stu-stu-studio

okay. i've hung up all of the finished and framed cross-stitch pieces that i've got right now.
here it is -- the new inventory:


and i've put away the cross-stitch patterns and materials and brought out the sewing machine.
i tidied up a bit and i'm ready to start some new projects.



yeeeeeeeah, sewing!

honorable mention

thanks so much to poppytalk for the shout out today!

i've got a lot of new x-stitch pieces completed, but haven't yet gotten around to taking satisfactory photos of them.
here's a preview:





yup -- i've been busy. a recent bout of insomnia has been quite instrumental in helping me to complete this much work, too. i reeeeeally want to put down the embroidery needle and thread and get started on some of those other non-cross-stitch projects, but i can't seem to stop! i still have more patterns that i've developed and am anxious to bring to life. more to come...xoxoxxxxxxxxxxxx

i love your golden crown...

(okay, so mister bolan sings it as "broken crown" -- well this one ain't broke.. it sparkles.)


i was about to put down the cross-stitch materials and start in on the sewing projects that i have lined up, but then i got it in my head to do these.
i busted out the metallic embroidery floss again and put it to use for some regal crowns. the three-strand floss is quite difficult to work with -- it frays, the strands come unraveled, and it tends to break a lot -- which makes for much frustration and a lot of time spent working on what should take about half the time, but the results are rather worth it, i think. i'm happy with the way they turn out.
i like how from far away the crown seems to be made of weird rhinestones or beads, but then when viewed up close, the delicate metallic x's reveal themselves..


i did some in silver, too:


oooh, shiny, shiny.

going dutch

holy-moley i am so excited about this new find.
check out this fabric...


it fits in perfectly with my new series/inspiration!
i'm gearing up for the renegade craft fair in brooklyn this june...
turning my bedroom into a one-woman factory.

coming clean

okay, friends...
many of you know that i was working with this new "how-to" website as their "craft expert." i recorded a bunch of little videos (actually, they recorded them --- you know what i mean...) where i am showing how to do various crafts. there were a few on knitting, some on candle-making and soap-making (which, if you go back and look through this blog to about a year ago, i was teaching myself how to do those exact things in preparation for the videos!) and then some kids' activity sort of crafts.
i had told you that i would let you know when it launched. well, it launched -- a few months ago..
things have been so busy with my house that i hadn't been able to look through all of the videos until just recently. (and i think there are still a few more that i haven't watched yet.. ) i wanted to watch them before i gave y'all the link to it -- just in case i looked like a total goober or something like that...
i DEFINITELY look like a nut, but, i guess it is just kinda me being me...
alright -- but here you go...
this is me in one of the kids' crafts ones. it's funny. they are all funny.


go ahead -- check them out. critique. make fun of me. send me fan mail. it's okay. i can take it.
here is my profile page with my other videos listed on it:
http://www.howcast.com/users/Chez_Kimberly

it was actually quite a lot of fun. you should check out the rest of the howcast site, too.
http://www.howcast.com/

super super super SUPER huge thanks to: kevin, my totally awesome director who got me make all of those ridiculous faces, christian and broccolini , my behind-the-scenes men, karin and dewy, my prop, set, and wardrobe/art-directors, dayana, my hair and make-up stylist, paul and heather, writers and researchers and all-around amazingly wonderful peeps, patty, production-manager/motivator, and darlene, producer and maker of things happening. they're the ones who made it all look good.

striking gold (and silver)

this is how much fun can be bought for twenty-five cents at a church rummage sale when you live in a small town. joy.

inventory

i've got quite a collection now! maybe i'm ready to move away from cross-stitch and back to some other crafts...

hare to the crown

okay -- this is the last bad pun for a while.
(i think... but i am not promising anything.)

scroll down to see the others in my latest series of cross-stitch pieces.
*these babies are going up on etsy soon!

tsar-ed and feathered

(i just cant stop with the word play)


the latest.

(also in chez-sucre-chez news: christine and i got notification that we were accepted to participate in the renegade craft fair this summer. hooray! i'll post more details when it gets closer to that time -- it isn't until june, so i have plenty of time to get stitching.. i'm thinking totes and zip pouches with these new designs on them (screenprinted, not cross-stitched -- i'm not that crazy) as well as some baby/kids clothing and toys, and other assorted randomness.)

Roy-owl-ty

(oh my goodness, i love a bad pun just so much.)


i just designed and stitched this new one this afternoon. i'm so pleased i can't even wait until daylight to photograph and post it.

squirrel power!

before i got onto the royal crown and animal motifs, i stitched up some new squirrels.


i am reeeeeeeally loving this new blue-grey cross-stitch fabric that i found. anyways, my return to squirrels was partially inspired by christine, of wonting, who uses them frequently in her work. christine and i applied to get a table together at this summer's renegade craft fair in brooklyn. let's keep our fingers crossed that we get in!

(btw: christine recently featured my house project on her blog; check it out!)

royally re-inspired

i thought that i was over cross-stitch. i did the initials series. i did the silhouettes, the clouds and the coral. i felt like i had done all i wanted to do. i was bored of it.
but now my love for turning x's into shapes has been renewed. my house, the royal, and my new surroundings, the land of the pennsylvania dutch, has given me new inspiration.
here's the first of what i believe just may develop into my most accomplished series:


expect to see more frequent posts and updates here on chez-sucre-chez.

sprouted

here's another photo that was sent to me of a little chez creation in use:


(it's my friend jack's nephew -- jack bought the hat for him at a hearts and crafts affair - and i have had this picture for so long but forgot about it! thanks, jack!)

chez in other people's chez

i have been meaning to do this post for a long time...
beautiful and amazingly crafty emily, from the black apple, bought a few pieces from my etsy shop and then took this photograph of them hanging on her wall and posted it on her blog.


i love how her wall is painted the same color that mine was in my brooklyn apartment. the lighting in that room was so bad, however, that i never got a decent picture of my framed art wall. this is the best i got:


(uhg -- what a terrible picture! -- but note -- flying bird skeleton artwork by dana b!)
anyway -- emily's post drove a nice little surge of traffic to my etsy shop.. thank you so much, emily!

stephanie, from the living room floor, was one of the peeps who was driven to my site/shop by emily. she then photographed the piece i did for her and put that up on her blog:


it looks so pretty! thanks to you, stephanie!

and just today i received a photo from Steff, for whom I just did two custom initials.


(and i do believe that that is a emily/black apple painting hanging there next to my initials.)