My friend Helen gave me this beautiful vintage skirt- it's made from cotton velveteen in black with mustard-yellow sprigs of flowers printed all over. It's so soft and comfortable- needless to say, I love it deeply. I found some black linen tucked away and wondered how I could replicate that bright-flower-on-black style that I so love, (a bit like I wrote about back here.) And then I remembered a little package of metal frames in my supply cupboard that I'd bought on etsy a while ago and never opened. The embroideries were a little challenging to frame up, and it was all on such a small scale. But I worked out a method after a few attempts, which involved lots of glue for the inlay job, and a velvet 'padding' inside. And that is how I came to make these little Russian-folk-style-inspired brooches, like small paintings in frames. I have made five of them to take with me to this fair on the weekend.
Not long ago, I bought a brooch from this etsy shop, based in the Ukraine. It's beautiful, and features unbelievably fine cross-stitch work. I hope my framed brooches are different enough in embroidery style and appearance to separate our work- but I do recommend a look around Skrynka if you are searching for any last-minute holiday gifts.
Now here are two happy links for you on this Thursday in December:
An extremely aesthetically-pleasing scalloped apple tart and (also very beautiful)…
This song, by local Anna Coddington.
tiny happy 
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