Just a little Valentine’s Day present for a lucky someone! Last day to enter is Feb. 13th and the winner will be chosen at random on Valentine’s Day. US and Canada only. Thanks!

Many of my works are inspired by books and my frequent trips to the library. In my first blog, which just went up today (read it here!!) – I highlight a few of my pieces from January and the process and influences behind the work.

detail of Blue Star

A little nod to the relationship between Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe (inspired by the book Just Kids)

So I hope you will check out the Library as Incubator Project – which highlights different ways and has new ideas for how libraries and artists can work together. It’s a great concept and I am thrilled to be part of it!

Read my January blog here.

You can also follow my daily embroideries on my Tumblr blog or Facebook page.

From the website:

Say goodbye to the old Central Library at “Bookless,” a community celebration in the empty building featuring a one-day only art show by 100 local artists. Pieces inspired by library space and materials range from paintings to oversize installations to live performances. Hands on activities like a public painting wall let you transform the 45-year old library into a work of art.

Join us early in the day for the FREE Family Free-for-All featuring hands on art activities for kids like an interactive painting wall, library Dewey card stamping station and make your own ‘Zine from recycled books. Members of Madison’s Polka! Press will be on hand to help you print your own artwork. Don’t miss Yid Vicious performing at 1 PM!

Party in the Stacks begins after 7 pm with Live Music on the Project Lodge stage and DJ sets in the basement stacks. Purchase food creations from Underground Food Collective, craft cockatils by Merchant, and Great Dane beer.

Proceeds benefit Madison Public Library Foundation’s Learning for a Lifetime: The Community Campaign for a New Central Library.

So come party with us. This is our first date night without the kids since the baby was born (almost 10 months!) so we are very excited to have a night of grown up life!

Each card is individually hand-embroidered and then machine stitched to card stock. The “wrong side” of the stitching on the inside of the card is covered with a pretty paper (archival glue). They are all blank on the inside and come with matching envelopes.

The ones pictured above, and some other Love-type ones are on SALE on my Etsy right now for only $4.50 each and Free Shipping.

And regularly they are priced at $6 each. Will be listing lots of these in the near future – for all different occasions – so keep checking my Etsy. Thanks!

Also, a side note: I just found this website Heartsy – most of you probably already know of it but if you don’t, check it out. There are REALLY good discounts on quality handmade items. It only takes a second to sign up and it’s definitely worth it. I submitted some of my embroideries so hopefully I will be able to offer a 50% discount soon. If you see me on the “Pick Deals” page, vote me up!

My kids enjoyed decorating their snow fort

And creating colorful hand and foot prints

The possibilities are endless! What fun things do you like to do with your kids in the winter?

So I’m offering them on a really good sale — 30% off plus Free Shipping (to the U.S.) over on my Etsy shop.

Here are a few that are available, and I will be adding more during the next week or so!

Originally $100 on sale for $70 on Etsy

Originally $100 on sale for $70 on Etsy

Inspired by The Doors, of course.
Originally $40 on sale for $28 on Etsy

And sometimes I even come up with a good line.

Originally $75 on sale for $50 on Etsy

All of these pieces are original, hand-embroidery and are part of my Embroider the Day series, where I am finishing one embroidery every day for 2012. No two pieces will ever be alike.

They are all permanently mounted in the wood hoop and ready to hang/display. They are signed and dated on the side of the hoop.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at sarahhemm@gmail.com or convo me on Etsy.

I was a featured artist on the Library as Incubator website. Check out the great project and read my interview! And it looks like I will be a guest blogger on the site soon!

Here are a couple pieces from the first week of January – I am digging the typography as embroidery, even though they do seem to take a long time. Especially that long Kerouac quotation!

For more details about these (and other) pieces, please visit my Etsy which has more pictures and a description of each piece.

Thanks for checking on this blog to see what I’m up to! I will leave you with an awesome piece of artwork that my 8 year old, Kali, drew recently….now that Fiona is crawling all over the place Kali has been chasing her around alot!

I am loving the tiger claw hands.

I will be posting all of this work over on my new Tumblr, Embroider the Day. So I invite you to follow my progress throughout the year and I will post updates once in awhile on this blog as well.

More good news — my embroidery Waiting for the Miracle was featured over at Whipup. It’s the little things that keep me going these days! And that particular piece is available at Hatch Art House in Madison if you want to see it in person.

Blue Star, 2/365, hand embroidery on 6″ hoop

As always, you can stay in the loop with all these happenings on our Facebook page which I update a lot. I appreciate my FB peeps.

Anybody else doing a 365 project?

Craft wants to know:

One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of
Two Mistakes You’ve Made in the Past
Three Things That Make Your Work Unique
Four Tools You Love to Use
Five Inspirations

One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of: The embroidery below, Succulent. It was the first in a new, exciting series of freehand work where I am drawing with thread without a plan. The composition in this piece came together after lots of time not only stitching but planning as I went, and also the piece is now being exhibited at Hatch Art House among others so all in all this was my best work done in 2011.

Two Mistakes You’ve Made in the Past: I will narrow this question down to only include the mistakes I feel I made in my artistic career and not my personal life! 1. I wish I would have gone to art school right away after H.S. instead of waiting until I was 23 with 2 kids. And 2. Giving into doubts about myself and my work and therefore missing important opportunities. Always go ahead and bite off more than you can chew, and then chew it (as my father-in-law says)!

Three Things That Make Your Work Unique:

1. I freehand embroider from my imagination without patterns of any kind. My imagery is unique.

2. I am not afraid to come up with my own techniques and invent stitches.

3. I aim to be a conceptual artist, not a technical one.

Four Tools You Love to Use:

1. My super cute, super sharp embroidery scissors

2. Short, sharp, long-eyed crewel needles

3. Embroidery hoops in all different shapes and sizes – best if they are found while thrifting

4. My lovely floss organizer cards and box

Five Inspirations:

1. My kids — they are so imaginative and full of energy. They have no preconceived notions about art, so therefore anything goes, and it astounds me. I build off their ideas and excitement.

2. Nature — I get so much from being outdoors and enjoying nature. It is my center and place of peace. I collect rocks, bones, feathers, and other ephemera.

3. Reading — it both comforts and ignites me. I read all kinds of things — books, magazines, blogs, classic, new, fiction, non-fiction. I just soak up anything and everything that interests me. I form a lot of mental images from the ideas that come into my head, and it shows up in my artwork quite subconsciously.

4. Art History — I have studied art history intently since I was in 6th grade. There is sooo much to learn and it evolves every day. It is important to know the history of art so that you figure out how your own work relates. One of the main goals in my work is to be non-derivative.

5. Contemporary Artists and Crafters — Look around. There are so many amazing people doing ingenious things. They are out there doing it right now. And so am I. And you can be too. With as much negativity in the world today, I am also so appreciative of the times we live in. We have this wonderful technology that brings people from all over the world together. We can all learn so much from each other and help each other.

Head over to my main website to see more of my alternative embroidery work.

Display

Sunbrella, hand embroidery, 6″ hoop

I have been very prolific lately. Let’s hope I can keep it up :)

View more photos of these works, and my other embroideries, on Flickr here.

I should really be working on holiday presents!