Designer Spotlight: Snail Fishes Stitches

I usually try to come up with some kind of overarching statement about a cross stitch pattern shop to open these posts, but all I’ve got here is that Snail Fishes Stitches is just fun. If you don’t like fun, and color, and funny little frogs, this is probably not the place for you.

Snail Fishes Stitches has as of this writing nearly 300 patterns, and the biggest category on the site is “miscellaneous.” And it really is that, with animals, word art, pattern bundles of things like holiday trucks and ocean animals, different animal faces, teapots, rainbows and this weird space milkshake.

See? Fun.

This one is 46 by 80 stitches, which comes out to 3.3 by 5.7 inches (or 8.4 by 14.5 cm) on 14 count fabric. It uses 15 colors and looks like it would be great fun to stitch.

Another high-volume category is frogs. You’ll find them on mushrooms and in teacups, dressed up for holidays and seasons, and sitting on a log.

There are also a lot of Christmas (heavy on snow globes) and Halloween patterns, and smaller numbers of projects for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter and the seasons.

In addition there are bookish patterns to show off your favorite genre in stitches, and patterns involving dragons, cats, snakes disguised as sweet treats (pumpkin python pie, anyone?) and gnomes. There are patterns as devoted to coffee as you are, as well as a series of vehicles (perfect for a construction equipment obsessed kiddo’s room) and a salad’s worth of fruit.

Sound good? Check out all the designs over at Snail Fishes Stitches on Etsy.

And let me know if you have a favorite designer I haven’t featured; I’d love to put them in the spotlight! Just leave a comment telling me all about them and I’ll check it out.

[Photo: Snail Fishes Stitches]

Artmishka Cross Stitch is an Etsy shop based in Italy with lots of whimsical and colorful designs and an emphasis on animals, flowers and landscapes. Let’s take a closer look!

The animal section is by far the largest, and it includes everything from realistic birds to cartoony cats, a set of little chick ornaments for Easter and a blackwork butterfly, to name a few. There are little animals in clothes and scarves, and this sweet folk art style owl in modern colors.

This one (and lots of them, really, I think) was designed as nursery decor, and it calls for 10 colors, which you can of course change up to suit your decor, nursery or otherwise. The design is 95 by 95 stitches, which comes out to about 7 inches or 18 cm square on 14 count fabric or 28 count evenweave stitched over two strands.

Another large category is flowers, which includes birth month flower designs, flowers that look hand drawn and colored, floral wreaths with teapots and wedding floral cross stitch designs.

The sampler section includes a variety of small patterns, images with words, colorful geometric and floral designs, and a few holiday patterns. Christmas designs include stamps, Christmas trees, stocking, snowmen and a cute box of snowflake shaped Christmas cookies in a box with a mug of hot chocolate, to name a few designs.

There are also a fair number of designs in both the landscape and cottage categories. These include iconic landmarks and colorful sunsets, and buildings from beach houses to a mushroom cottage, book shop and a cottage with flowers bursting out of the roof. There’s also a section called girl, which has designs of a little girl in different outfits and situations and some other characters.

Other categories on the site with smaller numbers of patterns include boy designs, princesses, plants, hobby themed designs (sewing, knitting, baking), art and bookmarks. There are also a handful of cross stitch kits, all of the little girl character.

Check out all of the fun designs at Artmishka Cross Stitch.

[Photo: Artmishka Cross Stitch]

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