Wonderful Carrots

We recently sent off Nancy's Associated Talents carrot to be finished. We were delighed when it came back so quickly and we just adored the finishing. We spoke to the finisher who has a shorter lead time for Easter. So there's still time to get one of these wonderful carrots, stitch it and have it back before Easter. How much healthier would an Easter basket be filled with needlepoint carrots than chocolate? Well, at least you could reduce the calories partially.

We can accept the carrots, and eggs (not the ones that look like old-fashioned sugar eggs) for finishing through through March 24 and have them back in time for Easter. It's fun to be stitching an item closer to the actual holiday. So the choice is yours!

Heart Beading Kit

This kit comes with two heart canvases plus 8 vials of beads an beading thread plus a beading guide. You can finish these as framed hearts or as small pillows; frame them together or separately. It's a great way to immerse yourself in beading embellishment.

Happy Easter

This delightful canvas would make a great sign or a sweet pillow to celebrate Easter. Think of doing Jessicas for the dots. You probably could use lots of your stash for the letters and just pink a pretty Spring yellow for the background.

New Kreink Colors and threads

Gretchen just fell in love with the new Kreinik Candy Colors when she was looking at the Associated TAlents Easter carrots. These colors seem made for these Easter Canvases!

The new Kreinik Candy colors add a great selection of colors to the line. They come in #12 and #16 braid (and possibly more). They are bright and spring like. The orange is wonderful and adds a much needed color to Kreinik's selection.


In addition, Kreinik has also created Hotwire threads. These threads are #16 braid threads with a wire going through them. (I was in a class where we tried to thread the 16 braid with wire. Let me tell you, I would much rather buy the thread with the wire already in it -- it leaves to much more time for stitching!

Delores and Her Pillow

Delores just got back her hydrangea pillow. Isn't it lovely? She used Silk & Ivory threads for the whole canvas. In order to give the hydrangeas a more realistic look, she used a freeform eyelet for many of the flower petals. She also grounded the vase by creating a surface for the vase to sit on. Just seeing the pillow makes me long for summer and hydrangeas!

Start thinking about Flip Flops

If you like wearing flip flops, the Eliza B flip flops made with a needlepointed belt are perfect. We love them at the store. Gretchen is a particularly big fan of Eliza B's. She went absolutely nuts when she saw this wonderful belt by Associated Talents. She couldn't wait to pull the colors for it so you could see what a perfect design it is. Of course, it would be a great belt too but we see it as a pair of flip flops.

Easter Eggs

Although if you are stitching for this Easter, you need to have your canvas no later than today. But this is the perfect time to pick out an Easter canvas for next Easter. You can finish it and send it in way before Easter. Just think how you will enjoy having the finished canvas ready to hand by February or March 2012!

The reality of finishing is that many needlepoints are stitched with a holiday related theme. So consequently, the finishers are inundated with canvases just before any holiday. We've just posted the holiday deadlines for most of our finishers. You can go to our website to see the due dates.

Needle Vials

We just got in a new group of needle vials. Zecca must have realized that we are longing for spring and spring colors. The tops of these vials are just stunning. There are loads of pinks (hint-ask for one for Valentine's day or give one). The greens are just wonderful and look at the pink and green one! You can keep all your needles in one vials or have a vial for each size. These make a delighful addition to your tools.

Kathy Schenkel Ornament Tree

The Kathy Schenkel trunk show is such a large show that we have filled our long wall, two canvas drawers, mulitple baskets and our store Christmas tree. We managed to hang a few finished samples in addition to many of the mini stocking canvases with their stuffed inserts. It's hard to decide which ones to pick. Of course, you can decide to choose based on the place: Washington, DC, San Francisco, NYC, or by theme: princesses, horses, penguins, lobsters etc.

Hearts by Associated Talents

I brought back some heart canvases by Associated Talents from the show. Each canvas comes with a stitch guide; there are three canvases. The photo at the right shows two of the canvasea and the stitch guide for the third.

Of course, if it's February, there should be some hearts around. These hearts are pretty and quick to do.

Wood Laying Tools

We also just got a group of new wood laying tools. We have them done so that they are 6" long. There are several exotic woods to choose from. One can never have too many laying tools. Some stitchers prefer the wooden laying tools for flat threads such as neon rays and silk ribbon.

Fabulous Stand-ups

This delightful golfer is one of Kathy Schenkel's larger stand-ups. It comes with a stitch guide so you can easily replicate the finished item. It's a great gift for the golfer in your life -- or as a Christmas decoration in your golfing house!

Kathy Schenkel Ornaments

Here are two more finished ornaments from Kathy Schenkel Designs. The Ho Ho ornament is actually heart shaped. It was stitched using Scoth Stitch and Mosaic Stitches.

The Reindeer perched in the mini-stocking is from Kathy's most distinctive ornaments. Rudolph is on top of the chimney. The whole mini stocking suggests a wintry evening. (We know a lot about wintry evenings in New Jersey right now.)

I enjoy stitching Kathy's ornaments for several reasons. First, they are stitch-painted so you never have to worry what color goes where. In addition, they are fun to stitch and lend themselves to decorative stitches. I particulary like doing them when I travel.

Kathy Schenkel's Mini Stocking with Inserts

Kathy Schenkel Designs is well-known for their delightful mini-stockings with appropriate stuffed inserts. There are seals, cats, dogs, polar bears, horses, applies, baby boys, baby girls and various other inserts such as a lobster. The themes vary widely, too. There are a number of mini-stockings focused on varous cities, states and countries. Then there are stockings with themes: barns, castles, mermaids etc.

We have a number of stitchers who stitch a different ornament for their children or grandchildren each year. The choice of ornaments in this collection is so wide that the stitcher should be able to find the perfect ornament for anyone.

In With the New Threads, Out with the Old

Hyla's High Cotton

                
When I got back from TNNA, the new Hyla's High Cotton threads had already arrived. These beautiful threads are five stranded.  For #13 or #14 mesh, you only need to use 4 or 5 strands.  If you use is as it comes off the skein, you won't have to ply.  For #18 mesh, use 2 or 3 strands.  The cotton is just lovely to stitch with -- known as having a good hand. 

We've put all the colors in the computer.  You may not realize how important the color names are.  Entering a 100+ colors into the computer system is time-consuming and tedious.  But the names of the threads at least make it fun. 

Overdyed Petite and Very Velvet

We've also added some of the new overdyed Petite Very Velvet and Very Velvet.   And we expanded our selection of Silk Lame Braid in both sizes. 

Of course, before we could hang then up, we needed to create space for these lovely new threads. So, we have added to our sale racks of threads. We are selling for $1.50 Wonder Twist, Designer's Dream, Petite and Regular Sparkle Rays and a few colors of Fyre Werks. There are also some other miscellaneous threads on the rack. We have also added all of our remaining Anchor Pearl Cotton #3 for a $1 a skein. There's a good selection now but they will go quickly.

Other Designs by Kathy Schenkel

Cappy's beautiful thistle pillow was designed by Kathy Schenkel. She was so pleased with the results, she did it twice!

Kathy Schenkel's Backdrops

Kathy Schenkel has a wonderful selection of backdrops to commemorate different holidays and themes. These canvases are designed to sit behind small stand-ups so they form the background. The miniature canvases for the backrounds are very sweet and very appropriate. For example, for the Halloween backdrop there are small trick or treaters.

The Thanksgiving canvas has pilgirms and indians and even a turkey.

What appeals to me about these canvases in that they are relatively small, and can be used in different settings. If you prefer a pillow to acknowledge a holiday, you can just do the back drop. If you want to have a display of stand-ups, you can do the backdrop and the figures.