There’s a dollhouse scale Home Sweet Home kit review in this month’s DHMS magazine

If you love mini samplers, then you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a dollhouse scale Home Sweet Home kit review in this month’s DHMS magazine (Dolls House and Miniature Scene).

Moi Ali, who regularly writes for DHMS, contacted me a while back and asked if she could ‘have a go’ at stitching my little miniature Home Sweet Home sampler kit, and she’d write a review of how the kit works out. Of course, I thought it was a great idea – see the September issue of DHMS (out this month, August 2017) to see how she got on! This is the one I stitched:

The sampler is from my range of 12 sampler kits for doll’s houses – it’s a cute little design to be stitched on 32 count evenweave fabric with one strand of Anchor thread, in tent stitch (like half cross stitch – if you’ve only ever done cross stitch before, you’ll find this really easy). Each one measures 1.8 x 2.1 inches (4.5 x 5.5 cm) when framed. All materials are provided, including the wooden frame. Priced at £9.95, each kit will give you several evenings of stitching pleasure, and you’ll have a great little sampler to show for it at the end 🙂

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Are you interested in doll’s houses and stitching? Then why not visit my website, where you can buy doll’s house needlepoint kits to make all kinds of soft furnishings for one-twelfth scale dollhouses. There are over 280 kits to choose from, plus chart packs, fabric project packs, tutorials, and lots of eye candy to inspire you! Kits are available on 18 and 22 count canvas, 28 and 32 count evenweave, and 32 and 40 count silk gauze, so there’s something for everyone – from beginners to experts.

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A blackwork dollhouse miniature sampler and other special offers!

Here’s a quick heads-up on a couple of offers for mini sampler kits available right now, including my blackwork dollhouse miniature sampler design:

Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine has a blackwork sampler design of mine featured this month on page 36 (in Issue 278 – the July issue). The article has the chart and detailed instructions for how to complete the miniature sampler. All you need to provide is listed in the article – it’s to be stitched on 28 count evenweave fabric, and you’d need a frame with an aperture of 1 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to make it from a kit which contains everything you need (including the wooden frame), it’s available in my online shop HERE.

 

If you would like to stitch a sampler, but the blackwork one isn’t your cup of tea, then have a look through my full range of sampler kits for a different one that might suit you better. There are 12 designs to choose from, and they cover many eras and styles, including a ‘Home Sweet Home‘ one that is always popular!

As a special offer, you can choose any sampler kits and then get 10% discount off the usual price from now until midnight on Sunday 2nd July when you use the code SAMPLER10 at the checkout – this offer includes the blackwork one  🙂

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Are you interested in doll’s houses and stitching? Then why not visit my website, where you can buy doll’s house needlepoint kits to make all kinds of soft furnishings for one-twelfth scale dollhouses. There are over 280 kits to choose from, plus chart packs, fabric project packs, tutorials, and lots of eye candy to inspire you! Kits are available on 18 and 22 count canvas, 28 and 32 count evenweave, and 32 and 40 count silk gauze, so there’s something for everyone – from beginners to experts.

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Special commission for the No Kid Hungry project in the USA

Recently on Facebook, a woman called Annette posted an appeal for anyone who would be able to design a dollhouse sampler for her, to be used to help spread the word about the No Kid Hungry project. The editor of American Miniaturist magazine saw the post and tagged me into the conversation, and I soon became interested enough to offer to design a 1:12 scale miniature sampler to help out – this special commission for the No Kid Hungry project is rare for me, as I don’t usually take on ‘commissions’ of any kind – I’m simply too busy – but this one appealed to me, as it was for a charity which aims to help children in poverty in America.

Annette told me that she is making and furnishing a doll’s house to be raffled off to raise money, but she wanted a sampler inside the house which would echo the charity’s slogan, so I said that I’d help if I could. This is what I designed for her. The colours echo the logo colours of the campaign:

Annette explains all about it:

The house was given to the manager of the Arby’s restaurant in New Berlin, Wisconsin (located at Moorland and Beloit Road) and will be raffled off to raise money for the NO KID HUNGRY campaign.  The manager happens to be a cousin of mine!  

This is a charity run by the Arby’s Foundation.  Their mission statement:

Our vision is to ensure that all children in America have access to wholesome food – every day. We believe a child’s potential for success begins with a meal, and together we can ensure every child has the food they need to succeed.

A bit of history:

The Arby’s Foundation was founded in 1986 as a way for Arby’s to give back to the communities we serve. For 30 years, we’ve donated over $76 million to various charitable causes across the country. Since 2011, the Foundation has focused its mission to ending childhood hunger in America, contributing over $21 million to hunger relief organizations in all 50 states.

NO KID HUNGRY 

Arby’s works hard to make a difference in the communities we serve by impacting the issue of childhood hunger on national, state and local levels.

Nationally, we partner with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry® campaign. As a Core Partner of the No Kid Hungry campaign, the highest delineation for a partner, we work with them on all levels to take a strategic approach to ending childhood hunger by funding long-term innovative programs and sustainable solutions that impact the issue of childhood hunger.

ABOUT THE ARBY’S FOUNDATION, INC.

The Arby’s Foundation, the charitable arm of Arby’s, carries out a mission to end childhood hunger in America. Building on a philanthropic heritage that has contributed over $76 million to child-related causes since its inception in 1986, the Arby’s Foundation is working to ensure every child in America has the meals they need to succeed, especially when school is out. With more than 16 million U.S. children—more than 1 in 5—facing hunger daily, the Arby’s Foundation has devoted its resources to providing education and access to wholesome food choices for children across the country. The Arby’s Foundation is a registered 501 (c) (3) organization headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

See more at Arbysfoundation.org

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I felt that this was a charity worth supporting, so I designed the sampler, and sent the chart and enough materials to stitch it, to Annette’s cousin. She stitched it really well, found a gorgeous frame and mount to put it in which really sets it off, and then it was put in the doll’s house.

Doesn’t it look great in the doll’s house? The sampler measures about two inches by three when framed, and is stitched on 32 count evenweave fabric with one strand of Anchor stranded cotton (floss).

I really hope that it helps to raise money for the No Kid Hungry project!

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Are you interested in doll’s houses and stitching? Then why not visit my website, where you can buy doll’s house needlepoint kits to make all kinds of soft furnishings for one-twelfth scale dollhouses. There are over 280 kits to choose from, plus chart packs, fabric project packs, tutorials, and lots of eye candy to inspire you! Kits are available on 18 and 22 count canvas, 28 and 32 count evenweave, and 32 and 40 count silk gauze, so there’s something for everyone – from beginners to experts.

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See this month’s Needlepoint Now magazine for a free mini sampler chart

Have you come across the wonderful US magazine called ‘Needlepoint Now‘? It’s published bi-monthly, and always has many interesting articles and designs featured in it.

The issue which has just come out (the Jan/Feb 2015 one) has a special article in it that I have written, with a free chart for a doll’s house scale sampler for you to make, called ‘Blue Vases’. It’s to be stitched on 32 count evenweave linen fabric, with one strand of thread such as DMC or Anchor cotton (floss). It measures 2 1/4 by 2 inches, when framed. It’s stitched using tent stitch, and would only take a few evenings to complete.

If you like the idea of making the sampler, but you don’t want to have to source your own materials, then there is a kit for this design in my online shop. The kit contains everything you need to make this sampler, including a varnished wooden frame. Readers of Needlepoint Now can order the kit from the website and get a discount off the usual price of £8.95 when they quote the special code which is printed in the magazine.

You don’t have to own a doll’s house to make one of these. You just need to enjoy  making cute little things! It would make a great gift for someone who loves to collect samplers.

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