Halloween Beauty UPDATED

Halloween Beauty, Going Out on the Town?

Manuel Salas' "Belleza de Halloween" is finished and the stitch guide is ready for distribution!  This is a Tapestry Fair canvas (11x14 inches on 18 count), part of a series of adaptations of Mr. Salas' Day of the Dead paintings.  You can see them all here on the Tapestry Fair website.

http://www.tapestryfair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57&Itemid=1

The guide itself is sixteen pages long with an extra three pages of materials and a full color photo of the finished piece.  The guide covers needle felting, 3-D needle weaving and two kinds of beading (basketweave and brick stitch).  It costs $30 retail with wholesale pricing available for shops.  Just email me at sgfromchnp@gmail.com to add a bit of Halloween Beauty to your stitching!

Quite a few folks have done guides for these Tapestry Fair canvases.  Tony Minieri has done "Rosa" and "Lupe."  Contact him via Edwardian Needle (second link) to purchase.

http://www.tapestryfair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=73

http://www.theedwardianneedle.com

Sherry Bray has done "Un Pocito de Color" which is the more traditional Mexican version of Belleza above.  You can reach Sherry via Queen Anne Stitches' Facebook page to order.  

http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com/2012/11/sherrys-pocito-guide-is-ready.html

BeStitched Needlepointhas stitched both Pocito and Belleza in shop classes.  I believe the class notes are available as a stitch guide but you will have to ask.  

http://bestitchedneedlepoint.com/classes/day-of-the-dead-class-1/

Whichever guide you wish to follow for any of these Manuel Salas Day of the Dead pieces, I can assure you of a great time stitching a Day of the Dead masterpiece.

UPDATE:  Brenda Hart and Ruth Schmuff helped a stitcher work on another version of Belleza in classes.  Here's the end result--a mirror of fabric and trim!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2013/03/barbaras-belleza.html

Sydney Opera House Free Guide

Diane has been stitching the Sydney Opera House ornament from Silver Needle's line of travel ornaments and posted the final results plus a brief stitch guide for how she worked up the piece.  If this is in your stash (or you want it to be), bookmark this site!
http://dianestakingtimeouttoneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2013/02/sydney-ornament-is-finished.html

http://www.silverneedlect.com/products.php?category=8

Dancing Delilah

Sandy Arthur has just announced her latest stitch guide, which is for Leigh Design's Delilah from her Femme Fatale series.
http://sandyarthur.blogspot.com/2013/03/delilah-stitch-guide.html

Here's Sandy's website so you can place an order.
http://duodesignsinc.com/wpsite/stitch-guides-only

A Sweet Candy Corn Treat - Free!

Palma Seljan's Candy Corn Cracker Canvas

Melissa Shirley fans will have noticed lots of new stitch guides for her holiday cracker canvases.  These are little rectangles designed to be made up as Christmas (or Easter or Halloween) crackers.  Many of the guides have been written by the incredibly talented Palma Seljan, and this morning I have a special treat for you--a free guide by Palma for the Halloween Candy Corn Cracker.  That's him you see grinning above.  Isn't he a treat?!

There is a whole series of Halloween crackers on Melissa Shirley's website.

http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galsearch/index.cgi?index=1314913207_25998&col=

If you become an addict, Palma has recently done guides for the Easter and Valentine's crackers.  The Valentine ones are on Melissa's home page.  The Easter ones are so new the guide isn't shown yet.  I've seen the finished models on Facebook and Stitcherie.  Trust me, they are terrific!

http://melissashirleydesigns.com//

http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galsearch/index.cgi?index=1349984318_25718&col=

There are Christmas crackers galore.  These have guides by Laurie Walden and Cynthia Thomas.

http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galcol/index.cgi?index=1330034925_31843&col=157

http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galcol/index.cgi?index=1161107729_31742&col=157

The less traditional Golden crackers have guides by Robin King.  In other words, you can learn from the best if you are a member of Melissa's cracker crew.  LOL

http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2012/07/golden-christmas-crackers-by-melissa.html

Now, without further introduction--after all, I was getting long-winded--here is Palma's free guide for your stitching pleasure.    Click to enlarge.

The Peacock Ginger Jar UPDATED

The magnificent Melissa Shirley peacock ginger jar now has a stitch guide, courtesy of Enriched Stitch.  This will be a class at the shop in Connecticut but a stitch guide will be available separately.
http://enrichedstitch.com/peacock-ginger-jar-finished/

UPDATE:  Tony Minieri also has written a stitch guide for this project.  Josie posted a photo of her finished version using Tony's guide on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=488011828065406&set=gm.1007352102675281&type=3&theater

Mermaids in the Air (or Ocean) UPDATED

Stitch By Stitch in Larchmont has added a great new stitch guide for a mermaid tooth fairy pillow to their collection.  I am not certain who the designer of this canvas is but it might be Gayla Elliott.  Anyone know?
http://stitchbystitchlarchmontny.blogspot.com/2013/02/swimming-with-mermaids.html

Ruth Schmuff is also doing a stitch guide for mermaids, this time for four Sandra Gilmore (Once in a Blue Moon) mermaid panels.  These were originally released for a tuffet but Ruth talked Sandra into doing rectangular versions.  Then Ruth wrote stitch guides for all four mermaids.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2013/02/mermaids-and-more.html

Whatever style mermaid suits you, there is a stitch guide!

UPDATE:  EyeCandy's mermaid pirate also has a Ruth Schmuff stitch guide.  Ada (the genius behind EyeCandy) posted a photo of a finished mermaid with her pirate patch and octopus but Ruth's stitch guide is slightly different as you can see from the photos of all the supplies.
http://eyecandyneedleart.blogspot.com/2014/03/canvas-of-week-pirate-mermaid.html

Sugar Skulls

Robin King has posted photographs on Stitcherie of the covers of her latest stitch guides, the Sugar Skulls by Needle Deeva.  Very sweet for Halloween!
http://stitcherie.ning.com/photo/sugar-skull-group-a-c-d-e?context=latest

Stitch Guides from Enriched Stitch

The Enriched Stitch in Connecticut has updated their site with a list of stitch guides they offer. I believe all the guides are written by Suzie P. Vallerie who teaches at the shop.  The list is by designer:  Kathy Schenkel, Ewe and Eye/Maggie, Brenda Stofft, Liz at Tapestry Tent/Susan Roberts, Melissa Shirley, Rebecca Wood, DJ Designs, Design Gallery, Needle Deeva, Shelly Tribbey and Strictly Christmas.  A few items have photos of the canvases but most just have a brief description. You'll have to ask the shop if you are unsure about whether the guide you want is on the list.  Click on Location to get their email address and phone number.
http://enrichedstitch.com/stitch-guides/

They also are working on Ewe and Eye's Winter Farm Fun for their Fall 2014 retreat.   This will be available as a stitch guide and/or kit after the retreat ends.
http://astheneedleturns.com/just-in-the-nick-of-time/

UPDATE:
Here's a listing of all the Melissa Shirley designs Enriched Stitch has guides for.
http://astheneedleturns.com/melissa-shirley-trunk-show-2/

Stitch Guide for Kelly Clark's Elvira Spidah

I just noticed that the stitch guide for Kelly Clark's Elvira Spidah witch is available at Stitch Therapy.    This guide was written by Kelly herself.
http://www.stitchtherapyneedlepoint.com/feature.php?id=21113&title=Elvira%20Spidah%20Stitch%20Guide&itemtype=hand%20painted%20canvases

Tbis guide normally comes with Kelly's canvas, but if you are more interested in Kelly's stumpwork techniques than in stitching this design, you might be interested.  Note that Stitch Therapy normally has to order things from the designer after you place your order, so you may be waiting a bit to get this item.