I just wanted to post a follow up on this. I just received an e-mail and the artist was Heather Lancaster. Permission has been granted as long as I sell the finished pieces and NOT kits to make them. And I was thanked for asking permission.
So this was a very positive experience! I got a quick response ( less than a week ). The only request was that I not sell kits to make them but only the finished product. This was fine with me and I had not thought to do that. I feel that this is more than reasonable!
I just wanted to put this information out there so that others know that it is possible to contact the artist and get their permission. I sent a reply thanking her for allowing me to do this. Please do not take this as indirect permission if you want to do this project. Although I would suspect that you would get the same response that I did.
I just thought I would pass on the follow up info!
Good Luck and Thanks!
http://mysite.verizon.net/reszlofa