Winter CandyLand

 

Winter Wonderland

 

One Design, Three Finishes

 

Finishing Up February With a Finish (or Two!)

Two nice finishes to share, this is my Christmas Tree Trio, stitched by Paige at the Stitching Studio!

"No Place Like Home" stitched by Elizabeth at Stitches in Time in Houston! 

Some Great New Stitches!

People have been busy stitching bees this summer so far, here are some great stitches of my canvases, soon to be on their way to the finishers:

Paula B. stitched this fabulous rendition of Pirate Mermaid, doesn't it look great?

Andrea A. completed her CandyLand Christmas so quickly I could hardly believe my eyes!  Love the background stitches on this one!

Barb W. gets a ton of stitching done while she travels, she just completed one of the designs from my Stitch a Falling Star club:

I'm sneaking in a stitched and finished one too, this is one of my Thistle Hill ornaments stitched by Ann T.:

The 7 Day Needlepoint Challenge

I don't know who came up with the 7 Day Needlepoint Challenge, but it has really taken Facebook by storm lately.  A friend challenges another friend to post photos of their completed needlepoint every day for 7 days, then that friend challenges another, and well it goes on and on, chain letter style.  It has been great for me to see my designs appear, both older items, new ones and one or two that I barely recognized!  Here are a few of my faves:

This is Ann L's Purr More Hiss Less, with brilliant finishing by West Coast:

This is Pastel Puzzle, stitched by Beth S. and she changed so many of the colors I almost didn't recognize it!  I love what she did, it is the most creative stitch of one of my designs I have ever seen!

This is Harvest Puzzle stitched by Diane G. and finished in a Stirling folio.  I'm so sad Stirling is gone, they had colors that were perfect for my line!

CandyLand Christmas Trees stitched by Marla M. and finished with that wonderful West Coast finishing. (You know it is West Coast when you see those darling custom made feet!)

Garden Party Heart stitched by Mary J.  That gold frame is exactly what I would have chosen and those pink and green mats!  To die for!

Hope this challenge thing keeps on going for a while, it has been fun! 

Great Christmas Finishing!

So many cute Christmas goodies to show you this week, just in time for the holiday! 

Here is Cardinal Joy finished as a stand-up, courtesy of Fancy Stitches:

Kathy H. from Fancy Stitches finished and framed her Mod Merry from the class we had last September:

This is Linda's CandyLand Christmas with one of the cutest bow-toppers ever!

I'm slipping in another sneaky-peeky of my Palm Beach Bargello ornament that you will find in the next issue of Needlepoint Now:

Pat T.'s Mod Ornaments as a fabulous pillow!

Last but not least, Pat W.'s Santa Baby as a stand up from West Coast Finishing:

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone!!

Newest CandyLand Finish and a Sneak Peek!

Thought you might like to see this great finish of CandyLand Christmas by Linda, it's gorgeous!

  
I love a great bow topper, this one is fabulous!!

And here's a peek of what I have coming up in the January issue of Needlepoint Now:

Stay tuned for more details!

Two More CandyLand Christmas Finishes!

Wow!  Everyone seems to have finished their CandyLand Christmas Tree Forest canvas except for me!  Well, there is a benefit to being a straggler, I get to see how everyone else has finished theirs, so can make the most "informed" decision when I finish mine.  However, at this point after seeing so many options I think I've changed my mind a half-dozen times already!  It may come down to a coin toss eventually, lol!

Here is a great box finish shared by Good Harbor Needlepoint, note those candy feet! 

And here is a great framed version by Mary G.-- love those little candies on the matting!  

Hope you all had a terrific Memorial Day, thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Finishing

Two great finishes today, both fitting the season!  This set of Atomic Ornaments was stitched by Catherine Stroup.  Just fabulous!!

Stephanie Wong had her Candyland Christmas Trees finished into a gorgoeous hot pink leather handbag!

These two ladies have definitely got their holiday stitching taken care of, wish I could say the same!

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! 

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!