2014 HAED Goals Met!

My 2014 goals for Heaven and Earth Designs were met this year. My full year goal was to finish 2 full pages and 1 partial page. I had almost met this by June so I decided to go ahead and aim for a finish of the column to have her 75% done. Well I have managed to do a bit more on her and now only have 3 pages left to complete!!!

Ruth Sanderson's Artwork Cinderella, pattern by Heaven and Earth Designs.

She is so close to being done that I can feel it! Too bad I have a lot more work to do this month that she won't be picked up again until later in January.

Sweet Treats for Christmas

If some of you didn't know, Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love all of the pretty lights and sparkling ornaments decorating the streets, houses and malls. The smell of fresh baking always brings a warm and fuzzy feeling too at this time of the year because we have a few go to recipes that are made only at Christmas time, so it even tastes like Christmas!

The Christmas season is just around the corner and with that I have TWO patterns coming out in The World of Cross Stitching issue 223 on sale November 6, 2014. Both are cookie related and yet couldn't be any different from one another.

© The World of Cross Stitching magazine (issue 223), Immediate Media Co Bristol, www.cross-stitching.com

© The World of Cross Stitching magazine (issue 223), Immediate Media Co Bristol, www.cross-stitching.com

Speaking of Christmas cookie cross stitch patterns don't forget to join in on the Gingerbread House SAL fun on my Facebook group! ( Shannon Wasilieff Facebook Group ) There are many beautiful projects being stitched up! The last stage will be released around November 15th and will remain up and free until December 26, 2014.

© Shannon Wasilieff 2014 Gingerbread House SAL

Sneak Peek!

Hey all!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been working on some commissions and even stitching them so obviously I can't show you them until they are published. The Cookie Sampler which I showed you guys a few months back will finally be in issue 223 of The World of Cross Stitching on sale November 6, 2014!

Since I can't show you my commissions I will let you in on my latest project. Currently I am designing and stitching a bunch of cross stitch designs to combine together to create a book. Once all of the models are stitched and finished off I will put my photography knowledge to work with a good camera and good lighting. When done, I will approach a few publishing houses with it or self publish it myself as an e-book and hard cover. Here is a little sneak peek at one of the many designs:

The colours are inspired by a vintage Christmas card I saw and I have to tell you it is stunning in person! I think I might have found a new colour pallet to work with in the future.

Christmas Elegance Upate

It has been a hectic few days. I have been busy house and dog sitting and yesterday I got surgery done on my neck to remove a swollen lymph node that has been there for well over a year - I am doing fine though! Came to pretty quickly afterwards and now just dealing with a little pain but nothing unbearable.

I have been working on my Christmas Elegance by Mirabillia the past few weeks. She is getting so close to being done I am excited! Maybe this will be the year she is done for Christmas.

Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia

I won't be doing all of the beading in the sky since the flecks of sparkle in the opalescent fabric already looks like falling snow. I have changed out the beads to be petites to they fit better in their spots and won't crowd too much. All of the skin will be done over 1.

I have a feeling I will be fighting some people off to keep her on my walls. I already know of a few people with an eye on her! She will probably hang next to my Joan Elliott Christmas Lady....they look as if they are going to the same party :D

SAL Stage 2

Forgot to mention but the second part of the SAL has been released on my designer Facebook group! ( here ) This is the first house out of 4 and looks yummy enough to eat! Check it out if you haven't yet :)

Copyrighted by Shannon Wasilieff, for personal use only

Upcoming Pattern

I am really excited to finally show you guys my favorite pattern so far that I have designed! The World of Cross Stitching issue 221 (on sale September 11, 2014) has a bunch of Christmas related stitching and my Cookie Sampler is part of the designs for the month.

The World of Cross Stitching issue 221 on sale September 11, 2014

The red can easily be changed to a colour that goes with your decorating schemes and beads or regular stitching can replace the French knots used in the pattern. Also you can change the middle motif to say something like "Wasilieff's Kitchen" or make it into a frame for a picture of you baking with your kids or grandchildren. Could also stitch it as a cover for your Christmas recipes book.

Fairytale Giftset

I am excited to show you all my latest patterns that are out. The World of Cross Stitching issue 220 has my generic Fairytale Gift set in it, which includes a gift tag (magic wand), birthday card (castle), ornament (carriage) and main pattern (princess dress).

World of Cross Stitching issue 220 on sale August 14, 2014

These could be stitched up for just about anyone! I know a few people (children and adults) that would adore these as gifts. There are beads and krienik in them to add that extra sparkle and enchantment.

Free Christmas SAL 2014

Hello everyone! This year I have decided to do a free Christmas stitch along (with a little help from a friend) on my Facebook page. It has 5 parts in total and measures 100w by 100h. The content is gingerbread houses, so if you love my Victorian style ones from last year you are going to love this stitch along! This is what the frame looks like:

(c) Shnnon Wasilieff 2014 Free Christmas SAL

In order to join all you have to do is like my page on Facebook and join in on the fun. To join follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1443923709209364/ or type in the search Shannon Wasilieff Designs and you should be able to find it. It is a closed group so you will have to be approved beforehand but it shouldn't take long to be approved :)

Hope to see lots of you there!! :D

Cinderella Cross Stitch

Well my Cinderella cross stitch is almost 75% done! She is coming along very quickly it seems. Already thinking of my other Heaven and Earth Designs that I want to eventually get done.

So much love for this project!! I am not tired of it at all surprisingly. Just going to keep puttering along on her until she is DONE.

Modern London England Cross Stitch Pattern

Hi all! I have finally found some time to sit and design a pattern I have been wanting to do for a while now. I have this fascination with England and I am dying to go to London eventually for an extended visit to explore and take in the culture. I would love to be able to see the country side as well and stay in some bed and breakfasts and scout out some castle ruins.

Shannon Wasilieff's Modern London Cross Stitch Pattern

The stitch count is 110w by 40h and contains 9 DMC colours in full stitches with no back stitching or quarter stitches. It is a take on the modern style that seems to be popular right now but with shading so I guess you could say it is "semi modern". So you have the London Eye, a Double Decker Bus, London Bridge and some other London things. I am pretty tempted to stitch this one up and make it into a pillow so I can remind myself of where I want to be in a few years time.

Afternoon Tea Set

It has felt like forever since my Spring Time Street Scene was published back in issue 215. I am back this month with an Afternoon Tea Set in The World of Cross Stitching 218, plus a few of my patterns are published in the freebie booklet that comes with the magazine.

Now there is a mistake in how my teacups were charted. Things like this happens from time to time. All of the white stitching was somehow replaced with a dark purple. They are supposed to look like this:

Shannon Wasilieff's Afternoon Tea Card and Tag set (WOXS 218)

But they now look like this in the magazine:

The World of Cross Stitching issue 218

The World of Cross Stitching issue 218

The World of Cross Stitching issue 218

The World of Cross Stitching issue 218

My other publication is in the freebie booklet. I think there is 6 in total of my vintage floral patterns. I only have one photo of it at the moment:

The World of Cross Stitching Freebie booklet issue 218

Mine are the 2 in the lower right hand corner. I loved designing both the tea set and vintage flowers. They were both so much fun to do.

Pixies Officially Done

My Nora Corbett Pixies, Bluebell and Ivy, are both officially done. I posted many months ago the stitching was done and this weekend I pulled them out to finish off the beading. I just have to say they are gorgeous!!

Bluebell by Nora Corbett

Bluebell by Nora Corbett close up

Ivy by Nora Corbett

Ivy by Nora Corbett close up

I didn't change too much with the patterns that I can remember. I did add a Swarovski crystal to Ivy's dress though to add a little extra bling. Other than that they are both stitched on white 32 count linen and were both a joy to stitch!

Business Trip

Well technically it wasn't a full on business trip, but I went to the island for my sister's graduation from university. For those of you not familiar with the area, the island refers to Vancouver Island, which is a really gorgeous place.

Before (and after) the grad my mom and I found some time to run into a brick and mortar cross stitch store!! Turns out the store was right next door to the hotel we were staying in! For those of you whom are curious what store that was it was The Stitcher's Muse in Nanaimo B.C. ( http://thestitchersmuse.com/shop/en/ ) We did walk away with a few things in there and I could have spent hours in there but we were rushed due to a tight time table. I will for sure be going back next time we are on the island!

Just Nan Patterns "High Hopes" "Bluebird Alphabet" and "Christmas Cheer"

Teacups Cross Stitch Patterns

So I am pretty excited. The World of Cross Stitching's issue 217 has a preview of my teacups and tea bag gift tag cross stitch patterns that will be published in issue 218! The release date for The World of Cross Stitching is June 19, 2014 in England.

The World of Cross Stitching 217 preview for issue 218

It is still pretty surreal seeing my patterns being published. I get excited seeing them in print and can't wait to see more in the future!

Christmas Elegance Progress

I've been craving to cross stitch a Mirabilia the past few weeks and was unable to get my hands on one of my projects while I was house sitting so I took the chance to work on Christmas Elegance this May Long weekend (also known as my birthday weekend!)

Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia

 That is about the half way point on her now. She should be done by Christmas 2014 if I don't get distracted by other projects.

I also made a promise to myself that I wouldn't buy any more Mirabilia patterns until I finish 3 of them. Yeah that Mira ban lasted less than 24 hours haha. I ended up getting a Visa gift card in my birthday card from my parents which promptly took me to my favorite online cross stitch store and I purchased my beads for Christmas Elegance. But the shipping was going to be $10 so I figured since I was already paying for the shipping I might as well throw in some patterns.....right?

So I ended up buying Enchanted Mermaid and Mermaid of Atlantis.

Enchanted Mermaid by Mirabilia

Mermaid of Atlantis by Misabilia

 I am looking forward to starting these pretties. So gorgeous and so full of beads! Maybe I have to finish 3 patterns before I start either of them? Yeah we will see how long that lasts ;)

Until next time have fun stitching!!

Hoppy Easter

Just stopping by for a quick hi and to wish you all a Hoppy Easter. The bunny isn't visiting me this year but I did end up making chocolate chip cookies for my get together tonight with my brother and his fiance. Going to play some Mario on the Wii...or should I say they are going to play some Mario on the Wii while I keep "bubbling" so I don't die or get in the way in the game lol.

I have been working on Cinderella while I have been busy house sitting. In the past 2 months I have been home for maybe 2 weeks. Other than that I have been shuttling between houses to look after critters, so I have kept it simple with one project that's on Aida and I won't finish any time soon.

HAED Cinderella by Ruth Sanderson (retired)

400 stitches shy of finishing that half of the cropped pattern. I was able to go replenish my threads a few weeks ago so I have plenty of 152 and 223 now to go back to working on her gown. I think Cinderella is going to need a very fancy and ornate frame when she is done, something you see old oil paintings in I think that will make a statement.

World of Cross Stitching 215

Another Cross Stitching publication for March 2014! I am extremely happy with this one, and I never would have thought my picture would have been on the front cover! I had to do a double take when I saw it, kind of like "Oh hey she looks familiar, oh wait, that's me!!" (and my pattern is in the top right corner). Technically this makes me a cover girl...am I right? ;)

World of Cross Stitch 215

The magazine has my Spring Time Street Scene in it as well as a profile on me.

WOXS 215 Spring Time Street Scene by Shannon Wasilieff

Ruth is amazing to work with and I am so thankful she has seen potential in me to work with! More designs will be coming in the future months, but that's all I can say for now.

Shannon Wasslieff

On Friday I was finally published, too bad my last name was spelt wrong with an s in place of an i...Oh well, my family and I had a good laugh about it. It was so close but to be fair it is a hard name to spell. We have lost count over the years with the creative spellings of the name! I am just happy to finally say I am a published designer :)

Cross Stitch Collection issue 234

Isn't it beautiful? I love the fabric they decided to stitch it on. It really makes the colours pop! There are a lot of beads, hence the name, but those beads add a lot of extra detail to the piece that makes it special.

Cross Stitch Collection issue 234

Easter Egg Cross Stitching Project

Easter and spring are my favorite time of year, not just because the snow is melting but because of all of the pretty colours...and it is my birthday season! Nothing says spring time more than the pretty pastel colours. Dyeing eggs has got to be my favorite activity to do when we approach Easter and with that in mind I designed this Easter Egg Cross Stitch Pattern.

2014 Easter Egg by Shannon Wasilieff

I had some hand dyed fabric I had dyed last year but then decided it was too bright and busy for any patterns I had in mind. So there it sat in the fabric bin to be forgotten about until I designed this pattern. Originally it was going to be done on white with pretty colours but I figured I was over thinking it and went with an overall white on a coloured fabric. I also thought the same pattern could be stitched with a hand dyed floss on a white fabric to give it a different look.

I am going to design some others similar to this eventually so I can have a basket of eggs to put out come spring time.

Exciting News!!

I have some really exciting news with what I have been busy doing the past few months. This March I am being published in two cross stitch magazines! The first one is Cross Stitch Collection April 2014 (issue 234). This issue has my cake stand wedding sampler in. It also includes a matching gift tag and alphabet. The preview is in the bottom left hand corner of the cover. This magazine is for sale this coming Friday!

Cross Stitch Collection Issue 234 April 2014

And the next pattern is in The World of Cross Stitching! My Spring Time Street Scene is being published in issue 215 out in stores on March 27. This pattern is a companion piece to my Gingerbread House Street Scene as it has the same dimensions and house idea.

World of Cross Stitching Issue 215 March 27

So I am VERY excited to finally be published. It has been a while and now I can finally start showing and telling people the exciting news. I hope those of you who stitch my pieces enjoy them and please share your work with me if you end up stitching them, I love to see work in progress pictures and any changes you may make to them to make them your own!

HAED Cinderella Page 7 Done!

Hi all! Last week and a half I have been house sitting and unfortunately the lighting isn't the greatest for working on linen so I have had to put Arezzo off to the side for the time being. However....I have managed to work on Cinderella, artwork by Ruth Sanderson, and got another page done on her!

That is a total of 7 pages, only 9 more to go and 6 of those pages are partials, so maybe just maybe I will be able to finish it this year! It is amazing to look back and see how far I have come in the past year since picking it up again last March. It will be exciting to finally finish it and have it framed so I can gawk at it all day. I just LOVE it. Already deciding what my next project will be....

Stay tuned! In the next month I have some exciting news I can finally share! It has been keeping me very busy and I can't wait to blab....

Nora Corbett's Arezzo

Nora Corbett's Arezzo finally came today...all the way from Italy! I received it this morning and already had the fabric finished and the working copy photocopied by noon.

Arezzo 2014 by Nora Corbett

If you were wondering this chart was exclusively done for Casa Cenina as a freebie for their Festa del Ricamo which Nora was a guest at. Right now Casa Cenina is offering the chart for free but you have to buy the "kit" to get it at this time. In the near future just the chart should be available for the cost of postage. It is a limited time chart so I just HAD to have it, she is just so pretty. The pattern is a handwritten chart too, so it is kind of a doozy to look at, but I am sure after a few hours of stitching it should be fine!

HAED Cinderella Update

Since January I have been able to get some stitching done on my Heaven and Earth Design Cinderella by Ruth Sanderson. She has a face!! It is so pretty.

HAED Cinderella by Ruth Sanderson

Not only does she have a face, but she also has a torso and pretty pink bows and a few more birds. I am enjoying this stitch so much and it truly is unfortunate this is a retired chart because it is so beautiful.

My goal is to finish 2 full pages and 1 partial for this year. So far I have almost half a full page done.  It would be wonderful to finish it this year but that doesn't seem feasible due to other responsibilities and patterns I want to work on. I am still averaging about 400 stitches a day on the days I work on her, but I have been working on other projects that I cannot share on here for a few months. Keep checking back to see what they are! 

2014 New Cross Stitch Start

Welcome 2014! During the holiday season I barely picked up a cross stitch project to work on, I was far too busy with family. I then ended up going to visit friends in the next town over for New Years and ended up going to The Band Perry concert (amazing might I add! Had awesome seats as well)

The Band Perry, We Are Pioneers World Tour 2014

As soon as I arrived home I picked up a project I was itching to start. My New Years Cross Stitch Start was Mirabila's "Ella, The Frog Princess". For Christmas I got 4 Mira patterns, and Ella was one of them along with all of the supplies to work on her.

Ella, Shakespeare Fairies, Adia, Buttercup

This is my progress after two days:

Mirabilia's Ella, The Frog Princess

I hope you all had amazing holidays, and that you were spoiled with love and cross stitch supplies. I look forward to seeing everyone's new projects for 2014.