What a difference a color makes

Wow, what a difference. This summer a group of us stitched Melissa Shirley's Mellow Yellow canvas as the very first Mystery Class at Bedecked and Beadazzled.

It was so much fun, and I love my finished purse.



But wow, what a difference a color change can make! A friend of mine stitched the background of hers in black. That was the only color change. We did a different stitch in the background to cover the pink paint more thoroughly, but that's it. Everything else is exactly the same. It is stunning!

She's seeing it here first as she was gracious enough to let me photograph and post before she picks it up. Thanks Sue!



It's simply appliqued to an LL Bean tote bag. Finishing is simple and affordable but with really big gorgeous results. Of course the stitching is lovely too.

Thanks for letting me share this.

What a class

Today was the first day of our Melissa Shirley Mystery Class. I think I surprised a few people with the choices I made for how to stitch this canvas.

Here's the canvas before we began embellishing it.



And here it is after lesson #1's stitching is complete.



I hope you can see the subtle details, because it is really cool. Ultimately, I want this heart to be rich and dramatic —— a sparkling jewel of golds and roses.

We began by attaching sequins in the background of the design area. The only challenge here is that we are using invisible thread and invisible thread really is invisible.

Now for the fun part. Thanks to taking a class with Caela Conn Tyler last October I have been introduced to the magic of tulle. Tulle is bridal veiling and comes in multitudes of colors. Lay the tulle on top of your canvas and you can oh so subtly change the color of the design. I wanted to warm up the canvas colors on this piece.

You need to tack the tulle in place. We learned that the tulle stretches in one direction more than the other so tacking the tulle loosely on all 4 sides is a must.

Once the tulle is in place we worked an open stitch over the entire background using Sparkle Braid in the gold/pink/green/blue mix. This gives everything an elegant richness that is way too cool.

Here's a closeup of one corner of the background with stitching and tulle in place.



Working through tulle has pluses and minuses.
A. It is really, really pretty.
B. You can not use a laying tool when stitching on tulle, you will snag it so choose your threads and stitches accordingly.
C. If you make a mistake while stitching, you can not back your stitches out. You have to unthread the needle and one by one take your stitches out.
D. The color tulle you choose to put on top of your canvas is not always the color you expect. We tried pinks, and creams and light yellow but the color that worked its magic on this piece is dark gold!

Everyone now has choices to make. Add the tulle or don't add the tulle. We'll see who chooses what next time.

Sometimes Enough is not Enough

Our Merry Christmas Mystery Class came to an end today. And while I will miss all of you dear friends and the fun we have had, I'm excited to be sending it off to the finisher. This piece is singularly the best time I have had stitching anything to date. How's that for a big statement.

Today we tackled the center square. The background is a pretty open stitch and must be completed first before the letters.

What to do with letters that are this thin? We could Tent Stitch them, but then we would have jagged edges on many of the curves. We could Cross Stitch them which would even everything out. Or we could do my favorite option. Couch Kreinik metallic along the strokes of the letters. To me this is the prettiest option. It does have some drawbacks.

Since the background is semi-open, you do have to pay attention to where your threads travel on the back. This means tacking your red and green threads directly behind the letters. It's a little fussy, but worth the effort. Take it slow and when necessary scooch the threads behind the letters and tack them in place.



After I finished the center I still wasn't satisfied. I felt it needed more. Enough wasn't enough. I added a simple gold border around the entire design.

Now it's finished and as I said, off to the finisher. It will be back in a few short weeks ready for your perusal.

Merry Christmas from she who still has her tree up!

New Year New Project

Woo Hoo I get to start a new project! You know that elation of the first stitches on a brand new canvas. Well, we have a new Mystery Class Starting at Bedecked and Beadazzled at the end of January and I finally get to start stitching on it. I've had to leave it in the shop untouched for months waiting until I could bring it home to play.

I have so many fun ideas that I'm just itching to try. Stay tuned, hopefully you will enjoy watching what I come up with.

Here's my latest muse. Handpainted on 13ct canvas by Melissa Shirley.



For those who are following we have our last Mystery Class with Raymond Crawford's Merry Christmas on Sunday. I'll post the final stitched piece that evening. Then it's off to the finisher!

Merry Christmas

I hope you are all enjoying your holidays with family and friends. Today was quiet and I was able to finish Merry Christmas!

I couldn't wait to share. It seemed appropriate to post this early and not wait until Sunday night after class.



Some of the squares repeat techniques from previous squares for balance. Others use new threads and of course more crystals. I've always loved crystals but now more than ever they seem to really be the answer.

Beads are great, but you run the risk that a finish could come off over time or that the lining could change color. Crystals are what they are. They don't change and the sparkle is simply amazing! It's swarovski!!



I had really been looking forward to working these two squares. I knew I wanted to use iron-on crystal trim for the lime stripes. The ornament, well the ornament is just fun. It works up quickly and is just the balance the design needs.

All that's left is the center square.

Merry Christmas!

Now where are those Spring Flowers???

Woo Hoo! Mellow Yellow is back from the finisher and they did a great job. It's gorgeous! Don't you just love the handles? Hot pink leather, an orange lining and beautious beaded handles.



Now where are my Spring Flowers so that I can carry it?

Guess I'm going to have to wait a few months, but until then it certainly is pretty.

Merry Christmas Poinsettia

Today was the day we tackled the poinsettia in the Merry Christmas Mystery Class. We're coming along. When you look at it, we've already completed quite a few squares.

I really like the poinsettia. And not just because there are crystals in the center. While that isn't a bad thing, that's not the only thing I like about it.

We started with T Stitch in Sparkle Braid covering all the petals and allowing just a bit of the shading to show through. Now, here's the cool part. After all the T Stitch was done we filled in some of the open stitches with Tent Stitch in a darker shade of Sparkle Braid. It's just enough to make the shading pop.



This is a great technique for anything that is painted with a lot of shades and tones. One color of one thread across everything in an open stitch and then enhance the dark shadows.

To really bring the Poinsettia to live we added veins in Chain Stitch and Stem Stitch and of course crystals in the center.

We also finished two other small squares in class!

I'm off to start lesson #4. Wonder what fun we can have there.

Merry Christmas Lesson #2

Here we go. Lesson #2 of the Merry Christmas canvas was today at the shop. We tackled a few more squares. Still many to go but this is a great way to stay on track and feel like you are accomplishing lots! Little goals do the trick.

Today we did simple Long Stitch triangles in 2 of the squares. Nothing exotic, we needed an easy square to get us started today.

We made a big sparkly pink snowflake. I'm convinced the world would be a better place if it snowed pink. Maybe some purple too. You may have noticed that I like bling. I also try to go for the unexpected, so rather than completely beading the snowflake which was my first thought, I put beads in the background. It's just a bit of glitter. The snowflake itself is a Laid Filling Stitch. Long Stitches of Perle Cotton overstitched with Petite Sparkle Rays. The final touch are the crystals on top for a little more sparkle.

We also did the diagonal pink and white striped section at the top. It's the easy sections that give me the most pause. The stripes aren't painted on a true diagonal nor are they perfectly even, so I had to do something that didn't work against those things. It's nothing more elaborate than Long Stitches but then I ruched Petite Sparkle Rays and couched it in place to make the sections divide with a little bit of frosty magic. Not a bad solution.

That's it for this lesson. It's super quick to stitch. All of you lovely ladies who are trying to play catch up because you have just received your canvas or are still waiting, here's your chance!

More bling to follow.......

Mellow Yellow now complete!

It's finished and I love it! I'm really quite pleased with how this Melissa Shirley canvas turned out. I've been stitching this canvas and teaching it at the shop as a Mystery Class. With each lesson, a new section of the canvas is revealed stitched.



Each section was a challenge to make the flowers and butterflies move forward and back in space as they should. In the end the flowers have the charm and whimsy that I wanted.

Since I last posted 2 weeks ago I completed the yellow flower on the right. The cool thing about this flower is that it uses one of those overdyes that has many different colors in it. The kind of overdye we all buy because it is pretty but we never really know what to do with it. This one had yellow and pink and green and orange all in the same thread. It's called Miami Deco and it's by Gloriana Threads. It became the perfect outline around the flower petals. How cute is that?

The other challenge on this canvas was the final butterfly. This butterfly needed to be the item that comes forward in the design. It needed to project in front of the zinnias and the other flowers. WOW, what to do? I decided on wired ribbon. 1.5" in width, folded and pleated to make wings. They are fluffy and cute and create just the effect I wanted.

Next step is finishing so off to the finisher it goes. I'll post pictures when it returns. Until then, I'll be stitching and teaching our next Mystery Class - Merry Christmas by Raymond Crawford!

Zinnias!

The zinnias are just amazing. The moment I saw this canvas I knew how I wanted to stitch the zinnias. I had to do my background first and a few other flowers but now the zinnias are in bloom!!!! Six colors of River Silks 7mm ribbon and a handful of swarovski crystals and we have the most beautiful flowers. They are quick to stitch so no complaints there.

The butterfly was another challenge. It had to look light and airy but yet sit in front of the zinnias. Thanks to the magic of Basketweave Twill, one of my favorite stitches, and beads I was able to make that happen.



One more flower and one more butterfly and this gorgeous canvas will be complete. Hmmmm, how shall we stitch them? More beads? More ribbons? Must go play.