I knot I haven’t been posting that much lately.  I’m going to try to post more frequently.  One of the reasons I haven’t shared too much stitching is that I’ve been working on some top secret pieces.  I showed you my mom’s tray yesterday, that was a simple belt canvas that was formed into a glass top tray.  The stitching was as simple as you can get.

And then there’s the piece I’ve been working on that I will be teaching at the January trade show.

The Whimsical Wreath by Melissa Prince

This piece is anything but simple! lol

But here’s the cool thing about the stitch guide for this piece.  It has three levels of difficulty so you can pick and choose what you are comfortable doing. The first level is stitches and simple beading.  The second level involved some ribbon work and more beading.  And the third level . . .well . . .you see just how crazy it can get.  But no matter what elements you choose, it’s gonna look fabulous!

A cool new beading technique I’ve been using lately. I think it makes the cutest centers of the flowers.

The butterfly is a little over the top, even for me.  But I was determined to do an applied canvas technique for the wings.  Pretty cool.  Not sure I’d go through it again.  I could live with that being a once in a lifetime experience.  But definitely worth the experience. 

I just love these flowers.  They are bouncy and poofy and everything screams fun about them.

I will be teaching this at the TNNA winter trade show and then in the shop on January 28th from 10-3.  Sign up soon so I can make sure you have a canvas for class.  Can’t join us?  You know you can always order a kit.

Oh, I forgot to talk about the black background.  Don’t let that scare you away.  It’s white canvas.  So you’re stitching black thread on white canvas.  Easy to see.  But, if you want to stitch the background turquoise or fuschia, be my guest.  There’s a long story about the first background that went into this piece. (That was ripped out).  But I’ll save that tale for another day.

My mother’s birthday was this past week, so now I can finally share her present with you.

I stitched a belt and had it finished as a tray.  Yes, you heard me right, I stitched a belt . . .in basketweave.  Not everything I do is over the top.  Basketweave is soothing for the soul.

There is a glass insert so it can really be used as a tray.  I thought she’d enjoy this in her beach house on the Jersey Shore.

Isn’t this a cool finishing idea?

Another year . . .another Halloween. It’s time to say goodbye to our ghoulish friends.

All in stock Halloween canvases are 30% off now through Saturday.  Give the shop a call if you’d like to start on something for next Halloween.

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Have you seen the new little treats for the holiday season from Leigh Designs?  I just LOVE them!

Red and White Wine

The Perfect Manhattan

Cosmo

Mint Juelp

Eggnog

Martini

Margarita

Champagne

  Each canvas is 4 x 5 on 18 mesh.
We have two complete sets on their way to the shop.

What a way to kick off the holiday season!

Christmas is coming a little early this year to The Enriched Stitch.  Karen Hennessey, the design genius who is Zecca, will be coming to the shop on November 12th.

I’ll be teaching a class with five of her funky ornaments.  Karen is a little shy so she asked me to teach.

Look at how stunning these are!

Purple Dot Tree

Purple Dot Triangle

Orange Dot Tree

Orange Dot Triangle

Green Dot Circle Ornament

These pictures do not do these pieces justice.  They shine and shimmer while they twirl.  There’s fun beads, sequins and threads.  The best part is they are small!  I wouldn’t be surprised if a few people finish one during the class.

Class is Saturday November 12th 10-2.

The price of the class is the cost of the canvas, threads and $25 class fee. Be sure to sign up as soon as possible so we can get your kit together.

It gets better!  If you purchase another ornament in the series, the second, third, fourth canvas will be 10% off!  The additional canvases must be preordered to receive the discount.  And we’ll customize your thread kit for multiple kits so that you don’t get the same thread in each kit. Who could stop at just one of these little darlings?

If you can’t make it to the class, we can certainly send you a kit.  Just give us a jingle to sign up or ghost the class!

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Julia Snyder never disappoints! I wish I had more time to spend in her class this past weekend.  But I got the highlights of the piece.  And there were A LOT of highlights!

This piece is packed with techniques, but without it looking like she threw everything at it and the kitchen sink.  There were some threads in the kit that I had never heard of before.  Old but new threads that are once again being produced by our dear friends at Access Commodities.

Check out the hand painted frame from Robbyn’s Nest Designs.  It’s just fabulous.  Oh who am I kidding?  Everything about this piece is fabulous.

We have one kit left if you’re interested.  Give us a call!  203-210-5107

Isn’t she fabulous?  I could see this gown gracing the runways of Oscar de la Renta.

I knew I wanted to bead the entire bodice.  Well, needed . . .not wanted to bead it.  But when she’s in the spotlight, boy does she sparkle!

Here hair is done completely in packed stem using five shades of Planet Earth silk.  I’ve decided that if all else fails, I’ll go into coloring hair.

Then she needed some fabulous jewelry to go with her gown.

I used a few different beading techniques to create these beauties.

The original design was painted with a full red skirt.

I’ve been dying to try to applique fabric onto canvas.  Here was the perfect opportunity.  Originally I wanted red tulle.  But when I went down to my fabric store, what they called red, I would call hot pink.  So, I thought before I scavenge all over Manhattan for red tulle, I’d try this out with white tulle.  I love that the red shows through.  I used a breading technique to hold down the tulle at the hem of the dress.  You should have seen it before I did that!  I wish I had a picture.  It was so puffy and sticking out everywhere! Then I had to hide the top edge where I attached the tulle.  A little ribbon goes a long way!

The Lady in Red, as Leigh named her, is available through any store participating in the national fundraiser Go Red With Thread.

You must order your kit before November 1st to make sure that she is on time for her runway debut in February.

You can call the shop to order or click here to order online.

 And like I said, she can be ordered from any needlepoint store that is participating in the event.  Check with your local shops.

Now I better get to writing up her stitch guide.  Hope I remember how I did everything!

 You can read more about the details of the fundraiser on our website.

We found the most adorable canvas at market.  And it was self finishing!

I’m not into finishing things myself.  I leave that to the professionals.  But this was so easy that all I did was cut the canvas and taped it onto the back of the beautiful hand painted frame that came with the canvas.  What would you guess this costs?  It’s only $60 retail for the entire project!  Minus the threads, of course.

He’s a little three inch round that I stitched up in an evening.  Talk about instant gratification . . .a quick stitch and no waiting months for finishing.  And you can’t beat the price!

 There is a baby version of this, as well.

These designs will discontinued at the end of the year so if you’re interested let us know soon!

All in stock canvases are 20% off Friday October 7th and 8th

And here’s an added bonus . . .

Over 100 more canvases in our online store are 35% off!

Enter the code Columbus35 at the checkout to receive the discount.  Online canvases must be ordered through the online store.  Click here to see what’s in stock.

Call the shop to order.  Please refer to the frame number under the picture for the canvas you are interested in.

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Give us a call 203-210-5107

TWO DAYS ONLY!!!!!

special orders, clubs and online classes not included

I don’t know about all of you out there, but hearts are hot here at The Enriched Stitch.  I can’t keep them in stock!

Linda at the shop is probably the biggest heart canvas addict and look how she finished them.

Like I said the other day . . .when that finishing comes back we fall in love all over again.

It looks like the hearts are on one ribbon, but really they are on three different ribbons of different lengths.  Pictures never do our work justice.

Here’s a cute display idea for hearts or ornaments.  Linda picked this up at Homegoods.  How sweet is this?  And somehow one of Mary Susan’s hearts snuck into the display in the middle.  Another wonderful finishing idea from Linda’s creative mind.