Today I have something very special talk about. During the last months my focus changed from designing patterns to making more embroidery tutorials. I believe in the power of knowledge being accessible for everyone. However, I, too have to pay bills and making free tutorials sadly is not going to do that. The working hours I have are reserved for making new designs and organzing my pattern business. I would love to dedicate much more time to the teaching aspect of embroidery, but this is only possible if I get payed for my tutorials. There is the cat biting it's tail. On one side I want free access for all of you but then I would have to limit the access by placing a price tag on it.
Luckily there is a simple solution for this: Patreon.
Patreon is a platform similiar to Kickstarter where you can support your artist of choice......
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Pumora get's a makeover, but not only that. There are many things changing in my life - more on the inside than outside. Things that were crystal clear are shaking and I'm looking under every stone what's hidden there.
It began in february when I filmed a beginner course in embroidery with and for Makerist. I suddenly realized how much I miss working with people and how much I actually know. This may sound weird, but even after writing a book and filming a class in embroidery I still have had the feeling I don't know enough to be a professional. In my personal world somebody has to know everything before he's allowed to teach it. But who meets this high standard? Furthermore are the mistakes we make on our learning experience not as important and shareworthy as the achievements?
In our beautiful digital......
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Remember this chili embroidery I started last year? It was time to make it into a bag for my chilies as it was supposed to. I'm not entirely happy with the drawstring yet. It does not close the bag completely and I think I will replace it at some point.
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This post is written while a jackhammer is demolishing stuff in the floor below - like it has been many a day in the last weeks. So bear with me if I'm talking nonsense. The last couple of weeks - months actually - have been a challenge. Balancing family and working from home is not the easiest, but when the surroundings evolve in a direction you don't like or can't live with it's somewhat demoralizing. Without going much into detail, we found our right path to not only make do with what we got, but forge plans to improve our situation and move forward (literally).
This whole time this blog has been awfully neglected. There are so many projects and plans in progress, most I cannot show yet and I have limited my work time to have more time with family and especially......
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This August I was a lazy lazy blogger. But you know when to stop working with delicate fibers when your thread clings to your fingers because it's simply to hot to keep them dry. And you know what? It's ok to let loose. That's what summer is for. Go outside, visit family and friends, make yourself happy with the abundance the outside gives in summer.
I took these pictures on our hort trip to my mothers place at the lake of constance. It's the connection point of the three countries Austria, Germany and Switzerland. You can walk from the city of Constance to Kreuzlingen which is in Switzerland. I find it very amusing hopping over the border and back.
We took a ship tour on the lake......
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We have been enjoying the Easter holidays over here. Visiting family and having fun. Until Friday the weather was nasty cold and wet with some snowy sprinkles. Luckily April gave us a rest and decided we have suffered enough - Saturday and Sunday were just right - cold but very sunny.
We visited a dairy sheep farm not far from here run by two women. There were lots and lots of lambs, many friendly people and lambchops and delicious cheese. They breed the rare sheep breed of Krainer Steinschaf also called Bovska from Slovenia and Ostfriesisches Milchschaf (East friesian Sheep).
The rare Bovska sheep have a long and sturdy wool which appears to felt very well and is often used for carpets and other sturdier things. The people on the farm make woven seat pads from......
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I know I'm snowflake-bombing you this week. There is no sight of snow outside of my windows yet. Here is my new project in the mandala-snowflake category:
Like the Horizont-embroidery I made last year, this is a chaotic stitching negative-space project. I like how the absence of something in a world filled with everything can make things even more visible and defined.
I'm using 1 strand of embroidery floss and my favorite charcoal felt. Not sure yet if I want to add colors or leave it monochrome....
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Last week I received a huge pile of boxes from my great-grandfathers house who passed away recently. He was an artist, gardener and loved to make jokes.
We were not very close, but the art somehow connected us. He was a man of many trades in art useing aquarells, making cartoons and wood prints, but also painted small and huge oil paintings especially landscapes.
When I went through a basket full of art supplies, I discovered precious things. A receipt for his school money for art school. Sketches of sleeping beauty for a childrens book. Typography practice sheets. Glittering bronce powders wrapped in old papers. Lots and lots of pencils.
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This weekend we made a short trip to the baltic sea to visit my sister. who is currently working on board of a cruising ship. We have only 2 or 3 opportunities to see her per year, so it was a highlight to finally see her work space.
The kids were very excited and managed the long drive well. The weather was on our side: a beautiful fog laid over the landscape all the time and let the sun shine through.
The ship was very impressive not only for the children. It's one thing to see something like this on photos and another to see it in person!
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It's been over a year since I chanced the appearance of this website - so it's about time!
If you are curious how this website changed over the years, have a look:
2011
2013...
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