What exactly is a needlepoint fashionista you ask? a magnet and scissor fob to properly coordinate to your canvas! You are starting to stitch a new canvas, it is on the bars ready for you… hmmm what magnet do I want to use? what about my fob? Needlepoint is supposed to be fun, so why not make the entire experience wonderful?

This is a selection of magents and fobs that was sent to me by Mag Friends and Fob Friends of Accoutrement Designs to show off the possibilities!

The snowman fob and the candy cane magnet would complete the festive look with this DJ Designs canvas of Christmas Time at Rockefeller Center.

Of course my favorite is the black cat! and who says you can’t use two magnets? Yes I promise that I am going to get this wonderful cat canvas by Sharon G back into my stitching rotation oh so very soon…. The problem is I have rumaged through the threads that I pulled for this, so I hope I remember what I had originally selected!

The paw magnet would look wonderful with this dede cat canvas! This will be a great addition to my holiday stitching later this year.

The Crazy Quilt by Kelly Clark has so many possibilities to make a fashion statement!

or how about these?

and then there is this idea. I have a feeling that after mastering all of the ribbon work, that I might need that glass of champagne!

Last but not least is the Halloween look. Now if you too want to be a needlepoint fashionista, you probably can find these wonderful magnets and fobs at your favorite needlepoint shop.

Thank you to Fob Friends and Mag Friends for the selection that she sent. The magents will now make their way to the studios of Needlepoint Now for a photo shoot. But before they depart, I get to select one that I will use for a giveaway to commemorate our blogoversary next month!

Lets see what the kids are up to today? Now this is a rare sighting as Sylvester and AlleyCat are really not BFF’s. They get along just fine, play together and AlleyCat always reinds us just who’s in charge! and until next time…keep on stitching

Do you remember this picture? Well I have  found the pillows like this again and again, but still wasn’t sure who was responsible. Now I know…as the evidence just speaks for itself! Read on…

I was working away yesterday editing my stitch guides, tweaking the cover pages and trying to make this and that just a little bit better. Time just gets away from you as it really flies by. The cats were very well behaved as AlleyCat was snoozing close by and not walking across my keyboard for a change. Sylvester, where are you? well he was no where to be seen…so I went looking for him. After I looked in all the usual favorite nap spots, I thought I would try looking amoung the pile of pillows and there he was. I got a look as if to say and why do you wake me?

Now I have another mystery to solve, but I think that I know who this cuplrit is! Some certian feline purrson has been getting the best of this plant.

I won’t mention any names now will I, AlleyCat? I think it is time for me to get my cat grass planted and relocate this plant just a little bit out of her reach.

No stitching news to report as after all the work was done I was starting to feel a little achey and just not right, so I thought that I would take a little dose of something and a nap. The nap wound up being the deep sleep all night long. I must have needed it and I feel much better today. Can’t get sick now! It’s not in my schedule. and until next time…keep on stitching

To market, to market we go! These are just a few more of the hearts by Needle Deeva that I stitched and will be available along with the stitch guides at Sample It Night at the TNNA Market in Phoenix next week. Sample It, really is such a brilliant idea…as it gives the shop owners the ability to purchase some of the newest items and take them right back to their shops with them….instead of anxiously awaiting the mail or UPS deliveries.

Not to worry if you don’t make for Sample It Night. Just stop by Needle Deeva’s booth 2023~2025 anytime during the show and place an order for them. They will be happy to ship them to you with your show orders!

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River Silks, beads, Kreinik, Swarovski crystals and silk threads were used to create these hearts. What’s not to love about that? I really do enjoy stitching these, as when the threads and ideas come together at right away, they really are a quick stitch!

The stitched hearts have made the journey to Barbara’s Needlepoint in South Dakota for their special finishing touches! Of course I will be on pins and needles until they are delivered back to my hands in time for their debut next Friday.

Speaking of next Friday, Teem Deeva will be busy setting up the booth, saying our hellos to everybody and trying to get a few sneak peaks of what’s new. It is a fun day filled with allot of hard work that I just love! Robin will be teaching her class for DMC in the afternoon and how cool is that? Wow teaching for DMC, you are now a needlepoint rock star Robin! From completed setup it is onto Sample It Night for an hour of fast and furious shopping. That leads right up to the Galleria, where several designers dress up their newest designs for a sneak peak, surrounded by a little adult beverage and a selection of delicious crudite’s, Southewest Style. It is then time for dinner, laughs and some relaxation time…the highlight of the evening!

I haven’t been doing too much stitching lately, ooh shudder that thought! I have all of my files for the March/April issue of Needlepoint Now sent off to Elizabeth and have been working on the stitch guides for the hearts…3.5 done and 2.5 to go. I have my paper and new print cartridges ready to go.

AlleyCat loves this little feathered ball and was quite playful yesterday! and until next time…keep on stitching

We have all heard a million times, well maybe not quite that much…”Don’t judge that book by it’s cover?” well the same thing can be said of a needlepoint canvas…”Don’t judge that canvas too quickly.” Many times just looking at the blank canvas, you might not even give it a fleeting moment of thought…

until you see it stitched… and then it is, OMG! I have to stitch that! like right now!

Canvas by Kelly Clark, thread and stitch selection by Kelly Clark. This is a show stopper! I definately took a double take and immediately if not sooner saying, I absolutely have to stitch it! Look at all the embellishments, the wonderful ribbon work, the little bunny that just comes to life as it seems to hop off the canvas, the beads, the buttons…OMG, what is not to love about this canvas?

Stick around the day after market closes and Kelly herself will be at BeStitched to teach the class. I will be one of the anxious students ready for this sold out class at the shop. It you absolutely have to do this canvas too, not to worry as the girls at BeStitched can get one sent off to you!

This is how beautifully packaged my canvas and threads came to me. We have homework to do…ooh shudder the thought! The base for 5 or 6 sections need to be stitched so that Kelly can teach us how to do all the wonderful seam treatments and ribbon work that makes this canvas come alive.

AlleyCat is in love with this tissue paper! I think that the noise of it amuses her. and until next time…keep on stitching

I do realize that we are only about 3 weeks into winter and I already I am speaking of spring! I can hear you, yes I know that you are thinking “are you out of your mind or what?” well living in America’s Finest City where the weather is fine most of the time and it has been in the 70’s and 80’s for the last week, it feels like spring. Or maybe it’s from all these silk ribbon flowers that I have been doing lately.

I love decorating for the holidays, but the one problem is after everything is put away, it all looks so barren. Since I am spending allot of time home these days, I though I would brighten my sights with a little flower arrangement from Adelaide’s. Beautiful flowers in presented in a special way that I thought after the flowers had seen better days, I could add some silk flowers in these 4 little vases and spruce up a dark corner.

I spent several hours charting stitches for both the magazine and stitch guides for Needle Deeva’s hearts. I will share the rest of the stitched hearts with you as Team Deeva readies for TNNA which is just a short 10 days away. I can’t wait! I also finished up this little guy late last night, a canvas by Amanda Lawford.

What do I want to stitch on next? so much to do and just not enough time in the day for stitching! Decisions, decisions! how can I decide?

Did you watch The Cat from Hell on Animal Planet the other night? wow is all I can say! and even though AlleyCat is a brat I still think how lucky I am to have these 2 love bugs that share my life. and until next time…keep on stitching

p.s. maybe I should take that back since SHE just walked across my keyboard. See what I mean when I say she is a brat?

Really! A rose garden…canvas by Needle Deeva and the last of the 6 Valentine Hearts stitched and ready for debut at Sample It Night at TNNA. Sample it Night happens every market on the Friday night before the show opens and right before the Galleria. It is a selection of designers, thread companies, accessories and book authors that assemble for an hour of wild and crazy shopping! It is sort of tease, so that the buyers will come and visit you in their show booth over the weekend.

Needle Deeva designed a selection of new hearts, which I had the pick of the ones that I wanted to stitch. Yes I selected this one and saved it for last to stitch as I looked for ideas. A beautiful rose, wonderfully simple, yet it could be very elegant.

I poured through every embroidery book that I have in my stitching library. I had even bought a few new ones and studied every type of rose to be made with silk ribbons or even bullion’s. I looked and looked and studied and then I had an idea. I would try this wonderful flower that I learned from Wendy and Laura of Aristea. I had this River Silk in my stash from another Needle Deeva Heart that I stitched earlier this year and it just worked! The needlepoint gods were looking favorably upon me and I didn’t struggle or even need to use any bad words while speaking to myself. Trust me the bad words would come later!

The rose was finished and I was thrilled with the way it came out. I added a few loopy French Knots in the middle with Gloriana ribbon and then it was time to figure out a background. Originally I was going to do a pattern stitch, but then I thought it needed something bolder. I would do something with beads or did I want to use Swarovski crystals instead?

The crystals won! and why there bad words spoken? well…I am normally very careful when using the crsytals not to pour allot out on my beading tray at once. If they happen to spill or the cats would knock them over that I wouldn’t lose allot of them. Yes they happened to spill and yes I spent way too much time pulling the couch apart and searching with a flashlight to find every single one so that I would have enough crystals to finish the canvas! I figured that the stitches at the very edge of the canvas didn’t need a crystal as the finishers would be the ones speaking those bad words! By the way it was not the cats that spilled the crystals, but rather my own carelessness.

AlleyCat is looking and wondering what she can take out of here that would make a wonderful toy! I would like to report that she soon settled down after this and just watched me stitch. Of course the cellphone and tv remote are never far from my reach when I settle in. and until next time…keep on stitching

Well not this one, but you can have your very own! Call the girls at BeStitched (480)991-0706 and you can get the very last one that they have left. It is ready to come to you with all the threads and stitch guide…and Lisa tells me it’s on sale too just for you! Now how can you resist that? While you are at, you need to ask for one of these awesome cat magnets, just made to go with this canvas purr~fectly! Or you could get a cat in turquoise…

Awhile ago there was a discussion on the American Needlepoint Guild chat list as to what was your favorite canvas that you stitched in 2011? Well this one, Deco Kitty by Sharon G, hands down has to be that for me! No I am not saying that just to butter her up, but it really was my favorite. Well first of all, which is the obvious that it has a cat and a black one no less! The threads that I selected first go around for the most part just worked. The stitches were a breeze to pick and chose and they seemed to just mesh together, sort of like it just belonged there. The stitching went too quickly and you know it was really that special canvas when you are actually sad to finish it.

Deco Kitty will be travelling with me to the TNNA  Winter Market in Phoenix…so stop by Sharon G’s booth to see it in person! Sharon has been painting a new cat canvas and I just know that it has my name on it!

I have been busy working away on the March/April issue of Needlepoint Now with another issue of amazing projects coming your way. All the stitch guides are typed and next week I will work on charting the stitches with a little help from Elizabeth. She is a wonderful teacher and so very patient with me as I sometimes struggle with some of the nuances of Illustrator.

My hearts for Needle Deeva Sample It Night are all stitched and are winging their way right now to the finishers for them to work their magic.The stitch guides are mostly done, I just need to look for a cool font and add the stitches and print! I am getting ready to start my next big project in the next day or so. By for today, I am goofing off. Well sort of, but not really. I am going on a much needed stash enhancement trip for threads, silk ribbons for future projects with a stop off for some beads. I need to remind myself “step away from the canvas!” as in a few weeks I will be surrounded with all the new and exciting canvases at market.

This is Sylvester’s favorite nap spot and most times when he isn’t within my site, he is here sleeping away. I think that he likes this side of the bed as that is the side where I normally sleep.

when I came back from the holidays, I discovered that someone had made a little cave for themselves…but who could it be? Sylvester? AlleyCat? well one will never know! and until next time…keep on stitching

The 12th day of Christmas is celebrated today on January 6th as the holidays are already just a memory. The decorations have been packed away, the holiday stitching finished up as I share just a few more of the ornaments that I stitched for next years tree.

These are a few of these cute little bags by What’s the Point? that I worked on over the last couple of weeks. A quick stitch and oh so fun to do! A stitching friend of mine has stitched many of these and hangs them on her trees where Santa deposits gifts in them for the taking! What a clever idea.

January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany, when the 3 Wise Men finally completed their trip to deliver their gifts. Many people think of the 12 days of Christmas leading up to the holidays, but it is really the 12 days after Christmas! Growing up, we usually took down our decorations on this day, but today my house has long been undecorated!

In Italy it would be the day of La Befana, a lovable good witch who brings presents for all the children. In New Orleans as they ready for Mardi Gras it is King Cake that is plentiful during this day. A little treasure is tucked inside and if you are lucky enough to find it, it allows you certain privileges and obligations.

In Mexico it is Dia de Reyes or Day of Kings. When I worked in the restaurant the guys would bring in Rosca de Reyes or King Cake. A sweet bread braided and loaded with fruits and if you were the lucky one to get the little baby hidden in the cake…well you were lucky enough to host the party! As the host or hostess, you are the one to bring the tamales to the party traditionally held February 2nd which is Dia de la Candelaria. This is the day that candles are brought to the church to be blessed. February 2nd is also the midway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox and if you are anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring training as I am…you know that it is only a few short weeks till pitchers and catchers report!

AlleyCat is still not letting me out of her sight! She is keeping her eye on me as I am taking care of my plants. Shhh don’t tell her that I will be leaving them again in a few weeks! and until next time…keep on stitching

Now how does that nursery rhyme go? Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Well for this Needle Deeva Easter Egg House it is with lots of wonderful colors of silk ribbon! Believe it or not, I had all of these colors in my ribbon box here at the house.

They are even more silk ribbons that you don’t see in the picture here as there was not much left to show. Silk ‘N Colors Sprite Grass which was used for the light greens in the flower box and Gloriana Narcissus, which is such a wonderful yellow. I will just have to remember that next time I am thread shopping that I will need to replace these colors in my stash. I am thrilled to learn that all 3 of these fantastic thread companies will be the January TNNA Market in just a few short weeks!

I was surprised at the amount of hours that I spent growing the garden. When I finally decided on the technique that I would use, I convinced myself it’s a relatively small area and I can finish this in no time! Who was I trying to kid? About 25 hours later, threads beads and ribbons strewn all about me, all that was left to do is finish the basket and mail it off to the studios for the photo shoot for the March/April issue of Needlepoint Now. I was so excited about finishing and sending it on its way, that I forgot to take that final picture!

I need to thank Wendy Harwood of Arsitea fame for inspiring and empowering me for trying my hand at all this ribbon work. You know Wendy, who has the most amazing and cutting edge ideas in her stitch selections and thread choices, stitches and writes stitch guides for many of Melissa Shirley’s canvases…that Wendy.

I would like to introduce you to Sir Oliver Cromwell, an amzing piece of needlepoint that lives in my sister’s home. I have always loved this picture and have admired it for years, but this last visit, I really studied it.

It is beautifully stitched and in pristine condition. I am not sure the age of the piece and I should have asked. I meant to ask too, who is the woman shown here? Studying the stitches it was worked in wools and the style of stitching looked like it was a row of Continental and then a row of Victorian Cross Stitch. The shading makes this so lifelike that it seems to come to life. I marvel when I think that this was stitched all in wool, probably with no frame and the light was probably not what we have to work with today. Maybe I can ask that this be willed to me someday? Hmmm I wonder…

I have been keeping my nose to the grindstone since I have been back, stitching for Sample It Night at TNNA Market, writing stitch guides and working on the March/April Issue for Needlepoint Now. Market is just 2 weeks away and I can’t wait!

AlleyCat is sleeping in her garden. and until next time…keep on stitching

New year, new hopes and dreams… adventures, experiences and above all… here’s to a happy and healthy year of wonderful stitching with exciting new canvases, fabulous threads, must have books and all the best toys! You know, bags, magnets and so much more.

TNNA, The National NeedleArts Association Winter Market is just about 2 weeks away. This is the biggest market of the year with so many new designs being introduced. The designers are usually very hush hush till after the show as they are of the thought that the buyers that invest the time and money to travel to the show should be the very first to see their new designs. I applaud them for this! I liken waiting for the January market to open to a kid waiting for Santa to arrive.

There have been a few glimpses as to what is to come, just a tease, just a little something to whet your appetite and say I have to stitch that! Such as the new Thanksgiving March

and 4th of July March by Ashley Dillon of Tapestry Tent. Now how can you just pick one of these? I want to stitch them both! Amy Bunger has hers already on order and she will be starting the Thanksgiving one right away with one of her amazing stitch guides to follow. If you just have to have one or both, just call Amy’s Golden Strand (901) 458-6109 and they can put your name on one.

Gloriana, absolutely one of my favorites threads is introducing Duchess Silk, which is a hand dyed twisted silk in a limited array of colors, for now that is. I am very anxious to stitch with these threads! Amy’s Golden Strand (901) 458-6109 also has the threads on order, so give them a call if you need to add these to your stash! These pictures are from Amy’s Newsletter which is masterfully written by Robin King. Make sure you check it out!

Christmas was wonderful and I had such a delightful time as we ate and drank and ate some more through the holidays. Gourmet meals, cookie baking, shopping and wrapping, visiting with friends and family and even more wining and dining. I read some and stitched some as I finished up a few new ornaments to hang on next year’s tree.

I am working on the new Needle Deeva hearts for Sample~It Night at TNNA. Five done and only one more to go! I need to refer to some stitch books to inspire me for the last one and I pray that the needlepoint gods will be with me.

Then it will be time to get down to some seriuos business starting a few new needlepoint projects. You are saying “Well tell us more!” and I am just saying…stay tuned!

This is Miss BusyBody, just getting into everything as I was starting to put Christmas away. We had the best time together and I am noticing that she is not letting me out of her sight!

Sylvester was just chillin’…and until next time…keep on stitching