E is for Elephant

"E is for Elephant" Hand-Embroidered Felt ATC
Originally uploaded by Pictures by Ann

This is a hand-embroidered artist trading card (ATC) that I made for my youngest daughter, Olivia.

It's going into an alphabet book that is made up of ATCs (there are two ATCs per letter - one that I made and one that someone else made that I traded for).

It is the standard 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", and made from felt and embroidery floss. The entire front of the card is done in the back-stitch; and the card is blanket-stitched to a felt backing.

I'm going to make another version (without the E) for my shop - Harvest Moon by Hand - where there are other hand-embroidered ACEOs that I've made and are available.

When Olivia is done with the ABC book, she will place it in her "Memory Box" (another word for a "Hope Chest"). Already she is collecting favorite clothes that she wore when she was a toddler and child; Christmas ornaments that were given to her or that she purchase with money she earned; items that were given to her from China (where she was born); and favorite books that she "wants to pass on to her children."

She also has items she has made that she is using that will later go in her "Memory Box" - her first quilt that she made at 6 1/2 years old (and that she won a blue ribbon for at the county fair); and a hand-drawn picture she embroidered and made into a pillow (she won the grand champion ribbon for the pillow at the county fair last year).

As her sewing and embroidery skills continue to develop, she'll make some special items for her future kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. All of these items - along with the memories of making them - she will take with her when she's an adult and ready to make her first house into a home.