christmas

I am always so happy at TNNA to go to Kathy Schenkel’s and Melissa Shirley’s booths. They are always full to bursting with great new ideas and canvases I just drool over.

I love Kathy’s bone-shaped ornaments for dogs and this year she has a delightful new set. These are “Things Dogs Do,” all done in a clever, easy-to-stitch style.

She also has mini-socks and ornament rounds for a number of different colleges and universities that aren’t just the usual logo style, often they have iconic buildings or other symbols of the campus.

She also has new dog and people tote bags and new North Woods designs. There are two new Christmas series, a nativity and a stars of Christmas, people associated with Christmas in stars.

A very clever idea is her animal alphabet, available both as a panel and as individual letters. The animals are creatively posed in and around the letters. An unusual ornament series would be to do a name or initials this way.

As always Melissa Shirley has tons of new stuff, so I’ll only hit the highlights.

If you like her pears, but have been wishing for designs that were less geometric, you’ll love her new series that has a different fruit in each pear. With gold backgrounds and fruits and blossoms vining up each shape, they are both elegant and timeless. There are 10 in the series.

She has expanded the selection of her popular crackers with a Thanksgiving series, a new Halloween series that features some of her vintage Halloween characters, pink or gold Christmas crackers, and a set of Christmas toy crackers. There is also a new series of candy canes, mostly stripes, in a modern palette of red, white, green, and light green.

Her newest series is 3-D needlepoint cupcakes. Each design is in two parts, a top and the sides. There are designs for Christmas and Valentine’s.

If you have been collecting Christmas canvases in particular colors, there are conical CHristmas trees in fabric-like patterns in both green and gold. Her acorns have been very popular and a set of Christmas acorns has been added. Her banners have been expanded with a series of pumpkins for Halloween.

There is lots of new stuff from her licensed designers. My favorite of these was Debbie Mumm’s “Trick or Treaters,” a haunted house background with twelve Halloween figures. Three of these are animals,a cat, a raccoon, and some mice, dressed up for Halloween.

There are lots more new canvases including some great seashore and insect pillow designs, and lots of new Christmas stockings. THere’s plenty to love and stitch here.

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New Canvases from Kathy Schenkel and Melissa Shirley

Distribution News from TNNA and More New Canvases

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Sometimes as a stitcher I am frustrated. It seems as if my favorite designer goes away. But, happily, there are companies who pick up these old favorites and continue to make them available.

Gail of GailVail is retiring. While the fate of many of her designs is unclear, Needledeeva is picking up her Navajo rug designs. These pieces are stitch painted adaptations of traditional rugs and each has the name of the rug design on it. They come in many sizes, as do the rugs themselves. Stitched in wool, the traditional fiber for rugs, they make great accents. Even better they are MUCH cheaper than even an ornament-sized rug (about $100 at a local museum shop).

Painted Pony has added Needle Graphics to their line. Along with adding Squigee to the line, CBK has a great new series of whale and heart shapes filled with different painted fabric-like patterns.

Treglown has added Kooler Design Studios to their line. In addition they have a great series of slightly shorter belts that can be finished as purse straps for their two stylish leather bags. I’m crazy about the two Charley Harper ones of course.

My favorite distribution news comes from Pishke Pockets. They now distribute Elizabeth Bradley as well as Kirk & Hamilton. Elizabeth Bradley has a new take on her traditional designs with both single flowers and shells on lighter backgrounds, updating this traditional style for more modern interiors.

Kirk & Hamilton has some really clever designs. I loved their three full-size stockings, cupcakes, roosters, and penguins, all with some ornament rounds to match. They also had a clever series of mini-socks with animals seen from the back gazing at the Christmas star.

Danji has added a new artist as well, Ann Winn. She has some lovely figures including a triangular snow queen, a mermaid, and a striking seahorse. Barbara Russell has added licensed designs based on pieces from the Woodmere Museum of Art in Philadelphia.

Canvas Connection is now distributing all of Designing Women’s canvases. Best of all the wonderful crosses are now available on 18 as well as 13 mesh. I can’t wait to make a bunch more for my tree.

Probably my favorite thing at the entire show was Boots Bailey’s magnificent five-piece nativity. My husband, who saw it Friday night, just raved about it. And he’s right. Gorgeously painted and based on biblical era clothing, they are exquisite. To stitch and own them would be a real treasure.

One final note: You may wonder why I don’t have pictures or links in my show reports. There are no links because often the designers don’t update their sites until well after the show. If I can’t show you what is new, I don’t link. Although many people take pictures with their phones, I’m a disaster at that. Since cameras aren’t allowed on the show floor, my posts are illustration free during TNNA.

More:
Distribution News from TNNA and More New Canvases

Trends in Needlepoint

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Knitting,Nuts About Needlepoint

I’ve gone to TNNA’s winter show most years since 1998 and I’ve watched knitting and needlepoint rise and fall. At the height of the knitting fad, it seemed as if needlepoint was almost an afterthought. Right now, I would say they are about even in number of vendors.

This is especially true when you consider the yarn manufacturers who also make needlepoint yarns (these are growing — more tomorrow on this) and other companies selling into both markets who were on the knitting side of the show.

Looking at knitting vs. needlepoint I saw some interesting contrasts that are good for us as stitchers. Needlepoint shops came to buy as well as to look. Although there is always lots of interest in the newest canvases and threads, often you’d see shopowners going through a both and ordering many canvases from the existing line. For us, this means that we aren’t constantly looking for what’s new, but for what’s right. That continues to support our designers to try new things and to keep designing. If anything older than a year is “vintage” and therefore not wanted, there is just too much pressure on the designers and some will stop designing because their stuff is too “old-fashioned.”

When you bring out a new product there is always a risk: Will people like it? Both the designer and the shopowner take this risk because as stitchers we might not like it and won’t buy it. But if both these people have reliable designs people like and continue to buy, the shopowners buy them and the designers have sales without risk and can continue to work.

This is a sign of a healthy industry.

In terms of the designs I saw there are three trends that you’ll see in your shops. All are great because they show that the market for needlepoint is widening. We’ll all get to the point where we can’t have any more pillows (or ornaments or stockings or whatever), but by innovating the use and subject matter for needlepoint, designers increase the things we’ll buy and try.

Professional and collegiate sports was the big new trend. There were belts, key fobs, ornaments, mini socks, brick covers and lots more in a bewildering array of designs from actual logos to clever pieces featuring folks playing the game. Not every team for every sport is there, but you can probably find something for just about any sports fan. This signals a nice change in the market towards pieces that have more masculine appeal.

While Halloween and Christmas remain huge for needlepoint, I saw lots more Thanksgiving and harvest-themed designs. Melissa Shirley has led the way on this. These designs are fun because with them less holiday-specific, they can be used throughout the fall.

The needlepoint handbag trend continues to be huge and at the show I saw, along with lots of extensions to purse lines that have been around for awhile, new shapes and new combinations of leather or straw purses with needlepoint.

Tomorrow I’ll look at new threads (there’s plenty), Friday and Saturday at new canvases and kits, and Sunday at changes in distributors. On MOnday I’ll talk about knitting items for needlepoint. I’ll finish up on Tuesday (I hope) with whatever’s left

No related posts.

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Trends in Needlepoint

Free Christmas Ornament Patterns on this Site

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Merry Christmas!

I love CHristmas ornaments and stitch them all the time. Some of that love has been reflected in the projects I’ve done for this site.

In case you are like me and want to start a new stitching project (although I’m most likely cooking not stitching), you might want to make one of these delightful little projects.

Besides these stand-alone projects, check out last year’s Learn-a-Stitch Mini-sock series, and the many Twinchy posts, there are lots more ornament ideas there.

Decorate with Needlepoint in Unexpected Ways

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Home Decor,Nuts About Needlepoint

Today I’m spending the day decorating our main tree with my daughter (she got home last night and asked that we wait). The stockings are hung, the garlands and mini-socks are up, the small trees are up, and a box of ornaments has been sent to my youngest who is spending Christmas at her home Back East.

The picture here is last year’s tree but if you are like me, you have more ornaments than tree, so you need to look for other places to put them.

Here’s some ideas:

Do you have a collection of needlepoint that are stand-ups? Use a shelf, the top of a low bookshelf, or the top of a cabinet to display them. My small collection of needlepoint Christmas trees joins some bottle brush trees on our bar this year.

Do you have a pretty bowl or metal bucket? Nestle some needlepoint among pine cones or matching plain glass balls.

Any hook, drawer pull or door knob can hold an ornament. Make it even more special by grouping other seasonal items with it.

Another great idea is to use ornaments in place of (or in addition to) regular gift tags. it’s hard to see against this gaudy paper, but the dark violet ornament is the tag. The ribbon matches the ornament.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Felt Flower Gft Toppers

by Meg Allan Cole

in Sewing

felt flowers.jpg

Infarrantly Creative offers a quick and easy how-to on felt flowers. They show them adorning a bag or worn as a pin, but I think these would make great gift toppers!

felt flowers-2.jpg

Inventory Reduction Sale at The Scarlet Thread

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Have a Christmas bonus to spend?
Looking for some last minute presents?
Just need a break from all that wrapping, cooking, and decorating and want to treat yourself?

Head on over to The Scarlet Thread and take a look t the almost 140 items they have in their inventory reduction sale.

There is a ton of charted needlepoint including lots of ornaments as well as bigger pieces. And you’ll find lots of projects from your favorite designers including DebBee’s Designs, Laura Perin, and Needle Delights.

And if charted needlepoint isn’t your preference, there are scissors, lights, and other tools as well.

And, being on-line, you can shop in your PJ’s.

Check it out

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Inventory Reduction Sale at The Scarlet Thread

Project: Paint Swirl Glass Ornaments

by Carla Sinclair

in CRAFT Projects,Paint

By Lish Dorset

Every now and then at the holidays I decide I want brand-new ornaments to add to my eclectic collection. It's not the most cost-effective decorating method, so I started to think about how I could make inexpensive ornaments to glitz up the tree. Paint swirl glass ornaments are quick to make and easy on your wallet.

Materials

Craft paint I used Martha Stewart Decorative Arts paint by Plaid.
1 Plastic container I used a take-out container I had planned on recycling.
Craft glass ornaments They come in a variety of sizes.
Ribbon

Step 1: Apply a liberal amount of paint into the container.

Step 2: Take your ornament and roll it back and forth in the paint. If you see a blank spot as you're working, continue rolling.

Step 3: Pull the ornament out of the paint carefully. Double check that there aren't any uncovered spots and that it looks the way you want it to.

Step 4: To dry your ornament, use the top of the packaging that the blank ornaments came in, paint side up. Let dry completely for a few hours.

Step 5: Once the ornament is dry, add a piece of ribbon or twine and hang on your tree! Try adding decorations to the inside, too. Here I mixed paper confetti I made with sequins.

See Lish's complimentary project, posted yesterday, on how to make a Folk Art-Inspired Ornament Tree.

About the Author:

Lish Dorset loves to craft and inspire others around her craft (including her cat Ronnie), too. She's a staff writer for CRAFT and a lover of Maker Faire. A lifelong Michigan resident, Lish is a part of Handmade Detroit, a DIY gang that's been hosting the Detroit Urban Craft Fair, Michigan's first indie craft fair, since 2006. While she loves all crafting mediums, she spends most of her time sewing, quilting, and finding ways to involve a glass of wine in her projects.

How to Make Christmas Tree Ornaments Using Fusion Beads

in Craft Shopping

Fusion Beads help make festive Christmas tree ornaments. I have found three ornaments that are very simple to create. Even your preschoolers can master these projects.

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How to Make Christmas Tree Ornaments Using Fusion Beads

3 Easy Fusion Bead Holiday Gift Making Activities

in Craft Shopping

Looking for fun holiday activities that your entire family can enjoy? Why not use your activities to help your children create Christmas gifts for their family and friends? I found some simple gift ideas that will be sure to impress your loved ones on that special family holiday.

The rest is here:
3 Easy Fusion Bead Holiday Gift Making Activities

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