Mon travail est complet!

Well, it took a little longer than expected but the 4th of July is done!  And, so is the stitch guide.

Firecrackers from Kelly Clark

I'm having a blast stitching these firecrackers from Kelly Clark. I'm going to add Swarovski sew-on rhinestones to the red section. I've stitched over the outer edges of the circles--this way I can tell where to sew the rhinestones without having any canvas show.

Corn snake & skull witch hat

I've almost finished the Kelly Clark witches' hat series. I used the stitch guide as a jumping off point and then went my way.

I experimented with the 2 small skulls on the brim, beading them primarily with clear size 14 beads and Kreinik #4 glow in the dark braid. The effect was okay, but not great.

Effect I loved from the guide: French knots stitched with Boucle'. This would be great for trees, shrubs, moss, hair and more.

Effect I hated: French knots stitched with Boucle'. Lots and lots of knots and bad words, oh my!

October Heritage Ornament from Kelly Clark

Here's number 10 in Kelly Clark's heritage ornament series. I replaced the beads with Swarowski crystals for more bling.

I've enjoyed this respite from creating my own stitch guides, but I am itching to see what's new at market and see where the artists' visions can take my needle.  Tune in next week for news from Phoenix!

May heritage ornament by Kelly Clark

This is the May Heritage ornament from Kelly Clark--it's for my husband and self-proclaimed web lackey Chris. I'm trying to decide what to have monogrammed on the back to make it really special. At the rate I am finishing these, I'm going to need another tree next year.

Happy New Year!

March heritage ornament by Kelly Clark

I'm stitching these gorgeous ornaments by Kelly Clark at a rapid clip. I love the stitch guides, but I have added my own twist to them. Instead of using beads, I am adding Swarowski crystals in the appropriate gemstone color to each canvas. Bling!

Happy Holidays!

Third Witch Hat

My new ghost magnet is celebrating the finish of my 3rd Kelly Clark witch hat.  I am using the stitch guide that is available for the hats, with a few twists of my own.

For the background, I used 2 strands of Splendor and 2 strands of Accentuate for a brick stitch on the hat and skip tent on the brim.  My favorite thing: using beading thread from The Collection to couch the Kreinik Hot Wire and braid.  Whether I pierced the couched thread or looped over it, you can't see the couching stitches.

Tip:  Place the crystals for the spider bodies (I used hot fix Swarovski crystals) before you bead the legs.  (Do as I say, not as I did.)

Kelly Clark witch hats

We have Kelly Clark's trunk show in the shop and I am treating myself to the six witches' hats and the stitch guide created for them. I have started with the Pumpkin hat, adding a few of my touches to the piece. I am adding the large flat beads to the hat brim, as suggested in the guide. Because the stitch is a full coverage stitch, I am leaving the center stitch open to allow me to place the beads properly. I had a great time looking for beads and such on the Fusion Beads website (www.fusionbeads.com). They lured me in with a 20% off weekend sale and I stocked up on all things that glitter, especially in Halloween and Christmas colors. And the stash just continues to grow....

Christmas March Epilogue

Earlier I tried to add the final touch to the Christmas March by using hot fix Swarowski crystals for the stars. Trying to get those small (2mm) critters to work with the recommended tip did not work at all. The crystals kept getting jammed into the tip and the round end of the hot tip left a circular dent in the threads. After more than a few choice words, I gave up and added beads as the final idea in my stitch guide.

And yet I couldn’t bring myself to bead the stars on my canvas. After some time, I decided to try the crystals one more time.

The solution was to use the spatula-shaped tip and the index finger from my left hand. After heating the tip, I used my small tip tweezers to place the tiny crystal in place. With the hot tip pressing down on the crystal from the top, I used my left index finger to push up from below. This kept the tip from leaving an imprint because my finger made the crystal the highest point on the canvas. I held the hot tip down until I felt the heat on my skin. Another hint: once the glue has started to melt, pick up the tip to make sure placement is perfect. If not, use the tweezers to move it to the right spot and then press down until you can feel the heat.

And the stars sparkled in the night sky….