Bowie joins my gallery wall

And now for something completely (well, a little) different...

I had mentioned here awhile back that I had purchased a pattern from an Etsy shop of David Bowie that I wanted to make for myself.  The owner of the shop, Heidi, also has a blog (Hello Speckless) and that's where I first saw her creation here.  I bought the pattern from her Etsy shop here over a year and a half ago before I took the time and patience to create a 'David' for myself.  I've been meaning to post about it but I've been really busy with recording so my postings have taken a backseat.

I hadn't done any type of embroidery since I was in college.  I used to make stuff for my mom because she liked it but that was a long time ago.  In order to create David, I ended up looking up some of the basic embroidery stitches, which helped to jog my memory, and also decided to match my thread colors to Heidi's as closely as possible.  I liked her color scheme.

Weirdly, I finished the embroidery part on a Sunday night.   I showed it to George and he really liked it although he wanted me to add some sparkle to it like Heidi did.  I had decided to go with more of a 'sketch' look.  The following morning was when we heard that David Bowie had died.  We both really liked his music and George had seen him perform live back in the '70s.  I was glad I had made this personal memento.  Here's what it looked like when I first finished the sewing and pressed it:

Finished but not framed.

Heidi, the creator of this pattern had finished her 'David' off in the embroidery frame she used which looked really cool.  I wanted to add mine to a gallery wall that I've started going upstairs to our second floor so I decided to frame it in a more conventional frame.  I thought gold would look good and I ordered a gold painted wood frame from my favorite online frame shop, PictureFrames.com    I have many of their custom made frames and I've never been disappointed by the quality.  I chose this one for my Bowie picture here.   Here is the framed result:

I'm not wild about metal frames so I try to purchase painted or stained wood when possible.  I also ordered non-glare acrylic to cover the work. 

Here it is on the 'gallery wall' where it joins original paintings, signed photos, etc.  The wood in the lower right-hand corner is the handhold for the stairs.  This wall is a work in progress:

It was definitely worth the time and effort to finally get around to making my Bowie tribute.  I'm not ready to do anything else like this anytime soon but I'm very happy with the result.

Thanks for reading! To return to the FICTION WRITERS BLOG HOP on Julie Valerie’s website, click here: http://www.julievalerie.com/fiction-writers-blog-hop-mar-2016

A Two Garage Sale Friday

It seemed like all of the Friday estate sales yesterday were being held in other cities so we decided to check out a couple of large garage sales in Duane's part of town.  It actually worked out pretty well.  The first sale yielded items for Duane and for me.  I bought yarn, some knitting looms, and a packet of a rainbow of colors of embroidery floss.  (I have a project that's been on my list that requires floss.)  Duane found some pretty Bob Mackie dinnerware, some stainless steel cooking utensils and a Michael Kors dust bag for the Michael Kors handbag that she purchased gently used from a thrift shop.  Linda snagged a nice one with a used Dolce & Gabbana bag.  Very soft leather that should polish up nicely if she chooses to do that or use it as is for a casual worn look.

I mentioned that I needed embroidery floss for a project.  This is still a little ways down my list but I bought a pattern to make an embroidery wall hanging of David Bowie from his Ziggy Stardust era.  Here's what the finished product looks like from designer Heidi Hengel-Nieling on her blog Speckless: 

Not your grandma's embroidery!

Heidi also sells the pattern for this project on her Etsy site.  You can purchase this and other items here.  I purchased the pattern a few months ago but finally realized when I came across that package of embroidery thread that it was time to start moving.  I already have a wood 9 inch embroidery hoop I can use.  I'm not sure about learning to make the Shisha mirrored parts but I may as well give it the old college try.  I have to brush up on the different embroidery stitches but, thanks to the Internet, that won't be hard to do.  As for colors, I'll probably stick pretty close to the ones Heidi used.  Who knows what may overtake me when I finally pierce the fabric with my needle.

Below is a pic of the items we all purchased.  As usual, we had treats afterward and caught up on our activities from the past week.  Until next time...
 

Our buys.