Christmas in July

First, here's Rosebuds and Hardanger - a Teenie Tweenie from The Sweetheart Tree before the hardanger part is complete. I actually kind of like it this way. Maybe with a large heart charm in the center. But this time I'll just finish up the hardanger.

Just a reminder that our Christmas in July sale begins tomorrow and continues through August 5. There will be more than 300 products on sale - a bunch of stuff that says 'Christmas' or looks like Christmas or just made me think of Christmas - or in some cases, just made me think of winter. Be sure to check it out.

And, of course, Harry Potter was great. I sure will miss the summer tradition of waiting for and then devouring a new Harry Potter book each year. Here's hoping that a new great tradition begins next year.

Summer Stitching

Its absolutely beautiful here - not too hot, not too rainy, pretty much just perfect. Of course, not much stitching going on because we're outside as much as possible.

Lots of new Halloween designs are coming out now. A few cute ones have been released from Glendon place already, as well as Xs and Ohs. Then comes a bit of Thanksgiving stitching followed by a whole lot of Christmas stitching and finishing. Of course, there were some really great Autumn and Halloween designs available before as well. I will be stitching some of the Britty Kitty autumn designs from Brittercup Designs.

So far I've finished one of the name trees from M Designs. I still have two to stitch and then I'll finish them as ornament/gift tags. I have stitched two of the Merry Moe and Flurry freebie series from Kreinik. I think I'll finish those into CD wallets - kind of in the style of Just Nan's Christmas Wallet.

Hopefully, this weekend will be a nice quiet one. I am (im)patiently awaiting the arrival of my Harry Potter book. I've planned for some quiet reading time for weeks - but the book isn't here yet - so now its stitching time. This weekend I should finish the Teenie Tweenie kit from Sweetheart Tree. Its been quick stitching and fun. Then I will work more on my Indian Summer Reflections from Chatelaine. I've been dying to get to those Gazebos - that's why I chose the design in the first place. Here's my progress so far on the second corner.

Have a great week. Just a note - our Christmas in July sale will be Christmas in July and August sale this year. It will start on July 28 and continue through August 4. 20% off anything to do with Christmas - and we use the term pretty loosely.:-)

Surprise! Sale!!

We've spent the last few weeks organizing, re-organizing (and in some cases disorganizing). Our alphabetizing and color sorting skills have been sharpened. And the great outcome of all this sorting and organizing is that we need to have a sale. A Big sale! A Surprise sale. Of course, since you're already reading this, it won't be a surprise to you.

The sale will last two days. On July 4 and July 5, all items will be 20% off with a few exceptions. Rainbow Gallery threads and fibers will be excluded from the sale. All limited edition items from Just Nan will be excluded. Other than those exceptions, everything storewide will be on sale. Please keep in mind that shipping orders may take slightly longer than usual due increased orders during the sale.

During breaks from organizing and little league games, I was able to start a new project. This is Rosebuds & Hardanger, a Teenie Kit from The Sweetheart Tree. So far, mine is rose vines and no hardanger. The design stitches up quickly and the kit included everything you need - Light Mocha Belfast linen, floss, DMC perle, Magnifica beads, crystal paillettes, needles and chart all packaged in a plastic box. A nice quick stitch design.

New Designs!

After an awfully long time, we're back to our blog. Due to a fractured wrist, there's been no stitching and very little typing for the last six weeks. But there's been all sorts of other activity.

We have new designs from Rosewood Manor. Inspiration is a beautiful sampler booklet. The booklet has 30 pages of detailed design.

The Berries is another popular sampler from Rosewood Manor as well as the series of 3 watercolor butterflies. Stop by and see all of our Rosewood Manor designs.

Starting this month, all orders will be entered into a monthly raffle for a prize pack. The prize pack will be different each month and the winner of each pack will be posted.

Spring projects

This is the week of the online Needlework Show. Be sure to visit! They've had a few bumps in the road this time, but everything seems to have been straightened out. Only retail shops may place orders at the show, but the general public is welcome to browse and we'll be happy to place orders for anything that strikes your fancy.

Mirabilia has a brand new mermaid - absolutely gorgeous! Mermaid of Atlantis. The official release date is May 1st, but you can preorder your chart now.

We only have a couple of Just Nan's Ladybug's Secret Garden left. Be sure to get your order in soon. I'm not sure when or if we'll be able to get more.
We are really happy to be carrying designs from Vintage Bliss Designs. Be sure to check them out!

Here's an update on my progress on Sunshine and Flowers from Cross n Patch. The stitch diagrams and instructions in Emie's designs are really excellent!

Emie Bishop has released the Christmas in My Heart series from the years 2002-2005. I'll be making these to use as gift tags for Christmas gifts.

It is finally Spring here. We can tell by the huge amount of rain we've been getting. So, it's also time to start thinking about Summer projects. Lots of new designs are coming out every week and we'll showcase some of the new Summer designs in the Summer section of our website. Be sure to stop by!

New items for April

Well, its raining and snowing here. While this isn't typical of April weather for us (at least the snow part), it does make for good stitching days.

We've added a number of great new items to the website.

Have you seen the designs from Ink Circles? This is Sea Stars from Ink Circles. Also see Garden Stars and Kaleidoscope.

More great news! We will be carrying the limited edition Just Nan WhimZi designs. We will only have a small number of these, so be sure to order early. The next one will be up this week. Spring Spell Limited Edition WhimZi is the first in the Spell Series. This one has flowers and a little bunny and baby chick and the WhimZi frame is lavender with a hand-painted Tulip charm.

We have also added Crescent Colours floss as well as the Color Variations from DMC. We will also be carrying rayon floss from DMC, Linen floss from DMC as well as Marlitt Rayon floss.

Be sure to stop by!

Come see one of the new Just Nans

Here is an adorable new piece from Just Nan, Lady Scarlet's Secret Garden. It is a small (3" across) enameled metal ladybug box that opens to reveal the needlebook that you stitch and a small pincushion as well. The kit includes everything except your DMC floss and a cotton ball. The finishing instructions for the needlebook and pincushion are very straightforward and easy to follow. This is a limited edition and we're not sure we'll be able to get more. We have a few now so be sure to order early.

Here are pictures with the box open and closed. Its hard to see, but the inside bottom of the box is also enameled red.

As I mentioned in a previous entry, we will be closed from April 1 to April 9. We will continue to process orders during this time, but we will not be shipping any orders. We do plan to add and update various pages on our site as well as launch a couple of sales. We will be adding the mesh vinyl bags that we have been using as part of our gift wrapping service so that they will be available for purchase on our site. We will also be adding more designers and more fabrics. Be sure to check in to keep up to date on the new events.

We would like to ask our customers what other products or designers they would like to see offered. Please email us or post a comment with additional items you would like to see us offer and we will be happy to consider your suggestions.

Its Snowing again!

It sure doesn't look like March. It was nearly 70 degrees two days ago - today we get a foot of snow. The poor robins were frantic this morning before the snow began to fall. Hopefully, it will warm up next week and all melt quickly.

Just a little heads up - we will be closed for the first week of April - until April 9. We will still accept orders during this time and we will do our best to answer emails, but we will not be shipping. The website should be up during the day. During the night magical things should happen (we hope).

Here's my snow day project - slower going than I expected. Probably won't be done for St. Patrick's Day - but one can always use a bookmark I suppose. This is one of Teresa Wentzler's Knotwork Bookmarks.

Weekend Stitching

Just a quick update on Indian Summer Reflections - I survived the Marlitt and now I can move on to some silks. It should be a great stitching weekend.

Even better, its finally warming up (it is March after all) and hopefully we'll be able to see some signs of Spring next week. Since January was so warm, the robins have been back for weeks. Also, many of the daffodils starting coming up back in January and then it got cold - last week was brutally cold. I hope the flowers survive.

Have a great weekend!

New Mirabilias and Weeks Dye Works

The new Mirabilia Designs have arrived here. As usual, the actual pics on the envelopes look so much better than the scans that show up on the website - and, I am quite sure, that the true stitched pieces are even far better still. The Crystal Symphony design is especially breathtaking - a beautiful woman and lots of dripping beads. I will have to get started stitching this one right away (so much for New Year's resolutions). The Fern and Ivy patterns have also arrived and they look really cute. These are smaller designs - to give you a greater sense of accomplishment in a shorter time - and they are just the beginning of a new series from Nora. Be sure to check out Crystal Symphony and the new Fern and Ivy designs on our site.

We have also added Weeks Dye Works floss to the site. These beautiful threads are used in so many designs - Brittercup Designs, Glendon Place, Lynne Nicoletti, Raise the Roof and so many more. Be sure to check them out - Weeks Dye Works.

Here's a new project that I started over the weekend. This is one of Emie Bishop's designs - Sunshine and Flowers. I really like how quickly this stitching up.

Swarovski crystal beads

We continue to add new products every day - so be sure to keep an eye out for new goodies. Along with a bunch of new releases from Nashville, we're thrilled to be adding Swarovski crystal beads. These are real Austrian crystal and they come in an array of colors and finishes. So far, we won't require any minimum order on these, but please be aware that orders that include crystal beads may take a little longer to ship as we build our stock of these. The first colors that will go up on the site will be those that are called for by the designs that we sell (primarily Chatelaine Designs). Then we will continue with other colors.

Once we have added the Swarovski beads, we will begin adding Delica beads to the site as well. Once again, we will focus on carrying beads that are required for designs that we carry.

Stay tuned for more exciting additions!

A Framing Story and How this all began

I have a sad story - (with a lesson)

Years ago, I went on my first business trip/vacation. It was in September, only weeks after Hurricane Andrew had torn through southern Florida - and my company was sending me to....Miami Beach. Living in New England, a trip to Florida seemed great - except for the fact that the Hurricane devastation was amazing.

Anyway, I was feeling not-quite-right when I got on the plane and by the time arrived I was feeling quite miserable. A couple of phone calls later I found out that a number of my friends at home had the mumps - and since I really couldn't turn my head and had a nice fever, it seemed that I had the same thing. Anyway, business meetings were out of the question and due to the desctruction in the area, it was hard to even find a pharmacy that was open. I wanted to pretty much stay away from everyone so I wouldn't give the mumps to anyone else - it was shaping up to be a pretty bleak week.

A couple days into the week, the hotel maid noticed my misery and suggested some sun and a book and maybe a hobby - she asked what kind of quiet activities I enjoyed and she suggested knitting and said she'd be back later with a project to occupy my week. Hours later she returned and informed me that, unfortunately, her favorite yarn shop had been badly damaged in the storm. But, the good news was, she found another project that I might enjoy. She handed me a bag with a piece of fabric, an embroidery hoop, a jumble of threads and a pattern with a beautiful picture on the front and heiroglyphics on the back.

The next afternoon, Elsie (the maid and my new friend) returned to show me how to decipher the pattern and how to start my new hobby. The pattern was for Gift of Peace from Lavender & Lace and that was the beginning of my love for cross stitch.

It took me a year or so, but I finally finished my stitching and I searched for a needlework shop near my home to have my Santa framed. It was tough to find a needlework shop that also did framing, but I persevered and found one. I picked out a nice oval frame and the framer went to work. That was more than 10 years ago.

I recently learned that Elsie, my friend in Miami, passed away after a battle with cancer. This Christmas when I put my Santa in a more prominent place for the season, I took a close look at my piece and remembered how kind this woman was. Just think - her home and all around it had been nearly destroyed, here was this kid with the mumps (quite contagious mumps) moping around a hotel in the middle of all of this destruction, and she came to help me. While she said it helped her to keep busy and to sit and stitch peacefully with other people, and if she wasn't stitching with me, she would be stitching by herself at home until her extended family could come help her with repairs to her house. I'm sure she never expected me to fall in love with stitching and to some day open my own shop.

So - to the framing part. While looking at my Gift of Peace this Christmas, I noticed that the fabric had loosened - quite a bit. Hmmm. That can't be good.

So I brought it to a needlework shop that I've found since beginning my hobby to have it re-framed. OK - here's the tough part - Imagine my horror when the framer called to say that she had really bad news. It seems that the original framer had - get this - cut the linen so she could fit it flat in the oval frame. She didn't trim the edges which would have been bad enough - she "clipped" the fabric - just like you would if you were sewing a curved seam in clothing. I cried. I cried a lot. It was so bad that we couldn't even figure out how to reframe it the way it was originally. The framer had used tape - so when it was removed the fabric really frayed at each of the notches that were cut in the fabric.

OK - I have cried about this for about a week. At this point, I think I will sew strips of fabric to the "sides" and finish the piece as a pillow. The lesson here is to be sure to know your framer. The framers I have used in the last ten years have been wonderful. They lace my needlework. The mounting is always perfect. They will even clean my pieces if I haven't gotten them just perfect. After all the hours that go into stitching your piece, you want to be sure that it will be handled correctly in the finishing process. Finishing is an art and and a skill. Its perfectly reasonable to ask to see samples of a finisher's work before handing over your stitchery. Different framers and finishers will do things differently - you just want to be sure that whatever is done to your piece will not compromise its strength and beauty.

Xs and Ohs and new shipping

Xs and Ohs Designs are currently being added to our site. These designs include a wide array of subjects - lots of dragons and fairies. Here is the Blue Mermaid - one of a few fantastic mermaid designs from Xs and Ohs. Quite a few great children's designs as well. Be sure to stop by Needlearts Gallery to see them.

Also, we have adjusted our shipping charges. Standard shipping on purchases (within the U.S.) will be free for orders over $50.00. We generally ship via Priority Mail and will continue to do so unless it just doesn't make sense.

As for stitching - just about finished with that Marlitt on Indian Summer Reflections from Chatelaine. Can't wait to start the silks!

Lugana available and stitching through dinner

25 count and 28 count Lugana are available on our website today - Including the Vintage Country colors Cream and Mocha. We sell fabric by the half-width - which means half the width of the fabric as it comes off the bolt. Generally linen, lugana, jobelan and many others are available 27" wide. If you need a piece that is wider than 27", we'll do what we can to accomodate your LARGE project. Just drop us an email.

This week we will also be adding Chatelaine Designs to the website. Martina Weber designs absolutely beautiful, detailed designs using a great variety of fibers, beads and stitches.

I am currently working on Indian Summer Reflections designed by Martina of Chatelaine Designs. The colors are fantastic and the detail is incredible - all the way down to a tiny spider on a web. Right now I am working through part 4. There is a serious amount of Marlitt involved here as well as some Petite braid and silk. So, kind of like eating your veggies first and leaving the best part for last, I have decided to tough it out through all of the Marlitt (the veggies), then on to the Petite braid (the meat) and save the silk for last (dessert!). But I really do love this design! Stay tuned for pics and stop by the shop - Needlearts Gallery

Spring is coming!

Well, it IS the middle/end of January, so I suppose it should be cold. But the temp was still a bit shocking this morning - just below zero. Just a couple of weeks ago it was 70 degrees. So, given how cold it is today, adding some new Spring and Easter releases to the website felt even better than usual.

Glendon Place has release a series of Egg designs - Glendon Place designs. These are really cute. Also, we really like the recommended fabric for these - Vintage Country Cashel linens. We have also finally been able to add all of the Cashel linen colors to the website - check them out - including the Vintage Country colors.

For those of you stitch faster than I do (that would be lots and lots of people) there are some great winter WhimZi designs from Just Nan and some great winter themed WhimZi frames - a Pearl Frame with a snowflake and two Navy frames - one with mittens and one with a snowman. Nan has also released a Snow Bonnets design, a cute companion to Snow Faces - all little snowmen and snowwomen.

We are still doing our best to get our products up on the site as fast as possible. With Nashville coming up quickly, there will be a huge flurry or new releases in the next weeks so we're trying to get as caught up as humanly possible before then. We still have nearly all of the designs that we had on our old site so please feel free to email or call with any requests that you have that haven't made it back to the site.

Hopefully, I'll be able to post some stitching progress pics next time.

Little Happy Dance

After my frustration with snow-stitching, I decided to do a nice small project. I needed a sense of accomplishment. This is from Victoria Sampler's Beyond Cross Stitch collection and is Level Six #9 Spider Web Flower - Thistles. It was a real quick and easy stitch. I will save all of the diagrams and instructions from this kit because they were really great instructions - they go into my reference notebook for the future. I didn't love the colors shown on the cover of the kit, but, as it turns out, the colors in the kit are purple/lavender and green, not pink and green as shown on the cover.
Not sure how I'm going to finish this. Maybe a nice card. Maybe not.


I think I need a "finishing week"!

To celebrate this little piece, all Victoria Sampler Beyond Cross Stitch kits (and maybe a few others) will be on sale from 1/21/07 to 1/28/07. Also, there are a few more spots left in our "$10 coupon to the first 25 customers to register" promotion (you can see that in a previous post).



Happy Winter!

Stitching Snow on a White Background

Ya know - Its hard to feel a sense of accomplishment when stitching snow on a white background. After a couple more hours of stitching on Giggles in the Snow - its hard to see any difference at all. Very frustrating.

And - it finally snowed. So much for finishing before the snow fell. Of course, its the middle of January - there should be FEET of snow on the ground. Instead, the daffodils are a couple of inches tall and there are still BUGS around. Hmmmm. This can't be good.

I think I'm totally justified in moving on to another piece for a while. Don't you?

Merry Christmas to Me - Yazzii Organizer

Merry Christmas to Me! I got a Yazzii Carry-All Organizer for Christmas and I've finally had a chance to really play with it. The bag is 5" deep when it is laying down and it zips closed from both sides. There are two "pages" inside and each page has zippered plastic or vinyl pockets of differing sizes on each side of the page. Some pockets are just the right size for small scissors, my Tacky Bob, a pin keep, a needlebook, spools of metallic thread, cards of specialty threads, packs of beads and more. Then the top of the case has a large zippered pocket - large enough to hold charts or magazines and more. The whole case is deep enough to hold a small set of Q Snaps too!

I need organizers like this all over my house!

(Updated with a picture of my organizer - I still haven't filled all of the pockets!)

Here's the picture from Yazzii of their Carry-All (they also make a few others). I'll post a pic of my fully loaded Carry-All in the next couple days.

This almost makes up for not getting Chatelaine's Persian Iris Garden for Christmas (but Valentine's Day is coming!)

Some Christmas stitching done and new products added

In keeping with my New Year's Stitching resolutions (it is still January after all) I have finished one piece of Christmas stitching. This is the 'Chris' tree ornament from M Designs. If you turn the ornament on its side, you can see that each side of the tree is made of the name 'Chris'. I stitched my ornament on a Silkweaver solo with Caron Waterlilies.

Mary McLenon (such a sweetheart) of M Designs designs these. You can go to her website and request specific names and she will send you the chart for your name ornament. She also has designed and released a number of word trees to shops such as 'Peace', 'Joy', and 'Love'. Of course, she also has many other beautiful designs. For the next 10 days, M Designs charts will be on sale through our website, NeedleartsGallery.com. Visit us soon for 15% off M Designs charts. Many of her designs are already up on the site and we'll be adding more each day.

Since the winter has been (and still is) so warm, I still have a chance of finishing Mirabilia's Giggles in the Snow before the snow flies. That will be my next focus followed by one of the new Just Nan designs.

Its a New Year!

Happy New Year! Time for new beginnings, resolutions and a whole basket of new projects!
Our new website is finally up and running - come visit us Needlearts Gallery - We will send a $10 coupon to the first 25 customers who register on our new site.

We have already added a pretty good selection of supplies and tools and we will continue to add designs daily over the next few months. Of course, we will add new designs as they are released!

As usual, the holidays were hectic but fun. And, as usual, I couldn't accomplish half of what I had hoped to accomplish. But I did finish knitting a nice mohair wrap for my mother just in time for Christmas (the afternoon of Christmas Eve).

My stitching resolutions for this year are:

1. 1. Alternate Christmas stitching with non-Christmas stitching throughout the year
2. 2. Expand my stitching horizons - no new Mirabilia's until I complete a piece by a new-to-me designer
3. Try three new finishing techniques
4. Organize that stash!

Here's wishing everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!