What kinds of things did I work on in August?
A new idea for blog posts has arrived! I've wanted to do some sort of semi-frequent wrap-up post for a while as I like the concept and I've also seen other bloggers post this sort of thing (admittedly on a more frequent schedule such as once a week. But let's not get too feisty!) and I think it's a good idea!
So without further adieu, let's see what I worked on over the month of August!
Works in Progress
I touched on quite a few things this past month, including the Lola Crow Haunted Library SAL, Satsuma Street's Animal House SAL and Pretty Little Los Angeles, as well as my own 'Rick Roll', the finishing touches on my copy of 'Store-Bought' and the pangram for 'Kathy'. I also finally hooped a (belated) stitch people gift and finally gave it to the recipient and did work [finally] on stitching up my next embroidery pattern, which I am LOVING, by the way.
I also worked on digital things, too! I designed and began stitching a commissioned wedding stitch people portrait that I'm -admittedly- a bit nervous about completing (I seem to inadvertently push my own boundaries during the design process. LOL!). So far just done the cross-stitching part of it. AKA: The easy bit 😂
I also started streaming again and used the first night's return to work on two patterns digitally. One is going to be a semi-early Christmas gift for the place I go to to do martial arts and the other is an upcoming pattern that will be called "Craft Store"!
Let's have a look!
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The Animal House SAL by Satsuma Street. -
Commissioned stitch people portrait wedding piece. -
The Haunted Library by Lola Crow. -
Unnamed embroidery piece is underway! -
Pretty Little Los Angeles by Satsuma Street. -
I had no end of trouble stitching my Rick Roll pattern.
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My custom portrait pattern! The man on the very right is a custom pose design! -
Work-in-progress design for an upcoming pattern called "Craft Store"
New Products
I released two new patterns this month!
The first one was 'Kathy'; my newest font in over a year and a half since my previous font release. It's received lovely comments and a fair number of purchases! I've yet to see it used in a finished piece but that's OK - these things take time!
The other pattern I [FINALLY] released is my 'Rick Roll' pattern. This one was in the works for about 2½ months between initial conception and finished stitch, believe it or not. I had so many issues with the QR code (issues mostly) because of my fault, admittedly.
Projects 'n Stuff
Aside from, like, literal stitchy stuff, some other things happened, too!
I talked on my Instagram account a while ago that I was making little shrinky-dinks with my youngest daughter during the summer break. I didn't know what I wanted to draw at one point, so I traced my own logo using my phone screen and created that.
Someone had the awesome idea that I should turn it into a needleminder and I was like "Omgosh of course!". So I created two of my very own personalised needleminders! I used Sharpies, some white paint (to cover the back), and Mod Podge to seal it all. I think they came out so awesome!
The other thing of note that I thought was interesting was the fact I was able to visibly see the difference in size between something stitched on 14ct Aida and the same thing stitched on 18ct Aida.
How? Well, while my mum was visiting, she was working on the Pretty Little Sydney pattern (by Satsuma Street) and she is doing hers on 14ct Aida fabric. I completed my own copy of the pattern earlier this year on 18ct fabric.
Social Media
This year (2022), I've been taking a screenshot of my Instagram profile on the first of every month. When January 1st hit, I was gaining a crazy number of followers each day so it was blowing my mind to see that number climb. Mid-March it came to a grinding halt, but I'm still continuing to screenshot it as I kind of find it interesting.
In order to [maybe] destigmatise follower counts and social media growth, I thought it might be helpful to post this so others can see that it's OK to be stuck at a certain follower number. I hope the fact that I've been at ~5520 followers for about 5 months now doesn't make you think less of me. Because my brain certainly tells me that you should - and I can only assume others in my similar position likely think the same sort of thoughts.
And that's it!
That's what my August of 2022 looked like! Unless I've forgotten something. Which -knowing me- is very likely 😂 What a mammoth of a post (for me)! I will definitely be organising this kind of post well in advance if I do it again and especially each month.
This coming month I'm heading into getting foot surgery which I will be prioritising over stitching or designing as one would expect. But in saying that; I am hoping to get some serious work done on stuff since the first few days/week I will be forced to sit and not do much. Time will tell!
Let me know what you thought of this sort of post and if I should continue to do it going ahead. Your feedback helps me out SO much.
