There are several blank walls in my house- they drive me nuts. One of them in my kitchen was making me crazy. Do y'all ever have an idea of what you want to hang on the walls, but can't find it anywhere? Me too. So I make it myself.
I wanted a nice image or print of an artichoke. They are such a lovely vegetable, and just the right shade of green to compliment the reds in my kitchen. Since I couldn't find one, I decided to use a method I'd seen in Martha Stewart a looooooong time ago using ribbon to embroider.
First I took a photograph of an artichoke and printed it. Using a fine tipped sharpie, I traced over the image onto a blank piece of paper taped to the window (my makeshift lightbox).
Using a "Mark-B-Gone" dissolvable marker, I traced the pattern onto very fine aida. If I had to do the project over again, or use this technique in the future- I think I'd choose a different fabric, like canvas or home dec material.
Using a small pair of stork scissors, I cut little holes in strategic places to make room for my varying sizes and colors of satin ribbon. I used a tapestry needle for its large eye, and just tugged and pulled on the ribbons as I threaded them through the material to make a close representation of the image I used as my pattern.
About 2/3 of the way through this project I ran out of steam. Why? Why??!!! WHY?!!!! Everything was going so well. Life got in the way, kids were running amuck, I was too busy, blah, blah, blah. So- a few weeks later I forced myself to dig deep and get back to it. I was pleasantly surprised that the last few steps didn't take very long at all, and I was able to finish strong.
The very last thing I did was to go back through and tack down some of the edges of the ribbons in places where it just didn't want to lay correctly. Using a needle and thread I stitched a few stitches here and there to make the ribbons work with my design. Then it was frame and hang time. It turned out so well! The reward of a finished project is so beautiful!