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Posts tagged ‘design needlepoint’

Silk Sails – Sailboat Needlepoint

Over the weekend NeedlePaint attended the TNNA Winter Show in Phoenix.  This tradeshow is one of the largest events for needlepoint stores each year.

I was lucky enough to be across from River Silks, silk ribbon for needlepoint and embroidery.  The ladies there were quite busy, but as the afternoon hours extended and the traffic drew down, we got to chatting.  They gave me a piece of canvas and some silk.  Once I started playing with the silk ribbon, I loved it!  It really is easy to use, and the coverage looks great.

Quickly I came up with a fun idea to work on during the slower times.  There was a sailboat custom needlepoint canvas on display, which I took down, and decided to make silk sails.

The silk ribbon is flowing with the wind

Just to do the creative stitchers that have used River Silk some justice, I’m going to include some amazing pictures of needlepoint that has been done using silk.

Roadside designed by Anne Cram, stitched by Lynn K. Bayer

Electric Zebra from Julia’s Needleworks

These and many more River Silks needlepoint kits can be ordered through your local needlepoint retailer or through NeedlePaint.com!  Also, if you want to have your own custom needlepoint kits matched with silk from River Silks, we can do that, too!

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NeedlePaint Inspiration, Needlepoint

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NeedlePaint Creates a Custom Shop for Personalized Needlepoint Ring Bearer Pillow Kits

We just created a personalized needlepoint shop for wedding ring bearer pillows needlepoint kits.  These ring bearer pillow designs allow crafters to adjust names and colors and even add their own designs to make that special day just a little more special.

If you are new to needlepoint, or very experienced, you will find making a ring bearer pillow to be a treat.  The small size and easy to follow designs mean that you can finish your project in less than a month!  If you are not crafty, don’t worry, we also have stitchers here who can have your pillow ready in as little as six weeks.  Personalized needlepoint ring bearer canvases start at only $49 and finished needlepoint pillows start at $160.

Don’t miss your chance to make an unforgettable wedding gift, that not only will be used during the wedding, but also will be cherished in the newlyweds home for a lifetime.

The Ring Bearer Pillow Shop Has Launched with over 20 Personalizable Designs

 

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NeedlePaint Inspiration, Needlepoint

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A War and Peace Needlepoint Christmas Stocking

Three weeks before Christmas, my daughter-in-law finally finished the needlepoint design for her daughter’s (my grand-daughter’s) needlepoint Christmas stocking.  So, I put the canvas on my Victorian stretcher frame, began leafing through my favorite needlepoint books ( The Needlepoint Book by Jo Ippolito Christensen and A Pageant of Pattern for Needlepoint Canvas by Sherlee Lantz), and began stitching like mad.

Zoe's Personalized Needlepoint Stocking - BEAUTIFUL!!! (Click on Photo to Enlarge)

Well, not that fast! I took some time to picking out the stitches while I downloaded from my local public library the audio recording of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy by Blackstone Audio, Inc. Downloadable audio books which can be listened to on your computer, MP3 player, or iPod has allowed me to combine creative stitchery and literature and learning.

War and Peace was 60 hours and 42 minutes long and I finished listening to Tolstoy a couple hours before I finished the stocking. Thus, I have termed the project the Ware and Peace Stocking. Similarly, an afghan which I knitted for a wedding present became The Children’s Book Afghan and I sent a copy the book by A.S. Byatt as an additional gift. Both books are long and dense. I found them much more enjoyable as audio presentations as I stitched away than they would have been had I read the written words. I remember that the first time I read War and Peace in 1968, it took me the entire summer!

Coming soon details of some of the unusual stitches I used on my Ware and Peace Stocking.

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NeedlePaint Inspiration, Needlepoint

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The Four Hour Needlepoint Ornament

With less than a month to do to Christmas, I was getting challenged to finish my goal of 9 personalized needlepoint ornaments. I needed to cut dramatically the time it took to needlepoint the ornaments. Could I do one in 4 hours?

Looking at the needlepoint design choices, I selected the Snowflake Design — not too complex and only 3 colors, but there is a lot of background. If I were to meet my 4-hour goal, I had to come up with something even quicker than the open work I did on Santa in his sleigh .

To the drawing board — the custom needlepoint canvas has a rich dark green background so why cover it up? Add red running stitches in alternating columns of over 3 rows and under one. It looked great and added a new dimensions to the otherwise plain background.

And, canvas on stretcher, I headed off to my flight from Denver to Boston — 3.5 hours. When I landed in Boston, I had finished all but 2 square inches of the background. It only took me another 15 minutes to finish up when I got time at my destination and then another 20 minutes to sew it onto the green fabric stuff it and tie it up. Success!!!

As you can see, I used the same technique on the blue snowflake ornament with light blue on the dark blue background.

Thanksgiving is not here and I am done with the ornament!!

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How to NeedlePoint, NeedlePaint Inspiration, Needlepoint

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Christmas Needlepoint Cat Pillow Finishing

Hightail and Tagger

Hightail and Tagger Christmas Needlepoint Cat Pillow

We just got a pillow back from our needlepoint finisher, and I have to share the pictures of it!

Helen Dixon stitched this pillow using a custom needlepoint kit she purchased on NeedlePaint.com.  She mailed us back the mostly finished canvas and requested the black velvet frame and backing, with red velvet piping, and it looks amazing!

Just in time, this needlepoint Christmas pillow still look sophisticated.  The needlepoint pillow is 12 x 12 inches.  If you are interested in having your needlepoint kit turned into a pillow, please feel free to contact us, our prices are great, and our pillow finisher has over 30 years of experience!

Cool Needlepoint Cat Pillow for Christms

Close Up, the Needlepoint Cat Pillow, Just In Time for Christmas!

All NeedlePaint.com customers get a discounted rate, and if they let us know that they may want to have us finish the pillow for them, we will include a return label with their shipment so they can mail us back the canvas after they have done the stitching.  (We do also offer needlework finishing if needed, in this case we finished the cats).

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NeedlePaint Inspiration, Needlepoint, Pillows

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NeedlePaint October Newsletter

We just sent out our October needlepoint newsletter.  A lot of fun custom needlepoint projects!

Please note, if you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, you can email us with your name and email address, and we will add your name to the list.  Or click here, and select the Subscribe option.

If you would like to view the live version of the newsletter with links that actually work, click here.

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NeedlePaint Inspiration, Needlepoint

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How to Design a Photo Needlepoint Stocking

You can now stitch a great photo needlepoint stocking very easily.  As part of our new personalized needlepoint shop, we added some stocking designs that have an area where your favorite photo can be added.

To view personalized needlepoint christmas stocking designs that you can add your photo to, just go to our personalized needlepoint shop.  All you have to do is type in your name and place the order and then email us the photo you would like to include.

We will email you back a preview of your design for your approval.  We won’t ship any personalized orders until we have approval, and all orders are 100% satisfaction guaranteed.  See our post on customer satisfaction to learn more!

Add your own Name and Photo to this Needlepoint Stocking Canvas

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NeedlePaint Inspiration, Needlepoint

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Customer Service and Needlepoint Design service

The last few months have been going very well at NeedlePaint.com.  As you may guess, creating custom needlepoint kits is not always a perfect process, but we always do our best to get it right the first time.

A few things you may not be aware of that we do.

#1.  We love to help before you place your order!  If the photo needlepoint preview does not look as good as your want or you want help cropping it, please email us the photo and we will work on it and help you with your project.  Also, we develop designs from scratch and are happy to discuss ideas for a new project.

#2.  We review your order to be sure there are no major errors and that it looks like something we would want to stitch.  You will get an email asking for the photo if we think colors may not look right, or that the canvas needs to be improved.

#3.  Sometimes colors on the computer look good, but when we proceed with the order, the colors we find are totally off!  On animals and people we try to color match the floss by hand as computers don’t recognize dog breeds or skin tones.  Most often, we’ll get purple and green tones, but alas, we will fix them!

#4.  If you are not happy with your project, we will fix the design and replace the canvas!  These projects take a lot of time and the needlepoint will probably be with your family for a very long time, sometimes generations, so we encourage all of our customers to speak up if they have any problems with an order.

The feedback we’ve been getting is really nice, and lets us know that going the extra mile is worth it!

“Thank you for the update.  I am really impressed with your customer service.  A+ with the proactive approach—it is refreshing.”  Nancy, from AZ

“I am very excited about this…and THANK YOU so much again for you help & patience with getting this perfect!! It really means a lot!!”  Erica, from NJ

“Got it today and it looks great. Thank you!”  Holly, from NJ

“I received my shipment yesterday and the canvas is just beautiful!!!!”  Deb, from MN

This week's orders

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Needlepoint

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NeedlePoint Dog Canvases

One of our favorite projects we see almost every week is the dogs.  Two weeks ago, we actually had 5 dog needlepoint canvas orders, along with two cat needlepoint canvases.

Some of the dogs are below.  You can see that the close up images look great.  Also, we’ve been working on finding more dog breeds to add to our Etsy shop.  You can browse more dog needlepoint canvases there, or upload your own needlepoint photo to create a custom needlepoint kit at our website!

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NeedlePaint Inspiration, Needlepoint

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Photo Needlepoint Vs “NeedlePainting”

Turning a Photo into a Needlepoint Canvas is not as simple as is seams.  Which which is why we are always looking for new ideas to create the best needlepoint canvases.

Recently we had an issue with one of our customers, because the image on the canvas turned out to be much blurrier than the original.  Since the person was a very experienced needlepointer, and they wanted to pick their own colors, we decided to try a direct photo transfer.  This process looks a lot better, but it does not directly follow the mesh.  They loved it!

Unfortunately, I don’t have the images of those exact canvases to compare with, but I did talk to some more stitchers and decide that in some cases a direct photo transfer would be better.  I experimented and took some pictures so you can see the clarity difference.

Left is Direct Transfer on the Right is NeedlePaint

You can see how the direct transfer is crisper (which is the one the customer picked), But to be clear, we do not recommend this unless you are experienced, and only if your image is not coming out clearly on NeedlePaint.com

The reason we think the website’s “NeedlePainting” version is better, is that it groups similar colors for you, and it matches real floss colors to your canvas.  The end result is that even if you are experience and like to do the colors and grouping yourself, the final stitched canvas will come out almost identical.  With our counted stitch guides and color aids, we believe the NeedlePaint versions will come out stitched better.  And if you are having troubles with letters, just email us after you place the order, and we will fix them.

But, as mentioned, on some projects the direct transfer can make a big difference, so if you have any issues when placing an order, please use this image and description as reference to help make your decision.  We will also still include a counted stitch guide, color aid, and color chart for your reference, even though it won’t match identically, it may still help!

And, as always, feel free to email or call me to discuss.

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How to NeedlePoint, Needlepoint

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