Shops Do Stash for Cash

The announcement of an entire Kelly Clark/Amy Bunger Halloweenies set for sale brought me a message from Beth at Beth's Needlepoint Nook in Kentucky. Beth tells me her shop offers a Stash for Cash program for folks who want to send excess stash items off to a new home.  She describes how it works thusly,  "My shop has been helping customers with that issue for the past year. We list items on ebay for people. The canvas owner receives 60% of the sale value in cash or 80% in store credit. We have sold over 650 items so far including new canvases, partially stitched canvases, new fibers, partially used skeins of fiber, findings, books, tools, etc.  The program has been successful in that my customers are happy and they love the 80% store credit. One customer has received over $2000 in store credit from ebay sales. If you think that this would be of interest to your blog followers, feel free to post this information. Further details can be found on the home page of my website."
http://www.bethsneedlepoint.com/

Fireside Stitchery also has a very similar program for their customers.  Here's the description of how it works on their website.
http://www.firesidestitchery.com/FS/ebay/index.cfm

It is lovely of shops to sell items for folks who are unwilling to master eBay to sell excess items themselves.  I don't have any personal knowledge of how well this works, but anyone who has been thinking they need to get rid of things should talk to their local shop to make sure they don't have such a program.  If not, either Beth's Needlepoint Nook or Fireside Stitchery would love to talk to you.

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

The Cat Topiary Garden Reappears

dede Odgen's Cat Topiary Garden

I'm sure at least some of you noticed that the cat topiary garden piece I was stitching for my mother's birthday has reappeared. I ran out of time to get it done and made up so I worked on the pink geisha Miko instead. Cat topiary garden will now be a Christmas present, which means I'm working it each night, trying to get more finished on this fairly large piece (eleven inches wide by thirteen inches high on 18 count NP canvas).

In the header photo the cat is almost finished but the dark gray shading is just too dark.  I pulled all that out and replaced it with a lighter gray thread.  Sometimes what looks good at night when I do most of my stitching doesn't look good the next morning, which was the case here.

The cat is done in needle painting, which is basically a random long and short stitch with outlines in stem and outline stitch.  The eyelids are tent stitches.  I used two shades of orange Impressions, a cream from Vineyard Silk Classic, and gray Medici wool.  Basically, I found similar diameter threads in the right colors from my stash and stitched away!

I plan to go back to the topiaries but I needed a break from them.  There are a lot of topiaries in the background and stitching them is tedious work, so I hope to alternate finishing them with other parts of the canvas.  Stay tuned!

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

Interview (Glasses Case Included)

Trish Burr features an interview with Gay Booysen, a fellow South African counted canvasworker on her blog this morning. It's a fun read and a rare glimpse of African needlepoint. Instructions on finishing a glasses case are included in two links. Note the stacked beaded edge instructions in the first link. That would make a lovely finishing touch for any project!  It's great fun to look at photos of Gay's work.  The beaded strap on her glasses case is gorgeous.
http://trishburr.com/2011/09/28/local-talent/


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