We recently connected with Caitlyn Fong and have shared our conversation below.

Caitlyn, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

At a young age, I discovered my love for crafts and hand sewing small things. However, it was only after I had gone to university and experienced other practical handcrafting skills that I decided to pursue embroidery on a professional level. At the beginning, I spent a long time obsessed with embroidering the simplest of shapes and at times could feel my patience wearing thin, especially when the outcome wasn’t what I hoped for. The obstacles that hindered my learning during the early stages were mostly to do with expecting flawless results on the first try. Knowing what I know now, I would say that there is a lot to learn from making mistakes and it’s important to embrace the fact that hand embroidery is a slow craft. Embroidery is honing a skill that is very careful and deliberate so although it often takes quite some time to complete a project, the end result is usually worth the effort.

Caitlyn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an embroidery artist from Edinburgh, Scotland and I love to create delicate one of a kind pieces by hand. LittleBlueOnyx began as an outlet for me to capture scenes and characters from animation and games that I love. I am so grateful that it’s become more than that, now a name under which I can truly showcase the passion I have for this craft with original work of my own.

The pieces I create are whimsical, meaningful, sometimes sprinkled with a dreamy atmosphere and in most cases, nature themed. Embroidery is truly a labour of love as it’s an extremely time consuming process requiring hours of detailed needlework. No two pieces are ever the same, making each project unique. I approach every design with precision and I never sacrifice my standard for a quick turnaround.

On occasion, I receive requests for custom pieces and I always appreciate the opportunity. It’s incredibly heart-warming to work on something that has the ability to capture a special, sentimental moment. Whether it’s custom or an existing piece from my collections, I’m fortunate to have my embroideries enjoyed by so many people.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My creative journey has greatly been driven by the desire to keep traditional handcrafting alive. I want to remind everyone that there is still so much value in a piece of hand made art. I started LittleBlueOnyx from the ground up and have certainly come a long way learning and refining the skills that I have as an embroidery artist. I would love to someday leave behind a collection of work that represents my character, passion and respect that I have for this craft.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I can’t deny that one of the most rewarding aspects of being an embroidery artist is the appreciation that I receive from customers and others in the creative community. I create a lot of pieces with my own preferences in mind so it’s not always guaranteed that others share the same artistic vision that I have. It’s already an achievement to exceed my own expectations but to exceed the expectations of someone who trusted me to design and create a piece for them also holds immense value. I am grateful that my work is appreciated and hope to be able to share more of my work in additional ways, including allowing others to experience my embroidery patterns.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littleblueonyx
• Other: Email: littleblueonyx@outlook.com
  Etsy: https://littleblueonyx.etsy.com
  Etsy: https://littlebluepatterns.etsy.com