Events ....

This coming week finds me winging my way back to

TEXAS!!

Wow ....

I truly can't believe it's been over six years since

I moved from Austin to Florida.

Friend Corliss kept putting the bug in my ear to

submit teaching pieces to 

Blue Bonnet Studios

I finally did and well, 

here I happily go!

Below are the two pieces being taught this year.

Yes, I've submitted for next year and two more pieces

were accepted.  When general sign up is open, I will

definitely post the choices here and on my Facebook pages.

"Yes, I'm Special"
hand painted needlepoint design and guide by
a Kimberly design

Soooo, special ....

Close up of needle weaving for those
glorious eyed feathers.

"Tree of Life"
hand painted needlepoint design and guide by
a Kimberly design

Cutest mushrooms ever!

Beading and ribbon work of all sorts.

.... there are almost always bullions ;-)

big stuff ...

For several months ...

I've had to stay quiet about what was going on 

with my stitching.

Not anymore!!

TADA !!

Introducing

"My Passion"

I've been designing this piece in my head for years,
I think.
There are re invented elements from past pieces,
with new additions ... just because. 

If you have known me in my design life ....
You'll recognize this panel as a new version
from a charted design I released in 1998 called
Mothers' Rocker.
This version is more hip in it's color way with
changes to the background.  The new variety of threads
made for some beautiful transitions to a painted surface.

There was no such thing as Silken Straw back in '98!
Nor was there a color called Oregano from Kreinik!

Sooooo .... if you do indeed remember me from my
beginnings in this industry ... I was a young punk with
so many ideas.  Now I'd like to think I'm a
wee bit wiser and wow, turning 60!
Still a rebel, still living the dream of
doing what I love!

Come help me celebrate with my fabulous
long time friend and distributor
Ruth Schmuff at her magical
BeeHive in Maryland
June 15, 16, and 17!!
Follow the link for all the scoop.

a Kimberly design distributed by Ruth Schmuff of Bedecked and Beadazzled

Reinventing the wheel ...

 Sometimes ...

when designing ...

it almost feels 

like you have to reinvent the wheel!

These wavy subjects tested me ...
this is when I hear myself telling a student,
"Get up and walk away from it for a moment."

I get these brilliant ideas,
they're completely formed in my head ...
then the search begins for
'that thread' and 'that color of bead'

It can be exciting like a treasure hunt
or
it can frustrate the heck out of moi!
Of course, the brilliant idea when put
to needle and stitch after finding all
of the above
MAY NOT WORK!!

This is when my teacher voice comes to me
loud and clear ...
walk away for a bit Kimberly!

Voila! Perfect!

Bubbles....

 "Bubbles"

Finished and ready to debut this Saturday!

Class time at 

The Black Sheep Shop

in Orlando!

Nothing boring about this fish!
I had fun with this finale!

Silk ribbon and sequins!!

The pulled work is a blast,
no freaking out!

July Class....

July will be all about a

"Happy Little Bug"©

Beginnings ....

If you follow me on Facebook ...
you'll remember this little bug not being
so happy with it's first transformation ...

Ode to bead inspiration!!
Not to mention the playful sequin cups!

Happy Little Bug class will happen 

July 9th & 10th

at my happy place 

The Black Sheep Shop!

Phone

[407] 894-0444

email

theblacksheepshop@hotmail.com

Tree of Life

Seems appropriate to blog about my

Tree of Life 

today, on this first day of spring!

Tree of Life
is the third in my series of The Nine.
The first class will be held April 9th
at
The Black Sheep Shop 
in Orlando!
Call or Click the link for information.

Cute, just cute!

Played with different backgrounds again.
Darning dots on the left,
Couching to the right...
and a little bit of felt with beads & ribbon embroidery.

You can see the two different backgrounds really well here.
The quilt 'ish' looking circle will be mostly beads!!

Next up in The Nine series...
Happy Little Bug!
I have some really fun threads pulled for this
and of course,
some wild ideas on how to stitch it!

Guess what??!!

I am very excited to announce that
I've been asked to come teach my
'Blossom' design for
Chandail
in Houston, Texas!!

"Blossom"
a Kimberly design©2014
This design is full of fun stitching.
We'll certainly fill up two class days with a lot color, technique, and texture!  I've used beautiful ribbon, a few beads, Memory Wire, silks silks and more silks, of course there is a little sparkle too with metallics and some new to even me thread!  

We'll explore bullions, cast on, couching, and even blackwork. 
We'll layer, loop, and French knot our way through this design!

Come join us at Chandail 
May 30 & 31
[click here for more details]
this will take you to Chandail's home page,
click on classes & workshops,
scroll down...
there I am! 

Sunny Sunday...

On this beautiful Sunday morning,
as I sat down to focus on painting.
This one became a total distraction for me.

I finally did get painting.
Little Dancer©2014
Progress is progress

The border on this design was a bugger
to count out...
so of course, it's also a belt now.
Snail Trail©2014

With some to spare! Truly thought I would run out of steam or thread working these swirly bullion curves.
Thankfully neither was an issue!
And I LOVE the way they turned out.

Next up, finish the coils and the
tiny red ribbon flowers.
Then to figure out a stitch for the background,
already have something in mind for the pink flowers
....you'll see :-)

design time...

...balanced with stitching time. 

Sometimes these two happen naturally, sometimes...not so much. 

Today I was counting out the border along the right hand side

...and I screwed it up.  

Ugh...the debate in my head is to start totally over 

or white it out and re count. 

Cute snail, cute flower, cute snail, cute oops, off center.

Are you doing a happy dance that I count this out for you!??

'Little Dancer'©2014
Getting a feel for color 
before putting brush to canvas.
This is typically how I 'do' it.

Coils...couched...sort of.
I laid a base of diagonal satin with Very Velvet, then coiled the Memory Wire. There is one tiny couch stitch at the very center
and then just around the outside coil.
Tiny ribbon flowers have been re stitched since you last saw a picture of this corner in my world of stitching.
As I worked another area my thread caught one of the Montano knots several times...another ugh. I think the end result is 'cuter'...so sometimes frustration leads to better results.

Our little Emma the world traveler,
here she is in Belgium looking her cutest ever!
Besides exploring the globe, she is sitting up and cutting teeth. There is just so much happening in her world! So much to be grateful for, her sweet smile makes my miscount of cute snail and flower border a mute point. I find myself just staring at her pictures and are we grandparents not the luckiest,
I get videos too!

stitch by stitch...

In between playing with my grandbaby, 

a little stitching on Blossom.

Sometimes a groan comes from my stitching spot. I'm loving the play of the Memory Wire. Love the beaded background of the light green area. Don't ask me what I'm going to do with the big dots yet.  Underneath the coil is a smooth spiderweb that didn't turn out the way my minds eye saw it. The coil is fun but will lose its fun'ness' when I attach it with couching.

I'm also obsessing over the red dots. I've lost track of how much ribbon I've wasted. Right now they are worked in Montano Ribbon Knots. Basically everything I've ever taught anyone about making a French Knot, FORGET.
Many loose wraps,
do not hold the end of the thread taut...
DO NOT pull firmly.
They are to be fluffy, loopy knots. 

Beginnings.
This tiny dancer will be a companion piece
to my 'Emma's Pillow' design.
This is what I do when stitching frustrates me,
grab my pencils!