Stitching News + Good Links
Happy Spring Friends!
Today it finally feels like spring. The grass has not started to green up yet, but hopefully by next week, things will have a tinge of green. The maple sap has stopped running and the maple farmers are starting to put away their tools. Next Saturday is the first Amherst Farmers Market of the season - a sure sign that spring and summer won't be far away. Here is one of the little week old lambs that have been born in front of our farmhouse.
Today I want to let you in on a Flash Sale that Craftsy.com is having on many of their classes. Here is a code for you to use that will give you a great discount:
http://www.craftsy.com/ext/KristinNicholas_holiday
You can take my Crewel Embroidery Class on-line on the Craftsy Website. It is called Stitch It With Wool. I have almost 2000 students so far. This really blows my mind! All these students all over the world learning Crewel Embroidery from me. How very cool. I have been watching many Craftsy classes while working in my studio. They are so well-done and full of great instruction. I love the instant 30 second rewind feature that helps me see the teacher repeat a step very easily. I'll be sharing some of my favorite classes soon.
This week on my blog Getting Stitched on the Farm, I shared the story of making a Family Cookbook with my Grandmother Frieda Roessler Nicholas. Check it out here.
In a few short weeks, I will be hosting my first Class here at our Leyden Glen Farm. It is on Fabric Printing. I can't wait to meet the students and teach them my very approachable way to print fabric. Check out the other classes at our farm here. Here is a pillow project I just finished which combines Crewel Embroidery with Fabric Printing.
Here are some interesting things I found on the web this week.
•Love this video about the French company Astier De Villatte. They make printed items and a lovely line of molded ceramics that are available at ABC Carpet and Home in NYC and on-line at K Collette - a lovely store in Portland ME.
•I just discovered this blog called Past Imperfect: The Art of Inventive Repair. The author Andrew Baseman is a decorator but his blog is about antiques which have been repaired. Fascinating. He calls them "make dos" and has been collecting them since he was a young child.
•Betz White has a tutorial on her blog about making pom poms with a ball winder for yarn. Very clever. Check it out here.
•This artist Antonio Santin paints the most amazing rug paintings with very textured oil paints. Check them out here.
•You probably knew this but according to the Daily Mail, knitting and painting can save you from dementia.
•Tanis Gray explains color theory to knitters on her blog here.
•Here is a fun story about sheep racing in the UK.
Thank you for reading and supporting my work in craft and color. Have a great week and I hope to see some of you at our farm this year.
With best wishes,
Kristin Nicholas
p.s. Check out my blog this week - I'm resuming the Book Giveaways!
I am still taking orders and shipping copies of Crafting a Colorful Home. I have extended the FREE Shipping and am continuing to include the Kristin Illustrated Bookplate and the set of Kristin Postcards. Hop on over to my website to order here. If you don't do Paypal which I know many people still are not comfortable with, you can still order. Here's how:
Send a check for $27.95 written to Kristin Nicholas to PO Box 212, Bernardston, MA 01337 along with your address. I will send you the book.
This is a flower I stitched last year during the slow periods at the Farmers Markets. I wrote about it on my blog this week and showed detail shots. If you want to learn more about the stitches I used, check out this post.
I will be showing more detail shots this week on the blog.
I'm dreaming of my sunflower garden. I order seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds and Sunflower Selections.