As I was sitting on one of the park’s benches along with my classmates for our group report, all of us ended completely blank. The topic was supposed to be about “paper and card”. Loads of ides came into my mind that time but I couldn’t figure out where to start with and on how to fix them together to achieve coherence.
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A Startling Reality
Scrapbooking supplies can be used like beads, wallpapers and silk-flowers. Scrapbooking is the fun method used to relieve the mind from stress.
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Life Is Colourful With The Scrapbooking Supplies
Cards – If you think about cards or simply hear the said word, celebrations and occasions would definitely be the first thing that would pop out in your mind. But how about the ordinary ones – those that simply say ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ or those often called everyday cards.
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Transformation of Cards
There are so many scrapbooking ideas on the internet and craft stores. Your mind would be loaded with so many exciting things to do that you somehow forget some important factors on how to put scrapbooking ideas into effect. It would be your advantage if you know how to plan your scrapbooking and get started on the right track.
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Scrapbooking Ideas: Creativity and Inspiration Put Together
To have a set of eyes is a wonderful thing. To enjoy colors, surroundings, people, and art are all beautiful sights for the human eye. But there is also another vision for the sore eyes and that is the elegant scrapbooking paper of My Mind’s Eye. A fairly new company with amazing designers emerged into the crafting industry, which will take any scrapbooker through the eye and into the mind of pure creativity with their designs. It is then no wonder why the business chose their name. In this article we take a look at what makes this company so unique from the rest and why it is so appealing to crafters all around the world. Because with these artists and designers what you see on the surface might not be what you think.
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Scrapbooking Paper Through My Mind’s Eye Is Not What It May Appear
Originally posted 2008-10-21 06:37:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
My husband, who is supportive but not usually enthusiastic about my needlepoint, thinks this one is “spectacular.” He likes how realistic the tail is. It’s stitched in all silk ribbons, with over lapping stitches. I went color by color, following the painting on the canvas to build up the tail.
I’m nuts about the background. I wanted something which added some metallic and was open, to really put the focus on the rooster. So I thought about using a small blackwork pattern. I felt the one I was considering was too busy, so I enlarged it a bit and left out the stitches in the middle.
I really wasn’t thinking about chicken wire until I started stitching it. In fact I deliberately didn’t choose the chicken wire pattern I had already developed. But doesn’t it look just like a new roll of chicken wire?
And not just because of the shape. The Vintage Silver braid from Kreinik has a real aluminum luster to it, which is just perfect.
I’m so happy that the sum of the parts of this piece look even better than what I saw in my mind’s eye over the summer.
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Something to Crow about!
Originally posted 2006-04-18 06:35:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
I’m working on two of EGA’s Master Craftsman programs, design and color. I’m on step 2
of color and have a provisional pass on step 2 in design.
The Step 2 project with changes goes back to be rejudged next week.
But yesterday I spent a fair amount of time laying the groundwork for my next color piece.
I really want to recommend both these programs to people wanting to explore the process
of designing needlework in more depth. Master Craftsman certifications are not supposed
to be easy, they require a strong commitment to time, study and stitching. But I like these
two programs as they are not tied to any particular technique but to more basic design
issues.
For each step there is a theme, something which you need to explore in both research and
stitching. A paper is due for every step as is a stitched design and written material
supporting it.
Submissions are judged twice a year and you have, if I remember correctly, five years to do
each step. Generally when I get material for a new step I read over it and then let it sit on
the back burner until I get an idea.
Yesterday I worked on the Color Step 3. The pieces for the stitched item have been falling
into place more quickly, so I know it’s time to get stitching. I decided on an idea for a
needlepoint I’d like to do, but hadn’t figured it for the program. I then decided on a
canvas mesh (14) which, I’m afraid, is driven mostly by my stash of threads which are too
thick for 18 mesh and need to be used. That decision also made me think about the
colors of those threads, which, in turn, got me thinking of the requirements of the step.
Those requirements restrict your design. To do any designing. you need to have
restrictions. If you had an unlimited choice, without any restrictions, the result would be
chaos. The difference here is that the requirements of the step impose external
restrictions.
But what I discovered yesterday is that one design decision leads to another, in spite of the
restrictions imposed by the step. Here’s how it worked in Q&A format.
I had an idea, inspired by 70′s needlepoint and wanted to reinterpret it in a more modern
way.
1. What threads?
I have way too many threads for 14 mesh canvas mostly in a narrow range of colors, so
that’s the mesh I’ll use.
2, What size?
The minimum size for the program is 6×8, so at least that large.
3. What will it be when it’s done?
This one isn’t going into my stash but will become a tray inset, so it will be living under
glass. This may or may not end up as being important.
4. What color?
At this point I needed to do two things. look at the requirements of the step and look at
the colors of the threads I wanted to use. I also needed to think about what makes good,
not dull, design. So I’m going to use mostly blues and blue-greens with occasional
flashes of orange-red. The occasional color changes as well as more sttention-grabbing
threads should make something exciting.
I’m all ready to go now, I will start charting over the weekend. The design may change
significantly before I’m done, but I’m not stitching without a plan and I can see the
finished result in my mind.
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Some Random Thoughts on Designing
I started working on the last color on a piece I thought I liked. But after about three stitches, I knew I hated it. Do I put it in a bag and maybe pick it up again years from now? Do I abandon it? It’s a dilemma that bothers mer unless something external (moving or an ANG auction) compel me to make a decision.
But you don’t need to be like me. You can figure out when it’s time to abandon that project and send it to a new home. First, did you learn what you wanted to learn from it? If you did, then it’s OK to quit working on it. Did you discover you didn’t like the piece? Then give it up instead of letting it waste space and resources. Does it no longer fit your house or the person you were planning it for? Then why continue to make it? Does it just look dull? If you have tried to perk it up and nothing has worked, maybe it’s time to abandon it.
Life’s too short to do needlepoint you don’t love.
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When to Abandon a Project
That’s why we want stitch guides.
But all too often they disappoint. They use threads that no longer exist. They put the stitches (and maybe not all of them) at the end of the guide or don’t include them at all. They don’t help me stitch the canvas, they just list an area, thread, and stitch. And they are expensive.
I think there has to be a better way. A stitch guide that realizes you have made an investment in threads and have a stash. A stitch guide that will tell you things you can apply to another canvas. A stitch guide that has almost everything right there for you. And one that is affordable.
My stitch guides do just that. They take into account the threads (and stash) you have). They take into account your stitching level, your likes and dislikes, and your thoughts about the canvas. You’ll work with me to get a guide that is for the stitched canvas you see in your mind’s eye.
You can start the process easily, by filling out the stitch guide enquiry form. From that I’ll send you a price quote (so you know your costs up front), a time frame, and maybe some questions.
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Needlepoint Stitch Guide Customized to You
When I moved to California in 1980, I was sort of lost for needlepoint.
Yes, there were some stores in San Francisco, but I didn’t have time on my lunch hour to get to them. There was a knitting and needlepoint store on my way home from work, but it was not too exciting.
But all that changed when I moved to Rockridge, a neighborhood in North Oakland.
On the main street and just at the bottom of my street was a wonderful needlepoint store, The Crewel World. Owned by a lovely lady named Diane, this place was needlepoint heaven. There was lots of thread, more than the Persian Wool and floss combo of most places, canvas, books, charts, painted canvas, classes.
What joy!
In those days Jane Zimmerman, who lived nearby, also taught there, and Diane and the other employees who worked there were unfailing in their support. They were such thread addicts they would buy odd threads and sell them to people like me. I bought all sorts of things from them, DMC matte cotton, Empress Silk, and some mystery threads.
After awhile Diane sold the store and the new owner, Linda, kept the same friendly atmosphere. By that time I had kids and they never minded me with two kids in the stroller coming in (a sign of a great store to my mind). Linda had a second shop in Walnut Creek, which became my LNS when I got a job out there.
Good shops, like good friends, aren’t just stitchy enablers, they become your friends, a haven, a place for creativity. Where would we be without them?
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Crewel World – Past LNS
