This and that...

I have been doing some stitching on my latest Nora Corbett creation since I finished The Bliss Fairy.  I decided to do a pixie for my daughter Kailee. She had originally chose Jade Blue, but I have the pattern on back order so I decided to work on Peony instead. I had been saving a special piece of Crafty Kitten Apricot Blush for this pixie.

She is coming along really well.  I did run out of Kreinik for her wing - Oh Darn! Another trip to the LNS (local needle store) - which happens to be Because You Count in Moncton, NB for me! 

I tried my hand at lacing and framed Lavender for Chelsea. I got a great deal at Michaels on three identical 8x12" frames - $5 each! So I snatched them up for my girl's bedrooms. 

Down at the bottom I added a little silver heart that I picked up the at LNS that says "Made with love".

I am working on round four of my eight person Mirabilia Round Robin.  I recently saw a picture of my RR and where it stands after round 3. I am very happy with the way it has turned out so far!  Thank you Stephanie and Sophia for making it so special so far! Stephanie did Stargazer, I did The Kiss and Sophia did a girl from Circle of Friends!  

I recently had my mom ask me to stitch her a Told in a Garden pattern.  I said I would, and that lead to her ordering two... and then she started looking at my friend Sharon`s finished Stargazer pattern and that was it - she fell in love. I am now going to be stitching Stargazer for my mom at some point. This is probably going to be around the first of August because we are waiting for the Picture This Plus Christmas in July sale - she has chosen Phantom for me to stitch Stargazer on. I think it will be stunning. 

I have no idea what I am going to stitch next after Peony. I have seven new patterns on the way.  (I know but they were all amazingly good deals!) For now, I will finish Peony and wait and see what pattern shows up in addition to matching it up with the perfect fabric! 

A Blissful Finish

She is done. She is finally done. I had a bit of a hard time finishing her wings - my fault - went a bit off pattern, which always turns out harder to correct than you think it should.  I am happy to share with you... My Bliss Fairy!

She is on beautiful 28 count jazlyn Summer Sky by Crafty Kitten. I made a few changes to the original pattern:

I gave her an opened eye and changed the arc of her eyebrow. I also changed the blue beads - they called for Magnifica Sky Blues - but I used a glass seeds - I will check on the colour and update it here. 

Although not evident here I added glisten gloss to her wings blended with the lightest colour yellow. This design, surprisingly has no Kreinik!

I also left out the anthers (thank you google) on the flowers. I stitched them all and when I took a step back I found them very distracting to the overall design. I unpicked them all! 

Overall I love this design. I'm very happy with the way she turned out. I love her colours and she brought me peace in a tumultuous time. On the day I finished her we officially decided to take our house off the market. My husband was offered a full time permanent job in the city we work now - so that takes away that pressure and stress! I am thankful that it all worked out. I believe it was divine intervention that the house didn't sell after all. 

Lovely Lavender Pixie

I love Lavender. It's not something I initially appreciated but in time I have come to love the soothing and relaxing smell - especially in a crazy stressed out world.  I recently needed a break from my Bliss Fairy and decided to work on a pixie - my first - not my last! So, with that said, I proudly present: Lavender by Nora Corbett. This little lady stitched up in 1 week from start to finish. I loved every stitch of it.

She was stitched on a piece of 28 count Impressionism by Sugar Maple Fabrics.  My favorite part of this pattern is the way Nora designed the wings to look opaque even though they are stitched solid. Amazing a little colour trick can do!

As for Bliss, I do have more done - but we weren't talking for a few days. We made up last night. I am working on the giant flower. Pictures to come soon!

Disciplined Diva? Maybe not....

I like to pride myself on being a disciplined diva - what does that mean? It means I like to have one project at a time and finish it before I start another. I find as my stitching evolves I have moved away from that a bit.  I seem to prefer having one main project and some side tracks. 

I have been working away at Bliss and honestly - the wings got a tad tedious - the colours aren't very vibrant - don't get me wrong -they are beautiful and soft - but the colours weren't inspiring me to stitch.  Regardless - I'm so close to finishing those wings - here is where I left her. 

Thursday night I decided to play with my fabric and patterns.... we do that sometimes, don't we? I have been drawn to the idea of stitching some of Nora's Pixies. I really love Lavender pixie and I had this piece of fabric screaming 'Pick me! Pick me!' - so I started her.  I decided to dedicate the weekend to stitching my heart out on Lavender. It was just flowing - flying off the page and onto my fabric - I now decided that I will see her through to a finish but suspect I will be done before this weekend - I know sounds fast but hubby worked two night shifts this week and I stitching like a mad woman when he is away for the night.

She is stitched on Sugar Maple Fabric's Impressionism (out of business sorry girls) - it is a beautiful fabric. I will say I have a piece of Crafty Kitten's Evening Sky and I find they are quite similar if you are looking for this effect. I have decided this is for my daughter Chelsea. Chelsea is five and she loves purple. After I am done this I am going to do one for my eight year old, Kailee as well.  I haven't stitched anything for my daughters before - although I guess in many ways they are all for my daughters.

Another fun thing! I got accepted into another Round Robin! Its with the Yuku group: The Worldwide Round Robins. This one is slated to start January 2013 - it is a "big box" Mirabilia Round Robin. The boxes are for 5000 stitches opposed to the one I am doing now, which is 2500. This will allow us to do some bigger designs. Look - I know its more than 6 months away - but I have started planning my Round Robin - how can I not? I have decided to do the them "Roses" and I have chosen the patterns: Ashley's Roses, Rose of Sharon, Rose Arbour and Lady of the Mist. Here is a mock up of what I envision so far.... total work in progress here.....the border in the middle is taken from Mirabilia's Garden Muses, just repeated.

I hope to finish Lavender this weekend and get back into stitching Bliss. I know once I get past those wings we will love each other again! 

Sunflower Fairy DMC Conversion

Recently I had my magazine out with my Sunflower Fairy in it. I had stitched this beautiful little girl for my mother in law for Christmas. She is a fast and easy stitch - but it calls for Valdani's and knowing how little she was I didn't want to invest in the Valdani's. I decided to do a DMC conversion - which I think turned out pretty good. So with that said, I wanted to post my conversion so it doesn't get "lost" in my computer some where.

 

 

Valdani - DMC

 

M49 = 945

M81 = 742 
M90 = 801
O510 = 975
O519 = 3012
O521 = 3685

O526 = 935
v1 = 722/742 blend (the 722 was too orange on its own)
v4 = 780

 

I didn't like her skin backstitched in brown so I used 3371 however, any peachy colour darker than 945 would do.

 

KRENIK:
I used Krenik 014  as called for

It asked for 018 (Navy) for backstitching but I chose Krenik 850 (left overs from Adia)

BEADS:

40332 Emerald petite = I used 03055

42011 Victorian Gold petite  = used 02011 (Victorian Gold - not petite)
42030 Victorian Copper petite  = used 02019

Please note: now that I'm done I wished I had stiched the skin 1 over 1 - just a suggestion!

 

It took me just over a week to stitch her - she is small and fun. It was the first Mirabilia I ever gave away. Here is the finished product all framed up!

 

Blissfully unaware.....

Don't you love how cross stitching can just take it all away?  I have been absolutely indulging in my Bliss Fairy. Today I put a few stitches in her at lunch time - in my car - I just needed to close off the world for awhile.  There is an article on Facebook circulating how stitching is equated with stress relief - hmmm... stitchers already know this.  I am looking forward to this week coming to an end.  I have another open house on Saturday and I'm going to take my daughters to see Puss in Boots at the Community Centre. My husband is working Saturday night so I have planned to "meet up" online with some of my stitchy friends for a Google+ hangout.  Yes, stitching is great - but having stitching friends is better!



Mirabilia's Bliss Fairy stitched on Crafty Kitten 28 ct Summer Sky evenweave.



Round Robin, Round Robin!

Last week - exactly a week ago - I got my third round robin piece.  I am participating in an 8 project Round Robin and the theme is Mirabilia.  This round I got Debbie's and her piece was open to the stitchers.  As a stitcher I loved having an open theme - she asked for anything fantasy - pretty much any Mira would do! I personally have too many control issues to allow others to choose the designs on my Round Robin. Its not that I don't think they would choose a great pattern - I'm just particular about how I want the overall piece to look. 

So here is the block I chose to stitch for Debbie.  I stitched the Woodland Fairy - I did not make any pattern changes exept the sandy colour beads are a substitute - but very close to the suggested beads.

Oh - did I mention how much I hate blending filament? I really had a hard time getting that going - wow - I feel like I'm a good stitcher but that had me SO frustrated! I had a lot of suggestions to use thread heaven - I will pick that up if I am ever to do a full scale design with BF again!

Debbie's piece now has three complete blocks - Debbie did the Shimmering Mermaid, Julie did Silver Moon Tea (another on my to do list!).

Today I am picking up 11 new Mira patterns that I am buying from a lady that went out of business.  As they are new I have offered them to some Mira friends at my cost + shipping - OH YEAH - I'm keeping some to myself as well! I am excited to have them all in hand. I will take a picture because I know you like to look! LOL!

Now that my RR and Cleo are done I can concentrate on my Bliss Fairy again! I have missed her.  New updated photos soon!