Yesterday was the third lesson of the Nutcracker by Eleanor Grosch. And, wait for it, there’s a cliff hanger. You won’t see this one coming. It was all about the Rat King. He now has a fabulous blue jacket worked in a two part stitch and a shiny white ascot! Yes my rat king is […]
Archives for 2018
Happiness Is
Silly Christmas Birds! This is one of my all time favorite canvases. It never ceases to make me happy. It was a fun stitch and it’s super fun to look at finished. LOL Happy Holiday week! We also have a super special version without the santa hats good for year round display. Here’s the link […]
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas from our house to yours. Whether you are celebrating today or not may this find you happy, healthy an full of joy. Hugs from Santa Richie. xo ruth
What to my wondering eyes should appear
in my inbox?! but a virtual tour of Angie’s Christmas. It knocked my socks off. How fun are these finishes? Here we have Naughty or Nice by David Galchutt, Holiday Owls by Brooke Connor and one of Barbara’s Needlepoint’s Limited Edition Santas Melissa Shirley’s Christmas Village is a great stand up! My Silly Christmas Birds, looks very happy […]
Fairy Dust!
I keep telling you that my mind is a mysterious place. The ideas that crash through it are sometimes crazy. As I have been stitching the Nutcracker by Eleanor Grosch I have been determined to make it look like there was fairy dust coming from the Sugar Plum Fairy’s wand. I think I did it. […]
She’s home!
I love this girl. She makes me happy. I loved every moment stitching her and now she is home again, hanging on the walls of the beehive! Why Fit In by Zecca with stitchguide by me. My mind is a mysterious place. I see this piece as timeless. I chose classic framing for it. I […]
February Sparkles
I know, I know, February is months away. But really, it will be here before you know it. Liisa Turunen is coming to teach in February so signups are open! We adore Liisa. Whats not to love? She is a super talented beadwork designer and such a patient teacher. She brings us beautiful designs that […]
Respect the Art
I pick the artists that I license because they are amazingly talented and I love their work. My painters work hard to keep all that beautiful detail in the art when they paint it on the canvas. When I select stitches and techniques for the canvas, I try to honor that talent and again keep […]
Happy Happy Owls
It’s the most wonderful time of year. The holidays are upon us and celebrations are everywhere. Even the owls are dressed for partying. These are Brooke Connor’s Holiday Owls with 4 amazing finishes! I’m not sure which is my favorite. :-) One lives at the beehive so it better be that one right? The Holiday […]
It’s a Pretty Bow
I love the big fluffy bow on Santa’s Books by Melissa Shirley. I made it from WireLace which is one of my favorite things to work with. WireLace comes in several sizes. I primarily use 6mm and 12mm. 6mm comes in more colors so YAY! 6mm is easier to pull through the canvas so YAY! […]
Santa Likes to Read
Thank you everyone who joined us for our annual Thankgiving weekend class. It’s so fun to spend the weekend with friends. This year we stitched Melissa Shirley’s Santa’s Books canvas. It’s chock full of books, ornaments, a tree, gifts and so many fun details. We started with the upper border and stitched counted evergreen trees. […]
Stitches Volume Five
Just in time for the holidays we have a new book! Stitches Volume 5. It’s perfect for gift giving to friends, family and even yourself. Why not? It’s the holidays. We all need a present. Right? This is the 5th book in my series of stitch books. Can you believe it? So many stitches and […]
I had a Sudden Realization
Its time to unveil our first Mystery Class of 2019! Let’s stitch Sudden Realization by David Galchutt. I’m ready for something lush and detailed. What about you? I love the art of David Galchutt and this is one of my favorite pieces. There are so many details and textures and embellishments to create. Oh, we […]
Foxes and Owls and Birds and Leaves
So much fun to stitch! Sue selected this ellen giggenbach canvas for my last embellishment extravaganza in September. Thanks to some power stitching she is finished!!! There are so many little details in this canvas. The fox is a patchwork of textures and stitches. The little owl is so cute with rings for his eyes […]
A Cluster of Sequins and Beads….
… solves a lot of problems. :-) You know I already believe this, but here’s proof. Wow, what a weekend. We beaded and experimented and made a glorious new connection with a fabulous teacher. Eleanor Pigman. Our first class was a mixed media adventure. Eleanor shared her techniques and tips while we created cuckoos and […]
Calling all Lulu Lovers
Lulu mypinkturtle painted kitties! Need I say more? They are just too darn cute. 5″ x 6.5″ handpainted on 18ct. Pink Cat Orange Cat Blue Cat Yellow Cat Green Cat Purple Cat How can you choose? Click on the links above to adopt yours today, or give us a call at 410.296.0405. meow ruth
Things you need to know ;-)
I love sparkle. I love beads. I love polka dots – not that it matters for this piece. And I love rick rack. It’s true, I do. Put all of those pieces together and you will have my inspiration for lesson two of the Ghost Collage Mystery Class. There’s lots of beads. There’s a bit […]
Beyond Amazing
Boy did we have fun and learn a lot!!! Apollinariya Koprivnik was here this past weekend from Slovenia. She taught her style of beaded jewelry. She calls it Beaded Architecture. Oh My! It’s complex and gorgeous. Each piece is more ingenious than the next. So many fun techniques. Polina is a delight of a teacher. […]
The Nutcracker!
I am truly never timely. I have ideas and I am either way ahead of the trend or seriously after the trend. This one however I got spot on. Disney is releasing the Nutcracker next month and we are doing a nutcracker canvas for our holiday mystery class! Woo Hoo! How perfect is that? Designed […]
The Ghosts are Coming to Town
Better ghosts than zombies. LOL. It’s almost Halloween, where did the time go? We needed a fun and easy Halloween canvas to usher in the holiday. Our current Mystery Class is just that! The Ghost Collage. It isn’t too big, and it’s stitched on 13ct. How’s that for something different? Yesterday was our first class […]
New Adventures!
Eleanor Pigman Classes! YAY! Before Eleanor started making art with beads she was primarily a watercolor artist. She fell in love with the world of beading after doing an apprenticeship with a jewelry designer, the shop closed and she inherited thousands of seed beads. She was then faced with the task of turning these beads […]
He’s a Fisher Bird!
How fun was this? Our ZECCA Tall Bird on a Rock Mystery Class has come to an end. He’s a fisher bird! Is he incognito? Did he have a bad beak job? Either way this guy is a hoot and super de duper fun to stitch. The final lesson really brought him to life. There’s […]
Santa’s Books
Every year we have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend event. It’s a great way to spend time with friends and celebrate! It has become our tradition. This year our project will be the fabulous Melissa Shirley Christmas Books canvas. Join us for three fun days of stitching and fun. I will have a complete stitch guide […]
In an Octopus’ Garden
Oh so fun! We just finished Zecca Retreat 2018. I love this event. Best friends, great canvas, fabulous colors. What more could we want? Karen, the joyous mind that is Zecca designs a brand new canvas just for us. She likes to challenge me with the subject, LOL. It is then my job to write […]
