When my daughter first saw the picture, it reminded her of “The Secret Garden”. That image stuck for me and it became a garden gate in a wall that totally hides the flowers behind it. I was really challenged for a while on how to create the hinges but I started playing around with some ribbon and before I knew it, the gate was finished.

I did one picture and wasn’t happy with it. I got my husband (who has a good eye) to look at what I’d done and the picture I’d received. He looked it over and then said “Where’s the yellow brick road?” So, even though the song “Behind the Green Door” kept going through my head, I had to go with my husband’s idea and “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” was born. I used Holbein (double running) and satin stitches. The green door and yellow brick road were coloured in with marker pens. When I glued everything together, some of the green ran into the door frame, but I liked the way it looked, so I left it.

I loved the photo of the green door as soon as I saw it, & because I enjoy living things & flowing lines the idea for this postcard came easily.

As soon as I looked at the door I saw a lovely diamond shaped trellis.  My husband was convinced that I had made a major architectural mistake in my trellis (after it was all stitched!) but I pointed out to him that I had deliberately chosen to make my trellis with the diamond shapes above each other, firstly because it fit the postcard shape & also it could be more ornamental than Canadian Tire’s!  The inspiration for the vine came from a William Morris design that I like very much; and of course the pot would now be empty, also indicating the passage of time.  I padded it with 6 strand cotton horizontally but it still looked too flat after being stretched so with some difficulty, (not wanting to re-lace the card) I tucked in a small tuft of quilt batting.  The whole thing brightened up when I couched gold threads onto  the branches.

When I began Green Doors, I frogged and discarded a couple of designs, and just couldn’t make any headway.  My stitching buddy told me that I was probably overwhelmed with the problems presently in my life, and that symbolically speaking, I was afraid to open the door and find out what was behind it.  I thought she may have been right on the money with that insight.  It got me to thinking how precious and supportive good friends are.

So these green doors are about the value of friends.  The first photo shows the seven doors of the postcard, each of which opens to reveal a charm.  The second photo shows the charms all in place, waiting for their doors to be attached.  The back of the postcard tells the meaning of each charm.

Outside of the Door

Pearl – A friend is a pearl beyond price.
Butterfly – A friend helps you spread your wings.
Gingerbread Girl – A friend adds spice to your life.
Lamb – A friend shares your joys.
Bee – A friend encourages your to get out and smell the flowers.
Leaves – A friend helps you when you decide to turn over a new leaf.
Heart with rhinestone – A friend adds sparkle to your life.

Inside the Door

In my heart, I have dedicated this postcard to my embroidering friends Marian, Carol and Paula who are all of these things to me.

I was drawn to the door but every time I looked at it, I saw that lonely little plant and decided that was what was needed. I wanted to bring it out…..in time for Spring.

I painted the fabric to give the touch of colour in brick and outlined with split stitch.  I wanted the planter to stand out so I did pad that area with layers of satin stitch, adding a little grey to shade.  The leaves were done with detached chain. The stone in the ground was completed with lattice.  It was fun to do.

To make my card I used As soon as I saw this photo I thought of my uncle. When we were children my uncle would play and sing Behind the Green Door on the piano,it was the only thing he could play. I made this card in his memory. The door opens to show a magicians hat , a white rabbit, a magic wand and of course some music notes. My uncle was a Magician, he practiced all of his tricks with us, he had the rabbits ,the white mice etc.

 I made fabric slips with chocolate wrappers (I did have to eat a few), black netting, and a few bits of thread and used these for the wall.  The door was made from an easter egg wrapper covered with green cheesecloth to give some texture, I machine stitched these pieces. The door frame was made using machine wrapped cord, I used some metallic threads to give some texture.The inside was a pice of tea dyed fabric with surface stitching of the rabbit , hat , and music notes and the wand was a piece of wrapped wire, of course all Magicians need stars.

The background is handmade paper with gold and copper flecks running through it.  First I stained it with a used green tea bag.  The door and bush are also hand made paper.  All the stitching is by machine – a new process for me.  I used one of my decorative stitches for the leaves on the bush.  I decided the piece still looked too white so then I watered down Japanese watercolour – Indigo Blue – and splotched it over the ‘white’ areas.  I’m much happier with the look now.  The black pot was a button I had collected some time ago figuring on using it for something like this.

This is the picture used for swap 4: