T'is the season for craft books to go on blog tour and today I am very pleased to be a stop (the last one apparently!) in Kirsty Neale's Hoop-La blog tour.* I was very curious about the book, wondering if the projects would appeal to me as I assumed it wouldn't be a 'regular' Embroidery book. And I'm not a crafty person in the sense that glitter and a glue gun are part of my daily outfit.
Luckily for me this isn't a glue & glitter book. It's a very inspiring book with lots (100+) of fabulous ideas. Some projects are practical (wall pocket), some are incredibly sweet (faux taxidermy deer) and others are just very, very clever (Solar system display with Embroidery Hoops, eeep!) A good portion of the projects involve hand stitching of some sort (yay!) and obviously a lot of fabric and felt is used, as well as buttons and trims.
So.. yes there were several projects that caught my eye but the Dandy Lion stole my heart. My version is a little different from the Dandy Lion in the book but I think this is exactly what one is meant to do with this book: be inspired, include elements that appeal to you and use what you have hiding in your stash!
I didn't have a 7" hoop or crochet 'manes' so I used a smaller hoop and an incredibly dandy vintage trim (thanks
Sami!). I also embroidered the cheeks (split stitch in the round worked very well I think) instead of adding fabric ones.
A worthy addition to my Embroidery Wall I think….
Check out at
this fun video to get an idea of other projects included in this book. I especially adore the Diorama Bear… You can purchase
Hoop-la. 100 things to do with Embroidery Hoops here and
here and visit the blog tour page
here.
Guess what? I get to give away one of the original pieces from Kirsty's book! I know this cross-stitched chevron hoop will find a happy home with one of my blog readers. And I also know I would LOVE to have it on my own Embroidery Wall, as it's serious lacking in geometrical pieces!
Please leave a comment on this post for a chance to win and tell me what your ideal Embroidery/Hoop Art Wall would look like! The giveaway ends on the 20th of November and be sure to leave some kind of trail so I can find you if you are the lucky winner! Good luck everyone! Comments are closed now!
*I received a PDF review copy and the author and publisher were very kind to provide the giveaway prize!
