Pastel July 2017

What are the odds of two comps turning up with pastel colours in the one period? Pastel! Artastic AND Double D? Not my favourite style. Its so soft, so dainty, so very girly that its not a style I use that often. So it was a challenge.

I have done cross stitching and small stitching work most of my life. I got cross stitching. I can't knit or crochet - my grandmother and mother gave up trying when I was young because I was the only left handed person in the family. And most of my female family member didn't use a pattern - they did stuff from memory. But I enjoyed following cross stitch patterns and eventually, made some of my own.

But its been a while since I did anything in the last few years, until I came across these Zentangle stitching projects. Its a black line work thing on a cheap piece of cloth with a selection of threads thrown in. And you can stitch it any way you please. Plus, the tight weave of the cloth and whiteness of it, makes it possible to use a black pen and draw in extra bits, thus making it more your work. I've been using a long-stitch type effect and just going for it. Its not finished. I've been doing it almost 12 months. But I LOVE it.

So I took a photo of my work so far and used that in the pastel page even though it is not pastel coloured. It's always a challenge for me as a digi scrapper to get some items to 'go pastel' when they are bold colours originally - for some it just doesn't work and for others it just takes more time than usual to get them to that state - like the ribbon and the paper flower.

Stitch Me - I Dare U - digi Jul 2017 -  Double D July

Although I initially had this page in the Artastic July comp - I don't qualify for it - I accidentally used it for another comp which was not a sketch. oops. So I created another page for the Artastic July comp - see Small.
The stitching shaped text run says "I love my Zentangle stitching challenge - I can do it how I like, add my own bits and pieces, and use whatever colours I like . It's like painting - but its stitching." Artastic also required use of a pen on the page - so I used my own scanned handwriting for the "i dare u" title text.

The colours and shapes in the Double D inspiration inspired me to use the paper flowers, ribbon, and rounded shapes in the background like the balloons in the photo.

Double D Pastel challenge

Ingredients: Cilenia Curtis ValC Designs Fly With Me (balloon shapes),  Akizo WAH [Paint 1 and 2, doole (stars), Flower 3 (paper flower), Foliage 3 (leaf)], Geld Changes Paint Splotch, Far Far Hills Feast Love Skimersan 0011 (ribbon),  Feli Designs Gentle Spring - Stitches (around photo), Traci Reed Designs Bad Sewing Machine no 18, set 6 white (border)