In my early days of designing..............

I was a little shy to "let the sky be the limit" in my designs........staying simple and secure in my "comfort zone". Taking a step into the water...........slowly. Although it looks quite simple...........I have to say, this little house sampler holds a special place in my heart. I designed it when I was a young mother of 3 small children and we were living in our first home............a fixer upper in a scary neighborhood. Yet within the walls of this old house and surrounded by my world of happiness, I tried to express that through my needlework design. That is why I have  hearts coming out of the chimney..........something that has now turned out to be my trademark and for the customers who know me well...........they know to look for that in certain designs.

As you can see..........house designs are one of my favorite......and even though we were still living in the "unfixed" fixer upper..........I had a dream of a home out in the country...........

with the picket fence.............more full bodied trees and yes...........those little love hearts coming out of the chimney.

Years have passed and my life has turned into a mother of 3 grown children and I live in the middle of mesquite filled woods with coyotes for neighbors.

Although I had worked these previous designs in cross stitch...........hand embroidery is my passion over all...........so I decided to make a sampler with hand embroidery, instead of cross stitch.

A country cottage..........with those hearts still flying out of the chimney.

I really liked stitching this piece in regular embroidery stitches.

I did not stitch a date on this sampler..........there is still room to do so ..........and I think I should add it..................as it shows the difference in how I design today.

How about you?  Have you changed the way you design, embroidery, paint, or in any other area you are creative?

Do you have a "trademark" that is known in your work?

I would love to hear!