Putting the Wise Men's Camels Together

Remember the Three Wise Men's Camels mini-stocking I finished last winter? (If you are at the Yahoo 360 blog, you can click on Wise Men's Camel Stocking in the right hand column to see a photo of the finished canvas.) I'm starting to assemble it into an ornament. I am using--for the first time--foam core for the middle part, sandwiched between the canvas and a nice piece of tan felt Abby Cat sent me from New Zealand a few years ago. I am not going to include any padding in the middle of the sandwich, just the foam core. If you haven't seen foam core before, it resembles two sheets of heavy, slick paper with a middle of foam. It's used in framing and is light weight and strong. You can buy it in acid-free for framing and it comes in various thicknesses. You can buy a big sheet or remnants and have to cut it to size. I trimmed my little 6x6 square remnant with an exacto knife, and never got it really rounded but I think it will be ok.

The photo above shows the felt laid out with the foam core on top. MAKE SURE that you know which side of the foam core will be facing your NP so you orient the fabic the right way before cutting. I wrote B for back on the correct side that will be the back before I cut my felt. The next step is to fold the margins over, roughly tack them into position by sewing them, and then put dots of glue under the felt to attach it in several places to the foam core middle.

Then I will turn under the edges of my NP canvas and trim them to about 3/8 inch, then start hand sewing the NP to the foam core & felt back. After that I'll need to add trim to hide the seam. Wish me luck!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Fur and Flowers and Amy

Amy Bunger's website has information on the two newest DVDs she has released. One is about stitching flowers and the other is about stitching fur. You can read about them (and about the earlier DVDs in the series) here.

http://www.amybunger.com/whatsnew.html

After you drool to your heart's content, click on the E-Newsletters link on the left side of the page and have fun reading the May and June 2008 newsletters. They are full of information about what is new in her shop, profiles of canvases she likes, and information about new threads. You also can see Tony Minieri's new fish canvases (complete with stitch guide) which have just been released.

What fun!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Who Are We and Other Topics UPDATED

UPDATE: When I emailed The Needlepointer to let them know I'd grabbed a photo from their newsletter to illustrate my blurb about their calendar frame, I got a nice note from Donnelle in their shop. She says:

"A little info on the calendar bar. We had it especially made for this monthly project here locally. The calendar bars fit in back of the upper white part. Then there are two hooks at the bottom of the
white frame that you hang a calendar on. It is not completely wood all the way down to the bottom of the calendar. These calendar bars can be purchased through us all at one time and threads for them at a

discounted price. Email shop@theneedlepointer for more information." Thanks for the further information, Donnelle, and thanks for permission to use your photograph.

*************************

I subscribe to the "Got Needlepoint?" newsletter the Needlepoint For Fun folks put out to promote the items they distribute. I particularly enjoyed May 9's issue #22 which reveals some TNNA survey results about needleworkers of all kinds. You can read that there are 71,000 folks in the United States who say NP is their favorite needle art and much more at the following link. You can also sign up for the newsletter there. Didn't know there were 70,998 other folks just like you and me, did you?

http://www.needlepoint-for-fun.com/Got_Needlepoint-backissues.html

The Needlepointer has sent out a newsletter with a photo of their new calender frame that goes with their calendar bar monthly club. Basically you insert a wall calender into the frame and then add your rectangular bar canvas for the month once you stitch it. This is totally different and an interesting new use of NP. The canvases are from Artist Collection/Heartstrings. The image you see above is the calendar frame. You can see the canvases that go with it and sign up for the club here.

http://www.theneedlepointer.com/needlepoint-clubs_CalendarBars.htm

While you are visiting The Needlepointer, you might want to check out their other clubs. This is the main club page. Email them for details about any club that catches your eye.

http://www.theneedlepointer.com/needlepoint-clubs.htm

Are you a fan of dede Odgen's designs? Needle Artworks has new treats from dede up on their website. Check out the elephant, or the Christmas Party Cat, or Mr. Duck in his sweater; I believe the seasonal suns are new, and the patriotic woman in her sunglasses is new to me as well. The little strawberries apparently come in two sizes, if you want something quick and colorful to stitch. Read about any canvas that catches your eye. Some are for beginners and come with an instructional booklet. There are new threads, too. I'm intriqued by Firefly and Miracle Bells myself! Sadly, there are no descriptions beyond colors so I'll just dream about what such threads might be. Anyone with information, email me, ok?

http://www.needleartworks.com/dsgnr/deo/deoimages.htm

http://www.needleartworks.com/thread/cmpnylist.htm

Silver Needle is running specials on overstocked items. You'll be interested in Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson's little "Stitches to Go" book that is small enough to go in a purse (especially the huge tote bag pocketbook I carry) and has nothing but diagrams of stitches from their Stitches for Effects books. No explanations, no tips on threads, just diagrams. Regular price is $26.95 but if you email or call Silver Needle and mention you heard this was on sale in their shop email newsletter, the sale price is $13.48. The sale price will last for 2-3 weeks or until they run out of copies. So if you are interested, move fast and don't forget to mention that you heard about the price in the e-newsletter.

http://www.thesilverneedle.net/books.php?Reloaded=True&osCsid=64ade2bf3e6d8a88ee2d0dcc4b43fabf#stitchestogo

I think that's enough to keep at least a few of us needlepoint obsessed busy for a while.

Hugs to all 70,999 of you from your Master Enabler!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Lee's Newest Leather Goods

I discovered through the Bristley Thistle's store blog that Lee has a new leather item, a CD or DVD case. You can see photos here (they come in colored leathers) and read more about them in these links. Note that the free monogram offer isn't likely to last long.

http://www.bristlythistle.com/lee42.html

http://bristlythistle.wordpress.com/2008/06/16/needlepoint-cd-dvd-case-by-lee/

Interesting, aren't they?

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Playing with Colors

Gay Ann Rogers' mystery piece called Mystery in a Corner is stimulating a lot of discussion about color. Visit her blog and scroll through all the thread packets to see a variety of choices for the design,


http://gayannrogers.blogspot.com/2008/06/mystery-in-corner-great-commentary-on.html


then visit Pierette's blog to read through all her color commentary. Remember, start at the bottom of the page and read up.


http://www.lovetostitch99.blogspot.com/


You can read more color commentary on Jeanne's blog, although it isn't as extensive.


http://juststring.blogspot.com/2008/05/more-purple-please.html


Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.



Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow