You're a Star

Today's piece is inspired by two things: an unexpected tiny piece of art and something I look at everyday.

Earlier this week, I received a tiny cupcake painting in the mail from my friend Emily (Hazel's mom). The artist behind TinyArt2Share started making tiny art after her sister was diagnosed with cancer. Sending little pictures to her sister helped while she was undergoing treatment. You pick a painting and you keep one for yourself and send one to a friend. It's adorable and I love my little painting. I think of Emily when I look at it. The other inspiration is something called a Becky Box. Becky Boxes are not, to my knowledge, something you can buy. There's a performer in New Orleans named Becky Allen and Becky made these for her friends and family. I worked for the same production company as Becky, so I know her, but we never worked together. Anyway, I happened to receive a Becky Box from someone and it's one of my favorite things.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do after this 365 project is over. I'm doing another 365 project, but it'll be a little different than this one. I'll actually have time to work on other projects next year! A lot of what I've created this year can be reproduced or used in different formats, and I really liked making embroidery works with other materials like I did in August. I also love working in smaller scale, so making these little embroidery pieces makes me happy. Today's piece is my first attempt at making my version of a Becky Box. I really loved making this piece, I originally planned to stitch a phrase under the smaller heart, but decided to use the star rhinestone instead. This one is called "You're a Star." 

Original text - now a star

Painting phases

Couching stitching and star

I ended up making the smaller heart twice; the first one didn't hold up as well.

Details:
Stitches: whipped back stitch, couching stitch, straight stitch
Thread palette: DMC C915 (2, 6 strands), C550 (6 strands), 915 (2 strands)
Other materials: fabric paint (African violet, pixie pink), Loops & Threads superfine "woolike" yarn #10 (purple), sequins, star rhinestone