iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Got me a cute little helper today! She’s always a willing lap-warmer and string-chomper. 😹 . . . #embroidery #cats #art #houseportrait #watercolor #cabin #landscapeembroidery

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

First of the Frog Circus done! She’s dying to look into her crystal ball and tell you your fortune. And she definitely hasn’t trapped lightning bugs (or are they glow worms?) for her lanterns….. #embroidery #frogs #circus #redeyedtreefrog #fortuneteller #art #beading

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

I’m making a new series!! I might or might not be waaay too invested in this little frog circus…. I 100% did entirely too much research about which species gets which role 😅 But they’re gonna be so cute!!! #embroidery #wipwednesday #art #frogs #frogcircus #embroiderypattern

Layout of the patterns for The Frog Circus -

the Ringleader, an Ornate Chorus Frog
the Juggler, a Harlequin Poison Frog
the Bumblebee Acrobat, a Brachycephalus Dacnis Frog
the Trapeze Twins, Ranitomeya Dart Frogs
the Tightrope Walker, a White’s Tree Frog
the Fortune Teller, a Red-Eyed Tree Frog
the Snake Tamer, a Malagasy Rainbow Frog and a Liophidium Pattoni Snake

Color versions of my patterns! A sneak peak of their final form.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

LOOK AT HIM!! Out there living his best life playing with the lanterns while the sun sets. 😻 #cats #embroidery #stumpwork #watercolor #art #beading

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Drafted a new piece today! No idea when I'll ever get around to it, but it'll be so cute when I do! The lights are going to come out and around the hoop on the left (cat) side, and maybe one of the cat's arms and his tail will be stumpwork... #embroidery #stumpwork #art #cats #watercolor

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

I think I’ve finally lost my mind - why did I (and am still continuing to) choose to fill the majority of the brown space with these teeny tiny chain stitches?? It’ll be worth it, but 🫠🫠🫠🫠 #embroidery #garden #houseportrait #art

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

A slight deviation from the usual to show off my cute nails! Inspired by the adorable photos I see floating around of cats roaming in Monet paintings. #nailart #monet #waterlilies #impressionist #cats #nails

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

Y’all… Look at this teeny tiny garden! I don’t think I’ve ever made such small flowers with actual details; I’m usually a right-color-french-knot-is-good-enough kind of girl. I’d bet money each little coneflower is about 1mm wide! 😳 #embroidery #art #garden #miniatures

Teeny tiny embroidered garden, made with french knots, seed stitches, daisy chain stitches, and twisted straight stitches. Pink cone flowers, purple hostas, and fiery pink azaleas mix in with other greenery to make up this miniature garden scape.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

l'm trying something new - l've got a ko-fi and Patreon! (Is it a bit overkill to have both? Probably..........) It's mostly for anyone that buys patterns so that all the tutorials l've made, but I also just released a free pattern! Links in my bio, or just type in this same name. #embroidery #art

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Being able to capture the memories of y’all’s homes is always special, but even more so when it’s a home that’s been lost to natural disasters. I’ve absolutely loved every step of piecing this landscape together to keep those wonderful memories alive! #embroidery #houseportrait #art #wipwednesday

WIP of a landscape embroidery, with the powder blue house embroidered with satin stitches. The garden is starting to form with French knot bushes, and a plethora of other plants to come!

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

The Ladybug Serenade is finished! A new favorite, for sure. 😍 #embroidery #art #watercolor #bugs #moonlight #crewel

A finished embroidery piece with a watercolored purple-pink night sky and shimmering full moon, with three ladybugs perched on berry-filled branches. Are they listening to a moon-inspired soliloquy? Dancing to the tune of magical music?

The back view of the piece, covered in a mauve fabric printed with bees.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

A ladybug moonlight serenade! Is he giving a soliloquy in awe of the moon while the others look on enraptured? Is he making magical music so the others can dance under the moonlight? What do you think? #embroidery #art #moonlight #crewel #ladybugs #bugs

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Halfway through another piece! I think this one might be a new favorite… 😍 #embroidery #art #ladybugs #moon #watercolor

Close up of a WIP, showing little ladybugs having a serenade under the moonlight, surrounded by foliage. One ladybug has a wand and music, and the other two are dancing on the branch below. The ladybugs are made with a basketweave stitch, the leaves with a feather stitch, and the berries with a buttonhole stitch. The moon shimmers with iridescent, glittery watercolor accents.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Today’s sewing adventures: I made a belt! My 30s/40s dress had loops but no belt, so I found an art deco belt buckle and attached the belt to it. Now I’m thinking I need to make all the fun belts…… 😍😂 #vintageclothing #sewing #antiquebelt

A closeup of the art deco belt buckle, showing the geometric blue/green/navy design.

A full view of the late 30s/early 40s dress and the art deco belt. The dress is a dusty blue with diagonal lace panels going across the bodice from shoulder to waist, and across the skirt from hip to hem.

A close up of the back of the belt, showing how it’s attached, and that one side of the belt is adjustable with snaps.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

Trying out some #sashiko mending on one of my vintage dresses! I was torn between matching the thread with the pink or the taupe, but then decided the pink might be a touch too busy with the pattern. #visiblemending #embroidery #vintageclothing

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

A new favorite!! Inspired by my favorite illustrator Arthur Rackham. I have always been enthralled by his (and others of his era) illustrations ever since I first saw them in fairy books! #embroidery #dryad #fairy #arthurrackham #artnouveau #belleepoque #art

Hand embroidered, art nouveau inspired scene. It’s depicting a dryad on a tiny island, with her hair blowing in the breeze, surrounded by flower petals both on the island and bobbing along with the current of the water surrounding her. Bamboo-like plants shoot up from the left, providing scant shade, and is the source of all the fallen flowers, with many still gracing its boughs.

A close up of the dryad, embroidered in a backstitch with sewing thread to suit all the fine lines of her billowing hair and wrinkled dress. You can also see the little French knots that make up the fallen flowers at her feet, and the few she has taken to adorn her hair.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

It’s always the ones that give me the most grief that end up being a favorite! I almost hate to part with this one…. #embroidery #houseportrait #art #watercolor #garden #cactus

A very colorful house portrait with bright, deep pink doors and windows and nice bright, light green siding. Brick stairs lead down into the watercolored brick path that splits the desert garden in half. Cacti, succulents, and other plants fill the space, with trees on the right side of the house and a wooden gate on the left. A pair of palm trees are just barely poking their heads out behind the topmost point of the dormer roof.

A close up of the garden. 3D cactus made with a detached woven picot stitch, French knot bushes, a colorful succulent(?), and other plants to create a lovely desert garden.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Another little one complete! It was fun making distinct flowers; usually they’re so small in my house portraits they’re just tiny colorful knots! #embroidery #landscapes #mountains #flowers #art #sunrise

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

A rare look at a unembroidered canvas! I never remember to take a photo at the beginning until I’ve already got all the windows done or something. (Really I just never remember to take any photos but the ones at the end….. 🙈🤷‍♀️) #wipwednesday #embroidery #art #watercolor #embroiderypattern

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Doing some painting on a previously abandoned WIP, and of course she had to help out by making sure I couldn’t close the lid so I could paint the lid…. PaY aTtEnTiOn tO MEEEE mOtHeR 😹 #cats

[A beautiful] orange tabby sitting inside an old steamer trunk, in the compartment she fits perfectly in! Staring straight at the camera knowing that because she’s cute she can delay work being done and keep receiving attention.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

I'm super proud of this piece! (Not showing the whole design for privacy; it's a logo.) I absolutely hate long and short stitch as a filler because it's sooooo incredibly time consuming to get done nicely (and the adhd says ‘no’ 😂). #embroidery #longandshortstitch #art #coffee

Close up of single strand embroidery in a long and short stitch. The embroidered image is a stylized sketch of a steaming cup of coffee.

Close up (in order to brag about their neatness) of lettering embroidered in long and short stitch. A rare feat for my patience! Most of a letter J, and all of letters O and E.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Three new tiny ones! 3” hoops, and they all took around 9-12 hours each. Watercolor, embroidery, and wool roving. #embroidery #art #miniatures #sunset #flowers #landscape

Three miniature embroideries, all of various landscapes with watercolor skies and embroidered fields.
The top hoop shows a flower field on a hill, with 3D, creamy white flowers and a bright blue, cloudy midday sky. The fluffy, swirly clouds are made with wool roving so they pop out of the frame.
The middle hoop is a soft pink-to-yellow cloudy sunset, with a flower field below. The clouds are pink and white wool roving, and the 3D flowers are off white, purple, and pink.
The bottom hoop depicts a vibrant sunset in purples, oranges, and pinky-reds. Rays of gold come out of the yellowest corner of the sunset from the bottom left up to the top right of the sky. The dark, grassy field is populated only by seven tiny fir trees at the crest of the hill; three on the leftmost side and four on the right, so the sunset peeks out between them.

A close up of the flowers and pink clouds in the pink-yellow sunset hoop. You can see the off white, stacked bullion knots encompassed by a chain stitch to make up a lavender-style flower. The purple, 3D cast-on stitch rose-style flowers. And the tiny, pink French knot flowers scattered throughout.

A (surprisingly difficult to capture) close up of the giant fluffy clouds in the midday field hoop. You can see where the roving has been twisted into spirals in some areas, and spread thin in others, leaving a very textured, 3D cloud.
You can also more clearly see the tiny pinkish-white French knot flowers and the 3D creamy-white cast on stitch flowers spread all throughout the hill.

A close up of the vibrant orange sunset, angled so the gold threads catch the light. You can also see the tiny fir trees better, so as to catch the tiny details of their branches.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Finished a new piece yesterday! About 9 hours of work, and (for once) very little actual embroidery. Circuit boards for skyscrapers, wool roving tree limbs, iridescent flower sequins, and chain stitched leaves. Not what I first planned, but it works! #loreolympus #webtoon #embroidery #fanart #art

Mixed media embroidery on a dark blue sparkly fabric that looks like a sky full of stars. Circuit boards are used to create skyscrapers, the tallest of which has tree roots wrapping around it all the way to the top, where a pink tree is blowing in the wind. Some of the dark pink leaves are blowing away into the far left of the frame. Iridescent blue/green flower sequins are clustered around the base of the buildings and the canvas to create a watery look.

A close up of the piece, where the lighting makes it easier to see the leaves blowing away with the wind.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

We went to several beaches (of course). My favorite was the grassy, tree covered section of Waikiki near their house, but this one on the North Shore was fun to try and photograph some waves at! #photography #hawaii #beaches #waves #nature

Close up of some waves coming up through a hole in the rocks and exploding out. The small pools on the rocks looks like a mini landscape with all the different half submerged seaweeds and marine plants. You can see the ocean and far shoreline in the distance behind the crashing foam.

A long, vertical ocean scape, showing the rocky beach, blue waves meeting the blue sky, and the overhang of branches and leaves of the tree above.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

We made a snail friend at Waimea Botanical Garden and watched him much away on a leaf! I also wished for my old Nikon so that I could’ve gotten some really neat macro shots of all the mossy rocks… #photography #hawaii #moss #snail #animal #art

Close up of a snail munching away on a leaf.

Close up of moss completely covering the rugged terrain of a pockmarked rock. A small twig is breaking up the long tendrils of the moss, and you can see the forest in the background d.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Get ready for some vacation photo spam! 😂 I just got back from visiting family in Honolulu and (as usual) took ALL the photos. Waimea Botanical Gardens got the bulk of the photos; so many neat plants! Here’s my favorite flowers from there. #flowers #photography #hawaii #nature

Red/pink Bleeding Heart flowers shown from above, with one flower fully bloomed and long pistil extended far out to the top left corner. The flower grouping is surrounded by the pretty green leaves, which are taking up the rest of the frame.

We got to see the very endangered Hibiscus Insularis blooming! A pretty yellowy-white flower with a fuschia center, with a giant pistil (about half the size of the flower). The pistil has a large cluster of pinkish orange pollen and deep purple-fuschia stigmas.

Orange Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis (Double Orange variety?) viewed from the side, with pistil pointing down, so that you can see the double layer of petals. The layer closest to the pistil are completely a light, peachy orange, and the larger petals closer to the stem are a brighter/deeper peach, with pinky red centers. The larger petals have faint pinkish veins going from the dark centers to the frilled/scalloped edges.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Sparkle cat! When you have to choose between a solid void or a sparkly void, always go for the sparkle! #art #embroidery #cats #voidcat #garden #gardenembroidery #catembroidery

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

1/3 of the way done! As always, I got the fun part done first, so now I’m stuck with the less-fun rock wall and door. 😂 #embroidery #art #watercolor #garden

An embroidered garden with a watercolored sunrise.

Close up of the French knots bushes and rocky path

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Stealing some time to work on a new piece! It’s going to be two layered hoops with a working door 😍

Partially embroidered garden with a watercolored sunset, and a path going into the distance through the garden.

Sketched out embroidery pattern of a rock wall and door, which will layer over the garden. The door will open so you can peek in.

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Sarah Marie Heirlooms @smheirlooms.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

A twisty cat snake to show off my read books from last year! I love how it looks like she’s jumping through circus hoops or something. 😻 #embroidery #cats #booklist

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