Shells for Ornaments

I found two more pictures of sea shells - these were for a friend who wanted to decorate a small tree for her studio (a finisher).

They are relatively small, at just 4 3/4" high for the blue shell, and 5" high for the yellow one before adding the outline for finishing. Of course you could enlarge either of them, and even put them on larger mesh canvas for a pillow or purse inset.

I may decide I need to stitch this blue one for myself, as I see Petite Very Velvet for the blue areas - or could even use a different color. Then the Kreinik #12 braid in 002V or the Vintage silver (can't remember the name of it right now, and my color card is in a drawer across the room).

The "nacre" finish of the pink/orange lip needs to be done in DMC Satin Floss, and the pearls are bump stitches with Renaissance Shimmer or Rainbow Gallery Flair.

I didn't add jewels to the yellow one, as I like the markings and the "shine" on it better.

I hope you enjoy these and can use them for yourselves and as gifts. There are lots of tutorials on this blog and on Possibilities, etc. to guide you in canvas prepraration if you haven't seen them. I'm still working on the trees, as I can see them as table settings through all seasons - or on the mantel.

More Patterns for Sea Shells

I actually found the file folder with my sea shells in it, so will present them here for your use and enjoyment. There are plenty of tutorials and instructions on this blog, here and there, to get you started drawing and painting on canvas. The outlines, of course, could also be used for other things, both needlework and other painting related crafts.

The outlines are the shapes of actual shells, (in the range of 5 1/2" high) but I had a lot of fun painting them in exotic colors instead of the realistic ones. You could always consult a shell dictionary for that if you would rather do the "real thing."




















I can see the potential here for some really pretty threads, such as the DMC Satin Floss in the "pearl" interior of the shell.

























Please excuse the tilted drawing - it's late, and I was too tired (lazy) to remove the thing from the scanner and straighten it out. I hope you enjoy these, as I have several more I want to show in the next day or two.

Patterns for Sea Shells!

Digging in boxes again, I have found some small canvases and drawings I had forgotten about - my sea shell collection from several years ago. I will also post the pictures of the painted ones if I can find the files.

I have loved seashells my entire life - from the time I saw the first one when I was about three years old. I used to paint them on needlepoint canvas their true and original colors, but a few years ago, after seeing some jewelry, I decided to use "Caribbean colors" and add pearls, etc.

The first picture is actually a green tree snail, but I took liberties with it. I found a treasure of pictures in a gorgeous encyclopedia of shells, plus a few other books on the subject. Marine biology is of great interest to me, so I've really enjoyed these books. (It's nice to be able to justify expenditures).

The second picture has only been partially painted, and the jewels added - I hope I have a photo of this one in color. It's about 5 1/2" high.

The next two are the drawings on canvas, ready to paint, with the little "pearls" drawn also. The long, skinny one is 5 3/4" high. The shorter one is 5 1/4" high.

These are all that I have on canvas with the pearls, but there are more that are drawings of the actual shapes but without jewels. Also I found lots of just drawings on paper that I'll pass along in thenext post (while I'm still working on trees).

All of these shell shapes are drawn from pictures of the actual shells, so you might paint them realistically (leaving off the jewels) or do them in your choice of colors and do the pearls too.

Planning Ahead! (It's August already)

It only occurred to me last night that it's August, and time to change the header here, and also to get busy (or busier). It's time to be thinking of things to start stitching for "the seasons." My year is kind of turned around, as I was doing coral reefs and seashells and fish in the middle of the coldest winter I can remember having in Austin.

Right now, I'm working on my article for the November/December issue of Needlepoint Now, as the deadline is in three weeks - and it's beastly horrible hot in Austin. Oh well, it's a good time to stay indoors and think and stitch. Anyway, I've neglected Freebies this last year or so, and not offering new things often enough - I'll try to do better starting soon - and definitely by September.

Stitching the Scallop Shell and Fish

Be sure to see the jeweled fish and the scallop shell on the other blog (Possibilities, etc.) with stitching in progress, as they're coming alive now with color!

Another Scallop Shell

This shell is rather small - perfect for an ornament for a small tree, maybe at one's beach house (or in my case wishful imagining of being back in Tallahassee).

Anyway, I'm planning to stitch some of these and show progress on the other blog after I determine which threads to use. At the moment, I'm looking at one of my favorite combinations: RG Petite Very Velvet, Kreinik metallic braid (#12 for the 18 mesh canvas) and Renaissance Shimmer to make "pearls" and "coral."

Originally, I painted these little ones for a friend here in Austin, who wanted to do a small "nautical theme" tree, so this is only 3 1/4" high as is - but could easily be enlarged by either enlarging the tracing or by using the counted canvas version on larger than 18 mesh canvas.


This, again, is a tracing of an actual scallop shell from one of my books on the subject. It's easy to imagine and place "jewels" on them and change to colors to suit! Of course, many times, the actual colors are gorgeous.
The drawing on canvas is symmetric and counted, as this is a must for a small piece, especially. Also, this could be done in counted cross stitch by simply substituting the dots on canvas with an X on graph paper or fabric. Quite simple. Play with this one and see what color combinations you might devise!

Designing a Jeweled Fish (in Needlepoint or X-Stitch)

While looking at the painted canvas, I realized that this could also be done in counted cross-stitch on a colored fabric! The model is on 18 mesh canvas, so each little dot/stitch can be reproduced with a X-stitch on the fabric - on graph paper, this would appear as one square, so you might want to chart it that way first.

Anyway - this is a fish I traced from a book on tropical fish (can't remember the name of it right now), and then played with it a bit on doodle canvas to get an idea for embellishment - and voila! "jewels"!!

The jewels are on a 90 degree angle, which follows lines I drew first to get some ideas - and it worked! The jewels are in a setting of Kreinik metallic braid - #12 both in 002 gold and in silver for the little smyrna cross "beads." These are marked in blue on the canvas to easily distinguish from the gold settings.

To do your own, you might just follow what I did - or trace the outline of the fish (or find yourself a new one in a book or on the internet) and figure a wonderful and original pattern.

I'm planning to stitch several of these, as well as some shells I drew a number of years ago, on the other blog soon. On this fish, I'm seeing petite Very Velvet (Rainbow Gallery) with my favorite effect of the 002V metallic braid and lots of sparkle in the jewels. Also some DMC Satin Floss here and there for a great contrast in texture. I'll have some more shell freebies soon - I've been awfully busy lately, so am running behind.

ADDENDUM: For right now, I have the comments cut totally off, as a few nights ago, I had a horrendous spamming episode - and the only way I could stop it was to block and remove the entire comment section. I did this on the other blog also to take no chances. After this, I'll do the comment moderation thing, which I really didn't want to do. Oh well.

Sea Shells for Needlepoint: With or Without Jewels

I promised a while back that I would provide some patterns for sea shells for putting onto canvas yourself.

I finally dug out two rather fat files labeled "Jeweled Critters" and "Small Sea Shells." I had forgotten about many of them, as that binge of designing for me came and went about 12 years ago. Since then, I have found many many new threads to use to really enhance these things, and make them much better than they were the first time.

The first picture is a simple scallop shell - the first one I did when I departed from painting realistic sea shells on needlepoint canvas. I had pulled out a lot of threads in what I call "Caribbean Colors," and it seemed only right to paint some shells in these colors - but what was lacking, was "pearls."

The second picture is in the actual colors of a scallop shell which is native, as I remember, to somewhere in the south Pacific. Later, I added pearls to it, and painted it in several different color combinations - my favorite, of course, the aquas and green.

Enough of that. My purpose here is to inspire you to create your own, and it's actually quite simple. I have had a love and fascination for sea shells since I saw my first real ones as a small child at Ft. Pierce in Florida, during WWII, just before my father went off to the south Pacific.

When I moved to Tallahassee in my early 40's, my favorite recreation was going to the beach "in season" and picking up shells, and going out onto the sand bars to pick up sand dollars with my toes. Of course I then had to put them onto canvas for stitching.

All of my fantasy "jeweled" shells are from actual shapes, most of which I traced from several wonderful books of shells I own - one of them is a gigantic "coffee table" book. (I'm back in Austin now)

You can do this - or look for shells on the internet. Mine are here for you, and my suggestion is that you print them out, size them as you wish, and draw them onto canvas. Then see what you can do with adding jewels and beautiful, unusual colors.

This shell is a green tree snail - it was in my giant book of shells, so I traced it and added the pearls. I'm already pulling out threads to see what I can use to really make it special. Maybe Petite Very Velvet with the pearly coral colored area in DMC Satin Floss. The gold outlining will, of course, be Kreinik 002V #12 braid, as this is on 18 mesh canvas.

This is not the color of the actual green tree snail, as the real ones are very very bright green - gorgeous things!! I"m giving you both the tracing, and also the scan of the actual canvas, marked for the addition of the "pearls."

As I don't like to paint the canvases I'm going to stitch unless I have to, I'll just mark the areas of color with the Sharpie ultra fine permanent drawing pen, so I'll know where to stitch each color. Thank heaven for colored drawing pens these days!!

To show the transition from sea shell book to painted canvas, I've photographed the two pictures together to give you an idea of what you can do. This is a "banded tulip" - one of my favorites.

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.