Heart Note Alley

As I was designing and stitching Northern Nights another shape kept crowding my brain. This time it took the shape of another passion of mine, fragrance! Scent is a sense that is so immediate, going right to our brain affecting us like color does almost before we can think about it.

If you aren't familiar with the world of scent, fragrances are usually built in a pyramid and the notes are designated as top notes - the ones you smell first, the lightest and shortest in duration. The mid or 'heart' notes are those in the middle and are what the scent is most often known for. The bottom or 'base notes' are the foundation that holds up the fragrance, gives it it's drydown scent and is what helps to classify the scent as an oriental, chypre, gourmand, woods, etc.

The heart then is very often floral and yet you also have to have structure to support those notes, so I 'saw' a design that was both floral and geometric and flowing as if wafting out its aroma. So where does the 'alley' come from? From my favorite fragrance forum, Make Up Alley's fragrance board. I also like the feel in band samplers that you have of paths, so paths became an alley for this design.

That explains why it is called what it is and why it looks the way it does, at least I hope I explained it so you can see it somewhat as I do. Keep in mind that this chart is still in the designing process, I may move/change some bands and the colors are preliminary, those I know I'll move about as I actually begin stitching - which I hope to do soon, just waiting for some floss to arrive.

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