Now that I have returned from ANG Seminar, and before I leave on my teaching trip, I have been working on a new design proposal. Stitching finally begins this week!!
Several people stopped me, while at seminar, to request I do blog posts more often, particularly related to what I am current working on. So, I just took photos of most of the currents elements I have collected so far. In general this might include any of the following: sketches, marker or paint color samples, a selection of beads, threads I am "auditioning", stitch sketches, overall design sketches, etc.
Let's start with the color inspiration. I already had the colors in mind when I saw this Design Seeds images with the colors. So, I printed it off and carried it with me at first to get going with choosing a thread palette. I always begin by collecting at least twice what I end up using. 
Next is the (very rough) original sketch and later I added some Copic markers to help block in areas of color. The actual size of the sketch is about 2" X 2". The actual design will be 8" to 9" square.
Here are the Copic Sketch Markers applied to 18-count eggshell canvas that I am considering......and will probably only use 2 or 3 of them in the end.
While collecting supplies I found some great beads I had never seen.....some very small triangle beads. Loved the colors and bought several tubes (just in case). There are also several bugle beads in the mix, which i definitely plan to use. *** The triangle beads are the two center tubes, and the tube on the right are Tila beads.
Now, last but not least, are the threads I have collected. They are separated into three groups: purples/blue, burgundy/rose, and rust/golds. The threads include the Painter's Threads ribbon with metallic, Treenway 20/2 silk, Planet Earth PepperPot and 6-stranded silk, River Silks, Gloriana 12-strand silk, Kreinik 1/16" ribbon, Rainbow Gallery Spendor and FyreWerks, and a new Bijoux color and Valdani silk.
These are different colors than I usually use and I am looking forward to seeing how the colors, threads and stitches all come together!! Now that I have made an official record of the "starting" palette, it will be very interesting to see how it compares with the "finished" palette.