First Finish of 2013...Kind of!

Feels so good to have put the last stitch into Ivy by Nora Corbett this evening! She is done and ready to be washed for beading.

Bluebell is near completion as well, she finally has another leg! I think all that is left to do on her is back stitching and I am hoping to get that done tomorrow so I can wash them at the same time. While they dry Mermaids of the Deep Blue will be pulled out and the beading will be worked on some more!

Before picking up Ivy my Winter Maiden by Joan Elliott got a page done! Just the snow at the bottom of her feet needs to be done. I keep putting her off knowing I have to do her hands 1 over 1 as well. I love the effect, it is just so time consuming! 

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!

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!

Update time!

Wow sure has been a while since I last posted. I have been super busy with moving to a new town and getting organized and back into the swing of things! Moving isn't easy and doesn't allow a lot of down time or creative time. Over the past month or so I have been able to get a few things done though and I wanted to share how much I have done.

This is the progress I have gotten on my Christmas Angel by Joan Elliot:

She is coming along nicely. I spent a total of 4 days stitching the update in between organizing everything for the move and I think a couple more days of stitching she should be done! It is a pretty fast stitch if you are able to dedicate a couple days to it. I am just excited to start adding the beads! :D My goal is to finish her by late October...but we shall see how that comes along..I may get distracted once again!

Because of all the reds and greens in her I got a little bored. I kept messing up in areas so I had to put her away for a little while. I then decided to pick up my first ever project on linen that I started about 4 or so years ago. It is the Flower Faerie by Barbara Baatz. My mom has been on my case about completing her since it was one of those projects I HAD to start right away. So after unpacking I had found my mom bought all the missing threads so I didn't have an excuse to not finish her. This was how far I had gotten before I stopped for 3 years:

And after 2 days I was able to complete this much:

I have done a bit more since I took this picture, but not enough to post an update of it just yet. I love all the colours in her and she is going to look so beautiful when she is done.

I have a craft fair coming up at the end of November so I have also been working on new products to be sold there. I have been doing a lot of bead weaving lately and would like to share my newest additions to my collection.

They are very blingy. I love how from afar they look as if they are high-end gem encrusted gold but when you look closer they are just made of beads! They are perfect for the party season that is approaching. If you are interested in purchasing them you can see if they are still available at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LastingAllure


And one last thing I have been working on are my own cross stitch patterns from my paintings/drawings. I hope to have a pattern up for sale in the next month or so so please check back to see if my current project is up! I promise you it is very pretty and will have beads and sparkles!

For now though I must go do some chores so I can get back to being creative! Happy weekend everyone.

Update of Christmas Angel

Well I guess I don't need sleep when it comes to cross stitching. I have been up all night working on this and think I am going to power through a little bit more after my dinner (KD ahh...the cuisine of a university student). Here is the newest picture:

 I also just bought a cross stitch pattern maker to design my own patterns which I also plan on posting here and most likely will sell the patterns that work out on my Etsy store along side my jewellery. Keep checking back for more updates on how the designing is coming along for that one...Anywho back to cross stitching!