Beading Variety for Needlepoint (with Crocodile)

Yesterday I stumbled across two new sources of beads, mostly semi-precious stone beads and mother of pearl shapes, but including the crocodile bead mentioned in the title of this Blog entry. (Click on Miscellaneous, then choose Semi-Precious Beads.)
http://www.accesscommodities.com/products

Here's the second place, Beadcats.  The styles and types and sizes of beads available from all over the Internet is mind-boggling!
http://www.beadcats.com/catalog/seed/beadcard.htm

So are the ways you can use beads on your canvas.  Don Lynch of Associated Talents has invented a way to make your beads look like basketweave.  Look carefully at the pink and red hearts on top of the two heart ornaments here.  These are two of Don's canvases using this technique.
http://stitcherie.ning.com/photo/athe-801-807-809?context=user

Beaded Bird from Leigh Ladies of the Night:  Luna

You can use brick stitch to bead areas.  Here's Luna's bird, totally beaded this way in two colors of beads.  If you are using multiple colors, use the same size and style (round, hex, cylinder shaped, etc.) beads for all the colors.
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2011/03/other-bird.html

Robin King has a great tutorial on beaded brick stitch at the Needlepoint Study Hall website.  This is exactly how I did my bird in the link above.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2010/04/beading-pumpkin-balloon.html

If you just need a bead here or there, use the lasso technique. Needlepoint Now has a nice video that illustrates this technique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq3G6YKTyMU

If you want to use beads for features, such as a cat's eyes and mouth, Robin has illustrated how to use cross stitches to make your beads line up in straight lines.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2010/01/bead-lesson-with-geography.html

If you need dimension in your beading, try Julia Snyder's messy beading technique. Essentially, you string a series of beads on your thread, then go down into your canvas leaving them as a loop of beads on top.  The link below shows messy beading, with a lot of beads in a row instead of a loop.  Use the last bead as a stop and go down through the row with your needle again.\ to the back.  The stop bead on the end will hold the row.
http://theneedlebug.com/2011/10/seemed-kinda-crazy/

Beaded Pumpkin from Leigh's Smilin' Jack Fash Insert

Sundance Needlepoint has pioneered using beads for the tent stitches in a complex stitch.  If you look at the pumpkin on my Smilin' Jack piece, it is stitched in Serendipity Stitch with beads taking the place of the tent stitches in that compound stitch.
http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/2011/08/smilin-jack-stitch-guide-available.html  

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

Thirty Years Today UPDATED

Needle Nicely in Vero Beach, Florida has been open thirty years! HURRAH!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!


To celebrate, everything in the shop is 25 percent off from October 17-22.  With the charges that credit cards put on shop owners, that will work out to over 30 percent off.  Isn't that more fun that eating cake?  Ok, maybe not if there's ice cream, too, but it is still a lovely way to celebrate a shop that has endured and inspired stitchers for so long.
http://needlenicely.blogspot.com/2011/10/30th-anniversary-sale.html

UPDATE:  Mary Agnes reflects on what she would like her shop to be most remembered for:  the use of color.
http://needlenicely.blogspot.com/2011/10/businessdesign-philosophy-i.html


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

WHAT THE HECK!?!?!

"Needlepoint string"? 
http://www.bhg.com/christmas/gifts/holiday-food-gifts-recipes-tins/#page=14 

Looks like it's not just math, grammar, science and logic our students aren't learning.

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

Cat Topiary Garden: Bricks and Mortar

Progress on dede Odgen's Cat Topiary Garden

I've been working various areas of the cat topiary garden, putting off going back to the topiaries for now since they are wearing on my nerves. (The next time I decide to stitch a piece this large with this much similar background, someone please shoot me.)  The first thing I did after I finished stitching the sleeping cat was to stitch the yellow mortar lines in the brick border. I used a slightly tan thread (Impressions 1115) instead of the bright yellow that is painted since I don't particularly like the yellow color. That took several nights to stitch all around the border. After that, I returned to the cat and stitched the dark brick the cat sleeps on using plain old mosaic stitch and one ply of Gloriana's Lorikeet wool.  Here's mosaic stitch--
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/1999/99-01.php

The next link shows all the colors of Lorikeet.  It's a 9 ply wool that is quite fine--it'll work on congress cloth or 13 count, depending on the number of plies you use. One ply doesn't quite cover but since the color I am using (Rosewood Dark) is a close match to the painted area, I don't need to  completely cover the canvas.
http://www.glorianathreads.com/Lorikeet.html

I've started working on the bricks in the border using two plies of the same Rosewood Dark Lorikeet.  As you can see, I'm filling each rectangle with satin stitches on the diagonal.  I will probably do all the dark brown bricks, then turn my attention to the blue cache pots on either side of the cat.  After that, it's back to the topiaries for poor me!

Tomorrow I'll change the header photo to show the latest progress on cat topiary garden but today you can compare the photo at the top of this Blog entry with the header to see how much (or little) I've accomplished since the last update.


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

Perfect Skin Colors for the Non-Caucasian Figure

Not every face on a needlepoint canvas belongs to a blue-eyed blonde. Marilyn Leavitt- Imblum is a cross stitch designer who has long listed alternative flesh tones for her designs on her website.  These colors (all DMC cotton floss) are very helpful for someone trying to pick reasonably realistic tones for a face that isn't Caucasian.  You can take a list of these to your local shop, pull out the DMC threads, then match their color to other brands if you want silk, a silk-wool blend, nylon threads, etc.
http://www.tiag.com/background/altcolor.html

Another tip I've heard recently is about geisha hair.  Anne Stradal of ABS Designs told me she loves the blue-black shade of Silk and Ivory called "Midnight" for the stylized hairstyles these Japanese ladies wear.

Hopefully these tips will help someone stitch a face that pleases them.


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