Why Hello!
I’m Lindsey Whitney.
I’m the designer (and mom!) behind Counting Puddles. I design modern cross stitch patterns that you can use to have fun, relax, create memories with your kids, and fill your home and holidays with your own one-of-a-kind, heartfelt makes.
My Story
I found out I was pregnant with my second kiddo in early 2018. And while I was excited and grateful, when I put the pregnancy test down on the counter and stared at my reflection in the mirror I couldn’t deny another feeling…
I was scared.
After my first was born, I’d been a walking, yawning, guilt-ridden bundle of anxiety, overwhelm, and exhaustion.
I reeeeaaaaallllly didn’t want to become that person again.
So as I contemplated tackling another round of babydom, I decided that this time I was going to prioritize being a lot kinder to myself, and doing something each day that brought me joy.
Something just for me — that I could call my own.
And for me, that meant a return to using my creativity and making things with my hands.
Even with my new resolve, I quickly discovered that having tiny humans to take care of made many of my endeavors stressful or just plain impractical.
When I decided — on a whim — to design and cross stitch some ornaments for my boys for Christmas, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
There was something comforting and supremely calming about curling up in a blanket, bingeing Netflix with my husband, and slowly stitching something into being while snow fell outside our living room window each evening.
When I later gave my boys their ornaments to put on the tree, I loved the feeling of giving them something handmade from my heart.
Their happy faces (as they removed them from the tree and hauled them around in their dump truck) were a pretty nice perk, too. 🎄
Stitching as Self-Care
Somewhere between those first ornaments and navigating life with two toddlers during a pandemic, I really latched onto stitching as a way to slow down and stay grounded.
It became my own happy form of daily creative self-care.
Using skills I’d developed working as a graphic designer (prior to having kids), I started designing cross stitch patterns of my own.
I wanted to share fun, modern patterns to make for families — patterns to hang in a child’s bedroom, to celebrate the changing seasons, or add to holiday traditions.
And while the patterns themselves are made with moms in mind, anyone who loves to cross stitch is welcome here.
I hope you enjoy stitching Counting Puddles patterns as much as I enjoyed making them 🧡
Other Random Bits About Me:
- I have my BFA in Graphic Design, and worked as a designer for about a decade before becoming a stay-at-home mom to two busy busy little boys.
- I visit the library regularly, read a lot, and gush over a beautifully designed book with nice paper.
- I have a large garden in the backyard—complete with lawn gnome—and hope to one day raise a flock of backyard chickens (my husband is not crazy about this idea).
- My feet are notoriously cold and I wear socks all the time, even in the heat of summer.
- I’ve done a fair share of traveling, including a backpacking trip with a friend in which we ventured all over Europe and subsisted primarily on bread, Nutella, and asking kind strangers for directions.
- I love baking with sourdough, indoor plants, and knitting.
- Even though I’ve traveled a lot, I’m a homebody at heart.
Let’s Connect 🙂
As an introvert I am going to tell you that writing an entire page about myself was incredibly awkward, and that if you read this far we are officially friends. I’d love to connect — come say hello on Instagram, and if you like happy stitchy things in your inbox, join the Counting Puddles newsletter (I’ll send you a free pattern and 20% off your first purchase as a nice little bonus too!).
Happy stitching!
