Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season so far and that you will get everything on your stitching wish lists!  I am looking forward to a week or two at home, mixed in with a couple of overnight trips to San Antonio and Grapevine to see all the great Christmas lights in both cities.  Sort of the best of both worlds for me at Christmas time!

Please enjoy this gallery of some of my favorite CandyLand Christmas finishes, and I'll see you again next year!

We Have a Winner!

Voting ended for the Stitching Games Viewer's Choice Award this weekend, and the winner was Nancy K. and her Bird Song canvas!  Congrats to you Nancy, we can't wait to hear what your prize will be! As I understand it, Ruth Schmuff is putting the prize together, so it's sure to be spectacular!

I expect most of this year's participants will be joining in on the Games for next year too.  I know I am already picking a canvas from my stash for next year, the trouble is in narrowing it down to just one.  Hope some of you may decide to join in too!

Speaking of Stitcherie and our talented group of stitchers, this is my Chat Noir canvas as stitched by K.B., who is one of the masterminds behind the Stitching Games and a very fine stitcher too!  She did a  great job with this canvas, I am loving those background stitches!

That's it for now, hope your holiday season isn't too busy.  I am in the midst of painting new designs for the needlepoint market this January, but still trying to find time to stitch.  Currently, I am trying to get caught up on Ruth's latest Mystery Class, Silly Christmas Birds. Hopefully, Christmas will bring lots of extra stitching time for all of us! 

Stitching Games Wrap Up, Vote for Viewer's Choice!

You may recall that it's been a while since I last updated you on the Stitching Games progress over on Stitcherie.  Lo and behold, we are now very close to the end, and do I have lots of great finishes to show you!  Actually, the official end is not until December 8th, so I am jumping the gun a bit.  There will no doubt be a few more posted by then, so I will update this post again.

It's important to note that from December 9th to the 15th, all posted finishes will be up for the Viewer's Choice award, so I would like to invite you all to come on over to Stitcherie to cast your vote.  You need not have participated in the Games in order to be able to vote, so do come see all the entries and pick your favorite!

Here is my Stitching Games canvas, Ethel the Little Witch by Patti Paints:

Judy G.'s Asian Rider by JP Needlepoint:

Nancy K.'s Bird Song by Quail Run:

Kelly W.'s Bunny Cottage by Rebecca Wood:

Susan A.'s Cupcake by Mindy:

Mary T.'s Flying Sheep by Brenda Stofft:

Debra S.'s "Gustav" by Susan Roberts:

Judy F.'s Joan Thomasson Angel:

Karen H. (of Zecca Designs) Fan:

Lynne D.'s Merry Deer by Maggie:

Barbara B.'s Sea Life Collage by Mindy:

Melissa M.'s Model A by Raymond:

Pretty amazing work, right?  My fellow Games participants proved to be an amazingly talented group. I am already looking forward to stitching with them again next year!  Again, stop by to view and vote, and consider hanging around to join us for next year's Games. It is great fun and you will have a completed canvas by the end to boot, it's a win-win! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, with lots of great food and stitching time! 

Things to Remember About Memory Thread

Reading the Bedecked and Beadazzled newsletter this month I was reminded of just how fun it is to work with DMC Memory Thread!  The "Technique of the Month" for November is applications with Memory Thread and you should definitely check it out (if you haven't already), click here. 

This is the first project where I used Memory Thread, on my Floating Hearts canvas.  This was a featured project in the May 2010 of Needlepoint Now. I needed to "clean up" the edges of my hearts because of all the compensated stitches and Memory Thread couched around the hearts fit the bill perfectly!  As you can see, you can couch it singly or with two or more strands side by side.  

It worked fabulously for the smaller companion design, Floating Flowers as well!

This is a detail of a flower from my Wedding Cake Slice, where I used Memory Thread for both the outside edge and for four of the petals too:

The Cake Slice as completed:

Leave it to Ruth Schmuff to find a really innovative use for Memory Thread rather than just outlining with it-- she used it to pad the candy canes on my CandyLand Christmas canvas.  Here is the first layer:

And here is the final layer with the Frosty Rays stitched over the top of the Memory Thread:
 

Great effect, right?  I love how it makes it both dimensional and gives it that nice, clean edge as well.  See more of the magic Ruth worked on this canvas here.

Hope this has been informational and inspirational too!  Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Two Trunk Shows for November!

I have two trunk shows out in stores this month! If you are in the Santa Clarita area of Southern California, be sure to stop by Queen Anne Stitches: 

Their lovely shop is offering a 30% show discount too, so if you are not local, be sure to give them a call if there is a canvas you have your eye on!

And for those of you lucky enough to be in the needlepoint-rich Scottsdale, AZ area, Quail Run Needlework is also hosting my show:

I hope you may be able to stop by in person to see the many stitched models on display in their gorgeous shop!  I shipped almost 40 models to them, in addition to what they already had, so there will be a lot to tempt you.

And again, if you are not local, be sure to give them a call for details on what specials are available for mail order.

Fresh Crop Picked From The Pumpkin Patch!

Hello!  I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween weekend!  I have some lovely finishes from my Crazy Patch Boo-nanza collection to share with you today.

First up is the Argyle Pumpkin, courtesy of 3 Kittens Needlearts.  Is that an exuberant bow topper or what?? 

From Louise's Needlework comes this stunner, my Pink Stripes Candy Corn also with a very cute bow topper and sweet pumpkin feet:

Last but certainly not least is the Orange Stripe Candy Corn with fabulous finishing via Bedecked and Beadazzled:

Hope this gets you in the mood for the rest of Fall and Thanksgiving, just around the corner!  Happy Stitching!  

Happy Halloween!

Hope you all have the very best Halloween ever!  Lots of goodies and stitching too!  Speaking of stitching, take a look at this fabulous rendition of my Halloween Night Collage, courtesy of the wonderful gals over at Fancy Stitches in Cleburne, Texas.  They taught this canvas as a class this past summer, so please do contact them regarding availability of stitch guides or kits.  

Halloween Night Collage

Before and After

If you have a good memory, you may recognize the designs I'm featuring today from earlier posts, where they were stitched, but not finished.  I am always thrilled to see completed stitches, but even more so to see them again after their visit with the finisher.

This is my Witch Hat House, stitched by Karen Barras and finished by her also!  She made and stitched a really great cording around the edges, and added a little 'L'- shaped plexiglass strip onto the back, making it into an easel back stand up.  The plexi strip is cleverly fitted into a hand sewn pocket!

I was so thrilled with these two purse-insert canvases, stitched by Alison Brennan that I could not wait to show them off here last year:

And here they are now, back from finisher Kristine Kingston!  Who says that they had to be purse inserts? Even though they were painted sized for the Lee Leather bags, they work great as pillow fronts too!  Love them, great job girls!  

Hope you all had a great Columbus Day weekend, see you next time!

New Designs For Fall and Winter 2013

Hi all!  I am proud to present to you today my newest designs, now available for order from your favorite needlework store.  

Inspired by my latest design for Needlepoint Now, these Holiday Birdhouses are the first two in a continuing series.  Both measure 4" x 6" on 18 count canvas.   

Halloween Birdhouse

Christmas Birdhouse

I've added two more designs to my Fairy Tales collection. The Princess and the Pea story as told by my favorite little black cat-- yes, she's crossed over from my Kitty collection category!  Measures 6.5" x 8.25" on 18 count.

"Princess" and the Pea

Rapunzel now has her own canvas too, she joins Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella in the collection.  Measures 5.5" x 9.5" on 18 count.

Rapunzel

I've taken two of the ornaments from my large Mod Ornaments canvas and given them two new color schemes, one traditional and another more retro in feel.  Both measure 5.25 x 5.75 on 18.

Mod Ornaments Green

Mod Ornaments Aqua

And as companion pieces to the above, I have two round ornaments featuring yummy peppermints, in matching color schemes.  Both designs are 3.5" in diameter.

Peppermint Ornament Aqua

Peppermint Ornament Green

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you like the new additions!  It will be time for more "what's new" before you know it, as I am painting new stuff all the time.  Until then, Happy Stitching!