New Designs!!

The Dallas Cash N Carry 

is this weekend!

It's always exciting to see

my pieces of art 

on their way to new homes!

'Catfish'©

'Little Lamb'©

'Scarab'©
I love this one, the colors are just too fun!

'The Swan'©
thinking of  the S.W.A.N.'s
back in Austin!
I find it amusing that I moved to a 
small town that is known for their Swans!
We have a lake full of them here!

'Dreamcatcher'©

'Little Dancer'©
Perfect for pairing with Emma's Little Bird.

There are several new belt designs up on the site as well, 
Go check out all, remember I'm distributed through
Ruth Schmuff Designs

roaring back...

Harrumph is back and very happy 

to be getting the attention he deserves.

A wise woman told me I shouldn't design pieces with faces 

if I don't like getting stared at grumpily from across the room. 

So we're both happy now. 

There is just something about dragons that captivate. 

Truly, it doesn't take much to make me happy.
These arrived in the mailbox yesterday,
tore into the bag like a kid with a new toy!

Rainy days ...

There are advantages to being a designer ...
I had to have a biscornu to demo finishing on for my class at
The Black Sheep.
Couldn't bring myself to restitch one,
so I painted a different version of one in colors I love.
Now to get it stitched up quickly.

I also decided to paint up
a bunch of dog collars in
different colorways, Fun!
Would you believe the gray/orange
to be my favorite so far??

Sweet Saturday!

Super sweet shop, super sweet students!

Fabulous day teaching!

They were pretty excited to dive into a new project!

Must have been a technical question,
as I look pretty serious.
I think they all have an idea how my brain works on
canvas at this point. 

We made a huge amount of progress on my
Paisley Biscornu© design!
Woven Squares, Couching, String Art, French Knots and ...
some crazy cut Turkey Work with plied silk!
We meet again in one month to 'finish' this little gem.

Yay! His collars were back from the finisher.
He has no idea how cute he is!

'Movement'©
Fini! and next in the class line up for
The Black Sheep
[see details on their website]
I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this design, 
it's just fun & happy!

to the dogs...

It's National Dog Day!

Granddog General gets top billing ... well,

sort of.  Her amazing cuteness at the other end of the

leash tops him by a long stretch. She did such a great

job walking him, even while she was swinging she kept 

hold of his leash. 

Hat - check, water bottle - check,
cute flip flops - check, leash - check
major attitude - double check!

Swings with her best bud!
What a good ole boy he is.

Of course, have to include Chance on this special day.
He's my constant!
His new collars are ready from the finisher,
can't wait to see them.

I've posted my progress on this new little bit.
Movement©
Here you see silk wrapped pearl purl
below the gold leather.
From Access Commodities
Above, the stamens are worked with
Gimp! I love Gimp!
From Tentakulum.
Both are couched onto the surface,
both easily add so much
dimension and texture.

I've packed a lot of technique into this 5" square design.
I couldn't leave the ends of the stamens just plain ...
so ... of course, I filled them with cut Turkey Work!
This is the first of a series of nine designs that I'm 
creating to help push stitchers out of their comfort zone.
They're small treasures packed full of fun!
Operative word here is small,
not overwhelming.

Offered as workshops through 
The Black Sheep
in Orlando, Florida
Yay!!

Each piece will be offered over a two month span. 
'Movement'© will begin the second Saturday of
October and finish the second Saturday of November.
Watch for more details.

Camels and flowers ...

Recently my stitchy friend Sara Leigh posted the beginnings 

of her work on my Camel Flowers painted canvas design.  

I'd told her the story of how they came to be 

and she suggested I share the story with 'more' of you.

So, once upon a time my sweet friend Kim Hollifield 

had two camels from Petei Designs that she 

wanted dressed up a little bit more with 'saddles'.  

She asked if I'd paint them and of course, I did! 

I enjoyed doing something different and helping her out. 

Kim is an awesome finisher of stand up needlepoint designs 

as well as ornaments and stockings. 

Over the years she's finished many pieces for me. 

Some were rather odd requests, I remember a small crazy purse 

but we won't visit that today.

Above are the two painted saddles. 

Now, as I painted these, I saw flower possibilities. 

Yes, my mind works in mysterious ways.

Look how awesome they are as saddles 

for these two nativity pieces.

Kim stitched and finished beautifully. 

Love the added bullion cord and tassels too!

Click here to visit her Facebook business page to learn more!

Kim Hollifield

'Camel Flowers'©
My version! or warped vision :)

MORE bullions!

I truly was trying to use another stitch, something quite unique actually ... but they discontinued the thread on me!

And to my mind, you can never have too many Bullions!

Are these not the coolest worked in 

Rainbow Gallery's Petite Very Velvet ??!!

kid leather...

...try searching those two words on the internet. 

Actually, it wasn't that bad. 

Learned a little about Kid Rock and 

I did find a helpful video from Sarah Homfray. 

Although, it was like looking for the 

proverbial needle in the haystack. 

Below are the results of my search.

I do have 'old' knowledge of the how to apply leather to canvas ...
just thought it smart to refresh my brain cells on the process.
Thank you to Kreinik for the materials 
that continue to inspire and embellish!

Traced above, then drawn on the leather with pencil.
[a sharp pencil the dots will be beaded ... I think ...]

Wool felt for padding, just one layer makes the magic.
And as you can see, cut much smaller.

Applied with silk couching thread.
I came up to the outside of the leather,
then pierced as close to the edge as possible.
This would be easier with a thimble.
I, however, used my thumbnail. 

TaDa!
This is the beginning of a new series.
I've painted nine new five inch square designs.
Each will feature some fun off the wall
techniques for embellishing.

They're tiny, yes, but stitch up quickly.
In my humble opinion, I think they're going
to look ever so awesome displayed
all together.

This is where the teaming up with 

The Black Sheep 

in Orlando comes to life.

TBS will host the workshops!!

Watch for dates and times to come soon!

I think I could...

... live on watermelon ... at least right now. 

Bought the sweetest seedless personal watermelon last night. 

I was amazed to find an organic one! 

Blissed out on watermelon, easily made happy am I not.

I also enjoy the plotting and planning of new designs ...

Laying silk threads ... love the light reflecting.

Calling this Caps & Curls©
Love drawing up new designs too.
This one is making its way to canvas,
my next stop today is the paint table.

I'm thinking of calling this one
'Show Off'©
Beginnings, palette phases.

Yes, I think 'Show Off' is a proper name.

Have a fantastic weekend!

a blessing...

today 3 random blooms
I think they're for my friend Jim
today we celebrate his life

[and in case you're paying attention Jim...
my last piece had 22,848 stitches]

you will be missed

Though we need to weep your loss,

You dwell in that safe place in our hearts

Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.

You placed smiles like flowers

On the altar of the heart.

Your mind always sparkled

With wonder at things. 

Though your days here were brief,

Your spirit was alive, awake, complete.  

                           ~John O'Donohue

Big News!

I've teamed up with Anne Jones, owner of 

The Black Sheep 

in Orlando!!

We are planning to hold once a month workshops

featuring my designs and stitch guides.

The first will happen August 29 and September 26.

Featuring my Paisley Biscornu!

Sign up through the shop following this link

The Black Sheep

'Paisley Biscornu'
Painted canvas design and stitch guide
with custom designed fabric
by
a Kimberly design©

Anne picked a great piece to start off with.
Paisley Biscornu has a variety of stitches
from French Knots to Bullions to Turkey Work
and of course, a fabulous border!  And...
an awesome little tassel to top it off with.
You'll learn all, from stitching to finishing!

desk mess update...

...and happy distractions.

I've been drawing and painting ... a lot!
Can only give you peeks, as I'm plotting and planning.
Sorry ...

Not for stitching, I've just had the itch to draw.
This bird will have tons of color, it's from a photo I've had
in my swipe file for ages. Thought at first he'd be cool
for needlepoint but he's tooooooo detailed.
I also feel there was some creative editing of the photo.
Which is cool but it bothered me
for some odd reason.
Who knows where my head is
all of the time!?

She is a lovely little distraction!
I have a stack of photos that my daughter recently sent
from my trip over for Emma's birthday.
The sketch to the left is from
a black and white photo taken on her birthday.
I haven't sketched like this in ages,
 it felt so great to totally
lose myself for a bit.