Mysterious Botanicals

You might remember, way back in September when Jen (of Sewn Natural) and I launched a brooch swap?  Well, the brooches I created for the swap have landed on the doorsteps of their recipients, so I can finally reveal my work...

The swap was intended to be 1:1, however, because we had an uneven number of participants, I took the opportunity to swap with 2 participants.  The first person with whom I swapped is Laura Sheppard.  She has an etsy shop called sheppardhandmade where she sells hand spun yarns and ceramic buttons -- mostly ceramic buttons.  You must see her buttons!  They drive me a little bit crazy, they are so sweet, and in the most delicate of colors and tones.  The brooches pictured above were loosely inspired by some of her buttons; soft tones, circular and symmetrical.

 

The second person with whom I swapped was Jen's very own mother (such an honor!)  Jen's mother is an accomplished designer and, as I sat down to stitch, my imagination spun towards the botanical.  I started in a garden, alive with the buzzing of bees and the song of birds...

And ended up someplace a bit more wild.  These tiny canvasses of felt were strangely addictive to stitch, and I found myself creating one after another.

As I stitched, I imagined what might happen were I to inhale the aroma of one of these mysterious blossoms.  Would I perhaps fall into a swoon, to awaken surrounded by lush jungle beneath the gaze of seven enchanted tigers?  If I pricked my finger on a thorn, would I turn into a little green lizard?  If my tears should fall upon the roots, would the plant magically transform into a fat, pink baby -- the abducted prince from the lost kingdom of Gondal, so well hidden that no one has been able to find him for a year and a day?

And are you, my dear friends, now wondering what I have added to my coffee this morning?  Nothing but almond milk, I assure you (plus a good serving of rampant imagination on the side...)  Also, before you give me too much credit for dreaming up these botanical designs all on my own, please know that some of my design ideas were blatantly purloined from here.

Come back soon for a brooch swap wrap-up, where I will be posting photos of brooches made by several other participants!