In preparation for my first gallery show, I had to solve the problem of how to sign a stitched painting. The pieces were finished. They were stretched on internal frames. They were absolutely ready for the packing crate. Except that… oops!… Nothing had a signature! Now I knew I could sign the back of the […]
Learn from my Marking Pencil Mistake
There are few things more frustrating than mistakes that can be avoided. In this post, I share my mis-adventure with a marking pencil — and how you can avoid this mistake in your fabric art projects.
A Talavera Awning in 4 Simple Shapes
About a month ago, I wrote about my dreams for a Talavera Awning. Today, I’m excited to say that I have an update for you. It’s going to happen! It’s going to be a Talavera Awning in 4 simple shapes! Yes, I’m excited. I see this awning design as an extension of my stitched paintings. […]
I’m dreaming of a Talavera Awning
Does the current state of the world have you dreaming about crazy stuff? Has lock-down fever finally got the best of you? Well, I know I’m getting a bit stir-crazy when I start dreaming about a Talavera Awning. I know that sounds a little crazy. And no, I don’t literally want an awning made from […]
Stitched Paintings by Shelly Stokes
As we begin the new year, I’m making time to celebrate a few wins from 2020. It was a challenging year, but were definitely “wins” to go with the losses. For me, one of the biggest wins was getting four of my Stitched Paintings out of the closet and into their final form. I started […]
How I get more done with Studio Stations
A few months ago, I decided it was time for a studio make-over. I had everything I needed, but I was forever setting things up and taking them down. Thankfully, Engineer Brain had a good idea –– it was time to set up Studio Stations. The first big change was a permanent home for my […]
Pint-Sized Projects
For the past 3 years, I’ve been working on large Stitched Paintings. As much as I love these embroideries, they are big projects and often take months to complete. A month or so ago, I thought I would try — one more time — to figure out how to work on pint-sized projects that don’t […]
A Special Sofa for my Castle
When I purchased a home in Mexico, I didn’t just purchase a home. Nope! True to my overly vivid imagination, I bought myself a castle. And, of course, not just any old sofa belongs in the living room of a castle –– only a very special sofa will do! When the hotel in our compound […]
Forging a New Creative Identity
For the past three years, I’ve been on a nice, long time-out from my business. During that time, Jack and I bought a home, sold a home, and moved from the middle of Minnesota to the middle of Mexico. But more importantly, the break gave me time to forge a new creative identity. I needed […]
Masks for Teletón Guadalajara
It started with a phone call. “Benjamin? It’s Becca in Chapala. I have a question. Are they going to need masks for Teletón when they re-open the hospital in Guadalajara?” Still in the midst of a mask-making project for adults, Becca thought the folks at Teletón might need 400 masks for the children in the […]
StarFlower 5 Complete!
Completions are a big deal here at Cedar Canyon, especially when a project stretches out for months. Needless to say, I’m happy to say (shout?) StarFlower 5 Compete!!! Ahem… did I say that loudly enough? When I wrote my last update a few weeks ago, I was chuckling about the value of Ugly Brown Beads […]
StarFlower 5 Stitch Update
I’m at a particularly happy stage with my current Paint • Stitch • Bead adventure, so I thought I would pause and give you a StarFlower 5 stitch update. Start with Paintstiks My normal working order is to create Renegade Stencils using the Silhouette Studio software and then cut the stencil(s) from vinyl with a […]
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