Hi! I'm Beth, the maker, creative director and everything in between at Rabbit Hat Designs, a small embroidery emporium for all my nature inspired hand made creations. I am a big believer in the soothingness of embroidery and the power of making. My background is in art therapy and I love learning about the symbolism, folklore and facts of creatures and nature all around us. Find out more about how my embroideries and kits come to be on my process page. I started embroidery while working through the multi-obstacled journey of gaining art therapy accreditation in the States on immigrating from the UK and fell totally in love with it! It is my dream to connect us all more closely to nature, recognising the the part we play in the fragile balance of all living things. I love to celebrate nature and bring the joy of curiosity cabinet-like curations that capture my love of nature, creatures and plants into homes and places without harming them or the environment in the process. I source most of my fabric from Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver and small companies who have an as eco as possible attitude towards their products. I use bamboo hoops rather than plastic, recycled or recyclable packaging and organic or reclaimed fabric wherever I can. My love of all things nature started early, apparently when I was little at the end of the day I would always have my fists held tight and when my parents would open them up, they were full of little things I'd found while out and about like snail shells, flowers and feathers. I grew up in a rural area surrounded by animals, creatures and plants, making stick dens with my brother, having a conservationist sister and a birder and plant lover mum, so I have big love for everything outdoors but also love tea and coffee shops, art house cinema and films in general, podcasts, reading, especially the New Yorker, short stories, street art and musical nights out. One of my strongest memories as a kid, was going on a take your kid to work day where I was walking to my dad's office cubicle past all these cookie cutter blank cubicles and seeing my dad's up ahead full of plants with their leaves literally flowing over the stand-to walls and into the corridor.. I love this idea of bringing nature into spaces and really believe it makes a difference to mental health and wellbeing. Through embroidery I get to be immersed in both nature and making. The embroideries are part of my wider art practice where I explore animal folklore, symbolism and self-expression www.bethhoyes.weebly.com. I'm a proud member of the Winnicott Wednesdays Artist Art Therapist Collective. I'm also a writer, most recently working with Redline Art Center as an Along the Line writer.