It’s been a crazy couple of weeks!  I finally got my head above water from the show yesterday.  It’s really hard exhibiting and buying for the shop at the show.  I run out when I can to go shopping and literally make piles and say I’ll be back.  The hard part is remembering where I left my trail of breadcrumbs. LOL!

Here’s some pics of our rooms for Vallerie Needlepoint Gallery.

We had a beach themed window and a bird themed window.

These stitched pieces were a huge hit!

Mary Susan stitched the “Happy Snowman” now known as Henry.

You’ve got to give him a name after all!

The “Three Cardinals in the Snow” sold out in the first few hours.

The “Butterfly for Hope” was a huge hit, as well.  This piece is part of “Stitch Pink.”

We came home with hundreds of new canvases.  Here’s a few of them.

One of my favorite things about going to the shows is seeing the stitched pieces and the finishing.

Brenda Stofft’s newest creation is this precious little fox.  She is teaching this as a class and I’m tempted to have her come to the shop because I have no idea how she did most of this!

Tapestry Fair has these fun reindeer and there’s other friends that go with them.

Pippin has this adorable crab canvas that you can make into a Tic Tac Toe board.  How cool is that?  Totally need that for my beach house basement!

I’ve brought a few new thread lines into the store.  I just can’t stop myself when it comes to new threads.

Rainbow Gallery has a new furry thread called Eyelash.  I can’t wait to play with this!

I also brought in Painter’s Threads Ribbon Floss and Kreinik 8 Braid.

I would say the hottest canvas from the show had to be the Downton Abbey movie coasters from Melissa Prince.  I don’t know about you . . . but I’m thinking a club with these next year.  What do you think?

I know I’ve been a little MIA lately, but I’m back in the saddle.  We’ve got a ton of great things planned this month to in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  So stay tuned!

I just love the artwork by Scott Partridge and putting it to needlepoint.  They are so much fun to stitch!

I call this one “Christmas Cutie”

This little guy cracks me up.

And then I did a new series for a club that will start in December/January.

If you’re interested in joining the club, contact your local shop to see if they are participating.

Here are some other pieces I’ve stitched from Scott.

Aggie stitched these chickadees that I released a year and half ago.

We also did a club last year called “Silly Little Birds.”

Mary Susan stitched the “Tipsy Chickadees”

Mary Susan also stitched the blue birds.

  Click here to see everything from Scott.

We’ve been stitching away this summer to bring you new guides.

Amanda Lawford painted these two gorgeous fish for Dallas last year and we had to stitch them for our beach themed window.

Linda stitched the pink fish.  I love the beads she added into the coral.  It’s just fabulous!

I stitched the second fish.  We made sure that the sand, water and border were the same so the pieces went together.  After all, they are companion pieces!

You know how much I love hydrangeas.  I can’t get enough of them!  This is a new design from Amanda that we collaborated on.  I forced myself to come up with a new technique for the hydrangeas.  It would be boring to keep doing the same things I’ve done before!

Hot off the stretchers bars is Mary Susan’s Happy Snowman.  I love his hat . . . love the background. .  .love it all!

I finally finished stitching the Three Cardinals in the snow from a few years ago.  This is one of my favorite Amanda pieces of all time.

Summer might be over but these are two new designs that I stitched.  The stitch guide is posted FREE on the blog if you scroll back you’ll find it.

We have a new club that is offered through all needlepoint stores.  Everyone loved the Silly Little Birds club with the artwork of Scott Partridge so I thought we’d do a tropical bird club.  These were so much fun to stitch!  Mary Susan stitched the colorful parrots and Kim stitched the Macaw.  They are so bright and happy!

Don’t forget about the “Hopeful Butterfly” canvas!

We’ve been very busy and we’ve got more to show you!

The master has done it again!  Check out her newest designs.

Hop on over the vngcanvas.com for all the details on the designs.

I have been swamped lately. Between getting ready for Dallas and tons of doctors appointments, I wasn’t sure how prepared I was going to be for this show.  But, now that I’ve got everything done, except for some last minute stitching and hopefully painting a few new little pieces, I feel like I can breath again.

I’ve got some really awesome things coming from my wholesale line, Vallerie Needlepoint Gallery.  Amanda Lawford has done some new designs.  Personally, I think this crab that she painted is the most beautiful piece she’s ever done.

It’s 11 x 11 on 18 mesh and I can’t wait to get a needle in it!  I’ve found some really cool new techniques I want to try on this piece.  I’ve ordered a bunch of new threads and colors so I can really go to town on this piece and do it justice.

I’ve got a new retailers club that will debut this weekend.  A retailers club is available through any shop so be sure to contact you LNS for more info about it.  Mary Susan, Kim and I had a blast stitching them!

If you missed it when I first posted, Melissa Prince, Two Sisters Needlepoint and I collaborated on a fundraiser for breast cancer this year.

Two Sisters                                                   Melissa Prince

I tried my hand at a different style of painting.  Usually I’m more of a stitch painted designer.  But the funny thing is that what I really like to stitch are the really beautiful shaded designs.  So, I thought I’d give it a whirl.

These little guys are 4 inch rounds on 13 mesh.

I’ve got over 40 new designs.  Not quite as many as I had last year, but I’ve had a little thing called cancer get in the way. LOL!  We’ve got a lot of new stitched pieces that I’ll be showing you throughout the weekend.  So be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss out on all the new releases.I can’t wait to share them all with you!

Summer is over.  My little guy just left for his first day of middle school.  I’m a little traumatized this morning.  So, to cheer myself up and for all of you who are mourning the end of summer, I’d thought we’d have a sale.  All in stock canvases are 25% off now through Saturday!

The sale starts today, August 27th and ends on Saturday August 31st.

You can call, email or stop by the shop to purchase. We’ll ship anywhere! Please refer to the frame number ABOVE the picture when you are referencing a canvas. This makes it so much easier to find the canvas you can’t live without.

So, take a good look through at all of our canvases and give us a call or shoot us an email to order. Please don’t make comments on the blog about wanting a canvas. The notifications on the blog don’t come through as quickly as phone calls or emails. If we don’t answer, we’re on the other line helping another customer. Please leave us a message with a phone number that you can be reached at and we will call you back as soon as we finish up with the other customer.

203-210-5107

Enrichedstitch@gmail.com

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Phew!   That’s a lot of canvases!  Give us a call or shoot us an email!

 I’m sure you remember, dear readers, that I was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.  It’s been a tough year but I’m through the worst of everything now.  I’m so touched by how many of you have reached out to me, by phone, email or in person at the shop, just to see how I’m feeling or to share your own story with me.

After hearing from so many people, I was shocked by how rampant breast cancer is throughout the industry.  I know we are an industry of mostly women, and it’s not that surprising since 1 in 8 women have breast cancer, but needless to say I couldn’t believe that every time I told someone what was going on with me, more often than not they told me they had gone through it.

So, this year, I’ve turned my attention to a new charity to stitch for.  I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now!

Melissa Prince, Preston and Grace Lynch from Two Sisters Needlepoint and I, Suzie (yes that’s my first name . . .not Vallerie . . .a blog for another day), have joined forces and collaborated on the Stitch Pink Fundraiser.

We have created three new designs that are exclusive to shops that participate in a fundraiser of any kind in the month of October.

I designed the Butterfly for Hope which is available through my wholesale line, Vallerie Needlepoint Gallery.  The canvas is 5 x 5 on 18 mesh.

Preston and Grace designed the Harlequin Rosebud Mini Shift which is available through Two Sisters Needlepoint.

2 1/2 x 4 on 18 mesh

Melissa Prince designed the Pink Ribbon Flamingos which is 5 x 5 on 18 mesh.

All the canvases have stitch guides by yours truly.

We will be hosting a stitch in at my shop, The Enriched Stitch, on October 26th from 10-3.  More details to come on that.  But you can sign up now!

We’re also taking preorders on the kits so that you have them in October for Breast Cancer Awareness month.  You can call the shop to order or you can click on the links below to order online.

Butterfly for Hope Kit

Pink Ribbon Flamingos Kit

Harelquin Rosebud Mini Shift Kit

I’m sure everyone reading has been affected by breast cancer in one form or another.  We all hope and pray for a cure.  But, until that day comes, we can contribute in some way to those who are fighting the fight.

I can’t take credit for the stitching on this one.  But it was too good to pass up!

Linda and Mary Susan decided to stitch this together and both of them came up with some pretty clever ideas for a simple ornament.

Here’s the really cool thing about this Stitch Along . . . it comes in two different color ways.

All the stitches will be the same for the green background design, we’ll just change up the threads for you.

The guide will be posted for FREE right here next month!

Give us a buzz at The Enriched Stitch to preorder your kit or you can order online.  Make sure you select the design you want.

Red Background Kit

Green Background Kit

I can’t wait to see the magic our finisher is working on it right now!.  Linda and Mary Susan are having them made into kissing balls.  They’re gonna be fabulous!

I hope you join in the fun!

If you haven’t heard about our monthly Stitch Along with Suzie, now you will!  We’re picking a different piece each month and posting the guide right here on the blog for FREE!

This month, I stitched this 4 inch round from Amanda Lawford, now owned by Vallerie Needlepoint Gallery.  Yep . . .that’s me!

Here we go!

Thread List

Accentuate 043

Planet Earth 6-Ply Silk: Tart 1146, Green Foliage V1305

Soie d’Alger Creme

Sparkle Braid SK26

Splendor S1000

Threadworx Overdye Floss: 11381, 1064, 1065

1 Size 14 black bead

1 seashell bead

Black beading thread

Water: Threadworx Overdye Floss 11381 (2 strands).  Reverse the direction of the threads.  This means that you turn one of the threads the opposite direction so you disperse the variegation in the thread.  Use the overdye for the gray stitch in the diagram and Sparkle Braid SK26 for the white stitch in the diagram.

Sand: Upright Cross Variation – Soie d’Alger Crème (3 strands)

Seahorse: Tent stitch the peach, light green and off white areas of the body with PE 6-Ply Silk Tart, Threadworx 1064 and 1065 and Splendor S1000.  Use three strands of the PE Silk and 4 strands of the Threadworx and Splendor.  The single vertical and horizontal lines in the greens are done in Cross Stitches with the coordinating Threadworx threads.  Add a black bead for the eye with one strand of black beading thread doubled over in the needle.

Add long angled stitches for the spikes around the outside of the body with 3 strands of Soie d’Alger Crème.

The tail fin is done in long angled layered stitches with PE Tart and Threadworx 1064.  Use four strands of the Threadworx then stitch over that with two strands of the PE Tart.

Now for the leaves!

Use four strands of Threadworx 1065 in Raised Fishbone Stitch.

DO NOT follow this diagram exactly.  This is just the basic idea behind this stitch. Start with a long straight stitch starting at the tip of a leaf (the smaller point) to about halfway down the petal. Move directly to the left of the top of that stitch on the outside border of the leaf. You might end up moving down more canvas threads than that.  Follow the painted design.  Cross over to the right (#4) of where you started the first stitch. Come back up to the right of the first stitch (#5).  Come back down on the right outer edge of the leaf, directly across from the bottom of the first stitch.

You will continue down the length of the leaf. Until you get to the bottom.  At a point, you will be going into a used hole, such as #20 in the diagram.  You may have to fudge the bottom stitches to make it fit.  I strongly suggest watching the video on needlenthread.com that demonstrates how to do this stitch.

To finish off the leaves, Stem Stitch the stems with four strands of the same thread.

You can sew on a seashell anywhere you want in the sand if you want.  If it doesn’t sit right on the canvas, you can always glue it on after you get your piece back from the finisher with E6000 glue.

You can order the canvas from any needlepoint shop.  But, The Enriched Stitch has the complete kits put together and ready to go!  You can call the shop to sign up or click here to order you kit online.

203-210-5107

I’ll be posting our September Stitch Along with Suzie soon.  Stay tuned!