When I started offering cards and prints of my embroidery, I got them printed using high quality images I took using my DSLR camera. Since then, I wanted to explore alternative ways of capturing embroidery work, so that the tactile nature of the textile pieces are more faithfully reproduced in print form. During my research, I came across the Cruse fine art flat bed scanner, which is used by museums, such as the Guggenheim and the Vatican Secret Archive, because it is able to produce images far superior to those produced by photography or conventional flat bed scanners. Naturally, I wanted to try it!

Luckily, I found one in the UK, owned by Sally Mitchell Fine Arts Limited. John was kind enough to capture my work using the Cruse scanner and did a great job producing amazingly textured images of my work. You can check out their services here. I received my new cards from the printer yesterday and will be adding new photos to the shop as soon as the sun peeks through. 

I'm so excited to share with you that we were featured in Soph Talks Science's Christmas Gift Guide for 2018! There are 99 gift ideas for your Science loving friends and family, so take a look here!

I first came across Soph on Instagram. She is close to finishing her PhD in Stem Cell Biology and is a passionate Science communicator. She honestly shares her journey in Science, which you can follow here. 

I've had some of my hand embroidery pieces turned into greeting cards. Have a look here! They are printed on heavy paper with a smooth, satin finish. Each card comes with a kraft paper envelope and a cellophane sleeve. The inside is unlaminated, so it's easy to write on. 

The Drosophila melanogaster mutants cards include:
curled [cu]
Ski wings [Si]
taxi [tx]
vestigial [vg]
cut-6 [ct6]
vestigial-strap [vgs]
apterous [ap3]
outstretched small eye-outstretched [oso]
cut-8 [ct8]
white [w] 
There is also a wild type Female. 

I'm delighted to share that Plush Art Lab has been featured on the Mr X Stitch website! You can read it here.
Jessica Taylor (@loadofbobbins) wrote the piece. She is a wonderful textile artist and illustrator and you can see her website here! 

My latest project for charity was for The Triangle, a community hub in Crystal Palace run by Barnardo's charity for children. The Triangle has a large play area and conference rooms for hire with proceeds going toward their work with vulnerable children.

​As part of their Summer programme, they contacted me about making a piece based on the winning designs of their "design a bear" activity and I agreed to take part! I made an embroidery version of the coloured bears and framed it in a green wood, to keep in line with Barnardo's logo colour. Take a peek below!

I just completed a custom order for a doll of Jeff Lynne for a lovely lady. I thought I would share some of my thinking behind the design!

To create the doll, I received a photo of Lynne performing at Glastonbury in 2016 so I based the doll's outfit on pictures from this event. I wanted to find out what kind of guitar he generally prefers, and I found this bit of an interview by Joe Bosso from 2012: 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
I'm sure you have a pretty nice collection of guitars from over the years. Do you have a tight little set of go-to models?

"... My favorite guitar is a '58 Strat - and the Tele, which is really an Esquire converted to a Tele... "
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So, since he prefers the Fender Stratocaster and the Fender Telecaster, Lars 3D printed a Fender style guitar for the doll using his Prusa printer based on this design:
Fender Style Electric Guitar by admica is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution license.

For the doll stand, I embroidered a line from his song Mr Blue Sky: " Mister blue sky, please tell us why you had to hide away for so long, where did we go wrong?", and for the central design, I embroidered ELO, sticking to the colours of the original logo. 

And of course, the ever present sunglasses had to be included. These were based on this design:
Putin by REC3D is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution - Share Alike license.

I mentioned in my last post that I was making dolls of figures in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to raise funds for charities with proven track records for effectively helping people. So, the first charity I've chosen based on recommendations by Give Well is the Against Malaria Foundation. Here are some more dolls I've made. There is a doll of Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, and Nikola Tesla. You can find them in my Etsy shop and Handmade Amazon shop! 

My next project is still work in progress, but I wanted to share it with you. I am in the process of making dolls of figures in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). I want to highlight women and men who have made a mark in these fields, at the same time raise funds to support charities that have proven to be effective in helping people.  I will choose the charity based on recommendations by groups like Give Well. 

The dolls are made out of wool felt for the body and stuffed with wool. The face is hand embroidered and the hair is made by crocheting a mohair wig cap for each doll. The dolls do stand on their own but to make it nicer for display, I made a stand for each with one of their quotes and an image that relates to their work. 

My latest project is a mascot plush for Barnardo's.  Barnardo's is a leading children's charity, initially set up as a school by Dr. Thomas Barnardo back in 1867 to equip poor children with basic education and skills in trade. He went on to run homes for destitute children, with the philosophy "No Destitute Child Ever Refused Admission".  While Barnardo's no longer run homes for orphans, they continue to help children and young people, including those who have been abused or have disabilities. Barnardo's offer counselling, fostering and adoption services, vocational training, among many other vital services. In addition to providing direct services to children and families, they also do original research based on their work and lobby the government in areas of advocacy, child poverty, fostering and adoption, etc. all to improve outcomes.