me + my boys: Can you believe this peach isn't real...?! 🍑

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Can you believe this peach isn't real...?! 🍑

Hey Britta,

We hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend and are ready for another week! Here's what's happening at Clever Poppy this week.

In today's email:

On the Blog: An easy guide on how to choose the right embroidery fabric
Beautiful Bunny Blooms embellished quilt
A juicy peach transformed into art
Some helpful advice for next time the kids won't listen to you
Shop Highlight: Elovell Hoop Packs
In my world: Easter weekend drama

On the Blog... A Beginner Guide to the Best Modern Embroidery Fabric

I know that when you are just starting out with embroidery, it can be hard to know what type of fabric to use. And it's so much more enjoyable learning to stitch when you have the right type of fabric! It can also make such a big difference to the overall appearance of your finished piece.

In this blog article, I have done a breakdown of all of the different types of fabric available. I have included my thoughts on which ones are best to use, as well as fabrics that are best avoided. I hope this helps you on your embroidery journey, and happy stitching!

GO TO THE BLOG

What have our Makers been up to?

We absolutely love seeing members combine other types of craft with embroidery. Like this beautiful quilt square for example, shared by one of our newest members - Marlene. She is clearly very talented with quilting already, and has embellished this beautifully with our embroidered 'Bunny Blooms' pattern. How creative!

What's inspiring me on the creative front...

My jaw dropped in disbelief when I saw this incredible piece, by embroidery artist Youmeng Liu (@embroiderycode). Her art style is described as 3D 'Punch needle embroidery' which is based around items of food - like this juicy looking peach. She uses a very fine Punch Needle with embroidery thread to make her subject 'pop' off the fabric. It seems as if you could literally grab the piece of food off the fabric and take a bite! You can check out more of her delicious art over here on her instagram page.

Something helpful...

I'm sure if you're a Mum, you will relate to this reel by parenting coach Adrienne Bishop (@adriennebishopcoaching). It was a really helpful piece of advice, which I plan to use with our kids when asking them to do something. There were also some very interesting views shared in the comments section from other people. You can check out the reel here, let me know what you think!

Shop Highlight...Elovell Hoop Packs

You may have noticed that we are now selling all of our hoops in packs of three, including our plastic Elovell Hoops.

These are great for gripping your fabric and are my personal favourite to stitch in, and they also look lovely on display.

There are two different colour collections these packs are available in:

Laguna (lovely blue-green tones inspired by the ocean) and Sedona (terracotta and blush tones).

Both sets come with 3 different sized hoops - 6 inch, 7 inch and 8 inch. I find it really helpful to have one of each size, so that I have options depending on the size pattern I'm working on.

You can grab your set from our shop here.

Elovell Embroidery Hoops Trio Pack

Buy Now

In my world...

We've just got back from an awesome mini Easter break away, and we hope you had a great time over Easter too!

We were out boating, and for once the weather was way better than forecast, woo hoo! Even though it's well into Autumn now, we spent lots of time swimming, walking and lounging in the sun.

We also had some drama - Harvey managed to hook himself in the finger (again), eeeek! Unlike last time, which involved a trip to the hospital and removal of the hook under anaesthetic, this time it was hook removal on the back of the boat. I felt so sorry for Harvey, and Matt who stepped up to do the job (thank goodness I didn't have to). But Harvey was a total champ! Matt knew how to deal with it and got the job done as fast as he could. Harvey then said with a quivering voice 'I'm never fishing again…today'. And sure enough he was out casting his line again that evening. That kid is completely enamoured with fishing haha. Hopefully it doesn't happen again…

I've also been stitching up a secret pattern this weekend, which I'll share more about with you in the coming weeks. You'll see a sneak peek pic below. I had a great time bringing it to life and can't wait to tell you more…so stay tuned.

Hope you all have a lovely rest of your week.