$50 Thread Assortment purchase = FREE New Design Instruction Guide

Run on over to our Thread Assortment page and drink up the wonderful color explosion!

With every $50 Thread Assortment purchase you will receive a free PDF instruction guide for our new design "Triangular Trick"!

AND...  when you sign up for our new Dare Design workshop you will receive a 20% discount coupon for any of the items in our Thread Assortment page.  Upon completing this extraordinary design workshop you will need plenty of fabulous fibers for your own designs!

Click HERE to see the colors and shop for your favorites!

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How I proved there are no rules in color!

Some days I put on my lab coat and conduct color experiments.  These are my notes from yesterday's experiment...


Using Adobe Illustrator I pulled up a photo of one of my stitched designs.  

Using the most fabulous Eyedropper Tool I pulled 24 colors out of the my stitched design and placed them into identically sized squares.  Here are the squares:

I took the squares I had pulled and mixed them up. I placed the colors underneath the first batch in different order.  I also took the same colors and changed the number of rows and columns on the board.  I asked myself:  Did each of these groupings look different?  Did they seem to have different colors? Not clear.

Next I took the color group and set it up in a random shape, placing the colors in different sequences.

I changed the sizes of the squares as well, some becoming larger rectangles and some only slivers of color. Once I completed two different combinations I added a background to each of the combinations using a background color from my groupings.

What interesting combinations!  

Looking back at the original group of colors I wondered; should a rosey pink look good with a elephant brown? How about a lilac purple with a bright yellow? Would they seem like a good place to start for a bright upbeat elegant piece of wearable art?  I wouldn't expect them to.

I went back to my original group of colors and decided to play with them in different sizes and shapes and see if I could come up with a beautiful sophisticated design and color combination.  I came up with this, using my colors only.

My very scientific conclusion is... there are NO rules in the world of color.  Each and every rule you bring to the table can be disproven!  Each and every time you say that a group of colors don't go together, there is bound to be a way in which the colors will look fabulous together!!  

BTW, here is the piece I used to pull my colors in the first place, Capital Jewels Cuff revisited :

I never knew I like science this much!!  😉

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How about some colors for the beginning of a fantastic week!!

 

I love how on May 1st, 2012 I posted this...

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Doodling my way to a design.

So many times I've been asked how I start creating a new piece of needlepoint and it has forced me to go back and figure out what the process is. (I talk some about it on the podcast HERE). 

One of the ways I begin a new design comes from a new interest, or infatuation if it really gets bad. If you've seen my new pieces of jewelry you will see feathers coming into play.  I'm feeling them.  I'm fascinated with the elegance of those "hair" like things, actually called "barbs" and how they line up beautifully side by side.  How you can stroke them and they move and then fall right back into place. How each of them is colored and how together they make up a whole other color story. 

But the feather thing has also found it's way to my needlepoint.  At this point I'm doodling.  Looking for how I'd like to represent those feathers, what I think I can do with thread that will be a new way of expressing those amazing delicate creatures.  Because they may seem delicate, they may blow away in the wind, but they can do the most magical thing, they make a bird FLY!

A feather I used in one of my earrings

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Color of the Week: Orange is the New Black

Shop My Orange Dangles Today!

Get My Orange Grove Bead Kit

As you already know, I love color.  Nothing is more exciting to me than seeing beautiful hues in nature and art.  I look to the outdoors for a lot of inspiration and I've noticed that orange is one of Mother Nature's favorite colors!  She throws it in whenever she can; just take a look at the next sunset, next fall when the leaves change, in deserts, and canyons.  Orange is associated with meanings of joy, warmth, heat, enthusiasm, creativity, success, encouragement, change, determination, health, stimulation, happiness, fun, enjoyment, balance, freedom, expression, and fascination.  I incorporate the vibrant color to several of my projects and it always brings me a sense of peace and happiness.  

"Grace" in these colors is awaiting...

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