Take a Little Piece of My Heart

Really, take a little piece of my heart. I haven't spoken about process lately so hear we go. I have been making hearts a long time, a really long time, but it took a spin at being an artist to really make them sing. I've tried making stars and squares and crosses but in the end I have sold or given away more hearts than anything else. One of my favorite verses in the bible is "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". Never has that bible verse been more relevant.

I get tremendous joy out of embroidering hearts. I try out new stitches, new designs, and am inspired to just keep making them one after another. I start out with a little cardboard heart shape. I trace the heart with pencil on the wrong side. I use a contrasting thread and make a basting stitch around the heart. I use the air erasable markers to draw every single one. I don't like templates and if there is a dud it is one dud and not twenty or thirty of them. Most of the time I start with a simple design but on more intricate ones and new designs I like to draw the whole heart first to get a basic idea of where things should go. I then do the "hard" work of embroidering(that's a joke so you can laugh if you want to). I love details, just adore them. So of course I add a lot of detail to them. Then I pin the ribbon on, put matching fabric on and stuff them. I usually give them names, at least for my own process, as I find I treat them more like art if they have a name. Every single one is different and even if I am doing multiples, they are each one of a kind.

I label them as one of a kind, but I found this year that even people who know me and my work didn't realize that I drew each one and made each, one of a kind. They are something small and wonderful and can be hung on your Christmas tree or on your doorknob or on your curtain pull. They are very versatile. They are textured or beautiful or both.

Spiritually I feel like I give away a little piece of my heart with each one that goes to live with someone else, I feel that they are my treasure. Joyfully they give me a reason to do thousands and thousands of french knots and keep my hands busy and my mind peaceful. I'm going to be making them all year and for every season so you will be seeing a lot of them as when I can't share an art piece I can share my heart.

Take a Little Piece of my Heart is a song by Janis Joplin. She's not a favorite artist of mine but that song and the way she sings it is one of my favorites. Give it a listen.Have a great day, spread your own heart around in any way that makes you feel good. Blessings.