November already? Where did October go?

Oh yes, October went west. I am officially home in Calgary Alberta.  It took us one full week of driving about 8 hours a day, but we made it.  We had 2 flats - one blow out on the U haul crossing Manitoba and a slow leak in my car in Saskatchewan.  The girls were very good.  Incredible little travelers really.

So here I sit - blogging away - I have a home office now - which I really love.  It is my little sanctuary in the house. I keep my work stuff in there, but also my scrap booking stuff - which I have yet to use and of course my stitching stuff.

I have managed to get some things done while I have been absent - let me show you....

First we have Dress Maker's Daughter by Mirabilia. I finally finished Spring - minus the beads.  This project is going to go away for a while. I have decided to make a new start before I begin the second half.  It is a lot stitching in this solid piece. It is beautiful but I hope not to see DMC 819 for a long time!

I stitched another RR block - this RR the owner asked we leave the beads off.  It is a beautiful and very interesting RR that doesn't stick with the conventional "cameos".  My block was from Mermaids of the Deep Blue.

I did start a new project. It is a Christmas piece called "The Spirit of Christmas" by Lynda Orme and it is from Cross-Stitch & Needlework 2010.  I am stitching it on a self dyed piece using DMC verigated #99 for the red. Incidentally, I ran out of the red and can't find it anywhere locally. Luckily, a friend from a stitching group offered to send me some! Thank you! When it is done, I plan on shipping it to my mom who is going to make it into a wall hanging. 

I also had a chance to try my hand at framing. This is my first time framing something so big and I am pretty happy with the way they turned out. I had these frames on hand.  So now Scent of Old Roses and Golden Girl Apples are on display in my home.

I also have a very well deserved, special finish to share with you - but she deserves her own post! I started working on Red Lady Pirate last night and I also have been preparing for my next Round Robin which is to start in January 2013. 

Thanks for taking a look!

Oh - there is a give away - wanna sign up? Go see Victorian Motto Sample Shop blog - tell them I sent you please! It gives me more entries.

-Jocelyn

Scent of Old Roses Gallery

Here are some additional pictures of my finished Mirabilia Scent of Old Roses. This is stitched on Crafty Kitten's Dragon Forest Evenweave on a 32 count.

I did change one of the beads - I wasn't fond of a honey coloured bead and I replaced it with the pearly coloured bead.

Details of the skirt.

Suri's pretty face.

More bead work details.

This is a bit blurry - but I wanted to show these details - yup, I learned to Lazy Dazy stitch!

I named her Suri.  She took about 5 weeks - It may seem fast, but she is a much smaller pattern than Christmas Flourishes. I actually stitched her on a fat eigth with slightly less than 2 inches all around - but you have to use 32 count to do this!

Wow - I'm not a very good blogger!

I started this blog with the best of intentions and I never really followed through on it.  I have A LOT of stitchy updates for you.

I finished Christmas Flourishes.... She is stunning. I love her so much.  She is stitched on 28 count Zweigart Mystery Blue Linen. This took me 3 full months. It is the biggest project I have ever worked on. The beading is stunning and I will share more pictures in a seperate post.

After her, I started and finished Mirabilia's  Scent of Old Roses. This project took 5 weeks. She is stitched on 32 count Dragon Forest by Crafty Kitten. (my favorite fabric company). This one is dripping with beads and is stunning if I do say so myself! 
But that isn't all! After SOOR (who I dubbed Suri)...









I started GG - or Gorja Grace - which is Mirabilia's Golden Girl Apples.  This project is stitched on 28 ct brittany lugana. I dyed it myself. This project is so bright and sunny and saucy! I loved stitching her - I wished there was more beads on it - if you are considering stitching might I suggest you change the little red apples in the orchard trees to beads? This project took me 5 weeks to complete as well.

So what am I up to these days? I am working on our round robin (which I will make a seperate post about) and I started Mirabilia's Mediterreanean Mermaid - this one is stiched on 32 ct Daybreak by Crafty Kitten.