Craft a Happy Life

We’re so glad you’re here.

Hey! We’re Penguin & Fish, your one-stop embroidery shop. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, our women-owned and -run company offers embroidery kits, patterns, supplies, videos, and livestream stitch-alongs to help makers like you create beautiful embroideries.

All the things

Lots of support

Great results

We Love

Make embroidery kit

Trying new things

Making mistakes

Learning as we go

Having fun with crafty friends

Cheering each other on

Making time for something creative every day 

Meet Alyssa

Alyssa Thomas Penguin & Fish about page

Alyssa Thomas, founder of Penguin & Fish, has been crafting since she was old enough to wield a pair of scissors. She grew up in a family of makers, learning how to crochet doilies from her grandma and sew quilts from her mom. Her embroidery design skills come from her background in illustration. In past lives, she’s designed greeting cards and fabric, published an embroidery book, and even illustrated a children’s book.

Alyssa’s superpower is her constant drive to experiment, get better, and share what she’s learned. Her mission is to empower others through crafting, helping them step out of their comfort zone, embrace making mistakes as part of the creative process, and be proud of what they accomplish. 

If you can color, you can embroider.

If you’re new to crafting, embroidery is a great place to start. It’s a lot like adult coloring books, but with a needle and floss. Learn a few stitches, follow the lines on one of our iron-on or pre-printed patterns, and before you know it, you’ve made something beautiful that you can hold in your hands. 

If you can color, then you can embroider. Free Stitching Raccoon Sampler embroidery pattern

Two minutes is all it takes. 

Everyone can find two minutes in their day to do something joyful. (Once you get started, you’ll want to keep going. It’s a sneaky kind of self-care.)

We’ll show you how to keep your projects organized so that you can jump right in whenever inspiration strikes.

Aim for 80% awesome. Perfect, schmerfect.

Learning to embroider should be relaxing, not stressful. We encourage everyone who hangs out with us to focus on making their projects 80% awesome. When your goal is exploration and not perfection, it’s easier to start, easier to make creative decisions, and easier to finish. And sometimes you’ll discover that your mistakes are actually happy accidents (Bob Ross was totally right). 

Crafting is more fun with friends.

Join the Penguin & Fish family to meet new friends, share what you’re working on, ask questions, and get inspiration.Join the Penguin & Fish Family

Find out more

Join the Family - Make crafty friends.

Beginners Start Here - Learn to embroider basic stitches.

Get Stitching - Shop embroidery kits. Everything you need to start stitching.