Thursday, September 29, 2011

sadness is...

...wanting to start something OMG RIGHT NOW!!! and not having the right fabric on hand.  Or in this case, having the right fabric, but just a bit too small, and I've already learned my lesson about squeezing things in on fabric that's not big enough.  Sigh, grumble, pout, etc.  Now I have to hope one of the local big box craft stores has some cream Belfast in stock, because sometimes they do... and sometimes they don't!

That's okay, I need to head in that direction to get my illustrious community college student ID anyway.  Can't buy the student edition of CS5 without that as proof of my broke peon status. :p

Anyway!  Whining and rambling aside, I do have a small finish!  The comments on my Sunflower Fairy seemed pretty evenly divided between Cirque and Tree of Hope, so of course it was logical to do something completely different.  Riiiiiight?


This is the companion to the tree ornament I did about a year ago.  Only took me two days to stitch, then some slacking off before actually finishing it into an ornament.  Have to get some practice before working on my ornament exchanges for Measi and Shannon, after all. :)

I think I'll divide my stitching time between Cirque and Tree of Hope, since my GF has volunteered to help fill in the solid areas around the leaves on ToH.  Don't want to lose out on the opportunity to have someone else do half my work for me! :p

But if I manage to get my fabric, you bet your behind I'm starting something new!  Unfortunately, I won't be able to blog about it at all because it's my GF's Christmas present and she reads the blog, so... no news on that until the end of the year.  Or earlier, if I cave and give it to her early because I'm a sucker like that. XD

EDIT:  Mission accomplished, linen has been obtained, no thanks to Hobby Lobby for jacking up the price four bucks on a FQ of Belfast.  And no thanks to me for leaving my 40% off coupon on my desk. *facepalm*  Also, the community college can bite me, I've been there FOUR TIMES trying to get my ID and every time there's some BS reason why no one is available to do it.  RAWR!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

ornament swap?

NOTE:  I've already taken on all the swaps I can manage for this year! :p

Hey, would anyone be interested in doing a holiday ornament exchange with me?  I've been wanting to do a swap for a while but I'm not sure how to find a group (plus I'm a weenie about groups).  Now that I have a few followers, maybe I can swap with one or two of you? :)

My thoughts were...

THEME:
- This would be a Christmas/holiday/winter ornament exchange.
- Please no religious-themed designs for me.
- But I can stitch an ornament for you with a Christian theme, if you like!  I don't think I have anything appropriate for other religions, though.

STITCHING & FINISHING:
- Ornaments should be stitched on evenweave/linen and finished as an... ornament. :p
- I'm NOT picky about finishing.  I don't mind if this is your very first ornament. :)
- But I'm not very good at finishing myself, so please exchange with me only if that's okay.  Of course, I'll do my best, but I don't have a lot of finishing experience.

ETC:
- Extra goodies can be included in the exchange, but it's not required. :)
- I will send extras because I'm a nut like that, but please don't feel like you have to send me anything other than the ornament!

Here are examples of ornaments I've made in the past so you can get an idea of how my finishing looks.




If you're interested, could you leave your email address in a comment so I can contact you directly? :)  If several people have already commented, please comment anyway since it's possible that an exchange may not work out, or I'll want to take on more than one or two. :D

NOTE:  I've already taken on all the swaps I can manage for this year! :p

Thursday, September 22, 2011

ta daaaaaaa!

Sunflower Fairy is all done!  The wings took me forever because the DMC metallic threads are a terror, even though they look nice.  Beads were easy, just used whatever I had lying around that looked close enough to the model photo.  Lots of substitutions here since I didn't have all the Valdani threads and wasn't about to go buying them just for this!


Just have to find and order a suitable frame and get her ready for gifting. :)

What should I work on next? :))))))  Current WIPs are:

- Angel Procession (TW)
- Tree of Hope (Mirabilia)
- Titania (Mirabilia)
- Cirque des Cercles (Ink Circles)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

almost done!

I've been stitching like a nut on Sunflower Fairy because she MUST BE DONE soon. :p


Just a few petals, her wings, backstitch and beads to go!

Monday, September 19, 2011

IHSW results

Nyoops, I forgot to post about my participation in this month's International Hermit & Stitch Weekend before taking part, but I guess I was too excited about it.  Here are the results!  It looks like more than one person can do, and it is... I had my GF help out a bit and we kind of switched off between these two pieces. :p

Tree of Hope got some love, and now has a ton of leaves on the right side of the tree:


And Sunflower Fairy has something to stand on and the promise of a ton of petals!


I think I'll focus on the fairy until she's done, since I need her framed and ready by early October.  Eeep.

Update for Kate (and anyone else who might be curious!):  The fabric for both pieces is 32ct raw linen (the color is actually called raw).  The fairy's linen has been tea-dyed to be a bit darker, but it's hard to see the difference in the pictures.  In real life, the fairy's linen is more brown, while the tree's fabric (not dyed) is slightly grey. :)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

sunflower fairy

I made pretty good progress on Sunflower Fairy, considering how much WoW I've played this weekend. XD Her entire body is done except for her wings (sparkly) and the beading. Of course, the remaining part is much larger in comparison, but...



I don't really like how her face is white, though. Stupid variegated thread. :x I might take that part out and redo it.

I'm taking a break from her for a few days since there's an Ink Circles SAL on the Love 4 Stitch Alongs board. I've put in all of ONE hour of the 25 I set for my goal, and at that pace, well... not gonna happen.  Here's the latest update, not that it's much different from last time!




Friday, September 09, 2011

Tree of Stitches is done!

Finally finished up after slacking off for a couple of days. :p

The full tree (colors are most accurate here):


And a closeup of some of the stitching, but the color is a bit too yellow and I don't feel like opening Photoshop to correct it. XD


I think I'll have to revise my goals for this month, because I've been convinced (quite easily, thank you :p) to start Sunflower Fairy by Nora Corbett as a gift for my GF's mom, since her birthday is in about a month.  That means I really only have about three weeks to finish in order to have enough time left for framing.  Soooo, here's the floss toss.  The design calls for Valdani for everything, but I'm substituting other overdyed threads from the stash as needed.


As you can see, the linen is a bit too light and too grey, so I tea-dyed it to be a little darker and more brown.  It didn't really get the mottled effect like I was hoping, but at least it's a better color now. :)

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

the bucket list :p

I was updating my stash inventory since we bought some kits during Joann's sale a while back (40% off plus free shipping? yes plz!) and I don't want to risk getting something twice.

Then I looked closely at that list and said:
Self, are you ever going to be able to finish even half of that stuff?
Of course, the answer is NO.  But what am I realistically going to stitch?  Hmm.

Time for my bucket list!

I'll definitely finish my current WIPs.  They wouldn't be WIPs if I didn't love them. :)

- Angel Procession (TW)
- Tree of Hope (Mirabilia)
- Titania (Mirabilia)
- Cirque des Cercles (Ink Circles)
- Tree of Stitches (Abi Gurden)

Now, as for the rest?  I'll pick my top ten, that sounds fair. :)

- Bluebeard's Princess (Mirabilia)
- Dragonfly Pond (Dimensions)
- Fall Fairy (Dimensions)
- Finery of Nature (Dimensions)
- Flowers and Lace (Dimensions)
- Night (TW)
- South Seas Mermaid (Mirabilia)
- Woodland Faerie (TW)
- old world map with mermaids (magazine pattern)
- annnd one of those cute bird stamp Christmas ornaments (Dimensions)

Don't mock my love of Dimensions kits, they are awesome and I won't listen to anyone who tries to tell me otherwise.  ALSO MERMAIDS ARE COOL. :p

Let's see how well I stick to this.  Obviously, no new starts until I finish something!

Monday, September 05, 2011

most of a tree

Can't seem to put this one down!  Every section is something totally new so as soon as I finish one, it's on to the next.  I think this is up to part 11 or 12 now, though those pesky french knots are STILL on hold.


Probably won't finish today, but definitely within the next couple of days. :)

Sunday, September 04, 2011

the tree is growing :)

Here we are, more of the lovely Tree of Stitches!  I think I'm on part 7 or 8 now, though not all of my progress is shown in these photos.  The two little green stitches have been joined by most of their buddies, but I haven't taken a more recent picture yet.  Next time. :)

So here's the full tree.  You'll notice that french knots have still not made their appearance. :p


And a closeup of everything.  Of all the stitches so far, I have to say cushion stitch is my favorite, the pink/purple ones that look all fluffy like pillows.

Jerusalem stitch (topmost blue), on the other hand, can go rot in a ditch somewhere.  It's a vertical version of rice stitch (the center blue) but because it's vertical, it just looks like a miserable blob.  The long bottom legs get lost and you can't see them sticking out at all.  Or maybe I just fail at stitching!  We may never know...


I wonder how much I can finish over this long weekend... :p

Thursday, September 01, 2011

start-itis, I has it

Because it makes sense to start something else when you already have a full slate of goals for the month! This is Tree of Stitches by Abi Gurden, a SAL pattern that's available only on the Yahoo group The Stitch Specialists. I just had to become a member after seeing so many pretty trees featured in blog posts!

 I've done parts 1 and 2, and I'm working on part 4 now. I'll go back and fill in part 3 (french knots, ugh!) after finishing part 4 so it'll be easier to see where the knots go. And also because I need to ask my GF for help. XD


I'm stitching on Picture This Plus linen in the lovely Sterling color. My threads are going to be a mix of Waterlilies and Dinky Dyes silks, one color for the trunk and then four colors for the leaves... one color for each of the four seasons. Right now you can see the icy blue/purple of winter and the pink/brown/purple of spring. :D


Haha, maybe you shouldn't look too close at my shamefully bad stitches. :p

I did more of Cirque too, but it's just more brown and no one cares about that, right??