All hail the Queen Mermaid

I am proud to present in her full glory Mirabilia's Queen Mermaid on Crafty Kitten's 32 count Aurora (murano).  She is glorious and dripping with luxury.  She has always been on my must do list but it became really possible for me when my amazing friend Sharon Attwells gifted me the "bling" to finish kitting her up.  I had the pattern, I had the fabric... beads in hand - how could I not?

I started her around the first of February. She was a new start for my new life - and how appropriate given her stateliness and proud demeanor.  With that said, I didn't finish her until September.  I had started several other projects along the way and she got a little neglected for the summer.

I decided to do her skin 2 threads over 1 tent stitch. I tent stitch in the opposite direction as my top stitch. I think it adds the dimension and it flows more naturally to me. This took a very long time and overall I feel it was worth it.  Also I changed her eye. I adapted this eye after looking at many other Mirabilia designed patterns. I felt this eye fit more with my over 1 look. I also added crystal bicones to her choker and earring. 

The original pattern suggests stitching a cute little purse because every girl, even a mermaid queen needs a good purse, but in May I was privileged enough to visit with Sharon in Toronto and she took me to BeadFX. Now that is a fun store! I found this amazing cloisonne scalloped shell bead for her and it was a "MUST HAVE THIS" moment.

I also changed a few of her bead colours. One of the colours in her hair was a pearl coloured bead. I decided to go with the clear in a petite. I also changed added some white beads as well. It was more based on choice of fabric.  Her tail is dripping with beads, purples, greens, grey. She has lots of tear drop treasures... There is one thing I know for sure, she is truly deserving of the title Queen Mermaid. 

Hope you enjoy my Queen Mermaid. I have two large Mirabilia WIPS on the go right now - June's Pearl Fairy and Charlotte. They have take a back burner to some smaller projects for the moment but I hope to get back to them very soon! 

Stitching finishes....

Here are my 2013 finishes that I haven't yet posted.... enjoy!

Let's start with my Nora Corbett Pixies

Gardenia on Blue Hydrangea by Crafty Kitten Fabrics (not a good representation of actual colour of fabric)

Blue Bell on Evening Sky by Crafty Kitten 

Next up is my Round Robin work that I did. I was in a group of four - the theme was Mirabilia/Nora Corbett "Large Stitch". Each block was 5000 stitches.

Nora Corbett - Santa's Sleigh. I did 1/2 of this. The final product was the sleigh with all the reindeer.

Mermaid of the Pearls on a gorgeous mermaid themed Round Robin

Venetian Opulence on a Snotty Ladies themed Round Robin

My finished round robin - I chose four beautiful ladies. Top left: Villa Mirabilia, Top right: Lady Hera, Bottom Left: Crystal Elegance Bottom Right: Athena

I also managed to finish 1 full Mirabilia - Queen Mermaid. Here she is - but I want to dedicate a full post to her later with more detailed photos:

Queen Mermaid on Aurora by Crafty Kitten

Also one more Mira to show you. This is a cameo from Le Nouveau Sampler. It is a gift for John's grandmother:

Le Nouveau Sampler on Twilight by Hand Dyed by Stephanie

Finally, I did manage to complete some non-Mirabilia stitching: 

This is now a wall hanging - my mom did do the finishing work for me....

Lakeside Lodge by Littlehouse Needleworks on Sea Spray Linen 

Needleworker (Ltd Ed 2013) by Littlehouse Needleworks on Willow Green Linen

There you have it. Those are the finished pieces. I have several work in progresses (WIPS) and I will start sharing them now that I'm back into writing.

Thanks for looking! 

New beginnings.

November 19th must seem like an odd time to make a new start - perhaps - but really it is as good a day as any.  Let me start off by apologizing for virtually abandoning this blog. It was never my intention. I actually love this blog but since my last post my life has changed in nearly every aspect.

So this post will be about me - and maybe a little bit about stitching.

Last told I had just moved to Calgary, Alberta; however, in January 2013 I decided to move back home with my daughters and leave my husband.  The relationship had reached its expiry date.  There wasn't one big thing that ended it all - just a realization that there was nothing left anymore. So me and the girls moved to Sackville, New Brunswick.  It is where my sister lived and central to most of my relatives. I found a nice little bungalow on a lake and got my life settled again.

My backyard on the lake

Living on my own was really empowering and one of the first things I noticed was that I felt free again. Less stress, less self loathing and guilt.  I got a cat! Her name is Bella. She was a shelter rescue.

Bella watching birds.

In March I decided I was going to look around on some dating sites and see what was out there. I had spent 14 years with my ex-husband and this time I was going date - find someone amazing and it didn't matter how long it took.  I wanted it to be right.

There are a lot of creeps out there... tip: if the message starts with "Hey baby..." move on.  March 30th about 8pm I got a message but it didn't start with "Hey baby"... in fact it wasn't like any message I had gotten yet (and I was getting quite a few).  It was an introduction and an invitation to share stories because somehow this guy saw right through my profile and basically unlocked my guard immediately.  He too, recently separated was looking for someone to trust and befriend like me.  After less than an hour we moved to Facebook.  If he didn't run after seeing all those posts and pictures of me than I figured we could maybe be friends.  By 2am that night I had to sign off but I was scared because I didn't want to stop talking to him. What if he disappeared over night?

He didn't disappear. He became my best friend instantly and my heart was set on fire. We met about a week or so later - keeping in mind we talked for 3 or 4 hours on the phone every night.  We were both afraid because we had both been hurt by our marriages... but there was something amazing there. That is the story of John and me.

We have been together ever since and I have never loved or been loved like I am now. He took all the crap I dealt with and just washed it away.  So now, I have two little girls, John has two little boys and collectively we have one full minivan! Things were going so well that the girls and I moved in with John and the boys in August.  It allowed me to go back to work full time in the office. It helped us both with expenses and of course we could be together full time. 

All this time I have been stitching and all of it is on Facebook.  I am going to take some time and make a post with my 2013 finishes in it. So thank you to anyone that is still listening.  I will try to be a better blogger.  

And remember..... 

Finishing a notorious legend.... Red Lady Pirate

Taking a clip from Wikipedia, the Red Lady Pirate (Veronica) circa 1500-1534 was one of the most cunning pirates of the sixteenth century who never revealed her identity. She commonly disguised herself as a singer or an entertainer to be brought on ships and once the crew ever advance on her or leave her by herself she would take her disguise off having a top, pants and her weapons underneath. She would then immediately kill all aboard the ship and sail to sea.

There is something about Nora Corbett's "The Red Lady Pirate" that captivated me from the start.  I just always loved her.  I bought a piece of Sunny Dyes Pacific Sunset fabric a full year ago knowing that it was the perfect fabric for her.  But I never really got her in line for my to do list.  I was given the choice to kit any pattern from Hawkins Hobbies, and I chose Red Lady - but I still didn't put her in my rotation.  After awhile I knew I wanted to stitch her - but I had to finish this, that and the other.  Finally with encouragement from Facebook friends I decided to start her.

I enjoyed every minute of stitching this project.  I can say that about very few. There was no "crappy spots" or screw ups.  She just flowed.

The Red Lady Pirate is a goddess of the sea.  She is dripping in jewels and beads. She is lavishly cool, cunning and beautiful.  I would say, my favorite stitch to date.  Her skin is stitched 2 threads over 1.  The water and mountains are variegated silk called Waterlilies. She is covered in treasures and beads. A pure masterpiece.

Many of my projects will take residence in my closet unframed. I was so inspired to get her framed that two days after my finish I went to Michaels and found an amazing frame.  I did frame this myself. At the same time I got frames for Bliss Fairy and Christmas Flourishes. I framed those too. Happy New Year to me!

 

I really should watermark these photos.  I have had pictures from this blogged stolen before - cute right? Someone goes on Facebook and uses my stitched piece as their profile picture and claims it as their own.  Little did they know that pattern had a pretty obvious screw up so I know it was mine.  I ousted her - for all the good that did.  But for now - I leave my photos as they are and hopefully they will inspire someone to someday stitch these Nora beauties too!

Back on the blogging train

Bad blogger, bad, bad... I haven't posted in over a month.

Truth be told I have been settling into my new life out West.  I have made a few little hikes out into the mountains and it is so beautiful here.

I have been stitching and I did get some things done.  Let's just say pictures after Christmas shall we?

I did finish a stunning round robin - but I wanted to save the picture of the finished product for the owner. I will show you what I stitched though. I got to stitch Garden Beauty:

The good news about this being the last round in the Round Robin means that mine is coming home soon! I am super excited to get it back! I have signed up for another Mirabilia Round Robin for 2013 and it is going to be 4 patterns of 5000 stitch blocks - the one from this year was 8 patterns in 2500 stitch blocks.  Here is the outline that I chose.

The fabric is called Spring Breeze and is by Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. I had some help in the layout of the design from a dear friend - and amazing cross stitch artist Tracy J. She has a great blog: Elegant Jewels of the Needle. The bee is from Mirabilia's Tree of Hope. The patterns I have chosen for this RR is Villa Mirabilia, Lady Hera, Crystal Symphony and Athena. 

I finally have started what is probably one of my favorite Mirabilia's ever. The very first piece of hand dyed fabric I ever bought (which was actually only January 2012) was for this pattern...and I just never started it until now. That pattern is Red Lady Pirate.  I love her. I have named her Charlotte (not to be confused with the pattern named Charlotte).  She is vicious and beautiful and very strong.  I started her around mid-Nov took a break to finish other things and here she sits today on Pacific Sunset from Sunny Dyes fabric. 

As you can see I have a fair bit done.  I love the Waterlilies silk - the water and the mountains. So amazing to work with and the effect is WOW.  I am doing her skin two threads over 1 in a tent stitch - which I'm just going to refer to as 1 over 1 or petite point from now on.  This is stunning. I don't know that I will ever do skin 2 over 2 again.  

I found out today that I won a prize! I have to brag - blogging is so much fun. I got to choose one of Nancy Turner's Christmas designs from below.  Her blog and store is called Victorian Motto Shoppe.  I have just discovered her not too long ago through her blog and I love the primitive stuff. I am completely in love with her coffee and spice bag kits.  Out of these I chose the Jolly Reindeer. Thank you Nancy! 

Well I better get back to stitching now... Thank you for being patient with me in putting up new posts....I really must do so more often! xoxo

Get Rhythm

If you read this blog regularly  you will know I have had a terrible time finding my "rhythm" on my "Rhythm" Muse by Nora Corbett.

She is stunning. The colours are fantastic - my fabric was fantastic. She started so fast out the gate and full of promise and then...........Nothing. Lost her mojo. Couldn't get it back. I would do tiny little pieces at a time. I uploaded songs with the word rhythm in them to listen to as I worked - it just wasn't happening.

So she went away for awhile.  Now, I was desperate for a new start and I am not a serial starter by most standards. I had Dressmaker's Daughter on the go. I am working on Farmer's Market, I have my Round Robin's and then Rhythm.  I knew I couldn't possibly start another without finishing one.  So I set off to finish Rhythm.

I frogged and redid  the back stitching 3 times because the colour wasn't working - then the fabric puckered and pulled. When I was finally satisfied I only had beads left to do.  That honestly wasn't too bad and I got that done in one sitting.

The piece was stitched on 30 count Weeks Dye Works linen in Tiger Eye - gorgeous.  But after all the pulling and frogging - the fabric looked fuzzy and gappy. So I decided to give it a bath.... Yeah, great idea. First time I try to wash something the dye runs like a mo-fo.   The water turned immediately orange.  Just one more F-up to this pattern.

Bad news, the dye ran and turned my bright vibrant colours to a muted version of itself. Good news, the piece dyed equally so it doesn't really look like anything went wrong. It looks more anitqued version of Nora's vision.  I am horribly disappointed to lose the bright vibrant coloured effect of this pattern, but the end result is still quite stunning.

Without further ado, here is my Rhythm.

The pattern called for Mill Hill butterflies - gorgeous - expensive. These little fellas were $.50 a piece and the go great, in my opinion with the pattern.

Very pretty beads! But ready for this - the damage - below is a picture of 162 next to the 162 in the piece after the "dye" job - or antiquing as I like to call it. Huge difference eh?

But all in all....

.... she is a beautiful addition to my Mirabilia family. Even though she really gave me a hard time!

Now that I have her in my back pocket it made way for me to start the pattern I have been longing to have since I got back into stitching - Red Lady Pirate! I can't wait to share her with you.  

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