Must Have Stitching Kit......THE TANTO!!!!

This is it. The Tanto Organizer

(which you can buy from HERE)

Some of my US readers have expressed some difficulty finding this.
So, here are a couple of UK sites that ship to the US:
THE HAPPY CROSS STITCHER
SEW AND SEW
 If you click on either of these it will take you straight to the Tanto page.

Almost from day one of my blog I've had a link on here to the Tanto website.

Why?

Because, in my opinion, it's one of the best pieces of sewing kit I've ever bought.

So, what do you get?

Well, you get what you see (minus the threads of course).

It's made of lightweight, but sturdy, plastic.

You get the base, three uprights that make give the adjustable height, and the wheel (oh, and a little hook to pull the threads up through the hole).
Each wheel can hold up 50 colours.

In the instructions you actually just pull the thread up through a hole and slip it over the little peg. Then there's a strong elastic band that sits over the top of the threads that holds them in place.

Then you simply make a note of the number peg next to the colour on the chart.

If you want you can then separate all your threads prior to starting your project and then, as you need them, you pull a single thread from the bunch.

Also, you can have multiple needles threaded and just keep the needles tucked under each bunch on the wheel.

Personally, I like to have my threads secured the same way as I would on a thread card organiser: fold the thread length in two, pull the loop up through the hole and then pull the loose ends through the loop and pull to secure.

But, one of the best things about the Tanto - for me at least - is the ability to have multiple wheels which you just swap over with each project you're doing.

As is my way, I'm never content with just throwing my wheels into a plastic bag when not in use....

So, here's what I bought:

Some nice looking boxes (from TKMaxx)

 

These cost about £7 each (although the big one was in the reduced section).

Also, I put Nigel to work at the sewing machine.

Nigel hates having his photo taken (unless he's prepared), so this is the largest he'd let this photo be seen:

 (LOL!)

What did he make?

My Tanto cases!!!

 

Nigel always has an eagle-eye open for nice material and this one I particularly liked, so he's made me these little cases to keep my Tanto wheels in when not in use.

This keeps the dust off my threads and makes sure they don't get tangled.

So, I have one of these for each of my wheels (that'd be three, in case you're wondering).

 

So, once in their little Tanto beds where do I put them?

That's what the boxes were for!

 

This is the larger of the two boxes and, as you can see, I can put multiple Tanto wheels inside (all three fit in here) as well as the charts I'm working from.

Also, when not in use the entire Tanto comes apart and also fits in this box!

 

Then we come to the smaller box.

That one's for threads.

WHAT!? I hear you exclaim?

Why do you need that if you've got the Tanto?

Well, as with most stitcher's, I have my little peculiarities.

I like to have my skeins of thread on bobbins, which I normally buy from Leisurecraft Tewkesbury as they're the cheapest for DMC. But, they supply their skeins pre-wound onto their own numbered cards. Cards which are bigger than standard-sized bobbins. Which don't fit in the standard plastic project boxes that you can buy everywhere.

So, an alternative was called for.

When I saw this small box, which came with dividers, I thought 'Eureka' (or some other less geeky word) and bought it.

As you can see the dividers are perfect for separating the bobbins. And the LC-T bobbins fit the box exactly. There's even room to keep one of my small project boxes in there too!

As I work I cut a length off the bobbin - but when I've finished with that colour, if there is some of that length left, I then put that thread on my Tanto and note the number peg on my chart. That way my bobbins don't get 'fattened' by odd bits until the end of the project.

Some people will probably think that's pointless - but it's how I like to work.

Obviously, a kit you can just put all the threads straight onto your Tanto at the start and you're all ready to go.

You can see from this picture that it's the perfect height to have by a chair. But, you can also take out one or two of the uprights and it can sit on a table or arm of the sofa etc.

 Finally, another great feature of the Tanto is how light it is to carry. You can take it apart, put it in a bag and you're off.

OK!! OK!!! People have already mentioned them...CATS and KIDS!!!
I don't have children but I do have cats. My cats are really well behaved and don't touch the Tanto at all. Draw your own conclusions. :-)

Personally, along with my floor stand, I think it's one of the best inventions ever for cross stitch and I'm happy to give it a plug on my blog!

And, no, I don't have any affiliation with Tanto themselves...I just like to support good designers!

Hope you enjoyed reading about it.

HAPPY STITCHING!

Eclectic Bloke Designs News

Here's the latest news for my company Eclectic Bloke Designs

Firstly, I have signed a new artist.

Alessandro Della Pietra (Al Digit Art)

You can see more of his amazing art on his website HERE

 Al works in the realm of digital photography and art and has produced some truly amazing pieces. And I'm very pleased that he will be bringing something completely different to my company.

Our first collaboration has been released.

This is Secrets of the Night

 

There will be more designs from Alessandro soon!

In other news...

 

Sadly, my first artist HeidiMadeThis! will shortly be leaving my company, so the designs based on her work will only be available until 29th August 2014.

Heidi will be concentrating on her popular card business and I wish her all the success in the world.

So, if you would like to buy Haunted Cameo or Haunted House before they're gone please visit my website.

 

 

I've also been hard at work creating more cross stitch charts based on the beautiful animal portraits of Caroline Lord and I'm very pleased to say there are many more to come!

Here's some of the newest of those designs:

 So top to bottom, left to right we have:

Chase

Rufus

Adoration

Stargazing

 I hope to appeal to a varied group of stitchers. I want to live up to my company name and have an eclectic group of artists with whom I can work to create pieces of art everyone will be proud to have stitched on their wall.

I would like to thank everyone who has bought one of my designs for their support.

You are all stars in my book!

HAPPY STITCHING! (Preferably my designs!)

Siberian Gold Tigers - Day 54....FINALLY a new WIP update!

And on the 54th day of stitching I reached the final cross.

Yep, it's true the principal stitching work is now finished.

All I have left to do is the backstitch...so I would say, with a little determination and will power I can get this finished by the end of the weekend.

(Finally, eh, Caroline! :-) )

I have to admit, it's a stunning design and I will be sad to see it go.

So, it will mean that very soon I will be able to continue with my new WIP Mother's Love from my own company.

In case you've forgotten what that looks like, here it is:

 

Also, my partner Nigel has been incredibly busy with work lately so he hasn't managed to do any of his Ice Cream Truck cross stitch pillow.

However, never one to curb his creativity entirely for the sake of the 9-5 grind, he did manage to throw out this little number:

 

The last of the red ribbon, and a bunch of retro-style material, piping and buttons and we have another cushion for the sofa.

He's proud of himself - and quite rightly in my opinion!

So, fellow stitchers, I hope you're all sewing away madly and creating your own works of art.

I also hope you visit my website and come back to my blog for my next WIP update.

HAPPY STITCHING!

First WIP Pictures of Mother's Love plus my initial thoughts on SMALL stitch counts...

 

Yes! Here it is! The first EVER WiP picture of my design Mother's Love.

As promised I am going to be stitching this design.

There's two reasons.

1. I want to have it on my wall.

2. So everyone can see how one of my designs looks stitched (always a very helpful thing to do when you're trying to sell your designs to people! LOL!)

I designed Mother's Love to be stitched on 25 count fabric, but as I know many people will choose the fabric of their choice I have done the same. I do have a piece of 25 count fabric, but that's reserved for my Paine Free Crafts project.

So, in my stash, I had a recently purchased piece of 22 count, sand-coloured evenweave that's just the right size.

I also think it's a good colour for this design.

But, as anyone who's been reading my blog will know, I've NEVER stitched with a count higher than 18 before.

So I set to work gathering together all the materials (sorry folks, but I'm never going to learn to love doing that! :-) ).

With my new sewing box at hand, I was set and ready to go:

That's the cover page of Mother's Love so everyone can see what my designs print like. I'm really pleased with the look of the cover page - but then, I would be! ;-)

The eagle-eyed of you will notice that there are colours in there that don't match Mother's Love and you'd be completely correct. That's a recent order for another project mixed in too. I'm really pleased how that area fits my thread bobbins perfectly (those are the ones that come with a Leisurecraft Tewkesbury order).

So, Able Stretcher frame (see my Links) ready to go I set to work.

The top of this article is how much I managed to get done. I only stitched for an hour though as it was 9pm when I started and I was already tired - but determined to do SOME stitching!

I can't believe how TINY those stitches are. Even with my magnifying lamp they're small (manageable, but small). Also, for me at least, the delicate nature of evenweave (and linen) has me being very gentle with the stitches. Personally, I prefer the look of linen but the rigidity of aida.

As you can see in the top photo I put a dice in the picture for perspective. That's a standard size dice.

Here's another picture with my finger.

 

Now THAT'S small!!!!

I can't say I enjoyed those first few stitches. I think after the day I'd had squinting at tiny stitches after 9pm was probably not the wisest decision - but I had to do it for my own sanity! LOL!

Right, that's it for today.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog.

I also hope you will keep coming back to look at more of my WiP pictures.

Mother's Love is available from my website HERE.

Below is how she'll look when she's finished:

 

Finally, thank you to Caroline Lord for licensing her wonderful art to me.

You can find more of Caroline's art HERE.

I'm a Workaholic! Who knew!

Wow! I can't believe a week has gone by since I started my business.

Even saying the words my business feels surreal.

I'm no stranger to working in an environment that requires concentration and attention to detail - but running a cross-stitch design company is something else entirely.

For anyone who's interested this is how most of my days last week were spent:

• Answering emails
• Answering Facebook messages
• Replying to Facebook comments
• Networking via social media
• Sending out first contact emails to potential artists.
• Talking to artists about the service I offer - incorporating: giving them examples of my work.
• Communicating with my existing artists.
• Workings on designs that are currently waiting for release
• Dealing with identified problems with my designs (not much of that thankfully!)
• Trying to get my website up and running
• Doing photo conversions for customers
• Learning how to use some new software I've purchased to help with my business
• Dealing with any difficult situations that  may arise.

I'm sure I've missed some things off that list, but you get the idea.

Most days I start at 7am and finish between 11 and midnight.

I was so busy one day last week that I actually forgot to eat until 8pm. Except for a packet of fruit pastels at lunch! LOL!

But, I'm LOVING it!

All my working life I've been doing jobs that have moments of enjoyment. There have been times when days have sped by and it hasn't felt like 'work'.

Those days were rare and usually overshadowed by the days that were awful.

So, to find myself in a position where I love every minute is something to cherish.

There are some drawbacks of course.

I'm a new business and by our very nature, we humans tend not to trust things that are new.

People don't know me as a businessman. They don't know my ethics or how I will operate.

They only know me as a fellow stitcher who's friendly and helpful.

Well, I'm no different as a businessman people!

I'm here to help and I want you to be proud to own and complete one of my charts.

From a personal perspective the only drawback is I have a LOT LESS TIME TO STITCH! NOOOOOOOOO!

I'm hoping I'll get into a better routine this week and find a balance between work and downtime.

But, I do have to change my stitching plans!

I was going to be starting designs from Tilton Crafts and Paine Free Crafts shortly but, sadly, that will not happen for a while.

Instead, I will soon be starting one of my own designs:

This is Mother's Love

(Based on original art by Caroline Lord and used under licence) 

From a company perspective I need a stitched example of my charts. But, even more importantly, I LOVE Caroline's art and I'm a cat person - so to have this design on MY wall will make me very happy.

The side-effect will be good publicity for my company.

I'm a new company and my customers are the most important thing for a new company. I know that and I value that.

I hope that I will always be approachable and I will always find the time to answer any question you may have. 

First and foremost I'm a stitcher. Just like you!

HAPPY STITCHING!

NEW ARTIST - NEW DESIGN

I have just signed my third artist for the above design.

The artists name is Natasha Wescoat and her Facebook page can be found HERE

Her website can be found HERE

Natasha's style is beautiful to behold and translates incredibly well into cross stitch.

This first piece is called The Wishing Apple and will be the first design we collaborate on.

In addition to my new artist I also have news on the new releases based on Caroline Lord's amazing animal portraits.

Two new releases. Both released today.

Mother's Love

£11.00

 

Lone Wolf

£9 

If you are interested in purchasing any of my designs you can leave message on my blog, or order directly from my website when it goes live in a couple of days (hopefully!)

My website can be found: HERE

 

COMING SOON! New Designs for my Cross Stitch company...

I recently ran a user-competition in my new company cross stitch group on Facebook: Eclectic Bloke Designs

Caroline Lord (Facebook page) chose five of her favourite pieces of art from her portfolio and my members were allowed to choose which of the five would be the next chart.

This is the design that won.

This gorgeous depiction of a lioness and her cub is called Mother's Love and will be my next Caroline Lord cross stitch release.

Caroline has also given me more pieces that I can work on....so if you love her work, you're going to love these designs.

ALSO...

More HeidiMadeThis! designs are looming ever closer.

Patchwork Santa

I'm currently trying to optimise the detailing in this wonderful design; but hopefully he will be released shortly.

Also, we have one of my personal favourites 3 Wee Kings

Anyone who likes my designs and is watching will also be very pleased to read that I have approached more artists and I am just waiting to hear back from them about the possibility of working together!

So watch this space...

But, even more importantly....

HAPPY STITCHING!