A New Floral Cyber Class with "Messy Beading"!

Have you heard about "messy beading"?  Well I have and was really curious to give it a try.....

Basically, instead of attaching beads one at a time, you scoop up several beads and then attach them in loops or strings or however you want...creating a very fun 3-D textural look to your canvas.  I decided to create a small printed canvas with a simple flower that had the right type of center that could take some "messy beading" on it.  Here's the initial drawing I created on my ipad, from a purple daisy photo:

Then after I printed in on 18 ct. canvas, I stitched it up with some zippy checkered (and padded) borders, some easy petal stitches, a fast "shadow stitched" background, and of course, the messy beading.  Here's how it turned out:

It was soooo fun to stitch up!  I've used DMC flosses in the 333 periwinkle blue family, so the colors are that lovely purpley blue; and I wanted to have a lime green background just for the fun of it, and to make the purple flower POP.  And I thoroughly enjoyed using the messy beading technique -- it was much easier than I expected!

And when I got done I thought, "You know, this would make the perfect summery cyber class -- not too big, not too hard, and not too long - for stitchers like me who want to try some messy beading, but don't want a really big project."

So here it is folks, my next Cyber Class called "Purple Daisy: A Messy Beading Project".  Registration starts today, May 25th and runs thru June 30th.  The cyber class will start the beginning of July 2013, and have 4 emailed lessons.  Check out the details on my website!

May Trunk Show

Just a quick note, Stitchers:

If you happen to live in or travel through Oregon this time of year, you might want to visit UNIQUELEE YOURS in Grants Pass, Oregon (www.uniqueleeyours.com).  I've sent them a trunk show for the month of May and they'll be pleased to see you and show you my models and patterns!

Friday Flowers: Roses

Ahhhhh, the month of May and all my roses have already had their first "flush" of flowers and are getting ready for a great bloomin' summer.   I've chosen a few of these beauties to share with you this morning.......

HAPPY FRIDAY!

A New Spring Bouquet

Last week I gave you a peek at something I was working on that had a bit of blackwork in it.  Remember this picture?:

Well, here's the finished design, and it's called SPRING BOUQUET SAMPLER:

It's a light and airy mixture of "composite" stitch patterns and blackwork patterns.  When I was designing this piece, I was curious to see what it would look like to mix in some blackwork areas with the slightly darker composite stitch areas.  And I really like how it looks like a small patchwork quilt, or even part of a crazy quilt.  I like to pretend it's a collage of sprigged cottons sewn from scraps left over from old-timey dresses....

I stitched the 9.25" x 9.25" model on 24 ct. Congress Cloth, so it has a much more delicate look than my usual 18 ct. creations, but it can also be worked on 18 ct. canvas by increasing the plies of silk used (and then on 18 ct. canvas the size of the piece would be 12.25" x 12.25"). 

And speaking of the threads, this is the soft pastel palette I selected:

Because I was in a springy mood, I wanted to use one of my very favorite variegated threads - Waterlilies 110, "Hyacinth".  This particularly yummy colorway of periwinkle blues, orchids and soft greens is not available in the thicker #5 Watercolours, so I had to adapt the piece so it could be done in stranded silk instead of pearl cotton.

While I stitched the rest of the piece, I left the center block empty.  Originally I was going to fill it with a tent-stitched image of a basket of spring flowers.  But as I got ready to stitch the center area, I had a flash of inspiration and decided to do something a bit more unexpected, and try a rather freeform bouquet of flowers.
Here's a close-up of the central area:
 

It's not really difficult, and to get you started I've included a graph of just the center box, that indicates where to stitch the stem lines, which gives you something to work off of as you create your own bouquet of french knots and lazy daisy stitches.  I really like the lightness and delicacy of this simple bouquet, and find it compliments the airy stitch patterns that surround it.  [And psssst: you know what?...if you'd rather fill the space with another type of image, try looking through that pile of cross stitch patterns I know you have, and I bet you can find just the right image of flowers or birds or bunnies to tent stitch in your center box...hey, it's just another idea to consider...]

So, if you happen to be in a springy stitchy mood like I am, please visit my website, Laura J. Perin Designs and you'll find more information for ordering this fresh new SPRING BOUQUET SAMPLER.

Mini Mystery Monday, April 2013, pt. 4

There's just a bit more to stitch on this small springtime mystery piece.  Here's the graph to follow this week:

And all that needs to be done is: stitch the center circle with your metallic thread, along with the four diagonal stitches in an accent color.  Lastly, add your beads (or french knots), as I've suggested in the above graph.

But WAIT!  We can play a little bit more with this design, if you want to......

As I was working out this design and got a bit of my model stitched, I realized I could make it a little bit larger by adding one more scalloped border on the outside, which creates an extra curvy look to it.
Check out this quarter graph to help you add one more border row around your outer edge:

Isn't that fun?  It's a very easy addition that extends the size of this ornament, and adds a bit more color to the piece.

I also wanted to share with you the different ways this design can be stitched.  Originally, I grabbed a Watercolours thread and a handful of #5 pearl cottons to work my model... But then I thought you might find it interesting to see how this design looks like on a small count canvas using finer threads.  Here's a picture of the original #5 pearl cotton version with another one I've partially stitched on 22 ct. Hardanger fabric, using #8 pearl cottons and a bit of Caron Wildflowers:

It's apprx. 3" x 3" on the finer fabric, and quite a bit more delicate looking.  You can also work this design on a fine Aida fabric (say 16 or 18 ct.)..... or even your favorite evenweave fabric (I like 24 ct. Lugana).  As you work on finer fabrics/canvases, you need to use finer threads.  Try 1-2 ply of DMC floss or stranded silks, if you want a really fine, delicate look to your piece. 

I hope you've enjoyed stitching this slightly different design.  I'm going to go back to work on a much larger project on 24 ct. Congress Cloth that actually incorporates some of these same blackwork flower motifs.  It's not quite ready yet, but should be finished in the next week or so.  Here's a peek:

And pssssst, if you're curious about that fun needle minder I have on the right, let me direct you to Etsy, where I stumbled on a whole bunch of wonderful "bottle cap" magnets for sale!  I found this one in an Etsy store called "Little EMbellishments", and the owner/crafter is Emillie Dellalucia.  She was selling packs of 4 magnets with the KEEP CALM image in different colors.  Anyway, I asked if she could sell me additional magnets so I could use them on my canvases, and she happily agreed.   LOVE 'EM!!

So.........    Go. Shop. Stitch.            And of course, Have Fun!