Folk Floral Embroidered Cuff

I was asked to create a new Floral cuff for Artful Home.  I had become a little burnt out with making my collection of “Fiori” cuffs over the last few years, and I needed a break. They take a huge amount of time and design planning. Every little element is hand beaded and created one motif at a time. Each one is a labor of love, truly – and its hard for me to recreate the same piece more than once, let along 5-15 times. The floral pieces just sort of organically grow as I’m working and I can never be sure how they will turn out. They’re not production pieces, and therefore the conundrum presents itself when people want to buy one  just like the one they see in the catalog or at the show. Such is the quandary of one-of-a-kind pieces and making a living!

I decided to design a piece that would be based more on Folk Art and embroidery rather than “botanically correct” flowers. There is more of a graphic design element to this cuff – like floral printed fabric, or embroidery from Scandinavia, Russia or Hungary- which I find fascinating, inspiring and cheerful. While making it, I had a sense of adventure and whimsy that I had lost a bit of in my Fiori cuffs.

Here is the sketch of the cuff, and the finished product. It’s backed with a delicious chartreuse Ultra suede, and is very light and comfortable.