Honeysuckle: Elaine’s Botanicals

Dionne    Embroidery and Crewel     double running stitch, Elaine's botanicals, embroidery, pistol stitch, satin stitch, stem stitch, stumpwork

While Camellia may have been the taster that reeled us in, Honeysuckle has been one of my favourites of the Elaine’s Botanicals range right from the moment they arrived in store at Victoria House Needlecraft.

I cannot say whether it is the faithful rendering of the delicacy of the flowers or the whimsy of the ladybird.  I just love it, and you will too.

It is a little more complicated than the flowers from the last couple of months posts, so would probably be a stretch for a novice.  The embroidery design features pistol stitch, double running stitch, stem stitch, satin stitch and some beginner stumpwork for the working on the ladybird.  This design is well worth the effort and is truly beautiful.

Gardenia: Elaine’s Botanicals

Dionne    Embroidery and Crewel     double running stitch, Elaine's botanicals, embroidered, gardenia, stumpwork

Last week I gave you a preview of things to come.  Well, they say confession is good for the soul.  Maybe it is, but if this is my last post, you will know I went down in a blaze of glory, … um, …, well,  maybe under a pile of soil?  I had a lovely one of these when I was a young, groovy, twenty something girl-about-town living in the inner Sydney suburb of Petersham.  Actually I had many of them over a period of time.  As the Princess of Darkness to all things containing Chlorophyll, my hands of death wreaked havoc on these poor defenceless plants.  I had to replace them regularly, ie once a year when my mother came to visit.  She bought me the original one.

Dad was onto me immediately when she mused after 4 years that it appeared to grow very slowly, but it was surprising that it was still alive.  He suggested that I buy a slightly bigger one every year.  Doh!  He also confessed how they had to replace the Governors tree at the Agricultural college he attended.  Name of College and reasons for tree death will remain classified to protect the innocent.

So there you have it Mum.   I killed them, … at the rate of one per year and bought a lovely new one every year just before you arrived.  They had a glorious aroma.  Sadly Gardenia mark 4 did not survive the move to Mittagong.  I think the frost got it, well I am blaming the frost anyway.  These days I leave anything involving the garden to Craig.  At least it will live!  Elaine’s Botanicals‘ Gardenias a little challenging to see online, you have to hit the close up button to see the detail.  It is a simple design embroidered in double running stitch, with a slight nod to miniature stumpwork in the form of a sweet little ladybird perched on a leaf.

Stumpwork & Goldwork Embroidery: Our September Book of the Month

Dionne    Book of the Month, Embroidery and Crewel, What's New     goldwork, goldwork embroidery, jane nicholas, stumpwork

Jane Nicholas‘ Stumpwork & Goldwork Embroidery Inspired by Turkish, Syrian & Persian Tiles is a visual feast!  We love stocking Australian designs and designers, it is especially exciting to be able to promote someone who lives in the Southern Highlands of NSW.  Vicki is our shop stumpworker and has done a number of Jane’s classes over the years, and loved them.  Her classes have brought many visitors to the Southern Highlands and our store too.

The book is well photographed and the clear, easy to follow instructions give even the non-stumpworker like me the courage to want to attempt these designs.  My favourites are the Persian Peony Tile and the Mughal Grapevine Tile.  I have always loved purple and red together, and Persian Peony has a deep teal in it as well.  The symmetry of Mughal Grapevine is soothing, and the little grape bead clusters look so luscious and juicy.  Aahhhh, … more stuff to add to the “Bucket List”! 

Instructions are provided for each design to be used in a range of applications; including book covers, brooches and incredibly elegant pictures for your walls.  This beautiful book evokes memories of my travels to the Middle East a lifetime ago. 

This could be a beautiful coffee table book for a non-stitcher.  For the novice stitcher attempting stumpwork for the first time, this will probably be too daunting.  An experienced stitcher in other needlework disciplines would find this an enjoyable challenge.  Jane’s devotees will be delighted with her latest offering.  Available now online and in store for $50.00.

Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies: Our August Book of the Month

Dionne    Book of the Month, Embroidery and Crewel     cicely Mary Barker, di van niekerk, embroidery, Flower fairies, flower fairies in ribbon embroidery & stumpwork, stumpwork

Who doesn’t love a fairy?  We love this book!  I have never done Ribbon Embroidery, … and I am a bit scared of Stumpwork, especially with Jane Nicholas living just down the road.  When Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies™ in Ribbon Embroidery & Stumpwork arrived in store, Kerry and I were drooling.  This book is truly breathtaking.  There are five Flower Fairies™ taught; Periwinkle Fairy, Black Medick Fairies, White Clover Fairy, Stork’s Bill Fairy and the Red Clover Fairy.  We don’t stock everything you will need, some items will need to be sourced elsewhere.  We just fell in love with it and keep it in stock because it makes us happy every time we look at it.

Di Van Niekerk has made these lovely designs accessible to stitchers in a ribbon embroidery and stumpwork mixed media.  While we try hard to recommend books that have something for everyone, this may be a little a daunting for a novice or someone seriously time challenged like me, but there was absolutely no denying its place on our Book of the Month list.  We recommend at least intermediate skills in embroidery stitches before making the leap to reproducing these lovely designs.  Like every book we recommend, the instructions are easy-to-follow and have a step-by-step logic, even I would make an effort if the munchkin was a girl.  Even if you don’t stitch, this book is just lovely to look at, … and pat every now and then.  Available instore and online now for $47.00.