Friday, January 27, 2012

All That Glitters Is Not Gold....

All that glitters is not gold.  No, it is not!  It is silver, red, black, light green, dark green, lime, pink, yellow, purple, orange, and turquoise...with more colors to come!   It twists, turns, flattens, fattens, and couches!  It also stitches, plunges, and scrunches.  It is a cross between a Chinese finger torture device and a slinky!  And it is Wonderful!



I'm talking about *SPARKLES*!  Sundance Designs newest embellishment metallic tubing, used for creating fun and beautiful effects on your canvas.  Available now in 12 colors, I've already used it on numerous of my new designs which debuted at the January TNNA market.  I could not stop myself, I found it so addictive.   And I have not finished exploring all the different ways to use it.

Here are just a few.  The first is Sweetie Pie, and I stitched her hair with it, enlarging the canvas hole first, of course.  (Tip:  Always  use a Wooden laying tool for enlarging your canvas hole.  It is the only tool that will not split the threads!)  You can pinch the end of the tube and thread it in a large needle, OR you can wrap the ends with scotch tape to make it like a shoe lace.


Here is a beautiful, scrolling border that was couched down by just catching the outer edges.  It is super easy to create thick and thin lines.



Next, is a flat border.  It is perfectly flat because I IRONED it with a hot iron!  Again, it is couched, just catching the edges with a matching thread.





Here, in the next photo, I cut small pieces of it, and spread them open a bit, without allowing them to come completely apart.  I layed them in place and randomly added a few stitches on top to hold them.  It made the most realistic fire!  Ouch!  Don't get burned!


The last example is only the first of many future experiments.  I threaded a white cord though it to enable it to coil without crimping.  Imagine what you could do by adding ribbons, contrasting colors, big beads, etc.  No rules allowed with this stuff!  And the frog's legs could not have been simpler. 
They emerge from the back of the canvas and are couched at his ankles!


This product is brand new to the market.  I hope you have the opportunity to play with it as I have.  Please tell your local needlework shop to order it.  It is not expensive but the possibilities for creating fantastic results are priceless!