Another Month, Another Clue

Another Stitching Games clue, that is! This month's clue was "apple" and it reminded me of an old song lyric that goes "You're the apple of my eye, you're the moon in my sky", so naturally then I stitched my moon and sky.  The moon is stitched with an ivory-color Snow, the sky is a random long stitch with a really great overdye and the witch herself is this wonderful sequin I found from my favorite sequin source: Cartwright's.  I'm so happy I finally had the chance to use one, it really worked well I think.  

Hope you all are having a great long weekend and getting lots of stitching time in! 

A Christmas Story, the End. Or Is It?

After painting six canvases, it did finally occur to me that the original request had only been for ornaments.  So unless you are decorating a Texas-sized tree, 10 inch tall stand ups are a bit big to be an ornament.  So finally I did paint what she actually asked for!

Kringle Belle Ornament

"Bearing Gifts"

4.5 x 6 on 18ct.

Kringle Belle Ornament

"Bearing Candy"

4.5 x 6 on 18ct.

Kringle Belle Ornament

"Bearing Ornaments"

4.5 x 6 on 18ct.

So that's the end of the tale, right?  No, not yet!  There has been a hint that there will be a need for more Belles in the future, plus I've had a brand new request for some Kringle Beaus!  Back to work for me! 

A Christmas Story, Part Two

So the saga continues!  After painting the larger stand-ups, I second guessed myself that perhaps I had not ultimately painted elves as much as I did Christmas scenes with elves in them.  To remedy that, I painted another set,  making the elves much bigger and greatly limiting the background details.  I was able to add a little more detail to their colorful outfits too!

Kringle Belle Mini

"Gathering Candy"

5 x 8 on 18ct.

Kringle Belle Mini

"Delivering Gifts"

5 x 8 on 18ct.

Kringle Belle Mini

"Tree Decorating"

5 x 8 on 18ct.

So was it "mission accomplished" with this second set?  Not yet, there's still more to the story!  See you again here soon I hope!

A Christmas Story

Ruth Schmuff's blog post this morning made me smile; she introduced my newest canvases framed as a fairy tale.  But did you know that it is a TRUE fairy tale?  It actually is! One of my biggest fans and cheerleaders did indeed wish for a series of little girl elves for her daughter, "the Princess".  She wanted ornaments, but alas, inspiration took hold of me and I painted three big stand-ups instead! 

Her only specifications were that they be girl elves and that she would like one dressed in pink and purple.  Here she is busy gathering the candy that grows wild in the Christmas countryside:

Kringle Belle

"Gathering the Candy"

6.5 x 9.5 on 18ct.

Another elf was to wear bright green and red, she is the one delving the pretty packages to Santa's sleigh:

Kringle Belle

"Delivering the Gifts"

6.5 x 9.5 on 18ct.

The elf destined to wear the oh-so-trendy blue and green outfit is of course stylish enough to be in charge of the decorating: 

Kringle Belle

"Decorating the Tree"

6.5 x 9.5 on 18ct.

Hope you'll check back here soon to hear the rest of the tale, it doesn't end here! 

Halloween, Already??

No, Halloween is definitely a couple months away still, but of course you have noticed that many stores have started to put out the Halloween stuff already.  I'm always happy to see it though, even if it is only August.   I have some nice Halloween finishes to show you, both new and old.

This is Diane's great finish of my Fall Tree.  I love the pink trim and the pom-pom bow topper! 

Courtesy of Needlepoint.com in Raleigh, NC is this oldie but a goodie, my Halloween Sampler finished as a cute pillow:

Elizabeth just recently finished two more of my Vintage Halloween Pails, they look great and she's gotten them back just in time for Trick or Treating! 

Linda at Split the Needles blog did an amazing job on my Monster Mash cone and her finisher really went to town with the embellishments-- love it!!

 

Suzy has done a fabulous job stitching her Monster Mash cone too, but will it come back from the finisher in time for Halloween?  Maybe, but in the meantime, we can get a really good look at her very creative stitches:

See you next time with even more Halloween treats!

Crazy Patch Boo-nanza Retrospective

Now that this former club series is available for individual sale, I don't think I've ever posted pictures of them all finished individually.  And Fall is just around the corner, so take a peek and start thinking of those cool crisp days ahead, breaking the sweaters out of storage, the trees changing to red and yellow and of course, the Halloween candy! 

Argyle Pumpkin

Plaid Candy Corn

Pink Candy Stripes Candy Corn

Pumpkin Trio Candy Corn

Argyle Candy Corn 

Candy Swirls Candy Corn

Orange Ribbons Candy Corn

Plaid Pumpkin

Pumpkin Trio Pumpkin

All nine designs come with stitch guides and can be kitted if you wish!  Happy Stitching!