Yesterday was the start of a new mystery class at the Beehive. Fleur is a beautiful painting of a sweet little hamster wearing a tiara!!!  She was designed by Kimberly Santini.  Kimberly’s work is ethereal and light; there are lots of colors and shades blending together to make the final painting.  This is what we love about Kimberly’s paintings.

With each new mystery I try to do something different.  I move out of my comfort zone and push the boundaries a little.  That’s what keeps me entertained and growing.

Stitching the hamster’s face was the challenge.  Let’s face it, the face is the most important part of this canvas.  There are some pretty obvious ways to stitch this little hamster. All would be beautiful, but were they what I wanted to do?  We could have stitched her all in Long and Short or we could have needlefelted her or we could even have stitched her in basketweave. I chose to do some needlepainting with a plan that you can follow. I outlined the basic details step by step in the stitch guide.

Think about what areas on the hamster should come forward and stand out – paws, nose, eyes and edges of ears. Those areas are going to be stitched heavier.  From there everything gets lighter.  Notice the strong diagonal the draws your eye from the tip of her nose to her sweet little eyes.  We need to emphasize that.

From there, I wanted to create a fun pattern on her body.  This is a counted blackwork pattern stitched with one or two plies of silk. It’s soft and subtle in real life.  And it blends nicely with her face while still allowing her face to come forward.  YAY!  The plan came together.

This is a two lesson mystery class with the second lesson August 5th.  The second lesson is going to be awesome when we create her sparkly crown!  If you would like to join the fun, give us a call at 410.296.0405 or sign up online here.  We’d love to send you a kit.

xo
ruth