I am prayerful

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I am prayerful Art and decorative objects for the home, that carry Christian values, stories and special words.

We create beautiful objects that help you create a peaceful, inspiring home.

Now framed. :)
12/09/2025

Now framed. :)

It's always a good week to post about peace. Here's a new piece (click on the image to see the whole picture) in soft gr...
11/08/2025

It's always a good week to post about peace.

Here's a new piece (click on the image to see the whole picture) in soft green tones. Monoprinted linen background with layers of lace and organza, embroidery and beadwork.

Praying a peaceful week over family and friends.



Spent a glorious couple of hours yesterday at the Victoria Karelias Collection of Traditional Greek Costumes, in Kalamat...
19/06/2025

Spent a glorious couple of hours yesterday at the Victoria Karelias Collection of Traditional Greek Costumes, in Kalamata Old Town. Most towns in Greece have one of these museums, which goes to show how treasured these garments were in the Greek culture.

This is a beautifully lit and curated permanent exhibition with plenty of detail in English at digital terminals next to each exhibit. Pictured are just a few highlights.

Many of the exhibits are bridal and 'festival' outfits from across Greece from the last 200 years. Each outfit comprises five or six layers: undergarments, tunics, waistcoats, jackets and aprons. It's touching to imagine the months and possibly years of work that went into each outfit, and the slender hardworking bodies that occupied them. So much so that I felt reluctant to leave the young ladies enclosed in their glass cases in each room.

Every garment is of course hand-stitched, and I thought about the very young women who worked on these pieces over the months and years, as they imagined their own wedding day.

I chatted to one of the curators about this, who explained that the brides would have been in their early to mid teens when they married. They probably would have lived a very simple life, largely indoors, as female children, and I implied that they became women when they married, but she emphatically disagreed. She said they would simply have been finally 'seen' by their community, as if for the first time. Even more significance and hope must have been poured into these pieces then.

After marriage, the bridal outfits would have been worn for about a year, and afterwards only brought out for festivals.

The more sophisticated garments and fabrics show influence from Europe, some of them from the Greek royal court. Gold work was a professional job, usually carried out by men. The intricate braided patterns were achieved largely by couching gold braid onto the garments with gold thread.

Some exquisite work to be seen here.

Karelias Collection of Traditional Greek Costumes

On the worktable this week. Fresh inspiration and good times in the quiet place. ❤️
05/06/2025

On the worktable this week. Fresh inspiration and good times in the quiet place. ❤️

Seven small textile pictures ready to go. All of them have a complementary scripture verse on the back.Want more info? D...
07/05/2025

Seven small textile pictures ready to go. All of them have a complementary scripture verse on the back.

Want more info? DM me.

One of our favourites in soft neutral tones of teal, pale gold and bronze, with 'Remember me with favor, O my God', and...
07/05/2025

One of our favourites in soft neutral tones of teal, pale gold and bronze, with 'Remember me with favor, O my God', and a wonderful affirmation from Is 58:11 on the back.

Over the years I've used a variety of backing materials, and this one is on the softer side which gives a soft, pillowy effect to the stitching.

Interested? DM me. :)

Some days just managing to thread the beading needle feels like an achievement! I have a stack of new textile pieces in ...
23/04/2025

Some days just managing to thread the beading needle feels like an achievement!

I have a stack of new textile pieces in progress. Watch this space for updates.

A piccie to make you smile today. When I first began working out how to get the textile pictures out of my mind, I was h...
23/04/2025

A piccie to make you smile today.

When I first began working out how to get the textile pictures out of my mind, I was heat sealing fine synthetic fabrics indoors without a mask - which was a terrible idea. At the experimentation phase you're just too focused on the task at hand to think about safety. 🙈

Now I get a pile of organza pieces ready, and heat seal the edges outside with a proper face mask on!

It's difficult to perch glasses on top, but definitely much safer!

New work incoming ...

Working on a lovely piece of linen this week. Beautiful rich colours and plenty of detail to pick out in stitch. 🙂 This ...
15/04/2025

Working on a lovely piece of linen this week. Beautiful rich colours and plenty of detail to pick out in stitch. 🙂

This poem keeps coming to me:

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.




Well it's the very last day of March, so there's nothing for it ... here's my picture, and a little bio: I'm Sam Cartw...
31/03/2025

Well it's the very last day of March, so there's nothing for it ... here's my picture, and a little bio:

I'm Sam Cartwright, a busy mum and nana from South Buckinghamshire in the UK. I've always been interested in making things, and in 2020 I started creating textile pictures. You can read more about that on the IAP web site: www.iamprayerful.co.uk

It's a huge privilege to work and create during times of deep worship and prayer. The pictures start with monoprinted linen backgrounds. Then I build up layers of new and recycled materials to make a picture as I feel led. There's quite a bit of stop and start in the process, and if the flow isn't right I just move to another piece for a while. To be honest I'm still trying to work out how to talk about the work I do.

At the moment I'm free to make this my full time job, which is a dream come true (thank you ). A few textile pieces are available as high quality prints, and I hope to build this collection over time so that these pictures can reach the right people.

I have a couple of commissions in the pipeline this year, and new work on the table too (pictured).

I'm so thankful to be free to create in this way. Do drop by the web site and help me show Google that it's a thing! Thank you. :)

Hi! 👋 Just turned on the light over my work space, and immediately love the way the stitching creates relief/depth on th...
29/01/2025

Hi! 👋 Just turned on the light over my work space, and immediately love the way the stitching creates relief/depth on this piece.

What do we think about framing textile work behind glass? Yes, glass does protect the work, but it also makes it harder to see the detail of the elements used in the piece.

Thoughts?

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