The Spookiest Day of the Year

Are you ready for Trick or Treat tonight?

Got all your pumpkins carved?

Got lots of candy? (All your favorites, of course...)

Watch out for those spooky black cats;

And keep an eye out for low-flying owls, too.

 

 

But most of all, 

be sure to have a really sweet and safe

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FRIDAY!

WHOOOOO Loves Halloween???

Do you??
Have you been working on any Halloween projects this month?
I've been super busy stitching on several autumn designs and painted canvases this season.  I showed you my new HALLOWEEN RIBBONS in my last post; it was soooo fun to sneak in some counted canvaswork in-between all these delicious new Sandra Gilmore canvases I've been playing with.

And now I'm delighted to share my next stitch guide with you --  he's called OLIVER, by Sandra Gilmore.

What a HOOT!!  And isn't he cute?  I mean, really...  He's a smallish canvas (10" x 10") , with a handful of easy stitches, so it worked up pretty fast.  I really, really wanted a variegated background for Oliver, so I changed the plain green stripes to a woodsy variegated thread with a woven brown border (although the stitch guide also gives solid color options as well).

Oliver's body and feathers are also done in variegated threads, to give him a more realistic look to his feathers. His eyes and beak are padded (although they got a bit smushed in the scanner!).  And the "Happy Halloween" text is tent stitched with one of those yummy variegated Painter's Threads I've been eager to try; here it gives a nice rich shimmer of greens and browns to the sign.

I like OLIVER a lot.... especially because his Halloween message will be nice to display around the house all autumn, and not just for that big purple & orange day!  If you love owls and Halloween, this could be your next fun project...  Please visit my website for more information on this new OLIVER stitch guide!

Time to Stitch Up Some Spooky Fun

Hey, Stitchers: are you buying some pumpkins and setting out your Halloween decorations this weekend? 

Are you itchin' to stitch up one more Halloween project?
                How about my newest design, HALLOWEEN RIBBONS??

I had a blast designing and stitching this fun piece.  I tried to fit in as many Halloweeny treats as I could, so you can stitch some cats, bats, hats, ghosts, pumpkins, candy corn and spiders.  And oh yeah, there are some fun ribbon bands to stitch, with lots of purple and orange chrysanthemums (or asters, if you prefer). 

You can make your pumpkins with or without faces - or alternate them, like I did.  The falling candy corns and sour balls are fun to create, and should put a smile on everybody's face!

This piece is truly over-the-top, I know.... but hey, where else can you have so much fun with lots of purple and orange threads?!?

Please visit my website for all the ordering information on this new, spooky fun HALLOWEEN RIBBONS design.           Happy Friday, Everyone!

Time for a New Cyber Class!

Many years ago (well, 14 to be precise) I designed a monochromatic geometric piece called PINK PARFAIT:

Over the years it's been a consistently popular piece, even though it takes some time to stitch it on the finer 24 ct. Congress Cloth and is worked with only two DMC floss solid colors and one fine metallic thread.

Just recently a stitcher emailed me about her interest in stitching PINK PARFAIT but didn't want to work it on 24 ct. Congress Cloth; could it be stitched on 18 ct. canvas instead?   So I pulled out the model and propped it in my office.  As I studied it, I wondered how it would look if I updated the design a bit -- revising some the stitch patterns, and using variegated silk threads on 18 ct. eggshell canvas this time around.

Well, folks, here's how it turned out:

(Please note: the photo of the pink version is turned "on point"; although the piece is actually stitched in the direction shown in the teal version above.  With this project you have the option of framing it either way -- and how cool is that?)

And I must say, even though the 11.5" size is almost the same as the 12" one done on Congress Cloth, it definitely worked up a LOT faster!  And was VERY fun to stitch using a subtle variegated Waterlilies silk, with two matching Splendor silks and two different metallic ribbons.  Here's a peek at it up-close:

And after I had it stitched up, it occurred to me that this would be a really fun cyber class.  So  TA DA, that's how I'm presenting it to you:  as a new cyber class for November 2014, called PATCHWORK PARFAIT.

The stitching on this piece is very easy and soothing; nothing difficult here except the counting of the borders... In fact, the hardest thing about this piece was deciding which color of variegated thread I wanted to stitch it in!!  I wanted to stay with more monochromatic color skeins, so there weren't any big jumps in the color sections.  Ultimately, I whittled it down to these five luscious colorways, so stitchers have these choices for their piece:

So, Geometric Stitchers, if you are in the mood for a yummy new project that's lots of fun to stitch, please visit my website, Laura J. Perin Designs, and click on the LJP CYBER CLASS section to find out more about this upcoming PATCHWORK PARFAIT class.  Registration is open from September 5th until October 18th.

Back At the Beach (again)...

I promised you a look at my finished new canvas (and the resulting stitch guide)....

          so here it is -- SHELLSCAPE, by Sandra Gilmore:

This was soooo fun to work on; and very different from the stuff I usually stitch!

There are lots of areas that need to be done in Tent/Basketweave Stitch, but I truly

enjoyed the simplicity of those sections.  Although I did jazz it up a bit

by using lots of "blended needle" work -- mixing thread types or colors, to add

subtle depth and texture to the large flat areas like the dunes, sea, and clouds....

And I used a LOT of variegated threads -- for the sea, sand, borders, shells, coral  -- 

well, almost everything!  Even the table ledge with its enlarged blackwork pattern is done 

with a "driftwood" looking variegated #8 pearl cotton by ThreadworX.

And you can see that most of the items are slightly padded as well.  I was surprised how fun 

the conch shell was to pad and stitch; if you look closely you can see that I used 

two variegated peachy threads for the outer conch shell - the lighter one on the top half,

 and the slightly darker one on the lower half:

I left the big white flowers for last, and I'm very glad I did.  Barbara Elmore, a designer 

who I consider to be the Queen of Embellishment, was kind enough to send me a sample

of a new ribbon she is marketing (through Sundance Designs) called RETRO RIBBON.

She suggested I give it a try for my floppy flowers -- and 

she was soooo right -- it was perfect!!

The 5/8" wide couture ribbon really mimicked the crinkly petals of a mantilla poppy; 

and I very carefully flattened, twisted or poofed each petal in place, before tacking them 

down with small couching stitches.  The ribbon also has a slightly transparent texture, 

so the yellow painted canvas showed through enough to create an interesting effect 

as well...  I was so impressed with the finished look of the flowers, that I asked Barbara 

to send me a bit of green RETRO RIBBON to add a few dimensional leaves!

So if you want to celebrate the end of a lovely summer

or perhaps you just love a good beach canvas,

please contact your local stitchery store to get this SHELLSCAPE 

canvas and stitch guide from FLEUR DE PARIS.

You can also order just the stitch guide from my website....

HAPPY END OF SUMMER, STITCHERS!

Last Call!

Just a reminder, Stitchers: 

This weekend is the last time you can register for my next cyber class, 

called SUMMER ROSE. 

 

 It's a printed canvas (that I make myself) with very fun easy stitches worked on top; a jazzy little border; a shadow-stitched background; and the best part is definitely the "messy beading" that finishes off the flower center.  And you have your choice of a red or pink flowered canvas...

So, if you want to try a small project with lots of appeal, that works up quickly.... this might be the summer project for you!  Please visit my website for the class registration information.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Website Down for a Bit...

Just a quick note, Stitchers: 

if you've been trying to get into my website today, you may have been directed to TRIPOD instead. 

 They are currently making some security changes/updates to my site, 

which apparently take a few days to go into effect. 

So please try again in a few days, and hopefully, we'll all have access to it again.  sigh.

Until then.... Keep Stitching!