Another Secret Needle Night design for the books. Here's Chef Santa..."Chef Of The Year". I love the buttons Mona picked out for this. That little pudding is adorable.
I design the charts each month for SNN and Mona Bost picks the fibers, buttons, bells, whistles, etc...with Lindy Legener of The Silver Needle in Tulsa, OK. That's how the team works to come up with these little designs.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! I've just uploaded a little patriotic freebie in honor of my beloved country's birthday. You can find it on my Freebies page on http://www.brookesbooks.com . Scroll down the Freebies page a bit and click on the picture to download this chart. Hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th!
Hey, July Babies...I've uploaded the latest Birthday Cake in the Files section of the bbinteractive Yahoo! Group . You have to join this great group to have access to all the exclusive freebies I do for them. Once you've joined, go to their Files section, then to the Freebies section, and then to the Birthday Freebies section to download the Birthday Cakes in this collection. I will post a new one at the beginning of each month.
For those of you stitching all of these on one piece of fabric...All twelve cakes will be 53 x 90 stitches each. So now you can run off and do your calculations for how much fabric you need.
Yay! Kreinik was kind enough to allow me to post this design on my web site...So, go for it. Download away!
Go to my Freebies page. Scroll down the page past the Stitcher's Alphabet blocks and click on the image to download the chart.
Kreinik has developed a thread kit for this. You can ask your favorite local needlework shop owner to order it for you or you can send Kreinik an email requesting information about the kit.
A great BIG THANK YOU! to all of you who keep my ego in tact...I keep saying it but I mean it...You are why I keep doing this...Well...YOU and my addiction to, dare I say, "needles"...Tapestry, sewing, knitting, etc...
It's a chocolatie kind of month, I guess. That's a fancy "J" in the center of the cake, by the way. I can't quite see it in the photo. This is the latest exclusive freebie for Meagan's Brooke's Books Interactive Yahoo! Group . You have to join the group to get this one but it's a great group and we've got a bunch of exclusive freebies planned for the near future, so if you're into fun freebies and stitchin' friends, then this is worth it. You can find the file here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bbinteractive/files/Freebies/Birthday%20Freebies/ but you have to join the group in order to have access to it.
I will be designing and posting cakes for each month and they will all be 53 x 90 stitches so you could stitch just one or collect all of them to stitch as a huge birthday cake sampler. I may do just that. Also, I designed these using DMC floss so I hope most stitchers will be brave and switch that out for specialty threads, buttons, beads, etc...Change the entire color scheme if you'd like.
So...Happy Birthday, everyone!!! Stitch away...
Fa la la la la...La la la Stitch! Here she is...The Spirit Of Christmas Stitching. I - had - a - BLAST - designing this gal. I hope she brings as much joy to my sister stitchers out there for the upcoming Holiday Season.
Funny little inside thing...For those of you reading this from the Yahoo! BBPInteractive Group...You know that Meagan is the owner and moderates the group with our Emily. This angel really looks A LOT like Meg. I don't know how it happened but she does...I kept thinking about Meagan and the adorable old farm house she lives in while I was designing this and it just seeped out of me that way, I guess. Funny that the Spirit of the Bride looks a little like Emily and this gal looks a lot like Meagan. Well...They are my angel friends, so why not...LOL!
I really enjoyed designing these wings...Have always loved redwork and have been itching to design some embroidery patterns lately...Thank you Miss Christmas Stitching for presenting the very Victorian excuse to do just that.
This little Santa was SO fun to stitch...OK...You know...I know it's very bad form...But I do kinda like this one. It just makes me smile...and crave a cup of hot cocoa...with whipped cream on top.
And here's her little sampler. I made little mini skeins of floss for her basket.
She's stitched on Brown and Metallic Gold 14 count perforated paper with DMC floss, Kreinik's #8 Metallic Braids, and Mill Hill seed beads. The finished dimensions are approximately 5" x 7". I'll include an extra chart for stitchers who want to stitch her on fabric.
I must press on...to design the next angel before the month's out. She will be the Spirit Of The Holiday Kitchen...or should I call her Spirit of Holiday Baking? Or Spirit of Holiday Yummies? Mmmm!
Well...The best laid plans...It looks like Mill Hill beat me to the punch. They came out with some adorable Nutcracker Ballet ornaments last week and I just can't compete with that timing. I WILL design Nutcracker Ballet ornaments in the future because mine will be very different and I'm itching to design them but I can't compete with Mill Hill for a "Nutcracker" slot in the large catalogs right now. So, my next design will instead be the Spirit of Holiday Stitching. She will be similar to her "Spirit Sisters" in that she will be a dimensional angel ornament stitched on perforated paper. What a surprise! LOL!
Wanted to share a bit of the designing process with you. I usually get an idea of how I want a design to look before I begin and then I search the Internet and my giant collection of magazines / books for images that inspire me with color and form. Here are some photos I'm using to draw Miss Holiday Stitching.
Goodness...Don't let the drabness of this gown give you any ideas. This is just an inspiration for the silhouette & silk of the era. Our Spirit gal is actually wearing a deep green gown with Christmasy patchwork at the base of the skirt...reds, pinks, gold, soft greens, etc...
Ah, Victoria...Here's another image for color. I promise she won't be drab, though...Her wings are redwork hollyvines with a redbird and poinsettia...She's got a basket of floss...She's stitching a Christmas tree in her hoop...She's got a little Victorian Santa and a white persian kitty...Golden scissors...I'm having too much fun. More later...
Oh, I kinda like this one, if I do say so myself. Mona and Lindy and the whole Silver Needle crew did a great job stitching and finishing this tribute to our FIRST first family. I loved designing this because I so admire both George and Martha Washington. Their supreme gifts of self and sacrifice for the advance of freedom in this mean old world are precious to me. Hope this adds a bit of stitching fun to your patriotic Summer Season.
Finished designing another letter block in the decade long project known as "Stitcher's Alphabet". For anyone interested in this ode to all things stitchy...You can find further info and the complimentary charts on my Freebies page here: http://www.brookesbooks.com/CrossStitchFreebies.html . Scroll down the page a bit to get the full scoop and click on the images to download the charts.
So, it's on to N...I'm thinking...Needle Book? That could be sweet...A little colonial needle book with needles. You know...it's always something...I wish I could do "F" again. WHY didn't I choose "floss" for F? I must've been on drugs when I made that gaff...or perhaps I'm just dumb. Dumb might be it. Also, I misspelled "Fairisle". Fairisle wasn't a terribly bad choice for "F" but these are CROSS STITCH charts, for cryin' out loud. It's just something stuck in my designer's craw. BUT a pleasant thought came to me in the night about this. I can be redeemed by the letter "O"...because "O Is For Overdyes"! I can stick all kinds of overdyed floss skeins in that design and maybe stop obsessing about "F". Naw...
OkuleeDokuleeDo...They're finally up and ready to go. For anyone interested, you can find out more about these critters on my web site: http://www.brookesbookspublishing.com/NewStuff.html
Thank you to everyone who has shown an interest in these little guys. I had a lot of fun making them...Hope you do too.
I'm aaaaaaalmost done with the Spooky Critter publications so they'll be up for sale this week. But because of a very tight catalog schedule, I had to begin the research faze of my next project last week. I-gotta-say...I'm excited. The Nutcracker Ballet has been one of my all time favorite Christmas themes since forever and I'm finally going to create a collection of ornaments that celebrate Clara and her painted prince. I'm prepared to throw everything I've got at these. The original ballet was performed in Imperial Russia in 1892 and I want to honor that with an underlying warm and desaturated Victorian pallet but with pops of sparkle and color over the top. I can't wait to get started...but I've got to finish getting the Critters samples out and the new orders processed, etc, etc, etc...Why can't there be ten of me? Ugh!
There he is...My hero. The kid dreamed big and made it happen. This is my oldest son...Clinton Peter Nolan. He graduated last Friday Suma Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Proud doesn't cover it. My heart is ready to pop.
...Another SNN design for the books. I haven't blogged about this sweet gig so I thought I should mention it. I design the monthly Secret Needle Night designs for the Silver Needle in Tulsa, OK. It's a really fun collaboration between me and Lindy Legener, the shop's owner, and Mona Bost who pick the colors, fibers, and all the bells and whistles that go into the kits. I just come up with the basic design and chart but the finished product is always very different from my original design because of the creative partnership we three have. It's been a LOT of fun for the past couple of years. I long to visit Lindy's shop and get to know the gals in person one of these days.
I was recently honored with a request from the good folks at Kreinik to design a Breast Cancer Awareness sampler that they could give away at the upcoming TNNA show in Columbus OH. Thank you, Kreinik, for this wonderful opportunity to show my work in the "Big Top" but also to design something that means something deeply personal to me. My own dear mom was diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma last week and she is now beginning her journey with Cancer. My precious dad died from the same disease seventeen years ago so we know that the way is not easy but that it is filled with the kind of love that makes life worth living. My heart is in the right place as I design this little sampler and it feels wonderful. Here's a little sneak...
A butterfly...The symbol of rebirth...renewal...Kreinik sent me some of their 1/8" ribbons to play with. The body of the butterfly will be a Breast Cancer Awareness pink ribbon...I'm also using their Mori Silks...Ahhh...I LOVE these silks...So soft and buttery. I'm stitching it on Zweigart's BoPeep Pink Cashel Linen. Ooh-la-la...And, yes...There will be roses on top of those green sticks...Spiderweb Ribbon Roses.
Got the first Spooky pack done. I need to make a sparkley Halloween tree for them. Working today on Spooky pack II.
Wow...I'm messy...That's a bottle of Mucinex, by the way. Does anyone else have the lung thing left over from February's flu that just WILL NOT GO AWAY? Ugh!
And there's more...
I'm going to try to have the chart packs ready by the end of the month. Really want to push myself to see just how fast I can get a design to market. I need to pick up the pace on that front.
I've been thinking of doing more...Like "Thankful Critters"...Little Pilgrims, Indians, a Turkey Lurkey, etc...How about "Christmas Critters"? Santa, Rudolf, elves, etc...Oh...A Nativity set...
I'm in a designing lather for Halloween...More "Critters"..."Spooky Critters I", to be exact. I'm stitching them on a sheet of Metallic Gold perforated paper and having too much fun...I don't know why I like this style of cute Japanesesque critters but I do. They're sort of reminiscent of amigurumi dolls. There's plenty of this type of thing designed for knitting and crochet but not so much for cross stitch...so I'm going for it. These are like the "Crystal Critters" I designed last year. You stitch and bead them on perforated paper, cut them out, back them with decorative paper, and then slap a pin back on them or hang them from a groovy Halloween tree.
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