Another Swap Embroidery...A Gift from the Sea... My Own Design of a Mermaid & Sailor

I was working within the theme of 'through a porthole' ...things one might see when gazing out a porthole from a ship or a submarine.
My partner had given me 2 different fabrics & suggested to either use one or the other or both...even combining them to make a horizon between above & below water. I was inspired by the latter & the pattern just came into being from that inspiration.
I thought it would be very cool to be given a gift from the sea by a mermaid.
I've always been fascinated by mermaids ever since I first saw "Splash" starring Daryl Hannah & Tom Hanks as a little girl. I remember my Nana had gone on a European tour & brought back a souvenir plate from Denmark with the image of the little mermaid statue on it. It broke my heart a few years back to hear that the statue was vandalized several times, but it isn't the original & is always repaired thankfully. One day I hope to travel there & see it myself. Ok, I admit that my babygirl had been watching a lot of Disney's "Little Mermaid" & maybe inspiration was drawn from Ariel & Eric as well.

Back to the embroidery:
I stitched up the sailor & sailboat using a single color & then stitched the mermaid in a variegated floss...to make her a little more magical. I like the contrast of using the lighter color to stitch on the darker fabric & the darker floss on the lighter fabric.

I love how it turned out & it took awhile for me to part with it as my partner can attest to, but as I say "I'm flaky...not a flaker" and always fulfill my swap obligations.
One of the best things about swapping like this is you can end up working on something you never would've created otherwise. It's a great creative exercise...especially to get out of a rut or your comfort zone.

Wait until you see the next piece I've done...it's unlike the other designs I've worked on ...and I did a lot of french knots!

:o)