Bargello Hearts in Needlepoint Now!

The Jan/Feb 2017 issue of Needlepoint Now features my newest design, Bargello Hearts.  It's a fun to stitch canvas work piece using delicious colors of Silk & Ivory thread, accented with some sequins and crystals, of course.  The finished design is the perfect size for a tool tote pouch as shown here.  

Bargello Ornament Series from Needlepoint Now Magazine!

Part 4 of this series of ornaments will be released very soon, so I thought it was time to review the series so far! In the current issue of Needlepoint Now is Water Flower:

The May/June 2016 issue featured Caribbean Waves:

The series started in March/April with the Palm Beach ornament:

Coming soon in the July/August issue will be the Key West Ornament, so stay tuned! 

Water Flower, the Latest Bargello Ornament in Needlepoint Now!

You all should be getting your May/June issue of Needlepoint Now in the mail any day now!  This issue features number three in my series of Bargello ornaments, Water Flower:

Hope you'll enjoy stitching this one!  And if you like these ornaments, please consider signing up for my monthly club, Bejeweled Bargello!  It's a set of 12 brightly colored ornaments that come with embellishment packs of sequins, beads and crystals.  

Bejeweled Bargello Ornament Club Starts in May!

I have a new club starting next month, you may have seen the ad pictured below in the latest issue of Needlepoint Now.  This club is a little different, it is charted needlepoint rather than painted canvas.  Once a month you will receive a full color chart, instructions and a packet of beads and embellishments, including many Swarovski crystals.  You will provide the canvas and threads, and the thread list will include alternate color choices for those who like a more traditional red and green color scheme.  I will also include embellishments to match the red/green versions when needed.  There are 12 ornaments in the series, plus a bonus 13th ornament that is free! 

Please email me at ada@eyecandyneedleart.com or call me at 682-233-5377 if you would like more details or to sign up!  The first chart pack ships the first week in May!

Meadowlark Cuff Bracelet in May/June Needlepoint Now

Meadowlark Cuff, the latest in my series of cuff bracelets for Needlepoint Now magazine appears in the current issue, which should already be on its way to your mailboxes and local shops.  Here are are some detail photos for you to help you along the way to stitching it! 

This is the completed design, flat and before finishing:

This is a detail of the crystal filagree embellishments.  It seems that Swarovski has discontinued the filagree in the center motif.  The round ones are still available and you could easily add one of those to the center, or substitute any pretty "sparkly" of your choosing that fits the space.  

Here is  a detail post-finishing, showing how the snap closures are added into the decorative Square Jessica stitches on the ends:

And here it is as finished! 

Hope you will enjoy stitching this one!  Any questions please do contact me here on the blog, and be sure to send me your photos! 

More Mod Ornaments!

Here are are few more photos from the Mod Ornaments stitching group-- great work by Nathalie, Ann and Mary Ann!

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!

Finally Caught Up On Mod Ornaments!

So much has happened so far this year since my last post on the 1st to get you all caught up on!   I went to the TNNA trade show on the weekend of the 10th and it was a fabulous show where I got to hang out with my friends at Needlepoint Now and many others who I only get to see at these shows.  Unfortunately, I came home with more than just fond memories, I picked up the flu as well!  As bad as it was to spend the next week sick, I was more upset that I had broken a multi-year run of perfect health.  I have not even caught a cold since 2008, can you believe it?  I'm finally feeling a little better and have some stitching progress to show you.

Over the holidays I finally had a chance to get started stitching Mod Ornaments, the Sandra Arthur Mystery class that started last November.  Now that I'm actually stitching it, I can really appreciate all that Sandy has done with the design.  She offers you many, many options to personalize your canvas as you see fit, especially as it comes to one's preferred level of sparkle and bling!  I am definitely a more is better sort of person, so I took every option to add even more shine!

Here is my canvas so far, 95% done with Lessons 1 & 2, four ornaments are stitched as are the green beads:

For the pink ornament, Sandy had found the most perfect shade of pink seed bead for the body of the ornament-- it's gorgeous!  I changed it up a bit with my center band though, I only did two of the colors with the Herringbone stitch and filled in the orange area with cross stitches.  

For the orange ornament, I again took one of Sandy's options and stitched the body of the ornament in a mixture of silk and metallic rather than in the solid silk.  I also added more of those great pink seed beads to the pink bands.  I put green sequins behind the beads that dot the center band.

When it came time to add the Swarovski Margarita flowers to the green beads, I was surprised to find I didn't have the correct size crystal on hand!  I kind of look at these items as "staples" so it was kind of like going to the pantry and not finding any flour!  However, I did have them in the right size in Peridot Green AB oddly enough and so I used those:

Now I've mentioned I'm a "more is better" type, so I attached my crystals with a matching bead AND a 2.5mm green holographic sequin on top!  Yes, it did make it even more sparkly!

For the big pink ornament, I actually used less bling than Sandy did, she has Swarovski Crystal sequins on her center medallions,  I used some too but mine are smaller, I set them in the center of these great green leaf-shaped sequins.  The little blue dots are also pearlized finish sequins attached with beads.  

For the little ornament in the corner, I again went with the "more sparkle" option by using one of the newest colors of FyreWerks for the smaller cross stitches.  Also, I thought the beads didn't stand out enough on their own, so I put these tiny 2mm flower shaped sequins behind them, definitely giving them more prescence without being too much.  

So now I'm on to the next Lesson, where we will be adding a Peyote stitched band to the big center ornament.  Sandy showed me a photo when we were at Market and I can tell you it is FABULOUS!  Here is a photo of my three colors of Delica beads, as well as the rest of my Margarita beads that I still need to attach:

That's all for now, I'll be back next week with some new finishing photos!

Bits and Pieces

I have a little bit of everything for you today, new fobs, a new finish and a trunk show reminder! 

In my previous blog post, I asked you all to send me your photos of your finished CandyLands.  Mary Susan Muirhead was happy to oblige me with this beauty:

Isn't this sweet?  I just love that shade of pink and the cording is pink too!  Mary and her friend Debbie Fink both took the class and had their pillows finished the same as well.  The finishing is by Pillows by Evelyn in Riverdale, NY.

I recently sent a big batch of scissor fobs off to Ruth Schmuff for the Baltimore TNNA show in September.  Here's a peek at what will be available; if your shop owner is planing to attend, you can ask them to pick something up for you! 

And finally, the Ruth Schmuff/EyeCandy Needleart trunk show is at the Stitching Post in Midland, Texas until September 3rd.  Be sure to stop by if you can!

Bead Soup!

"Bead Soup" was my initial thought when I returned from a bead show last Friday and piled my purchases on my desk.  Here's what it looked like:

I spent a day or so just looking at the spectacle of it all and letting my ideas marinate for a while.  After I sat down and got to work, the wonderful hoard became quite decimated, but my ideas took shape and as a result, I cooked up a whole new batch of scissor fobs!


The owl beads (seen in the lower right corner) have been combined with some of the sparkly crystals and some matching pewter charms:

Speaking of pewter charms, I found a lot of marine life themed charms-- dolphins, fish and a seahorse and combined them together with a gorgeous iridescent blue foil bead for a fob with a ocean theme.  I added all the charms to different lengths of chain in order to make a tassel that looks like a school of fish:

I was on a mission to acquire some of the new Swarovski color, Crystal Astral Pink.  Since it is very new there was not much to be found, but I did get it in 4 & 6mm bicones and rondelle shapes, plus some in a very pretty heart shape pendant.  I combined those with some fuchsia color crystals and a Czech glass ladybug to make this very summery-feeling fob.  The ladybug is dangling from a chain set in between the larger crystals:

There were so many cute pewter charms available I really went overboard with them.  Here are a very pretty fairy and butterfly combined with very sparky rhinestone pave' beads:

Currently, these little goodies are in a box headed via USPS to Ruth's shop, Bedecked and Beadazzled, just in time for the Orna Willis class this weekend.   Hope you will be there, but if not you can always shop online!  Ruth always posts pictures of her class weekends and the photos are almost as much fun as being there, so be sure to check out her blog next week to see all the fun!