Here, there, the world!

Maps, such a common tool, but yet in paper form they are being forgotten for the more technologically savvy GPS things. I personally dislike GPS and would rather follow a road atlas, and although I would be horribly lost, it would be my own fault for not learning to read an atlas in the first place! (Damn technology!) Also I have always enjoyed looking at globes, imagining the places on the far reaches of the map, twirling them really fast and stopping them with your finger ("that's where we will go!"). So why not make art out of these already marvelous creations?

Martha's Map Examples 

As the summer (2011) was coming to a close I was busy looking for a way to capture all of the adventures that my friends Jason, Seth and I had been on. We had made so many memories ( we might not all remember all of them) and done so many activities that I wanted a way to put it all together into one project. So yet again I went searching on the internet and VOILA Martha always has the answer. (Here is the Map How-To by Martha Stewart my hero ) I took this road trip idea and applied it to our summer of boating on Lake Winnipesaukee. This was actually a pretty simple project that can be altered to fit any trip or adventure!

I first had to find a map of the lake that wasn't too small but also not gigantic. (This project ended up being 20in x 17in) I then figured out all of the places that we went, and the routes that we took so as to be accurate. Since I am not the best at navigating the lake I did get some assistance from my good friend Bean( she is a pro) as to certain locations of sandbars and such.

My Map Art  :-)

So I then just embroidered the pathways using blue embroidery thread with a red X marking the destinations. A big yellow star marked 'home base' (Jay's house)and that was it (for a minute..) The map looked too plain at that point so I added the words '"Summer 2011' using an embroidery font I found in a Martha magazine (that lady truly thought of everything!), but then there was still this big wide open land mass in the Moultonborough, Tuftonboro, Wolfboro area. TA-DA!! I took 547,423,234 pictures this summer so I found an individual shot of the three amigos that I felt fit each one of us best and tacked them on using yellow and green thread. Small initials in the corner ( I sign everything with SAS) and the map was complete!

NOTE: I gave this to Jason L, who made the summer unforgettable for me, so as to never forget how awesome Summer 2011 was! He loved it :-)

Eat, Craft, and Be happy!