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

New home office art -- including my finger-knitted wall hanging!

Well, I finished the finger-knitted wall hanging that I blogged about earlier here.  Overall, I'm really happy with it -- flaws and all.  It doesn't look as neat and pretty as Anne Weil's piece on her blog Flax and Twine but I know where I made my mistakes.  It now hangs over a shelving unit on the wall above my desk in my home office.  Actually I'm kind of excited about making another one in specific colors to hang in my guest room.  It's relaxing to finger-knit and I feel much more knowledgeable about making and using the hula hoop loom now.

However, I also just framed a signed print from an artist that I've admired for some time now.  Ray Ferrer, who states that he 'traded his MFA for a spray can' has some of the coolest art I've seen lately. His official website is called Emotion on Canvas and he has an Etsy shop, UrbanWallArt.   How Ray creates his art is one of the most interesting things to read about.   He only recently began offering signed prints for those of us with lighter wallets.  I purchased the print below -- signed by Ray -- and I love it.  People don't always realize who the subject is -- it's Cyndi Lauper.  So, please check out Ray and his sites.  You won't be disappointed.  Oh, and Ray does commissioned work, too.

Cyndi by Ray Ferrer on my office wall.

 

Lilie Green's 10th Anniversary-Stravaganza + First-Ever Giveaway

A blog that I've been following, Lilie Green, is having a 10th anniversary give-away that sounds too good not to share!   The prize is, in Lilie's words, "a bead necklace from my color story collection + a Parisian postcard + delectable French bonbons + any other sparkly notions i can fit in the envelope."

All you have to do to enter is to leave a note in her comment section stating the name of your favorite book and, if you'd like, give a reason(s) why you like it.

Lilie is multi-talented.  Besides her beautiful and often mouth-watering photography, she's also a writer and a jewelry-maker.  Her jewelry is available on Etsy under the name 'enroute.'

She's also quite the traveler and is currently living in Paris.  Ah, life must be very good, indeed!