FanningSparks – Page 34 – A DIY and lifestyle blog authored by Peg Frizzell.

Room With a View

The longer our wings are clipped, the more compelling virtual travel becomes. One great online travel option is a website called WindowSwap (see More Info). WindowSwap invites you to “open a new window somewhere in the world”. With a simple click, you can enjoy the view through someone else’s window. It may be a pleasing view of John’s balcony flower garden in Toronto Canada; Sisir’s view of a quiet residential street in The Hague, Netherlands complete with cyclists whizzing by; Shane’s sparkling view of modern skyscrapers in Dubai Marina, United Arab Emirates; a calming view of Sergey and Anna’s backyard in Moscow, Russia; or a city skyline with mountains in the background from Anna’s window in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It may be sunny, raining or snowing. It may be day, night, morning or evening. There may be pets or wildlife such as deer and birds.

The genius of WindowSwap is the surprise—you never know what you’ll see! The views are randomly displayed—every time you click the button, a different recorded view pops up. People from all over the world share 10-minute videos of their views. It’s all voluntary. The videos are honest and genuine—there are no fancy introductions, no overlays or splashy graphics, no hard sell and no self-promotion. But be warned: WindowSwap is addictive!
WindowSwap brings to mind the views I’ve seen in my past travels. We often seek out places to stay with nice views but it’s always a surprise. Just like opening a new window in WindowSwap, you never know what you’ll see through the hotel room window! Sometimes it’s just a swimming pool or neighboring buildings. But other times, the view becomes a highlight of the stay. I went back through my photo archives and pulled out a few of the more memorable hotel room views from our travels.
Some of the most memorable views have been of famous landmarks. Once while staying in Paris, we had a terrific view of the Eiffel Tower. The colorful evening sky and the brilliant crescent moon made this view unforgettable.
Our hotel was in the Montmartre district close to the beautiful Sacré-Coeur Basilica.

The views were beautiful in every direction—even the rooftops were lovely.

A stay in Barcelona was also marked with memorable views of a famous landmark. My Airbnb apartment was located directly across the street from the Basílica of the Sagrada Família.

The close proximity brought the astonishing details of the Sagrada Família’s facade to life.

The Sagrada Família was designed by Antoni Gaudí in 1882 and has been under construction ever since. The main activity, at the time I visited, was on the tower of the Virgin Mary over the Temple apse.

During a visit to Naples, we found a place to stay directly on the Neapolitan waterfront overlooking the Castel dell’Ovo.

We had a bird’s-eye view of all the action. Here a couple of fishermen maneuver their rowboat around the castle walls.
Despite the cool wintertime temperatures, there were lots of people strolling along the Via Partenope enjoying Naples’ seaport.
There were many beautiful views on that trip to Italy. We rented a car and drove along the magnificent Amalfi Coast. We spent a couple of nights in the small, scenic town of Ravello which is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town was magical and the views were spectacular. This was the view from our hotel room balcony.

The view was stunning throughout the day and night. This is the Amalfi Coast at sunrise.
Here’s the same view at night.

We visited the Lake Como area, in northern Italy, on a different trip. This is Lake Como from our room in Bellagio, Italy.

There’s no doubt Italy is a beautiful country but it’s not the only place we visited with outstanding natural beauty. This was the view from our room in Connemara, Ireland.

Fifty acres of beautiful flower gardens and natural woodlands surround the country house hotel where we stayed. Cashel Bay can be seen in the distance.

Closer to home, we enjoyed a view of the magnificent Blue Ridge Mountains while staying in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

That brings me full circle—back home to Georgia and our beautiful views of Lake Oconee. Sunrise over the lake is always beautiful but some conditions, such as a drastic temperature change, saturate the color and heighten the drama.

Watching the sky change from the dark, moody blue of first light to the golden tones of the morning sky never grows old. I have captured this beautiful scene in numerous still photos but thought it would be fun to capture it on video as well. Recently, the unpredictable temperatures of early January provided the perfect opportunity. I’m excited to be able to share this video with WindowSwap viewers.
Sharing your own window view on WindowSwap couldn’t be simpler. As instructed: “Record a 10 minute, horizontal HD video of your view with part of your window frame in the shot.” Then use the “Submit Your Window” option to upload your video. The WindowSwap folks will notify you when the video is posted. Here’s how our view of the Lake Oconee sunrise looks in accordance with the WindowSwap instructions.

If all goes according to plan, my video of the Lake Oconee sunrise will be included in the WindowSwap random rotation and viewers around the world will be able to enjoy this magical view.

More Info

You can find WindowSwap at www.window-swap.com. Why not give it a try? WindowSwap is also on Instagram. I appreciate that WindowSwap doesn’t run advertisements on their site because I can spend all my time enjoying the splendid views and not filtering through annoying ads. WindowSwap does provide a means for viewers to support the project. As they point out “…if you love window swap, please help us keep it alive. Buy us a coffee for one time support.”
The following list, to borrow a phrase from the WindowSwap folks, is for my fellow “travel hungry fools”. These are the hotels that afforded the beautiful views shared in this post:
Paris: Hotel Rochechouart Boulevard de Rochechouart, Paris (Note: This hotel seems to have undergone significant changes since we stayed there many years ago.)
Barcelona: Airbnb apartment— look for “Sagrada Familia! Elevator! Wi-Fi!” in Barcelona
Naples: Hotel Royal Continental Via Partenope, Naples, Italy
Ravello: Hotel Graal Via della Repubblica, Ravello, Italy
Bellagio: Hotel Metropole Bellagio, Bellagio, Province of Como, Italy
Connemara: Cashel House Hotel in Connemara, Co. Galway, Ireland
Blowing Rock: Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA

Today’s Takeaways

1. Consider travelling virtually as an alternative to physical travel.
2. Online offerings, such as WindowSwap, provide a great way to explore the world.
3. Take a minute to appreciate the view out of your own window.

Fiber How Tos Make

Kindred Spirits Tote Bag

After noodling it over, I decided to use my new Kindred Spirits fabric to make a tote bag. I shared this fabric, designed by the talented Gaia Marfurt, in my last post The Perfect Reminder of Green Gables. Now I can carry my memories of Prince Edward Island with me whenever I head to the store or take a road trip.

I took my time to design this new tote bag—considering several options and trying some new ideas. I learned a few things along the way that I’d like to share today.
Storage Needs
It might sound like overkill but I started by analyzing my needs. After all, if I’m going to make my own tote bag, it might as well be tailored to my needs and preferences. It was helpful to compare to other tote bags. For instance, pictured below is my old go-to tote bag. I purchased it in Singapore many years ago and have been using it ever since.

There are several things I like about my old tote bag—the unusual design and color, the format and size, and the sturdiness. But there are a few aspects that could be better. This bag is 13” tall x 12 ½“ wide x 7” deep. It holds everything I want to put in it including my laptop and camera. But the generous size has become a problem because there’s no way to organize my stuff—everything gets jumbled up into one big mess. There’s also no protection for my laptop and camera.
As a result, my new Kindred Spirits Tote Bag has lots of pockets and dividers. It is 17” tall x 13” wide x 6 ½“ deep. There are 4 small outside pockets to hold things I access frequently such as my phone and face mask.

On the inside, there are 2 dividing panels to secure things like my laptop. There are 2 small pockets on the inside of the front and back panels. There’s a strap designed to hold a water bottle and a clip to hold keys or a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

Sturdy Structure
Making a tote bag isn’t difficult. There are several online tutorials available from excellent resources such as Spoonflower and Sew4Home (see More Info below). Most simple tote bags, like the one pictured below, are made by stitching together 2 flat panels with box corners to create the bottom.

For the Kindred Spirits Tote Bag, I cut the sides and bottom as separate pieces to form a distinct box-like shape. This design, along with some special products I’ll describe below, makes the tote bag sturdy enough to stand up independently. It’s so much easier to store and remove items when the tote bag doesn’t collapse or flop over.
The handles are also sturdier than most and easy to grasp. I like the versatility of carrying my bag down in my hand or up over my shoulder. This means the handles have to be just the right length—long enough to slip over my shoulder comfortably but short enough to keep the bag off the ground when carried at my side. In this case, that meant making the straps 20 ½” from one connection point to the other.
Materials Used
Knowing I wanted to feature Gaia Marfurt’s Kindred Spirits fabric on this tote bag, I ordered extra yardage. The extra fabric allowed me to position the pattern with a full repeat at the center of both the front and back panels.

The fabric, ordered from Spoonflower, is a lightweight cotton twill. It is a good sturdy fabric but I decided to add some vinyl for increased durability. The vinyl is dark brown and embossed with a pretty floral design. The lining is made with a beige duck canvas fabric, a heavyweight woven 100% cotton utility fabric. The handles are made with webbing covered with vinyl.

Here’s a list of the pieces I cut for this project (½“ seam allowances are included):
Main Fabric – Kindred Spirits Cotton Twill:
. Body Front and Back: TWO 17” tall x 13” wide
. Inside Pockets: TWO 7” tall x 9” wide
Trim Fabric – Brown Embossed Vinyl:
. Outside Pockets: TWO 7” tall x 13” wide
. Sides: TWO 17” tall x 6½ ” deep
. Bottom: ONE 13” wide x 6½ ” deep
. Handles: FOUR 25” long x 1” wide
Lining Fabric – Beige Duck Canvas Fabric:
. Body Front and Back: TWO 17” tall x 13” wide
. Sides and Bottom: ONE 47” long x 6½” deep
. Divider Panels: FOUR 13” tall x 13½” wide
. Inside Pockets: TWO 7 tall x 9” wide
. Water Bottle Strap: 8½” long x 4” wide
Fusible Foam
. Body Front and Back: TWO 16” tall x 12” wide
Webbing – 1” Wide
. Handles: TWO 25” long
Plastic Canvas
. Bottom: ONE 13” wide by 6½” deep
Fusible Foam and Plastic Canvas
I’d never heard of fusible foam before making this project. It’s very helpful for reinforcing fabric without making it stiff and hard. The specific product I used is Flex-Foam 1-Sided Fusible Stabilizer from Pellon. The foam is a mere 5mm thick and is available off the roll. A hot iron is used to fuse the thin layer of foam to the fabric. Of course, the fusible foam can’t be used on vinyl. I tried a test and the heat of the iron definitely ruined the vinyl.
The fusible foam is pictured below. It’s difficult to see the thickness so I rolled up a scrap piece to show it from the side.

The foam is light but bulky so it’s best to keep it out of the seams. Here are a couple of tricks I learned for working with fusible foam:
a) Cut the foam so it fits inside the seam allowance of the fabric to be fused. For instance, my side panels are 17” x 13” including ½“ seam allowances. I cut my foam 16” x 12” and centered it on the fabric. I should have been a little more precise with this trimming because a sliver of foam ended up inside the seam around the top edge. It wasn’t much but it made that seam bulkier than it needed to be.
b) After fusing the foam to the fabric, use scissors, cutting at an angle, to carefully trim off the top edges of the foam. This smooths out the transition between the flat fabric and the fused-foam fabric.

There is one downside to this fusible foam. Using a hot iron and damp press cloth to fuse the foam to the fabric resulted in a nice, smooth finish. But then I discovered the smooth finish can easily be compromised if you manipulate the fused fabric. At least, that was my experience when turning my tote bag right side out. Next time, I’ll take more care and handle the fused fabric gently.
The other product I learned about during the course of this project is plastic canvas. Plastic canvas, which is a flat sheet of gridded mesh, has been around for some time. It is often used with yarn to make small decorative items such as coasters and ornaments. Turns out, it’s also great for adding structure to fabric. I cut a piece to fit the bottom of the tote bag and inserted it between the lining and featured fabric. The plastic canvas is light and, just like the fusible foam, it adds structure without making it too rigid.
Versatile Closure
Typically, I leave the top of my tote bag open. There are times, however, when I’d like the option to close it securely. I tried solving this concern on my old tote bag by sewing short strips of hook-and-loop tape (aka Velcro) to the top edges. But that didn’t work because things caught on the hook tape. So this time, I added hook-and-loop tape to the top edges and covered the tape with little flaps. Here’s how it looks with the hook-and-loop tape closing the tote bag.

Sewing the Top Edge
I started by making two sections: the main body and the lining. These sections are joined, along the top edge, around the opening of the tote bag. Originally, I planned to sew that seam using bias tape—in the same way as the vinyl straps and outside pockets (as shown below).

Unfortunately, my plan didn’t take the handles into account. The handles were already sewn in place along the top edge of the lining. I quickly discovered there was no way to get a smooth, professional finish with the handles interrupting the bias tape. My plan to cover the top edge with bias tape was a fail! So I had to get out my seam ripper and rework the plan.
After removing the stitching, I was back to two separate sections—the main body and the lining. Plan B was to turn the two sections inside out before stitching them together. I ripped out one of the seams along the bottom edge of the lining for turning. The handles also had to be reworked. I removed the handles and re-positioned then for this new approach. It took a while to figure out the straps should be placed as shown below.

Then I turned the main body and the lining sections inside out. I tucked one inside the other and sewed them together along the top edge. Finally, I turned it all right side out by pulling everything through the opening at the bottom of the lining. Thankfully, this worked much better.
Here’s how my Kindred Spirits Tote Bag turned out.

More Info

Check out the FanningSparks’ post, The Perfect Reminder of Green Gables, to learn more about the Kindred Spirits design and designer Gaia Marfurt.
Spoonflower offers on-demand digital printing of fabric and wallpaper. They’ve created an impressive, online, global marketplace to connect makers with artists worldwide. You can find instructions for Spoonflower’s Perfect Everyday Tote Bag here.
The Sew4Home blog has a wealth of sewing projects and information. See the Projects > Bags > Totes section for lots of inspiration.
You can learn more about Pellon’s Flex-Foam 1-Sided Fusible Stabilizer on their website.

Today’s Takeaways

1. Handmade items can be tailored to your specific needs and preferences.
2. Check out new products, or re-consider known products, for use on your next project.
3. Sometimes trial and error produces the best results!

Canada Make PEI Photos Travel

The Perfect Reminder of Green Gables

A recent Instagram post by Italian designer, Gaia Marfurt, caught my eye. It was her new pattern design, called “Kindred Spirits”, featuring Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. Gaia is a talented freelance illustrator and pattern designer. Her designs are elaborate, complex and beautiful—and packed with charming details.

What a serendipitous discovery! This sweet design struck a chord with me. Not only does it honor one of my favorite fictional characters but it reminds me of a recent visit to Prince Edward Island. Regular readers may recall that my husband is from “the Island” and we were in Eastern Canada to see close family members last fall. While there, we had a chance to see a little of the Island. It’s uncanny how many of the elements featured in Gaia’s design remind me of places I visited.
Take the lighthouse for instance. Pictured below is the Rustico Harbour Lighthouse with a snippet from Gaia’s design.

Other examples, shown below, are the fishing boats and the colorful fishing village of North Rustico.

A visit to the Island wouldn’t be complete without admiring her signature red sandstone cliffs.

At the heart of it all is Green Gables, a 19th century farmstead and literary landmark. Notice the quote carved in the fence “It’s delightful when your imaginations come true, isn’t it?” That is 100% Anne Shirley or, more accurately, 100% Lucy Maud Montgomery who created the legendary heroine.

As explained at the L.M. Montgomery Cavendish National Historic Site of Canada visitor center, “This farmstead… once belonged to Montgomery’s cousins, David and Margaret Macneill… Montgomery never lived here, but she often visited throughout her life. The farm inspired the fictional Green Gables and became a literary landmark.”

The inside of the farmhouse is well worth a visit. It has been furnished to reflect how Green Gables was depicted in Montgomery’s novels. Here are a few vignettes I captured.

The star attraction is Anne’s bedroom in the east gable. In Montgomery’s story, Anne rushes to open the window on her first morning at Green Gables. “Anne dropped on her knees and gazed out into the June morning, her eyes glistening with delight. Oh, wasn’t it beautiful? Wasn’t it a lovely place? Suppose she wasn’t really going to stay here! She would imagine she was. There was scope for imagination here.”

When Anne’s foster mother, Marilla joins her, Anne gushes over the view. “Oh isn’t it wonderful” … the garden and the orchard and the brook and the woods, the whole dear world. Don’t you feel as if you just loved the world on a morning like this? And I can hear the brook laughing all the way up here. Have you ever noticed what cheerful things brooks are? They’re always laughing.”
The bridge pictured below crosses a “laughing brook” at the bottom of the slope below the east gable window. The path leads to a pretty, spruce grove, that Anne dubbed the “Haunted Woods”.

A visitor center exhibit explains: “No place of natural beauty inspired Montgomery more than the wooded path she named Lover’s Lane. Montgomery discovered the tree-arched lane when she was 12 years old. It became a sanctuary for her. At every stage of her life, she walked the curving, red path to find solace and inspiration. She took dozens of photographs of it over the years, more than of any other place, and she paid tribute to it in her poetry, non-fiction and fiction. Montgomery immortalized Lover’s Lane in Anne of Green Gables as one of Anne Shirley’s most beloved places.” Lover’s Lane, pictured below, is indeed a magical place.

It’s heartening to know the places Montgomery described so lovingly have been preserved for all to enjoy.

More Info

To see more of Gaia Marfurt’s beautiful designs, check out her website or Instagram account. Many of Gaia’s designs are available via her Spoonflower shop which is where I first came across her work. I purchased a piece of fabric with the Kindred Spirits design and have been pondering how best to use it. I plan to share the results soon.
Update Jan 26, 2021: After noodling it over, I decided to use my new Kindred Spirits fabric to make a tote bag. See the results at Kindred Spirits Tote Bag. Now I can carry my memories of Prince Edward Island with me whenever I head to the store or take a road trip!
For more FanningSparks’ stories and photos about Prince Edward Island, Canada, see Shutter Therapy in North Rustico and Beacons of Light.
For information about visiting Green Gables, see Parks Canada Green Gables Heritage Place or Tourism PEI All Things Anne.
For information about visiting Prince Edward Island, Canada, see the Tourism PEI website.

Today’s Takeaways

1. You never know when one of your favorite artists will create a design that strikes a chord with you.
2. Consider seeking inspiration from the locations and situations that inspired others.
3. Never doubt the joy of serendipity.

Fiber Make Photos Tutorials

Hello Marvelous Photo Embroidery – DIY Tutorial

Embellishing a printed photo with hand stitching can enhance the image with texture and depth. Paper stitching and photo embroidery has been trending on blogs and Pinterest. I’ve been on a roll lately embroidering messages on my own favorite shots. It’s a fun way to add punch and impact.
My latest piece is a photo of a beautiful magnolia blossom. I was inspired to embroider the words “Hello Marvelous” after coming across this quote by Aristotle “In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.”

The photo is further enhanced with stitching along the flowing lines of the petals.

The possibilities for embroidering photos are endless. Regular readers may recognize this technique from my previous holiday greetings and “word for the year” posts. In the example below, I chose to embellish a stunning morning sunrise with the word “Savor” and 3 narrow columns of color-matched stripes.

The columns started as carefully positioned vertical lines on a template. After transferring the design to the photo, I stitched each stripe in embroidery floss to match the surrounding color. Here’s a closer look.

This next example shows a pretty photo of a camellia covered in snow. The photo is embroidered with the words “Joyous Greetings” and further embellished with beading and lines of stitching.

Small seed beads add a surprising amount of texture and interest. I used clear seed beads to outline the flower petals and white seed beads to call attention to the edge of the snow.

The beacons of light emitting from the lighthouse, in the photo below, were embroidered with variegated pearl cotton thread. The stitching adds depth and drama.

While these examples have a similar style, there are as many different ways to apply this technique as there are artists. Check out my Paper Stitching inspiration board on Pinterest for over 300 ideas.
Here’s another idea from a cool vintage post card that I scored at a flea market in Madrid, Spain. The bullfighter’s costume has been completely covered with spectacular embroidery. The stitches are tiny and appear to be executed with single strands of thread.

Whether you’d like to stitch a word or embellish a bullfighter’s costume, the following tutorial will walk you through the steps for embroidering a photo.
Hello Marvelous Embroidered Photo – DIY Tutorial
Very few supplies and tools are needed for a photo embroidery project. Basic design and hand sewing skills are involved. This project can be completed in a few hours but the actual working time will depend on the complexity of your design. You may also need to factor in wait time for procuring a printed photo.
Supplies Needed
. Printed Photograph 8” x 10” photo on heavy matte paper. See Step 1 for tips on selecting an image and Step 2 for tips on ordering a print.
. Thread There are many options including Embroidery Floss and Pearl Cotton. I chose DMC embroidery floss, in 3 different colors, for the stitching on the Hello Marvelous piece. The stitches are done with only 2 (of the standard 6) strands.
. Accents (Optional) Beads, sequins and other accents can be added. I did not add accents on the Hello Marvelous piece.
. Cardstock 2-3 sheets in white.
. Printer Paper
. Cardboard Guide   A small strip (2 ½” x 2mm) of thin cardboard such as a manila folder.
. Piercing Mat Make a padded mat from two layers of craft foam sheets. Mine is ¼“ thick and measures 5 ½“ x 8“.
. Scotch Tape
Tools and Equipment Needed
. Photo Editing Software or App Any software that allows you to import a photo and overlay text in different fonts and sizes will suffice. I simply use Microsoft Powerpoint.
. Printer
. Marker/Pen Fine tip marker or pen with colored ink. I prefer red ink.
. Piercing Tool   Specialty tools are available for this purpose. Search for “embroidery on paper tool”, “perforating tool” or “paper piercing”. Alternatively, you could use a sharp-tipped needle for piercing the paper.
. Needle Choose the slimmest needle that will hold your chosen thread.
. Scissors
. Soft Cloth A piece of felt, or other soft cloth, slightly larger in size than the photo to lay on your working surface.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1   Select Image Choose the photo you wish to embellish. I’ve found images with interesting, but simple, lines work best. Ensure there is sufficient blank space to add any text. You may wish to test a few ideas with your photo editing software or app. Here’s a peek at my experimentation for the Hello Marvelous piece. I started with the full quote but then realized it would be too small to embroider. In the final design, the photo is 8” x 10” and the letters are about 1½“ high.

Step 2 Order Print(s) This technique can be applied to any size print but I prefer 8”x10” enlargements. I recommend having your selected image professionally printed on heavy matte paper. I’ve had great results with SnapBox professional printing services (see More Info section below). Their prints are high quality with sharp images and rich colors. Their matte photo prints “feature a soft textured surface similar to traditional watercolor and etching paper”. This thickness is ideal for stitching. I’ve tried standard glossy prints from my local drugstore but found the paper tears and creases easily. The heavier matte paper provides a better base for the stitching and results in a more polished and professional result.
Tip: Keep an eye out for special prices on SnapBox. I recently caught a 50% off sale that made my order very affordable.
Step 3 Create Design   Finalize the design for your piece. As noted above, you can find over 300 ideas on my Paper Stitching inspiration board on Pinterest. Your design can be as simple or as complex as you like. I chose to stitch the words “Hello Marvelous”, using Darleston text font in 138 point size, in an outline stitch. I also emphasized some of the curved flower petals with an outline stitch.
Choose a font style for any lettering you wish to add. If this is your first photo embroidery project, I recommend choosing a large, simple font with few flourishes. Another factor to consider is how the font will translate into stitching. It’s difficult to vary the thickness of a stroke when stitching on paper so the letters will become a single thin line of stitching. You’ll also need to determine the font size and overall placement on the photo.
Select embroidery stitches and threads for your design. Pictured below are a few examples calling out the font, font size, embroidery stitch and threads used in each.

Design any additional lines or elements to be stitched. Stitching that follows lines of the photo, such as the edges of the magnolia petals, do not need to be shown on your template. But all elements you wish to add, such as the beacons on the lighthouse photo shown earlier, should be included.
Print your photo and design on cardstock paper. Try different stitches. Try different threads—varying the colors and the number of strands. Refine your design accordingly.
After you’ve finalized the design, use your photo editing software or app to create the template. Copy your design and then remove the photo. Set the color of lettering and design elements to light grey. You can see how my template looked at this stage in the photo shown in Step 1 above.
Print template on plain white printer paper. It should match the size of the photo you will embroider.
Step 4 Prepare Template The next step is to mark where the holes will be placed. Use a fine tip marker or pen with colored ink—red works well. Make a small dot for every hole following these steps:
… Mark dots at the ends of every line.
… Mark dots at all intersections where lines cross.
… For curved lines, mark dots at the apex (or mid-point) of every curve. Do this on both concave curves (aka valleys) and convex curves (aka mountains).

… Mark dots, evenly spaced, along all remaining lines. Space dots about 2mm apart. I cut a 2 ½” strip of 2mm-wide thin cardboard to use as a guide. Don’t mark dots too close together as the paper will tear when stitched.

Step 5 Pierce Photo   Prepare to pierce your printed photo. Cover your working surface with a piece of soft cloth to protect the surface of your photo.
Lay your printed photo on the soft cloth. Carefully position the template over the photo ensuring the design is placed correctly. Hold the photo and template in place by wrapping a few small pieces of tape over the edges.
Insert a piercing mat under the photo. As noted earlier in the Supplies Needed section, you can make a piercing mat from two layers of craft foam sheets. Mine is ¼“ thick and measures 5 ½“ x 8“.
Use a piercing tool, or sharp-tipped needle, to pierce the printed photo at every red dot. Hold the piercing tool at a right angle to the surface of the paper. Ensure the tip of the piercing tool is centered on the design line and positioned on the red dot. Push through each dot firmly.

After piercing all the holes, carefully pick up the template and photo. Hold up to the light to verify that all holes have been punched.
TIP: Ensure your needle, threaded with the fiber you plan to use, will glide smoothly through the pierced holes. If you have to force the threaded needle through or pulling it through makes the holes bigger, the holes are too small. Correct this situation by pulling the threaded needle through all the holes before you start stitching.
Remove the template.
Carefully pierce any lines of the photo which you plan to stitch such as the edges of the flower petals on my Hello Marvelous piece. Follow the same sequence as you did in Step 4 when preparing the template—start with the ends of lines, then pierce intersection points and curve apexes, and finish with evenly spaced holes on the remaining lines.
Step 6 Stitch Photo   Prepare to embroider the first line. If using 6-strand embroidery floss, remember to pull out the desired number of strands. I’ve found 2 strands works best for intricate designs. Instead of knotting the end of your thread as you would when working with fabric, tape the end of the thread to the back of the photo with a small piece of scotch tape. Do the same with all other thread ends.
As noted earlier, I chose to use an outline stitch (aka stem stitch) for the words and lines in the Hello Marvelous piece. Here are instructions for the stem stitch from the Gathered.How website (see More Info section below).
“Come up from the back at point 1, then go down at point 2. Before pulling the stitch close to the fabric, come up at point 3 with the loose thread below the needle. Pull the thread taut, then repeat.”

Here are a few additional pointers for working with printed photos:
… Be gentle. It’s easy to rip the photo paper by pulling too hard. When pulling the thread taut, gently pull it through the paper and snuggle it up to surface.
… As noted in the Gathered.How instructions, “Before pulling the stitch close to the fabric, come up at point 3 with the loose thread below the needle.” Holding the loose thread BELOW the needle works great for straight lines and concave curves (aka valleys). But for convex curves (aka mountains), I find it’s better to hold the loose thread ABOVE the needle before pulling the stitch close.
I think of the loose thread as a loop and remind myself to “hold the loop outside the curve”. This helps keep the stitching line aligned with the design line. It may be necessary to switch the loop from side to side within a single stretch especially on letters.

… Check the stitching of each line when you reach the end. If there any spots where the stitching doesn’t align with the design line (as shown on the left of the photo below), go back and correct by taking a small stitch over the stitching line. This is often necessary at corners and sharp curves. Find the hole at the center of the misalignment. Bring the needle, from the back to the front, through the selected hole along one side of the stitched line. Gently pull the thread to the front and snug to the paper. Push the needle, from the front to the back, through the SAME hole on the other side of the stitched line. Gently pull the thread to the back of the paper forcing the stitched line into alignment.

… If you accidentally tear the paper between holes, remove the stitch and repair the rip with a small piece of tape on the back of the photo. Re-stitch pulling the needle through the tape.
Continue to embroider your printed photo until all the design lines have been stitched. Tidy up any areas that need it. Then step back and admire your embroidered photo!

More Info

Check out my Paper Stitching inspiration board on Pinterest for over 300 ideas.
SnapBox offers a suite of professional photo products. Check out the SnapBox website.
Gathered.How, publishers of Mollie Makes and other fine craft magazines, provides instructions in their Library of Embroidery Stitches for Beginners.
Previous FanningSparks’ posts featuring embroidered photos include:
Season’s Greetings 2018
Harmony: My Word for 2019
Joyous Greetings 2019
Savor: My Word for 2020
Happy Holidays 2020
Hope: My Word for 2021

Today’s Takeaways

1. “In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” Aristotle
2. Consider embroidering your favorite photos to add depth and texture.
3. Paper stitching and photo embroidery are growing in popularity.

About Fiber General Make Photos

Hope: My Word for 2021

I’ve chosen “Hope” as my word for the upcoming year. The choice may be obvious given the difficulties 2020 threw at us.
I find comfort in reminding myself that hope is “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment—to cherish a desire with anticipation—to want something to happen or be true”.

I hope—desire and believe—the pandemic will be turned around this year. I hope we’ll be able to gather freely with family and friends. I hope my dear ones and I are safe and healthy. I hope the same for you and yours. I hope we’ll be able to venture away from home—to explore without fear. I hope we’ve all learned from the pandemic and are ready to do our parts for the greater good—to find a better balance between an individualist and collectivist culture and mindset. I hope our world leaders, in government, science and business, have learned from this terrible situation and are ready to take on other pressing global problems like climate change. Obviously, I have high hopes! To keep them top of mind, I’ve hung my high hopes at the center of the inspiration wall in my studio.
This is the third time I’ve started a new year with a “word”. I’ve made a piece of art—in the form of a stitched photograph—for each one. Selecting an appropriate image, creating the design and stitching the photo are all steps in the process that allow me to mull over my chosen word.

Without quite intending to, it seems I’ve started a new New Year’s tradition. “Harmony” was my word for 2019.

I started 2020 with the word “Savor”.

I now look forward to selecting a word for the year. It’s a tradition I plan to continue.

More Info

You may recognize the lighthouse photo from my previous post Beacons of Light. It is the St Andrews (North Point) Lighthouse in St Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada.
Previous posts featuring my word for the year include:
Harmony: My Word for 2019
Savor: My Word for 2020
If you’d like more ideas for embroidering photos, check out my Paper Stitching inspiration board on Pinterest where I’ve pinned over 300 examples.
Jan 16, 2021 Update: Paper stitching is an easy project. Only basic design and hand sewing skills are involved. Check out the post, Hello Marvelous Photo Embroidery – DIY Tutorial, for step-by-step instructions to embroider your own printed photo.

Today’s Takeaways

1. What are your hopes for 2021?
2. Think about selecting a single word to represent your goals for the new year.
3. Consider combining photography and embroidery for an unusual art piece.

About General Make Photos

Top 20 Photos from 2020

“Photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place.” says Elliott Erwitt. As an award-winning professional photographer, Erwitt is known for his candid photos in everyday settings. He goes on to say “I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” If there was ever a time to seek interest in the ordinary, it was this past year. The many challenges and limitations of 2020 kept us at home for months and months.
2020 was indeed a year of finding interest and joy in the ordinary. This became apparent as I reviewed my 2020 photos for this post. The vast majority of my photos were taken close to home—in the everyday setting of our place on beautiful Lake Oconee. Today I share my top 20 personal favorites from 2020—shown in no particular order. Please note this is a photo-rich post so, depending on your internet access, it could take a little time to load.
We had lots of time to garden this past year. The resulting flowers provided countless moments of beauty. Pictured below is a cluster of yellow bearded irises surrounding a bird bath in the morning sunshine.

I don’t know if it’s the gorgeous shades of purple or the graceful rounded forms but I love this simple photo of a purple hydrangea blossom.

The early morning dew looks like perfectly placed jewels on the leaf of a strawberry plant.

As the plants and flowers flourished, birds and insects were drawn in. Here a carpenter bee enjoys the harvest inside the graceful curve of a cosmos bloom.

Judging from the number of shots I took of butterflies, I could dub 2020 as “My Year of the Butterfly”. The sunlight shining through the wings of this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) makes this shot stand out.

Once I started studying butterflies, dragonflies also caught my eye. This is a Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis).

Apparently, what looks like a photo opportunity to me, looks like a meal to the birds. Here a splendid male Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) delivers lunch to his little ones.

This Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) allowed me to get surprisingly close while preparing its nest.

On the other hand, I had to admire this family of Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) from a distance. Here the father fish hawk delivers a fish to the mother and chick.

I spent several hours watching the osprey and was delighted to witness the chick learning to fly. This was one of its early attempts to get airborne.

Domesticated birds are also fun to watch. Here’s a rock star Polish rooster from the free-range chicken flock at a nearby farm.
Timing, as they say, is everything. I couldn’t have asked for better timing when I spotted this rooster leaving the hen house.
Timing was also an important factor in this next photo. The rainbow is beautiful but, for me, it’s the magical lighting on the clouds that makes this shot.

The eerie scene pictured below is a pecan orchard shrouded by early morning fog.

A considerable number of my photos are taken specifically for the blog. I always enjoy the challenge of turning a project idea into the reality of a photo. Sometimes the ideas don’t quite work—often it takes several tries. Occasionally, I get a shot that becomes memorable on its own. A few of my favorite project photos follow.
This shot for the post, Announcing the Floral World Tour Collection, highlights the charming lines of our curvy café chairs.
I made the below trio of sailboats for the post, Sunrise Breakfast Picnic, and was so pleased with the results that I followed up with a tutorial in A Landlubber’s Toy Sailboat – DIY Tutorial.
The boating fun continued with the post Falling Leaves and Floating Boats and the tutorial Simple Folded Boat – DIY Tutorial.

Like everyone else, our wings were clipped in 2020 and travel was seriously curtailed. My husband and I did, however, manage to go to Eastern Canada to see close family members. It was a long drive—stopping only to sleep in hotels with rigorous COVID-19 procedures. We went directly into strict quarantine at our destination. We were only able to venture out after 14 days of isolation and negative COVID-19 test results. But it was worth the effort and worry to see our dear ones.
The beauty of fall in the Canadian Maritimes was a bonus. This shot, taken in Eastern Margaree, Nova Scotia, showcases the vibrant colors of the autumn leaves. A post of favorite photos wouldn’t be complete without a sunrise or sunset—so I have one of each. This is first light at Crowbush Cove on Prince Edward Island.
This is the St Andrews North Point Lighthouse at sunset in St Andrews New Brunswick.

More Info

About half of the photos in today’s post are being shared for the first time, the other half have been shared in previous posts. In addition to the posts already mentioned, you can see more in the following:
. Our Garden Prepares to Leap
. Chasing Butterflies
. 15 Bird Photography Tips Starring the Osprey
. Crowing and Clucking in the Barnyard
. In Pursuit of Sea Glass
. Beacons of Light
You may also enjoy my Top 19 Photos from 2019.

Today’s Takeaways

“Photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Elliott Erwitt

Room With a View

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

Kindred Spirits Tote Bag

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

The Perfect Reminder of Green Gables

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

Hello Marvelous Photo Embroidery – DIY Tutorial

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

Hope: My Word for 2021

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

Top 20 Photos from 2020

More Info

Today’s Takeaways

FanningSparks Appliqued Scoodie

Stepback into a Local Hidden Gem

Make & Give Roundup 2024

Historic Carousels: Works of Art in Motion

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four

What’s in a Name?