the story of aly and henry

I gushed a lot about one of my besties, Aly, and her becoming a new mom in tens of thousands of stitches of love. I'll try to limit the gushing. BUT, now that I have met Henry, it's hard to keep that to a minimum :). He's so gorgeous.

My Babci knitted him the mint green blankie.

And Aly is managing her new role in stride; so comfortable and confident. Humble and lovely. It was a pleasure seeing her hold her baby boy this past weekend.

I made these things for Henry. They're tokens of things that will surround him in life. Things near and dear to mom and dad, and someday near and dear to him.

For reference, the frame is 16"x20".

Aly's parents are part owners of Tunnel Bar, a place we frequented as youthz.

Aly loves horses. And now she lives next door to them. Henry will see them about as he grows up.

Home! Home actually needs some minor modifications. It was undergoing construction when I started, so I'll have to bring some brown thread and finish the porch next time I visit.

Martha's Vineyard where the fam vacations every summer.

Rudy!

Star light, star bright.

Fleur de lis! Aly dons a fleur tat on her foot, and her family has ties to New Orleans. This one, and its colors, are my favorite.

Henry's dad owns a trucking business.

And a shooting star to usher in the arrival of baby Baker! Can't wait to see you grow up, sweet boy! Much love and health to all.

making us

I have too many projects going on right now. But last week I put them all down and let myself enjoy this one just for us. The vine heart is inspired by another project I'm working on for a wedding. In the inspiration drawing, a couple is enclosed in a ring of flowers. Between that, and the jade painting, the idea of replacing a red heart with a vine came to me.

In the background of the drawing, you can see a first draft of Dave. And because I didn't erase him, it looks like a haunting creep looking over real Meg and Dave. *shudder*

I used a light box to trace the drawing onto the linen.

French knots for his curls, and outline stitch for my locks.

I used 2 strands of a beige-cream for the base of the face and nose, and then I used 1 strand of peach over it to create some dimension.

This is where I struggled to choose between a classic red heart and the heart-shaped leaves. I'm glad I went with the leaves, but that shiny red has been calling my name ever since. I have to use it for something soon.

Cutting heart shaped leaves. I had philodendron in mind.

2 strands each of green and teal to create the vine.

Outline stitch for the heart vine.

Second layer of leaves. Decisions, decisions.

<3

Held up to a light is kinda neat. This gives me ideas.

studio sunday

yesterday:

snowing again. nothing left to say on that subject.

today:

my forever valentine