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@moonflesh

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✷ thread-veined flora, fauna, & all manner of magic / OG embroideries with gemstones
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I just finished this embroidery of an enchanting tableau featuring a stack of tomes, wrapped & devoured in twining vines and silky cobwebs. Atop this castle/mountain/hoard, an otherworldly spider with a glittering crescent moon on her abdomen sits proudly. 🕷🌙

I recently bought a ton of indie embroidery floss and got to use them for the first time in this piece - the colors are so much more nuanced compared to the thread I usually use, and I found the crafting to be an extra sumptuous experience. ✨
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This piece was made for the winner of the r@ffle I did back in June! It was really special for me to be able to offer a chance for a custom embroidery outside of just commissioning me, as I know that's not accessible to everyone. And I'm forever grateful for the love and support y'all show me, always. I find myself steeped in emotions & gratitude & utter surrealness when I think about how lucky I am to get to do this. I catch myself thinking, "I can't believe this is my life!" in the best way possible. It’s definitely hard work, and I'd certainly have more stability/security (& straight up more 💰) if I worked a ‘regular’ job, but it wouldn't FEED me like this feeds me. It gives my melancholic, strange, neurodivergent brain a place to just *be*, which I would not have in a conventional job that would leave me feeling utterly depleted (speaking from personal experience). I am so nourished in doing this work and it blows my mind that people like the things I make! Little me would lose their shit if they knew I got to make art for a living, teen me would weep with joy knowing that they have a future beyond the hopelessness they were lost in. All of that, and the support from you all, keeps me going every day. ANYWAY I did not mean to get so emotional hahaha just wanted to say thank you for being here. 🖤 by @moonflesh

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5 years ago

When I got the commission request email for this piece in my inbox I think I actually jumped for joy, haha. I have longed to embroider bittersweet nightshade for ages and it felt super special to be able to finally manifest it in this form, paired with an antique key and styled like the Belladonna Portal piece I did last year. This piece also features 18 !!! darling garnet teardrop beads to represent the lovely red berries of this plant. ♥️

I also have an amazing story to share about this piece — there’s often quite a bit of time between when I accept a commission and when I actually start working on it, as I usually have a pretty long queue of pieces to make. Another reason I was really excited to make this is because it’s been a while since I’ve seen the plant in person. Bittersweet nightshade used to grow in the yard of my old house, but since I moved almost 3 years ago I haven’t seen it. So I was seriously shocked & super touched when, LITERALLY as I was preparing to finally start this piece, I spotted bittersweet nightshade growing right outside my door (see last couple of photos). I have never seen it grow at this house, so it really felt like this plant appeared to say hello and wish me well with the crafting of this new piece. One of those moments that reminds me of all the magic in this world 💜 by @moonflesh

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5 years ago

Happy Winter Solstice 🤍
I recently finished this long awaited pomegranate piece! My pom designs have always featured the singular fruit, but I thought it would be fun to depict one on a branch (oh how delightful it would be to have a pomegranate tree!); I actually drew the design for this over two years ago, so my visions & desire to bring this to life have been brewing for quite a while ~

I don’t often use red in my work, especially in such a large quantity, so embroidering pomegranates are a special experience. Especially during this time of year (in the northern hemisphere) when we descend deeper into the cold, I long for the enlivening quality that this rich & sanguine color brings ♥️🍷🩸
I usually depict the seeds with glass seed beads; this time the pom seeds are depicted entirely with both smooth and faceted garnets, which adds to the sumptuous feel of the piece. 🍎

Of course, Persephone is foremost in my mind when I create pomegranates. Her underworld journey creates meaning for the cycle of the seasons and the ebbs and flows of life.
Persephone is a balm to me whenever I feel my own vitality or spirit wane — the sadness/grief/pain I carry is certainly real, but in the thick of it it can feel wholly unnatural or surreal in its overwhelming, all-encompassing nature. It often feels unending. She reminds me of the cyclic nature of existence & experience; that we can go through such dark nights and underworld journeys, and still claw our way up out of the earth and into some place brighter. 🌱

(As many of y’all know, I’ve been having such an experience the last couple of months — indicated by my lack of posting here — but I’m finally feeling like I have a larger capacity for hope & for the future (both soon and distant); I can allow myself to envision beyond the fight of just getting through the day. Working on this piece & ruminating on Persephone and her story, her symbols, etc. have been a large part of that ❤️‍🩹)

This piece will be available *tomorrow* at 3PM EST! There will also be another piece listed as well —a mini one— which you will just have to visit the shoppe at the appropriate time to see! (hint: 👻)

More to come soon 🖤 by @moonflesh

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4 years ago

A serpent with shadowed scales coils around a pair of violets 💜💜 In case you missed it, I've been (slowly) working on crafting a Persephone-inspired piece featuring a serpent (symbol of the underworld) accompanied by the flowers Persephone was gathering before she was whisked away by Hades. It's going to be pretty elaborate, so I've decided to make some smaller pieces focused on the individual flowers — one of them being viola odorata, or sweet violet, as you might have guessed. 🌸

To me, violets feel sweet in an unassuming, humble way — they can be easy to miss because of their small size, but they are lovely all the same. They feel like the spirit of a love that is calm and tender and enduring.

I tried to mirror that feeling in the composition of this piece — from the pair of (heart shaped) leaves, the pair of flowers, the loose heart that the serpent forms around the violets. The number of elements (2 leaves + 2 flowers +1 snake) add up to 5, one of Venus's numbers; violets fall under Venus' purview. 🌷 (also! the serpent’s appropriately violet-toned eye is an antique (1920s!) seed bead 🪡)

I've also decided that I'm going to make a matching fall version of the big piece! 🍂 When the prints are eventually done, there will be a version representing Persephone as spring maiden, and another representing her as the queen of the underworld. Haven't decided what subject matter to add to the latter yet, beyond pomegranates, of course ~ (let me know if you have any ideas!)

This piece will be available in my shop on Friday at 3PM EST 💜 by @moonflesh

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3 years ago

This (not so) little creature recently made it home to Australia, its native land 🪲 Though it's commonly known as a green grocer cicada (Cyclochila australasiae), the different color variants have unique names. The yellow ones are called yellow mondays; the rarer turquoise variant shown here is aptly named blue moon. 🦋 I used metallic threads for the veining of the wings; a time-consuming process but well worth it for the razzle dazzle.
The cicada is adorned with a faceted labradorite, as well as three teeny tiny seed beads for its simple eyes. The crescent moon is also metallic! 🌙

I don't know about y'all, but every time I encounter an insect or plant or animal so brilliantly colored like this, I feel momentarily floored by the fact that such things just... exist. What a special planet we live on. 🖤 For me personally, it's so easy to lose sight of that amidst all the terrible things constantly happening around us, to us. I don't know, just simply falling in love with the earth over and over again… just allowing myself to be in awe of the simple yet incomprehensibly complex beings of this planet truly keeps me going. 🖤 by @moonflesh

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3 years ago

Gentle leviathan, dancing its way through the sea, or in this case, against a backdrop of an aurora & twinkling stars (embroidered and beaded, including three different kinds of labradorite beads). 🐋✨

This piece has been long in the making (technically since last summer!), so it feels incredibly surreal to see it finished. It was a challenge to work on something so large and complex, but I'm proud of myself for seeing a way through the difficult moments! I learned so much and I'm grateful to have such wonderful clients who gift me with the opportunity to create things like this. 🖤

I love feeling like I'm looking into a dream with this piece, and not just a dream, but all the possibilities of dreaming; the boundlessness and enduring hope that can be cultivated in a space outside the realm of earthly reality.

In other news — I'm almost finished with the last commission on my list right now, so I'm opening commissions again! This is the first time I've opened them this year (what is time)... and honestly, it's actually been far longer than that because I can't remember when I last opened them in 2022. SO! If you've been wanting to get a custom embroidery from me, now's your chance to send in a request. 💌

In between commissions, I'll be working on the Persephone piece (black serpent + spring flowers 🌸) y'all voted for in my stories a little while ago. But before starting the big piece, I'll be making some smaller ones as floral studies, which will be listed in my shop as I finish them. So keep an eye out for that!

I'll be posting more personal life update stuff in my stories to avoid going on and on here. Thank you for reading this far. Beaming out love to ya 💓 by @moonflesh

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3 years ago

Embroidery of a magpie with resplendent plumage, sitting atop a human skull. The magpie has a faceted eye of aquamarine, and holds a faceted garnet in its mouth. Surrounding it are embroidered gems of sapphire, emerald, ruby, and amethyst, along with smooth garnet cabochons. 💎

Magpie King has been an idea worming around in my brain for a year or two now, jotted down on my ever-growing list of embroidery ideas. I knew that it would be quite the undertaking, and up until recently I couldn't devote so much time to such a complex project (barring commissions).

The planning for this piece was pretty intense. I don’t know if other embroiderers are the same way, but I can spend hours upon hours comparing colors that look virtually the same; looking up RGB values and everything. Multiply that by however many colors I need (it was 41 for this piece 💀) and I start looking a bit mad, scrawling my notes and staring at colors until my eyes fall out. And that's even before I start actually embroidering which is a whole nother ordeal lol.

Hopefully it paid off? A true labor of love 🪡❤️‍🔥

Magpie King was originally supposed to be included in the Saturnian collection, but it required more time from me; I acquiesced 🙇🏽 A study in the cycle of life/death/rebirth, in earthly treasures, in brilliant birds who like to hoard things and have been deemed as symbols of good luck, bad luck, trickster, wise one, dreamer, diviner, and on and on. (Humans love to find meaning in everything. 🖤)

Available this Friday at 3PM EST! by @moonflesh

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4 years ago

There is no other mushroom more associated with magic than the beloved amanita muscaria. 🍄 It is featured in folklore and legends across the world, within various cultures. One of my favorite things about the fungus is its association to the Tree of Life. And, like many other mushrooms, it has a strong connection to the fae. 🧚🏼‍♀️ It is undoubtedly a powerful teacher of hidden wisdoms, what it means to truly live an interconnected existence with all beings, & the cyclic nature of everything. 🌀

The mushroom is decorated with shell pearl beads to represent the iconic white spots of the amanita. The red cap, the skirt, & the stem of the mushroom is shot through with iridescent metallic thread - these features together bring about an otherworldly quality to the piece. This is also the first time (along with the all-white version I shared previously) I've embroidered amanita with the inner gills visible; it adds an extra level of dimension & detail to the design.

The veiled lady mushroom I shared yesterday, along with the two amanitas, will be available TOMORROW at 3PM EST 🖤 The 'saturnian' collection actually features one other piece (what I consider the *star* of the series), but some supply issues came up that delayed the process. This piece will be released on its own once the issues get sorted out; hopefully within the next week or so! If you're curious on the subject matter, it features a magpie (my very first!) with a human skull and a hoard of gems. As always, if you want to see work-in-progress photos & musings by yours truly, join me over at p@tr3on! The extra income it provides me is greatly appreciated and helps sustain me during what is currently a difficult time for me — I've been working slower / less frequently because apparently it is my destiny to collect chronic illnesses. 🫠 I know many of y'all can relate!

If I have time this month, I'm hoping to make a piece dedicated to Persephone. I usually do a collection this time of year titled Persephone's Return. Due to lack of time, I think I'll dedicate one big piece to her instead. This is still just an idea floating around in my head, so there will be more to share in due time. Until then 🖤 by @moonflesh

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4 years ago

This mushroom, phallus indusiatus, has a few common names but my absolute favorite is the veiled lady. 🕸

Recently, I've had this fixation with permeable barriers, prompted by a bit of writing I did during a ritual involving Jupiter. It's a powerful thing to write in such a state; it feels almost trancelike, the way words can carry you through a journey. Here is some of what I wrote:

"[...]the image of a cholla cactus skeleton, [...]something sturdy, firm, yet open and receiving - filled with holes but not unstable. An image of wind passing through these openings, in and out and back around, through and through, yet the structure itself holding firm. [...]a veiled lady mushroom, that lacy skirt with all its openings - sitting within it and feeling and seeing it all around me; feeling veiled and protected, but not closed off. The roots of a tree, the way they often come together and separate, over and over, gaps between individual reaching roots, yet they hold up a wise old being. A permeable membrane, again and again - a barrier - protective but not rigid; water flowing and flowing and flowing; a voice saying that all of this is a kind of stability, a kind of security. It’s me, or what will resonate most with me, that I need not reach for the spirit of the vast mountain, the towering trees, the adamant fortress, the Gas Giant; that is them and this is me[...]"

Much of what led me to these revelations is thanks to @ddamascenaa. I learned from her that mushrooms embody the qualities of many of our celestial bodies. I called this collection 'saturnian' because the driving force behind it was the theme of death & decay & rebirth, things that are well suited to this time of year. I wanted to release it during the last few days of Aquarius season, but it didn't end up working out. I was peeved about it until I thought back to what I learned from Diana & the things I had written, and now it feels right to release these pieces during this Piscean time 🍄

This piece, along with two amanita mushrooms (one white & one red) will be available this Friday, March 3rd at 3pm EST 🤍

(more in the comments) by @moonflesh

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4 years ago

During this time of year, my mind naturally ruminates on saturnian things - death, prosperity (specifically what do you get to bring with you into other realms, and what stays behind?), time, carrion birds, decay, renewal, etc. These themes have been inspiring me a lot lately, and the next few pieces I'll be making will be centered around them.
It's only natural for mushrooms to come to mind when thinking of decay & renewal, so it was the perfect opportunity to create this white amanita. Ever since I started embroidering amanita mushrooms, I've wanted to make this all white version, but I stuck with the more colorful designs as I don't think the whole monochromatic thing is for everyone! However, I finally decided to indulge myself~ The mushroom is made more dynamic with the presence of iridescent thread shooting all throughout the cap and the stem, and of course, shell pearl beads for the iconic white spots. I'm happy with the pictures I took of this one (check stories for more), but trust me when I saw they will never do justice to seeing it irl; the amanita is simultaneously faelike and ghostly. 🧚
I'll still be making the classic red amanita muscaria though, no worries! 🍄

EDIT - upd*te postponed! new date coming soon! // As for the upd*te itself, that'll take place next week, Friday Feb 17. Exact time TBA! If I don't end up finishing everything on time, a second upd*te will follow a few days after. As always, I'll share any changes & details on my story, so keep an eye out if you're interested 🖤 by @moonflesh

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4 years ago

Here's the other piece I made last year that I've yet to share! I had the pleasure of working on this after October had gone and passed. My October had been full of difficult circumstances which meant that I couldn't partake in the usual autumnal & halloween activities that make that dark month so lovely 🖤 I really mourned the missed opportunities, so being able to visit this piece each day and get my fill that way was a blessing!
My client asked for a jupiterian jack o' lantern paired with pumpkins, and after seeing that description I was like 'sign me tf up', essentially. 🎃 (Also worth mentioning that after seeing the design I made, the client said it felt like a combination of the Queen of Pentacles + 4 of Wands + 3 of Cups. I am truly so lucky to work with the best people. 😭)

The three pumpkins combined with the lush, overgrown quality of the greenery calls to mind abundance & prosperity, fitting for our favorite spooky gourd. The jack o' lantern's face is made of glittering black features - crescent moon eyes fitted with sparkling citrines (a stone suited to this piece due to its associations) and a mischievous grin. I've never paired stones with my jack o' lanterns before! I love how they give them a magical, come-to-life quality. Finally, no such tableau is complete without a sparkling full moon. 🌕

In other news, I've been hard at work making some new pieces to list in the shoppe ~ I've yet to decide whether I'll list them one by one as I finish them, or if I'll release them altogether for an update, but if I go with the latter, expect it in about two weeks time! I'll update y'all with exact dates once I figure out the details. Until next time 🖤 by @moonflesh

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4 years ago

Hello everyone! This is a very late 'first post of the year' from yours truly, please forgive me~ 😅
A few of you know that I've been on a break from work (and subsequently, social media) as well as dealing with a couple of health-related issues, so having some time away has been very beneficial for me. I generally quite like the transition from the old year into the new — it's a time ripe for reflection and regeneration. I've certainly been doing both of those things, but this year, I've also found myself caught in that strange liminal space between Here and There. The Hanged Man's realm, a place where you are held in vulnerable suspension, waiting to see if you'll sink or swim. You must come to terms with the warring feelings of fear of the unknown vs the excitement & anticipation of what's new. The discomfort of blood pooling in your head makes you dazed and unsteady... its a strange space to exist in for sure, especially for an extended period of time. Please bear with me while I navigate through this surreal landscape 🖤

In the meantime, I have a couple of pieces I completed last year that I've yet to share with you all! Here is one such piece - a mourning dove commission 🕊 I decided on pairing the mourning dove with a willow tree, as their shared symbolism (beautiful yet sorrowful) seemed to fit well together. I'm pleased that all the colors I used helped to keep the piece from being too forlorn & gloomy — there is no darkness without light and all that. The mourning dove has a sparkling blue sapphire for an eye 💎

After the piece was finished, the client let me know that they actually asked for the mourning dove as a kind of memorial to their late father, and that the suggestion of the willow tree was eerily fitting due to the fact that their father planted one for them when they were a child. Revelations like this always give me chills, and believe it or not, they happen fairly often during the making of custom pieces! I like to see them as signs of encouragement and approval from the universe, spirits, etc. that we are on the right path. 💕 by @moonflesh

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4 years ago