Never Stop Growing

BRD-001 "Never Stop Growing"

I've recently been taking a look at Blue Ribbon Designs - where it all started, where it has progressed, and where it will be in the future. Not only has the cross stitch industry changed drastically over the years, but so has my design style. Looking back at my design catalog, each piece contains special memories...and it is so interesting to see how my design style has evolved over the past nine years. When I first started counted thread designing, I was extremely inspired by historical samplers and the history of needlework...I think you will always see a bit of that in my artwork....but now my signature style has grown immensely and become much more (for lack of a better word) modern. Taking a look at my very first design "Never Stop Growing", I have to smile and think about how far my work has come over the years - this design is very "spot motif" based....and although it is detailed, it is very basic. Looking at my latest designs, I have definitely left the "basic" historical sampler style behind, but I am still extremely inspired by the same organic motifs and themes...and everything just seems to "flow" a little better. As I look at the future of Blue Ribbon Designs and set new personal and professional goals, I can't help but reflect on my first design title and how very closely it relates to me (and my work) today - it is so true, we "never stop growing"...

A selection of recent releases (L to R):
BRD-104 "Beauty In Simplicity"- BRD-106 "Redwork Garden" - BRD-105 "Friendship Blooms"

June "Just Because" Giveaway Recipient

Good afternoon friends and followers!

I was quite happy to see the enthusiastic response to my latest giveaway - what a treat it was to read many of your encouraging and kind comments....to my followers (long term and new) - thank you for joining me on my creative journey...I truly wish I could award each and every one of you with a set of my designs. If you aren't the recipient of this latest giveaway, please don't be discouraged - I love to give things away...and there will definitely be more chances in the future (in fact, I already have something special planned for July)! So without further ado....here is the randomly chosen recipient:

Congratulation to Myrna - comment #3 - she posted:

MyrnaJune 12, 2012 10:11 AM

Love, love your designs!!! Please enter me into your drawing! Thanks in advance for the chance!

Myrna, you will be notified via email momentarily.





Again, thank you all for reading, following, commenting, and supporting my blog and designs - you all make me happy!

A June "Just Because" Giveaway

Let's liven things up with a Blue Ribbon Designs giveaway..."just because"...

The prize?? - a quartet of Blue Ribbon Designs needlework charts (the four shown in the photo): "Friendship Blooms", "Turn The Page", Established With Love", and "Sweet Simple Samplings"....yep, one lucky recipient will receive all four design charts...

To enter, simply leave one comment on this post - all comments will go into a random drawing where one fan/follower will receive this special set of design charts.

Fine print (read carefully):

• Giveaway is open until 11:59 PM CST Friday, June 15, 2012.
• International entries welcome.
• All entries require a valid email address. Please make sure your email address is visible in your profile (so I have a way of contacting you, should you be randomly chosen) - if you are uncertain or post "anonymously", please leave your email address and your first name with your comment - entries without a valid email will be disqualified.
• No chart substitutions.
• E-mail entries will not be accepted, you must leave a comment on this post.
• One comment per person; multiple comments will be deleted/disqualified.
• One recipient will be announced on Saturday June 16, 2012.

There you have it - all the "Just Because" giveaway details...I am thrilled to be able to thank those who continually follow my blog and leave encouraging and enthusiastic comments! I hope my future posts maintain your interest and inspire you... Good luck to all!

Upcoming Design Spotlight: "Friendship Blooms"

It is time for another upcoming design release spotlight - this design will be released later this month at the TNNA Nashville Needlework Market (a needlework industry trade show for manufacturers, designers, and needlework shops). I will be releasing three new designs - several days ago, I shared "Beauty In Simplicity" with you - today's spotlight will be on "Friendship Blooms". Look for my three new designs to start arriving in needlework shops following the the Nashville Needlework Market being held on February 25-26th. In the meantime, enjoy this special spotlight feature...

Friendship Blooms (BRD-105) is a framed sampler with a fun sixteen square border. This friendship design features an original verse and is perfect for "Round Robin" or group stitching. Each square in the border can be used for an individual needlework small - the chartpack includes finishing instructions for three styles of ornaments/fobs/hook hangers; these three styles include: backing your ornament/fob with linen, backing your ornament/fob with wool or cotton fabric, and using finishing forms. Here are some other creative finishing ideas: magnets, bookmarks, pinkeeps/cubes, needlebooks, and or floss ring tags - there are endless finishing possibilities. The sampler verse is cross stitched over-one, but the chartpack includes alternate charting that uses a back stitch for those of you who shy away from over-one stitching. I also included two alphabets/sets of numbers for personalizing your piece(s).

I have posted all the details on my website - including additional photos and a complete supply/materials list - simply visit: http://www.blueribbondesigns.com and click on "Future" in the left-hand menu...then scroll down to the photos and information on "Frienship Blooms". All model pieces were stitched on Straw hand-dyed fabric by Weeks Dye Works with Weeks Dye Works cotton floss (DMC conversions are provided). I worked the cover models on 40-count linen, but you can choose your favorite count!

I hope this friendship sampler will speak to you...

"Friendship Blooms" Sampler

Ornaments/Fobs/Hook Hangers (40-count Straw linen by WDW)
Top two - backed with linen
Middle two - back with cotton fabric
Bottom two - finishing forms (2" square)

Ornaments/fobs stitched on 28-count Jobelan (Bone):

Ornaments/fobs 1 and 6 - backed with cotton fabric

Ornaments/fobs 2 and 5 - finishing forms (2" square)

Ornaments/fobs 3 and 4 - backed with linen

"Friendship Blooms"

Today I have a sneak of peek of a new design to show you (before framing)...here is your first look at "Friendship Blooms". This friendship sampler will be released in February at the Nashville Needlework Market. The sampler is stitched on 40-count Weeks Dye Works Straw linen with Weeks Dye Works cotton floss. I thought it would be fun to have several other finishing ideas with the chart - so I made multiple ornaments (could be fobs or hook hangers) using three different finishing techniques...one uses finishing forms - one backs the ornament with linen - one backs the ornament with fabric or wool. Finishing instructions for all three will be included in the chartpack. The ornaments/fobs/hook hangers shown in the photo were all stitched on 28-count Bone Jobelan, but I will be doing several with the 40-count Weeks Dye Works linen, as well. As with most of my designs, there are multiple possibilities for finishing! I wanted a fun, cheerful release in February that included many of my favorite motifs, as it tends to be quite gloomy here that time of year...

I am now working on another new design model called "Redwork Garden" which is somewhat a companion to "Quilted Garden"...it is a larger design, so it will take me a couple weeks to get it stitched - I am thrilled with the charting and can't wait to share it with you!

Wonderful Weekend

It has been a gloomy couple days here - in fact, yesterday it rained the entire day. I decided I would take advantage of my Saturday and do some sewing, baking, and cooking. I started my afternoon by making seven more of my pincushion tuffets - these were all made with recipients in mind...and they use two of my favorite retired fabric lines (Beach House by Blackbird Designs for Moda and Madeira by Blackbird Designs for Moda) and are backed with wool. We all know how much I enjoy making these little tuffets and I have the assembly line quilting done to a science...I even moved my ironing board right next to my sewing table so I could be as efficient as possible. These also gave me chance to show-off some of the pins I made recently! After my time in the sewing studio, I made my way to the kitchen, where I baked some homemade bread and made a nice, comforting potato soup. The evening was then spent in my stitching nest finishing up my new design "Friendship Blooms" - actually, I did the last couple stitches this afternoon - so I will blog about it and give you a peek tomorrow! I am doing some charting for another new piece tonight...and I am going to cut pieces for a miniature quilt I plan to start sewing tomorrow...it has been a quiet, productive, and relaxing weekend...

Buttons and Bottle Caps

If you read my blog often, then you know I am addicted to buttons - I am constantly on the lookout for buttons - new or vintage or novelty...I don't discriminate! I have them in jars, tins, and boxes in my studio - and sometimes an entire project I work on is decided upon by a button that inspires me. So today's post should be no surprise to you - paperclips embellished with buttons...these work great as bookmarks - or for collecting papers - or attached to a card or tag - and you often see them in scrapbooking and altered art. They are beyond simple to make and can be embellished as much as you like - I did these rather simple, but you could add wool shapes or stack several buttons...even add ribbon or trim or small fabric yo-yos. I use a good, clear-drying glue and attach the paperclip to the button...then after it drys, I glue a small wool felt circle to the back to make it pretty and smooth - I have also been known to use a piece of white adhesive foam on the back. Most of the clips in the photo use buttons, but some are decorative brads I had in my embellishment box - I just removed the prongs and attached the paperclip and wool back (these are seen in the top right photo on the right side). Although I have various sizes and colors of paperclips on hand - the majority of these use a basic size #1 silver...and the three darker ones use a brass jumbo clip. I recently found some colorful BIG clips measuring about 3 3/4" - I picked up a couple packs thinking they will make great embellished bookmarks...I envision them with wool and fun ribbon tails.

I also made a couple more batches of my bottle cap magnets...I had found some wonderful adhesive tin pins at the scrapbook store that I fell in love with (aren't the bird and the goose adorable?!) - they fit perfectly in the bottle caps, so I attached them with Amazing GOOP craft adhesive and added a magnet to the back of each - super easy and super cute!

I've been running in a million different directions lately...trying to get new designs prepared, trying to make holiday gifts, along with managing my business and our household (and still nursing what is left of my cold/flu) - I have been a multitasking machine. The whole time I worked on the above projects, I had my sewing/embroidery machine working on embroidered snowflakes and had multiple household chores going on...it's been a little chaotic here trying to get my to-do list done...but each night, I have been stitching up a storm, working on new models for early 2012. "Friendship Blooms" is almost ready for a peek - it may be done tonight (if I work into the wee hours of the morning, like usual) - if not I hope to finish it up tomorrow...so be on the lookout for a sighting soon!