DH is an enabler.

Here’s the story:

When we went on the UK Embroidered Casket Tour in October, we got bookmarks for Supergirl (SG) at every museum and historical site bookstore. We got lots of them because she likes to read several different books at one time (and yes, she finishes them).

Since I’ve gotten stuck on designing the embroidery for my doll-sized casket, and I’ve got lots of ideas for a full-sized casket, I told DH that I was thinking of doing the big casket before the little one. But, I felt I should finish the trinket box first…

DH the Enabler suggested that since SG can read more than one book at a time, why couldn’t I embroider more than one thing at a time…

Yes, he’s a keeper. I ordered a full-sized casket.

It’s a simpler design than my doll-sized casket. On our trip we saw a lot of this style casket. It was less expensive than the more complicated ones and has the advantage of having fewer surfaces to embroider.

It’s signed on the bottom by Richard Oedel, the cabinetmaker who makes all the caskets for Thistle Threads. We enjoyed meeting and talking with him and his wife (who is a book conservator) on the UK trip.

The inside has just a few compartments, but I’ve got lots of ideas for how to create some magic and mystery inside.

The reproduction hinges that came with it are lovely.

Here’s a close-up showing the detail work that went into them.

I have the option of adding a lock to it, but I’ll have to wait until I’ve designed the embroidery to see if I have room for one. This photo shows how the escutcheon that came with my trinket box would look on the casket.

Seeing so many different caskets on the UK tour inspired me to abandon some of the pre-conceived notions I had about what I could/should design. We saw many caskets with stumpwork embroidery only on the top and flat embroidery on the sides or vice versa. Very few of them had stumpwork on every surface. But the ones that did were amazing.

My new casket design will marry the style of 17th-century embroidery with themes borrowed from 19th-century fairy paintings. I’m working on the design for the top and choosing my color palette so far. I’ll share more details soon.

To accommodate all the panels, I’ve ordered 2 more slate frames from Rachael Kinnison and I’m excited.

What other creative stuff have I been doing? Not much lately, but I’m getting back into it and this new project has me super-motivated.

We traveled in October, I was under the weather all of November and spent December catching up with work and holiday stuff, I didn’t pick up a needle for three full months.

I usually don’t make New Year’s Resolutions, but this year, to get my stitching mojo going again, I resolved to try to stitch (at least a little bit) every day. So far, I’m at 75%, but I’ve done other creative/planning stuff on the other days. Not too shabby.

I’ve made a little progress on my trinket box sides, but it’s slow going. I consider this project to be for learning, so I’m not going back and fixing imperfect parts. I just keep moving forward and trying new stitches and techniques.

Doing the long stitches works up fast, but couching the silk gimp around the shapes is tedious and time consuming. I am learning which stitches I like and which I don’t enjoy doing. I’ll keep that in mind when designing my casket.

When I’m doing creative stuff, I find the planning, designing and collecting of supplies to be very exciting and can consume all my thoughts. I get bubbly and talkative. Poor DH.