I had always thought that I wasn’t creative. Now, I believe that everyone can learn to look and to see things creatively if they wish. Yesterday, I was reading an article by stitching guru, Jane Greenoff. She and her husband had visited Hampton Court Palace near London, and were on their way to lunch at a café. Rather than concentrate on what food awaited them, they looked around - and were drawn to colourful patches of pansies and violets. They stopped and took photographs from many different angles, and as a result of that diversion, Jane launched a series of designs, called ‘Pansy, for Thoughts’ that has delighted thousands of cross stitchers worldwide.

The moral seems to be that inspiration is never far away, if we open our eyes and observe our surroundings. Here are some things that can delight you if you look carefully:

Countryside: leaves, grasses, flowers, tree silhouettes, bark, patterns of fields, stones, feathers, clouds

Towns: brickwork, paving stones, wheels, angles of roofs, plants in containers, urban sunsets

Seaside: shells, pebbles, rocks, pools, seabirds, seaweed 

At home: people, pets, vases of flowers, houseplants, still life, teapots, toys.

‘But I can’t draw,’ I hear you say. Well, neither can I. Over the next few weeks, I’ll show you how you can discover your talents for observation and for transferring what you see into a beautiful design. This blog theme will pop upregularly. We shall look at software too that can help you. And if you need help with transferring a photo into a cross stitch design, then membership of Patterns Patch can give you a free service for that along with many other benefits.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of Disneyland opening in Los Angeles 53 years ago! How many Disney characters have you stitched for younger members of the family – or  for yourself?

Happy Stitching

Iona

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