Artists Collection

HeartString's Northern Lights Santa

Artists Collection represents three designers:  Mile High Princess, SHEAR Creations, and HeartStrings.

Heart Strings is the brainchild of Pat Thode.  Pat's designs all come with stitch guides and many also include buttons or charms to embellish the piece.  Her work reminds me of museum quality folk art, which is probably why her fans look forward each year to her limited edition Santas and why her designs draw huge interest when one appears on eBay.  I do not know if Pat writes the guides herself, never having been lucky enough to see a canvas and guide in person.  (They sell out like fresh baked bread at my LNS!)  The photo above is Pat's Northern Lights Santa, taken from the Needlenook of La Jolla's website (second link below).
http://www.artistscollection.net/Artists_Collection/HS_Gallery.html

http://www.needlenookoflajolla.com/storedir/proddetail.php?prod=hs2117

Mile High Princess designs are whimsical and modern.  Many MHP angels and Santa canvases come with stitch guides, as do occasional popular pieces like the Princess and the Pea.  The guides I've seen in person are by SHEAR Creations.  They are three pages plus a cover page that has a nice large photo of the finished piece.  The instructions are step-by-step, with a diagram of the suggested stitch included for each step.  I don't know if all the guides come with their canvas or if they must be purchased separately.   I also don't know if all the guides are by SHEAR Creations, which happens to be another company represented by A Collection of Designs.  Here's the link to Mile High Princess' work.
http://www.artistscollection.net/Artists_Collection/Mile_High_Princess_Gallery.html

I've written a separate blog entry about SHEAR Creations LLC already, so all I will say here is that this company is made up of Beth Robertson and Suzanne Howren, the geniuses behind the Stitches for Effect series.  Use the search box in the upper left corner to find what has been written here before about SHEAR Creations.
http://www.artistscollection.net/Artists_Collection/SHEAR_Creations_Gallery.html

The Needle Deeva Is Ready UPDATED

The Needle Deeva's new website already has a section for stitch guides which has just been filled with lots of information about the guides available for these canvases.  So far, guides by Vicky DeAngelis, Robin King, Cynthia Thomas and Debbie Bowers are listed but there are no photos of Debbie's guides yet.  This is a work in progress.
http://www.needledeeva.com/stitch_guides.html

UPDATE:  Janet Perry talks about her Needle Deeva stitch guides here.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/needledeeva-stitch-guides-available

UPDATE #2:  Needle Orts Inc. has stitch guides for Needle Deeva's Rhett and Scarlett O'Hare canvases.
http://www.needleorts.com/shop/Stitch-Guides.htm

Rosalie Peters

If you love traditional needlepoint designs, particularly flowers, you'll want to explore Rosalie Peters' website.  Her lovely patterns, many of which have stitch guides available, are classics.
http://www.rosaliepeters.com/index.html

She does wonderful 3-D items, such as this French Quarter house, as well.  Don't miss the second photo of this done by Silk Road Needlepoint, either!  It comes with a stitch guide and shouldn't be too difficult to finish yourself, either.

Have fun exploring!  I plan to, as there's a category called "Oriental" and you know how I love Asian-themed designs....

Always and Forever Needlepoint (including Stitch Guides)

Lucinda Gregory Rice has been selling her printed and hand painted canvases on eBay for years.  She also has a website that advertises she does stitch guides.  Click on the Stitch Guides link to see what information there is about her guides.  Email her at lucindagregory@msn.com for further information, particularly if you want a canvas that you won't see everywhere that has a guide written especially for you.
http://www.needleartalways.com/