Medium | Sheila's Corner Studio

Numb Tongue Wall Paper. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

The Spoonflower challenge this round was for poisonous plants. Hmm. It had me wishing, once again, that I was better at drawing. I decided to go semi-abstract. Semi-mod. I don’t think I was successful. But I had a working, repeating pattern.

Dieffenbachia is also known as dumb cane. Dumb cane gets its name from the temporary speechlessness that can occur after chewing a piece of the stem. The cells of the plant are armed with stinging crystals, raphides, that are composed of calcium oxalate. If chewed or ingested, the raphides and sap of the plant can irritate the mucous membranes and cause swelling and inflammation of the tongue and throat. The plant is considered to be toxic to cats and children, though ingestion is not usually deadly.

The design name came to me after reading the plant description. It comes from a funny scene in one of the Star Trek movies. Captain Kirk has numb tongue and no one can understand what he is saying. Obscure, I know. But the movie made me giggle.

Numb Tongue, Duvet. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Numb Tongue, Lumbar Pillow. © 2023 Sheila Delgado. — Numb Tongue, Duvet. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Numb Tongue, sample. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

There is texture through out. I mixed a wonky plaid with a linen for the background. And I mimicked the variations of color in the leaves.

I don’t feel confident to ask for votes on this one. Voting is open now until January 17th.

Dad’s birthday.

Bees Decree, sample. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Bee Decree placed at 535 of 811 entries with 26 votes. You can see the top 63, here. Thanks so much everyone, for taking the time to vote.

You are bee-nomenal! 😊😊😊

I do feel a sense of accomplishment for the learning in this process. Adding that to my little pink book of techniques. Haha. 🙂

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes a year has been so disastrous and so terrible
that entering a new year will automatically mean
entering a wonderful year!
Mehmet Murat Ildan

Kindness, kindness, kindness.
I want to make a New year’s prayer, not a resolution.
I’m praying for courage.
Susan Sontag

Bees Decree, Duvet. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Happy Blessed New Year!

Have you ever cross stitched? I enjoyed it for awhile. Back before the turn of the century. I also made things with plastic canvas. I forgot all about that, until I started doing research for this challenge.

This pattern came together quickly. I found a cross stitch font I liked. I made the elements and decided to use a linen effect for the background. I made a repeating aida cloth pattern, but the cloth, and the cross stitch letters were not matching up. I’m guessing this is due to the spacing between the letters.

Once the design elements were done, I had to figure out how to make them look like cross stitch. Hmm. I found a few really good videos, and chose one to follow. She was great. Showed two different methods. Woo Who! I got the first method down lickety-split.

I wasn’t so lucky with the second version. I watched the video about 6 times, and took notes. Finally, I figured out that she forgot to mention one tiny little thing. It worked on my next try. Whew! By this time, I had the steps memorized.

My pattern has one major flaw. The stitch sizes do not match. If you zoom in you can tell that some of the pieces look smooth, while the stitches are more visible on the type.

I just figured out how I can fix this. 😆 Isn’t that always the way. I skipped a few steps in this quick sample, but I know what I need to do now. Woo Who! I can’t edit the design on the site until after the challenge. I will make the changes, and have it ready to upload next week.

Voting is open now, until the 12th.

Bees Decree, Wall Hanging. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Bees Decree, Napkins. © 2023 Sheila Delgado. — Bees Decree, Wall Hanging. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Bees Decree, Tea Towel. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Bees Decree, Pillow. © 2023 Sheila Delgado.

Diamond Diva, wallpaper. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Diamond Diva placed at 868 of 1393 entries with 34 votes. You can see the top 65, here. Most of the top designs are very busy. I guess I bucked that trend. 😆

Hugs and a huge thank you, to everyone who took the time to vote!

Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!

Count your age by friends, not years,
your life by smiles, not tears.
John Lennon

Counting my birthday blessings today. Blessed to have 2022 behind me, and I even made it through December without catching my annual winter cold. Woo Who! I am so grateful for all of you, who let me take up a little space in your inbox. Thank you for sharing in my journey!