Here comes "Sampler Claus"!

I hadn't planned on designing a Santa this year (truly, I had NOT!!). But something unexpected happened this summer. I was overcome with the holiday spirit on a hot summer day, retreated to my office to piddle around with my design software...and guess who emerged? Santa Claus himself!

I had the BEST time working on this jolly old elf. I literally surrounded Santa with my favorite vintage sampler motifs - Lizzie*Kate style - it's so fun!

There's no "saying" on this Santa design, so he differs from the previous 20+ yearly Santa designs, but change is good...right?! I think he's letting the cheery Christmas motifs do the talking.

We're calling him Sampler Claus. Alan thought of the name, so he gets the applause. This name makes me smile. And, truth be told, I don't take Alan's creative advice very often. I usually smile and say something like "yea, I'll think about that".

Sampler Claus "Sneak Peek"

When I work on graphing a design like this, I always have "leftovers"...little bits I have graphed that don't end up in the final design. Sometimes they're some of my favorite bits, but just don't fit in with the final design.

That was definitely the case this time, as I began my Santa design by graphing a red and pink house. I've never done a red/pink house before and those colors just made me happy. I mean...who really has a red/pink house...but again, why not?  Alas, the charming house didn't make the final cut for the big design.

Sampler Claus "Joy Sampler" Sneak Peek

So I did a smaller design and began with the little house. Then I surrounded it with other fun "leftovers" and filled in with some snowflakes here and there.

***And here's what I've learned about my almost "retirement". It's SO much more relaxing to work on a design when you aren't on a schedule....when you don't have to churn out 4 more designs to release at the same time...when stitching a model is pure pleasure and you're not on a time crunching schedule. Not to complain about my previous life as a designer, but this is so much more chill and sigh...rrrreeeelllaaaaxxxiiinnngggg.

We are headed west soon on a road trip to Salt Lake City to visit the gang at 123stitch.com. We'll be carrying a big load of L*K including Sampler Claus (in our sleigh?). We will also deliver 17 oldies (vintage L*K chartpaks) that have had "facelifts" and been reprinted in our current chartpak format.

Sampler Claus will be available to purchase soon at 123stitch.com.

We'll keep you posted when Santa "comes to town"!

Lizzie*Kate and 123stitch.com

As we previously announced on this blog, one of the steps toward our retirement has been establishing a partnership with 123stitch.com.

Here's a link to the "official" announcement from 123.stitch.com:

What does this "partnership" mean???

* From this point forward, 123stitch.com will be selling our kits. Because of reasons we've already explained, it wasn't feasible for us to sell kits through our distributors (who then sell to retail shops and finally to stitchers). We did send distributors all of our chartpaks, Snippet and Flip-its.

In order for some of these kits to still be available for you, we decided to let 123stitch.com sell these kits. Some L*K kits may not look the same. While the designs will be the same, they may elect to sell them as patterns only, with supplies available separately. Check each product for details.

123stitch.com will also be selling other L*K products (chartpaks, Flip-its and Snippets), as will other needlework retailers around the world.

* We have also agreed to let 123stitch.com reprint old designs, as existing supplies of printing are gone. We are working with our graphic designer to "give a facelift" to some real oldies - you remember those chartpaks with the glued-on photos? Now some of them will look like our newer chartpaks with beautiful 4 color printing.

* I have also agreed to do a few NEW DESIGNS every year - available from 123.stitch.com! After feeling pretty burnt out on my 30+ designs a year schedule, it will be dreamy to do a few designs, as I'm inspired.

I've been working on a new Santa design that I'm anxious to share with you. I'll do a blog post soon with a sneak peek and some details. I had SO much fun working on him!

What does our "partnership" NOT mean???

* It does not mean that other needlework shops are out of L*K inventory. We shipped huge orders to needlework shops everywhere after we announced our retirement. We did dozens of reprints just to fill these orders.

Needlework shops continue to order L*K products from their distributors. Check with your favorite needlework supplier for L*K goodies you want to purchase.

Thanks for stitching Lizzie*Kate for the past 22 years and going forward!