Free Vintage Owl Stationery Set

Our today's freebie is this vintage-style inspired owl stationery set by Megan of Lilac and Lavender. Just go to this link to download your own stationery set to send a hand written note to someone who loves receiving snail me. 

Owl With Glasses Bookmark Tutorial

This is a such an adorable owl bookmark that one cannot resist making. Isis Alves from Brazil is the author of this blog where she shares many creative and inspiring projects. The felt owl bookmark tutorial on her blog has step by step instructions with images. Although the tutorial is not in English but the steps are clearly explained through images that one doesn't need to read instructions. There is a printable template that can be downloaded to get started! Make one for yourself and one for a friend!

Ruth Norbury

Ruth Norbury has been embroidering since she was a little girl, but have been a professional embroiderer for about 10 years lives in Swansea, UK. Her pieces is an enchanting mix of delicate hand embroidery, textiles and mixed media. 

Ruth is keeping an age old traditional art form alive through her work. Her outside of the box thinking, modifying traditional embroidery stitching with creative needlework is noticeable into the feathers of the barn owl (the image on the top). The texture, the sense of movement and realism make her work stand out.

Ruth is a vegan, who is also passionate about raising awareness of animal suffering and does not use any animal fibers in her work. She wants people to think about things that are important to her through the medium of her beautiful embroideries. "I want people who see my work to react to it."

Paintings by Lisa M. Shimko With A Touch Of Surrealism

Lisa M. Shimko earned a BFA in Painting with a minor in Art Therapy from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. She is currently living in Charleston, South Carolina. Lisa's work ranges from surreal representational to colorfully abstract. Animals is the recurring theme in her paintings, used symbolically to create a visual language of storytelling. The artist creates her works following her personal mantra that, “absurdity shocks freedom.”

She has participated in many solo shows as well as group exhibits. She was the winner of the 2016 North Charleston Arts Fest Design Competition. She creates these magical pieces in her downtown studio and shows her work at Michael Mitchell Gallery. You can follow her on Facebook for updates on her upcoming shows and local events where you can see her work in person. 

Recycled Vintage Fabric Lampshades

I am loving these lampshades made using recycled embroidered fabric squares from vintage quilts. The hand embroidered owl, tea pot, ducks, bunny have a lots of character and charm. These one-of-a-kind lampshades can just be what you are looking for to brighten up a plain room. Visit Laura & Marty Shuster's Lamp Store to see more unique pieces made with recycled materials like tea tin, wooden bucket, clarinet and more!

'Foxtail Forest' Fabric Collection by Dear Stella

The whimsical Foxtail Forest fabric collection by Dear Stella is designed by Rae Ritchie an illustrator and pattern surface designer based in Minneapolis, MN. The endearing woodland creatures and lush forest print in lush eggplant, midnight blue, fern green, and russet orange is sure to take you to a magical world!

Rae shares about her inspiration behind the collection."Some of my earliest memories as a child were of my father reading to me. My all-time favorites were the stories involving magical animals that could walk, talk and go on adventures just like us.

Many of those memories inspired my newest collection Foxtail Forest, along with a trip to the Cascade Mountains, outside Seattle, taken several years ago. The beauty of the ferns, fungi and mosses we saw still enter my dreams from time to time!

On our trip, my husband and I planned to book a treehouse hotel to stay in, but as you can imagine, there was quite a waiting list. Lucky for the animals in Foxtail Forest, I can draw as many treehouse as I please! We hope you enjoy sewing with our furry friends, ferns and fungi!"

You can see more lovely fabric collection by Dear Stella I blogged here in the past.