GERA! Kyoko Maruoka news (continued)
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Kyoko Maruoka's little Christmas shop
One a year in Japan, GERA! designer Kyoko Maruoka stages her pretty embroidered creations in a small shop and invites stitchers to attend. It is an opportunity to exchange and proudly showcase one's achievements, find new ideas, seek inspiration and ask for advice. For those stitchers who live too far to attend, here is a glimpse of the GERA Christmas Shop!
>> see all Christmas patterns by GERA! Kyoko Maruoka
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 Santa has come - I |  Santa has come - II |  Santa's House |  Santa's S.O.S. |
>> see all the latest news for Christmas
Blooming Girl
An exceptional cross stitch series by Japanese designer Kyoko Maruoka of GERA! Each embroidered portrait is a slice of life, with the young girl prey to reverie, at the fragile turning point when one is no longer a child, not quite yet a woman. These creations are inspired by Osamu Dazai 's novel, The schoolgirl.
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The Golden Apple
A pretty Russian folktale, a golden apple, a firebird that comes at night to steal the apple, a Russian prince who goes off in search of the firebird ... all good reasons to embark on the journey stitching this sumptuous and colorful piece.
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Mini Dogs
15 dogs, each of them exquisitely designed so as to represent a certain breed. Spot the Scottish Terrier with its big eyebrows and white "beard", the Poodle just out of the hairdresser, the Dalmatian puppy, the chic Chihuahua just out of a designer handbag or the sausage dog (sorry Dachshund) ....
Ultra -fast and easy-to-stitch this chart will inspire many projects and creative ideas of gifts for friends and family.
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>> see all patterns with dogs (all designers)
Colorful & Trendy
We love these fun Coasters in trendy colors, just perfect for serving drinks this summer.
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>> see all objects to stitch (all designers)
Underwater realm
We never realized we were missing a mermaid on Creative Poppy's website!
Well here she is, and a beautiful one too!
We love the idea of the fish attracted to the sky and turning into birds, just as the little mermaid is irresistibly attracted by the light.
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>> see all patterns related to the sea (all designers)
Literary inspiration
Profoundly moved by some of the great classics, Kyoko Maruoka enjoys identifying herself with her favorite characters and illustrating their stories in cross stitch. Here are designs inspired by three of her favorite authors (Checkov, Tolstoy and Austen). While these designs are very personal interpretations, we believe they also show a lot of sensitivity to the actual characters in the novels.
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| The House with the mezzanine | Anna Karenina | Pride & Prejudice |
>> see more patterns by GERA! illustrating books and artistic works
A touch of paradise
The mysterious Lady and the Unicorn, a celebrated tapestry from the late Middle Ages, has always inspired artists. In this cross stitch piece, designer Kyoko Maruoka of GERA! expresses her own vision of the mythical lady and beast, surrounded by abundant and generous nature. With warm colors delicately balanced and beautiful detail, this is a gorgeous cross stitch work.
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"Mille fleurs" designs for Card holders
"Mille-fleurs" (French for a thousand flowers)is the term used to depict traditional tapestries with a carpet of flowers filling the whole background. In a new modern interpretation, needlework designer Kyoko Maruoka, has created 9 lovely motifs that are designed for Card holders (the perfect size for either business cards or bank/loyalty cards).
Our favorite? the little chihuahua dog!
Card cases with Flowers (1) Counted cross stitch pattern by GERA! Kyoko Maruoka | ||
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Card cases with Flowers (2) Counted cross stitch pattern by GERA! Kyoko Maruoka | ||
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Card cases with Flowers (3) Counted cross stitch pattern by GERA! Kyoko Maruoka | ||
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The perfect Card holder tutorial
Each of the GERA! designs above includes a well thought-through tutorial, taking you step by step through the making of the little card cases.
No sewing experience needed. All you have to do is machine stitch straight lines. After following each carefully detailed step, you'll be amazed when you turn your layers inside out, turn pockets out and found you've made a perfectly finished card case. Its almost magical!
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Well-loved Fairy tales
Now available from GERA! two treasured fairy tales, lovingly pictured in cross stitch with lots of cute detail by Kyoko Maruoka.
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Alice in Wonderland - Extraordinary characters
Also new from Gera! 2 portraits and 3 miniatures depicting in cross stitch Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland's fictional characters. Here's a review:
Alice is a well behaved and courteous - but wildly curious - little girl that goes on a fantastic adventure when she falls into a rabbit hole. She is always pictured by GERA! with a black ribbon in her hair, a blue dress and impeccably white apron. |  |
He appears at the begging of the book and Alice follows him into the rabbit hole. he is always in a hurry, mutternig: ""Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!". GERA! pictures him elegantly dressed in a waistcoat and holding a pocket watch. |  |
The (Hookah-Smoking) Caterpillar Alice meets the Caterpillar in a wonderful garden. He is smoking a sort of pipe. She doesn't like him at first because he ignores her. Then he asks her short and rather rude questions. GERA! portraits the caterpillar in vivid bright colors and making rings of smoke. |  |
When Alice meets the Hatter he is drinking tea, having been sentenced by the Queen of Hearts to be stuck in time and the permanent state of having tea. He plays tricks and makes riddles. GERA! pictures him with a bow tie and top hat with a card hidden in it. He is holding a teapot with the Dormouse inside. |  |
The Queen of Hearts is a foul-tempered monarch reigning over Wonderland and quick to deliver sentences at the slight offence. GERA! pictures her with a face deformed by rage. |  |
The main feature of the Cheshire cat is its devilish grin. The cat vanishes, its whole body disappearing except for the evil grin. GERA! pictures the cat as a purple and turquoise striped cat with green and orange eyes. Alice is riding on its back in the Cheshire cat miniature and holding the cat in her arms in her own portrait. |  |
The smallest of all, the eternally sleepy dormouse is used as a cushion while the March Hare and Hatter have tea. At one point they put him in a tea-pot. GERA! pictures him sticking its head out of the teapot, with little pink ears and blue whiskers. |  |
>> see all patterns by illustrating books and stories designed by GERA!
A darling little horse
A carpet of spring flowers, a sky full of brilliant stars, and central to the design, a little white horse. This is a unique and very poetic design brought to you by GERA! Kyoko Maruoka. Designed in cross stitch, it can also be stitched in needlepoint (tapestry).
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You've got mail!
Also by GERA, here's a delightful postman, in his impeccable uniform, busy delivering mail. Full of adorable detail, this pattern can also be used, with very little adaptation, to create your very own stitched envelopes. Don't forget to use real stamps though!
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Surprise Matryoshka
Last but not least, here's a fun surprise by GERA! Full of creative ideas, the designer has turned these 3 matryoska into playful needlework accessories. She uses a little trick to vary the size of these Matryoshka, you'll find out more by clicking on the design.
Warning: you'll soon be stitching many more of these super-cute matryoshka, not doubt your friends will want you to stitch some for them too!
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Christmas with GERA! by Kyoko Maruoka
Lovely, sweet designs, now available in English and in Color, as downloadable charts on Creative Poppy's website. Check out all the Christmas cross stitch designs by Japanese designer Kyoko Maruoka.
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Little Klara, Little Peter
A couple of weeks ago we introduced the work of Japanese designer Kyoko Maruoka of GERA!. The designer excels in particular at creating cute cross stitch charts with children which are proving really popular. We are now introducing two more designs, one with a little girl, one with a boy. Each of these small images are pack-full of amusing detail.
All charts come with user-friendly color and black and white charts, for extra easy reading.
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Kokeshi dolls - new pics
We've just received these pictures and we couldn't resist posting it them our website. They both feature one of the little kokeshi dolls designed in cross stitch by Kyoko Maruoka (GERA!). The photos were taken by a stitcher who loves to collect kokeshi and tells us she just had to have this one.
The picture on the right shows the kokeshi used as a charm on a little red purse. So cute!
The stitcher has an extensive collection of antique and modern kokeshi dolls. The pictures (left) show her largest kokeshi doll (an antique doll 18 inch high), together with a modern medium size one she made herself (painted on wood) and the tiny cute cross stitch one. Quite a family!
>> 5 Kokeshi doll patterns and tutorial by Kyoko Maruoka (GERA!)
The cutest cross stitch Kokeshi dolls
Kokeshi dolls have long been collected by visitors coming to Japan. The traditional dolls are fashioned from wood and then hand-painted.
Now you can create your very own in cross stitch!
GERA! designer Kyoko Maruoka has developed her very own method of mounting the heads and body so they turn into perfect skittle-like dolls. It took quite a lot of creativity, but here we are. They are quite small (2 3/4 inch) so you can easily fix them onto little straps to hang onto zipper pulls, scissors, phones, etc...
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International Kids
Kawai is a Japanese word applying to everything cute and sweet. It certainly applies to this adorable series of children holding hands. Check out the little Chinese Girl in the first row. They come from all over the World and you can combine the two series adding more countries depending on your projects. Each child is depicted with amazing detail (click on images for full descriptions).
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Fairy tales and Stories
Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots... Kyoko Maruoka loves illustrating stories, capturing the spirit of each tale and transposing it into cute and colorful cross stitch.
The funny Quartet is a fun pot-pourri of several fairies tales with the characters all mixed up!
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Robbers beware, this band of musicians is their way and they are determined to get you out of there. A colorful story told in cross stitch by GERA! Kyoto Maruoka.
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Below is a wonderful extract of Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland. Tiny Alice has wandered into a magical garden full of the most extraordinary flowers and mushroom. The colors are so bright and cheerful you'd like to get lost yourself in such a beautiful place.
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Russian Passion
Kyoko Maruoka is deeply influenced by Russian artistic and literary works. Based on Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, here is a delicate cross stitch piece, full of tenderness and sensibility. A great work reflecting Kyoko Maruoka's exceptional talent.
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More patterns by GERA!
More and more stitchers worldwide have been discovering Kyoko Maruoka's work but her charts are hard to find. Now, finally, they are available as downloadable patterns, on Creative Poppy's website.
All GERA! designs published by Creative Poppy come with easy-to-read Color charts and English-language instructions.
There are more works by Kyoko Maruoka on Creative Poppy's website, and many more to be added soon.
>> see all cross stitch patterns by GERA! Kyoko Maruoka
>> Back to Latest pattern news