Thread Lace and an ATCs

First off.........I've just completed the April ATCs for the Birthday Swap. Since April is "Financial Literacy Month", I chose a money theme. The title of the ATC is "If Money Grew on Trees" It took me a little while to get inspired for April but when I found a stash of very tiny old foreign coins it all fell into place. The background is a commercial fabric of abstract trees. Then I added the coins and some organza with little shiny bits on it to put in the trees. The "ground" is some bits I had left over from another project with dyed fabric and scrim.

If Money Grew on Trees

In another group, we are working on several embellishing projects. Our current one is thread lace. I'd never done it before so I went in search of the supplies needed and actually found them. That's amazing because these are not things I use often. The first is water soluble stabilizer and the second is my embroidery hoop! I was supposed to start with some kind of grid...but well.....I'm not a grid kind of person really. So I skipped ahead and just did a free-hand tree! It didn't take very long and it was a lot of fun! When I was finished, I just cut out the area with the tree and soaked it in water for about 10 seconds and here it is! Oh and YES....I'll definitely be doing this again!! The brain is imagining all kinds of things I can make this way! The picture below is the lacy tree on a piece of muslin. It is not attached at all, just for a plain background.