A-Z Embroidery Books, Inspirations, & Tanja Berlin

Do you want to learn how to do crewel work? The A-Z books put out by Country Bumpkin are a great way to learn different embroidery techniques. Not only do they take you step-by-step through the technique presented in the book, but they do it beautifully! The pictures and projects are sure to inspire. If you’re interested in crewel embroidery, here’s a deal on the A-Z of Crewel Embroidery by Sue Gardener.

The deal is through Amazon. Normally, in a retail shop, you’d pay anywhere from $24 – $29 for the book. If you order it straight through Country Bumpkin, it’s $22.55. Right now it’s on sale at Amazon for $18.66. Not bad…. The drawback is that you have to wait 2 weeks or more for it. BUT – if you’re Christmas shopping for a stitcher, it’d be a great time to pick up a perfect present at a reduced price.

Here’s a link:

Speaking of the A-Z books, I finally bit the bullet and subscribed to Inspirations. I’m not sure what inspired me to do it – well, I take that back. On the Country Bumpkin website, they list the contents of the current issue (#51). I’ve been aware of Inspirations for years, but never keen enough on any one thing to actually subscribe, as I find it rather pricey. Two things in this one sold me: the Elizabethan bag and the cockatoo apple bag. I’m looking forward to having something fun to flip through every so often!

The one issue of Inspirations that I did purchase a while back a while back introduced me to goldwork, and I wasn’t sorry. Within, there was a project by Tanja Berlin, and I ended up visiting her website and purchasing the whole kit. Have you seen her stuff? If not, visit Berlin Embroidery. Her goldwork sampler kit is fun, and she’s got some really gorgeous kits for needlepainting, blackwork, Jacobean, etc. She gets stuff out quickly, so even though it’s coming from Canada, it’s not that long of a wait. The postage rates are a drawback, but the slight currency difference helps compensate. If you’re looking for a Christmas present for a stitcher in your life, check out her Blackwork Embroidery and Etui Box kit (you have to scroll down to see it). Finally, check out her Kit of the Month – each month, she offers a reduced-price kit. This month, appropriately, it’s an autumn maple leaf. If you’re interested in trying needlepainting, this is an easy way to do it. Tanja Berlin, by the way, is one of the authors featured in A-Z of Threadpainting. It’s excellent, and, in typical A-Z style, packed with great ideas.