Beginning Embroidery

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Let’s talk EMBROIDERY. It’s currently my main creative outlet, but only since last September. I tried this hobby on a whim, just before Julien was born. I had watched a couple Instagram tutorials and thought it looked cool, and that’s honestly how I decided to start haha! So I went to Joanne’s and got a few basic supplies, just to try it out.

Super beginner embroidery supply list:
– Hoop – size of your choice (~$2)
– scrap fabric (cheapest option) or small cut of fabric ($2-4)
– pack of embroidery needles ($1.50)
– 3-4 few colors of embroidery thread ($.60 each)

I’m not joking when I say that, to learn this skill, I watched upwards of 100 Instagram and YouTube tutorials. (The internet can be helpful sometimes 😉 ) Eventually, after lots of finger pokes and knotted threads and more tutorials, I felt like I had a decent hang of the craft. It definitely takes practice. And patience!! For real, don’t be discouraged, you will develop the muscle memory and get better the longer you practice!

Until I started embroidery, my art had exclusively been 2d (graphic design, lettering, painting, photography). But thanks this new adventure, the idea of 3d art, specifically textiles, has become really fascinating to me. I am actually looking into learning about the loom! What I’m loving the most about embroidery is all the textures that the layered, crossed & knotted thread makes.

I wanted to share more specifics about one project. The photos above are of my jean jacket! It was hard for me to make progress on this jacket at first, because I was scared that I would mess it up. It was the first embroidery project that I couldn’t scrap if I didn’t like it. Plus it’s my jean jacket, so I was worried if I didn’t completely love the design that I would never actually wear it. Thankfully I just went with the flow and now, the more I work on it, the more I love it! It’s slightly inspired by Santa Fe colors and style and I’m hoping to have it done soon, so I can wear it during the spring season.

Is there anything you want to know about embroidery? I’m not an expert, but I have a few tips and tricks if you need them! Let me know in the comments.

PRO TIP: If the thought of coming up with your own designs is what is keeping you from trying embroidery, find a KIT!! Search Etsy for embroidery kits, pick a design you like, and you will be sent everything you need to make that design. It’s not the least expensive way to jump into embroidery, BUT it’s convenient and will give you a good starting point.

Things – March

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I have a bunch of random things I wanted to share with you, so here’s a quick round up!

LISTENING:
Maren Morris’ new album, GIRL! So good. So jammy. So driving with the windows down-y 🙂 Nate and I saw James Bay a few weeks ago, so I’ve been binging his music because the concert was incredible and I want to pretend that I am back there listening in real life.

READING:
I’m Fine and Neither are You by Camille Pagan, a memoir about motherhood, marriage, friendship & tragedy.

MAKING:
I am experimenting beyond embroidery thread and have been using dyed yarn to make my most recent hoop designs. I want to know what it means for embroidery art to not BE anything. For it not to look like something or have a purpose, but just to exist and make the world look more interesting.

EXPANDING:
My tattoo collection!! Last week I was tattooed by Alicia Thomas, an amazing artist in Boston. She gave me a permanent floral bouquet on my arm and I could not be more obsessed with it!

PLANNING:
A vacation! Nate and I are both turning 30 this year and are planning to take a weekend trip (at some point this year) to celebrate. Most likely sans baby, but we’ll see. We’re thinking Napa (a fave) or somewhere new. Where should we look into? Only prerequisites are warm weather and good food.

GOING:
To the woods. It has been FAR too long since I’ve spent significant time in the woods (for a few years, I was running or walking in the woods 3-4 days a week!!) Now that the weather doesn’t suck 24/7, I am GOING for it. Woods woods woods. It’ll all be walking now, with Julien in tow, but I have a feeling I might be running come fall. We hit up one of our faves last weekend, Rocky Narrows.

That’s all for March! I’ll probably be back in April with another THINGS post. – Stephanie

KAUAI GUIDE | What to Do on Kauai

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Nate and I went to Kauai for our honeymoon in 2012, and back for our 5th anniversary in 2017! It is one of my top 3 FAVORITE places on earth. It’s gorgeous, magical, colorful, relaxed, adventurous, inspiring, artsy, earthy, outdoorsy, and basically perfect. I wanted to share some of our favorite things to do, see and eat on the island.

Ke’e Beach

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES:
Kayaking the Wailua River: There are many different kayak rental companies in Kapa’a. Some have tour guides, some don’t. If you’ve never been kayaking there, I would say take a tour because they will take you to the Secret Falls (this includes a muddy one mile hike to get to the falls). Or just rent a kayak and explore the river on your own!

Driving up Waimea Canyon: It’s a long drive, I think 15 miles total? There are many places to stop off and enjoy the incredible views. The main view, what most people are there to see, is of the colorful canyon. And at the very tippy top, the Napali Coast cliffs from above. I had a spiritual moment up there, looking down on those cliffs and ocean. It was magic. Like straight up magic.

Biking the coast: You can rent beach cruisers and ride up the large biking/walking path in Kapa’a. Bring a bagged lunch and stop to eat near the ocean (There are proper picnic areas, or you can just pick a spot in the wild.) Biking every morning was one of my favorite memories from our 2017 trip!

Biking along the coast
My magical moment at the top of the canyon

BEACHES:

Hanalei Bay: In Hanalei! Our favorite beach! It’s huge, and half moon shaped, and surrounded by mountains, so there is no bad view. The water is calm and warm! Perfect for just floating and enjoying the views. We’ve spent the most time at this beach!

Ke’e Beach / Haena Beach Park: This is north of Hanalei. There’s a little adventure wrapped up in this beach, mostly because it’s the northernmost spot on the island that a car can get to. The beach is long and skinny, and we saw the most AMAZING sunset there. This is also where you access the Napali Coast trails.

Salt Pond Park: This is in Hanapepe, on the southern part of the island. Big beach and really nice sand! We saw a sea lion here! It was kind of scary because I was swimming and DEFINITELY thought it was a shark at first :O The sea lion swam up on shore and sun bathed and everyone was very respectful of it’s space.

Cool street art in Kapa’a

FOOD/DRINK:

The Local Kauai, Kapa’a: Recommended to us by a local, so you know it’s legit. I still dream about the coconut shrimp appetizer and papaya jam & brie pizza we ate. So so so so so good! It also has a nice bar.

Java Kai, Kapa’a: Cutest, trendiest little coffee spot that we biked to every morning from our condo. If I lived on Kauai, I would be here allllll the time.

Pat’s Taqueria, Hanalei: This was a food truck in the parking lot of Hanalei Bay beach! Super convenient and soooo good. Omg the fish tacos y’all. Take a few back to your beach chairs and eat them while enjoying the ocean view. And then go back to get more tacos, and repeat the process.

Lappert’s Ice Cream, Hanapepe: Best ice cream on the island, promise.

Bubba’s Burgers: Fave. Super chill, diner-style place with the most delicious burgers. There are a few locations, we’ve been to the one in Kapa’a and in Poipu. Great option for a quick lunch or dinner.

Captain Andy’s boat tour

List of miscellaneous cool things to do/see:

Opaeka’a Falls – Kapa’a area
Spouting Horn – Poipu area
Explore the artist’s village of Hanapepe
Brave the narrowswinging bridge in Hanapepe
Captain Andy’s Napali Coast boat tours – leaves from Poipu area
Treat yourself to a traditional luau experience!

Couple other tips:
– You’ll definitely need to rent a car! Most of these places you will need to drive to.
– Check VRBO for condo options! Hotels are more expensive.
(I’m sure Airbnb is also good, we’ve just used VRBO both times)
– Take your shoes/sandals off when you enter a house! Hawaiian tradition/respect.
– Shave ice is everywhere! I don’t have a specific rec because it all kinda tastes the same 😉

If you have any questions about this amazing place, leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them!

Stephanie

This is (not) good (yet).

- Stephanie Leave a comment

I know… deep down in my heart somewhere… I know this is good. This, being motherhood. Being a mom. Taking care of a person forever. It’s good. It has to be good. I was made for this. That’s what they all keep telling me.

But every day is a constant barrage of thoughts that make me feel heavy. I can’t stop crying. Or overthinking. I am a constant spiral of crying and overthinking. Thoughts like, you’ve never felt worse. There is a better way. You should be so happy. Why aren’t you happy. You should be doing all of this better. Look at that list of things you need to do. You aren’t good at this. You should leave. This should be easier by now. It’s your fault it isn’t getting better. You should be more honest with people. No one is going to believe you.

I can’t remember the last time I felt good. Happy.

I am stuck in a tunnel with no light at the end.

I don’t know the answers to any questions. Simple questions. Why is he crying. What is for dinner. What is your schedule like tomorrow. Why haven’t you been to church in so long. Can we come over to visit.

I have no answers. And no energy to find them.

I am a mess to be around. That is, if I’ve let you be around me.

I feel people’s judgement of me not being out there in the world. I feel their disappointment when I cancel plans or say no for the 100th time.

I am crying writing this.

Motherhood is good.

I keep telling myself that.

It has to come true someday.

What’s in a week

- Stephanie Leave a comment
  • My Mom came to visit on a snowy day and we took sweet photos with Julien. He was in his tiny bear snowsuit and it was the cutest ever. The funniest part was that he loved when the snowflakes landed on his cheeks 🙂
  • Nate and I started + finished watching the Umbrella Academy on Netflix. I was hooked from the first episode. (I blogged a little about it in my last post.) Anyone else watch it yet? It ended a little darker than I expected, but overall I liked the entire story. Though I do still have a lot of questions! That hopefully will be answered in a second season? Cross ya fingers.
  • I have to come clean. #NoSpendFeb isn’t going as well as I wanted it. I did really well the first two weeks, but last week I kind of chose to forget about it. I made some not totally necessary Amazon purchases, and got coffee a few times to many. So I gotta reign it in for this last week of February.
  • There were lots of new music drops last week! Judah and the Lion released “Pictures” that features Kacey Musgraves. It is beautiful, but sad and really real. Sara Barielles dropped “Fire”, James Bay dropped “Peer Pressure” featuring Julia Michaels and Pentatonix’s cover of Simon & Garfunkle’s Sound of Silence is pretty dang epic.
  • My friend Amy came over to take photos of Julien and I in our normal everyday. Playing and rocking and cuddling (and fussing 😉 ). I can’t wait to see those photos and can’t thank Amy enough!

Thanks for reading and stay cozy today.