Little layered landscape

Why do I always do this to myself? Why do I decide on a card design that involves doing something I haven’t done before and then leave myself barely enough time to do it? I actually outdid myself this time: this card involved signing up for a class and doing lots of prep sorting through my fabric stash and even making sketches from some of my old photos.

The thing that took me the longest was, as usual, deciding what to do in the first place. I’ve made landscape cards for my brother’s birthday the last few years, using a different technique each time — encaustic, alcohol inks, gelli plate printing — but I couldn’t decide what direction to go in this time.

Karen Turner, whose blog Stitching Life is a wonderful haven of hand-sewing, had created a new class called Stitch a Little Landscape “‌to use your fabric scraps to design and make a little layered landscape“. And I had been thinking about signing up for it since to was launched but the sensible side of my brain would point out how many classes I had signed up for and never even started… Then I reached the point where I hadn’t had any ideas that really grabbed me for my brother’s card and I gave in and enrolled on 29th August. My brother’s birthday is on the 7th September. And the card had to be posted to him. I had less than a week.

But I succeeded. A couple of days spent watching some of the videos, making landscape sketches from old photos, and sorting through my fabric stash to find colours and textures that would work with my chosen landscape design; followed by a couple of days of stitching the pieces together and adding all the embroidered details and it was complete.

I really enjoyed making it and I have already made another one, this time for my mum’s birthday. I will make more, but I will definitely make sure I have time to work at a more leisurely pace.

Got to love those tiny sheep!