New beading tool from Elizabeth Turner

Love to bead, but hate having to wrangle with the slippery little escape artists?  I know I vacuum loads of beads and sequins from my sprawling workspace (I get the 1/2 of the couch that our dog Morgan doesn't claim).

ET has a new Needle Buddy--a small box with a (just right) tacky surface inside.  The box attaches to your canvas with a magnet, so it your beads are right where you need them.  I slipped one in my purse to use tonight--can't wait!

Christmas Ornaments from Alice Peterson

Here you can see the different tricks I tried to outline the decorations on this ornament.

The V-shaped design shows how a couched string of beads looks.  I liked it, but chasing all those beads around while I tried to string them and then couch them was irritating, to say the least.

The right top of the design below the V-shape shows the same gold beads tent-stitched.  They barely show up, so they were nixed.

At the top, I couched Kreinik Hot Wire on the anchor-shaped design.  This is what I ultimately used for the outlines on the entire ornament.  After a lot of practice, it wasn't even difficult!

Working on the stitch guide now - more to come ...

"Bling, Glitz & Glamour for Needlepoint"

I've been threatening for years to teach a class devoted to beading and embellishment.

I recently took the time to read my autographed copy of June McKnight's book about needlepoint bling.  And guess what?  June has already written the class for me.

The book has loads of color photos and diagrams,  cool stitches that incorporate beads, sequins, embellishments, rhinestones and more.  I learned more than a couple of new things, always good.  I definitely recommend this for stitchers who have or want to go beyond just needlepoint.

We have a few of these in stock now!

Ringmaster by Kirk & Hamilton

Our oldest daughter chose this Kirk & Hamilton ornament for her 2012 selection.  She asked to have it framed to hang in her home office.  Hmmm.

My favorite thing:  beading the ring with cube shaped Japanese seed beads.