How I got Madcraftin started

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On April 15th, 2018 I had no plan or idea that my little hobby would turn into what it has today. 

Being able to share my art with people all around the country is such an inspirational part of my life and I am beyond proud of where I am now.

 Sometimes I will go for a whole month with no sales, or I'll go a few weeks where I spend more money on products and shipping than I make in profits. 

I first started with embroidery I knew nothing. When I tell you I had no experience. I mean I had no experience. 



It was very soothing and therapeutic for me. That is probably why I love it so much. I started posting on Instagram and I think my first post has 6 likes. And it stayed that way for a while. It has taken me a long time to get the followers I have today. 

I am going to include pictures of some of my first projects throughout this post. Just so you can get a feel of where I was in my embroidery "career"
  
When I first started doing embroidery I knew absolutely nothing. I followed some people on Instagram and watched some of their videos. But for the most part, I consider myself a self-taught artist. I started with only knowing the backstitch and stem stitch. Both of which I still use in my more recent embroideries. Throughout my little embroidery journey, I slowly learned new stitches and made so many mistakes. 
I started by giving all of my projects as gifts. Mainly because no one knew that I did this. The one with birch trees above was for my one grandma - Nanny. And the flowers below this were for my other grandma - Nana. 
In the photo above I used the following stitches - stem stitch for the grass & all stems - satin stitch for the sunflower petals - French knots for the purple, blue and inside of the sunflower - lazy daisy for the red flowers & pink flower ( I think ) - for the tan thing I think that was just backstitch. 
In the embroidery above this is also a good example of a variety of stitches. The pink is a chain stitch. Orange is a lazy daisy. Yellow is lazy daisy and French knots. Teal is satin stitch and French knots. Blue- honestly no idea. 
This Harry Potter hoop is a good example of using a back stitch as a filler. 

These 2 hoops above are some of my proudest accomplishments. I made them for our close family friends for their two daughters. I put stars on Stella's hoop because Estrella means star in Spanish. And for Milly's hoop, I put honeycombs because her middle name is honey. For the names, I did a backstitch. in my more recent ones like this, I use a whipped backstitch because it makes for a much smoother finished look. You can find a video of that here.
This hoop is very similar to the ones above, I used all the same stitches. This was a memorial hoop for a close friend's grandmother after her husband had passed. I was so honored to be able to provide a lifelong reminder of his love and affection. 

These are some of my favorite shoes I've done. it is all back stitch, lazy daisy, and French knots. Stitching on converse material is somewhat difficult but it is not impossible. 

As I continued to gain more talent with my embroidery I was able to do almost anything I put my mind to, you can find more of my work and some of my proudest accomplishments on my gallery page.  I don't want to bore you to death explaining all the stitches in every one of my embroideries. 

If you are interested in starting embroidery. DO IT! Make a little Instagram page with a silly name and post your art. Send me your @ and I'll follow you and give you shoutouts. 

It is a slow process. It will feel like you are getting nowhere and sometimes you just want to delete the account, but it is all worth it. Even if you have 10 followers and get 3 likes for months - that's okay. If making art is putting a smile on your face that is all that matters. 

I always think it is so cheesy when YouTubers say "I love all my followers so much" but in all honesty, I think that every time I post something. I always want everyone to be healthy and happy. And even though I don't know all of you it feels like I do because of how much love and support you have given me. 

Stay healthy & happy and never stop creating art
- Mads ♡

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