A Mini-Scallop Shell and Paint Your Own Canvas!

This scallop shell is from my Coral Reef series of ornaments - and it was stitched on waste canvas over the background, to make it stand out a bit instead of blending in - very effective! It can be seen on the other blog. It's a tiny thing, at only a bit over 1" high, but might be useful for something else - so I'm passing it along.

Likewise the fish, which is intended for an ornament now in progress - it will also be stitched on waste canvas. I have these on graph paper to make them show up better, and each little square represents a stitch in needlepoint or an X for counted X-stitch. The color scheme is yours to imagine!

I drew these first, of course, on needlepoint canvas so I could see what they would actually look like. When I drew them later on graph paper, it helped me visualize some stitches I might use - so it helped a lot.

And now for my commercial about my re-do of "Paint Your Own Canvas." I've been needing to update that book for about two years, and for the last year, have sworn almost daily that I would get busy and put it into E-Book form.

As I was able to add more color pictures, etc. by doing it this way, as well as having new materials, tools, and information that I didn't have five or six years ago, (including a computer and digital camera) it started getting too long, so I have split it into two chapters.

Chapter I is ready and already on my web page (Elegant Whimsies). under "E-patterns: Booklets." It deals in depth with the tools and materials and how to use them - and also with paint and mixing colors, etc. Hopefully, I'll finish Chapter II over the weekend, which will be about actually designing, drawing, and painting a canvas.

Meanwhile, as I'm day dreaming about the Gulf of Mexico, and time spent on the coast of north Florida, I'll get out my "jeweled sea critters" file and put some more here for your use.