Mandala

One of the things that inspired me to try attempt a 365 embroidery project was art journaling. I started Let's Make Art's art journaling subscription last August, and it helped me look at my artistic skills and creativity differently. I wouldn't have started sketching and drawing if I hadn't started art journaling. I've done embroidered versions of doodles I did during various tutorials. The tutorials definitely helped build my artistic confidence.

The second box I got was a mandala themed box (the tutorials are available without a subscription). The box included mandala stencils; I used one of them for today's piece. Mandalas are spiritual symbols associated with Buddhism and Hinduism. They're frequently used in art therapy; the geometric patterns are calming and help with focus. While I'm not a particularly religious or even spiritual person, I love geometric patterns, and I have experienced the calming effect of drawing and painting mandalas. For today's piece, I combined fabric painting and two of my favorite stitches, the chain stitch and French knots. I like the overall look of the piece, but I do wish I had a darker green paint so the outline wasn't as visible. 

As Jesse, the instructor for the art journal tutorials, would say, "I'm not mad about it."

Paint only

Details:
Stitches: chain stitch, back stitch, French knots
Thread palette: DMC 310 (3 strands), SS 602, 404 (3 strands)
Other materials: Fabric Creations Soft fabric paint in sour apple and African violet, Faber-Castell mandala stencils - mine came in an art journal box, but you can buy them on Faber-Castell's website too. This set is sold out on Let's Make Art's website.