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Sunday 31 May 2015

May D.E.S.I.G.N. SAL

D.E.S.I.G.N. SAL

The idea of this Blog Hop is to choose a different designer each month and do a post focusing on a piece of their work you have stitched on during the month.  The hosts of D.E.S.I.G.N ask us to answer a few questions on our chosen designer.

1. What designer are you talking about this month?

Belinda from Blue Ribbon Designs.  This month I completed Owls by Moonlight from JCS magazine:


I stitched it on 32 count Twilight Blue linen and changed some of the thread colours.  I made the trees dark brown rather than black, I tweeded the owls and used a variegated DMC for the moon.

Here it is mounted ready to go into my scrapbook:



2. Have you stitched a project by this designer before?

Yes, back in 2012 I stitched Woodsy Winter from the JCS Christmas Preview issue:

Stitched on 32 count Twilight Blue linen.


3. Would you buy/stitch a design by this designer again?  Why/Why not?

Definitely yes.  There are three co-ordinating designs to go with Woodsy Winter and also some Hallowe'en pieces all available in JCS magazines which I own already.  Then there are the designs for sale on her website.  I really like several of the Hallowe'en designs.  Does that surprise anyone?

This is Mischief at Midnight, a particular favourite:




4. What made you choose this particular design/designer?

I want to stitch all the series of ornies that she has done and this seemed like a good excuse to do one!

5. Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others?

Belinda's designs are very simple with only full stitches, no fractionals or backstitch.  She does use variegated or hand-dyed threads but always provides a DMC conversion.  She has some lovely ornie sets on her website and also a number of samplers made up from several smaller motifs which could be restitched separately to make scissor fobs or ornies too.

One of the things I like about her website is that she includes details of all the magazines her designs have appeared in.  This is a great time-saver when you want to stitch a series like I do or you need to remember which magazine the design you loved was actually in.

As well as cross stitch, Belinda does a lot of quilting so my followers who are also quilters may be interested in that side of things too.

Oh yes, and there's a range of lace snowflakes too!  And some Hallowe'en themed lace bits as well.

And here is the Pie Chart for May:



Finally, I have launched the annual Summer Postcard Blog Hop.  The theme this year is Pets.  All you need to do is email me a photo of something you have stitched on this theme plus a little message about what pets mean to you.  Once I have a few I will start emailing them to the participants who will display them on their blogs.  The Blog Hop lasts all Summer so don't worry if you don't have anything suitable stitched yet.  I'm going to be finding some freebies online to inspire you.  Today I have been on a Bunny Hunt!  There are already links to Easter themed Bunnies on my freebie page but I found this Rabbit on Gazette 94's blog, more of a gardening rabbit than a pet.




19 comments:

Justine said...

I love Mischief at Midnight - how unusual a finish! Lovely Halloween and Christmas goodies.

Shebafudge said...

Great choice of designer Jo. I love the needlework tray too and it is definitely on my drool over wishlist!

Linda said...

Cute finish Jo. I have a lot of her charts but haven't stitched any of them.

Linda

diamondc said...

Lovely choices Jo, I love stitching Halloween pieces.

Blessings
Catherine

Barb said...

I have not stitched from this designer. Your projects are great. I will be looking her up!

rosey175 said...

That Midnight piece is quite interesting; I do love a useful project like that. I can just imagine it filled with Halloween candies. Or the candies in my tummy. Both are acceptable locations. :D~

Carla - Alaska Wolf Pack said...

Mischief! Love it :D

Deb said...

Cute ornaments! Well done!

Preeti said...

Midnight mischief is the one I liked most!!

Lili said...

She have lovely designs!!
Lovey stitching, Jo!!!
Hugs,
Lili

Christine said...

Great choice of designer, I love her unfussy style

Brigitte said...

I love her designs very much and they appear a lot on the blogs, so you and me are not the only ones :) But I think I have never stitched any of her designs. So I'll have to go through my freebie folder and have a look what I can find.

gominam said...

Very nice designs. Mischief at Midnight looks awesome.

Sarah in Stitches said...

It's so nice to read about Belinda and her designs! Love your finish, it looks amazing. And Mischief at Midnight is so cool! :D

Julie said...

You and Jacqui could start a Belinda Appreciation Society lol - seriously, she does deisgn some beautiful things.

Kaisievic said...

Belinda has such lovely designs, doesn't she? Does the pie chart reflect hours of stitching on each project?

Leonore Winterer said...

Thoise two ornaments are really cute, I'll have to check out her page. Thanks for sharing!

jocondine said...

Thanks to introduce us Blue Ribbon Designs, a lot of pretty designs on the site, great! No Halloween WIP in my works at present (note that my x-ray left foot will be useful for next Halloween). xxx

Caitlin @ Naughts Cross Stitches said...

I'm in the process of stitching her Christmas owl they are beautiful simple designs