Toilet Tissue Covers

We are so excited about the toilet tissue holders. Karen is going to stitch the tiger for the store bathroom but Gretchen did the stitch guide. They were picking great threads and stitches. I can't wait to see it finished.

Newsletter Update

We are in the final stages of our long promised newsletter. We will post it on our web site and also send it to our email list.

Final Report on TNNA

I have already talked about some great classes and canvases. Melissa Shirley, as always, had some wonderful designs. She actually used her purse model -- a red bag with a canvas of apples. It was stunning. I know you will enjoy her trunk show in October.

I forget to mention that on Sunday night, I went out with several people to Martini's. It's a well know restaurant in Columbus. I had dinner with Evan of Evertite fame, Amy Bunger, Robin who works with Amy, Emily of Chandall, Susan who works with Melissa Shirley and Melissa Shirley. It was a really fun evening.

The Needlepoint group of TNNA is going to be setting up a website as a public service for the public. It always takes so much effort to get these types of projects off the ground but so far, they've done a great job.

I also saw Beth Robertson and Suzanne Howren who did the stitch guide for the October paper doll and Cynthia Thomas who did the stitch guide for the December paper doll. At the market, they taught a great class on using Kreinik for embellishment.

Elizabeth took classes with June McKnight. Many of you may have read some of her wonderful little (size) needlepoint books. In the past year, she published a new bargello book with color pictures and a small book on bargello medallions. The latter make great Christmas decorations. Amy Burger at Ridgewood Needlepoint was very excited about these ornaments. We should have a busy teaching schedule for the fall.

I also started to schedule trunk shows into 2010!

Painted Pony Trunk Show

We are so excited. The Painted Pony trunk show arrived today. Gail and Suzanne were checking in all the canvases and didn't finish by the end of the day. Gail loved the various ornaments and was having trouble deciding which ones she wanted.

Painted Pony is a great collection of mostly small canvases. These include the travel angels plus hundreds of Christmas and Halloween themed canvases.

We will be spending most of tomorrow putting it up. But come by to see them -- they make perfect travel projects. And you can have them done before the finishing deadline for this Christmas.

TNNA Show - The Best Thing

I did enjoy The National Needlearts Association Trade Show. On the last day, I revisited some of the booths to place orders, and to look again. At JP, Janelle showed me Julie's new idea -- a Toilet Tissue Holder. It was great. Unlike the ones done in plastic canvas 30 years ago, these are elegant. You can stitch it in cheetah, zebra, tiger or if you prefer - Fleur de Lis or Napoleonic Bees! In addition to the area around the toilet tissue, there is a top. The tiger one has a tiger face. What great fun! At the store we were thinking that it could also be used to put your jewelry in or on a man's bureau for his change.

To me it was the best thing at the market! I'm going to try to get a picture of the finished one. Of course, we hope to have one in the store bathroom soon!

Final Day of the National Needlearts Association Trade Show

I'm almost packed and ready to go back to the show for the last day.

Yesterday, I took a class on personalized plaids. What a great technique! It makes it so easy to personalize gifts. It wasn't that hard. We'll be setting up a class for the fall.

Today I had the opportunity to take a class on Turkey work. I learned several new ways to do. In addition, Amy Bunger showed us how to work the punchneedle vertically. It makes it so much easier.

My sister took two classes on bargello for me so with her notes, we'll be able to do it at the store.

I have ordered some great new ornaments from Ruth Schmuff. Amanda Lawford has a great NYC design that will be coming to Ridgewood Needlepoint soon. I've fallen in love with Charlie Harper's designs all over again -- but this time in needlepoint.

I ordered a silk thread for #13 count and the #24 Kreinik braid.

I can't wait to get back to the shop to show you all what I learned and to tell you what I saw.

The National Needlework Show

I spent the morning in a class with Amy Bunger on Padding. It was fantastic! As many of you know, I like adding dimension to the designs so I came away with even more ways to pad!

The rest of the day, I walked the show. There were so great designs. Barbara Elmore had added a new chandelier to her Mermaid Chandelier. It's for Halloween and is fantastic. I would say it's a must have for the Halloween obsessed.

Trubey has some great vertical city scenes-NYC, San Francisco, London and Washington, DC. I know some of you will want London while others will prefer NYC.

Danji is bringing out some designs that are line drawing done by Janice. Jill has updated the stitch guides to take advantage of today's threads.

Sharon G is displaying her designs based on Denise W's house in Italy. The canvases are lovely.

I loved Kelly Clark's dimensional baskets. Needlepoint Broad has some wonderful shorebirds including egrets, an osprey and an oystercatcher.

I've been intrigued by some new threads -- a silk thread for #13 count in 91 colors.

There is a new company that has licensed the letters of Greek societies. They have belts, bracelets and other designs. Since the societies and fraternities use the proceeds to fun their charities, purchasing these designs also benefits them.

I have found some new children's kits. In addition, Kreinik has directions for a glitzy friendhship bracelet..

I'll try to update tomorrow.

Sample It -TNNA

Tonight, there was an event called Sample It. It's an opportunity for the retailers to purchase some items that we can take home. I managed to get some readers in 4.0 and 4.5 magnification. I'm hoping to get some 5 magnifications, too.
In addition, I got some more micro mini stockings from Associated Talents (They are Suzanne's favorites.) I also bought 4 Christmas ornaments from Danji- two are mini-stockings and two are round ornaments. Finally, I got six wonderful canvases from Kelly Clark and belt buckles. So I managed to secure some great items to bring back.

Classes at The National Needlework Association

The show hasn't actually started yet. But I've spend the last two days in class. I spent a day with Kelly Clark, the designer of the fabulous Old World Santa. In fact, she has a whole series of canvases with interesting baskets. The class I took involved a different basket but used the same technique. It really gives the canvas a three dimensional look. The whole trick is getting the weaving down pat. After such struggling, I think I'm ready!

I also took a fabulous class with Amy Bunger of the Amy's Cookbook Series and the DVD's How'd You Do That? The class involved an adorable blue vase from Melissa Shirley. We embellished the canvas with various stitches/techniques that could be used for so many different applications! Amy is a fabulous teacher. I'm so fortunate that I am taking her for the next three days.

We also saw segments from her next DVD which incorporates many of these techniques.

I'm looking forward to finishing and teaching his piece. It was just fun!

Tomorrow the trade show opens.

Coat Ladies/City Snow

The Coat Ladies/City Snow met for the second time. The plaids are coming along and some stitchers were introduced to a laying tool. Once again, I love seeing the same canvas put together with different color selections.

This class will meet again on Sunday, September 21.

Think about taking this class in the fall. Nancy thinks its one of the most fun classes she's taken.

Classes -Rockefeller Center

Today, a small group of the Rockefeller Center group met. It was a good session. The most fantastic part was Gretchen's Chrysler Building. She totally ignored the way the building was painted and replicated the way the Chrysler Building looks. What a great job?

She also dealt very successfully with the orange star shaped area above the angels.

If you are interested in being in next group to tackle this wonderful stocking, please let us know. I have several people who are interested.

TNNA

The National Needlework Association's Trade Show starts officially on Saturday. I'm scheduled for classes starting on Thursday. I'm taking lots of classes -- dimensional stitching with Kelly Clark, Bargello with June McKnight, Classes with Amy Bunger.

I'm particularly psyched about the show since I missed January's. It's exciting to see what's new - canvases, accessories, threads etc.

I'll try to blog from the show floor again to let you know what I've seen.

So Little time and so much to stitch

I am in the midst of several project -- pretty normal for me. Unfortunately, a couple of them have due dates which means I really need to be stitching. Somehow, my other commitments don't seem to notice that I am already committed!

I am about half way through the Ridgewood Exclusive outfit for the Paper Doll Club. I think I even created a stitch accidentally. I'm hoping to finish this in the next two weeks.

I am also working on my assignments for my NAN Certification. I'm almost done with the paper work for the items that are due before June 15 and hope to get stitching soon.

finally, I really need to finish my Rockefeller Christmas Stocking. I have finished the moon and really need to start work on the toe!

Errors in Charge Processing Corrected

Today, I received a call from Maureen to ask if we had billed her twice on Saturday. I checked our retail system and our charges. We hadn't billed her twice.

But then we discovered that we received a double deposit for Saturday. So although we didn't duplicate bill anyone, it turns out that our credit card processing company did all the credit card batches twice! All duplicate charges should have been reversed by yesterday. If you used your credit card or debit card at Ridgewood Needlepoint on Saturday, May 10, you should see the original charge plus a duplicate. In addition, the second charge should be reversed. Please check your bill to make sure you received the credit.

I do apologize that this happened. Unfortunately, it happened to the entire system so thousands of transactions were processed twice.

Emails

Are you having trouble getting your emails to us? If so, please send the rejection notice to steve@fixmypc2.com. We are trying to resolve the problem but we do not understand why it is happening.

Finished Yarmulke

Karen finished this beautiful yarmulke for a friend. We were so pleased with the finishing. It seems to be so much more pliable than other finished ones. We also thought it was a beautiful design.

What to Stitch

Like most of you, I always have a group of projects. Of course, there are those that I am dying to stitch and those that I must stitch. Right now, my list of things that must be stitched is growing.

I have the Ridgewoood Needlepoint outfit to stitch. It would be fun and it's not that much work. I have to start my design that is part of the NAN Teacher Certification. And I need to finish the Old World Santa. Finally, I would really like to finish Bruce's Rockefeller Center Stocking.

Waiting in the wings, I have the Autumn Girl and a large Harlequin Great Dane. Not to mention all the canvases started but not completed that are in yellow bags throughout my house.

I am also about 5 hours from finishing my jean jacket. So I'm off to stitch and to plan.

Mother's Day

I hope all stitchers are having a relaxing Mother's Day -- filled with stitching.

New Canvases & Trunk Show in Time for Mother's Day

This has been an exciting couple of days. Our new trunk show arrived today. We don't have it up yet but we did check the items in. NM Arts has a lovely line with some wonderful folk art type canvases. There are wonderfully large scenes that look fabulous on a bench. (We know because some of our customers have stitched them in the past).

There are Christmas stockings and ornaments, too. I loved one stocking in particular. A little girl is looking up at a Christmas tree filled with angels.

In addition, we received canvas from Mary Ann Murphy from Pawley's Island. There is a wonderful canvas of three women fishing. Again, a primitive style that lends itself to needlepoint!

Tomorrow we are also getting in some additional scissors fobs. We received pretty frame weights and we also have quilted bags for your System 4 stands. So send your shoppers to us for your Mother's Day presents!

Mother's Day Gifts

We all know that on Mother's Days we sometimes receive at item we might never use. If the people in your life ask what you would like, you can request a gift certificate from Ridgewood Needlepoint. We have some other ideas.

We have great canvas bags that have a place to put a canvas. We have some wonderful books to add to your needlepoint library. I particularly like the Amy's Cookbook for Stitcher because you can purchase it by the chapter. It's the perfect suggestion for a child to give.
Another idea would be a scissors fob. We are expecting them in tomorrow. We are also getting some frame weights and some wonderful accessories just in time for Mother's Day gifts.