My brother died 18 years ago in the last week of July so I always think of him around this time of year. When I saw this challenge it inspired me to do something I had been meaning to do for ages, which was to try and create a font based on his handwriting. I did this at
http://fontstruct.com.
It probably took me more time than all the rest of the project put together as I had to first scan his writing, then select individual letters into Paint and finally copy them block by block into Fontstruct. It was my first time to do this and so it is not perfect but it is recognisably his handwriting. The main problem is that it is too small/fine so in order to use it I have to increase the size to about 36 and Bold it as well but it does work. Also some letters like Z and q I had to create from other letters as I didn't have examples. If you want to see the font you can look for it in the Gallery at Fontstruct. It is called David's Hand by egret.
The writing is 2 strands DMC embroidery floss no. 310 (black) in a mixture of backstitch, straight stitch and whatever looked right.
The clouds were two layers of navy chiffon and two layers of white organza edged with blanket stitch in 2 strands of DMC embroidery floss - colours: 414 (very dark grey), 413 (dark grey), 169 (pale grey), 168 (very pale grey).
The raindrops are shisha work using 2 strands of DMC 168. The mirrors are from old “coasterised” CDs that I cut up. I do not recommend this generally as although I love the iridescence of the CDs they are very nasty to cut up. I've tried using tin snips, side cutters and my old kitchen scissors and some worked well on some types of CD/DVD and some worked better on others. All of them tend to shatter and crack when you first start to cut them and the splinters are needle-sharp.
The dancers are copied from a print called The Charleston by Ty Wilson. They are embroidered in one strand of DMC floss - colours : 310, 168, 972 (Yellow), 666 (Red), E168/5283 (Silver) and Gold – I've lost the band and can't remember the number. The white was Anchor 0402. Mostly satin stitch but French knots for the shoes and earring and chain stitch for the necklace of beads.
I'd like to state here my immense respect for people who routinely embroider in satin stitch. I found it extremely frustrating trying to get it to lie evenly. I'm more of a counted thread worker myself.
The quote is altered from one in an article I read in a magazine in a doctor's waiting room recently. Apparently it is quite a well-known sentiment but this was the first time I encountered it.
Thinking about my brother and how he coped with his long illness made the quote very appropriate for me although I do not know if he'd ever heard it. I made this as a tissue box cover because when things are difficult you often need a tissue.
