Handmade & Trade [September] Felt Flower Hoop Embroidery

As you may or may not know, I've recently joined Instagram after getting fed-up with facebook algorithms.  I'm having a hard time gaining followers and getting people to interact on my posts despite my activity there and the amount of views I have here on my blog.  (That being said, I have made some really good new friends through my Instgram pages).  So recently I stumbled upon an Instagram hashtag/event called Handmade and Trade and I really wanted to get involved. Not necessarily to get sweet little handmade gifts (although there are a lot of talented makers involved!) but to get connected with other makers on Instagram.

If you are a maker of any kind (hobby, blog, business, etc) you should consider participating. It goes by 3 month time spans so the next one should start in January. Aaaanywho- I wanted to share the item I made and sent to my partner this month:

My partner sueforgod mentioned a few things about herself, including her faith and her favorite color (blue).   I also knew she liked felt because her own shop is made of stunning felt creations. Y'all should check out her etsy shop Be Joyful Always Shop. (She uses her shop as a way to earn money for her and her husband's adoption journey!) So I came up with this simple but lovely hoop decor.

I finished off the back and glued a wall hanger to it so it could easily be hung on the wall. When she said that she was going to hang it in her someday baby's nursery I about cried. What an awesome honor that will be!

Here's what it looked like before I embroidered it:

I'm still perfecting my embroidery stitches and these probably could have been better but overall I think it turned out really well.  Of course, it was a labor of love so maybe that shined through in the end!

A close up on the felt flowers.  Check out my small business page (Instagram) to snag some of these felt flowers on headbands!

Lastly and sweetest of all, my son (almost 5) has started his own little "confetti" business.  He solicits anyone that visits our house to buy a bag of large confetti from him for $1.00 and threw in a bag of this handmade confetti with my embroidery hoop.  The words on the bag were his message to her.  Ooooh my heart, how sweet is he?  I love the gift I made but my mama heart loves this even more.

I'm excited to see what she created for me but most of all, I'm tickled to have made a new "online pal".  I love watching other small businesses thrive, especially ones with such a sweet cause like hers.  I wonder what I will make for my partner next month!?