All Kitted Out

BeStitched in Arizona is starting to offer kits that come with the canvas, threads and a Julia Snyder stitch guide.  To see what they have available now (January 2012) head to their blog.
http://bestitchedneedlepoint.com/2012/01/

New Things are appearing all the time.
http://bestitchedneedlepoint.com/beautiful-mermaid/

Watch Out! Shoguns!!! UPDATED

Yoritomo, the First Shogun of Japan (Leigh Designs)

My latest stitch guide is for the newest of Leigh Designs--the Shogun series.  I stitched Yoritomo, the first Shogun of Japan, to act as a model for the January 2012 TNNA show in Phoenix.

Three Backgrounds, All in Two Shades of Perle Cotton

He set up the Shogunate in 12th Century Japan but his descendants didn't rule for long.  Other samurai families took over to rule shortly for seven hundred years.  You can see some of the most famous of them in Leigh's series depicting this warlike but cultured ruling class.  By the way, the symbols in the background are all mons, or the family crests for each Shogun.
http://www.LeighDesigns.com/Sgl7150.html

http://www.LeighDesigns.com/Grp715x.html

Then There Is Fabulous Armor--And BEADS!

The stitch guide for Yoritomo is available from Leigh Designs or directly from me.  Click on the CLICK HERE TO BUY STITCH GUIDES link above for more details.

UPDATE:  I'm not the only one who has done a stitch guide for one of Leigh's Shogun series.  Ruth Schmuff has one available for Otomaro.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2012/08/otomaro-from-shogun-series.html

http://www.bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/details.php?pid=12814&pname=Otomaro

Free Stitch Guides For Barbara Bergsten Canvases UPDATED

Barbara Bergsten Designs offers free stitch guides for all her canvases on her website.  The site also has free charted alphabets, diagrams of the stitches used in her guides, and a project sheet to print out and use for your own notes as you stitch.
http://www.barbarabergstendesigns.com/stitch_guides.htm

UPDATE:  Barbara explains a bit about her free guides on her blog.
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/create_needlepoint/2011/01/painted-stitches-needlepoint.html

UPDATE #2:  A glimpse at the stitch diagrams and instructions in one of Barbara's guides.
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/create_needlepoint/2012/01/needlepoint-stitches.html

UPDATE #3:  Barbara's updated her stitch diagrams and repositioned them to make them easier to find.
http://createneedlepoint.typepad.com/create_needlepoint/2013/04/needlepoint-stitch-diagrams.html

Ewe and Eye Stitch Guides

I don't often see Ewe and Eye canvases that come with a stitch guide, so I thought The Lawn Mowers canvas that has a stitch guide available from Amy Bunger would be a great posting here.  Many thanks to Stephanie for talking about this and providing great photos on her blog!
http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2012/01/lawnmowers-by-ewe-and-eye.html

http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2012/01/lawn-mowers-by-ewe-and-eye.html

http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2012/01/lawn-mowers-by-ewe-and-eye_11.html

http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2012/01/last-of-lawn-mowers-for-now.html

Stephanie says this is a Karen Cruden design.  Here it is on the Ewe and Eye website.
http://www.eweandeyeandfriends.com/html/larger_view.php?currentPage=1&recordId=992&artistSearch=Karen+Cruden

You can find pricing for the canvas, thread kit and stitch guide on Amy's stitch guide catalogue.
http://www.amybunger.com/f/catalog1-37.pdf

Remember, this was published in 2012 so there are more guides available now.  Use the search function at the upper left corner to find what I've seen and listed here.

Marching Right Along With More Holiday Marches (Tapestry Tent)

If you are a fan of the Tapestry Tent holiday march canvases (designed by Liz's daughter Ashley), you'll be thrilled to hear that two new holidays have been added to the mix--Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.  (These canvases will be released at the January 2012 TNNA trade show by Susan Roberts Needlepoint.)  You can see the canvases here, as well as Michele's announcement that she is going to do stitch guides for both canvases.
http://bristlythistle.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/new-marches-from-tapestry-tent/

Amy Bunger is going to do guides for both canvases, too.  So now you can choose the style that matches your own style best when picking a stitch guide.
http://www.amybunger.com/f/Amy_s_e-newsletter_January_2012.pdf

These canvases are distributed by Susan Roberts but their website is undergoing changes.  That makes the best place to see the designs (and buy Michele's stitch guide) the Bristly Thistle shop which carries all the earlier pieces and has guides for them.
http://www.bristlythistle.com/ttmarch.html

Amy Bunger has done a stitch guide for all three of the earlier canvases, too.  I found them in her stitch guide catalogue.  So now you have no excuse to not sit down and start marching with your needle!
http://www.amybunger.com/f/catalog75-107.pdf

UPDATE:  Patricia Sone has done a stitch guide for Thanksgiving March.  Joan posted a photo of her piece done using it on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209043099571200&set=gm.1106210129456144&type=3&theater