Joan Elliott

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01 Apr 2012 10 Comments

by joanelliott in What's new

Albino Howler Monkey and Baby photo © Joan A. Elliott

We had a fantastic visit to beautiful Costa Rica. There was so much to see and inspiration everywhere. Here is a picture of rare albino monkey carrying her little baby as she forages for food in the rainforest. The guides on the  river were amazing at spotting animals amidst all the greenery and our tour guide, who was with us for the entire trip, was incredible. Thank you Anita! Pura Vida!!!

Taking A Break…

11 Mar 2012 21 Comments

by joanelliott in What's new

Wish you were here... © Joan A. Elliott

I wanted to let you know that I will be taking a break from my desk March 17th- 29th. No computer, no email, no facebook, no telephone…ahhhhhh! I will be back creatively refreshed and ready for a busy springtime.

Fairy Tales and Garden Walls

20 Feb 2012 11 Comments

by joanelliott in What's new

Behind the Garden Wall copyright Joan A. Elliott photo courtesy of Cross Stitch Gold

It’s been such a mild winter in New York that it seems thoughts of spring are coming earlier than ever. My seed  and plant catalogs are starting to arrive and I have already flagged pages for new planting possibilities.  I love thinking about the garden and the secrets and beauty I find there. I was thrilled when Hannah at Cross Stitch Gold asked me to work on a design that showed some  of the magic of the Garden to all the readers. Here is a sweet little girl  who is delighted to find a tiny garden sprite playing  amongst the pink spikes of foxglove behind the garden wall. You’ll find her in issue #91.

Sleeping Beauty © Joan A. Elliott

Many of you have seen the preview of the newest design in my Fairy Tales series, Sleeping Beauty. I am having so much fun working on the three designs for Cross Stitch Gold. The magazine pictures her stitched on white evenweave. In the next day or two I will post some more overlays on Polstitches hand dyed fabrics which lend themselves beautifully to this series. Here I’ve pictured her on Jo’s ‘strawberries and cream’. There is lots of shimmer and sparkle on this delicate princess as she rests dreamily in sweet slumber and waits to be awakened by Prince Charming’s sweet kiss. You’ll find her in Issue 93 of Cross Stitch Gold, on sale in the UK 8th May, 2012.

Lavender Fairy

19 Feb 2012 21 Comments

by joanelliott in What's new

Lavender Fairy © Joan A. Elliott photo courtesy of Cross Stitch Collection

Back to some good news now. Here is a preview of the Lavender Fairy coming in Issue 208 of Cross Stitch Collection. I love growing lavender beneath my roses. What a treat  it is to be amidst the beautiful purple spikes with their feathery blue green leaves as they send out their gorgeous scent in the early morning. I tried to capture some of that beauty in this thoughtful fairy and her soothing, relaxed pose. She is stitched on Polstitches beautiful ‘snowstorm’ 28 count Jobelan. I have posted the supplies  on the project floss page at right but I am waiting to hear from Collection as to which of Jo’s fabric they stitched the model on. Lots of pretty Mill Hill beads and Kreinik metallics, as always. I’ll be posting some alternate fabric choices too. Enjoy!

Copyrights Matter!!!

17 Feb 2012 75 Comments

by joanelliott in What's new

I’ve had it! I know I go on and on about copyrights but I was just looking through my blog stats and I found that people from a certain site and group have been looking through my posts and pages. This message is directed to those people and anyone else involved in copyright infringements. I now see that my copyrighted chartpack designs are being illegally scanned and made available on that site. Whoever you are, if you are so anxious to get my designs  and supposedly love them so much you should realize how much these violations hurt the designer. I can only hope that in good conscience you will take it upon yourself to stop sharing my work. What does it take for someone to understand that this is how I and other designers earn their living. I spend  many many hours trying to bring the best designs I can to all my fans and the  feedback and support that I get from the wonderful honest stitchers that enjoy and support my work is a true gift. I cherish the friendships we have nurtured together over the internet the past few years. What a terrible shame that there are others out there that are compelled to act so contrary to this good will. To all the infringers, do you really think that somehow giving my charts away for free is a good thing? Do you ever imagine how I feel when I see my work being used in this way, be it chartpacks or entire books that you have been copying? Think about it. Respect the designers and do the right thing.