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Random Musings on Art and LIfe

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Beautiful Beaded Stitches for StarFlower 6

April 1, 2021
Beaded stitches on stitched painting by Shelly Stokes

I put the last of the beaded stitches on StarFlower 6 a few days ago, just in time for a visit from a photographer. One of the beaded stitches is an old favorite, but the others a new to my Paint•Stitch•Bead toolbox. Let’s take a look. Beaded Wheatear Stitch For the slender pink elements, I…

Make and Use a Quick Silhouette Vinyl Stitch Guide

February 17, 2021

In my stitched paintings, I often have long, narrow shapes to fill with embroidery. A few days ago, I had the almost brilliant idea to make a Silhouette Vinyl Stitch Guide.  So what makes it “almost” brilliant? Let’s just say I learned a few things along the way.    Create a Vinyl Stitch Guide To…

8 Ways to make a Beaded Heavy Chain Stitch

February 4, 2021

A month or so ago, I started experimenting with Beaded Heavy Chain Stitch, first with the stitch itself and then adding beads. And now I have eight different versions to play with! Who knew that a couple of hours of play would create so many possibilities? My first thought was to add the beads to…

Stitched Paintings by Shelly Stokes

January 6, 2021

As we begin the new year, I’m making time to celebrate a few wins from 2020. It was a challenging year, but were definitely “wins” to go with the losses. For me, one of the biggest wins was getting four of my Stitched Paintings out of the closet and into their final form. I started…

How I frame a Stitched Painting

December 4, 2020

Having completed five significant five large pieces with my Paint•Stitch•Bead technique, I decided it was time to figure out how to get from finished embroidery to finished art. In short, I had to learn to frame a stitched painting. In earlier years, I turned my stitched paintings into quilted panels. But… the addition of beads…

StarFlower 5 Complete!

July 30, 2020
StarFlower-5-Complete cover image

Completions are a big deal here at Cedar Canyon, especially when a project stretches out for months. Needless to say, I’m happy to say (shout?) StarFlower 5 Compete!!! Ahem… did I say that loudly enough? When I wrote my last update a few weeks ago, I was chuckling about the value of Ugly Brown Beads…

The Case for Ugly Brown Beads

July 18, 2020
Ugly-Brown-Beads cover image

As much as I love bright colors on dark fabric, there are times when my muse takes me off in an unexpected direction. My current project includes a lot of stitching in warm colors in graduated tones. (Think gold, rust and deep reds). It even provided the case for  — get this — ugly brown…

StarFlower 5 Stitch Update

July 2, 2020
StarFlower-5-Stitch-Update cover image

I’m at a particularly happy stage with my current Paint • Stitch • Bead adventure, so I thought I would pause and give you a StarFlower 5 stitch update. Start with Paintstiks My normal working order is to create Renegade Stencils using the Silhouette Studio software and then cut the stencil(s) from vinyl with a…

StarFlower 2 – More fun with Paint+Stitch+Bead

December 16, 2019

When I was creating the design for StarFlower 2 in my Silhouette design software, I decided it was time to try painting the negative space around the design elements. I had no idea how this Paint+Stitch+Bead adventure would turn out, but I’m very happy with the results. Ready, Set, Paint As with StarFlower 1, I…

The Last Stitch is Always the Best Stitch

October 23, 2019
The Last Stitch intro image

When we decided to make an extended trip to the US this summer, I knew I needed a project. (Two and a half months is far too much time to be away from my art!) I was hopeful, but not sure, that I would make it to the Last Stitch. I’m delighted to report that…

Whipped Chainstitch Bands

March 15, 2018
Whipped-Chainstitch-Band-FB

I’ve been working on the next piece in my StarFlower series, and I was looking for a new and different way to create a heavy band along the edge of a shape. After some trial and error, I settled on a Whipped Chainstitch Band.   Before we start, here’s a peek at the center of…

Star Flower: A Paint+Stitch+Bead Adventure

January 25, 2018

As part of my “timeout” from the business here at Cedar Canyon, I’ve spent a good deal of time on my Star Flower project. It’s the first of my Paint, Stitch & Bead adventures that will be a completed piece of art instead of a learning tool. I created the design using the Silhouette Studio…