Make It Simple

Have you ever been afraid to try something new, worked up your nerve and found that the thing you were afraid of wasn't scary or difficult at all? Happens to me all the time so I suspected it happens to others as well. I hosted a craft class this weekend where everything we did was new for the ladies. Well, except for Julie who has done a bit of embroidery on her knitting, but the rest of the tasks were new to everyone. I heard it, I heard "I'm afraid" a few times, but we forged ahead with simple, easy instructions and the results were fabulous.

It was a simple Valentine's Banner in which I had cut out burlap hearts and letter stencils ahead of time. The ladies then stenciled the letters and embroidered small felt hearts for the ends. Each heart was then strung on twine for hanging. Simple.

My girlfriend trying her hand at embroidery.

While you can see Julie's banner here, this picture is actually an excuse to show off her first finished project for the new year. The Owl sweater. Awesome!

Ah, yes, and here we have my sister being assisted by Tim the cat. Crafting time could never be complete without a little help from him.

This one is mine, but I actually left the design of the embroidered hearts to each person's interpretation. There was such creativity in that room. Julie added little floating hearts, Regina added beads and my sister did this beautiful vine with random leaves containing satin stitches. Did I mention the embroidery was new to them? I saw running stitch, lazy daizy, starburst, satin, backstitch, french knot and stem stitch. Perhaps a couple more, but I was delighted with how everyone took to this.

The finished product. Just a little something to add some Valentine Love to our homes. Pretty cool, huh?

Inspiration is from here. The burlap hearts are 6" while the letters and small felt hearts are 3.5". Oh, and if you plan on cutting burlap with an Olfa cutter, also plan on getting a new blade because it will be shot.

Happy crafting!