Victorian Christmas Lady Framed

Yay! Another one framed. I haven't been in much of a stitching mood recently but after I got this framed the other week I seem to be eager to work on more stitching, even though I don't have much time nor the energy.

 

I promise in the new year I will be posting more. Recently I have taken up dyeing fabrics and I am waiting on some new dyes from Santa. In the new year I will share with you all the fabrics I have dyed. It really is addicting to do! 

Merry Christmas everyone!! 

Small Finish!

I finished this piece a while back and forgot all about her. I ended up using all of the colors from my Victorian Christmas Lady so the colors vary a little bit from the original pattern. She ended up poking out from the magazine I used to stitch her and completely forgot I had finished her! So I took it upon myself to hunt down the holly berry fabric I knew I had and made her into an ornament I can hang in the house for Christmas.

She is designed by Joan Elliott, there is also a Silent Night one but I don't think I will be stitching it this year. They were both with a bigger pattern of caroling children which I might stitch next Christmas. I plan on finishing off a few more small stitchings like this I have laying around. It is about time I had some handmade decorations, feels more homey :)

Joan Elliott's 2012 Christmas Angel

Has been a few days since I last updated. I wasn't able to work much on her due to being unmotivated. Technically it has been 5 stitching days so far spent on her, with two of those days spent on the 1 over 1 on her skin, first time ever doing that and I have got to say I am really pleased with the results!I may just have to suffer through this every time on skin here on out!

I always seem to have a problem stitching with flesh tones and the finished stitching looking lumpy and bumpy, so I decided to experiment with this technique and see if I would have better results. I just love how the skin looks painterly in a way, and looks more delicate and feminine. It was really weird when I switched back to working 2 over 2, the stitches felt way too big even though I am working on 32 count! 

I now have some ideas for 2013! Call me crazy if you would like but I think I plan on stitching one of Nora Corbett's Pixies one over one using petite Mill Hills and half stitches of Krienik. Oh the ideas in my head!

Mermaid's Tail

Just a quick update on my Mermaids of the Deep Blue, I realized I haven't updated on it for a while! 

So I just have the tail part and a few smaller areas to finish up and then I can move onto the upper half of the pattern. I am shocked about how fast this is to stitch! It is just a matter of finding time to do it that's the problem.

I Think I Can!

After telling myself multiple times that my Victorian Christmas Lady would be for me and my own enjoyment I have crumbled and decided nope, my nan would love it. As my mom said "you should just give in and surprise her by giving it to her" She is constantly asking if I have finished it yet and bringing up how she wants to open the green present. Not only is it her colors but she loves ladies and trees. I enjoy seeing her face when I surprise her, she is so cute and shocked that I managed to just finish a project!

So with that being said....I have started a new project in hopes that I finish it in the next 2 or so weeks so I will have my own Christmas cross stitch to hang up in the dinning room! I am working on Joan Elliott's 2012 Christmas Angel

It is not overly Christmas either so I can hang her up for the winter season if I want to. I am not too sure about the wings and might end up leaving them off having her as a Winter Maiden instead. I am also planning on doing her skin over one!

Here is my progress so far:

This is after just one day of stitching. She is on white 32 count linen and uses some of my favorite shades of teal. It is far from my nan's colors so I know this one is for keeps for sure!

Victorian Christmas Lady Finished!

I have managed to finish yet another project this year! And finally this one is all for ME!

Joan Elliott's Victorian Christmas Lady

It took a while to get all of the supplies to finish her. When I ordered all of the beads I forgot to order one of the Krieniks that was just used for the outlines of the fur part of the dress. Then once I got the order I ended up having to go away for a week. During that week away though I managed to get two Christmas Ornaments stitched up, but I can't show them just yet since one is for a Christmas Ornament exchange I am participating in and the other is a gift.

I am going to get her framed in a few weeks so she will be ready for Christmas. I already have an idea of where she is going to hang! Now I just need to figure out how to have her framed. I am thinking of a double matte. Have the bottom matter in either a red or green and then the top matte can be a cream or beige. I want something neutral because all of the colors are so bright.

Has anyone else started their Christmas stitching yet? I would love to see some of your work!

Emerald Dragonfly Finish

I have been a horrible blogger I know I know. Between dog and house sitting, trips to the ER, and losing my stitching bug I just couldn't find myself cross stitching all that much and when I did it didn't seem like enough to post about. However the past two weekends I found myself with nothing to do since the dog didn't like staying downstairs so I picked up a kitted up project of Nora Corbett's Emerald Dragonfly and worked on it.

I didn't really like the project at first. The picture on the chart didn't do the cross stitch any justice. I had no idea how much Krienik or beads were in the pattern, but really how could I not think it would be dripping in sparkles and bling since it is a Nora Corbett design.

Again this project is for my sweet nan. She bought the chart about three years ago and handed it to me saying "My people will do this one for me, right?" and so it went on the list of projects to do for her. I think she has forgotten all about it though so she will be surprised on her birthday that I finished ANOTHER one in 2012.

This was just a weekend project for me. I spent last night putting the beads on which was about 3 hours. The beads really add to the piece though. It is stitched on 32 count on the recommended fabric.

I really can't wait to see it framed, it will be going to the framers hopefully this weekend. I want to finish off my Victorian Christmas Lady first so I can take them both in to get done at once. I am just waiting on the postman to bring my cross stitch order so I can get the missing Krienik plus the extras I got hehe.

Haven't Been Around

So sorry for lack of posts the past couple of weeks. I have been out of town and just busy and really haven't had much energy or desire to do any stitching. I have been meaning to update everyone on my projects though.

Here is the Victorian Christmas Lady:

Got the third page done (sorry for blurriness of the photo yikes that looks bad!) I had to place another order online though for cross stitch stuff (oh darn) because I forgot to order one of the Krienik threads. So I also got some other projects to do for some family members and another pattern for myself!

And here is Mermaids of the Deep Blue:

I have had her done since before I left for my trip. I do plan on picking her up again very soon, I just need to finish my Christmas stuff before so I can get it all done for the season. I really can't wait to get all of the beads on her!

While on my trip I stocked up on DMC floss for a bunch of other projects. I think I ended up getting 208 DMC colors in total. I also ended up buying some fabric dyes and plan on experimenting with that in a couple of weeks. I want to dye some fabric for my Petal Fairy, I am thinking a light teal color to go with the orange and pinks in that one.

Mermaids of the Deep Blue

Now I promised myself that I wouldn't start any new projects until I have completed some but I was silly and started looking through my Mirabilia patterns. I came across Mermaids of the Deep Blue all kitted up and ready to stitch so there was nothing holding me back!

Just to refresh people's memory here is the finished pattern:

Mermaids of the Deep Blue by Mirabilia

I have spent the past day stitching and working on them so this is as far as I got:

Day 1 progress August 12, 2012

This cross stitching is rich in beads and sparkles. Everywhere you look on the pattern there is either a bead, treasure or Krienik! I don't mind though, just look how gorgeous it is going to be when finished!

Well this is just a quick update. I haven't forgotten about my Christmas Angel and Victorian Lady, I plan on taking those with me when I go to visit family at the end of the month. They are easier to keep track of and are more transportable than a Mirabilia.

Page 2 Completed!

Sorry been away for a little while, the heat sure has gotten to me and in turn made me super lazy and not wanting to move much hehe. However I managed to finish page 2 of my Victorian Christmas Lady. That makes 12 working days invested into working on her.

Victorian Christmas Lady

She is so beautiful and I can't wait to finish her! I compared her to my Christmas Angel (also by Joan Elliott) and the two of them really compliment each other. I am not sure the last time I updated on my Christmas Angel though so here she is:

Christmas Angel by Joan Elliott

The lighting of the two pieces isn't the greatest but in person the vibrant colors look amazing together. They are about the same size too so they can be framed similar if I want to do that.

Quick Update on Victorian Christmas Lady

I have invested a total of 9 days so far on working on her, not full days either so I can only imagine how far I would be if that were the case! I finished up her hair and did some back stitching tonight so her face didn't look as scary. The only areas left to do on this page is the tree and the boarder, which I am still unsure of if I want to keep it or not, so that will be a final decision once the other pages are done. Here she is so far on 32 count white linen:

Joan Elliott's "Victorian Christmas Lady" Update as of July 27, 2012

I placed an order today for the beads and missing Kreinik and hopefully should get that all within the next week or two. I also had some other patterns magically end up in my shopping cart as I was checking out! Oops ;) ...Those patterns are Mirabillia's Lily of the Woods and The Petal Fairy, and a John Clayton cross stitch kit "Charlotte", which will be for my nan if I ever find time to stitch it! I also have a couple patterns I am going to order from Joan Elliott for my mom and I....Oh dear!

Victorian Christmas Lady Update

Well the past couple days I have been puttering away at this pattern, little by little I am setting reasonable goals to finish for the day and tackling the one area. Yesterday I managed to get the presents done and today I got the arm and purple pillow completed and started working on the rest of her body.

Here is the work I got done yesterday:

Update July 17

And here is the progress I got done today:

Update July 18

Now I am off to bed! 5 in the morning, not too bad!

Joan Elliott's Victorian Christmas Lady

This lovely Victorian Christmas Lady pattern was given to me by a fellow stitcher from the cross stitch forums I belong to. She decided she wasn't going to get around to all the patterns in her stash and decided to give them to people who would enjoy stitching them instead!

"Victorian Christmas Lady: by Joan Elliott

I received her in the mail on Friday afternoon and raided my stash that night. I have spent a total of two and a half days on her and still haven't lost interest! I think she will be a nice sister piece to my Christmas Angel that I am oh so close to finishing!!

July 17 2012 Update

In order to keep the pattern in great condition I am working from photocopies and keeping the magazine portion in a plastic sleeve to reduce exposure to my hand oils so I can have the pattern for many years to come in case I want to stitch it again!

I will admit it, I am addicted to Joan Elliott's patterns. Including the two patterns mentioned above I also have all four element goddesses and Cinderella to do! Not to mention all the gorgeous flower fairies!

Emerald Mermaid is Framed!!

Ok Emerald Mermaid by Mirabillia has been framed for about a week now but I have been busy enjoying the nice weather and just relaxing!

We got her done locally at a small mom and pop shop and I have to say I am very impressed with their framing and I guarantee I will be going back to them once I finish another cross stitch! My mom and I decided to opt for no matte on this design because we wanted her to look as if she is floating. They ended up sending her to a friend of theirs down in Vancouver to lace the fabric because the technique they use would have shown the thread they used for the lacing without a matte. My mom and I are also very impressed with the frame we picked out. We think it compliments the design very well and makes her reddish hair pop out a bit more and just makes the whole piece come together as a whole.

My nan is going to be in complete shock when we give it to her later this summer. First she is not used to "her people" (my mom and I) finishing projects she wants done. And second of all I think the last piece we had framed was about 14 years ago! For the mean time though the mermaid is hanging in the dinning room so I can look at her every time I walk by and point at it telling my family over and over again that "I stitched that!"

And the Winner is....

I am feeling generous this week so the winner of the Madhatter Giveaway is....All four of you who commented! So Stitching Noni, Miamina, Katya5, and Gems e-mail me at ********** to claim your prizes!! Please only the people listed above contact me, I will host another giveaway in the near future so please check back!

*Edited my e-mail address now that all the prizes have been claimed. 

Little Drummer Boy

An opportunity and a new challenge presented itself to me yesterday afternoon. I offered to design a little drummer boy for a customer who was having difficulties finding a detailed cross stitch pattern. She said that she had looked everywhere and the only ones she came across were the quick 2 hour projects, and that just wasn't going to do! I was happy to design her a little drummer boy, not only for her but for others who are having difficulty finding something more advanced!

Here is the little cutie:

The Little Drummer Boy by Lasting Allure

He is designed using 20 colors of DMC and measures 45 stitches wide by 79 stitches tall. And surprisingly there is no sparkles in him! Which is unusual for my designs but I think he is going to look just as good stitched up and the sparkles would have over powered such a small design. There are a few quarter stitches in him but that was unavoidable due to the scale of the design and wanting to get his delicate tiny hands and nose perfect without them becoming blocky. Back stitching was also used to help create details such as the hair poking out from his head dress and the rope details on his belt.

Some of you may notice the the antique mauve and pine green combination are one of my favorites to work with! I wanted to give it more of an antiqued look and what better way to do that than using dusty colors?

Mad Hatter Give Away!

Yes that's right! I am going to host a little give away for my pattern the Mad Hatter! All you have to do is comment below and tell me what your favorite part of the pattern is. I will then select one comment at random and that person will receive the pattern as a PDF! You don't have to be a follower of my blog (recommended though if you want to keep up with updates) to participate.

So the pattern I am giving away is:

She measures 201 stitches tall and 160 stitches wide. Her purple vest and the trim of her dress sparkles with the beads and Krienik detailing.

So what's your favorite part of her? Leave a comment below to enter! I will pick one winner on July 5th 2012.

Happy stitching everyone!

New Collaboration and Update on Marie!

Sorry for such the delay in between posts! I meant to post last week but plans had changed abruptly and I ended up leaving a couple days sooner than planned to go house and dog sit for the week. Once I got to the house though I barely had access to the internet so instead of playing with the router all night and day I decided to be a bit more productive!

I am happy to announce an experimental collaboration with artist Janna Prosvirina. She works mainly in watercolor and focuses on fairies and fantasy art. You can find her artwork here. Her work is beautiful and I am glad she has agreed to work with me in creating gorgeous advanced cross stitch patterns! She herself used to cross stitch as well and has approved the layout of the patterns and is happy with the professional look I have come up with for the patterns. Here is a small taste of the designs I now offer. You can find four other designs plus the following ones for sale at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LastingAllure

Midnight Masquerade

Summer Moon

Fly With Me

 Along with the addition of these patterns I also managed to get a potion of Marie Antoinette done.

I just have a small section of the pink to complete and then I can move onto the blue of her skirt. I am really looking forward to getting the dress all complete and getting all the beads onto her! She is just going to be stunning.

I hope everyone is doing well! I am going to go look at everyone's blogs now to get caught up on everyone else's projects! Happy stitching everyone! :)

Shannon

Progress On Marie Antoinette Cross Stitch

First off I want to thank all of my new followers this past week (And all of those from previous months). I get super excited when I see other people have followed my blog! Really means a lot to me knowing others like the work I am doing.

Now last night I raided my stash and found all of my threads for Marie Antoinette. I also found some fabric in the color Platinum! I laid the colors on top of it and they seem to have popped off and complimented one another on it. The blue looks SUPER good on it and I can't wait to stitch that part. I spent the afternoon stitching and managed to get the bodice done tonight.

All those holes are beads hehe. I decided to stitch this one first because I felt the digital representation didn't do the design much justice with all of the beads in her and the sparkles. If this one turns out I plan on doing at least another two to have a little series of them. And once I have a couple patterns I might approach my local cross stitch store to see if they maybe would be interested in purchasing some to sell.

Mary Antoinette Cross stitch Pattern

Ok it isn't completely Mary Antoinette but I was inspired by the movie to use soft pastel colors and details in her dress.

This elegant lady is ready for the ball in her gorgeous beaded and metallic dress. There are beads on every part of her gown. Little flower detailing is made using beads and the steams are stitched using #4 very fine braid on her fitted top. White beads scatter along the full gown bottom like polk-a-dots and blue beads create another flower design on the pink part of the gown. Her hair also has beads making up the little jeweled parts that match her necklace.

I had fun designing this one. Took me a total of 20 hours to design it fully. I am going to stitch this one up I think so people can see what it would look like with all of the beads. I promise it will look extravagant and elegant and worth the struggle of applying all of the beads.

Mad Hatter and Cupcake Cross Stitch Patterns

I struggled with designing this Mad Hatter cross stitch pattern for a long time. I had the top section completed but struggled on making the pleats in the skirt and making it look realistic. Today I sat down and forced myself to finish and this is what I came up with:

She sits prettily with a dazed look on her face while sprinkling some sugar into her tea cup. I used beads for the sugar and she has a few more beads in her hair, her vest and the trim of her dress.  There is also details stitched with Krienik #4 very fine braid for the trims of her sleeve and her hat's ribbon and other areas.

And here is the finished cupcake cross stitch design I have done:

My favorite color combination was used here. Aqua and pink go together to make this romantic cross stitching of a cupcake and some chocolate bon-bons. A sprinkle of white beads are used for the sprinkles ontop of the blue icing. It is a very cute little cross stitching that I think would look amazing in my kitchen!

Small Motif Mood

Recently I have felt like working on smaller, quick projects. Its a nice feeling to get once you have stitched the last stitch in your project and you can sit and admire for a while. Here are my two latest stitches:

Pretty Pink Ballerina from my stash

There are 11 other designs to go with the ballerina so I am contemplating stitching two more and then using some of that pretty pink floral and paisley fabric to turn them into a little tote bag for a girl and her dancing gear.

Oriental Dragonflies by Joan Elliott

I was going to turn this one into a pincushion but silly me forgot to make sure I had enough of the fabric of the same shade of white to do a different smaller pattern on the other side. I was then going to make four small tassels and put them on all four corners. Now I think I am going to have to frame it with some fabric and make a small wall hanging with it.

Another Finish! Well Kind of!

I came across this cross stitch kit in the storage room yesterday. My nan had originally given it to me about 8 years ago since she was never going to get around to doing it. Well I plan on surprising her again with another finished cross stitching to hang in her house. The kit is called "Vintage Shoes" and it is a Bucilla cross stitch kit.

For those of you who don't know my nan or have never been in her house you would find that this cross stitching would fit right in with her style. She has cabinets full of gorgeous beaded purses and little shoes and so many other things that sparkle and glitter. It never ceases to amaze me every time I go to visit her, I am constantly noticing new things every time I go and look. I now realize where I get my obsession with sparkles and girly stuff from!

Anywho this is how far I have gotten:

The shoe is completely finished. It is done on 28 count off white I think and done 2x2. Took me just under a day to do it. It probably would have taken less time if I didn't have to go and hunt in my DMC stashes to make sure I sorted the threads into the right colors for the pattern. I eventually ditched about half of the threads in the kit because I couldn't be bothered anymore trying to figure out what was what and just used this handy tool: Floss Conversion Chart to help me figure out the right floss colors from my personal stash for my project.

I am thinking of stitching up these three shoes as individual pieces as well to either give one each to my aunties or just have three I can hang up in a room together. But we shall see if I lose interest in the idea once this one is completed.

New Christmas Cross Stitching Designs

I have been playing around on my cross stitch Pattern Maker tonight and I designed this new Noel pattern for Christmas. Since its Christmas in July soon I thought I should get a head start on my patterns. Here is a little preview of it:

"Noel" Designed by Alluring Cross Stitch Cost: $5

My inspiration for this design came from the story "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr.Seuss. Its a fun and whimsical stitch that would look wonderful in any room either framed, made into an ornament or placed into a card for that special someone. In it is Mill Hill Beads in red and green with Krienik #4 very fine braid in gold that adorn the present, wreath, ornament, heart and Christmas tree. The letters of Noel are back stitched in gold too, but if you feel that is too much you can always opt for using a gold colored thread. The stitch count is 106 stitches wide and 52 stitches high and it is full cross stitches, no fractional stitches.

Another one I have recently finished is this one:

"Tall Snowman" Designed by Alluring Cross Stitch Cost: $4

I have two more I am working on to go along with this snowman. I was actually thinking of making a back side that is cross stitched as well and you then sew the two sides together to make an ornament for the tree. Just an idea, would have to play around with it a bit more. This does not have any special threads or beads in it, however if you wanted to you could use black beads for the eyes and mouth. The design measures 28 stitches wide and 49 stitches high.

And one last one for this post:

"Quilted Snowman" By Alluring Cross Stitch Cost: $5

Another happy little snowman! He looks as if he has been hand-stitched together so he doesn't fall apart. He was my original snowman I first designed and still has to be my favorite. I stitched him up the day I designed him but I gave away that stitching to my grandma for Christmas last year. Only took one day of stitching to complete him. He measures 42 stitches wide and 56 stitches tall.

If you're interested in purchasing these patterns please refer to the "Alluring Cross Stitch" tab at the top of the page to find out how to do so.

Winter Fairy Update

I have been working on my Josephine Wall's Winter fairy cross stitching recently. I had lost my stitching bug there for a few weeks but finally forced myself to pick it up again and start working on her some more. I am almost 3/4 done the first page, then after there there is only one other full page left to do and the rest is partial pages! The wings are starting to show more and the photo does not do it justice for all the colors in this cross stitching.

I am going to work a little more on it tonight I think. Won't have much time to work on it the next few days with my birthday on Thursday and my brother and auntie are coming to visit on the weekend, which means a lot of late nights playing cards and being loud lol.

New Project Continued

I was playing around with the idea of making a Christmas Ornament so to be fit I used some Christmas colors, red, green, gold and a crystal colors were used. As with the other previous one I did I included some Swarovski crystals into the bead embroidery to add the extra sparkle.

I went on and did this snowflake. It measures 25 stitches by 25 stitches done on 32 count linen. I went with sparkle silver colored beads and paired it with light blue Swarovski crystal beads. I think it looks very delicate and pretty. Only took me about an hour and a half to do this one: I am most likely going to stitch up a few more of this one and turn them into ornaments for Christmas in July in my Etsy store. I will experiment using golds and different colors of beads to achieve different effects.

If you're interested in purchasing any of these projects as is to do your own project with please don't hesitate to contact me. I am open to reasonable offers.

New Project

I was cleaning the patio room (Which is technically my crafting and creating room but I prefer working in the media room with a TV) and I came across a Mill Hill book. I flipped through it and saw some wonderful patterns in it. People who have read my previous posts will know I love beading and cross stitching so this book allowed me to combine the two of my loves and create a new project.

So I picked out some of my own seed beads (non Mill Hills) and found some pretty Swarovski Crystals from my stash and a loosely followed a pattern from the book and this is what I came up with:

It took me roughly 3 hours to do it...I did it in between cooking dinner and watching those crime shows like Dateline and 48 Hours. I think it turned out rather lovely. Still don't know what to do with it though, perhaps maybe I will turn it into an ornament or maybe a little purse. Any ideas?

Bird House is DONE!

Yay! I finally finished my little birdhouse I have been working on for a while now. I went away for the weekend and found the lighting to be pretty poor for working on linen so I had to put my Christmas Angel aside and picked up the birdies that were done on Aida instead.

Home Tweet Home by Donna Vermillion Giampa (Finished 2012)

My mother had done the matching one in 2001 (Note the time differences lol)....

Next-Door Neighbors by Donna Vermillion Giampa (Finished 2001)

There was a third one but we decided not to stitch it. It didn't really go well with these two and had different colors in it. These ones seemed to have about the same colors and go well perfectly together. I love all the soft purples in them, almost look like watercolors from afar.

I think the plan is to find a local framer in town here and give them these two to see how well they frame. Then once we get an idea of who we can trust with my beloved Emerald Mermaid we will get her done as well. Speaking of Emerald Mermaid, we took her to my nan's to show her and she LOVED it. She almost fell off of her chair when she opened it. Completely in shock my mother and I finally finished one! Now she is off of my case about finishing off pieces I start but now wants us to do another two projects for her! I think I will never run out of stitching projects.

Stitchy Bug has Returned!

YAY! My stitchy bug has returned after going AWOL this past few weeks. I had to put down my HAEDs and pick up my Joan Elliott's Christmas Angel for me to start stitching again. Also helped that the Canucks have been sucking the past week and I have become bored while watching, Sunday night's game wasn't too bad but the two previous games were horrible...Anywho...The past two days I have worked some on my angel and I think I am growing more and more in love with her every day!

I was able to finish the bottom part of her dress and add the red band along a portion of the bottom, I then decided I wanted to work on a big chunk so I went to her wing. The wings are very sparkley in person. All the back stitching is done in #4 very fine braid and when my lamp shines onto the wing it just makes me want to add even more of the sparkles! Close up of wing:

I am going to Vancouver this Friday for a few days to visit family. I plan on taking her and working on her a bit while stitching with my mom and auntie. It seems kind of fitting since I started this project while visiting my nan two Christmases ago. Its kind of funny though how she is on my case about finishing a cross stitching project but little does she know her Emerald Mermaid she wanted me to do for her is all complete! I am so excited to give it to her on Friday night :D Its not framed yet so we are going to look for places down in Vancouver to do that or just bring it back here to get done.

I really have to resist my temptation for starting Joan Elliott's Cinderella though! My nan was able to find the magazine and has it waiting for me at her place. She also has a stash of linens and some DMC that's available for picking over....There is also Micheal's in a 10 minute drive radius of the house! Must control myself!! I will for sure pick up my colors but I have to lock them away!