Hot Fix Swarovski Crystals

The latest thing to do with your needlepoint canvas is to attach Swarovski crystals that have heat-activated glue on the back on top of your stitching. This is done with a gadget similar to a hot glue gun. But different. Here are excellent pictures and instructions for attaching the crystals in general. I'll get to specifics for needlepoint in a minute.
http://www.hotfixcrystals.com/files/applicatorhowto.htm

There seem to be two types of hot fix "guns."
http://www.bullarddesigns.com/crystal_sets/lorna_det.htm

Here are tips for using both kinds of gadgets, again not specifically geared to needlepoint.
http://bcqonline.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=8&chapter=0

The Swarovski crystals come in various sizes. See chart here. There are a variety of colors also.
http://www.bullarddesigns.com/crystal_sets/crystal_catalog1.htm

Michele Herron of the Bristly Thistle has been experimenting with the crystals. You can read about her experiences on her blog. Check out the March 7th Kelly Clark basket canvas entry and the February 28th Melissa Shirley dress canvas entry.
http://bristlythistle.blogspot.com/

From Michele's experience it looks like the crystals which are 2 mm (6ss) cover approximately one thread intersection so they are similar to one tent stitch and the crystals which are 4 mm (16ss) cover approximately 4 tent stitches. Michele says you need a steady hand because it is easy to glue the smaller crystals to the wrong spot (although it seems you can reheat and move the crystals a small distance if necessary). Michele also says there is a bit of melting of her underlying Kreinik metallic thread as she set crystals on that background but she had no trouble gluing on top of silk threads. You might want to do some testing before you try this on an expensive stitched canvas, although she thinks that not pressing so hard helped keep this to a minimum and any melting didn't show up. Remember, her Kreinik background for the basket canvas is black, which probably also helped make a bit of heat melt inconspicuous. I would be very careful if my background was very light in color myself.

The first person I know of who used the hot fix crystals on her needlepoint was Ruth Schmuff. Here is her two sided Peppermint Santa, designed by Melissa Shirley.
http://www.tistheseason.org/blog/2009/01/santa-came.html

Ruth sells the Peppermint Santa canvas (both single and double sided versions) in her shop and sells a hot fix kit as well. I can't find the tool or crystal set on her website so I can't give you a price.
http://www.bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/products.php?catid=181&firstcid=3

If you are interested in hot fix crystals, I'd contact either Michele (here's the Bristly Thistle link)
http://www.bristlythistle.com/

or Ruth at their shops and see if you can buy a set and get personal tips for using the set on your canvas that really really needs Bling!

By the way, I can only vouch for Michele's and Ruth's online shops. I know nothing about the other links I put in this post. They were chosen for good information and photos, not because I know they are a good place to buy.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow