A One-of-a-Kind Creative Program for Fabric Art Enthusiasts

Paint • Stitch • Bead is a monthly membership program, with a dose of creative Inspir•Action delivered straight to your email inbox each and month. The lessons are designed to support your creative habits with exercises in fabric painting, hand embroidery and beadwork.  The principal tools used during the course are Shiva Artist’s Paintstiks, embroidery threads and seed beads.

In this program, we will follow Shelly's Inspir•Action model for developing lasting creative habits. Each month, the program includes:

Inspiration

Each month, the program includes:

• An original design in printable (PDF) format 
• The same design in .svg and .studio3 formats for those of you with cutting machines 
• A discussion of how to use the design for a potential project
• A photo-essay illustration of how Shelly painted the design on fabric
• Detailed instructions and videos on several hand embroidery stitches
• A photo-essay detailing Shelly's Stitch Experiment for this month's design
• Step-by-step instructions for adding beads to one (or more) of this month's stitches
• Dedicated discussion areas related to Design, Paint, Stitch and Beading
• A Gallery for posting your work each month
• Answers to your questions, directly from Shelly and from your friends in the Paint • Stitch • Bead community!

And, if that's not enough...

• A Guidebook for the month with detailed information on how Shelly executed the Actions for the month!

With the Guidebook in hand, you have everything you need to work on a design at a later date when life throws a curveball and you're not able to take part in the classroom discussions.

Action

Inspiration is great, but it's not much good if you don't take Action! Along with the Inspiration, you'll get concrete Action Steps that will help you improve your painting, stitching and beading skills. By completing the Action Steps each month, you'll create an amazing personal reference library of Paint • Stitch • Bead samples that will inform your personal creative projects for years to come. 

Flexibility

While the program includes a design that everyone can work from, you are more than welcome to adapt the activities to your own designs and your own style of working. The true intent of the program is to create sustainable creative habits rather than asking everyone to fit into a cookie-cutter mold. 

Resource Library

For as long as you maintain your membership, you will have access to the members-only resource center including videos and photo-essay tutorials on creating stencils, painting with Shiva Artist’s Paintstiks, hand embroidery, and Shelly's methods for adding beads to embroidery after the stitching is complete.  

Community

And let's not forget the community! The thing I love most about teaching online courses is the sense of community that develops as we spend time creating with a group of like-minded creative people. It doesn't matter that we can't be in the same room in the same place. The discussion forums are an amazing place to share ideas, ask questions, post photos of your works in progress. 

We'll be there for you to celebrate your wins, trouble-shoot the problems, and give you a warm virtual hug if/when you get frustrated. Creative growth rarely happens in a straight line (at least not in my world!) -- and the support from the P•S•B community will be there when you need it!

Materials

The principal materials for the program are:

• Fabric that is solid or "reads as solid" (As in not a busy print.) 
• A light-weight woven interfacing to stabilize the fabric for stitching
• Shiva Artist’s Paintstiks - Iridescent colors work particularly well on dark fabric.
• Stencil material - Freezer Paper works very well as the plastic coated side will adhere to fabric. Plain paper is useful if you have some type of sticky spray. (If you have a cutting machine, permanent vinyl is a great stencil material for fabric.)
• Embroidery threads - Size 8 and size 5 Pearl Cotton 
• Beads - Size 8 and size 11 seed beads

If you're curious about this combination of techniques, but not sure if you'll enjoy them, start small. You don't need to buy a ton of supplies in order to get started!

Feel free to use threads, beads, paints and other materials you already have on hand -- or purchase a small "starter stash" of materials -- just enough to get started. If you enjoy the Paint • Stitch • Bead techniques, add to your collection of threads, beads and tools as you figure out what works for you.

A detailed supply list will be provided when you enroll in the program.

Course Details

Paint • Stitch • Bead is a monthly membership program. Each month, you will receive a design along with lessons on how to paint the design on fabric, enhance the design with hand embroidery, and embellish the design with beads. Lessons are delivered in an Online Classroom hosted by Ruzuku.com.

Once you make your initial purchase, your credit card will be charged each month on the same date. 

New lessons will be posted in the classroom on the 1st of the month. Each lesson will be removed from the classroom on the last day of the month.  

Online Delivery Only

Paint • Stitch • Bead is a digital-only program. Each month, your design of the month and corresponding lessons will be posted in the Ruzuku classroom. 

Refunds / Cancellations

Due to the digital delivery of this program, no refunds will be processed. Cancellation requests will take effect at the end of your latest paid 30-day period. At that time, you will no longer be able to enter the Paint • Stitch • Bead classroom.

For example: If you register for the program on June 15th, you will have access to the lesson currently in process. Your first "new" lesson, will be posted on July 1. If you cancel your membership on July 10th, you will lose access to the classroom on July 15th, the final day of your paid 30-day period.

Join Now!

Ready? Scroll to the top of the screen and use the big green button to join now! You'll have instant access to the classroom and the lesson currently in progress. Your first NEW design will be posted on the 1st of each month. Let's go!