Free shipping for limited time from Blurb.com

Blurb is now offering free shipping for a limited time! For those of you wanting to purchase copies of "Alphabet Soup!" for all the little ones on your holiday lists, click here to get the code. Then, head on over to Blurb and grab your copies today before the holiday rush begins.

How it's done: achieving the look of "Alphabet Soup"

I've had a lot of questions lately about how exactly I created the photographs for the Alphabet Soup series, so I thought I'd share some of the techniques here.

1) I only use natural, diffused light. Incandescent or other artificial light sources throw harsh shadows, so I have to wait for a perfect, sunny day. It's challenging, especially when just one little cloud rolls past and interferes with my sun!

2) I use a vintage lens to capture the images. Combining modern photography with vintage cameras and viewfinders is my favorite way to work. All those bright spots and scratchy bits? Totally intentional! The soft, muted feel of the older lens helps me capture the feeling of the whole series.

3) How do I know which text to use? When I find one that makes me smile :-) I keep playing with the images until I reach a combination that fits perfectly...sometimes it happens quickly, other times it takes nearly a whole episode of "Glee!" to get it right.

Come visit both the original "Alphabet Soup" gallery, and the still-in-progress "Alphabet Soup for Cross Stitchers" gallery to see more!

Signed Copies Now Available

Signed copies of Alphabet Soup! are now available on my website. Both the hard cover and soft cover books are ready to ship, and I'm happy to write a personal message to the little one in your life! Start your holiday shopping early and purchase your copy today.

Story Behind the Pictures: Alphabet Soup for Cross Stitchers

Every Friday on my artists' blog, I share a new "Story Behind the Picture," so I thought I'd repost this week's story here so that everyone involved in the SYHO project could share in the on-going process of the series and understand why it is so meaningful to me.

When these beautiful pieces arrive to me, I can't help but marvel at the time and love poured into each one. Some are actual stitched designs, some are creative tools to make stitchers' lives easier, but all are little pieces of art. Little pieces of art that connect generations of women who teach one another and keep the traditions their mothers and grandmothers taught to them. It was once forbidden for a gathering of three or more women to stitch or weave together: the churches feared the power of such unchaperoned meetings, feared the agency and power associated with creating such elaborate and bewitching designs, feared the outcome if too many women were united in their single pursuit. Silly, isn't it, to think that something woven or stitched by a women would be dangerous? Yes, I suppose, unless you've read the story of Medea...

These images are a tribute to the beautiful art of cross stitch that should be treasured - and taught - for endless years to come. Keep stitching, ladies!

"Alphabet Soup for Cross Stitchers"

This weekend was the Stitching Jubilee in Lancaster, PA: it was an incredible experience to meet all the designers and stitchers!

Even better, we were able to share with them the exciting "Alphabet Soup for Cross Stitchers" book that will benefit the CAROL for Heart foundation.

A little background: Loose Thread Stitchers (LTS) and mkc photography have partnered to create a gorgeous coffee table book dedicated to the art of cross stitch. Twenty-six different letters, twenty-six different designers and companies who have supported this project, twenty-six different beautiful pages that even non-stitchers will love.

Why are we doing this? Colleen (the CEO of LTS) and I are dedicated to championing causes that support women. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women world-wide, and CAROL for Heart works to educate women about heart health. When Colleen saw my original "Alphabet Soup!" book, she knew this was a concept she wanted for the "Stitch Your Heart Out" (SYHO) campaign. Click here for a sneak peek at a few of the letters that will be a part of this book!

Welcome to the "Alphabet Soup!" series

Alphabet Soup! is a charming children's book based on a series of fine art prints I created in the summer of 2009. My inspiration? The two little loves of my life, Danny and Lucas. With their help, I gathered a collection of vintage pieces of childhood and photographed them in a still-life series.

Twenty-six of the original photographs comprise the pages of Alphabet Soup! but the series keeps growing - I'm currently working on an exciting project for the Stitch Your Heart Out campaign called Alphabet Soup for Cross Stitchers: you can find a sneak peak at the project here.

In the News

Thank you for the lovely features from all these fine places:

The Children's Author Show

Apartment Therapy
My Shopping Connection

Upscale Baby

Times Chronicle/Glenside News

A Few of My Favorite Things

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