Tony Minieri and Lizards

Peggi has been working from a Tony Miniri stitch guide for this Tapestry Fair design called Leapin' Lizards.  The painted canvas can be ordered from Tapestry Fair and the stitch guide from Tony himself through Edwardian Needle (second link).
http://phoenixneedlepointnews.blogspot.com/2012/05/lizard-stitching_25.html

http://www.tapestryfair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=1

I think Leapin' Lizards is an Anne Jerlow design.  Tapestry Fair owns the right to distribute this piece now.

Sandy Grossman-Morris' Latest Design

The latest canvas with stitch guide from Sandy Grossman-Morris is on her site.  It's a happy ghost and his pumpkin with letters that spell out BOO.
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/NeeDLePoiNT---SPRiNG-iNTo-FaLL.html?soid=1108537923942&aid=rVPFo5Cn6Jk

I Did Not Know That... UPDATED

I did not know that DMC has free stitch guides for painted canvases on their website.  What a treat!
http://dmc-threads.com/dmc-stitch-guides/

UPDATE:  Robin King talks about the guides she wrote for the DMC site, with plenty of great photographs.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2012/05/free-stitch-guides.html

Here's a direct link to the page with the PDF files for you to download.  The canvases shown are all from Maggie or Associated Talents as of now, but I'm sure more will be added as they are available.
http://www.dmc-usa.com/Products/Free-Stitch-Guides/Needlepoint-Stitch-Guides

Introducing Kristine

I just met Kristine Kingston of Baltimore Needleworks on Facebook.  Kristine is a finisher, a designer of painted canvases, and also writes custom stitch guides for Needles and Threads of Ruxton.  She can do it all!  If you need a custom stitch guide, you can contact Kristine via Baltimore Needleworks.  By the way, don't miss her new blog!
http://www.baltimoreneedleworks.com./custom-painting--stitch-guides.html

Carolyn Hedge Baird Stitch Guides (and Books!) UPDATED

Please note the article below was written in 2012.  For the latest news on guides from Carolyn, check the Contact Information.  There are lots of individual articles on Carolyn's guides here, too.  Use the search box in the upper left corner to find them all.  

Carolyn doesn't sell guides directly.  You will have to have your favorite shop order from her.

The author of Merry Needlepoint, Needlepointing in Your Nest, and other needlepoint books, Carolyn Baird also sells stitch guides for various canvases.  These can be purchased through Chaparral Needlepoint in Texas which is where Carolyn teaches six times a week. Look under "Accessories and Books" on the Chaparral website to see the guides and prices they have and under "About Us" to see a short bio of Carolyn.  UPDATE:  Carolyn has a photo album of her available stitch guides on her Facebook page.  Look for Needlepointing in Your Nest, then open the photo albums and look for "Stitches Guides Available for Sale Written by Moi."

I asked Carolyn about whether she did custom stitch guides for folks.  She tells me when a customer buys the thread from The Chaparral, she can do a stitch guide for $10/hour.  If the customer bought the canvas from the shop, the guide is free with the purchase of the threads.  The stitch guides are handwritten with page number references from her books, so it is very helpful if the customer has Carolyn's books in their stitching library.

Carolyn has posted images of pieces she has stitch guides written for on her Facebook page.  Search for "Needlepoint in Your Nest" and then look at the photo albums entitled Stitch Guides Available for Sale to see the latest.  Please note that Carolyn has multiple albums that show her guides.  Facebook won't let her consolidate all the pieces she's done stitch guides for in one place, sadly.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1924538917199.2100474.1353909662

UPDATE:  Stephanie posted photos of some of the Melissa Shirley Victorian Valentine Kids that Carolyn did stitch guides for on her blog.  If you own this series and are interested in Carolyn's guide for them this will give you great photos to see how they turn out.
http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2013/03/eye-candy-for-holidays.html

http://stephsstitching.blogspot.com/2015/01/most-adorable-melissa-shirley-valentine.html

Stephanie also posted photos of Melissa's Fourth of July kids, all done using Carolyn's guides.
http://www.mrsblandings.com/2016/06/from-the-heart/

UPDATE:  Melissa Shirley just announced the latest series of stitch guides by Carolyn on the Melissa Shirley Designs Facebook page:  the Little Witch series.  Don't miss Carolyn's comments below as to prices for her guides.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=324384&id=370199729251

Here is a profile of Carolyn written by Janet Perry in 2006.
http://www.nuts-about-needlepoint.com/carolyn-hedge-baird-designer-profile

Melissa Shirley has added a brief profile of Carolyn to her stitch guides page on her MSD website.
http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galcol/index.cgi?index=1311383453_23059&col=158

A complete (as of March 2012) list of canvases that have Baird guides is below.  Any pricing is what Carolyn says that guide costs at Chaparral.  Retail prices vary slightly according to the shop, but Carolyn says $20 is the average cost of one of her guides. The general stitch books are more expensive.

General Stitch Books:
Merry Easter Eggs
Merry Needlepoint
Needlepointing in Your Nest

Booklets:
 1)  A Rainbow of Stitches for Melissa Shirley's Noah's Ark and Animals
 2)  Wacky Stitches for Melissa Shirley's Wacky Halloween House and the Goofies
 3)  Melissa Shirley Thanksgiving Children
 4)  Melissa Shirley Circus Dogs
 5)  Melissa Shirley's Valentine Victorian Children ($10 each)
 6)  Melissa Shirley's Pilgrim Kids
 7)  Melissa Shirley's Little Witch series
 8)  Melissa Shirley's 4th of July Pig ($25)
 9)  Melissa Shirley's 4th of July Victorian Children
10)  Melissa Shirley's Texas Hearts
11)  Melissa Shirley Blue and Yellow Boot

Individual Stitch Guides
 1)  Melissa Shirley Victorian Christmas Children
 2)  Melissa Shirley Halloween Little Witches
 3)  Melissa Shirley Halloween Cat and Crow
 4)  Melissa Shirley Halloween Roll Up Candies
 5)  Melissa Shirley Vintage Blue Love Letter
 6)  Melissa Shirley Folk Art Bee Skip
 7)  Melissa Shirley Girl with Dove (14 count)
 8)  Melissa Shirley Mini Witch Hat
 9)  Barbara Bergsten Staffordshire Cottages
10)  CanvasWorks Political Animals (elephant and donkey)
11)  Cheryl Schaefer Love Letter CP7
12)  Denise DeRusha Cowgirl Snowman
13)  Denise DeRusha Texas Star Sampler
14)  Denise DeRusha American Flag Sampler
15)  Denise DeRusha Billy's Boot
16)  Ewe and Eye Pumpkin, Sunflowers and Roses
17)  Ewe and Eye Pear or Gourd with Flowers
18)  Elizabeth Turner Red Blob Frame
19)  Elizabeth Turner Paisley Frame
20)  Elizabeth Turner Sunflowers and Crow Frame
21)  Elizabeth Turner Patchwork Pumpkins Frame
22)  Elizabeth Turner Candy Frame
23)  Fiori Love Letter F3618
24)  Fiori Love Letter F3639
25)  Fiori Love Letter F3641
26)  Julia Love Letter Heart
27)  Kathy Schenkel TX Mini Sock
28)  Kirk and Hamilton Tiny Love Letter
29)  Lani Vintage Santa Collage
30)  Lani Damask and Leopard Skin Picture Frame
31)  Once in a Blue Moon Heart
32)  Once in a Blue Moon Messenger
33)  Once in a Blue Moon SWAK
34)  Patty Paints Lone Star Folk Art Flag
35)  Patty Paints Witch H012
36)  Patty Paints Witch H013
37)  Susan Roberts Candy Houses (18 count)
38)  Zecca Feather Frame on Dark Burgundy

To reach Carolyn herself about her guides, email her at NeedlepointingInYourNest@gmail.com.

http://www.ndlpt.com/

A Sunflower is Born UPDATED

Robin King creates wonderful stitch guides for canvases for Amy Bunger, Needle Deeva, and other designers.  She also often posts about the stitch guide creation process on the Needlepoint Study Hall blog.  I've got a special treat--Robin talking about her newest sunflower canvas, with side trips into giant rhinestone needle magnets, orange dots, stumpwork, and well, MORE!
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2012/01/sunflower-and-berries-nd-309-part-one.html

http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2012/03/sunflower-and-berries-nd-309-part-two.html

UPDATE:  Robin shows how she lifted the sunflower center to make it look realistic and also work well with the petals with a very clever beading technique.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2012/03/sunflower-and-berries-nd-309-part-three.html

Then she adds silk ribbon petals.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2012/03/sunflower-and-berries-nd-309-part-four.html

I don't think this story is over, so Stay Tuned for MORE.

Susan's Painted Pony Stitch Guides

When someone mentions Painted Pony Designs, I think of their little themed angels.  They do a lot of designs but those angels are really popular.
http://www.paintedponyneedlepoint.com/angelwc.htm

However, I should be thinking Stitch Guides.  Painted Pony has posted a list of guides for their canvases on their website.  There are plans for Susan Burris who stitches their models and who is writing the guides, to gather several guides together into a book.  I can't wait!
http://www.paintedponyneedlepoint.com/stitch.htm

You can see some of the stitched models that Susan has created on the Painted Pony Designs blog.
http://paintedponydesigns.wordpress.com/