Friday, March 27, 2015

first finish of the year!

Man, that's sad. This is the first time in the history of my blog that it's taken me almost three full months to get a finish for the year! I haven't been stitching all that much this year, though, so I guess that's to be expected. Caught up in fandom and studying every day...

But here she is in her fishy beaded glory! Gypsy Mermaid by Mirabilia. :)

And this time I took pictures during the day! Ready?




 

She's stitched on Lady of the Lake Belfast from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. The fabric had a lot of weird fuzzy fibers embedded in it, and some slub nubs (ha ha ha) so it was a bit challenging to work with at times. I'm pleased with the final look, though. :)

Ah, she was so much fun to bead! Beading is my favorite part of every project. I was a little iffy about the metallic net, but it's my favorite part of the whole piece! It's such a great finishing touch, especially with the larger beads to represent knots where the ropes cross each other.

As always, I made some small changes, but this time it was almost all in the beading. My edits:

- over one skin, because I am insane
- replaced all size 6 beads (the net got metallic 8s, the north and south medallions got pearls!)
- did not add any of the brown beads around her tail fin (they looked really out of place)
- replaced red beads in the flowers with similar Delicas so they would actually fit

I think that's all I messed with this time. :p

I've been ordered to get back to work on Floral Fifteen, so I guess that's my next WIP!

23 comments:

  1. Beautiful finish! I love the over one effect on the skin, and the colours are so bright and pretty!

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  2. She looks so beautiful. The colours are really amazing.

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  3. Oh my goodness, she is so beautiful. You really know how to make these designs come to life!

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  4. Wow! She is stunning!
    debthehappystitcher.blogspot.com

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  5. Beautiful, congratulations on a lovely finish :-)

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  6. Absolutely beautiful, from the fabric you chose to the beads you substituted, to your amazing stitching! Well done.

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  7. Wow, what a finish! A very beautiful piece.

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  8. I usually only get a couple of finishes a year (if I'm lucky) so don't worry! She looks absolutely stunning though!

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  9. She is lovely and you're right - that net is just perfect. Congratulations!

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  10. Congrats on the gorgeous finish!:)

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  11. Wow stunning
    I have been following you during this proces and i think you did this really fast :)
    I am curious what project will be next
    Have a nice sunday

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  12. Beautiful piece. I love the beading on the seahorses. What exactly do you mean by 'over one, skin'?

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    1. Hi Emily! I'm stitching on linen, so most of my stitches are "over two" as in they cross over two threads instead of just one. (My fabric is 32ct, so it's equivalent to 16ct when I stitch that way.) But I did the skin over just one thread to give it a more delicate look. Each stitch ends up being a block of 2x2 tiny stitches instead, so it takes a lot longer, but it looks very smooth! If you compare the tail to her skin, I think you'll see what I mean. :)

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  13. She really is a beautiful mermaid. She is on my wish list to go with Bluebeard's. I love the changes you made with the beads.

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  14. Truly a spectacular finish! I think the net is my favorite part too and you didn't go crazy with the skin or metallic thread! A victory in itself haha. :D The little pearls on N/S look awesome too.

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  15. Congratuations Rahenna, that's a simply stunning finish!

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  16. Congrats Rahenna!!! She's beautiful and what an amazing finish you have made. Well done
    xo Alicia

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  17. Beautiful stitching. Finish looks great.

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  18. She is simply amazing! Congrats!

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