trying a little something different ... hand embroidery + a linky party

One major side effect of being a crafty person
is the over abundance of craft ideas floating in your head.
and something that makes this worse
is a little thing called pinterest

I find myself using pinterest all the time 
I think it's a perfect visual bookmark
instead of a forever list that takes forever to scroll through! 

anyway, now I lost my train of thought...

hmm pinterest, bookmarks, side effects, oh yeah

I was on pinterest the other day 
and came across some friends "pinning" hand embroidery.
I got a smokin' deal at Goodwill a few weeks back on hoops
but still had no plan for them. 

I have a hard time just filling them with pretty fabric and displaying that on my wall. 
all though I think if I used scraps I could be okay with it...

 via pinterest

I needed a little something special to go with it. 
I thought what if I mix just fabric and fabric / with personalization
I saw this idea...

 via pinterest

and this...

via pinterest

So of course I had to learn this new skill
no big deal I thought...
I came across this tutorial...
full of different kinds of stitches

okay not quite as easy as I thought. I ended watching tons of videos and reading lots of websites..
 here is another tutorial I found helpful...

via pinterest

after much reading and listening I thought I was ready to try this out.

I decided to go with a stem stitch because they say it's good for curves.

my finished product turned out okay

not good but okay

but next time will be better

I will also use fun fabric and pick something sweet to write in it...

here is mine:

Have you tried this? do you have pictures, tips, suggestions to share?

have you used your hoops for a fun project? 

Link up with any craft project you want to share! 

all links will be featured next week!