Beading Away on Mod Ornaments!

Lesson 4 of Mod Ornaments Mystery will be out soon, but I am still working away on Lesson 3, the Peyote beading. No complaints here, I'm just glad to be almost caught up! Also, Peyote beading is much more fun to do on needlepoint canvas than the more traditional (in-hand) way. Thank you Sandra Arthur for coming up with this idea, I can't wait to try it out on another canvas!

Oh, and I did get fancy again and changed something-- rather than stitch the body of the ornament entirely in Soie Cristale, I mixed in some Silk Lame' Braid for the upright stitches.  Yes, more sparkle!

Would You Like Ribbons With That?

There definitely is a preference among needleworkers on whether they want bows or no bows on their finishing-- I know at least one or two absolutely no-bow folks, then there are ones like me who will add so many ribbons and embellishments that you can barely see the needlepoint!

These are some recent finishing photos I have that really illustrate the differences between the two styles.  This is my Argyle Pumpkin with a very, very cute bow topper and sweet little feet too, finishing courtesy of Little Shoppe Around the Corner:

And here is the same design finished by Fancy Stitches (don't let the name fool you, they can handle both fancy and plain finishes!)  This one looks very clean with just cording around the edges.

Stitch By Stitch handled the finishing for my Halloween Night Collage, love that embellished bow topper and the little black feet:

And here again is the same design with a clean corded edge, also courtesy of Fancy Stitches:

How do you like your finishing, plain, fancy or something in between?

Two Gorgeous Finishes by TJ Designs Needlepoint Finishing

Just wanted to share these two lovely finishes by TJ Designs Needlepoint Finishing.  Her customer Annice Hill stitched my Winter Tree canvas and TJ's made it into a fabulously embellished ornament:

This is my Candy Cornucopia canvas finished into a very glamorous bag.  I finished my original model of this much the same way, but with feathers rather than fur.  I have to say I really like the fur version, and it probably doesn't shed nearly as much as my feathered version either! 

Happy Wednesday, thanks for stopping by!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Lots and lots of hearts for you today!!!

Floating Hearts

Alpine Heart

Tropical Heart

Winter Waterfall Bracelet in the January 2015 Issue of Needlepoint Now

I have been a little remiss on telling you all about my latest design in Needlepoint Now magazine, Winter Waterfall.  It is the latest in my series of cuff bracelets and this one has a distinctively frosty winter feel.  

It utilizes one of my all time favorite techniques, Bargello!  So fun and so quick to stitch and of course, it sparkles too!  Lots of FyreWerks metallics and I added a touch of Swarovski crystal bling as well.  Here is a detail photo of the design while it was still under construction:

Hope you may find this helpful if you are stitching the design, although I doubt you'll need it as it is so easy to do!

Here's a look at it in the magazine, with the wonderful styling you expect from Needlepoint Now:

Hope you will enjoy stitching this, and as always, if you have questions please contact me here at the blog.  Happy Stitching!

Stitching Games 2015 Challenge "Princess" and the Pea

I joined the Stitching Games (now in its third year) at the end of January with this canvas, "Princess" and the Pea.  Hoping all those mattresses will give me plenty of stitching options over the next few months!

Here are the two sections I've stitched so far, to complete the January and February clues:

Just the green/pink dot mattress and the famous pea itself so far, so I have plenty of canvas left to stitch the rest of my clues.

If you have not signed up yet, it's not too late as KB extended registration time for another month.  Come see what all the fuss is about here: Stitching Games 2015