Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Another Dog Find

Lewmew's question about blogs that feature dogs and dog canvases, led me to the A Dragon's Tale website where I found a page all about famous pets from the needlepoint world.
http://adragonstaleneedlepoint.blogspot.com/search/label/Needle%20Pets%20by%20Darcie

I'd totally forgotten their Spoiled Brats canvases, but....
http://adragonstaleneedlepoint.blogspot.com/search/label/Animals%3A%20Spoiled%20Brats

...their Victorian Pets series was new to me.
http://adragonstaleneedlepoint.blogspot.com/search/label/Victorian%20Pets

They do cats pretty well, too.  Check out the Canvas of the Day for a very bored cat and his/her glamorous owner!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Face and Hair Stitches

Sue has written a great article about stitching faces with tent stitches on her Sudukc blog.  She uses color to give her faces personality.  Make sure you click on the tiny thumbnail photos of each face.  Those marks you see are actually numbers so you can see exactly the examples she mentions in each section and understand what she did where and perhaps use these ideas on your own faces. The eye treatment of the geisha is particularly clever, but each face shows how you can mix tent stitches with the right color to get a wonderfully expressive face whether your face is realistic or more cartoonish.
http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/torin-ailfred-opatrick-and-faces/

If you find Toppy irresistible, here are more postings as he grows.
http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/with-a-sparkle-in-my-eye-and-a-smile-on-my-face/

http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/too-many-irons-and-toppy-too/

http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/my-plate-broke-but-i-am-back-toppy-too/

By coincidence, Janet Perry has a short article up about three ways to stitch hair. None is particularly difficult but they all give realistic hair effects.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/ideas-for-stitching-hair

Many thanks to both ladies for showing how simple stitches can breath life into a needlepoint face!


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com 
nd at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Roger

Roger



Because of yesterday's dog canvas posting, I got a wonderful email from Susan who stitched the above Ewe and Eye canvas (now distributed by Maggie) for her sister.  The canvas is named Roger.  Here's a nice big photo, followed by a link to the same canvas at a shop site.
http://www.eweandeyeandfriends.com/html/larger_view.php?currentPage=21&recordId=1128


He's a handsome guy and must have made her sister very happy!  Thanks for sharing, Susan, and helping with websites.  Folks who are curious about other canvases along the same lines can check out the other dog designs (plus many other animals) on the Ewe and Eye website.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Have You Pinned Yet? UPDATED

The latest Internet rage is Pinterest, a way to collect and "pin" images in collections.  Needlepoint.com has started a nice little collection here.  As far as I know, this is the only shop participating but I've heard of cross stitch designers and fellow stitchers who are doing so.  It's by invitation only right now, but the invites are there for the asking.
http://pinterest.com/needlepoint_com/

Thanks to Donna, I have a Pinterest page full of various versions of Stars for a New Millennium.  Thanks!
http://pinterest.com/brncgirl/stars-for-a-new-millenium/

If you want to see more Pinterest pages, try River Silks' pages.
http://www.riversilks.com/wordpress/?p=835


In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that a lot of folks object to Pinterest's changing links so that they make money off what you pin.  I know about this thanks to Julie at Shop Sampler. Follow her links if you want to learn more.
http://theshopsampler.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/pinterest-shining-some-light-on-possibly-shadey-practice/


Some users don't mind. Whether you do or don't, it would be nice if they disclosed this to users when they sign up.

UPDATE:  Here's what Sharon Boggins has to say about Pinterest.
http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2012/3/24/why-i-ask-people-not-to-pin-this-site-on-pinterest.html


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com