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Earth Week April 2024: Day Seven

Apr28

Today is Day Seven of celebrating Earth Day, which I will be doing for the entire week! I hope to provide ideas and useful tips showing you how to use items that would either have been thrown out, dumped off at the thrift-store, or are just perhaps forgotten.

Birds Nest Tutorial: Today I want to share one of my delights, which is turning the tiniest of fabric scraps and thread ends into a nest, and filling it with a mommy (or daddy) bird and their eggs. I created this little group to thank all of the people at C&T Publishing who have worked on my books. They are all so special, and I am grateful to each and everyone of them. If you would like to learn how to make the nest, the bird, and the eggs download the tutorial.

Here are some classes that show you how you can use up scraps, tiny bits, and left-overs.

Here are some other tips to live by:

  • Reduce your carbon footprint: travel less, use electric vehicles, or use public transportation.
  • Keep your home more energy efficient: buy energy efficient appliances, utilize solar, insulate your home to keep the heat in, and out.
  • Plant a tree, donate to the Arbor Tree Foundation, or to your local conservation group.

Happy Earth Week, be kind to her, she is the only one we have. Thank you for your time this week!~Christen

Earth Week April 2024: Day Six

Apr27

Today is Day Six of celebrating Earth Day, which I will be doing for the entire week! I hope to provide ideas and useful tips showing you how to use items that would either have been thrown out, dumped off at the thrift-store, or are just perhaps forgotten.

Today I want to share some ideas on how you can use up scraps, tiny bits, and left-overs. These “Stash Projects” are all great small, non-daunting projects that can be completed in a few hours, or over a weekend. They make great gifts for your “crafty and creative” friends, and can be customized to their own unique style. You can find all of the directions in my book, Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old With the New.

  1. Scrap Pins: This hand-sewn project starts with a piece of ribbon or fabric, which is stitched with tiny bits of lace and ribbons, then adorned with treasured buttons and embellishments.
  2. Treasure Keeper Pocket: This project turns bits or ribbon, lace, and a collection of buttons, into a pocket to keep a secret stash of treasures safe.
  3. Buckle Bookmarks: This fun, simple, project uses scraps of fabric, bits of lace, embroidery stitches, and embellishments to create a bookmark that would surely please all of your “bookish” friends. Who, by the way, are my kind of people!
  1. Lace Collage Brooch or Needle Keep: This elegant, hand-sewn project is created with precious bits of lace, and fabrics, and is embellished with embroidery stitches and buttons. You can create a brooch, turn it into a needle keep, or even an ornament by following the instructions given for the Heart Ornament in the the book.
  2. Heart Ornament or Pin: If you know my work, you know that hearts, hearts, and hearts are my favorite things to make. This hand-sewn heart project uses a bit of fabric, a bit of lace, and lots of buttons, and can be finished in an afternoon.
  3. Scrap Pins: This is another example of the project listed in the previous group, which shows you the variety of design choices your stash could provide.

Here are a few classes that I offer, that use ups those precious bits and pieces.

Here are some other tips to live by:

  • Use gauze gift bags, for storing little precious bits of lace, ribbons, or plastic buttons.
  • Re-purpose gift boxes, or other cardboard boxes to store buttons, beads, and embellishments.
  • Re-use plastic sushi boats to store and organize your embroidery threads while working on a project.

Happy Earth Week, be kind to her, she is the only one we have. ~Christen

Earth Week April 2024: Day Four

Apr25

Today is Day Four of celebrating Earth Day, which I will be doing for the entire week! I hope to provide ideas and useful tips showing you how to use items that would either have been thrown out, dumped off at the thrift-store, or are just perhaps forgotten.

Let’s talk about recycling, Upcycling, and having a rummage through your closets. I also have a great lecture, (with a handout) called Upcycle It with Embellishments that can be found on Creative Spark, that gives you some great pointers!

Labels Purse-front
Labels Purse-back
  1. Labels Purse: This is a fun raw silk purse, that I covered, and I mean covered, in vintage and new sewing labels. Some even came from my dad’s old ties. This is a gallery example in my book, The Embroidery Book.
  2. Labeled Tie: This silk tie belonged to my husband, which he kindly let me commandeer, so that I could stitch on some fun labels, a few of the labels also belonged to my dad.
Old Rose Corsages
Hollywood Rose
Here are some more ideas where I used up some old ties, see Friday’s Favorites: Repurposing Vintage Ties for more ideas on how to recycle old ties.
  1. Old Rose Corsages: The directions for these roses can be found in my class Upcycle It with Embellishments.
  2. Hollywood Rose Brooch and Bracelet: This group is made from a tie that my dad had worn, and the label was Hollywood! Loved the kitsch of it all!
  3. Ribbonwork Tie: This silk tie is adorned with flowers from my book Ribbonwork Gardens and Ribbonwork Flowers.

Here are some other tips to live by:

  • Save when you can, with a purpose.
  • Re-use when you can, with intent.
  • RECYCLE always.

Happy Earth Week, be kind to her, she is the only one we have. ~Christen

Earth Week April 2024: Day Two

Apr23

Today is Day Two of celebrating Earth Day, which I will be doing for the entire week! I hope to provide ideas and useful tips showing you how to use items that would either have been thrown out, dumped off at the thrift-store, or are just perhaps forgotten.

Today is also Tips and Tea on Tuesdays. Tea today is a a sarsaparilla tea, which is new to me. It has a slightly soft, sweet taste that is reminiscent of the old soft drink. Sort of a snappy change, with a twist, that will certainly get me started on today’s post.

Sewing Notions and Button Boxes!

Let’s have a fun little poke through the that stash of discarded buttons, snaps, hooks, eyes, tape measures, and old clothing labels! Surely you will find something in there that you will want to play with.

Ugly Bug Ball!

Ugly Bug Ball! These are samples from my Creative Spark class. These are bugs you will actually love to have hanging around the house, they don’t eat anything, and they use up all of the buttons, beads, and notions, that you have hanging around. The class features six designs each of spiderwebs, spiders, and more of your favorite creepy crawling garden dwellers. Thanks to the digital format of this course, you’ll get up close detailed video instructions.

Vintage Sewing Notions: Is a gallery collection that can be seen in my book Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New). The Needle Keep on the right is a Free Project that can be found on C&T Publishing website.

Create, Sew and, Stitch, and Play, Garland

Create, Sew and, Stitch, and Play, Garland: I created this gallery piece for my book, Creative Stitching, Mixing the Old with the New, by C&T Publishing. To see it in full, check out my post: National Sewing Month: Day 1.

For other ideas check these past Friday’s Favorites posts:

Here are some other tips to live by:

  • Recycle the cardboard packaging left over from the notions and buttons you use.
  • Cover ugly old chipped buttons with fabric, to recycle and create a new look.
  • Place old unusable buttons, charms, and notions in an empty jam jar with a lid, to create a visual collage.

Happy Earth Week, be kind to her, she is the only one we have. ~Christen

Give the Gift of Creativity!

Dec11

You may already know that I am a Creative Spark instructor. What you may not know, is that you can give any of my Creative Spark courses as a gift to one or all of your creative friends. What better gift for an upcoming birthday, anniversary, or a holiday? These courses offer a chance for someone to explore new ideas, techniques and more!

Here is a list of courses on my instructor page: Christen Brown.

  • Hand Embroidery Basics and Beyond, is the ideal course for both the beginner and expert embroiderer on your list. As a bonus, you’ll get a digital copy of my Embroidery Stitching Handy Pocket Guide and instructions on how to make your own embroidered sampler roll to show off all your new hand-embroidery skills and a free crazy quilting pattern!
  • Ugly Bug Ball: An Embroidered Bug Collection, is a fun course for that embroiderer who wants to include a fun group of creepy crawlers that you stitch with buttons, threads, beads and found objects. A PDF Course Handout that includes four of my Stash Project patterns to create for your own. There’s even a small table runner!
  • Upcycle It with Embellishments, is a fun lecture/handout, that explores ways to upcycle your wardrobe and accessories, and turn the old and worn-out into something new and fun. This course includes a 9-page handout to refer to throughout the course. The handout includes instructions for a few projects as well.

The best part of these classes and lectures? The students get to keep all the content indefinitely, it does not expire, and better still, they can take the course at their own pace. Each course includes access to videos, downloads, the Creative Spark private community, and discussion with me, the instructor.

It’s not just an ordinary gift; it’s an experience that sparks inspiration and fuels their creative journey! Interested in a class for yourself? Why not ask someone to buy you a class too?

Find out more about how to gift my course this holiday season: https://creativespark.ctpub.com/pages/gift 

Happy Stitching to you all! ~Christen

Ugly Bug Ball

Sep27

I am happy to announce my newest class for Creative Spark, the Ugly Bug Ball!

If you know my work, then you know that I love to include spiders and webs, buttons, embellishments and more! This new class features six designs each for spiderwebs, spiders, and more of your favorite creepy crawling garden dwellers.

I started with several of the stitches that are included in my book, Creative Embroidery Mixing the Old with the New and then expanded on these to bring a host of creative webs, spiders and bugs to life.

The class features 24 different embroidery motifs that are worked with threads and embellishments including perle cotton, seed beads, sequins, buttons, and other sewing notions you might have lying around the house.

Throughout the class, I show you examples of how I used the stitch designs in my work. I provide basic instructions in the downloadable handout on how you can re-create four of the Stash Projects shown. The class also includes the Creative Embroidery Mixing the Old with the New eBook.

I hope that you come and join me at the Ugly Bug Ball!

Happy Stitching to You! ~Christen

Hand Embroidery Basics and Beyond

Sep15

I am sew excited to announce my new class, Hand Embroidery Basics and Beyond, for Creative Spark, the on-line learning experience for C&T Publishing!

The course begins with an overview of the materials, tools, and techniques you’ll need to know to get started, including how to choose the right needle. Then, you will learn how to expertly work with perle cotton, stranded floss, silk embroidery ribbons, seed beads, buttons, and more to give your project texture, dimension, and personal flair.

There are 22 design exercises that show you how to successfully incorporate stencils and other stitching aids into your embroidered creations. There are detailed demonstrations of over 21 embroidery stitches, and yes both left-hand and right-hand! The course includes the Embroidery Stitching Handy Pocket Guide shown in the photo.

The embroidery stitches are demonstrated in perle cotton, cotton floss, silk embroidery ribbons, and seed beads. I recommend that you also have a set of my Embroidery Stencils the Essential Collection on hand.

What is more I show stitchers how to explore techniques for altering a stitch, and bring clarity to stitch definitions. Aiming to inspire, I will show you a variety of my embroidery samplers, journals, and other ways to document your stitches and projects.

There is also a course handout, and I show you how to create a sampler roll from your stitched squares, and give you details how to create the Crazy-Quilt block.

I hope that I this inspires you to take the Hand Embroidery Basics and Beyond!

Happy Stitching to you! ~Christen

Quilt Festival Long Beach, July 2023

Jul1

I am excited, and happy to announce that I will be presenting at the Quilt Festival Long Beach this year, in the Open Studios section. I will be presenting and demoing on the showroom floor, Saturday, July 8, 2023.

Saltwater Taffy Trimmings

The first demonstration will be on Embellishing with Decorative Trims from 12:00 – 2:00pm. I just created this new piece, that has many examples on how you can use decorative trims in your creative work. I will also have examples from my book, Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New.

Hooped Samplers

The second demonstration will be on Embroidering Within the Lines, from 2:00 – 4:00pm. I will be showing people how to use stencils, and other stitching aids in order to obtain a more consistent stitch. I created Hooped Samplers from the many, many, many, samplers that I stitched while teaching my class The Embroidery Corner, at Beverly’s Fabrics, (sadly and alas, this is not a class that I teach currently). I will have additional samplers, and examples from my book Hand Embroidery Dictionary.

Hope to see you all there!

Happy Stitching to you all ~Christen

Embroidery Extravaganza

Mar25

VIRTUAL LIVE EVENT: Thursday, May 11th, 2023 at 9 am (Pacific Time)

RECORDING: Available May 14th with no expiration

Embroidery Extravaganza!

The Embroidery Extravaganza is an event where artists come together in a live, virtual event where you choose your own stitchin’ fun adventure. In each session, you get to choose from 3 40-minute workshop options to learn about crewel and free-form embroidery, basic embroidery stitches, getting started with the art of modoko (kogin motifs), machine embroidery tips for success, and so much more! After the event, you get lifetime access to recordings of all workshops — that’s over 8 hours of #howto content!

Embrace all things embroidery with 11 embroidery artists and instructors! Embroidery Extravaganza is a live virtual event with skill-building and lecture-styled workshops to put needle and thread to cloth with confidence and creativity.

I am the keynote speaker, and I have a beginning class on Silk Ribbon Embroidery. If you click on this link, you will save $20.00!

Guided by embroidery experts, you’ll learn how to:
● Use luxurious silk ribbons and basic stitches to create one-of-a-kind pieces- ME!
● Discover your personal stitching style and unleash your inner innovative spirit
● Stitch stunning samplers and motifs using the basics of crewel embroidery and free-form embroidery
● Hack your sewing machine to play with machine embroidery
● Choose the best fabrics and colors to make your dream embroidery projects come true
● Learn the art of modoko (kogin motifs) to create beautiful patterns


Let’s talk extras…

  • Get 8 hours of instruction in 4 hours with the magic of technology!
  • You’ll get lifetime access to the event after it wraps for your viewing pleasure
  • During the live event, you’ll be entered to win a HUGE giveaway
  • Get a virtual swag bag when you attend live
    For more information and to save $20 on the event follow my link.

Happy Stitching to you All, and hope to see you at the Embroidery Extravaganza live event! ~Christen