Magical Cat and Its Many Lives in Art

This week, I present a new cross-stitch pattern based on my drawings, and ponder about my word for the year: “integrate.”

It’s finally time to release the cross-stitch pattern that you, my dear blog readers, voted for in April. The pattern is based on the cats drawn for the course Magical Inkdom.

Magical Inkdom is one of my most popular courses, so no wonder so many suggested choosing a cat for the cross-stitch design.

Magical Cat Cross Stitch Pattern

The pattern is called Magical Cat. It features a soft and cute cat with sparkling eyes. I like to decorate, so I did that for the cat too. I have taken inspiration from fabrics and jewelry. The color scheme is sweet and happy, and gray serves as a good background for all the pinks, greens, and yellows.

The pattern is now available for digital purchase in my little Etsy shop Needle and Peony. In addition, you need embroidery threads, suitable fabric for embroidery, and of course scissors and a needle. Information about thread colors is on the pattern page.

I have embroidered the design on 14ct aida fabric and it measures approximately 10 x 10 inches. You can embroider just the cat if you want a smaller model. And when it comes to cross stitches, choosing the higher density of the fabric makes the model smaller.

Integrate!

When taking photos of Magical Cat, I have been thinking about what I want to give to the world as an artist. My word this year has been “Integrate” and I have allowed myself to try all kinds of things as much as I could combine them with what I have created before.

I’ve created many different things, for example, motion art based on my paintings.

And my latest course Joyful Coloring combines watercolor pencils and modular thinking, where the picture is built piece by piece.

Now, when I look back on the year, not only “integrate,” but also additional words come to mind.

Repeating Themes

One is “design,” because I’ve been using things that I learned in the industrial design degree.

The second is “techniques” because I have learned a lot of new ways to create.

The third is maybe “confidence” because even though I’ve been in the discomfort zone many times, I’ve stubbornly convinced myself that I can do it all. That has led to new confidence – I can finish and publish all kinds of things and not just leave them as experiments. Finishing gives me a lot of satisfaction.

Maybe the fourth word is “joyful” because most of what I’ve done has brought me joy, even though it’s been hard work. I hope that the variety of projects that I have presented in this blog has brought joy to you too. My magical cat has had many lives indeed!

But today when I look at my results, I see them as scratching the surface in many directions. I want a new strategic word for next year. I haven’t decided on the word yet, but candidates are at least “elevate,” “expand” and “deepen.”

What do you think?