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Two of them are on canvas now, and one to go, and poor Granny is tired tonight!I have an adjustment to make on the spot on the left on his cheek - my thought was to make sure the skipped area showed well enough, but this is too much. Just a bit of red paint will fix it. I am pleased with the effect of the cotton balls, as they look fuzzy. Stitching them will be a challenge.
Jake and Natalie worked well too - but, again, the dress is a challenge, as I want the look of the colored markers to be obvious.
I'm showing the painting of the Santa in progress to illustrate how very easy it is to paint it correctly when the drawing has been done well.
The arrows are pointing to the places where the drawing was placed ON THE THREAD so it was easy to just follow the ink lines. When this is well done, a stitcher is grateful, as it shows one exactly where the stitches are to be placed. When buying a painted canvas in a shop, one would do well to examine it first to make sure this has been done. There are so many out there now that look good at first glance, but are nearly impossible to work easily. Now for the last one, which is in progress - Madeline's Sunflower. She was in a class at only age 5, exploring the medium of watercolor, and learning to control it for painting an object. I have saved this one for a very long time, and intend to frame it - it is a beautiful work of art in my opinion. Stitching it in needlepoint will be a challenge - as will painting it. (I do enjoy this part!)
I like working on 18 mesh, so just enlarged this a bit on my color copy machine, as I didn't want to do it full size and waste ink. (not necessary).
I drew around the shaped elements that need to work well on canvas, using a Papermate FLAIR pen, as it's felt tip and ink work well on paper without bleeding through. (This pen is not waterfproof and is not to be used for drawing on needlepoint canvas.) Next, I made a tracing of the black lines, and then placed a piece of canvas over it to see if it would work in that size. It was a bit small for separating the pattern elements and making them work well, so I will enlarge the drawing by about 20%, which should be much better.
There will probably be more instruction in this "tutorial" in a few days, but as previously stated - I'm awfully tired, and my brain wires are short circuited tonight. It's time for tea and a movie.!! or better yet - a coke float and a good book.
Over my many years as a needlepoint designer, mother, and now grandmother, there is no subject I have enjoyed more for adapting to needlepoint than the spontaneous visual creation of an imaginative and gifted child. This is the subject of the article I'm preparing now for Needlepoint Now (deadline is pushing hard), so I thought it would be a good time to pass along the method step by step while it's fresh on my mind. I know there are many out there struggling a bit with tracing a design onto canvas - and it's actually very simple with a bit of patience and practice. Aaron's self portrait in tempera on white drawing paper was brought to me several years ago by his great grandmother, - and after I painted it onto canvas for her, she stitched it beautifully and had it framed. She graciously sent me a photo of this masterpiece, and I love it! It is obvious that it began life as a tempera painting, as it even has the little spots and smears on it. 
Jake is my grandson - child of my daughter Jennifer, and he has had an ongoing romance with Natalie since they were babies in play school. They are five years old now, so I decided I had better use this one before he learns to write his name properly and be offended by my use of it. 
I waited too long to do something with Madeline's lovely paper collage and cotton ball Santa - which she did before she learned to turn the "D" in her name the right way. Charming!! The first time I got it out to make a design from it, she was horrified, so I put it away for a while. The first thing I do with these is to decide what size I want them, which usually determines the size canvas I will use. I wanted these pieces to be as close to the actual size as possible - but the determining factor was the detail of the lettering. These small elements in the design can be painted on any size canvas, but they won't stitch if not done properly. This is what makes a wonderful canvas a pleasure to work!I start by placing a small scrap of canvas over whatever element I know will be a problem, and then can tell how much I need to enlarge it - and then a tracing is made, which goes into my copy machine for enlarging.
This is the enlarged tracing ready to put onto canvas. At this point, the canvas is simply placed over the enlargement and traced onto the canvas very very lightly and carefully with the proper pen - as always, I use the Sharpie ultra fine point pen - as it has proven totally trustworthy over the years. The lines drawn should always be ON THE THREAD and not down in the grooves between - That's what makes a canvas difficult to stitch. Remember! Stitches are made on the threads, not down in between them.
The arrows indicate where I left threads between the marks drawn so that the spaces are left where they should be. The "E's" could so easily run together if not drawn in this manner. I also like maintaining the character of the art itself - as the arrow points to where the line around the face doesn't meet.
On the Santa drawing on canvas, again I have marked with an arrow to show that the line is ON THE THREAD and hasn't slipped down in between them. The name is stitch traced, which was very easy to do, as I just dotted the stitches instead of drawing them as lines - to make sure they will work Incidentally, if you are wondering which is Jake and which is Natalie - we have decided that the figure on the right is Jake, as it has hair sticking up and two swords. The figure on the left has beautiful green eyes, pigtails, and a red dress, so must be Nat. I was too tired to paint these tonight, but will do them tomorrow and we'll have a Chapter II lesson in canvas preparation.
Sometimes a mother just has to show off a bit - My multi-talented youngest son, Sam, is now making hunting bows and arrows, and has taken it to the level of an art form. We go on expeditions together to the "fancy wood" stores, and it is absolutely amazing what he can do with it. These pictures are of a bow he brought over to show me yesterday, that is a work of art - with five different kinds of wood in it - BEAUTIFUL thing it is. He has made videos you can see by clicking HERE. - these also show "how to make an arrow" as well as pictures of a beautiful bow he made for his little daughter, Grace. 
Walking by a window this morning on my way to the kitchen, I was stunned for a moment by the beauty - a fleeting thing - of the sun shining on the new leaves popping out on the oak trees outside. The sky is an absolutely brilliant cobalt, and, as it rained last night, at this instant, the little wet drops on the new leaves sparkled. I ran for the camera, and as quickly as I got outside, the light had slightly changed, and there were fewer "diamonds" on the leaves already. The ability to notice these fleeting moments and small details is a gift I'm very grateful to have! The picture will be saved, and hopefully used in some way in the future to preserve the image in a tangible manner. I wasn't going to do the children's art again just yet, but I burst out laughing when I finally got to the kitchen at Jake's latest artwork posted on the frig. A child's attention to small details is amazing - things one wouldn't think they would notice at all. The drawing of the backhoe is what elicited the giggles, as he correctly colored his hair red. (or orange). I have no idea what he is holding, but will ask him later to "tell me about it." I'm not familiar with heavy machinery and construction equipment, but his dad assured me when he was home for a few minutes, that the details are correct.
I like the fact that the sun has a smilng face! The second work of art to elicit a giggle is the self portrait with his friend Natalie. There is no doubt as to which is Jake and which is Nat. She is a bit older, bigger, and has braids. Also, notice that Jake has a larger sword, and a dagger at his belt. It's good to see that both are smiling.
As for the "little details" in life, I recall Jake's "Uncle Joe" running to me about 40+ years ago with his latest drawing, a large ugly beast that was probably Godzilla. It was holding what was obviously a car with little people in it screaming and waving their arms. (stick figures, of course) He asked me if this car might taste better without the people, or should he leave them in there. I nearly swallowed my tongue to keep from shouting with laughter - and told him that by all means, the people would taste better. It is the small details in life that are important - never doubt it.
As I am still residing in the guest quarters at my daughter's house - I walked into the kitchen this morning after they left for work/school, and found a card and a box of candy by the coffee pot waiting for me. Had to share it!! I immediately spotted the hand of Jake, who is almost five years old, both in the selection and in the signing of the card. Laughing out loud first thing in the morning is good for the soul. He will learn so quickly, as did his two cousins, Madeline and Julia, to make the letters properly, and will be deeply offended by anything I do to immortalize his work. I have saved artwork and signatures that M and J did years ago when they, too, made letters backward - Madeline spelled her name "Mabeline," and Julia also turned the "J" around. I still intend to make a set of needlepoint pillow insets with these masterpieces, as their parents will love it. BTW, the name on the bottom is "Seth" - the baby brother in this family. He is still more prone to try to eat the colored markers than to draw with them. Anyway - I absolutely adore children's art, and have put a lot of it for people onto needlepoint canvas - makes wonderful pieces, as much of it is rather Picasso-esque or even like Matisse. I found when my little ones were about that age, that art would soothe the savage beast and keep them quiet and occupied and out of trouble for quite a while. Jake's Uncle Joe (father of Madeline and Julia) would sit under my work table and fight the Battle of the Alamo with full sound effects for an hour or so - in this case, the Mexicans were little stick figures in full uniform, and they were losing the battle. I wish those masterpieces had not been lost in moves. The other two pictures here, I am hoping at some point to have time to paint onto canvas and stitch - his mama would love it, especially as he gets older. Lots of places to study and do decorative effects with fibers and stitches. Fortunately, I have a copy machine that I can use here at home to enlarge these things for tracing onto canvas - but there are print shops who can also do the job.
Other possibilities are to print them out, properly sized, onto silk for use in making quilts or pillows - or onto T-shirt transfer sheets. I have also used them to make thank-you notes for their mothers. Speaking of mothers, please notice that "Jennifer" is the first name on this - in this house, she is known as "Mama" and I am now called "Granny." How times do change. I love watching the childrens' interests change from week to week! Note the pirates in full regalia. Sometimes the best part of this is asking them to "tell me about it."
A child's powers of observation are rather incredible at times - the details they notice and record on paper. (or on the walls if they can do it without getting caught). I remember it well. Do take a minute to enlarge the picture of the pirate ship and see the lookout on top of the mast! I must get this on canvas soon, as it will be delightful to stitch!!
Two of them are on canvas now, and one to go, and poor Granny is tired tonight!
