A Hand-Embroidered Mermaid for a Mer-Friend

I am lucky to have some really great friends and even luckier that some inspire me creatively.  One of my good friends is currently winning at life and has her own New Orleans designs for sale at Threadless.com and now has her own Etsy shop selling the cutest mermaid prints! We met in high school when we had a few art classes together and continued the art love by being in almost every art class together in college.

I was inspired by her whimsical and colorful paintings, which was easy because you all know how much I love mermaids! I decided to hand-embroider one of her mermaids (which resembles her ;-)) to practice honing my skills for my new obsession hobby.

Here’s the original image:

And my rendition:

Not perfect, but I’m pretty happy!

I used all 6 threads of the embroidery thread to fill in the colors. I only used 3 threads for the black outline and the facial features. I used French knots for the bubbles and they were my first try so they’re a little messy but I think it adds to the whimsy.

This was only the second hand-embroidery piece I did (the first was for my Grandma) so now that I’ve done more research and had a little more practice, I realize I should have used less threads to fill in the colors to make a smoother satin stitch. C’est la vie! Now I know what to do for next time!

I ended up giving it to her for her birthday and it was a hit! I think it was a great collaboration of 2 talented artists that have so much love for each other. ❤

Have you ever been inspired by a friend? Share in the comments! Also, take a little cyber shopping trip and go check out her stores!

-RED