitches for Crazy Quilts by Kathy Seaman Shaw
And the winner is Patricia Salada! Thank you all for entering your name and comments on my stop of the blog tour!
Remember that the blog tour is still running from July 8th until July 16th. If you did not win on my post then I encourage you to enter into the contest on the remaining sites.
The details are that each day, a different blog or internet site will feature Stunning Stitches for Crazy Quilts and post about that person’s perspective on the book—PLUS each stop will have a drawing and one lucky person will win an electronic copy of the book.
I would suggest that you visit everyone, including the posts that have already run, you never know what you may learn from this talented group of stitchers!
Happy Stitching ~Christen
Stunning Stitches for Crazy Quilts by Kathy Seaman Shaw
I have the honor and the pleasure of introducing this wonderful new book to you. And the bonus is that you have a chance to win an ebook of this title at the end of the blog tour. So keep reading and peruse to the end of the post for the details!
Kathy approaches her material with a knowledge that goes beyond just the basics. Her writing style is such that the reader feels as if they are a student sitting in front of her in class. Her instructions, her tips, and her organizational skills will give anyone reading this book the confidence to not only easily duplicate the embroidery stitches and the designs, but to then be proud of the work that they have stitched.
The book offers a set of “Stitch Templates” for the reader to make, that will help both a novice and an experienced stitcher with the positioning and spacing for 36 basic stitches. The book also includes easy to follow instructions with drawn illustrations for these stitches.
There is a 14 page gallery section in the middle of the book with a 112 examples of embroidered seams using perle cotton, silk embroidery ribbon, buttons, sequins and beads. Each one of the designs is interesting, unique and beautiful. Then there is a section of 480 illustrated seams, with the stitches listed in the order that they are to be stitched. Priceless for anyone who needs a bit of a boost to their imagination!
Here are four examples of the blanket stitch and the many ways that you can decorate on and around the base of the stitch.
Here are four examples of the chevron stitch, and the many ways that you can decorate on and around the base of the stitch.
Here are four examples of the feather stitch, and the many ways that you can decorate on and around the base of the stitch.
The blog tour will run from July 8th until July 16th. Each day, a different blog or internet site will feature Stunning Stitches for Crazy Quilts and post about that person’s perspective on the book—PLUS each stop will have a drawing and one lucky person will win an electronic copy of the book.
You will need to leave a comment after the post, and then the winner will be emailed with information on how to claim their ebook prize, so be sure to include your email in your comment if you will be replying anonymously. You can enter once a day at each site… so if you don’t win today, then you have five more chances!
I would suggest that you visit everyone, including the posts that have already run, you never know what you may learn from this talented group of stitchers!
Good luck to you and Happy Stitching ~Christen
This is an ensemble I made with some of my favorite buttons. The white buttons in the necklace were from my friend Phred, with the remainder of the buttons primarily celluloid and Bakelite. These are stitched down onto a vintage jacquard ribbon base. The bracelet on the left is made from vintage Czech glass buttons using a bead woven stitch. The bracelet on the right is made from celluloid flower charms, new plastic sunflower buttons, and acrylic leaves connected to a celluloid chain. The vintage clip-on earrings are made from plastic with a little bit of bling. I made the pin in high school, so it too is vintage!
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
When our friends Phred and Tom got married, I was asked to be the flower girl. In this case, it meant that I was making the flowers for the wedding party. Here is a group of my friend Phred’s favorite flower, the daffodil. My husband Kevin gave part of the ceremony, and our daughter Gwen was the video photographer.
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
May your day be filled with everything and everyone that you love!
This is a class that I taught for Joggles. I loved working with all of the different materials, and textures which include cotton fabric, lace, grosgrain ribbon, satin ribbon, felt, crochet streamers, and vintage buttons. The vessel that the flowers are displayed in is made from a cardboard cone that has been covered with mixed media techniques.
One of the flowers that I think is the prettiest is the shabby rose. If you would like to make this flower click here.
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
The bases for these two pillows were made from pieced silk fabric embellished with vintage jacquard ribbons. The embroidery is worked silk ribbon widths of 2mm, 4mm, and 7mm; cotton and silk floss, hand-dyed perle cotton, and silk buttonhole twist. These pillows can be found in the gallery section of my book, Embroidered and Embellished by C&T Publishing.
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
This is a series of classes that I taught on-line for Joggles, Corsages to Dye For I, Corsages to Dye For II, and Corsages to Dye For III. The student learned how to mix colors and dye her own ribbons. The flowers and leaves were made with ribbonwork techniques, and a little bit of embroidery. Many of the techniques can be found in my two ribbonwork books by C&T Publishing.
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
Pretty In Pink
This is an ensemble that I made using a vintage tatted reticule and crochet collar. I used silk ribbon for the flowers and leaves, and added in acrylic flowers and leaves with beaded stitches. This can be found in the gallery section of my book Ribbonwork Flowers by C&T Publishing.
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
This was an on-line class that I taught for Joggles. The base of the bracelet is made from two ribbons that are woven together to make a larger base. The flowers are made from zippers lined with satin ribbon, other flowers are made from satin and vintage lace. Additional embellishments include glass, shell and metal buttons; metal, glass and wood charms; lace appliques and other collected treasures.
Happy Stitching, enjoy~ Christen!
