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Mary Corbet

writer and founder

 

I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Twelfth Day of Christmas: Inspiration! And Something for Everyone!

 

Amazon Books

Ahhhh – the Twelfth Day of Christmas! The series comes to an end!

Are you sighing with relief? Or holding your breath in anticipation?

Well, here is the final gift:

Inspiration.

And I mean that figuratively and literally.

Inspirations Magazine

Inspirations Magazine is really just what it claims to be: it is the world’s most beautiful embroidery book. See, it’s more than just a magazine.

Inspirations Magazine

Published quarterly, each issue of Inspirations is like receiving a new embroidery book in the mail. Each issue contains numerous beautiful embroidery projects that range in levels of complexity (some are easy, some are intermediate, some are more challenging), and along with each project presented in the issue are all the the instructions to complete the project, including lift-out patterns, stitch diagrams, finishing instructions, supply lists – everything you would expect in a really good embroidery kit, except the actual stitching materials.

Inspirations Magazine

Inspirations Magazine features all types of embroidery: goldwork; crewel embroidery; free-style surface work; ribbon embroidery; redwork; whitework; blackwork; silk shading & long and short stitch needle painting; regional and ethnic embroidery; bead embroidery; tambour work; embroidered boxes; embroidered accessories, needlebooks, and so forth; embroidered clothing; embroidered blankets and household linens and baby goods. All of these categories and more have been featured in Inspirations.

Inspirations Magazine

The projects are conceived and executed by designers from around the world, and the variety of needlework projects within the pages of Inspirations is practically endless.

In addition to needlework projects, the magazine also contains plenty of good reading, all needlework-related. There are human interest stories, reader contributions, book and product reviews.

Inspirations Magazine

The Intangible

Those are the “tangible” things in Inspirations. but there is something else every issue offers that can’t be measured, touched, or necessarily seen. And that something is Inspiration.

My relationship with Inspirations Magazine started with their first issue. I was home for a break from college and visiting my sister. She had bought the first issue at a sewing store, and had subsequently subscribed to the magazine. Being broke and being in college, I couldn’t afford the magazine, but that didn’t keep me from “acquiring” it.

I just pinched my sister’s copies!

Up to that point, my relationship with embroidery was more or less as a dabbler. I had seen very little needlework commonly available in America beyond counted cross stitch and a little heirloom sewing and smocking. But I yearned to learn the surface embroidery techniques that I saw on pieces in museums, in art books, in publications. When I came into contact with Inspirations Magazine, it was the first time I had been exposed to the whole gamut of surface embroidery techniques. Within the pages of Inspirations, I found just what the title promised: inspiration.

The Give-Away

I love Inspirations – and I wanted you to have an opportunity to love it, too. So I asked them if they wished to contribute to the 12 Days of Christmas series here, by contributing a year’s subscription to Inspirations to the series.

They said Yes! But instead of one yearly subscription, they’d contribute two one-year subscriptions.

This means two of you have the opportunity to win a free one-year subscription to Inspirations Magazine. If you already subscribe to the magazine and you win, that’s ok! They’ll add the free year to your current subscription.

Give-Away Instructions

Today’s two Twelfth Day of Christmas give-away winners will each receive one free year’s subscription to Inspirations Magazine. Please follow these instructions:

1. Leave a comment at the end of today’s article. If you click on this link, it will take you directly to the comment area, so that there are no mishaps! Comments delivered via e-mail or on other articles will not be included in the give-away.

2. In your comment, answer the following question:

Where do you find inspiration for your needlework?

3. Make sure you leave a recognizable name either in the body of your comment, or on the “name” line above the comment box.

4. Leave your comment before January 9th, 2012, at 5:00 am Central Standard Time (Kansas, USA!). All winners for this series will be selected on January 9th, and announced that day here on Needle ‘n Thread. You’ll have to check back on January 9th to see if you’ve won, because the winners will need to contact me within 3 days to claim their prizes. The Give-Away is Now Closed. Thanks for your interest!

Merry Twelfth (and Last) Day of Christmas!

Remember that all comments must be in by this coming Monday, January 9th, at 5:00 am CST. That means that you only have a few days to enter for the free subscription to Inspirations, as well as to catch up on the other 12 Days of Christmas give-aways and leave your comments! Tomorrow, I’ll recap the series and tie it up with some additional information.

Please do not panic if your comment does not show up immediately. All comments are moderated in the order in which they come in, and they will eventually be posted. Sometimes, this takes a little while because I am not able to moderate comments around the clock. If you are looking for your comment, please use the “older comments” and “newer comments” links at the top of the comments section. These will take you through all the comments pages, from newest to oldest.

 
 

(1,147) Comments

  1. A recent Inspirations is how I found this blog! I have two projects picked out from that magazine I have been wanting to try and am resolved to do this year–one a stumpwork project and one wool. Besides Inspirations, however, I get inspiration from my Brazillian embroidery guild. Although we always do projects together. People change colors or blocks, or put new elements into our projects and it gives me a lot of ideas. Our last project was a Brazillian embroidery crazy quilt pillow. So much fun!

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  2. I have found inspiration in so many different places and ways – from “classic” embroidery books like “Crewel Embroidery in England by Joan Edwards (and too many others to list!), to websites and blogs maintained by dedicated embroiderers who generously share their ideas, projects, and teaching, as well as Inspirations (a really “complete” embroidery publication), the Internet Archives compilation of out of print, late 19th and early 20th century books and pamphlets and finally, to my own imagination and of course, Nature herself!

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  3. I find inspiration everywhere. The colours of my chickens’ feathers inspire me to do some blackwork, the carved arches in the Chapel at the Cloisters Museum in New York look like perfect border patterns, Table Mountain at dawn would make an amazing shaded silk portrait, the flowers of Namaqualand would look great in French knots and wheat stitch. My current project is taken from a Pictish stone at Aberlemno in Scotland.

    I think inspiration is where you find it. Embroidery really is like painting, you can take almost any image (or feeling, or texture) and translate it with needle and thread :).

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  4. I find Inspiration in the magazine, Inspirations, and with my EGA Guild. My Guild is a bunch of wonderful ladies who do some of the loveliest needlework.

    I also have quite a few books and I can always find inspiration on the web on several websites.

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  5. I find my inspiration everywhere. In books, movies, my surroundings, online, everywhere I go. My mind is always busy, I’m always thinking about projects (the ones I’m doing, the new ones and the ones that I someday would like to do). I even find inspiration in my dreams and when I wake up I make sure to remember what I came up with.
    The magazine looks really great! I would like to thank you and everyone else involved in the 12days giveaway, even if I don’t win anything you already gave me enough ideas and it was a lot of fun!
    Hoping your eyes are not overtired with all the reading you had to do…
    Greetings,
    Sabrina

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  6. I find inspiration everywhere – while I’m out for my daily walk, magazines, books, other blogs.

    The 12 days of Christmas has been truly fun… sorry it has to end.

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  7. I find my inspiration for needlework in nature, and on the internet. I always google for ideas before making a final design. Recently I found a pair of shadow work scissors. What a GREAT idea! Now I’ll either mimic the idea, or do something similar, using my own antique scissor design. And mother nature, well, you can’t beat that for finding wonderful patterns and colors! There are also wonderful blogs out there, as we all know, but this is hands down, the best one ever. Thank you for a fun 12 Days of Christmas, Mary. Happy New Year to all!

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  8. I think I find inspiration everywhere, magazines, pictures, paintings, children drawings, books, blogs, and of course,you MARY CORBET – I’m pretty sure if i haven’t find you around 2006/2007 I would never embroider nothing at all – you were my great inspiration to begin embroidering. Can you realize how grateful to you I am for that???

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  9. I find my inspirations mostly in nature since my favorite things to stitch are flowers and birds. I love all the colors that Mother Nature presents to us. My library is also overflowing with books that I buy just for the lovely pictures in them, ranging from stitching books to how to paint books.

    I would love to add Inspiration Magazine to my collections.

    Lee C.

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  10. I find inspiration everywhere. I live by the woods, and there are animals, birds and green things just everywhere and the inspiration is endless. I also inherited all of my mother’s books, patterns and fabric and there is no end of projects waiting for me. But, like all of us, I still look for more!!

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  11. My inspiration comes from you, Mary, as well as my grandmother’s embroidery diary. I would absolutely love to receive today’s gift. The twenty percent off offered by Country Bumpkin brought tears to my eyes. Thank you, Mary and Country Bumpkin for offering this gift.

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  12. Inspiration for my needlework has come from many sources and those sources have changed and evolved over the years. Sure, originally it was from patterns and kits found in hobby and craft stores. Then, it became more sophisticated patterns found in needlework stores. A few times a numbers of years back, I was able to attend a needlework event, not being able to afford classes, but going to shop in the retail market area. Those experiences really gave me a better view of the variety of what was out there to create with fabric and needle and thread.

    Nowadays, I tend to design more of my own things than use commercial patterns and my inspirations come from so many places – a tile on a wall, a painting in a museum, a piece of lace, a quilt exhibit. I find myself more and more going between art and/or craft forms – my current projects write now include a needlework piece that was inspired by a quilt exhibit and a bobbin lace piece inspired by a collection of heart shaped buttons.

    Oh, I could go on and on about this subject and I look forward to checking back to this page later today to read the comments – I think you can find inspiration from others inspirations!

    Thank you so very much, Mary, for how much you contribute to this needlework world of ours.

    arlene c in NJ

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  13. Hello Mary,

    Where do I find my inspirations ? FROM YOU in your newsletters Needle’n thread
    I am sure that I will find some in “Inspirations Magasine”.
    WOW one year , that would be great.
    Thank you and Country Bumpkin.

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  14. My inspiration comes largely from a variety of blogs and books. Local bookstores (small town) do not carry any needlework magazines, so a subscription to Inspirations would be a delight!

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  15. I usually find my inspirations by going through embroidery/cross stitch magazines or books from he library. I love the floral themes especially.

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  16. Anything and everything is an inspiration for my needlework, everything I see makes me wonder if it could be translated into stitch. If I was to picj one thing it may be the borders of medieval manuscripts, so beautiful and so detailed and enchanting. Thanks for the opportunity.

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  17. For the last year or so, YOU have provided the inspiration and INSTRUCTION on so very many occasions. I love getting your email every morning. It is like a present in itself. Today’s giveaway is a year long gift. I hawk the shelf of the local book seller hoping they have copies for purchase. Again I thank you. This has been so very much fun. What a great way to celebrate my birthday too. I wish all the entries lots of luck and hope they enjoy their prizes. I do hope you post the results of the booty. Chris Beresford from Michigan

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  18. Needle’nThread!!!

    Thank you Mary…for a wonderful website/ blog, your instructions, time, guidance, designs…everything.

    I’m now looking forward to seeing your Medallion project.

    Thank you for a lovely 12 days of Christmas.

    melanie

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  19. What a fantastic giveaway – I usually get my inspiration from what others are working on. Usually it’s just to overwhelming – I love the look of the smaller projects in this magazine, doable. Will definitely follow the links and take advantage of the 20% off. But will await the results – who know I could be lucky 😉

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  20. Most of my inspiration comes from necessity. Usually a baby shower gift or pillow cases. I am not a designer by any means. I’m more of a follower than a leader. But with these tools you have given me through your website, I am more confident in trying new things.

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  21. I find inspirations in magazines, on the internet and different books. I would love to win one of these subscriptions. Thank you for having the giveaway.

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  22. OMG!!!!! I sowowowo love Inspirations magazines. That is what I use my 40% off coupon at JoAnns for. I run home with it and lock myself up in my room and salivate over each page. My head whirls with inspirations of projects ahead. I have my little colored post it notes to mark the wonderful projects that one day I will make. I get inspirations for needlework everywhere. I have made a few projects from your website, Mary. So you have inspired me also. The magazine Inspirations is by far the best needlework magazine by far.

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  23. My embroidery inspirations come from the natural world. I live on the edge of the Okavango Delta in Botswana and am surrounded by fabulous fauna and flora; and then there’s the wildlife!

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  24. For me inspiration comes from a number of sources but mostly from nature. For example, we moved to bungalow last year – it needed lots of hard work and I was not able to find the time for embroidery whilst the work was being tackled – every evening we were stripping wallpaper, painting, knocking down walls or building them, but we have a lovely well established garden here, and it was full of flowers and insects. I have watched the bees over the last year and I am now really keen to translate them into stitchery! I have embroidered some bumblebees onto pillowcases so far, and am raring to go with more projects.

    The Inspirations magazine looks perfect – it would help me to translate my ideas in actual projects.

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  25. Hi Mary
    Inspiration comes from everywhere! Of course the “Inspirations” magazine is a fine source, but so are other embroiderers, books, old pieces of embroideries and the flowers, plants and natural environment. It is all around!

    Thankyou for organising the 12 days of Christmas competition. It has been a lot of fun.

    Jenny

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  26. I find inspiration in the internet, watching the beautiful work of many people, especially you.
    I embroidered a little when I was a child, but needle’n’thread (you) made me want to do it again, thank you so much for that!
    Regards from Argentina

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  27. Oh I covet the footstool shown in the third photo. It is heavenly!!! I have purchased the odd copy of Inspirations for specific projects when I became aware of it. But a whole year?!!! Oh bliss.
    As to where I find inspiration, this web site is a BIG source. Even if it’s not for a project you are doing, it gets me back to one I already have in the works and may have put down. Friends who are stitchers and online sources, books I have, and many others are also sources. But Needle-n-Thread must be #1.

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  28. I find inspiration in all the new places I see and people I talk to. Living in a different country every two or three years gives me plenty of inspiration … from the low, rolling plains and beaches of Uruguay to the Turkish-influenced architecture of Kosovo to the hot plains of Texas, there’s always something that makes me itch to capture it in embroidery. Now, I’m in Moldova, and the half-finished look of everything here reminds me I have a lot left to do!

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  29. My next two projects are from Just Cross Stitch magazine that I really look forward to receiving. That’s been by latest inspiration. I would like to receive Inspirations for new ideas and to acquire new skills.

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  30. Hi Mary,

    This is a great source of projects. I used to look for ideas at a Spanish magazine called Labores, but lately I found wonderful things just navegating on internet. I would love to win one of this subscriptions… and if not I might try the generous offer the are giving us.

    Salvador from Costa Rica

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  31. I find inspiration in almost everything I see, from the birds at the feeder to my horses in the pasture. The engravings on my husband’s antique guns beckon to me. Paper doilies cry out “whitework”! The colors offered up in thread displays say “pick me, pick me!” Flowers in my gardens demand ribbon emboidery. Pictures on ethnic costumes ask “want to try this?”

    And, of course, there is the internet, where I can literally spend hours exploring what is offered up for embroidery techniques. The history and enthusiasm for handwork is a treasure. When I am too old to do more than walk to the mailbox I plan on spending my hours with needlework. A subscription like “Inspirations” will keep me busy as long as I live.

    Thank you, Mary, for these “12 Days of Christmas”. It has been great fun exploring why I want each of the gifts, and I have so enjoyed reading the comments, all of them!

    Regards,

    Doreen B.

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  32. Hello again sweet Mary,

    I find my embroidery inspiration everywhere, literally. But I’m also happy with kits and patterns from others, while the design process is rewarding sometimes I don’t want to think, I just want to dive into stitching. I LOVE Inspirations magazine and subscribe whenever I can afford it 🙂 I’m so excited to see the winners of this wonderful, fun adventure these past 12 days with you. Thanks so much for all your efforts, we love you!
    Vickie

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  33. I find my inspiration for my Needlework by all the things around me. nature is one of my best inspirations. I also get inspirations from books,magazines and beautiful pictures. Life is inspirational.
    Beryl B

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  34. I find my inspiration in others. I love looking at everyone’s work – in person or on the web. At one time I did have a subscription to this beautiful magazine, but couldn’t afford to keep up the subscription, so a chance to win a subscription would be great. Thank you.

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  35. my grandmother and mother is my first inspirations. they were not fancy but they added special meaning and touches to the plain.

    I find inspirations in magazines, websites like yours and books.

    Joanie M in W. TN

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  36. I love looking at stitchy websites. They show me other’s beautiful stitching. Web stores also show me what is new to stitch. Inspirations Magazine is the most fabulous magazine and has wonderful directions and diagrams.

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  37. The greatest source of inspiration is nature – God’s perfect inspiration. However, since I’m a better copyist than original designer I find inspiration in the work of others, magazine and book illustrations, online sites. A friend and I recently went to the local cemetery to take rubbings of the decorative elements on gravestones. Once you start noticing it is everywhere. “Inspirations” is a lovely magazine and I have bought copies when I can find them. Wouldn’t a subscription be wonderful?! Your giveaway has been a delightful way to start the past 12 mornings. Thanks, Mary.

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  38. Hi Mary,

    This is an awesome giveaway!!! I have always been awed by the Inspirations magazine.. once I saw it with a friend of mine and was completely floored.. Only that couldnt afford to subscribe for the same.. I am just crossing my fingers..hope I turn lucky this time.. 😀

    Btw,generally I find inspirations for needlework from books/magazines.. and nature is a great inspiration as well.. for colour combination, I guess thats the best inspiration one could find!!

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  39. Thank you so much for the discount on Inspirations Magazine. I am going to take advantage of it.

    Where do I get my inspiration for my embroidery. Everywhere! Especially from nature, the classes I take, and the magazines I read.

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  40. Lately I have been finding inspiration on your website! There is so much good information here and good ideas. I recently started my own spot sampler just for fun!

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  41. Inspirations is one of my biggest inspiration. I look forward to that magazine and it’s one of the only one’s I’ve kept getting. I ran across the magazine in a book store and was like Wow! I’ve been a subscriber ever since.

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  42. Morning Mary
    Ohhh the last day! I hate to see this come to and end. It has been fun and informative at the same time. I have also saved a few web sites in my faviorts, so thank you for that. My inspiration comes from everywhere. Books, web sites, greeting cards,bible verses, just what ever catches my eye. I would love to have inspiration magazine, I can see myself spending hours just looking through the pages. Looking forward to seeing what you have planned for 2012.
    Praying your year will be outstanding!

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  43. My inspiration comes from Mary Corbet! I’ve learned so much at Needle ‘n Thread. Thank you for all you do for your readers.

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  44. Oh, my! Now that magizine looks like inspiration alone. I’ve never seen this magazine before and is not available anyplace where I live. Other publications, websites, friend’s patterns are usually where I find inspiration.

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  45. I find inspirationfor my needlwork from websites, such as yoursas well as vintage pattern books, vintage needlwork books and vintage needlework itself. I love all types of needlework and love to look at it all and try the different technique though i’m not a master of any certain one yet I’m having fun learning!

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  46. Mary,
    Inspiration for my needlework has come from mainly from the projects I’ve seen. It can be the design, the colors, the techniques I want to learn. It can be for a special occasion such as a wedding or a birth. Because of difficulty finding “just what the designer listed”, I’ve become somewhat more adventurous in choosing different fabric and threads/colors. That can take time, but I consider it part of the project, too.
    I keep hearing about Inspirations magazine, but have not seen it. A year’s subscription would be a wonderful introduction – might get me hooked, too.

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  47. Wow, a subscription to Inspirations would be terrific. I get inspiration from the EGA magazine, online crazy quilt groups, needlework friends, and books (even some books on subjects other than needlework such as the Tattoo Sourcebook I bought recently.)

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  48. ooh! I’m excited about this one! Most of my embroidery inspiration comes from online blogs or etsy, as well as ideas from coloring pages and technical diagrams, like anatomical charts. Fun!

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  49. current suscriber, wonderful magazine.the best in the world. For sure I would like to extend my subscription. Have a good day

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  50. I find inspiration all around me in nature, in other women like you Mary and in my family. I love to look at what others have made and get not only inspired but encouraged to try different techniques. This magazine will definitely do that. Thank you again Mary for this very special 12 Days of Christmas! Even if I don’t win anything I have enjoyed reading others comments and I really enjoy your website.

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  51. I find inspiration at my local needlework shop, and browsing various online shops and blogs. I’m so glad to have found your site! I get some magazines for counted cross-stitch, and crochet. I would enjoy receiving inspirations

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  52. wow!!! what a fantastic prize today! 🙂
    where I take inspirations for my needleworks? mostly in nature. lines of trees, grass. and other way – the ancient motives. I like that works, what did women in 18-19th century… it’s very beautiful….
    Thank you, Mary!

    Masha

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  53. Hi Mary,
    What a beautiful Christmas! This has been a wonderful expression of gratitude all the way around!
    Like you, I get my inspiration from the older classic pieces as will as paintings. I would like to transfer Iconic art to needle work.
    I would really appreciate the gift of this subscription but if I don’t win the full subscription, I will happily accept the 20% off gift.
    Thank you for all you do!
    Sharon C. Bethel,CT

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  54. I LOVE Inspirations magazine! In fact, I have found a lot of inspiration in previous copies of this magazine! My inspirations come from unexpected places a lot of times…from a pretty piece of wrapping paper, a flower or particular tree I come across when we are camping, a scene in a movie, patterns on tiles or wallpaper. I am often surprised at the places my inspiration comes from! There is inspiration all around us!

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  55. Wow! I didn’t know such a magazine existed. I find inspiration all around me-on the internet, books, friends, mother nature etc.

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  56. Happy Twelfth Day, Mary.

    WOW … you have not disappointed me! Each of the past eleven days’ offerings have obviously been leading up to a wonderful finale and I think today’s gift is exactly that. I have seen this publication and have always been inspired by its contents.

    Therefore, to answer your question, Mary … I find inspiration in the many publications available to stitchers. But that’s not the only source – I find inspiration in the colors in nature, in the joy my family expresses when they receive something I’ve made especially for them, in the wonderful postings of your blog each day, and in the phenomenal work of my sister EGA chapter members. I simply cannot imagine my life without a needle and thread!

    I feel as though I already receive a gift from you every day … the enjoyment I have in reading your blog as well as inspiration from being exposed to your amazing talent. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mary! 🙂

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  57. I find inspiration especially from your blog, magazines like Inspiration, my embroidery books, websites like the Japanese Embroidery Center and from my fellow stitchers. Just not enough time in the day to stitch what I want to do. Thanks so much for all of your eye candy!!

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  58. I am still hoping to find the “just right” inspiration to design and embroider a chapel veil for my inherited chalice. My uncle, Father Edward Hartmann was a chaplain in England during WWII and this chalice was presented to him from King George VI on behalf of the people of England for his service to the pilots who led the bombing raids across the English Chanel.

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  59. Is it too broad to say “everywhere”? I find inspiration in wallpaper and rug designs, screen prints, photos – you name it. I have a notebook in my Evernote account called “Visual inspiration,” and I stick images there as I find them.

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  60. Inspiration comes from the internet, specifically sites like Needlenthread. Love Australian magazines and would be thrilled with a subscription to Inspiration.

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  61. I get my inspiration from all over. I am quite good at taking a project from a website or magazine and changing it a little into something a bit different.

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  62. Wow..I would love to receive a subscription to Inspirations. Most of the inspirations that I get are from online or from pictures in books.

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  63. I get inspiration from greeting cards or gift wrap, and also from nature. Also from projects other people have done. Thanks!
    Jen L. from Ypsilanti

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  64. Magazines and books inspire my embroidery. And, of course, lately, from Mary’s site.
    Thank you, Mary, for being here and making my learning so much easier.

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  65. Everywhere! I’m inspired by magazines (Inspiration is the best of course), patterns, other’s work, nature, colors, fashion, just so many things! I have no difficulty being inspired to stitch…what I lack is time and skill! Working on both however. Thanks or such a great 12-Days Mary…it has been so much fun!
    Kathy

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  66. I currently subscribe to AS&E but not Inspirations. I do own a few copies but never find it on our bookstands…I look wherever I go. I suppose now that you have given us a discount, I will have to get my own subscription. I typically get my inspiration from publications and web site….such as yours. I can spend hours drooling over a project. Thanks for doing this give away…hopefully, it will be my lucky day and I will win one of them.

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  67. Bonjour Mary,
    Many years ago, I got interested in crochet then cross-stitch and quilting and all from magazine.
    Being in the Cdn Forces, we were always away from our families so crafts were the best thing from going crazy. Then, I discovered your site and I was hooked and wanted to learn other type of embroidery, so Yes, magazine are great to learn and now, the internet.
    Thanks a million for everything you do for us.
    France from Canada.

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  68. Most of my inspiration comes from thumbing through books, or browsing websites (and your blog has been invaluable in pointing out new sites!). Henna designs, Eastern textiles, architecture, nature, museum pieces and coloring books also pull at my imagination.

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  69. wow…inspirations magazine…i think i have to win this. thank you mary for the oppurtunity.

    I get my inspiration for needlework from anything i come in contact with….sometimes plants around me…motifs i see..carvings or even a print on some fabric…list goes on…

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  70. I have always enjoyed Inspiration but generally have brought issues at discount sales or specific issues when someone has told me about a project in one of them that I wanted to see. It would be so nice to get each issue as they are printed.

    I subscribe to several e-newsletters, magazines and belong to 2 ANG chapters, 2 EGA chapters and a Sampler Guild. Seeing work at the meetings and on line inspires me. I don’t have a local shop but when I travel I stop at stores, when it’s a driving vacation needlework stores are so wonderful, a great place for a break and each shop tends to be slightly different.

    Violet in NH

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  71. I LOVE this magazine and use it as some of my inspiration to do needlework, magazines and pieces that people have done are my main source of inspiration and now your wonderful daily newsletter inspires me everyday to pick up the needle & thread, thank you Mary for your daily inspiration and keeping something I am passionite about alive and forefront in peoples daily lives – happy 12th day of Christmas – may everyone have more stitching time in 2012!!

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  72. It would be lovely to win an extension of my subscription to Inspirations.

    I do find inspiration from this publication, from articles in what I am able to find on the internet including Mary Corbett ( especially from Mary ) Whenever there is a challenge I like to apply my mind to the subject of the challenge in needlework and I cannot resist any new embroidery book as it appears.

    I enjoy so much the daily contributions via internet to my embroidery interest – you might say to my world – keeps my mind working and my fingers busy. These are my inspiration.

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  73. Inspiration. It’s what we all need to breathe joy into our lives. Where do i get my needlework inspiration? From magazines and books that open new possibilities or solve problems. Inspiration also comes in the shower. I don’t know how this works–i know it has something to do with the flow of hot water. It may release chi or inspiration may simply flow directly with the water from some additional pipe. However it happens, i sometimes am startled by wonderful ideas in the shower. With this magazine subscription AND a daily shower, who knows what i may accomplish!

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  74. I get most of my inspiration from your blog! You’ve taught me everything I know! A couple of years ago wham my daughter was making her First Holy Communion, I looked at an embroidered prayer book cover someone had given me and thought that it would be very nice to make something like it for my daughter. I learned many other types of sewing growing up, but not embroidery. So, I decided to go online to see if I could find info on how to make a simple project. Your blog came up and I found the pattern for the prayer book cover you had once made. I used your pattern and made a cover for my daughter and she loves it. I know it’s not great work, but it’s not bad for a first timer! From reading your blog I’ve learned to look around me to see embroidery that I never noticed before!

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  75. I have back issues that I would never part with because the stitching is so beautiful. It’s great to see a quality magazine and worth the cost.

    79
  76. Hi Mary, This magazine is just beautiful and I can’t imagine anything being more inspiring that this.
    I get most of my inspiration from your website and this magazine subscription would just put me over the top.
    Thanks for the beautiful give-aways you offer your subscribers an opportunity to win. Sooooo much fun.
    Sherry F.

    80
  77. Wow! That is a superb prize! What inspiration is to be found within the pages of this magazine. It would be superb to find this dropping through my letter box 4 times a year. My ispiration comes from magazines, blogs, my surroundings – anything, really, that catches my eye I save – pictures, postcards. All give inspiration for a project or colours to use.

    81
  78. I discovered Inspirations magazine a couple of years ago in a blog I was reading, I had a hard time finding a copy of the magazine, but finally did at a quilt shop. I get inspiration from reading your daily Tips and Tricks.
    It has been a great 12 days of reading your news and finding many items that I had never seen. Thanks so much and have a grand 2012.
    Sarma

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  79. my inspiration often comes from old illustrations such as Illuminated manuscripts found in books and museums.

    83
  80. Definitely get inspiration for my needlework from my family- watching your children grow into adults you really like- instead of just love!- and marking all their milestones with pieces of art- I love how personal needlework is!

    84
  81. I’ve never seen this magazine but it would be a welcome addition to my reading stack. My drawings for projects are usually inspired by nature, starting with the colors of the seasons or a walk in the woods. But then again, I can find inspiration by just handling an old embroidered towel and the color choices made by that person. So bottom line, I guess I’m inspired by the color wheel and creating the pallette.

    85
  82. I try to keep and record everything appeals me: it could be an old embroidery photo on the net, or a drawing, or a printed commercial… but I especially like to take pictures of architectural details, like arches, capitals, main doors, windows, tiles… very often they give me good ideas for embroidery projects.

    86
  83. Most of my inspiration comes from vintage photos and vintage things I have – I’m particularly interested in needlework, fabric designs and artwork from the 1920s to the early 1950s.

    87
  84. Hello Mary, Apart from your brilliant blogs, I find inspiration from everywhere; books, photos, greetings cards, the internet but mainly from nature – birds, flowers and insects are my favourite embroidery subjects.

    May I take this opportunity, to thank you and all your generous contributers for the chance to win some delightful embroidery ‘stuff’. Keeping my fingers crossed…:-)

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  85. Sadly, I usually embroider from patterns I am not secure enough to design my own pieces. I envy your ability and knowledge to do so. There are some beautiful designers out there and my stash has “wanna do” enough projects for the rest of my life. But, as you know there’s always room for more. Either way, win or wish list, I will hopefully be reading this Publication soon! Thank you Mary for the 12 Days series, your kindness, generosity and knowledge of needlework is an inspiration to many.

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  86. My inspiration for stitching is usually initiated by seeing something in nature that has luscious and beautiful colors. My mind then wanders to how I could capture that in threads! Such fun!!

    90
  87. Dear Mary, I find inspiration from needlework blogs, on line needlework shops catalogs, outside my window, needlework magazines (Yes I DROOL over Inspirations and their other magazine Embroidery), and various needlework books I have collected over the years (and yes, a large number of them after your reviews!!) Inspiration can come from anywhere as long as you open your eyes and mind and heart!! Linda in Central NC and loving it!!!

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  88. Hi Mary it has been a wonderful 12 days, thank you. I own 2 copies of Inspiration magazine that I won on EGA and they are wonderful magazines. I find inspiration thru a few CQ groups primarily plus here and I love color. When I am looking for a certain thing I generally come to the internet and some times I find what I need but you are so right this magazine is awesome…..thank you for being an inspiration for those of us that do not get the magazine……Have a wonderful 2012.

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  89. I love Inspirations magazine. I can honestly say that it provides all kinds of inspiration for me. Even if I never made a single project from its pages, I would still enjoy looking at the pages.

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  90. Wow, this is a true winner. I pay almost twenty dollars a copy to get mine sent to me, but would say it is the best investment I have ever made. It is the one magazine that I could not part with. I wish I had the back copies of the one’s I am missing, but way above my budger. I find inspiration in Inspirations and in particular on your website Mary. Thank-you for all that you give so willingly both of talent and product.

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  91. Hi Mary. As a relative newbie to needlework, I’ve been finding inspiration online, at NeedlenThread, and other blogs. Nature always inspires me. I’ve never seen ‘Inspirations’ before, but it looks to be a fabulous mag, and I’d love to win a subscription. Thank you so much for the 12 days of Christmas, and for inspiring me.

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  92. I’d like to respond to Nan Martino’s comment (#62). I recently embroidered an altar cloth in honor of my parents 65th anniversary. I designed my own, with symbols pertinent to my parents, their church, and location. I suggest you do the same. Names and dates, the king’s monogram or seal, something symbolic of your uncle, maybe a simple outline of England . . . As you think, more ideas will come. It is a unique and honored gift; your needlework should be the same. Good luck!

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  93. Oh Mary, the 12 Days of Christmas!
    is gone after today. Do that mean that I have to take my Christmas tree down? I am enjoying it so much, but I guess if I leave it up much longer the needls will be on the floor.

    Mary I get my inspiration from the things that I surround myself with in life… My family, friends,God’s great outdoors, books/magazines. And you Mary, these 12 days of Christmas have been such an inspiration. Sure I would love to win but if I don’t you have aready bless me. I look forward to your inspiration in the new year, in your daily emails.
    Thank you Mary, and thanks to Country Bumpkin. I will be checking out their Inspirations Magazine. God bless and Happy New Year to all.

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  94. I find most of my inspiration thru my magazines, I’m always finding something I want to try or try a variation of.

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  95. My inspiration from embroidery came drom people in the family who embroidered, but now I use your blog Mary plus a few others, historical embroideeries, nature and of course inspirations! I would love to add a years subscription for I have been a member since the very first magazine coma out. Of course being in Adelaide is an advantage as i can attend activities and classes.
    I would like to thank you Mary for the wonderful inspirational idea od the gifts for the 12 days of Christmas.
    I would like to thank everyone who has written in for the prizes , for even thought I probably wont win one, I have had fun reading the varied comments.

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  96. Oh, my favorite magazine! And a definite source of inspiration! Inspiration also comes from all around, esp. from nature – my garden, lacy leaves, colorful blossoms, insects & birds.

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  97. My grandmother made the most beautifully embroidered pillowcases for me when I was young. Her artistry helped me to fall asleep at night. Tracing the stitches calmed me. I thought everyone embroidered.

    I grew up on a farm in western maryland and in the winter there was alot of time. I believe that is my original inspiration..and now, I believe it is your incredible way of capturing the most detailed solution and teaching it…only since coming upon your teachings that I look at things with new eyes. This book seems like one of the most accurately named publications…just the few peeks here inspires me. Would love to have a subscription. Please enter me for the drawing contest.

    Best regards, Charlotte

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  98. Blog like this one inspire me! And kits. I am early enough in my journey that I like having detailed instructions and a project already planned out. This magazine sounds like it would provide the type of guidance I need!

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  99. Inspirations magazine is truly inspirational! It would be lovely to receive a subscription to this motivating magazine.

    Thank you Mary,
    Claudia

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  100. Living in Kenya we are surrounded by inspirations from the multi racial community – rich saris, colourful khangas and kikois worn by the Kenyans, rich old, but often frayed and faded, English and European fabrics in curtins and furnishings as well as the carved furniture and doors which have filted down from the Middle East. The problem really is to focus on something and attempt to apply it somehow – and that is where Inspirations would help as the only copy of the magazine I have seen was filled with techniques. Sadly the magazine itself is no longer available in the bookshops nor newstands. I will order anyway and if lucky be able to add a year! Thank you again.

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  101. wow – this is a great giveaway – a whole year of a very well-named embroidery magazine!
    i find inspiration in almost everything – books, magazines, walking in the woods, seeing someone else’s work, etc. You just never know what will click and give you an idea.

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  102. Wow, that would certainly be an exquistie magazine to receive. It would be an excellent give for inspiration….

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  103. My inspiration is very much from the natural world…my garden, our farm, my dogs, horses and other pets but most recently my sheep! I saw a lovely piece of embroidery on etsy, using drizzle stitch to stitch a sheep design and decided to have a go. From there I ended up making a picture for my neighbours to hang on their nursery wall in celebration of the birth of their daughter, using some of our sheep as the inspiration. They drive past them each time they leave their house and I liked the idea of their daughter growing up with a few friendly sheep watching over her as she slept.

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  104. I’d have to say my inspiration comes first, through your daily newsletter and secondly, through watching Regency era films (Jane Austin mostly). I’ll seek out the embroidered items and pause the show and really study the techniques. Museums are another great inspiration for me…especially ecclesiastical.

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  105. Every day I thought, my golly, it can’t be better, Mary has topped it today ….and then there’s another surprise ! These were the best 12 days, even if i dont win anything, it was just so exciting to see what was next. For that, I thank you for the excitement. I find my inspiration from books, internet and wonderful websites like yours. The magazine is out of my reach but i can look through the copies at my local needlework store…and drool. All the best for 2012.

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  106. I found Inspirations for five to six weeks then they stopped supplying to UK newsagents!
    I would just LOVE a subscription – great give away Mary!! My inspiration comes from all the media but I love looking round Museum pieces when I can….Sue – Good Old Blighty

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  107. I had previously found inspiration when researching medieval artwork – but didn’t have the skill set to complete anything I began. Now, after having found your website and learning more stitches I find lots of inspiration in your posts. The piece I’m working on right now is one of your Jacobean patterns for a medieval pouch, and it’s almost half done in only a few months. Thank you for being such a source of education and inspiration, and for the chance to win your giveaways!

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  108. Hi Mary,
    I am finding my needlework inspiration right here on this website/blog! I use to stitch a lot twenty years ago, but then found it difficult to find any embroidery designs other than pillowcases and baby quilt tops at craft stores. I stopped doing embroidery and moved on to other things. I was missing embroidery and spent some time one evening a few months ago “googling” around looking for patterns/kits when I ended up here. I have been a faithful reader ever since and I would love to get the lovely magazine!

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  109. I actually found my inspiration when I was five years old. My Grandmother loved to do her embroidery on the front porch as we rocked on her glider.. She worked with me until I got a stitch, and stitch by stitch she made sure I learned. and as far as the magazine I LOVE this magazine, BUT Barnes and Noble only gets a few copies at a time and I only got a couple. So now you know what I would give for this magazine.
    Thank You
    Cheryl H.

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  110. Dear Mary, I own a few copies of Inspirations and I agree with you it is a magnificent publication. If I win it would be like getting a Christmas present every three months. Thank you for your interesting 12 days of Christmas. Love Elza Bester Cape Town xx

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  111. My original inspiration came from my grandmother’s handwork. Over the years inspiration has come from my friends’ and coworkers needlework and magazines. Now in this new time of blogs and such, the inspiration is boundless “on-line” and I am thankful for people like you Mary, who share with the whole world! The “12 Days” giveaway has been fabulous, just reading so many peoples’ thoughts!
    Thank you!
    Sandy O in WA State

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  112. I have once found and purchased a copy on Inspirations–and have a Hardanger piece I discovered in the magazine in progress. It’s a magazine I enjoy looking over time and again–and when I bring it along to my stitching group, others ask to look through it as well. I need to check into subscribing to it. Thank you for this post and reminding me…

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  113. Hi
    I get from your website because yours was the first I found when I decided to start embroidering again after many years of not stitching. I also get inspiration from other blogs. Flickr site. Brazilian embroidery site.
    Nora D

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  114. I find inspiration in the world around me, but most often, I find it in the work of other people. I have found I am greatly challenged at turning what I see into a design that can be stitched.

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  115. Inspirations? Museum collections, online classes, EGA, my local sampler guild, magazines like Inspirations, looking out my window, fondling threads and fabrics–but, basically, paying attention to what’s around me!

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  116. Inspiration: Mine mostly comes from museums, both in person and the wonderful and in-depth on line collections that many are now posting. Problem is, I now have a mental list of projects that is so long … and always growing … that I’ll never do them all. Planning and dreaming are all part of the creative process, though, right?

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  117. OMGosh. I love this magazine. I have one copy that I got and B & N a few months ago. Inspiration is everywhere!! especially when you have the internet and so many artists willing to share their knowledge. You know,like you!!
    Carol D.

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  118. From the internet, mostly. I browse cross stitch sites, and fall in love some new project. 🙂
    My second inspiration source is my son, who wants something stitched.
    It would be nice to receive Inspirations too.

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  119. I find most inspiration from my magazines, but some from right outside my door! I love all the birds that show up! This would be a wondeful prize to win! I have picked up this magazine a couple times because I can’t resist the cover! Thanks for the chance to win on the 12 th Day of Christmas!

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  120. Morning Mary!
    My inspiration usually comes from things around me or from things I find on the internet. But, most of what I do is counted cross stitch. At the moment, I’m working on reproducing a 190 year old sampler located in one of the historical buildings in the small town that I live in. But I would love to be able to branch out into something other than just cross stitch and I believe this magazine would do that for me. I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from your website, too!

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  121. My original inspiration was from my grandmother
    ….she did beautiful monograms on the napkins
    that I use to this day. But Inspirations magazine has definitely my favorite needlework
    magazine for several years. Also, the ladies
    that I stitch with always inspire me with the
    quality of work that they do.

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  122. What a terrific giveaway! Count me in! My inspirations come from the colors of the sky, the millwork of old houses, fashion magazine layouts, my husbands’ antique tool collection, needlework books, and occasionally from my dreams – I write down the color grouping or designs upon awakening.

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  123. Well, I find inspiration everywhere around me. I first starting sketching the pictures I would use in needlepoint of my family ,then my dogs, then plants, and so on. It’s actually harder to start with faces, I learned the hard way, because they are so difficult to capture. But the one thing I learned about my inspiration was that it was a two way street–doing needlework of bees, moths, then got me reading about them! So I grew in both ways–as someone practicing a craft and as person learning about the world.
    One benefit I would see to owning Inspirations is that I could realize projects–looking at the small crewel box and the directions. I can needlepoint a piece, for example, but lately I have been pressed for using them for something else besides pillows and pictures–while nice, how many can and should a person have?
    So, learning of how to fashion different uses for needlepoint, for example, in projects would be a great plus.
    Nancy

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  124. My inspiration comes from my Grandmothers and my friends. Also from my heritage and a desire to do some ethnic projects. Thank you so much for the 12 Days giveaway it too has been an inspiration.

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  125. So many things inspire my needlework that the list would be very long. I come up with an idea and then I search around the web or magazines to find something that fits the bill. But Mary, since starting to receive your daily newsletters, my brain has been working overtime and you provide so many sources of information and links to great sites that I shall have to live for a couple of centuries to get everything accomplished.

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  126. oh my gosh, I have literally DROOLED over pictures i’ve seen on your blog from that magazine and a years subscription – I think I might fall dead over!!!!! You really did save the best for last! 🙂 Now I’ve forgotten what the question is lol Oh what inspires me! I have to say it’s the threads and fabrics themselves. I do love to see pictures of beautiful stitching, and that will inspire to get stitching again, but my true inspiration comes from the color or feel of a certain thread, or a piece of fabric I want to stitch on. Karen Gass

    Thank you for this 12 days of Christmas – it has been an awesome thing to look forward to after the month of December with all it’s decorations and surprises. January is usually kind of blah, but not this time! 🙂

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  127. I find inspiration in my own front yard. Sometimes I just look out the window. I am always given “gifts from nature” when I step outside my door. My pockets are generally filled with dead bugs, feathers, acorns, leaves, and flowers. I should add lichen and mushrooms. I love to make gold stump work insects inspired from the ones I find outside.

    I also like to look at old magazines. I am not familiar with this magazine. I like that it includes all types of needle crafts. That suits my personality–I switch from one to the other. It is how my brain is wired!

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  128. Oh Mary, be still my heart! I have asked for a subscription to this magazine for the past two Christmas’, but apparently Santa is jealous of “inspiration” from sources other than the devine forces….My early inspiration for embroidery was all the Erica Wilson books that my mother had on her shelves. Later Jane Nicholas’ Stumpwork Embroidery Collections of Fruits, Flowers and Insects for Contemporary Raised Embroidery were just awesome to me. I simply adapted the more 3 dimensional details to be more traditional looking. And lastly, any picture that I happen to see could be inspiration – sometimes I just see something and think “I’d like to do that in Embroidery”…I am particularly fond of flowers and love Pierre-Joseph Redoute’s botanical paintings of plants and flowers – adapted by Claire Bryant and conveniently offered in iron transfer books.
    Thanks ever so much for these 12 days of gifts Mary!
    Best,
    Mary Ann
    Beacon, New York

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  129. I find inspirations in everyday life. It comes from nature and the beauty of the seasons, the ocean, flowers, etc. I use photographs to try to capture this beauty and then develop designs from it.

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  130. I find inspiration in all kinds of places – the web, magazines, quilts, old tiles, japanese manhole covers, you name it! And I’d love to have a subscription to Inspirations – they are a definite inspiration.

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  131. I love “Inspirations” magazine , the projects, stories and the way the magazine is presented with beautiful photography it is all so inspiring, as well as the things in nature that draws a person in….whether its colours,shapes or cuteness.

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  132. Hi Mary, I would love to win a subscription! Being unemployed at the moment, my needlework budget has suffered, so I cannot afford to subscribe, even though I would love to.
    My inspiration comes mostly from seeing wonderful embroideries on-line. Your work is beautiful, but I even love looking at pictures from shops. I love color!
    Thank you for spending the 12 days of Christmas with us, and I hope you had a blessed holiday.
    Jane

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  133. The Inspiration magazine is translated and published in France. So it arrives in Canada with an important delay. Nevertheless, it is worth waiting for and every number is a keepsake. I should add that you, Mary, are my mentor eversince I discovered your website. Thanks for your help. Too bad the 12-days come to an end but I will continue reading your morning newsletter every day with great pleasure.

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  134. What a way to end the 12 days of Christmas! My inspiration comes from everywhere. I have several older issues of this gorgeous magazine sent to me by an Aussie email stitching friend, but a year’s subscription would be like being in stitcher’s heaven.
    Thank you Mary for these 12 wonderful days of opportunities of adding to our stitching stash.

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  135. I must admit I am an avid reader of needlework books and magazines and each time I turn a page I find something to admire and to love. My passion is historic treasures and have too little time to accomplish all. There are also so many talented people who are so creative around us……A new year and hundreds of new ideas. A subscription to such a magazine would be a wonderful gift. thanks

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  136. Hi Mary,

    Lately, I have been doing a lot of ecclesiastical work, so mostly my inspiration has come from visiting the sacristies of local churches to view their altar hangings, and from taking as many old books out of the library that I can. I also love the designs that you have posted on your site and have used a few of them with some alterations.

    Thanks for this event. It was fun to post and read others’ comments.

    Karen

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  137. I find inspiration in magazines and books particularly ‘Stitch’ magazine here in the UK. I like to adapt a pattern with my own colours but often will follow a pattern as the designer intended.

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  138. My late mom and her sisters embroidered when they were young. I still have a few of her dresser scarves. I have to admit, I keep them for sentimental reasons rather than beauty. I do not know anyone who embroiders and count on your blog and a few others for inspiration and instruction. I also find inspiration in nature and museums. I love floral and religious motifs. I am currently trying to work up the nerve to make an altar cloth for my daughter’s friend who is a college chaplain. I have been scouring all of your writings on church related sewing.
    Thank you for the “Twelve Days of Christmas” postings and giveaways. It’s been great learning about new sources and revisiting some of your earlier postings.

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  139. Inspiration for needlework comes from needle arts magazines, books, and fabric. Now that I am retired, I can devote more time to my projects and learn some new techniques.

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  140. “Inspirations” is by far the best magazine for needlework that I´d come across. I usually find inspiration for my projects in nature or events of my life. However, before the designing stage I like to flick through books and magazines to get a better idea of which stitches and colours to use. “Inspirations” magazine with its painstaking description on how to execute the projects, the vast array of material choices and the beautiful illustrations comes in as an indispensable tool to the realization of my embroidery work.
    Bella Goulart

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  141. My inspiration comes mostly from historical pieces. Those that have withstood the test of time, and have been loved, valued, and preserved. I treasure the feeling of connection to history, and to needle-workers of past eras. The love and care they put into their pieces is evident and always inspires me to put heart and careful effort into whatever I do.

    But I also must echo other comments: Mary Corbet’s Needle ‘N Thread is also a HUGE source of inspiration! Thank you, Mary.

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  142. Hooray! Yippeee! Here is a gift I wish everyone could have because my inspiration comes from the lovely ladies at Country Bumpkin. They work so hard. A simple gift of A-Z books so Lucy Green (USA) could teach women in India to embroider so they could earn money. There are 12 projects in Issue 72 featuring Trish Burr -thread painting a portrait two different ways. Helen M. Stevens luminous butterfly using ‘One simple Stitch’. A Deerfield design cushion, counted threadwork violet needlecase, a honey bee in goldwork and much more. Best wishes to the winners and be inspired with Inspiration – articles & reviews.

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  143. Wow snaps to you grabbing this wonderful magazine. My fingers crossed on this one!! Was wonderful of you to have this giveaway and even if I don’t win it was great reading about all the great finds. Look forward to “seeing” you everyday!!

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  144. I find inspiration from everywhere – what I see others stitching, what I see in a shop, ideas that I have, etc. I would really love to have a years subscription to this fantastic, inspiring magazine!

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  145. Well you have certainly offered a grand finally. Not to mention the Country Bumpkin’s generous offer.

    It is certainly a wonderful magazine and offers many beautiful articles that can inspire a beginner to an expert.

    At the moment I am inspired by family history and I have several items on the go. Distant relation’s coat of arms and a small sampler that we have a photo of but never seen.

    After that who knows.. but I do know I would like to sew one of Trish Burr’s designs and finish off a couple of UFIs.

    Isn’t life wonderful.

    Good luck everyone.

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  146. I used to get inspiration from TV, books, magazines, etc. But, these days I get most of my inspiration from other people’s blogs and websites. So much eye candy out there on the Internet! Thanks for all the fun, Mary!

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  147. I find inspiration in books and magazines! I also search the internet. But there is nothing like a book or magazine to look at over and over again. I’ve seen this on the internet before and thought it was just beautiful. Thank you for the opportunity to win a subscription to Inspirations!!
    Blessings,
    Charlotte

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  148. I was holding my breath with anticipation…a subscription is very generous…the projects are to drool over!…thanks for this opportunity and a great 12 day give away…Dianne in Brockville ON

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  149. This is truely a wonderful way to end the 12 days of Christmas, I already have many copies of Inspirations magazine and cherish each one of them. The 12 days of Christmas has been a lot of fun and I enjoyed looking forward to what each days treasures would bring,thank you Mary.
    Cheers Flora

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  150. I have been a subscriber to Inspiration for years. The magazine is so beautiful to look at even if I didn’t do the projects. I find my needlework inspiration from colors. Seeing a garden or even the rows of paint chips at the store will spark an idea.

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  151. I find my inspiration for designers’ patterns in newsletters that take me to websites. But when I design for myself, most of my inspiration comes in patterns I see in architecture, – small snippets of a building interior or exterior, things like Italian tiles, or cornices, or the way a shadow falls and makes a new color. Trying to figure out how to translate them to stitchery is a lot of fun. I am rarely successful but it doesn’t stop me from seeing beauty in little pieces of bigger things.

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  152. I find my inspiration …here! I need to remark on the footstool in the picture. There is no way I could put my feet on it! Thank you again, Mary for all your give aways. If I can I will patron all the vendors that have been generous through your site as well. May your new year be blessed!

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  153. Each of the 12 days has brought a treasure, but in my mind, Inspirations magazine is a case of leaving the best for last. This publication really opened my eyes to all the possibilities of needlework. I save every issue I acquire and check in whenever I’m ready to start something new. Big, personal moments in the lives of family and friends inspire my most original work as I try and make something to commemorate the moment that will resonate with the recipient.

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  154. Oh and I find my inspiration usually looking thru sampler books and local needlework shops plus some online shops.

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  155. I embroidered from the time I was a child until the mid-’80s. Hadn’t done anything since until I ran across Trish Burr’s books earlie this year. Now I am eager to immerse myself in all things embroidery.
    Without sounding like I’m kissing up, your blog has been my main source of inspiration. I look forward to starting anew this year.

    marjimarks

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  156. I love Inspiration magazine! They quit carrying it here and I haven’t been able to get a subscription. I find things online to embroider, BOMs, sometimes Inspiration magazine and I also will buy a kit if I want to try a new technique.

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  157. I find a lot of my inspiration in Inspirations, which is why I would love to have a subscription.

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  158. I find inspiration for my work in my life. I do a lot of stitching for my family and try to make it personal for the person who will receive it. My niece turned 30 recently, and I had a large needlepointed (framed) heart for her, done in the colors of her living room. My grandchildren receive an ornament each Christmas. I try to make each ornament very personal, for instance, one grandson is on a swim team, so one year his ornament was similar to his teams patch, and another year, he had just gotten a new dog, so I stitched a dog with markings like his.

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  159. Inspirations is my favorite sewing magazine because it is so “inspirational”. I must confess to having a few kits that have not been completed in my stash.
    Louise Brown

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  160. First let me say, “Thank You” for offering all of these wonderful opportunities to wind exquisite embroidery materials. What fun! As for inspiration, books and beautiful magazines like Inspirations are my favorite sources for ideas and motivation. I enjoy choosing a project from a publication and tackling it.

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  161. Wow! I thank you for the opportunity learn more about embroidery. I think my inspiration for MY work comes from looking at the work done in the past, historical peices and I am in awe at their ability to work an entire dress, panel, tapestry, bed cover…..I am still learning the basic stiches, having been taught simple stiches as a child (cross, outline) but never having someone to teach me the techniques to create the pieces that inspire me to learn more and create my own pieces. Right now my inspiration has been looking through the collections in my sisters library of books and looking through the pages of your website and others that are devoted to this craft. I would love to have the opportunity be one of the winners of this 12th Day giveaway, but am thankful that you have alot of inspiration here and others have worked to post/publish on the web inspiration for newbies so that this art continues. I have to say I am most inspired by my daughter (11 years old) working along side me trying to learn what I am doing,and if I don’t stich, she won’t learn. Inspiration……it’s all around us and thank you for inspiring me to keep the tradition going in my part of the world!

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  162. Wow Mary , this is so wonderful!
    I have always coveted this magazine, I have one old copy and love it so.
    I find inspiration from different websites ,yours and in the museums in the tristate area.
    Thank you so much for putting this together!
    Nora jg

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  163. What a wonderful way to end the Twelve Days of Christmas! I have actually been contemplating becoming a subscriber!

    I am fairly new to embroidery, so I still look to established embroiderers for inspiration. However, as I start understand the technical aspect of things, I find myself noticing things in everyday life that would translate into embroidery somehow, such as dried winter weeds that would look great as a goldwork pattern.

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  164. Well, my inspiration started with your web. I wanted a nice tea cozy, decided I don’t see anything on market I liked and hence wanted to make one myself. From here comes idea of decorating it with embroidery. While looking for pattern on iternet I found your site. I got so much into embroidery now that I started to look around my house to find things I wanted to have but now can create myself. I found the various links you put on your blog and books reviews very very useful.I am sure that now I am going to look into this magazine as well.

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  165. What a beautiful gift! I love the piece on the cover! I find inspiration in nature, walking through parks and gardens. I also find inspiration by reading about embroidery and looking at other peoples embroidery on this site and others like it.

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  166. Mary,
    The 12th day of give aways… I just want to say Thank You, even if I don’t win anything. It’s been an inspiration just looking at the stuff you are giving away. Thanks. I get inspiration from all over. Life, color, books, internet pages. Love flickr pages. Love your daily bit of inspiration.
    Thanks,
    Gail

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  167. I get inspired by a need or a purpose which requires puzzling out how it will be used in the end, and then follow the thread from there so that it will be most relevant to the end user.

    If it’s a gift, I’ll try to find someway to make it personal that I know will reflect the person whom it is being made for.

    If it’s for a design, then I look for ways to make it reflect the origin or nugget of the idea first. I’ve come to learn that I love the historical research aspect the most, and in fact that is informing my designing now more than it ever has.

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  168. Hello Mary! It’s my last “housework” in english, you know! I hope my langage was not too bad for you. I find my inspiration into your embroideries, and into other websites. I buy some embroidery magazines, as “Mains et merveilles” “Quiltmania” “Plaisir du fil”. And sometimes my granddaughters give me ideas…
    Thank you for that great give-away, and English lessons for me!!!

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  169. I keep a journal of ideas that appeal to me. I find inspiration EVERYWHERE! In magazines, newspapers, on blogs, online, art shows, museums…When I start a project (the incubation period), I begin to gaather information from every sourse I have available to me: my journal, my fils, online, books, just looking around. Sometimes this incubation period takes mioths and years but oneday te project just all comes together and voila a new idea is born.
    Thank you Mary, not only for this contest but for all the wonderful ideas and techniques you share with us. You are truely a gift to the needlework community. Thank you

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  170. I find inspiration for my embroidery from all sorts of places. I love your website and I think that it is the best for learning all sorts of embroidery related things. I look at magazines, not just needlework ones, but also others such as Victoria and Country Living. I once saw a room in a magazine that had some kind of tapestry hanging on the wall in one of the rooms. I was so inspired that I asked my son if he would draw it for me, since I can’t draw very well at all. He drew it and I interpreted it into a punch needle design and entered it in the state fair and I won a blue ribbon for it.
    Sharon K

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  171. I find inspiration in many areas of my life. My husband and I do a lot of sailing in the Bahamas so I am drawn to the colors of the sea. I have been looking for something creative to do that does not require a lot of space. I think hand embroidery fits the bill. My sister has been my inspiration in getting started. She, turned me on to you Mary. You have really inspired me through your website, generously showing anyone with the interest in learning how to get started. I did cross-stick work in the past and have a lot of DMC floss for practicing but, not the quality materials you and my sister use. I hope to advance to the next stage watching your videos. I will subscribe to “Inspiration”. I hope they offer an app so I can read it on my iPad while sailing.
    Regards,
    Barbara Thomas

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  172. inspiration for me is from the outside around me birds and flowers and animals and from the pictures on your page and the pictures in magazines would love to subscribe to the magazine you are showing but my husband doesn’t let me order online since he retired

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  173. What inspires me and my sewing? You! You have shown us so many beautiful works of art, and how you get there is amazing. Also, I get my inspiration from nature. I travel the world from time to time, and have seen so many amazing things. I just want to thank you for doing the Twelfth Day of Christmas Giveaways. You have been very generous, with all the gifts that you are giving away.

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  174. YOU have saved one of the best for last. Inspirations is THE premier magazine in the world. The word, “covet,” comes to mind when thinking of a chance to win this gift! As you probably know, this magazine is no longer available at any newstand in the US. It’s not only the quality of the materials in the magazine (photos, instructions, projects), it’s the quality of their publishing materials as well. It’s just an unbelievable quality product put out by some equally amazing people!

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  175. Most of my inspiration starts right here on your blog! I have purchased a number of books that you have recommended that have helped a lot.

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  176. I find inspiration lots of places – especially on Pinterest! Lots of lovely how tos and simple shapes!

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  177. Hi Mary,
    What wonderful “eye candy” to have for breakfast!
    I think stitchers are a visual lot and I use my garden for inspiration. Winter seems to be here for sooooo long, tho I’m sure it really isn’t, and I miss my gardens so much that they’re the inspiration for my photography and stitching. It just reminds me that spring will eventually arrive.
    Other inspirations for me are family and friends. I often make things for them, reflecting their interests and personalities. Just the other day I found out that my dearest friend’s daughter is expecting a baby girl. I’m already looking for a quilt pattern for her gift.
    Mary, thanks so much for this wonderful give-away! What a fantastic variety of offers, and what a tremendous amount of work it must have been for you to put it all together! A labor of love for us, your devoted readers and fans!! Again, thank you!

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  178. My main source of inspiration is the wonderful wonderful designers who create the endless stream of stunning designs available for us. When I do venture into my own designs, it’s usually adaptations of historical patterns.

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  179. Inspirations IS the most fabulous magazine I have ever read. Each year someone in my family gives me a new subscription to it. I have made several things from many of the magazines. They are varied and as they say, “there is something for everyone”. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw an issue for the first time. Quality of the pictures, the directions, lists of supplies, where to get them, etc., etc., etc. I could go on forever. Thank you, Mary for the wonderful 12 Days of Christmas and the fact that I now have a wonderful source to go to when I have a question or a problem. Happy New Year.

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  180. OH MY!!! What a dream come true this would be, this is the best of the best magazine for embroiders. I use to buy an issue each time they came out when I was teaching quilting at a cloth shop years ago. Now I am blessed if I ever find one here in western NC.
    As to the questions, I tend to find my designs wherever I can, I would say from the hundreds of books I have collected down thru the years, but also a majority of them on the internet.
    Right now I am working on 3 projects, a linen table cloth with teapots embroidered on the 4 corners and a small floral wreath in the center, these designs are from the internet, a twin quilt using various designs of victorian era hats that mostly came from an old magazine from back in the 50’s and then some from the internet, then an embroidered queen size quilt using various floral designs from a book I bought a few years ago. I have to say you chose to save the best for last, crossing my fingers and toes on this one. Barb

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  181. Oh, to win this subscription would be fabulous. I used to subscribe, but it got a little too expensive. I mostly get my ideas from old issues of Inspirations and old issues of Smocking and Embroidery Magazines and Sew Beautiful magazine. I also look online and your site. Thank you, Mary, for these generous giveaways. Ellen Johnson from Roanoke, VA

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  182. Most of my inspiration comes from my gardens – perrenial flower beds and vegetables. The colors that Mother Nature uniquely combines are fabulous. Additionally, I love looking for old and new sampler ideas in antique stores and gift shops.

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  183. Where do you find inspiration for your needlework?

    I do mostly historic embroidery, so looking at paintings ang woodcuts from the period inspire me greatly. I also get much inspiration from nature, employing the motifs of the flora.

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  184. I tend to find my inspiration everywhere and at the oddest moments. Driving along and seeing a peculiar looking tree, watching my children at play, seeing other people’s works, and walking through a craft store are just a few ways I get inspired. I have never seen this magazine, but it sounds absolutely wonderful!

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  185. I have loved every moment of your 12 days of Christmas Mary, and my embroidery journey is fairly new, but it started a long time ago with my grandmother who taught me the usual stitches i.e.: stem stitch, chain stitch and lazy daisy. That was about it
    Have always loved sewing, clothes for myself, my kids and friends, got a bit over that and in 2000 discovered quilting so did that for 10 years.

    But a couple years ago I discovered Goldwork and tried that then found thread painting……….that is pretty special and then I discovered you.
    I teach myself all the different stitches from your videos, and that is a joy.
    But inspiration comes from anywhere and anything, Google images is a great place because the images are so varied on any subject. With this give away is another inspiration and I will check it out and subscribe, that is if I don’t win .
    Thank you once again Mary………..you are an inspiration.

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  186. I find inspiration everywhere. Especially on blogs such as yours and the Antique Pattern Library. Thank you for all your enthusiasm and your wonderful contribution to the art of needlework!

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  187. I get inspiration from many sources. I look at art, at fabrics, at craft design books, at other people’s needlework, in catalogs, in craft books, in magazines,at antique furniture, and nature. Anything can be a source of inspiration if you learn to look at the world from that perspective.

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  188. I find inspiration from garage sale books and magazines, Handmade Magazine at Joann’s, Online, EGA Needle Arts and photos I can turn in to stitchery. My family buys CQ Embroidery Books, for seam treatments I use Kathy Shawl’s “Embellishing Crazy Quilts” because she gives the patterns to make plastic templates. The “Thread Garden, Bead Time” owners search for embroidery books for me (within my budget) quarterly. “Inspiration” has been on my wish list since Sept 2009.

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  189. Thank you Country Bumpkin and Mary Corbet. I hope I can win for I am a past subscriber and due to circumstances with finances I had to let it go. My inspirations come from many areas, pictures, books, nature, birds in my yard. In other words, almost anywhere I look is inspiration.

    Jane
    Georgia Gal

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  190. I find inspiration everywhere – textiles, nature, architecture, etc. I’m just starting out in designing, but I also love stitching designs by others.

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  191. I’d love to win this subscription! I currently find inspiration in the beautiful nature preserves of my recently adopted home state of Florida.

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  192. Inspiration is everywhere! However, what works best for me is a good night’s sleep and then, the next morning in those fuzzy minutes between sleep and wakefulness, I get my best ideas. I know I’m lucky to have the luxury of time in the morning! That magazine looks great!

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  193. Every now and then, I browse through the stitching magazine section in the bookstore. My attention is always caught by Inspitations and when there is a focus on a particular aspect of stitching that appeals to me–cerwel, goldwork, stumpwork, especially (and that’s pretty often)–I indulge myself by purchasing it when I can afford it, I’ve often thought of getting a subscription, but the cost is pretty prohibitive. It’s a great magazine.
    Joan

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  194. I get inspiration from a lot of different places… for one, this site – so many beautiful examples of needlework to look at (and references like the Grace Christie book and the J.F. Ingalls patterns you linked us to, which have been invaluable resources for me)… but also, I find I get a lot of inspiration from other things around me. Once, a plastic table mat in a Thai restaurant inspired me to try and replicate a weaving pattern. Once, an intensely colored flower outside my apartment door opened up a whole new range of color combinations in my work… I like finding new ideas for my work in everything non-needlework-related around me. 🙂

    So sad that the excitement of Christmas is finally passing… This has been quite a joyride! Monday should be very thrilling. 🙂
    Cheers to all who win drawings!
    Meagan

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  195. I get my inspirations from books, magazines and blogs, etc on the net. I do prefer hands on books or mags though, just because I love to sit in my chair and read them over and over. Thanks for your great giveaway contest 🙂

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  196. For inspiration I regularly page through my existing supply of embroidery books. Would love the Inspiration mag as I have already been to website and decided it was out of my monetary range. Here’s hoping!

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  197. Mary: It has been an amazing 12 Days of Christmas. The gifts you are giving away are so desirable and useful to have. I get most of my inspirations from Australian magazines. I love Inspirations but did not renew my subscriptions. I also really like Homespun and Creating Country Threads. They combine embroidery with quilting, which I like, but Inspirations is the “Queen” for getting the creative juices flowing

    Louise.

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  198. Well, it usually starts with an “itch” to do something and then that itch is followed by some time for a notion to percolate, which in turn is followed by pursuing the best means to satisfy the itch – needlework, cooking, gardening. The means to express it is found everywhere around me – nature and the internet being my two best sources. And of course, your blog is a regular feature of my day. Thanks, Mary, for sharing your knowledge and inspiring us.

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  199. inspiration?? in nature!!! nature has the most incredible colours and designs, we can’t begin to approach the variety she offers!!

    Elizabeth L Mac

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  200. The needle artistry of others influences me. They challenge me to see new ways to wield a needle to create dimension and shading. I have decades worth of inspiration-filled files which bring me pleasure and a sense of discovery every time I open them. Finding your site and receiving your emails at work is a wonderful treat I give myself when I take a tea break. Thanks so much for sharing your passion!

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  201. I find inspiration for my needlework in everything around me. I try to keep my eyes and mind open. In homes, offices and buildings, I’m looking at geometric patterns and color combinations. In nature, I’m looking at more abstract designs and how they can be recreated or interpreted in a way that’s interesting to me and captures a certain look or feeling. I try to notice what colors a certain little scene has like the bark of a ponderosa pine tree or the tree plus the needles and sky. Adding skills and techniques to my toolbox helps with that interpretation even if they haven’t made it to needle and thread yet; I try to write down and draw what I’m thinking.

    Thank you for the chance to win a year’s subscription to Inspirations! And thank you for the Twelve Days of Christmas. It’s been fun.

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  202. It has been a wonderful 12 days! So many items to be given away–any would be wonderful to receive. I am inspired not just by the pictures on the patterns & magazines but seeing what other stitchers have done. I belong to several groups on line and looking at their stitching projects has really helped me to grow.

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  203. I find inspiration for my needlework everywhere! Magazines, catalogs, other stitchers, online, nature. Colors inpire me. It really is genetic. A subscription to this magazine would be a real treat. This has been a wonderful 12 days of Christams! Thanks ever so much for all the fun 🙂

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  204. I find inspiration everywhere! I particularly like botanical things, stems, flowers, leaves. I have to confess though that I rarely do a design of my own. There are so many talented designers out there that appeal to me, like those whose designs are published in “Inspirations Magazine”
    Thanks for “The Twelve Days of Christmas”

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  205. I tend to find most of my inspiration in nature. Birds and leaves are my favorites, but sky and clouds tend to always be up there. (hee hee)
    Often, quite time with poetry, browsing my needlework books and the occassional magazines also inspire and lead me into my next project. Working with small groups can also have an impact on future projects. Just talking with other kindred souls, reading other’s work, can lead creative flow into other areas not yet discovered.

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  206. Oh yes, I’m a big fan of Inspirations magazine. My sweet daughter would occasionally buy one at her needlework shop and passed them along to me. I still have every copy. I’m 67 yr and she’s the one who got me back into needlework after 40 yr of not doing any. Inspirations was just one of the sparks that re-ignited the engine. I will definitely take advantage of this great offer and return the favor, for both of us.

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  207. I have bought or subscribed to a lot of lovely needlework magazines, many of which are now just memories, but Inspirations is one magazine that I buy often at our local needlework shop. it definitely the loveliest of all….would love to win a subscription.

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  208. I look for inspiration in embroidery books,on the internet, my favorite blogs,country magazines, nature. But what inspire me the most is THREADS. Specifically wool threads. That’s why I would love INSPIRATIONS magazine. They have lots of projets for wool.

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  209. I get my inspirations right now from books as I’m still pretty new, but I’m hoping to get to where I can do needle painting from photos!

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  210. I just love this magazine and have not afforded
    it for myself. Usually, I can find 3-4 designs
    in it that just inspire me to stitch them. I would be thrilled with a gift subscription.
    What a lovely 12th day offer.

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  211. Where do I get my inspiration? – your blog!
    And the internet. Not much to be found locally.
    That Inspirations Magazine is lovely.

    Bye, winnie

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  212. I get my inspiration for whatever I stitch, be it cross stitch, long stitch, ribbon, etc., by just looking at the magazines and/or books that come into my e-mail. I have found some beautiful things to work on. I would love this magazine subscription becuase of all the things that I would love to do in the future. They are very beautiful. Thanks for offering this subscription to us.

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  213. Wow, this is a Grand Gift! My inspiration – I’d say a great deal comes from your blog, Mary. And some other blogs I read, and my library of books, both paper and those downloaded from Antique Library and Project Guttenberg. Now let me clarify that inspiration and actually carrying out those plans are usually 2 different things. I’ve picked up Inspirations on occasion, and loved each one.

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  214. Hi Mary,

    I’ve been a subscriber of Inspirations for years and absolutely love this magazine. I would love to extend my subscription if I do win, it would be a be-lated Christmas gift
    to me.

    Thanks for the 20% discount; I will definitely
    use it to renew my subscription.

    Teri Sanfilippo

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  215. I absolutely adore Inspirations magazine and have frequently used their patterns (love their Christmas stockings and other holiday projects). I was fortunate a few years ago to received a box from a friend that was chock full of their back issues. It was primarily from the magazine’s wonderful instructions on how to do embroidery stitches that I learned there was more to life than the herringbone stitch. In fact, I still have all of those issues and wander through them frequently.

    Great “12 Days of Christmas” giveaways. Thank you so much for hosting this event. I would love to win everything!

    Sue U in KY

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  216. I get inspiration from many areas. Friends, local quilt shop, books (not necessarily stitching books), on-line and pictures.
    Magazine looks yummy!

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  217. I get most of my inspiration from books and magazines. I do change the colors to suit my tastes. Sometimes I can see inspiration in nature around me. I could get much inspiration from “Inspirations Magazine”. It’s so lovely but more than I can spend. Thank you to you and to you and to Country Bumpkin for the opportunity to maybe win a subscription, and to get it at a reduced price.

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  218. I’m inspired by looking at the results of other’s inspiration – patterns or photos of other’s work. I may not be able to design new stitches the way others can, but I can adapt what I see and make it work for me. I’ve only seed the magazine Inspirations once, but it seems that it would be a wonderful source of ideas!

    I’ve enjoyed the 12 Days of Christmas – thanks for doing it.

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  219. I have seen this magazine on the Country Bumpkin website before, but I have never held one in my hands. The cover is beautiful and lives up to it’s name. My inspiration often times comes from seeing needlework on the internet. I have gotten loads of inspiration from your site, especially during this 12 Days of Christmas. I often refer to your stitching videos to help me attempt a new stitch and for a refresher on, “Now how did I do that stitch?”. Thank you for sharing with us your time and talent.
    Deb

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  220. Hi Mary,

    My inspiration for needlework is most of the time from other embroidery patterns that I notice in other peoples’ dresses, home linen etc. I make my own designs most of the time depending on what comes on my mind. I am a beginner and so far do not have many tools or magazines to support my interest. I would love to have a free subscription of this magazine which can give me a boost for sure.

    Regards,

    Anju

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  221. Forgot to answer the question…..
    Ihave relied on other people’s inspiration for years, picking and choosing what pleases my sense of color and subject. Now i am planning an original….wil see how that works out.

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  222. What a treat it would be to have a subscription gift to this wonderful magazine! What an INSPIRATION that would be to me!!!

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  223. Thank you Mary! Your email arrives each morning early, so I count you as one of my daily inspirations. Also, I live in a beach community, and teach little people in a fine arts program. Our classroom window faces south, overlooking the ocean! We spend the day “oooooing and aaaaahing!” at what we see in the sky, on the water, and yesterday – at how much the bare trees were being bent by the big wind. In my fibre life, I use my needlework primarily to embellish felted knitted pieces that I create. No surprise that many of my pieces resemble sea creatures and plants! A two year subscription to Inspiration would be a blessing to our classroom! The Littles and I would add ‘eeeeeeeeawwww’ to our daily exclamations of inspired bliss! Yippppeeeee!

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  224. My dear friend inspires me on embroidery. She help me start on this journey. Besides her wonderful quilting skills, the many embroidery project she has done are wonderful plus she helps me so much.

    Sandy from Arkansas

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  225. The backs of my eyeballs? Almost anything I see gets tucked away–not very precisely, I admit, but it’s filed in there somewhere for later use in what I want to do. My photos are one of my prime targets. 🙂 Currently working verrry sloooowwwly on a wallflower/alyssum grouping, but every time I look at it, I wince–it looks so LOUSY compared to what I see here! *sigh*

    Guess I’ll have to start something else for a while, hm? 🙂

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  226. This magazine would give me the inspiration, help and AID I need to improve my embroidery. In trying to teach my grandaughter this art I realize how much I have forgotten and NEVER knew. I look at pictures of various projects
    and wish I could do that!!
    Thank you for these opportunites for “someone’ to own the lovely things you have given away.
    Happy New Year
    Kay in Michigan

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  227. Mary, thank you for all of these wonderful giveaways. They’ve been fun to watch!

    I mostly get inspiration from the internet and books. I got Jane Nicholson’s stumpwork book for Christmas and it has certainly been inspiring.

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  228. Every morning I take my coffee with me to my computer and on my home page I have your website. After I read the news, good or bad, I click on your article for the day. I’ll go to the links, all or some, and browse thru, and become very inspired. You are my inspiration. Thank you.

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  229. Ohhhhhhhhhh, Mary!!!!
    What an incredible 12 Days of Christmas this has been! Now, to finish it with the possibility to win a subscription to Inspirations!!!! Oh my! Oh, my! I have collected 8 copies of the magazine through the years, but haven’t felt it was something I could afford after we retired. I have however, just visited their site – you never know when you may find a sale! lol lol
    Many, many years ago we were able to visit the Abbey in Melk Austria. The vestments were breathtaking. I had to be pulled away from them. The work on these garments is mesmerizing. I’ve never forgotten their exquisite beauty. Their memory inpsires me evn today. I love historical gowns and garments with embroidery that I’ve seen in museums. I also love sweet projects like the Embroidered Village Bag by Carolyn Pierce. And, you inspire me! Your projects, talent, and teaching ability have convinced me that I can learn to do this if I’m willing to get started! That is a HUGE inpsiration,(fabric is on my shopping list this month – starting small, but starting!)Thank you.
    Thank you, too, for the chance to win a subscription to this gloious magazine!WOW! I’d be in shock for days, but oh, what a delight! lol

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  230. Another terrific giveaway! Thanks to you, Mary,
    and to Country Bumpkin. Where do I find my inspiration? That’s like asking a writer where they get their ideas! Magazines, books, online,
    all the visual sources that feed the imagination. I love samplers and historical needlework, so anything related that triggers the Ahah! or the Ahhhh! Thanks again Mary & Country Bumpkin for this opportunity.
    Katherine

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  231. Where do I find my inspiration? The question should be “Where do I NOT get my inspiration?”.

    It seems that the more embroidery I do the more I see everyday things around me done in thread. I have seen the Inspirations Magazine and find that it is beautiful and very inspirational. Just flipping through it makes me even more excited to learn new things, get out the needle and not put it down till I’ve mastered it.

    Winning this would be such a great treat. As one of my friends put it ” Inspirations is like needle work porn”.

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  232. Working, living and traveling international has provided me with inspiration from other cultures, techniques and the people who stitch everywhere….under perfect conditions, with good lighting, tools and supplies, to those who are sitting on the ground with hand-hewn needles and threads raveled from old clothing. Inspiration is truly the definition of the word….what provides us with the idea to pursue a concept, a project or the motivation to move on. (And, as an aside, this magazine has all of that!!)

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  233. I find inspiration from museum sites, blogs, and just googling up different topics on Google images. I also find much on YOUR site, and have learned about new resources and names of magazines and all kinds of things. THANK you for doing this giveaway series, it has been a wonderful leaning tool.
    Joan from Gloucester

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  234. I find inspiration from the pieces of embroidery in my home: the embroidered table runner made by my grandmother, a pillow case made by my other grandmother, and lots of bobbin lace from my husband’s family.

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  235. Dear Mary,

    Please enter me in Your generous and thoughtful drawing for a subscription to inspirations magazine, it looks like a wonderful publication!

    Inspiration (for me) comes from eye-candy. More and more often I find that that is available on the computer, years ago eye candy was to be found at fairs, gatherings and visitings. Often I reflect on the eye-candy and try to match it to the best of my ability, or to “reality” (my environment and tools). Almost always I can surprise even myself . (just trying leads to results, and those results can be worked with and improved upon…not always reaching the intended goal, sometimes the result is something seemingly”new”).

    and occasionally, something in my environment calls to be reproduced… I’m thinking of the animals in my life. They tug at the heart of inspiration.

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  236. I get inspiration mostly from nature, but often from the work of other talented needleworkers. This is where the fellowship part of the craft comes in. To sit and stitch and learn from others is a great joy in my life. Books and magazines come in as a close third! Thank you again, Mary, for this opportunity!

    Jenny P. from Kansas City

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  237. From here of course! Your blog is an amazingly inspiring resource. It’s supportive too. The online world of embroidery is huge. This blog helps me sort it out. If I don’t know something, I come here. I know I’ll find it. Inspiration magazine is inspiring as well. My guild inspires me too as do my stitching friends. This has been such fun – these 12 days. Waking up tomorrow won’t be quite the same. Thanks so much Mary.

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  238. G’day Mary,
    First thing I thought of was that the very air can be an inspiration. Always different, I ‘see’ it with my senses, I think, or maybe it’s a sixth sense, a ‘feeling’. Try it, if you haven’t already. I guess it’s all to do with how one sees light. This thought reminded me that i’ve read or heard it said that Monet painted the air, more so than concentrating on the actual subject. Something more than just the subject inspired him that’s for sure.
    Anyway, be that as it may, I certainly find inspiration in fleeting things. The sun catching on an ordinary garment on the line, weaving it into apparel fit for royalty, or falling on a rose, lighting the depths like molten nectar.
    Or just parts of things, the zoomed in, abstract detail of a shadow on palings, a section of an artwork, photo or needlework pattern pared down and turned about until it ‘flows’.
    And then there is free flowing imagination, just stitching as the mind subconsciously dabbles through stored ‘stuff’ imagined or otherwise, coaxing it all to harmonise or contrast, aesthetically.
    These only touch on the surface. If you’ve gathered that my ‘problem’ isn’t finding inspiration, it’s being bombarded with it, then you sure are right, but it’s interesting!
    Last but, not least, are the books, magazines, web sites and blogs that I can’t get enough of. I tease hubby that my life’s work is reading embroidery magazines and books, not embroidering, when he reckons I have enough of them. “But…Mary said this one is a must have”!
    Thank you very kindly, Country Bumpkin, a bonus whichever way it’s looked at. And Mary, may your pathway be strewn with many, many inspiring delights. You yourself are a delightful inspiration.
    Thank You. Kath from Oz.

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  239. A line of Bradford Pear trees, my father-in-law’s carpet, the fabric in my dining room curtains, the wall paper in one room, my bird feeder…all of these have inspired pieces for me. Inspirations magazine almost always has pieces that spark ideas.

    Mary: This has been a wonderful series of give-aways – you’ve put a smile on my face every morning. Happy New Year to you! Janet.

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  240. I love the Inspirations books there wonderful I would love a subscription. This publication has made me want to learn new stitches and explore new crafts.

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  241. Mary, it was your website and daily emails that renewed my interest in embroidery, something I hadn’t done since I was a child and then a teenager. I have since viewed your tutorials, researched current supplies by the links available on this website, bought a couple of books on your recommendations, and have downloaded a few of your free patterns. Your enthusiam for this craft is contagious! Thank you for renewing my interest and being my inspiration!

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  242. Wow! Another goodie! I guess I get inspiration by seeing a design I like, but you ask a good question. I am currently taking the EGA ICC Design for Needlework and that was my hope in taking it. While I am pretty good at adapting and/or changing designs I see, I wanted to know how to start with a blank slate. But I havee’t finished the course yet, and haven’t yet figured out the answer. Of course looking at a beautiful magazine might help spark inspiration.

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  243. Mary, so sorry for the long comment. I did say I was over inspired eh.
    I always get a fright when I see how long it is once it’s posted. Kath from Oz.

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  244. I have found Inspiration for my newly acquired interest in embroidery in several places. I joined TAST 2012 and love what other embroiderers post. I also have been inspired my the several blogs i subscribe to. I also go to flicker and check out what others have posted. The internet has made the world embroiderers a rich community that inspire and share what they learn. I would love to receive this magazine and grow as an embroiderer. Those who follow a passion are truly the ones that inspire us all.

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  245. I find inspiration in others people work – that’s what I love most about the internet. There are endless opportunties to see so many people’s work via newsletters such as yours, guilds (EGA/ANG), blogs, Yahoo groups, etsy, . . . I find inpsiration in art (I’m a big Monet fan), magazines (home design), and nature.

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  246. Where do I find my inspiration? Everywhere! I love my needlework magazines, my books, esp the ones on antique samplers, reading the hundreds of needlework blogs, on my stitching BB, Needle and Thread (on YUKU), from my stitching pal in Ontario, and the dozens of women out there that are studying, researching,and preserving needlework for future generations.

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  247. Anywhere and everywhere. Mostly things like blogs, flickr groups, a few random magazines, nature and my own doodles. SOmetimes I find inspiration in typical places (like all the needlework books I borrow from the library) and sometimes from random places (like pretty designs on tea bag packaging). I love to look at work done by people who’ve been playing with needlework for years because it’s really inspirational to see what can be done.

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  248. Mary, thank you for these beautiful giveaways, so kind of you!
    I find my inspiration in many books , on the Web , on your website and of course in the magazine Inspirations; I am reading it for years now and I think this is the Best magazine of the world!

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  249. Inspiration goes hand in hand with imagination. Nothing can surpass the colors and textures that can be seen in nature. So a walk outdoors opens my mind to all the possibilities of what I could design. I try to imagine transposing the soft shades of flowers, the carpet of moss, the airy ferns. Let us not forget our furry and feathered neighbors. Spring cannot come soon enough for me!!!
    Inspiration’s magazine would be a wonderful gift to receive. I have been searching for a worthwhile needlework magazine and this one certainly fits my every need.

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  250. Hello Mary, You have been a big inspiration to my needlework. I am also inspired by my fellow EGA members, Inspiration Magazine and many of the links you have on your blog. Thank you for the 12 days of Christmas. It has been great fun. Thanks to all of the contributers too! Linda F

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  251. I was given a few copies of Inspiration magazine and these have provided me with much inspiration. Other than those items, I look around the internet to see what others are doing. However, a subscription to Inspirations would help me improve in my stitching adventures to be sure!

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  252. I get inspiration for stitching from just about everywhere. Reading a sentence in a book that particularly resonates within me can become a cross stitched saying. Observing nature inspires in so many ways: the shapes, colors, arrangement of lines as in a group of trees or flowers,as well as birds and other animals. Seeing beautiful stitching or quilting on display can inspire me to try that technique or method.

    Thanks for your generosity during these twelve days and for all your interesting and inspiring posts throughout the year.

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  253. I find my inspiration from looking out our windows since we live in a very rural area (some call it the “modern day Maybury RFD”) and of course I definitely find inspiration on your website. I find more inspiration both here and at home.

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  254. This magazine would have to be the 12th Day of
    Christmas because it is the PINNACLE of gifts!
    I have never been fortunate to have money for a subscription to this magazine and I would treasure a subscription so much. I’ve seen it in stores and looked at it online but alas that’s the best I can do. Maybe someday when I’m rich I can subscribe. Thanks again for all your giveaways.
    You are so generous. And your Needle ‘n Thread site is the best. I love what you write and also how we can look at videos to learn new stitches.

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  255. I am not currently subscribed to any needlework mags so I would love this. I just last summer took up embroidery after a 30 year hiatus and have gotten loads of inspiration from the internet sites I visit daily. I have bought lots of books on the various types of embroidery and love looking through them. Embroidery sure has changed since I last took up a needle! But it is a change for the better for sure. Thanks for all the inspiration you give us daily Mary…

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  256. Hi Mary,
    I am sad to see this come to an end! This has been so much fun and the anticipation each day to see the next surprise has been great. I find inspiration in old back issues that I have of Inspiration magazine. I occasionally pick up a copy when I can afford one but I do not have a subscription yet. I would love to win this. Thank You for all of your inspiration too!
    Mary Ann H.

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  257. I’ve always loved the hand embroidery on wool penny rugs, wool crazy quilts and wool appliqué but had never tried them. Then I found myself with a quilt (batik) that just called out for red work style embroidery.

    And then, I found your website. Poking around on your web site and reading your blog is great inspiration!

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  258. Mary,
    How nice of Country Bumpkin to offer these subscriptions & 20% off to everyone else. Their magazine is truly an inspiration for me. I love their magazine but the subscription price is a bit steep. I get inspiration from floors in Las Vegas casinos, flowers in nature, museum works, the internet, your site…it goes on & on. Thank you again for all you do to inspire us & for your work to do this 12 days of give aways! Sheila K in CA

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  259. I find inspiration in all sorts of places. Needlework of course, but in woodwork, textiles, wallpaper, illustrations, woodcuts, and other places. I love using antique books and magazines of “ornament” or designs for decorating everything from chairs to ceilings. And they’re in the public domain!

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  260. I get my inspiration from browsing through books at the library and various websites – including yours!

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  261. For the past few years most of my inspiration has come from reading your blog and The Unbroken Tread. Some from nature, books, etc. I have purchased Inspirations magazine a few times and have found it to be a wonderful source too. These past twelve days of super fabulous goodies in your give away have been fun. Many thanks Mary –
    Jean B.

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  262. Your website is certainly an inspiration! I love to look at at other’s work to see what is possible. I look at Flickr group photos a lot, and often click through to a blog to read more about a finished piece. Thanks for all the chances to win these prizes, and it’s been informative to me to find out about all the products.

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  263. I find inspiration in vintage children pictures, my daughters shirts that have some really cute designs on them, and looking at pinterest

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  264. I love kits, so my inspiration comes from others.
    I would love to able to “design” my own but my talent is in the doing not the designing. I will change things up in a kit or pattern if I want to but usually what the designer has created is the
    inspiration for me!
    Avis in VA

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  265. Hi Mary,
    What an incredible 12 days of Christmas! Thank you so much for the chance to win amazing stitching prizes!
    I find inspiration everywhere, nature, art, books, websites, blogs and magazines (Inspirations is a great magazine!.)Plus I love creating gifts specifically for each person, so I would have to say I get inspiration from the personalities of people around me.
    Happy 12 Days of Christmas Mary and Thank you!

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  266. You ask me to say where it is that I find inspiration for my needlework…I find it in so many different places. Books[already in my possession and from the library,] magazines, a lot in nature itself as I am out and about, shop windows,patterns are everywhere. I also do some part-time work for a well known designer so her workshop is full of ‘stuff’ in the way of patterns, fabric, beading, embroidery etc. However my main problem is putting all the ideas that crowd into my head on to paper[or should I say fabric]. So many ideas, so little time and that’s where Mary Corbet has added so much to my life and needlework. She has taught me through her ‘blog’ that I don’t need entire days to create, 20 minute windows here and there are equally fulfilling. Now I take a wee amount of time each day somewhere in the day to create. SO rewarding and self satisfying. A few moments , just for me. I love that time in each day and am a much better person beacuse of it { I think so anyway!]….

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  267. Much of my inspiration comes from historic embroidery. I’ll see a motif or technique done hundreds of years ago and admire its precision and artistry. In a time before electric lights, when guilds often regulated quality and working hours, and moral extremists condemned decoration for its own sake; some of the most amazing embroidery was produced. We are inheritors of creative, clever innovators of the needle and thread. It is their work that inspires me.

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  268. Unfortunately I see inspiration in just about everything – and that’s a huge problem. I only have a limited amount of time to stitch so it can be hard to whittle down the inspiration into something doable. I get my copy of Inspirations magazine faithfully every quarter, but for some reasons unknown to me, I have never had a subscription. This would be a wonderful opportunity to rectify that 🙂
    Thank you for this wonderful series of giveaways.

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  269. My artistic inspiration comes from a variety of people, places and objects. Nature provides me with countless shades of a color that I could only imagine in my mind. Often I find inspiration by looking at the works of others in art galleries, magazines such as Inspirations. But the most profound and liberating life-changing moment came when I toured the Seattle Museum of Art last year. It was there I encountered a quotation that has given me wings to continue my creative quest. Here it is: “There are two kinds of knowledge: Stored Knowledge and living knowledge. Stored knowledge can be put in a book and set aside and looked at later. But living knowledge has to be expressed, felt, spoken and demonstrated.” The quote is by Albert Einstein.

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  270. I get my inspiration from many places, from you Mary for one! I see flowers and I am inspired. I look at buildings and the architecture (learn that from my Mom)! I look on line and my most favorite place is at a needlework shop. I have on occasion picked up a copy of Inspirations magazine, and would love a subscription. I guess if I don’t win I will take advantage of their offer because I know it is well worth it!

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  271. I get inspired by looking at other’s work and designs or beautiful colored threads that I just have to work with then I am on a quest to find a design to use them in.

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  272. Mary, you are probably sighing with relief, but I’m anxious and excited! Every day I look forward to seeing your next wonderful offering. Inspiration for needlework comes from so many places-my stitching friends, EGA and ANG, internet groups, but especially from blogs like yours. A whole new world of needlework has been opened up to me due to the internet! Thanks for all the fun with 12 Days of Christmas.

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  273. Where do you find inspiration for your needlework?

    On twice daily walks with the dog. We live on a farm, dog and I hike through woods, over dales, around and on fields in all kinds of weather, every season of the year. We feel all types of temperatures, cold, crisp, wet, dry, rain, snow, clear, cloudy. We see fauna and flora. We hear sounds and sometimes experience extreme quiet. We look at and into the big picture, we examine fine details. Sometimes we pick up bits and bobs to incorporate into a wall hanging or other work.

    Thanks again Mary, for this amazing 12 days of Christmas giveaway.

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  274. Mary, thanks again for another opportunity. I get most of my inspiration from books and magazines – and of course, online here from you! I would love to receive a subscription to Inspirations – their photography and level of workmanship shown is always top notch!

    Thanks!
    Tomi Jane

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  275. The beginning of your newsletter suggests a sigh of relief – was that you? You are very brave. It looks like you must have had thousands of comments to read these last two weeks, and all your giveaways were fantastic. This last one is the cherry on the top. I love “Inspirations”.
    Most of what I do in the way of needlework comes from magazines and I just do exactly as the instructions go – don’t feel I can venture out on my own, starting from designs to choice of colours.

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  276. Good Morning! I enjoy flowers and color … I find inspiration in magazines/books and on-line. Have enjoyed the Twelve Days of Christmas … very inspiring. Thank you.

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  277. That is one gorgeous magazine! When we retired I could no longer afford it, then they stopped selling it at magazine stores. I MISS it!! This is wonderful – thank you so much!!
    I am inspired by that magazine, by items I see that I could sew, but sometimes using techniques or materials (thread, fabric, etc) I like better than what they have used.

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  278. My inspiration comes from two sources–history and nature. An example: Several years ago, I made a “four seasons” in needlelace. All of the stitches were centuries old, but the original designs were based on close observation of the seasons here where I live. Have you noticed that creating art in any medium causes you to “see” in a different and deeper way? Of course you have! Recently, my needlework has taken a back seat to terra cotta sculpture (human figure). “Seeing” in three dimensions was an exciting new adventure. Sadly, my teacher has retired, so it’s back to the needle for now. Thank you again for this super series of questions. As nice as the prizes are, the introspection elicited was valuable in itself.

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  279. Happy Friday! Your 12 days of giveaways have been so much fun. You are such a great inspiration to me. I look forward to reading your daily blog and visiting your site for information and inspiration on all aspects of embroidery.

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  280. Mary, I find inspiration by looking at historical embroideries, and by browsing magazines such as “Inspirations” (which I love) and “Stitches” by the UK Embroiderers Guild. I also like to try embroidery techniques from other countries – it’s Italian needlework for 2012.
    Barbara, UK

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  281. I find my inspiration everywhere – from YOU, my church, nature, art – from books, magazines, online. I just have to remember to keep my eyes and mind open to all possibilities.

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  282. I would love to have a discount toward the purchase of this magazine. I get ideas from this magazine, from my travels to other countries, from other magazines that are not needlework related, from the internet….just about everyplace!

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  283. Good Morning Mary, Happy Twelfth day of Christmas.
    (I think i missed a day somewhere!!!0
    Anyway, i think i get most of my inspiration from visuals. Mostly magazines, but also seeing projects done in person. I love all the handywork too. I agree with you too, I have purchased an Inspirations magazine in the past and it is wonderful. You need to have a thirteenth day
    give-away and that being for MORE TIME to stitch. 🙂
    Have a happy day,
    Chris

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  284. My inspiration comes from my existing Cross Stitch magazines and kits from the quilt store. I would love to branch out and try new techniques and this magazine sounds perfect. Thank you, Mary, for all the work you do for us.

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  285. “Inspirations” is certainly a huge inspiration! I have had a subscription for years and spend hours with every issue. The projects are breathtakingly beautiful. Now, if only I could find extra hours in every day to actually stitch!

    Other inspiration comes from nature, works by friends, and our wonderful local needlework shops – and, of course, from Mary’s blog!

    Thank you for this fun series! Happy New Year to all!

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  286. I get inspiration from my EGA group, the web (of course) and from books–particularly older books on techniques. I’m fairly new to the world of embroidery so inspiration is everywhere.

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  287. I would love this magazine. I get my inspiration from almost anywhere. Lately I’ve been scouring od copies of Peterson’s and Godeys along with Mrs. Beeton for historic needlework I can do at history events. Thanks do much for the lovely things you’ve given all of us a chance to win.
    Debs in South Texas

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  288. I get my inspiration from English needlework blogs – like Yours 🙂 and from my needlework books.
    But mostly I’m inspired with my imagination fulfilled with: exhibitions in museums, with things I see in home style shops like Zara Home or Ikea.
    I’m going to museum, I see wonderful picture or embroidered chasuble or something like that. Usually I don’t know what will give me an idea for my new project.

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  289. I find inspiration all around me, and I’m fortunate to live where the seasons are not slight. It’s always inspiring to see the changes in color and light during the transition from one season to the next. I also find inspiration reading Needle ‘N Thread. Sometimes it’s a new link and sometimes a new technique or project,but with each newsletter I find wonderful things to learn and inspire. Thank you, Mary, for the 12 Days of Christmas. It’s been such fun! But mostly, thank you for Needle ‘N Thread and everything you do!

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  290. I am a needlework magazine/book junky. I’ve turned into one of those old ladies that is addicted to QVC only my addition is fabric and craft stores searching for a new needlework magazine. These books and magazines are probably my greatest inspiration for needlework but I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to needlenthread web site and a few other online craft sites. I know that I would enjoy this every page of this magazine.

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  291. Mary, you are a wonder. I know Insirations Magazine and have used their patterns in some of my creations. My inspirations come from the world as many others have said and lately from a desire to document our family in needlework pieces. I am inspired by photographs which I turn into needlework using my computer. This gives extra meaning to the pieces I create, not only for me but hopefully for those who receive them as gifts. Thank you for this exciting extension to the season of Christmas. Happy Three Kings Day!

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  292. My inspirations come from what I find on the internet from websites like yours. The local shops carry mostly charts for cross stitch. To have a magazine like Inspirations Magazine would be wonderful. Thanks this has been the best twelve days of Christmas I have since I was a child.

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  293. The Inspiration magazine would be a most helpful resource for embroidery. I would love to win it. Thanks to all responsible for a chance to win it. New projects and ideas are what I am all about.

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  294. Yes, I am inspired each time I get my Inspirations magazine in the mail. I first learned about the magazine while taking embroidery lessons years ago from our instructor. It is truly a beautiful magazine with such wonderful projects.

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  295. I find inspiration everywhere. I like simple patterns that work up quickly so I like children’s books and coloring books.

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  296. I find my inspiration from your website. I spend so much time looking through your website and the links it takes me too. I read your emails everyday. It is so much fun and inspiring too. I love old linens as examples and have collected them at garage sales for a long time. I would love to receive Inspirations Magazine. It looks awesome.

    Thanks,
    Sheila

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  297. Good Morning Mary,
    I would like to say that the CB magazine Inspiration does so inspire me but I see it so seldom (I live in a desert for needlework) that when I do accuire a copy I am in seventh heaven. On a daily basis I am inspired by YOU!!!! I do so enjoy your daily newsletter and you are the reason I am returning to embroidery. Thank you so very much.
    Prayerfully
    jean marie

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  298. Inspiration is everywhere from the sweet fingers of my grandchild to the clouds in the sky against the beautiful azure of its vastness.

    Colors move me to try new techniques and stitches, music helps me blend it together. Relationship define for whom something special is made, and memories dictate the presentation.

    Stitching is my active meditation and my love.

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  299. I don’t buy magazines much, so most of my inspirations come from the internet. There are some wonderful people around that are so willing to share their experience and expertise

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  300. I get my inspiration from wonderful ladies like yourself Mary, and others like you who go the extra mile to share your talents and beautiful work with us through magazines, blogs and the Internet, THANK YOU VERY MUCH,

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  301. I get my ideas for embroidery from books, coloring sheets, magazines,and from the Internet, expecially from your site. You inspire me and I have completed many of your projects.

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  302. The number one place I find inspiration truly is this website. I was first attracted by your stitch tutorials and now my day cannot begin until I’ve checked in to see what Mary Corbet is up to. Love, love, love Inspirations mag but it is not readily available in my area….now with the 20% discount….this too will become one of my ongoing inspirations.

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  303. I am part of a small group of friends that stitch together every 2 weeks – they inspire me. Also the “Inspiration” magazine and “Piece Work” magazine. I hope to make a casket/box with crewel and stump work — one day as I’ve seen in these magazines.

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  304. I love, love, love this magazine, have ordered a couple of kits and fabric from Country Bumpkins, the magazine and all products are wonderful!!!

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  305. Here in Germany is very difficult to find inspiring sources for embroidery beyond cross stitch and some kind of Hardanger embroidery; since I have discovered this site things have changed: it is a ressource of inspiration and information; I have found other useful sites through it and bought some of the commented books and all this is a big help.My main source for embroidery is the internet Now I would like very much to get the magazine “Inspiration” because it brings a variety of ideas/technics at once; to get this spectrum of different kinds of embroidery I had to spend many hours in internet. Greetins and thank you for all.

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  306. I have found inspiration for my needlework from a song about sheep that I used to sing to my children when they were babies to Jacobean textiles to crazy quilts. Thanks for your column.

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  307. I enjoy your daily articles so much. I have a best friend of 54 years who is so talented and does so many different areas of crafts. While I am a transplant to FL and she is in MO, I think that she would love to have the magazine. I would like to enter her name for one of the subscriptions.
    Thank you so much for your dedication to show us the many facets and how tos of the wonderful art of embroidery. My sisters mother-in-law will be 95 this month and still does beautiful embroidery work and is so much faster than I am at 66.
    Thank you,

    Joyce Foss

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  308. I am inspired by nature….everything that Motheer Nature has created is so beautiful…these are even more lasting when they are seen in the lovely embroidered pieces which will last forever!

    Usha

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  309. I find inspiration everywhere, especially in nature, and my family. My grand children have such a beautiful imagination, and they inspire me to create. I used to paint, so that experience helps me work in embroidery.

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  310. I find inspiration in art, nature, embroidery books and life.
    It is very difficult not to be inspired, but life does not have time enough for everything I am inspired to do.
    Tania

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  311. I find a lot of inspiration on line from blogs, Flickr and Pinterest, etc. Also from my stitch group at the local quilt shop. Thanks for the chance for the magazine subscription!
    Karen in Breezy Point

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  312. Thank you Mary for this 12 days giving away, have enjoyed it. My inspriation comes from everywhere. I browse alot just looking at all the beautiful peices you have created.

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  313. Mary
    Your 12 Days of Chrisrmas has been wonderful. I get inspiration everywhere – in nature, the beautiful work my friends in our EGA group and in magazines, especially Inspirations which I am able to read occasionally. I would really be inspired with my own subscription.
    Ruth on the First Coast

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  314. Your site gives me a ton of inspiration! I also get inspiration from magazines and other blogs. Your site is the one however that has given me my New Years resolution to try to do new kinds of embroidery. I only have done cross stitch up to now. Seeing the beautiful things you do has really inspired me!

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  315. oh my word! I want to do the cover! ty ty for the heads up on this …am going to order in the next 5 minutes! u enabler you! actually…its a person who inspires me..u see I have this sister…who pretty much has tackled and mastered every craft she has attempted…ya..u know …the gifted one..we often like the very same things but..umm..hers always look better and seem to get FINISHED…but she has turned me on to literally every craft I have ever tried…she is much better at things, but…im trying..I did have more patience for samplers tho HA! I have enjoyed your 12 days…great ideas for me too. Wishing everyone and YOU a great 2012. Ty for tossing my name in that big ole hat! fingers crossed here! ty ty ty

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  316. Hi Mary!
    Honestly, I find most of my inspiration from your site. You give excellent ideas, projects, reviews…not to mention all the videos about the stitches. Of which I have watched, paused, rewind, watch again several of them to learn new stitches or to brush up my technique. In my most humble opinion your site is the best! Love it! Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. 🙂
    Blessings,
    Jen

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  317. Inspiration is all around us, no matter where we live. Unfortunately I have a very hard time seeing it as such. I do not have an artists mind so I always follow patterns – not very original but I enjoy it. This blog is helping me to try to see beyond that, perhaps I will get there yet.

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  318. Love the instructional books and magazines that are full of details and instructions. There is always something new to learn and see. Thanks for your recommendations. Love your site

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  319. Hi Mary, What a wonderful give-a-way! I get inspiration from your web site a lot. The links you give to the library with out of print books has been a great help. I also make baskets and am learning a technique that incorporates embroidery into the basket. Seeing all that has been done helps me to imagine what else can be done. Thank you.

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  320. Hi Mary,

    First, let me say that I am so amazed at all the beautiful and wonderful things you were able to share with us for your 12 days of Christmas!!

    I am a novice to the world of surface embroidery – I’m just picking up bits and pieces to attempt. When I get an idea for embroidering, I have to search online and try to find some other, more advanced and skilled, people to give me inspiration for what my work could look like. That is actually how I found your blog in the first place – and I have been a devoted follower ever since 🙂

    This magazine would be such a great resource for me – I would be able to see completed projects and get tons of ideas.

    Thanks again for all your work in gathering information and things to give away – we all appreciate it!!

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  321. I get most of my inspiration from magazines. The rest I get from viewing other people’s work here on the internet. Needlework is like eye-candy to me when I see what other people have done with it.

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  322. Inspiration? – From all things around me-the garden,the internet,coloring books,my daughter’s drawings,her story books and what not?

    Love,
    Deepa

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  323. Most of my inspiration comes from a desire to create things for my grandchildren. I also collect nativities of any type and have stitched several.

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  324. I love Inspirations Magazine, but it is too expensive for me to subscribe to on a regular basis. My inspiration is sadly lacking right now. I mostly just stitch pieces designed by others. My children constantly tell me to design my own pieces, which I need to do, but a good designer is hard to pass up when it comes to stitching.

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  325. I can’t say me needlework is very “inspired,” as I haven’t done a lot of it. I do enjoy in books and magazines.I was lucky enough to find some needlework magazines recently in France and Italy. Beautiful fabrics are also exciting. A magazine such as “Inspirations” might be just what I need!

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  326. I typically find inspiration in museums or pictures of garments-either portraits or photos of extant garments, that make me drool..
    …a lot! With a magazine like this, I’ll likely be kept busy telling myself “no”, because you can’t make everything you see right away! I’ll have to buy myself a subscription to this if I don’t win it!

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  327. This is a wonderful give-away! Imhave purchased the mamgazine off and on when I could find it, and it is inspiring. I find I am inspired by Nature. There is so much to see and learn from it. Colors, shapes and texture put together in fascinating ways. Thanks for the 12 Days of Christmas. What a wonderful gift!! Sandi

    342
  328. I find most of my inspirations from magazines. I do subscribe to Inspirations through the The Wooly Thread store
    here in the states. I first found this magazine on Maui in Hawaii. I was hooked right away. It is by far one of the most beautiful magazines and the instructions are wonderful. I would love to win a year free to add on. I can’t wait for it to arrive every time. Thanks, Carol W, Windsor, CA

    343
  329. I love Country Bumpkin publications, so beautiful. I found inspiration at the quilt shop last night, various magazines not necessarily needlepoint related, blogs, all around.

    344
  330. My inspiration comes from my sister, Sharon, who passed away from Inflamatory Breast Cancer in 2006. She love Brazilian Embroidery and all types of thread crafts. Drop lace Bobbins, tatting, crochet, etc. were among her favorites. I am sure Inspiratipns would have have been one of her favorite sources for patterns and ideas.

    345
  331. Oh, I get inspiration everywhere. Online, in magazines, from other people who embroider…if I see a beautiful print or shape or picture, I think about how it would look embroidered. Inspiration is really everywhere!

    346
  332. My inspiration comes primarily from the work of others…..when I see the gorgeous photos in blogs, the descriptions in their online comments, I get the craving to do more, to expand my mind and talent….. If nothing else, I thank you for your time, your gentle guidance, and your fervent desire to share your craft and talent with all of us. You do so quite effectively! Blessings, Mary, in the New Year.

    347
  333. Hi Mary…..much of my inspiration is derived from nature! I love to soak in the colors and shapes created for us by Mother Nature. Other inspiration comes from surrounding myself with like minded folks that adore embroidery and crazy quilting.

    349
  334. I find inspiration in blogs and Pinterest, so mostly online. It’s amazing to see what others have done! Very inspiring to me!

    350
  335. Thats easy-everywhere. Nature,magazines,on line, fabrics. Hope to win if not its been fun anyway. Thank you

    351
  336. I absolutely love this magazine – the pictures are beautiful and the detail given really inspires me to do something different or shows me a better way to do something I’m already stitching.

    Thank you.

    352
  337. I find my inspiration from the world around me – nature mostly. I also find it from the internet. My husband is a carver and while I am trying to help him research ideas, I find ideas or inspiration for my needlework.

    This is a wonderful magazine and giveaway. This has been a wonderful 12 days and I have learned so much reading the daily reviews and going to the various website. I am new to you blog and will be a regular.

    I will now come here for inspiration too!

    Thank you!!!

    Happy New Year!!!!

    353
  338. I am not sure what inspires me specifically it changes from day to day. It could be a book, movie, internet, magazine or even just driving around town. As long as I have a blank book with me to jot down ideas I am good.

    354
  339. I find my inspiration through looking at extant items, and patterns from old books, mostly ecclesiastical.

    355
  340. Dear Mary,
    First and foremost a HUGE THANK YOU for the 12 days of Christmas Giveaway. It has been exhilarating and inspirational.

    What inspires me? This blog, this website, you, the many books I have, the other websites I frequent and the shops I browse online, as well as others who share my enthusiasm for stitching.

    I love Inspiration Magazine and would be thrilled to win a year subscription. It is truly a treasure.

    Thank you again for all you do and for inspriring all of us to continue our stitching pursuits.
    Tania from Brooklyn, NY

    356
  341. I find inspiration mostly through the stitching magazines that I subscribe to but since discovering your site have gleaned much inspiration from your work and encouragement. Thanks for all your work and generosity on such a great site!

    357
  342. This is a great last giveaway. A magazine like this would be full of ideas. I get inspiration from the work of others, in books and magazines and needlework “in person”. I’m inspired by nature. If I’m making something for someone else, I’m inspired by their interests.

    358
  343. My inspiration comes from our family. We have six small children who are beautiful, inside and out. When my son became ill I started to teach myself needlework and embroidery. I was always interested in embroidery and lacemaking and it became a creative outlet. We move a lot as my husband is in the military and I’ve been so blessed to see so many breathtakingly different landscapes, architecture and lovely people. I want to express the beauty I’ve seen through the needle arts! I want to both thank God for these blessings and give something back through art. Thanks for the chance to learn more! 🙂

    359
  344. I find inspiration in nature, magazines, fabric, everywhere!
    Thanks for the opportunity to win such wonderful prises.
    It’s been fun.

    360
  345. What a wonderful 12th day gift! Much of my inspiration comes after I have visited a museum and seen work that others have done. When inspired I simply find I have the desire to finish something creative. I am a copier-I don’t have the talent to design from scratch-but need a pattern from somewhere else.

    361
  346. I find inspiration in nature, magazines, fabric, everywhere!
    Thanks for the opportunity to win such wonderful prizes.
    It’s been fun.

    362
  347. Oh, my goodness — how generous. I used to get this magazine and the smocking one, but I just can’t afford it anymore. I think I get most inspiration from magazines and internet. I rarely make something exactly as published, but put my own twist on the design.

    363
  348. Besides needlework books and magazines (oh yes, Inspirations included), I look at art books, catalogs, design books and nature magazines, plus photographs I’ve taken. So many ideas, so little time. Sometimes I use a technique that a quilting teacher mentioned. Sketch your main object (a flower, leaf, letter/word, paisley design, whatever) on paper and cut it out, as if it were a stencil. Then pass it over colored printed matter to see if you find a great color combination that inspires you. Thanks again for this great give-away and for your daily note – with lots of inspiration too.

    364
  349. The majority of my handwork is influenced by historical sources – I’m a big fan of Elizabethan English work. The jacket they just recreated at Plymoth Plantation – drool! Blogs like yours are also great sources of inspiration – if only as a “you too can do this” resource!

    365
  350. I love this magazine and am already a subscriber. True to its name, it always provides lot of inspiration.

    366
  351. Everywhere…but mostly in animals and flowers. They come in so many shapes and colours.

    Thanks for a wonderful twelve days!

    367
  352. I get most of my inspiration from the internet, especially from sites like yours. I do a lot of searching on the net for new ideas for everything textile, because my daughter is a textile design major who doesn’t have a lot of time. I send her links to items I think she would be interested in. So I may see something on weaving that inspires me try to interprete it in needlework. I also try to purchase a few great books every year.
    Mary, thank you so much for this wonderful giveaway. It has also inspired me to try some new products (fabric and thread) this year.

    368
  353. This is the magazine that made me pick up my needles and threads again. It so inspired me. I didn’t think I could ever do the surface embroidery I saw on older linens until I saw the wonderful illustrations of the various stitches. And I learned many new stitches. This magazine along with your web site have me buying old embroidery books in used book stores. I would love to have a subscription to Inspirations magazine. This would be a great early birthday present.

    369
  354. What a great company. I’m intrigued. I get inspiration by the need for a small gift–either to hold a gift card or a check, as an ornament, my favorite, or because I need to do some embroidering. You have been an inspiration ever since I found your site. I thought that there were maybe 1 or 2 other people around who did “hand” embroidery. Our stores that carry any needlecraft things usually limit it to floss or needlepoint yarns. Thank you, these 12 days have been great fun.

    370
  355. Where do I find inspiration?..from books and trips to museums, to thrift store finds and blogs online (yours especially!). From hikes in the park to the garden in my yard…it all fires up the urge to create. And yes, this last gift give away is the best yet. Just last week, when I found out that my local fabric store had ceased to carry Inspirations Magazine, I had finally decided to subscribe…so now I’m going to wait until the 10th at least to take advantage of the coupon…if I don’t win! THANK YOU SO MUCH for this terrific series!!!!

    371
  356. I look to the past….wonderful antique samplers done by children young enough to be my grand children! And, to the fantasy of the Jacobeans…..there’s nothing like a hint of the wild and wonderful in needlework. And, I think we ALL look to you, Mary!! Thanks for all you do to preserve and stimulate the needlework community.

    372
  357. Inspiration comes from what I love — my grandmother’s antique lace, my mother’s quilting, paintings by my artist friends, the country landscape I live in with its wildflower meadows and rushing river and high rocky cliffs, the crossover of poetry and music as images emerge in colours and patterns, the quiet of time by the fire just to dream and stitch as my mother and grandmother did before me. Inspirations would inspire me to capture what I love and go further! Cath of Chelsea

    373
  358. Thank you Mary Corbet and Country Bumpkin.

    My inspiration comes from nature and the pieces of embroidery that my grandmothers and great-aunts left for future generations. I have several of these in my home. I love to spend time in Williamsburg and the museums there and soak up elements from the past. Also, browsing through antique shops looking at the “discarded” linens puts me in the “I can do that” mode. I also love some of the current embroidery magazines.

    374
  359. I ABSOLUTELY love Inspirations Magazine! I had a subscription years ago, but due to increasing family and less time to embroider, I couldn’t justify having it. The guilt of not producing, you see. So years later I donated my collection to my sister who has really appreciated it. What inspires my embroidery? My little ones – the idea of having them decked out in delicate, classic finery.
    Lizzie

    375
  360. I find my inspiration in several places. Magazines, online websites, random thoughts (especially when I’m relaxing in my chair), and sometimes it is just a comment from someone that will spur and idea.

    376
  361. How wonderful to have this beautiful new magazine coming to you every month
    I find a lot of inspiration in folk art I just admire every style and just love anything made with love and passion

    Bernadette Garcia
    Albuquerque New Mexico

    377
  362. Inspirations is what it says inspiration to all especially relatively new embroiderers like myself I would love to be able to look forward to each new magazine dropping in my letterbox.

    378
  363. Most of my inspiration comes from blogs, Pinterest, magazines and my own artwork. Any image that you see can be turned into an embroidery pattern. This magazine looks wonderful and would be a source of inspiration for anyone who reads it!
    Thanks for this awesome 12 day giveaway!

    379
  364. Mostly random ideas off the internet. Very scattershot. Thanks for the whole giveaway. It’s been enlightening and fun to read what you have used and recommend.

    380
  365. Much of my inspiration is found in documents and pieces of a variety of works from the past. I did a lovely piece once based on the burial shroud of a Wallachian princess from the 1400’s. It was beautiful and completely unique. I also love the pre-Raphaelite period Rossetti, Morris, and Burne-Jones are fantastic sources. I’ve recently turned to tiles and tile work for some of my inspiration. Many of the older ceramic tiles are glorious and the designs can be worked in so many ways. DeMorgan’s tiles in particular, as well as the Minton tiles.

    381
  366. I find inspiration in many places. For the shadow work cross on my 8 year old grandaughter’s christening dress it was a symbol at a church we visited. Of course I had to tweak it a bit. Sometimes it is Inspirations or some other publication. I currently take Inspirations and if for no other reason it is worth it just for the eye candy. Diane

    382
  367. Strange as it may sound, I find my inspiration from music. Some songs make me think of elements of needlework and I think of how I can add them to my work.

    383
  368. Actually, I get my inspiration from this very magazine; however, the subscription is so expensive, I usually only buy it quarterly at the news stand.

    384
  369. My inspiration for my needlework stems from my love of art. I am never going to be a gifted painter, but with charts, needles, and threads, I can produce works that I am truly proud of. Thank you, Mary, for this drawing and for your wonderful website. Theresa/OctoberLace

    385
  370. I have been a subscriber to “Inspiration” since I discovered Issue 42 in a needlework shop. I soon started a subscription because I was afraid I would miss an issue. Why is it that Australia has such beautiful needlework and quilt magazines? The detail and pictures in the instructions have been invaluable to me as the needlework shop closed and back then the internet was just beginning. I bought the camel blanket kit several years ago and finally stitched it last winter when I finally felt confident that I could do it.

    386
  371. Well, for the most part I get my inspiration from the Needle ‘n Thread website. Ha,ha,ha…….

    387
  372. Happy 12th Day of Christmas Mary and all! I have enjoyed this contest very much. Not only for the anticipation of a win but for all the new contacts I now have on my ‘Favorites’ list to use in the future. I get my inspiration for stitching from Mary Corbett a lot, The Gift of Stitching out of Australia, EGA’s NeedleArts, and any other opportunities that might arise. Somehow, I have to get this magazine – it is beyond lovely and right up my alley. Thx again Mary for this fun little journey over the last 12 days of Christmas!!!

    Missy Palmer, Grand Junction, CO

    388
  373. Lots of inspiration for me in art history books. Especially the ones about museum collections. I am an Inspirations magazine subscriber. Always willing to lend the magazine to friends because there is just so much there.

    Elaine in New Mexico

    390
  374. So far I’ve just admired all the wonderful things you’ve been sharing for the 12 days. But now I’m going to dip a toe into the pool of goodies. I don’t have a creative bone in my body but I dream of making beautiful things. Right now I use magazines and nature to be inspired. Nature gives me the color schemes and magazines and patterns lay out the basic plans. From there I just change a little bit here and there.

    I like the idea that you were once a “dabbler” like me. You give me hope.

    391
  375. Not sure, but you may have kept the best for last. I love the Australian magazines and books. Their quality and beauty is unmatched and I would love to have a subscription to Inspiration. I find my inspiration everywhere. Nothing is immune to me. Color and beauty of any sort attract my attention, as do flowers, trees, the sun, the wind, etc., etc. A face can suggest something to me, beads do the same. Fiber is a love of mine; sometimes feelings give birth to my art. Sound (music), scent, thought: I am open to all. This can be exhausting and was when I was younger, but now I just “tuck” everything away and know that it is at the ready when I need and want it. Thanks again for these wonderful 12 days. Floss Hurley

    392
  376. I fins my inspiration from Books Vintage and modern and of course the internet.
    Although the internet sometimes takes up too much time to get things done in the real world.
    MElisa in Saskatchewan

    393
  377. I find color inspiration from fabrics and I love getting the Sept big issue of Vogue to get ideas from all the wonderful designers around the world. Sometimes the combinations are astonishing!

    394
  378. I get my inspiration primarily online. I have seen “Inspirations” before, and it’s a great resource for ideas. I only wish they had a U.S. product, so it would be easier (and less expensive) to purchase their kits! Thanks for doing these giveaways. They’ve been fun and instructive.

    395
  379. HI Mary,
    Thanks for this opportunity to see the Inspirations magazine up close. My friend subscribes, but the cost has prevented me from doing so.
    My inspirations come from walks around a local lake each morning. The colors of the sunrise, the textures and shapes of the foliage, tree leaves and waves on the lake, and I could continue to wax poetic. I used to run this trail until I hurt my knee, so now I walk it. I didn’t realize how much detail I was missing! So, maybe slowing down has been the best inspiration for me. Lemonade from lemons.
    Thank you for your blog and enewsletter, Mary. Do you have any other sites you could recommend to us for fine embroidery?

    396
  380. Everywhere! But what inspires me most is extant pieces of embroidery from Renaissance periods.

    397
  381. I think this really is your best giveaway yet! I find my inspirations in historical pieces and my friends and family. I will certainly look into this magazine whether I win it or not, thanks!

    398
  382. I have a large collection of needlework books. I spend many enjoyable hours looking at all of the wonderful work completed over history. I would love to have this magazine as well. I do own a few copies but it would be great to see it for an entire year!

    399
  383. Mary,
    I love this magazine. Everything in it is so beautiful. I find most of my inspiration for my embroidery in nature. Thank you for this opportunity.

    400
  384. Dear Mary,
    What a great way to wrap up the 12 days of Christmas!

    I need to create something that I or someone else will use. It is very seldom that I just sew without a purpose. There are only so many walls in a home for framed art, so many afghans that one can use, or needlepoint pillows that can be placed on a couch. Thank goodness that I have many friends and family members that have needs and wants, too, so that I can always come up with a project to please someone.

    I usually get ideas from books and magazines. Inspirations will be a wonderful new fit in my life.
    Sincerely,
    Debbie Brian

    401
  385. Twelfth day of suffering and anxiety!
    After January 10 for sure my inspiration will come through the annual subscription Inspirations magazine, which I won here in 12 days of Christmas giveaway! Thank you!
    Walfrida

    403
  386. Belonging to a number of different stitchery guilds and going to the meeting, seeing the show-and-tells, and going to national and international shows gets my juices flowing. Travel, museums, books and magazines do it too.

    404
  387. Mary

    BeSides VICTORIAN magazinE with its antiques anD linens, gardens and wildlifE inspire me to cReate projects to share moments of natural beauty. Thank yoU foR Giveaway
    Audrey Davis

    405
  388. I had never taken a past class or had someone close that did needlework…Sometime ago while going through different websites on quilting Needle “N Thread was talked about and here I am. You and your website have been an inspiration to me; I have taken two embroidery classes since getting hooked on this website. If I don’t understand a stitch, I come here; I have even advised others to come to this website who are having problems with a stitch or need info regarding some type of embroidery. So my inspiration have come from you…but whenever I see embroidery of any kind I am inspired to pick up a needle, which started with Needle “N Thread and your way of making needlework approchable for all. Thanks….

    Fredi SW

    406
  389. I think Inspirations is my “go to” book for inspiration. It is my favorite magazine and would love winning a year’s subscription. The internet also is a great place for ideas, and have joined several groups and enjoy seeing what other thread artists are doing out there! But as far as magazines go….Inspirations wins hands down!

    407
  390. What a dream come true! A subscription to Inspirations is just what I need to jump start my brain this dreary January! I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed double hard because I just love the issues of this magazine that I’ve been able to beg, borrow or steal.

    Mary C.

    408
  391. I get my inspiration from magazines and needlework books, nature and the world around me in general. Lately I get a lot of inspiration from needlework blogs. Isn’t the internet fabulous? I own three precious copies of the Inspirations Magazine. It is a very special Needlework magazine and I would be thrilled to win a sub.

    409
  392. Would love to win this subscription. I do have two subscriptions to magazines as there aren’t that many on the shelves to purchase at the newstands. Would love to win this and try new challenges.

    410
  393. I LOVE this magazine. I spend way too much on needling supplies – I wonder why I’ve always thought that I couldn’t afford “Inspirations”? I get my own inspirations in many places. Currently I’m stitching a beautiful lacy snowflake that I found on one of my favorite blogs . . . hmmm. Thanks again, Mary for putting together all of these great give aways.
    Nancy in Newport

    411
  394. Where do I find inspiration? I don’t really have time to create pieces from scratch. I’m painfully slow at it. Basically, I am inspired by a design or technique in a magazine, or a class through someplace like EGA, or a designer like Tanja Berlin. Love Inspirations, but it’s so pricey for those of us in the U.S. — a free subscription is a major deal!

    412
  395. Hello Mary,
    I find inspiration in nature. Your web site has been a significant source as well.
    Thank you for all you do to promote and teach the beautiful art of embroidery.

    413
  396. This is the best “freebie” I have ever seen. I used to buy this magazine when I could afford to do so-but having my own copy delivered to my door-would be wonderful. This magazine is the best of it’s type in my opinion. I know we all cannot win but whoever does-they are very lucky folks.
    Thank you Mary
    Dee Mullins.

    414
  397. My desire to do fine needlework comes from the things I see in nature; my inspiration to translate these views comes mostly from Needle N Thread. I love hearing from you daily, viewing your video tutorials and following your links to other sites. Thanks so much for all that you do to teach and inspire others.

    415
  398. I find inspiration in EGA and Sampler Guild members. Those ladies are wonderful and I love Inspriations magazine.

    416
  399. Their magazine (more like a book) is truly an inspiration. I have subscibed on an off as I could afford to throughout the years. I hoard them as something precious. I have used them to learn and teach friends how to embroider and of course have make several projects as gifts and wedding accessories. I would one day love to visit them and just sit in awe of their wonderful store.

    417
  400. I love this magazine and have purchased several over the last few years. I don’t see them on the stands that often. I get a lot of my inspiration from magazines, old books and blogs. Thanks.

    418
  401. I find my inspiration from the world of tattoo art — I am in love with skulls right now.
    I would love a subscription to the magazine. I have NEVER been able to afford it and grab up any stray copy I may see in the thrift stores.

    420
  402. I think that my inspiration to stitch was born in me. I rarely go a day without stitching something, maybe a little, maybe a lot. For deciding what to stitch — nature, family, friends, magazines, even the internet gives me ideas of what to work on next.

    421
  403. I find “historic” embroidery very inspiring, whether heritage or heirloom items made by a housewife in the depths of time, or more regal items like church linens. Something like the Bayeux tapestry is so fascinating, the way a whole narrative is preserved through a gorgeous and engaging piece of needle art! When I look at an old piece of needlework in a museum I can imagine someone (probably a woman) bent over it and it makes me want to learn and carry on that skill.

    422
  404. Inspiration is everywhere! In the beautiful flosses and fabrics; in my husbands photography magazines; in my dyepot; in my garden. I am so motivated by colour and texture that I am overflowing with ideas. If only I had the time and skill for them all!

    423
  405. Inspiration comes form seeing the work of others, particularly in books and oh my goodness the Inspirations magazine. What a treasure trove that is. Reading blogs by people that are such skilled craftsmen (women?) and getting inspired by their commitment and sustained energy is something that keeps me going. I don’t know anyone personally who is as interested in fabric crafts as I am, so the magazines and blogs are even more important.

    424
  406. I find inspiration by looking at work from other people, from magazine articles, or from a book/leaflet. I also love surfing the web and looking at blogs of other crafters and enjoy perusing their pictures and projects. And of course, from your website and emails, Mary!!

    thank you for another lovely giveaway and good luck to all!

    425
  407. Have never noticed this magazine before although I don’t buy the number of mags I used to but this looks really lovely and intriguing. Count me in to win a subscription. Great way to start the New Year.

    Mary

    426
  408. I think what inspires me most is shapes. The shape could be on a piece of fabric, or in a photograph, I see a shape and imagine it done in a particular style of embroidery, or with a particular stitch, or a special thread.

    427
  409. I find inspiration by looking at books and magazines. There always find something that will spark my imagination.
    Esther B

    428
  410. My inspiration comes from nature and color and other peoples designs. I own a few copies of Inpirations magazine and love it.

    Donna G

    429
  411. Je trouve mon inspiration dans les livres et les revues de broderies. Présentement, je m’intéresse tout particulièrement à la broderie blanche. J’adore ce magazine pour la diversité des techniques que l’on y retrouve.
    Merci

    430
  412. I think I mostly find inspiration from the seasons and holidays around me-I love embroidering festive motifs and things like fall leaves and spring flowers that reflect what’s going on outside my windows!

    431
  413. I mostly cross stitch and knit so my inspiration used to come from standard craft magazines. Then I stumbled across Mary’s site and as cheesy as it sounds I am totally inspired by her to try lots of new things. If only I could find the time for it all. This subscription would keep me busy for ages. I just love anything classically beautiful, Victorian backwards. Thank you for all the giveaways. They have certainly made me think about what and why I love embroidery.

    432
  414. Hi Mary,
    I find my inspiration in nature. I love to make scenery, flowers, and animals (including insects..like the beetle pin I made for my sister). But I am a “tree-hugger” and find solice and inspiration in all of nature.

    WOW – wonderful gift! I used to be able to buy Inspirations at Joann’s in a town 10 miles away, but now you can’t get it anywhere. Unfortunately, I can’t afford the subscription….so I go without and drool over the pictures on the internet! (I will check into the discount – thank you!)

    Thanks for all the wonderful opportunities.

    433
  415. I find inspirations all over especially in magazines..The Inspiration Magazine has to be one of the best out there…It’s a little pricey but worth every penny…I have collected these magazines for years and finally had to go through them and give them to our Library here where I live in a 50 plus complex and let everyone enjoy them…A 2yr subscription would be amazing talk about inspiration…Plenty of it in the Inspiration magazine Thanks Mary for wonderful opportunities in the twelve days of Christmas this was a wonderful opportunity to win wonderful prizes and really get one’s inspirations going.

    434
  416. I see you leave the best till last.I agree with you it is one of the best embroidery magazines. I am passionate about antique needle work and most of my inspiration comes from that, I surf the internet looking for any historical kits I can. This together with historical sites especially the Victoria and Albert museum and any magazines I can get my hands on. I do have a few copies of Inspiration and it has definately been given the best title.

    436
  417. I find my inspiration in nature, the colors, textures and patterns all around me. One of my favorite pieces of needlework I have done is a piece by Sampler Cove, Acorns Away. It was charted with orange flowers on white cloth. I changed the shades to reflect the forest I live in and did a floss toss that included the real items; Vinca blossoms and leaves, acorns and redwood bark. I used a redwood colored fabric for it and it looks just like I wanted it to.
    Valerie in California

    437
  418. My inspiration comes from magazines, like Inspirations, books, catalogs, your website, etc.. Other than the free work I do when I crazy quilt I rely on help from others. Thanks again Mary for everything that you do.

    438
  419. I find inspiration for my needlework from the issures of Inspirations Magazine that I buy when I have the extra money and from when I view on the Internet. I would love to win a subscription.
    Gita L.

    439
  420. I found a portrait of Marie Antoinette done when she
    was about 8 years old. She holds a tatting shuttle, the
    thread falling over her lap. The painting has a clear photographic quality. I was inspired to needle paint her image on a corset bodice. Color! I love mixing embroidery threads to see how they behave, together.
    I splurged once and bought a copy of ‘Inspiration”.
    Wow! A subscription would just be splendid!

    440
  421. Inspiration comes from so many places — articles, photos, pottery, even printed pictured boxes have beautiful ideas to stitch. This magazine has been on my “wish list” ever since I saw a copy at a stitching friend’s home. Thanks for ALL the gifts you have posted these past 12 days.

    441
  422. Why, from “Isnpirations” of course! I only have three copies of the magazine and they are old, but I go through them often. Our local stitch shop went from handling many forms of stitching to primarily quilting. While I understand the fiscal reason for doing that, as an embroiderer, I was disappointed. Due to that narrowing of stock, our precious stockist put all the “Inspirations” on sale. So I managed to glom onto a few that I would not otherwise be able to afford.

    442
  423. I get ideas for needlework everywhere! This includes things in my home, all the tourist places I love to visit as I travel (just visited Williamsburg, VA, all dressed for Christmas – there’s a feast of ideas), books and magazines I see, and the outdoors.

    443
  424. Museum collections of textiles and antique patterns inspire me. Ribbon embroidery is also an interest of mine and I love the kits/books/patterns by Di van Niekerk.

    444
  425. I will never forget the first time I saw an issue of Inspirations. I was a brand new, know-nothing, apprentice in the vestment guild. One of the accomplished church ladies brought in an issue. It was stunning – I never knew that handwork like that existed. It was the sumptuous color and texture of the crewel work that lit up my brain; and the silk-shading was a close second. I get inspiration from photos that depict color/texture/patterns that make my heart beat a little faster.

    445
  426. I was able to get Inspiration at my local book store. Now that the store is out of business, I should buy a subscription. My “inspiration” comes from many places. Nature, museums, needlework stores, the internet are just a few of the places it comes from.
    Connie in MI

    446
  427. I get my inspiration from so many different places. Most of it comes from the few dozen craft and seeing blogs I read and the embroidery and transfer groups I belong to on Flickr. But much if it also comes from things around me. Drawings in books and magazines and even product packaging can be great places to find inspiration. I work at a specialty grocery store and a few of my projects have been inspired by the wonderful graphics we have on our product packages!

    447
  428. I get my inspiration from all kinds of things – landscape scenes, photographs, art galleries, books and magazines. I have yet to find the Inspirations Magazine in the shops here in the UK, I would love to win this and will certainly consider buying it if they post to UK.

    449
  429. Good Morning Mary,

    I would first like to thank you for all you have done. Your website… all the wonderful info. you give. I would have to say that you are my inspiration. I know I have not started on Embroidery just yet but you have been my inspiration. Especially when is comes to Ecclesiatical and just hand Embroidery in general and I truly appreciate your had work, dedication and your desire to help others.

    PBWY,
    Jennifer G.

    451
  430. My inspirations come from taking on new challenges in my needlework experiences. A technique I haven’t tried, a new stitch, a canvas to try different techniques. I have to live several lives to be able to try everything I would like to!

    Inspirations Magazine – truly beautiful. I had a subscription for a year, but with a 20% discount offer, I am tempted again.

    Thanks,

    Maria

    452
  431. Who wouldn’t want a subscription to this magazine? It is such a beautiful publication with a huge variety of projects.

    453
  432. Sadly my inspiration usually arrives with the herschnerr’s catalog. They have a variety of lovely things and i love looking through it.

    454
  433. Many years ago I was inspired to learn to do embroidery after visiting a lovely embroidery exhibition when I lived in South Africa. Subsequently my inspiration came from the the wonderful teachers whose classes I had the privilege to attend. Your informative blog is my current inspiration – thank you!

    455
  434. I’m inspired by all the wonderful designs that are available to us stitchers today. I mainly do counted thread embroidery, but I love to experiment with other techniques as well. I have perused Inspirations magazine when I can find it in the bookstore & absolutely love to win a subscription!

    Julie H

    456
  435. Inspiration for my needlework usually comes from perusing vintage sewing magazines. I also collect antique textiles – sometimes just scraps – that have interesting techniques on them. I like rounded embroidery designs and often see architectural details such as iron fences and scroll work that I think would make nice stitchery pieces.

    457
  436. This giveaway gets me “twitterpated” as you would say! I love this magazine and would be thrilled to have a subscription for TWO years! My inspiration comes from searching the internet, books and magazines, such as Inspirations, and of course, from you!

    458
  437. Oh my! What an amazing treat!! Thank you for all your generosity, Mary and that of the many vendors who have given to this special 12 days!!! Since I’m not really a designer, I get inspired by the beautiful designs of skilled needlework designers and teachers. Magazines, seminars, classes, needlework shops, other needleworkers….it is all around us. Sweet little cross-stitch birds, amazing stumpwork flowers and bugs, the lovely rows of neat stitches in a sampler, the awe-inspiring openwork of drawn and pulled thread…I could go on and on. I am humbled by the gifts of needle artists and blessed to have the eyes and hands to play with needle and thread!

    459
  438. Dear Mary,

    I think that this is the best giveaway. One of my friends was visiting in Australia this year,2011 and sent me as a subscription as a surprise gift and I would love to add to it.

    My inspiration for needlework comes from you. I eagerly read all your blogs, go into many of the links that you provide and use your free patterns.

    Even if I don’t win anything, I want to thank you for all the enjoyment I receive from you and your blog.

    460
  439. Ooh, I’ve heard about that mag, but never read even one issue of it. Yet. Looks like a magazine I just have to pick up soon!

    As for inspirations, well, I’m just a newbie and have mostly “doodled”, learning different stitches and exploring them rather than design anything. Generally, I’m inspired by nature as so many others. Historical arts and crafts, contemporary designers/artists, everyday objects, magazines etc etc. I believe you can find inspiration in the most ordinairy or unusual places if you just look at in in the right way and the “right” mood. Suddenly you see something you never noticed before.

    The materials — in my case often beads — can also be inspirational in themselves. A variegated thread can make me think of a certain flower or the bead finish reminds me of that day I did this or saw that or the shape of that pendant is just meant to be used in this way. And so on. Sometimes it’ll like you just follow the materials and let them decide the design.

    462
  440. Thank you Mary for the Inspirations giveaway & for inspiring us daily with your site! “Eye candy” is available all around us–at embroidery guilds, shows, online groups & sites, nature, architecture, books & movies & so on. The real key to creativity is harnessing the inspirational ideas we collect into something cohesive. That’s where Needle ‘n Thread & magazines like Inspirations come into play. They help provide step by step technical info to get ideas out of the brain & onto the linen, canvas, whatever. Thanks again for Twelve Days of fun at NnT. You deserve a vacation after organizing all this!

    463
  441. I find my most favorite inspirations from Inspiration Magazine of course!! I have found more patterns, information, artists, fabric and thread suppliers from this magazine than any other source. I could spend the day just reading the magazine & calling my sister to compare notes with her on all the projects.

    This is the best giveaway! Thanks so much for the opportunity to win. 🙂

    464
  442. I find inspiration on forums where other stitchers share names of designers and projects they like or have completed. Some of the photos on this site are also very inspirational!

    Thanks!

    465
  443. My inspiration comes from looking at embroideries that I’ve seen in museums and books. I have never heard of this magazine, but now I want to get a copy. I’m sorry these 12 days are over, and thank your “sponsors” for donating all the items for the give-away.

    466
  444. It is hard to believe that this is the Twelfth day of Christmas. It has gone by all to quickly. Regarding inspiration for needlework question, most of my inspiration has come from pieces and patterns that were left to me by my grandmother, and also the internet-your site is wonderful and has often led me to searching sites I would have never dreamed of searching. The subscription to Inspiration magazine is a great give a way. I have often thought of subscribing, but as yet have not had the opportunity. Thanks for the wonderful opportunity.
    Judy Holland, Fresno, California

    467
  445. I find inspiration for my embroidery in nature around me, especially flowers. Sunsets and sunrises provide marvelous colours schemes to work with. I have also been working on a series using shoreline treasures as my theme, so shells or shell patterns, kelp, beach creatures provide another source of inspiration.

    468
  446. I find my inspiration from nature and my surroundings. From petals on a rose to birds at the feeder to bees in my garden to the sunlight shining through my stained glass windows, I’m continually inspired.

    Thanks for sharing the magazine!
    Pam in IL

    469
  447. I find Inspiration everywhere in the world around me. Landscapes and animals I see and/or photograph, and photographs of them.

    The yearly calendars of the organizations like National Federation for Wildlife are frequently a source of inspiration.

    Photographs of paintings, cave paintings, reconstructions of dinosaurs, and petroglyphs are another major source of inspiration.

    Thank you very much for “The Twelve Days of Xmas”, it was great fun and very kind of you.

    470
  448. It might be quicker to say where I *don’t* get ideas from….

    Some come from projects in books, mags and kits that I work (often adapting at least a little), and others have come from design briefs such as when I was doing C&G and now, doing TAST. The stitch given this week and the examples of it both on the challenge page and in my stitch dictionaries were so inspirational it was hard not to get carried away!

    I love ‘Inspirations’ mag too, but since it’s been taken out of newsagent circulation in the UK, I can rarely find it now. Subscriptions double the price per issue for me, (overseas postage etc) so, I’ve had to do without for most of the last couple of years.

    471
  449. I find inspiration in the things I see around me, especially things from nature. Thanks for sharing this magazine.

    472
  450. My inspiration usually comes from seeing someone else’s work. This might be at someone’s home, where the homeowner has done something I like, or even at a needlework store. I look at the samples to get ideas for future projects and for colors.

    473
  451. I am 69 and have not embroidered for well over 20 years. I found this site and Mary Corbet you have inspired to pickup my needles again. My family is also thrilled to recieve these hand made gifts.

    Thank you, Jackie

    474
  452. Of course, I always find inspiration through your postings on Needle ‘n Thread, but I also find inspiration looking at classic works of art. Once while at the art museum in St. Louis, the docent had to ask me to step back. I was too close….but, sir, I must see how the artist replicated the queen’s gold work! while others look at the whole masterpiece, I focus in on the embroidery on a gown, or whatever handwork the portrait subject may have in her hands.
    I have purchased a few single issues of Inspirations magazines over the years, but a subscription would be WONDERFUL!

    475
  453. I love Inspirations magazine! I find my own inspiration from looking at others’ work and from ‘playing with’ my threads and materials. I find that helps me to move forward.

    476
  454. Inspiration for stitching? I find it everywhere. Since I don’t do much designing, my inspiration is what gives me the motivation to take time to sit down. Generally that inspiration comes from family for whom I’m actually stitching something, although I also host a stitching retreat each summer and attend another in the spring, and seeing what other stitchers are working on is certainly inspiring. And of course, when I see something lovely, or whimsical, or just downright beautiful, I am always inspired to at least want to stitch it.

    477
  455. I find inspiration in the oddest places…like, embroidery books! I was reading in a new embroidery book, Embroider Everything Workshop, that you could embroider with yarn, so I embroidered an early Valentine out of yarn and felt last night. It’s a surprise, Mom hasn’t found it yet.

    I’d love to win this magazine, it looks fabulous!

    Anne

    479
  456. Oh, this might be my favorite giveaway yet! What a wonderful way to cap of your generous series. 🙂 Of course, I get a ton of inspiration right here from Needle ‘n’ Thread! But in terms of what projects to do… I used to do a lot of needlework design, and I actually pulled several elements from architecture (a stone frieze for a border, old leaded windows charted for blackwork, etc). These days I do historical costuming, and am inspired by the needlework shown in period portraits.

    480
  457. Hello Mary!
    I see inspiration in everything around me, books, pictures, fabrics. All are something I would love to be able to do, but, alas, there is no stitchery stores around my town. The closest one is 45 miles away, so classes are not available. Mine is simply a “try it” method of learning, and of course, your great tutorials. I go to some stitch or other at least once a week on them. Thanks for the opportunity to expand my horizons!

    481
  458. My inspiration comes from many talented people who write these blogs. A piece of vintage fabric might inspire me. Or pictures of needle work done long ago.

    482
  459. I agree with you ,Mary, Inspiration is the world’s most beautiful embroidery book.So I often find inspiration in it. It is always a joy when I find it in my mailbox. The samejoy when I find a EMail from Mary Corbet!
    Thanks a lot, Mary. Louise Qc Canada

    483
  460. It’s so wonderful to learn about this magazine! My inspiration many times comes from wanting to preserve a favorite saying or snippet of a verse. And if I can get it in the handwriting of the person who said it – all the better!

    484
  461. Inspiration is all around me – in nature, in other stitchers’ work (both past & present), internet embroidery blogs & sites, sometimes even the threads and fabrics.

    Mary, your give-away has been a wonderful twelve-days treat even just to read & enjoy! Thank you for all the hard work that’s gone into it, and for all the work you do throughout the year on your outstanding blog.

    485
  462. I find inspiration in lots of places, mostly online. Sometimes it’s in other people’s works, embroidery websites, random stuff on Etsy (not necessarily needlework, either), cool patterns or design elements on random websites, works of art, nature, etc. Thanks for he chance to enter such a great giveaway series!

    486
  463. Oh, how I love Inspirations magazine, and AS&E too! I’ve been really sad in the last year because they stopped sending issues out to bookstores, so I can’t see them anymore and talk myself into buying them. I do mostly get inspiration from magazines and the work of others–I’m not advanced enough to look at a bird and want to turn it into embroidery!

    487
  464. Mary! You are so wonderful to be giving us a chance at all of these wonderfully fun items! I find inspiration in everything. From books to my daily walk. If I could I would stitch and bead everything I see!

    488
  465. Hi Mary,
    My inspiration comes from magazines and books that I have on needlework as well as from your site. I also see inspiration in my garden, the birds and flowers I would like to stitch. I see beautiful works of embroidery hanging and think “I could try to do that” and maybe I could or maybe I couldn’t but it always helps to have the inspiration of those works. We don’t get the magazine here anymore but I treasure the copies I do have.Eye candy.

    490
  466. My inspiration for embroidery comes mainly from friends, though of course there is always the internet, blogs, magazines and seminars and get aways. They all bring a different joy to my stitching.

    491
  467. I think I find inspiration everywhere — books, magazines, tapestries at the library, a combination of colors somewhere. There is so much to do… What a lovely magazine, and thanks again Mary,

    Shelia in Oklahoma

    492
  468. I get my inspirations from going through books & magazines. Also from pictures and things that other people have done. Thanks for doing the 12 days, it’s been fun and hopefully I’ll win something! Thanks again and Happy New Year.

    493
  469. I find inspiration in what my fellow guild members are doing. I am one of the unfortunates who needs to see a stitched flower in order to be inspired. (My mind’s eye runs in another direction.) I am so fortunate to live in a community that has 2 EGA chapters and 1 ANG chapter. The ANG chapter has 3 (THREE) stitch and chats a month, and the EGA chapters each have one. So besides the meetings, I have five more opportunities to get together to see what everyone else is stitching. I am so blessed to live in such a supportive environment.
    Of course, there is your blog, which I read faithfully every day. And I do purchase Inspirations magazine at least once a year. And just drool! What a treat! Thanks again for everything.

    494
  470. Hi Mary
    Cannot believe that the 12 days are actually up already. I get a lot of inspiration from other peoples work and in the group that I am part of and have seen so much through your newsletter every day that there is far more that I want to do than I have time for. I find that you send us places through your emails that I would otherwise not find so there you have it. I have subscribed to Inspirations in the past so may just go back there again! Thanks for all the wonderful give-aways you have organised for us and of course always for your interesting newsletter which I look for every day – you are my inspiration!
    Eleanor – Isle of Man

    495
  471. My inspiration come in nature to the colors..,I have the luck to have a big garden ,and I Wash insects ,flowers ,trees..and I have the luck in France to subcribe to the Inspiration Magazine since the fist number in May/june 2008 and I love it ,It is also my Inspiration ,it’s Marvellous . thanks mary ,but for this gift-away ,I leave the luck to the other ladies

    496
  472. My inspiration for needlework comes from beautiful crafted items I saw in magazines, blogs and books.

    Mary, I have had a lot of fun reading your articles, esp. these past twelve days. It opens my eyes to the world of needlecrafts. Thank you very much.

    497
  473. WOW! I love that magazine, I purchased an issue or two over the years when I was looking to learn Bootie. But Mary, I have to say you are my inspiration to try new things. Your work is beautiful and the step by step instructions are invaluable.

    498
  474. My inspiration usually comes from seeing other peoples blogs, my local needlework shop, or my needlework magazines. I’m afraid I’m not much for making up my own designs. I usually follow a pattern from one of my magazines or one that I pick up from the shop. Although a lot of times I switch the colors to my own liking.

    499
  475. Hi mary,
    im mary varma from india. Merry 12th day of christmas. Its makes me very sad that the 12 days of christmas has come to an end but your gifts really cheers me up especially todays, its been a great 12 day giveaway. Thanks. Its difficult to answer your question because once you come into embroidering even a simple wrapping paper can be inspiring, my daughter has started to scribbld and draw which at times is inspirational for me and i see a lot of peacocks and other birds at my husband house and its also a coastal area which is very inspiring and refreshing and the colours of the peacock are really and truly inspirational. Even the designs on my blanket is inspires me, i think if you love and put your mind to your hobby or craft or what you do every the smallest detail of a simple design can be inspirational. Hoping to win todays lovely giveaway and there are no particular magazines for embroidery in india so i would really really love to win it.
    Thanks.

    500
  476. I find my inspiration from nature. I love a good hummingbird….I embroider them, I bead them and I do them in fused glass. After that any thing in nature! Please, please, puleeeeeese ….I didn’t even know this magazine existed….it’s fabulous! Win or not, I have to investigate this one…..

    501
  477. What a stunning magazine! My ‘Inspiration’ comes from my imagination, and all available resources – from the Internet to needlework shows.

    Honey in Philly

    502
  478. I find inspiration from looking at stitching magazines, visiting stitching shows and generally seeing other’s work. Nature also inspires me to stitch.

    503
  479. Hi Mary, You save the best for last! I would love to win this and if I don’t (!) I shall definitely take advantage of the 20% off!
    My inspiration comes from everywhere – nature, greeting cards, magazines, library books. I think my very favourite part of being creative is the initial inspiration and the mad design spree that happens. Lovely…… and so ends the Twelve Days of Christmas…wow Mary, it’s been a blast. Thank you,
    Victoria, Vancouver BC

    504
  480. I have several of the Inspiration magazines, and they are just wonderful! I have drool all over mine from looking at the beautiful projects and the presentation of same. They really do inspire. I find most of my inspiration from books and magazines and online blogs such as yours. You have found some of the best “toys” for embroidery a person could ever wish for during your 12 days of Christmas and I want to thank you for taking the time and energy to put this all together. I have enjoyed every post and followed all the links and learned so much from this journey. I was directed to your blog about 6 months ago by a friend and it is one of the sites I visit everyday and it is like the magazine, it never ceases to inspire.

    505
  481. Wow –what a prize! I have seen this magazine and it is a beauty. As for where I find inspiration, my answers vary. Often I find it on the internet, or in a needlework book. My favorite pieces, however, tend to be inspired by nature and chance observations of it.

    506
  482. I see inspiration everywhere around me. Nature makes the perfect source for creative ideas but I can see ideas for projects from photographs, pictures in magazines and catalogs as well.

    507
  483. Mary, What a wonderful 12 days of giveaway. Thank you so much. I get my inspiration from magazines, internet and talking with friends. So many places now to see wonderful pieces.

    508
  484. Threads and yarns, colors, texture — interesting combinations of all these spark my imagination. Looking at landscapes and objects gives me ideas about how to use them. I am also inspired by seeing beautiful work in progress (another thank you for your excellent site and tutorials).

    Marilyn P. in Las Cruces, New Mexico

    509
  485. Since I began stitiching again, I have found myself looking at everything – patterns in materials, china patterns, illustrations, etc., and thinking “How could I make that a stitched piece?” BUT, Inspirations is definately my favorite magazine ever! If I am luck enough to win an extension of my current subscription – great! But, evne if I don’t win, thank you so much for the opportunity to receive a discount for extending it, anyway!

    510
  486. I think most of my inspiration comes from seeing/looking at patterns either online or in catalogs. I’ve never really designed anything for myself, but I’ve wanted to. I’m drawn to samplers, famous artwork made into cross stitch patterns, hardanger, fractuals, quaker styles, most anything very classic looking, some animals and landscapes.

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen this magazine, so I’d be very excited to have it!

    511
  487. Dear Mary,
    I am sorry to see this day come, not because the contest is now over, but because you have been such an “Inspiration” to so many more people during this time. Each of the 12 days we have learned from you about so many new companies, products and techniques to try out…….you can’t imagine how many people you have touched with this. Also you have been the “inspiration” for me to purchase a subscription to the “Inspiration” magazine…no joke. When you premiered the wonderful new Needlework Box on your website that Country Bumpkin was releasing, I instantly googled “Inspirations”, read about the magazine and subscribed that day as a Christmas present to myself! I did not expect to receive my first copy until after the lst of the year and boy was I wonderfully surprised two weeks later when the first copy arrived!!! I, in turn, have shared it with others in my sit and stitch group, and they will be subscribing too. I also told them to start checking out your website, as it is so outstanding. So you see inspiration comes in many guises! So yes, I should love to win another year’s subscription to this awesome magazine for sure and I will continue to “look in” on you every day.
    Thanks so much,
    Dottie J

    512
  488. Wow! What a fantastic prize! I would love to win a year’s subscription! It really IS a great magazine!

    513
  489. Hi Mary and thanks for a great contest.

    I find inspiration from the PAST. I love looking at vintage needlework and quilts and I get very inspired by these treasures. Thanks to the Internet, images of these vintage treasures are easy to find and study.

    Jan B. in Florida

    514
  490. I find inspiration from browing through magazines and pattern illustrations.

    I would absolutely love to have a subscription to Inspirations magazine! I have always wanted one but the cost of international shipping as always been a deterrent to me. I once found a copy in a mark down bin in a going out of business shop and it is dog-earred and very beloved!

    515
  491. For many years I subscribed to various needlework magazines plus received catalogs featuring needlework. However, now that I’m living on social security, I can no longer afford this. I now utilize my local library’s selection of needlework books for ideas. I would love to win a subscription to Inspirations. Thanks again for passing on your needlework knowledge and for your generosity. Connie Moser

    516
  492. Looking out the window at my Bird Cafe I know I want to draw, then stitch the red squirrel sitting inside the peanut wreath. I love Charles Rennie Mackintosh and William Morris designs, and 16th and 17th Century crewel. But, anytime I’m stumped for an idea I turn to my Inspirations magazines (I have 3 now), and Needle ‘n Thread. I love the blackwork fish you did, and the rooster, and the beautiful snowflake. I’d never heard of Pugin before you talked about his tile designs. I have to say that I love the comments everyone makes too, they are inspirational, it’s so neat to have such a broad embroidery community to interact with. Thank you Mary.

    517
  493. I find great inspiration in the needlework of my friends and in their willingness to share their knowledge with me.

    518
  494. For Inspiration I look at the world around me, whether that is the landscape, people, places, media-there is always something inspirational in our world to spark an idea for a lovely piece of needlework.

    519
  495. Well, I browse the internet a lot to see what beautiful things other people produce, but I also buy magazines if they contain interesting projects. Apart from that, I always keep my eyes open and my pocket camera with me, and whenever I see an interesting design (like on tiles, windows, clothes etc.) I take a picture, so that maybe someday I can adapt them and use them in an embroidery project.
    This magazine seems simply gorgeous, I would be so thrilled, should I be the lucky winner!

    520
  496. Hi Mary!
    For me, inspiration is a random act – Fabric design does have an impact, as well as books, magazines, maybe
    a photo or a finished product online or in a store – all as springboards – . Then I search my threads, embellishments and fabric and come up with probably a combination thereof.
    This magazine is A+ for inspiration – thus it’s name. How clever!! Oh well, Mary, this is the last comment from me for this series – but not the last of me for all your blogs and info. Thank you, thank you for all that you do. Blessings – Jane

    521
  497. Before I discovered the online stitching world, I was usually inspired by the things I saw in magazines – and “Inspirations” was (and still is) one of my favorite sources. But thanks to the internet, my horizons have expanded and I am often inspired by things I see online.

    522
  498. I get inspiration from my many books always ready to reference and your website. The magazine I fathfully read is Peachwork. I enjoy the history of needlework and seeing how to work old stitches and patterns for all kinds of needlework. I was not aware of Inspirations magazine till viewing your site. Being a new reader of your site I have not as yet ordered this but know I am rushing to get my order on the books.

    I enjoy your sharing of other sites, products, especially your work and in such detail. I am hooked and cannot start my day with your message.

    523
  499. Sometimes I find inspiration for my needlework in nature, other times it might be from a painting I did years ago of a subject that is dear to me. That is the inspiration for the thread painting I’m currently doing of our (now departed) dalmation. The thread painting is a rendering of a painting I did of him after he ate a quilt!

    524
  500. I find embroidery inspiration in looking at old textiles. They have the most exquisite embroidered designs on them. Crewel embroidery is my absolute favorite.

    Thank-you for contacting so many embroidery suppliers and for your contributions to make this 12 day giveaway available to your blog readers. Even if I don’t win a thing, I enjoyed seeing the products and reading the comments.

    May you have a happy and healthy New Year filled with lots of time for stitching. Hugs.

    525
  501. Inspiration is everywhere – magazines, books, other stitchers, nature, museums… Inspiration magazine is one of my favorite treats. Thanks for a fun contest.

    526
  502. I use nature as my starting point. When the project is finished, it’s like bringing a little piece of nature inside my house. Lovely to look at in the winter, even if the project became abstract.

    527
  503. I find inspiration in all kinds of ways and places! coloring books, pictures, scenes in tv shows…

    528
  504. Most of my inspiration comes from the needleworkers around me. I look at blogs of other stitchers and they give me ideas.

    Thank you Mary, for this fantastic giveaway.

    529
  505. My inspiration comes mostly from the works of people just like you. You have so much enthusiasm for your work. And you do such beautiful and well thought out pieces. I really admire that.
    A subscription to Inspirations Magazine would be the iceing on cake for me. I’d love to win that.
    Thanks Mary for having this 12 days of Christmas and whether I win anything or not, it’s been fun!

    531
  506. I think my problem is TOO MUCH inspiration sometimes! Everything gives me ideas! I think I see the world through embroidery — nature, colors, design, textures — EVERYTHING makes me “picture” some kind of project in my head. And I love looking at other embroideries, reading descriptions of embroidery, planning ideas in my head……. But I truly do enjoy INSPIRATION magazine — they do an amazing job.

    And you, Mary, do an amazing job at inspiration, as well. And thank you for this 12-days of give-aways. It has been a lot of fun, and I now look forward to your blogs about this, that, and everything else.

    532
  507. I am a “kit” person. I love the Inspirations magazine. A few years ago I bought a piece of pre printed Jacobean cushion material with no threads at a thrift shop. Inspirations magazine gave me the courage to go forward and use my own ideas on what threads to use. I won the Superintendents Award that year for that piece. Since then, I am inspired by magazines, blogs, and books. Oh and my sisters are always in the know on new and exciting patterns. Janice Miller

    533
  508. I find inspiration in my back yard. Truly, it is a bird sanctuary with 2 cats. WE have the usual birds and then the occasional buzzard and hawks. From my kitchen window I see graceful flowering bougainvillea with birds fluttering from feeder to feeder. Hummingbirds in the orchid tree. Our veggie garden in the distance and a wonderful garden fountain. Everyday it inspires me to enjoy each and every day as well as keeping my creative juices flowing. I’m inspired to complete projects, dream about creating new ones and stitch in the dining room so I can be entertained by nature. Life is good, my friend.

    534
  509. Wow! I love Inspirations magazine. I have a few but I haven’t had the pleasure of a subscription. I have collected their Australian Smocking and Embroidery but I have picked up an Inspirations when available. They have been very hard to come by in Canada. I was the one that rallied for Country Bumpkin to be picked up by Stonehouse many years ago. Would love to receive a subscription. Very lucky lady whoever wins!
    Patricia

    535
  510. Inspirations come from everywhere. I currently subscribe to Inspirations and each issue is filled with, yes, inspirations. Threads, fibres, photos, friends, there are so many inspirations in our day to day lives. Go for it!

    536
  511. I find inspiration mostly in nature – flowers, birds, butterflies. And, Inspiration magazine has it all…love it!

    -Meeta V.

    537
  512. I already am an Inspirations subscriber, and I would be thrilled to win more issues!

    Most of my inspiration comes from magazines, either from projects or articles there, or often book reviews. For me, the more compulsive projects are the ones where I have thought of modifications to the original project. Those are the ones that keep me awake at night!

    539
  513. Inspirations has always been one of my favorite magazines. Wonderful eye candy. I get my inspirations from a lot of places – magazines, the computer, other peoples blogs.

    With this offer I should think about renewing my subscription.

    Hugs

    FredaB

    540
  514. Hi Mary-
    I find most of my inspiration on the web — in old publications, eBay book images, and blogs. I have several great books that I draw from also. I love to figure out every stitch I come across and practice it until I’m proficient. It’s so satisfying to look at a photo or drawing of an old embroidery and figure out those unusual stitches that aren’t explained. -Cindy

    541
  515. I find my inspiration in various places…readling websites/blogs/yahoo groups on the internet; from magazines and books. I’m never short on finding things to do. I’m just seem to be short on time!

    542
  516. OMG!!!! I LOVE this book and this is the best magazine you can look into and be mezmerized..To bad it wasn’t a price most of us could afford..But 2 years, that would make me go collect cans..lol Thank you this has been so exciting, now to wait a few days for who will win!!!….

    544
  517. I think the question to ask for me would be where don’t I find inspiration? I do find it everywhere…in the shading of my cat’s fur, the bunch of bananas hanging at my studio door or even those hundreds of catalogs that magically appear in my mailbox throughout the year. But having Inspiration magazine magically appear in my mailbox would be SO much nicer!

    545
  518. I’ve never actually bought Inspirations, mostly because I thought that once I did, I would always have to own all of them. I get my inspiration from many sources like blogs and looking at other designs on websites. I also have a growing collection of commercial products that don’t have anything to do with needlework — things like napkins, wrapping paper, Starbucks coffee cups and store bags with holiday designs on them — eventually I will do something inspired by those designs!

    546
  519. Oooohhhh! I’ve seen several previews of Inspirations and have been drooling over it (there we go with the drool again!). I find inspiration for needlework and other creative outlets EVERYWHERE! Pictures, museums, books, projects I see online (with my own twist to it). That’s what I love about the needlework community, they not only inspire and create the most beautiful things, but they love to share, too. Thanks for the chance to win!
    Christy (ChrisTea)

    547
  520. first off, mary let me say thank you for all the work you put in to making the 12 days of Christmas giveaways. it had to have taken quite a bit of time to line up the donaters. also the money you yourself spent on prizes. you have such a big heart. i know you did this to extend your love of embroidery to others. that is why you have such a wonderful following, because you are such a wonderful giving person, especially of time which no one can put a dollar ammount to because it is priceless.
    i get a lot of inspiration from this web site. i used to have a subscription to inspirations for four years. but due to budget my husband and i just couldn’t renew it when it expired last year. i had bought quite a number of back issues during that time when they had sales on them, and so have a nice little library of them. the blanket i am making for my grandson came from an inspirations article. i also have a large number of needlework books. i have picked up 75% of them at library discard sales or half price books. i also like redwork and look for inspiration from bird brain designs, an online store. also i like hardanger. i really don’t like counted xstitch, but hardanger is different. i go to the online store nordic needle for that. they also have some surface embroidery. anyone looking to build up there needlework library half price books is a great place to start. i bought most of my A-Z books from country bumpkin there at way below half price for new. this is such a nice giveaway. thank you for the chance.

    548
  521. OMG!!!!! I love this magazine! You can look through this, and be so mesmerized looking through this. You can get so many ideas and so beautiful. 2 Years, I wish I could afford this magazine, if I win I’ll be hooked and have to sell cans..LOL Thanks so much for 12 days of fun and excitement. Can’t wait to see who won.

    549
  522. Oh, Mary, This is my all time favourite embroidery magazine! I discovered it only a brief three years ago and there is no doubt that it is my greatest inspiration to grow and improve my needlwork skills. In fact, I even managed to recreate a cushion cover from one of their issues and was pleased enough with the result that I felt it was good enough to give as a birthday gift to a close friend. I have tried to buy it in the past from our local (Hah! a 12 mile drive and a 35 minute ferry ride) bookstore but it is often sold out before I get there. So now I am on a collector program from an Alberta needlework shop and am now receiving them regularly.
    Many thanks for the 12 days of Christmas fun event and happy stitching to you and all your readers in 2012.

    550
  523. I use the internet for my inspiration- I don’t have any books yet, but that would be important too. Not to polish the apple, but Needle’Thread is an outstanding place for inspiration- it is my starting place. I would love to have the Inspiration magazine because ‘more is better’ when it comes to instruction, at least at my level. I have found the most beautiful images of old embroidery on the internet! Putting colors together, composition, style, etc.
    Thank you Mary, and many thanks to all the contributors who have participated in this 12 Days of Christmas give away!!

    551
  524. Happy Twelfth Day of Christmas!

    This has been such a fun 12 days, waiting with anticipation for the next surprise.

    Years ago in Design school, our instructor taught us, inspiration is everywhere you look. One just has to have eyes to see, and the thought and desire to create from the beauty seen. She always encouraged the study of historical pieces, museum works, works done in the past. I’ll never forget her beautiful Iranian accent saying, “To create for the future, look to the past and what those who were great have done before you.”

    I’m so glad you had this post. I had forgotten about my Inspiration Magazines. I just dusted a few copies off my shelf and had a most delightful visit with old friends! What is most delightful is to see how the field of study has matured and grown from those early issues which mine are.

    Thank you and all of the wonderful vendors for the “Inspiration” you provide for us to enjoy and learn. A great deal of work has gone into the preparation for this event, and it has been a truly amazing Twelve days of Christmas!

    552
  525. Inspiration? oh dear this will sound very patronizing – your newsletter IS PROBABLY the most inspirational for me (as far as needlework & extraordinary embroidery goes – certainly would not to put too much responsibilty on your shoulders for ALL my inspirations in life!)

    thank you for not only 12-days but the 365 days you write your notes.

    lorraine
    mabbettLorraine at yahoo dot com

    554
  526. Inspiration for me comes from many sources: Watching nature, visiting museums and exhibitions, needlework related or not, books and magazines, browsing the web. Quite often the images and colours I use don’t come from needlework projects, but from something unrelated: a painting, folk art, a flower etc.

    555
  527. I find inspiration and excitement from your site, Mary, and other sites such as Pintangle, the blogs/links offered by each and internet groups as well as the manufacturers/designers of fabric, notions and threads.

    556
  528. I find alot of my inspirations directly through your website Mary! You offer such great information as a teaching tool to all of us. I also have to say I get inspriations too from my family as embroidery and hand work seems to run in my family that originates back to Germany. So many beautiful things of the art of hand work to appreciate in life!
    Thanks for this giveaway Mary and wishing you the best for 2012!Happy New Year to everyone and happy stitching!
    Terese USA

    557
  529. Where do I find inspiration – your newsletter of course, plus all the links you provide – many many thanks. Oh by the way I too have bought Classic Inspiration from its first issue – got hooked when I saw it in a newagents at a hospital I way visiting – couldn’t live without it now.

    558
  530. I get needlework inspirtions from different sources. Sometimes going through Mary’s embroidery work (which she so kindly offers online) is so elegant and beautiful. Most often through Needlework books which Mary always recommends. Country bumpkin is an excellent book to look for ideas and inspiration.

    Thanks Mary!
    Dorothy

    559
  531. Hmm, I get inspiration from everything around me. From magazines, pictures in books and things I see on the internet. This sounds a bit crazy, but I saw a red cabbage, and the colour of it even inspired me. I want to say Thank You for doing this, this has been fun to be involved with other people who have like minded interests.

    560
  532. Happy New Year Mary!

    Oh, this is the easiest question of all. I find INSPIRATION … HERE on your blog, in your lovely work but even more so, in all the directions you send us off to read and explore Needlework all around the world, in blogs, books, shops, historical publications and more. Never would I have found so many of those places without you. As one of those discoveries is Inspirations Magazine, so I’d LOVE a winning subscription. If I’m not so lucky, I might just have to stretch the budget and take advantage of that Mary Corbet discount, with thanks. These days, with disabled thumbs, I’m afraid I’m finding more inspiration from reading than stitching; hoping that will improve, and reading will carry me over till I can stitch more again.

    Thank you for all your generosity,

    Cathy in PA

    561
  533. Inspiration? The garden, the wood, clothing and textiles I see as I travel, Pinterest, this lovely blog of yours…

    562
  534. I get my inspiration from friends who stitch, my Aunt who is the only family member I have who understands my stitching passion, and from pieces that I see on your website and other websites. I am not familiar with this magazine but would love to have the opportunity to review it.
    Thank you for the fabulous effort you have put into the whole collection of gifts for the 12 days of Christmas (much better than 6 geese a laying, and pipers and dancers, etc.). You have provided us with links to some fabulous sites and am sure that I will be ordering from at least a few of them in the coming year.
    Heather from Surrey, BC (Canada)

    563
  535. I’m finding inspiration everywhere. Looking through books at my tutor’s studio starts the idea process and then i head out into the world…flowers, birds, animals, seasonal ideas…they’re just flooding in…if only i could stitch as quickly as the ideas are flooding in. Someday I won’t have to work and can just stitch all the ideas that that constantly bombard my brain.
    love inspirations and this is the very best giveaway yet. thanks mary

    564
  536. I find my inspiration from many sources; friends, books, fabric, to name but a few. Thank you for organising the twelve days of Christmas, it has been inspirational, and I have enjoyed reading all the comments and waiting with anticipation as to what the next day will hold. Thanks again.

    565
  537. Inspiration – where does it come from? Overt study of landscape, architecture, flora and fauna, and from the subconscious observation of the play of patterns that these things make.

    Thank you so much for these 12 days of giveaways Mary. It has been such fun, and I can’t wait to see who has won what.

    566
  538. I find inspiration in old and vintage embroidery patterns, also love line drawings of all sorts and often imagine them into simple motifs for tea towels. I think this subscription would be wonderful, I’ve never seen this publication before today.

    568
  539. This is the cherry on the top of the ice cream. Inspiration Magazine is a delicious ending to a overflowing bounty of a kind person in the embroidery art. Take a bow Mary along with all the other gracious participants who gave away their wares. We all are grateful. My inspiration is you and your website. I spend quality time on it and it has become a great relaxation and joy for me to develop that which I love-Embroidery.

    Miss Lorraine

    569
  540. I usually find my inspirations in magazines and books. Sometimes I find them out in nature.
    Out of all the give a-ways, this is the one I would like the most. I have only been able to drool at the magazine. Like you I haven’t been able to afford it.

    Mary in Oregon

    570
  541. My inspiration comes from blog hopping, books and mags and looking out my window into my gardens and backyard full of birds, flowers, butterflies and fairies.

    571
  542. Where do I find inspiration ?? From books, magazine (mostly the French version of Inspiration Magazine), and from Internet. You are a great source of inspiration for me !!
    I did not subscribe to the magazine, but I buy it some time to time…
    You really managed some great great give-aways for these 12 days of christmas. I dream I could win something 😉

    572
  543. Inspirations – websites, blogs, magazines, retail stores, books, tv shows ….. so many ideas and so little time …

    ~zoie in topeka

    573
  544. Naturally they offer 20% off after I just paid for two yr. subscription. This is also my favorite magazine.

    574
  545. I said it before and I’ll say it again: This is a great give away! Even if I don’t win anything I still appreciate you doing the Twelve Days of Christmas give away.

    So where do I get my inspiration? From Inspirations, of course, and also from other needlework projects I see. I’m a terrible copy cat.

    575
  546. Mary, I am really going to miss these 12 days… it was fun wondering what you are going to come up with next… when getting back to a ‘normal’, non holiday schedule it is fun to come home and sift through emails and hone in on yours first! It sort of reminded me of the Adventscalendars we had when growing up in Germany – some of my friends opened all the windows up right away but I liked wondering what form/mold of chocolate was hidden behind all the windows and was perfectly happy waiting and anticipating….
    The Inspirations magazine is something that I’ve always been intrigued by but wanted to see up close and personal before subscribing – two reasons: already have too many magazines with possibilities bookmarked (!) and nowadays, most days I prefer to spend my free time doing Japanese embroidery… and so here you are again tempting us all again ! ;0

    In the past I looked to needlework magazines and books for ideas…. in the past few years I find myself being inspired by just about anything… ideas/patterns/colors are all around us and sometimes I just wish I had the time to just sit down and explore an idea further…. lately, life has been too busy but I know that one day there will be time for that too…. until then, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy!
    Thanks for all this fun….
    perhaps next December we can all have 24 days – a Needlework Adventscalendar?!!!

    577
  547. Thanks Mary and Country Bumpkin!
    When I returned to sewing and embroidery twelve years ago, Australian Smocking and Embroidery provided most of my stitching inspiration. I now find inspiration in additional sources including Inspiration.
    Rebecca M in Texas

    578
  548. Hi Mary,
    I must say I just love the Inspiration magazine. I get my inspiration from looking at projects through books, magazines, friends and the internet. I always seem to find ideas and projects that will inspire me to complete something I have already started or to create something new. Again, thanks for a lovely give away.
    Joan Turrell from Canada

    579
  549. I have been more of a cross stitcher than a surface emroiderer. I love European and antique designs. However, I’d love to get more into doing surface embroidery.

    Marie

    580
  550. Hi Mary and Happy Twelfth day of Christmas We just celebrated Holy Epiphany-Theophany and then you give us this wonderful gift. Thanks to Country Bumpkin and you. I find inspiration in books especially the older vintage ones. I also look on the web and find examples of old ecclesiatical work there. As I’m only embroidering church related items I also use vines and flowers from nature that have a history of being used. Basically I find inspiration everywhere.

    581
  551. I have been inspired lately by what I see on the internet. A new pattern, a different technique…Also, I love seeing what my local guild members are working on. that also inspires.

    582
  552. Hi Mary,
    I also fell in love with Inspirations magazine from the first copy that came out. I have every single copy made and would love to have a year’s subscription. I get my inspiration from so many website’s yours included and Di van Niekerk’s and so many others. Inspiration is to open your eyes to what surrounds you.

    583
  553. Good Morning Mary,

    All I can say the magazine subscription would be a fabulous addition to my ever-growing interest in needlework.
    Thank you and the suppliers again for this generous contest.
    Greta596, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

    584
  554. As a quilter, I started incorporating embroidery into my quilts and love the results. Inspiration for me comes from magazines, the internet, and patterns I find both online and at shops. Thanks for all the wonderful information you share.

    585
  555. I find my inspirations from magazines, stitching sisters at our byweekly guild, the guild library, my own library and nature all around me. Annually one of our members donates “Inspirations” to our guild library, it is the only good stitching library in our area. Should I be so fortunate to win, I would donate “Inspirations” to our guild library so all 84 members can share in the winnings.
    Mary this 12 days of Christmas giveaway is certainly over the top.
    You are so generous, encouraging and motivating. Thank you, Ana-Maria K.

    586
  556. I am most inspired by other projects I find on the internet, though few have been as “in depth” as your sight. I want to thank you for providing this give-away. You are an inspiration in sharing everything from “chicken scratch” embroidery to your detailed “gold work”.

    I would love a chance to receive this magazine and exchange ideas for actual stitchery works.

    Becky in upstate SC

    587
  557. I concider the person i’m making it for & if I think its pretty, I refuse to make something that I don’t find appealing as well!

    588
  558. I have stitched a few of the ones from the Inspiration Magazine. I need patterns to follow so any where I can get a pattern that is easy to follow , Inspiration magazine does just that. Even quilt patterns are a source.

    589
  559. I get my inspirations mostly from other people’s projects or pictures in magazines, etc. I collect pictures, etc. Then when I’m ready to start a new project I look through them to see what I can come up with. Most of the time I end up taking a little from here and a little from there, etc.

    590
  560. I find inspiration mostly in nature. I also find much inspiration from beautiful magazines and the work of others. I enjoyed celebrating the 12 days of Christmas with you. Today is the Day of the Three Kings! Thank you for your gifts, Mary.

    591
  561. What a wonderful giveaway. I love Inspirations magazine. I only have 2 editions but I absolutely love them. There are so many beautiful and well-laid-out projects. My inspiration definitely comes from the world around me. When I’m stuck in a hotel conference room, I’m analyzing the carpet, drapery, etc. for possible stitching patterns. I see stitches in clothing fabric, rugs, nature (of course!), shadow and light on the sidewalk. Absolutely everywhere.
    Thanks for all these giveaways. It’s been wonderful to see the variety of items.
    Judy

    592
  562. Oh Mary, I see inspiration everywhere and I long to find the time to apply all that inspires me to to needle work. Sometimes music inspires me by emotion, mood or the actual words used. Patterns and colors in nature attract my eye. For example the sky’s hues or lightening on a stormy day has me think how to capture the shades of color and drama.

    We are such a disposable society that the time a patience needed to create a needle work piece makes it extra special. It always surprises me when I give a small hand made gift by the reactions some people have after I tell them that I made the item. I believe it is important to share my appreciation of hand made items with those people that share my world. The inspirations that you share with us in your blog and your obvious love of needle work is infectious and inspiring.

    593
  563. My inspiration has always been magazine patterns and kits. But 2012 is going to be so exciting because I’m taking a trip to Italy to take a week of classes with a well-known stitching instructor to learn to draw my own designs from nature. Dreams do come true!

    594
  564. Mary, you have to be my greatest inspiration! I honestly look forward to my daily dose of Needle’n Thread and often comment to my husband about what a treasure you are. If it were not for coming across your blog I would never have dreamed that I would love embroidering as much as I do. From your wonderful tutorials, to reviews of books & products but most of all how giving you are to so many by sharing your knowledge. Bless you, Mary Corbett!

    Linda A
    Ontario, Canada

    595
  565. I find most of my inspiration from medieval and Renaissance paintings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts and architectural details on buildings.

    596
  566. Hi Mary, I have been inspired by Inspirations magazine at times, but have never regularly subscribed to it – now might be the time! Museums and art and embroidery books are high up on my list of visuals to get the juices flowing, but it doesn’t end there. Looking at details in older items – buildings, statues, metal gates, antique curios, clothing, books and simply nature get me thinking about stitching, embellishment and projects I can make.

    597
  567. I absolutely, unequivically, love Inspirations magazine. It truly is the world’s most beautiful magazine. It really did open my eyes to many different techniques and materials. As to where I find my inspiration, Inspirations which I read over and over, old botanical prints, nature, Veranda magazine, guilds, people, well…everywhere!

    Thank you, Mary and the folks at Inspirations!

    598
  568. Such an easy one. Found your site 18 months ago and was so inspired. You’ve taught me to play around with stuff and really experiment as the content is so broad. You introduced me to this wonderful magazine too. In the last few months I have embroidered the front cover you show and #44 Secret Souvenir – am thrilled with both efforts. I already have a subscription running in the UK so this mail is not an ‘entrant’. Just want to say a very big thank you for your inspiration and incredible generosity.
    Lynne Humphrey St Albans UK

    599
  569. Hi Mary!
    Again, lovely give-away!!!
    Inspiration…. I get those from magazines I buy, especially when I’m on holiday in foreign countries. It’s always a bit different when it’s from another country! I also have a lot of books I can look in. And when I go clothes shopping, I always pay attention to patterns and embroidery on clothes I see and like!
    That’s about it I guess!
    Gwen Kok, Dordrecht, the Netherlands.

    600
  570. I find inspiration everywhere! Books, artwork, greeting cards, nature, photography, textiles, etc. all give me great ideas that I can use in my needlework and quilting.

    601
  571. I find inspiration all over the place. Books, magazines, and blogs are all wonderful for stirring up creativity. However my favorite inspirations are probably architecture and nature.

    When I was in Ireland several years ago I took photos of the tile mosaic floors in cathedrals, and one of these days those will turn up in a quilt or in a needlepoint pillow.

    Leaves also hold a fascination for me, I’m not sure why, but I love their shapes, their colors, the way they look when they’re on the tree or on the ground.

    Thank you for having such a wonderful series of giveaways!

    602
  572. Oh, my. You really outdid yourself! Mary, thank you, and thank you to the folks who sponsored this amazing series!
    I find inspiration in nature, mostly the play of light & shadow on plants; photos and textbooks in the styles I like; and artists who work in similar styles (paintings, graphics etc). And a lot of my inspiration, how to correct mistakes, planning a project and so forth, comes from you. There’ve been many times when I’ve felt my heart sink, and pulled it up again because I remembered something you wrote about. Thank you!

    603
  573. Hi Mary, I must admit I find inspiration everywhere, from the designs out there to the stupendous fibers available. Then there is nature and just people. Thank you for your inspiration and generosity. I hope you have a fabulous year. Teresa

    604
  574. I get most of my inspiration from other Needle Artists. I love the magazine,also. I use what I see, or dream!

    605
  575. paging through books or magazines about any form of art, gives me inspiration to create in the media that I feel like working in. your articles are definitely a source!

    606
  576. I am inspired by sites like yours, magazines similar to Inspiration, the beautiful handwork my sister does, and friends’ projects. Thank you for the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways. It’s been fun participating.

    607
  577. Dear Marymentor:
    Inspiration….I find it EVERYWHERE ! In the books I buy, in your blog/website (forgive me but I don’t know the difference ? ), in nature, just everywhere. I see something then I think “I can do that “. Well……..sorta. But I’m always getting ideas and putting them into a folder. Thanks so much for these gifts. You’re a real sweetheart and deserve the very best that life can offer in 2012. Judy in Pittsburgh

    608
  578. Wow what a wonderful prize for the 12th day.May I just say how much I have learned from you Mary. I love getting your daily emails.
    Liz Stolting N yorks UK

    609
  579. I have not embroidered for many years, but since finding your website in November 2011, I have been inspired to pick it up again. Since then, I have completed three projects, tried two new types of thread, and even ventured into cutwork embroidery (still learning!). I would truly love a subscription to the beautiful Inspirations magazine, but if I had to choose between having it or having access to your website, I would have to choose your website! Like the others who have listed you as their inspiration, this is not idle flattery – it is fact. Thank you!

    610
  580. This is just what I need to help me be inspired. What a great gift this would be for anyone.

    611
  581. Hi Mary,
    Thank you for the 12 days of Christmas give aways, I have enjoyed it so much.
    My inspiration comes from ‘Inspirations’ I just love this book. I also get inspiration from natuure and of course you, Mary, Thank you 🙂

    612
  582. Dear Mary, I’m not a very imaginative sort of person…I have to rely on designers such as yourself for my inspiration! I love to work a beautiful chart! I used to subscribe to Inspirations but my budget tightened so I had to let it drop. Love the magazine and all the beautiful projects found therein. Thanks for this opportunity and always for your inspiration!
    Brenda

    613
  583. This magazine is an absolute treasure! But, alas, beyond my budget these days. I would so love to be able to enjoy it again. Please consider a budget-challenged request. I would feel very fortunate to receive such a gift, and it would be a great way to start this wonderful new year!

    614
  584. Love this magazine! I usually buy it off the newstaand. A subscription would be great!

    615
  585. Mary,
    I have the last issue of this magazine and it has many wonderful ideas. It is a must have. Thank you for the give away. It has been lots of fun and very informative.Nancy R

    616
  586. Mary, my greatest inspirations come from your blog! I love reading it every day. Betsy S. Raleigh, NC

    617
  587. First let me say this magazine to a beautiful publication. My inspiration comes from friends who are also stitchers. That being said I also rely on magazines and books, also love stitching projects in kit form. This magazine would be a most welcome visiter to my home.
    Theresa N

    618
  588. I too have been a subscriber to Inspirations since its inception. This magazine is without a doubt the best needlework magazine for embroiderers from beginners to advanced. Your book review was ‘spot on’. I get lots of ‘inspiration’ from this magazine. I get great ideas and hints in a very ‘user friendly’ way with the instructions and the patterns and templates are ‘first class’.

    619
  589. Hello Mary, thank you for another awesome giveaway. I have seen this magazine and it is a gorgeous one.
    I get inspiration from vintage pieces, what I see in magazines and books, and also from nature. Kathy in Missouri

    620
  590. I get my inspiration from a quilt group I joined several years ago. These ladies have been together for over 28 years and they are so very talented. We meet every Monday and I am continually inspired by the work they do. I also enjoy looking for inspiration from books and magazines.

    Suzanne Morgan from The Woodlands

    621
  591. I have to agree with the other ladies, I receive a lot of inspiration from your site and emails. Isn’t the internet wonderful?! Also from books and magazines, some that I have and others that I check out from the library. Thank you!

    Carolyn

    622
  592. I’ve got to say it so forgive me in advance – OMG! A year free of Inspiration – ye haw! I’ve only seen the magazine on-line and was speechless. There must be something in that Australian water!
    I love getting ideas from books and magazines, and, once on Antiques Roadshow.
    karen in western nc

    623
  593. When I start doing my own projects, my inspiration will definitely be ecclesiastical and probably medieval. And I have to say, the pic of that Jacobean footstool in the magazine made my mouth water! SO pretty.

    624
  594. My inspiration primarily comes from the internet nowadays. Especially, again, your website and the links you provide(i.e. the V&A museum and others, other embroidery websites, links to books, etc.). It provides exposure to a myriad of different/foreign ideas including, but not limited to, designs, concepts, styles, techniques, that might not be readily available to the beginning or average embroiderer locally. Unfortunately, I’m not expressing myself well here but I think/hope you get the gist of what I’m trying to say.

    Thanks so much for the 12 days of Christmas (even if I don’t win a thing!)!! 🙂

    625
  595. Initially I relied on books and magazines for inspiration. But recently I realized that you can find it everywhere…yesterday I noticed a design on the shirt I was wearing and realized that it would translate beautifully into any creative embroidery project. I also spend a lot of time scouring the beach near my house and find, leaves, feathers, shells etc. that provide design and color ideas to me. This morning I found an open kukui nut on the beach and plan to make a little travel pin cushion out of it. I also found a beautiful feather.

    626
  596. What a beautiful way to complete the 12 days of Christmas with two free annual subscriptions and 20% off subscriptions for your Needle ‘n thread readers. I have admired this publication ‘from afar’ and this is a great opportunity to finally own a copy. Much thanks. The contest has been so fun and informative. Lynn H Texas

    627
  597. Well, there are two places really. One is blogs like yours and the other is vintage embroidery books. My daughter and I bought a whole box of transfers from old Workbasket magazines at a flea market for only $3.

    628
  598. Wow, Mary, you have scored the most amazing goodies for giveaways!!

    I would love to win one of these subscriptions, but if I don’t I will do my darndest to take advantage of the discount you secured from Country Bumpkin :-).

    630
  599. I do some designing of charts, and I get inspiration from all sorts of things. It just depends on how I can see it in a different way, it’s difficult to put this process into words lol.

    631
  600. Another super give-away. Bless your hearts! I’ve always thought how exquisite this magazine was but never subscribed: it seemed everything was so beautiful that it was unattainable. I should love to have the chance to search through and find a project to conquer.

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  601. Hi Mary, Well I’m a little sad to see the giveaway end. I have enjoyed reading the comments and look forward everyday to see what new and creative prize you have offered. I get inspiration for colors from historical costumes. The combination of reds and khakis, I do a lot of historical samplers. And nature, I love earthtones. So, Mary, good luck, and looking forward to the next project.

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  602. Dear Mary, I would love a subscription to Inspirations. Country Bumpkin is a wonderful company. My inspiration came from reading the Inspiration magazine and the Country Bumpkin smocking magazine, Australian Smocking and Embroidery. Both of these magazines have been the main reason I started smocking and embroidering 15 years ago. Anyone who has not read these magazines are in for a treat. Thank you, Dede

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  603. I heartfeltly and enthusaistically agree Inspirations is without a doubt the world’s most beautiful embroidery magazine. I like you fell in love the first time I saw it and have subscribed ever since. My inspiration comes from everything I see and everyone I meet. My friends at EGA are my dearest inspiration as well as my teachers. However, I anxiously await my magazines to see what others from around the globe are doing and I always learn a thing or two in the process. Thank You!!!

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  604. Mary, I have never seen Inspirations magazine. If I don’t happen to win it I will be subscribing to it. Some of my inspiration comes from magazines and internet. But since finding your website on CraftGossip you have really inspired me. I look each day for your email first. I am trying to hurry and get our home in order after moving back to Texas so I can get started embroidery again. Thank you for so many wonderful giveaways!

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  605. I design all of my own work, so most of my ideas come out of my own head, drawing on things I like — Celtic knotwork, crosses, initials of people I love. I recently discovered design-seeds.com as a fun source for color ideas. And of course Needle ‘n Thread inspires me to learn more and do better work!

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  606. I find inspiration from needlework books and magazines, but also from things around me like nature, architecture, and textured fabrics. Inspirations is a great magazine. I’ve got a few copies and it has some lovely designs and clear stitch charts.

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  607. I would love to win a subscription to Inspirations magazine. I find a lot of
    my embroidery inspirations through many
    of the vintage items that I collect:
    postcards, tradecards, sewing notions,
    kitchen items, old books, children’s books,
    etc.

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  608. Insiration comes from many areas….shops, books, magazines, kits, the internet and
    seeing what others have created but my favorite is the
    outdoors…sometimes I like to capture scenes in my head by taking a picture and then with needle in hand see how it plays out on fabric…very inspirational…thanks for these past 12 days…I have so enjoyed reading everyones commments and feel inspired by what people have shared…Grace from Minnesota

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  609. I find my inspiration in the life around me. I live on the Wet Coast with some of the best diving around and some beautiful undersea life. I want to learn surface embroidery so that I can portray this.

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  610. Hi Mary,

    I live in a very small town in Texas and the closest needlework store is 300 miles away. I receive Nordic Needle’s mail order catalog. Whenever I need a little boost, I look through one. I might be the only person with a 10 year collection of mail order catalogs. I also rely on the internet. I am so thankful for your website.
    Happy Stitching!
    Connie Mondragon

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  611. Trying to stay calm and adult like and not jump up and down. I have been looking online for this magazine.. back copies on Ebay but I can not afford the shipping.. It is the magazine or stitching supplies.
    I was excited about the frame yesterday and didn’t think you could top it! If I had the money to buy either one it would be such a hard choice.

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  612. Inspiration for me comes from just about every nook and cranny of my world! Magazines, nature, shapes, emotions, you name it and there is an idea waiting to grow. My local book store doesn’t always have the giveaway magazine… how heavenly it would be to have it as a subscription. 🙂

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  613. Oh, my. I normally find inspiration in other people’s work – I like books on antique needlework, but also I’ve recently found bloggers like jizee6687.wordpress.com . . . she puts her embroidery on her own shirts, and wears it! I don’t know anybody in the U.S. who does that! (Except me. I’m a recycled hippie.)
    Mary, I know that the business-people who are giving these lovely things for your 12-Days-of-Christmas have some bookkeeping person, somewhere, saying, “Tax deduction – advertising!”, but it is still just wonderful of them to do this.

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  614. Aloha Mary,
    What a great way to end the give-away. Inspirations is a gift that keeps on giving. I have done several projects from the magazine usually as gifts to friends.
    I take my inspiration from many things. I try to use the personality of the person I am doing something for as inspiration. Words from a song or a book can inspire me. Your website is my all time favorite source of inspiration. Thank you for your generosity.
    Jacquelin Ihsan

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  615. I would love to win a subscription to Inspirations! I have loved this magazine for years, buying it when I can find it. With the Borders chain closing, my main source dried up.
    Not only is this an inspiring magazine but it is educational as well. I have loved the stumpwork issues.
    Not only do I receive inspiration from all sorts of magazines, I receive lots of both inspiration and knowledge from blogs –yours being a prime example. Thanks for all you do, Kendra H.

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  616. Hi Mary
    I have so enjoyed your 12 days of Christmas…..so much fun! I didn’t even know this magazine existed. My inspiration always comes from nature……the light on birds feathers, the flow of water in a stream etc.
    Thanks again
    Lynn

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  617. I love that magazine, if you can call it that. I often looked through copies of it at Barnes and Noble. It would be great to have it delivered to my door. I will probably end up using the 20%. I’ll wait and see if I’m lucky first. Tanya South Carolina

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  618. My inspiration comes from Medieval and Renaissance art, particularly religious art. It also comes from all of the beautiful embroidery books I have collected; Inspirations magazine and last, but not least…Mary Corbet’s needlenthread.com…. Your website has given me immeasurable doses of excitement, joy and instruction. I look forward to your email’s everyday with anticipation. Books and magazines are great, but there is really no substitute for the human spirit and your enthusiasm and love of embroidery truly inspires so many! Thank you and Blessed Epiphany to you!!

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  619. My Inspiration comes from all the people I meet and most of all from fellow stitchers who are more than happy to share. They show me their work, they teach me, they give me ideas, share books, magazines, websites, and my mind goes to work and often gets into overload. Most of all we support each other.
    Inspirations. Yes….. yes…. yes….!!

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  620. I find Inspiration all around me from nature and animals from art work everywhere from work that my friends complete, books and magazines. Inspirations magazine is wonderfull and there is always something new and exciting to be found within its covers.

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  621. Oh wow! This is by far my favorite stitching magazine ever! I too have been a subscriber since the very beginning, boy, wouldn’t it be grand to win this one, grin. I would say that most of the time I get inspiration from others work, looking at photos, books, the web etc. Because I do mostly crazy quilting, because I may love how someone else embroidered a butterfly, mine won’t look exactly the same, but I am inspired by their work.

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  622. Inspiration comes from many places. Friends who bring a clever project to a sew circle, magazines (for sure), photographs, nature magazines, cards and of course now there is the internet. But what a great offer Inspirations magazine.
    Annette in Vancouver

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  623. Inspiration for me does come from magazines like Inspirations and a Canadian publication, A Needle Pulling Thread. But it also comes from the other members of my embroidery guild who are always working on a variety of projects. Looking at their colour and thread choices give me ideas for things I can try myself. As well, they are always generous with help and advice.

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  624. My inspiration can come from seeing new techniques worked, a pattern that jumps out at me, a mixed piece that just needs some embroidery… usually I will have a vague image of what I want the finished piece to look like and will take it from there.

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  625. Mary Thank you for yet another wonderful giveaway!What a beautiful magazine and it is very inspring,but so are you and this site is very inspiring as well!

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  626. Inspiration abounds, it is time that is required. However this magazine looks marvelous. Would love to win.
    Thanks
    Lee F.

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