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

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!

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!!

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!

Christmas Elegance Day #6

After almost a week of stitching I have come this far:

It is stitching up fairly quickly and I am happy to say I am nearing the half way point on this. Every day of stitching this I am falling in love with it more and more. I really can't wait to start putting the beads onto it, it is going to sparkle so much!

Christmas Project 2013 Day #2

This time around I have decided to keep track of exactly how many days it will take me to stitch this piece, unless of course I get distracted again which is a huge possibility after the latest Mirabilia release "Ella, Princess and the Frog" yesterday. It is already in my shopping cart but thankfully it will take a week or two to get here so plenty of time to finish this up.

Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia Day #2

I was actually pretty pleased with the colours. Originally I thought the dress would be more of a blue green but it has turned out to be more emerald in colour which I am loving even more! The colours seem more blended than in the model photo but I guess that's what happens when 20 years have passed since it was released and dye lots have changed. I am going to change majority of the beads to be petites, I prefer working with petites, and may add a few crystals in some areas. We shall see!

Christmas Project 2013

Every year I try to pick one new Christmas cross stitching project. This doesn't necessarily mean I will finish it for that year (or ever) but I like the feeling I get working on the project leading up to my favorite time of the year.

This year's project is Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia. Instead of using the suggested blue fabric I opted to go for an opalescent purple fabric. I picked purple because I find when it snows in the evening right before nightfall there is a purple ambiance all around. It is truly a beautiful sight of the serine purple and fresh falling snow.

Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia Floss Toss

 The fabric is 32 count Zweigart Lugana in the colour Dragon's Desire. In some lighting it looks like a pastel purple and in other lighting it looks like a greyish purple.

Here is my progress so far after one day:

Day 1 progress on Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia

 I am loving this project. Nora Corbett has some amazing patterns out there and I hope to get around to stitching all of the ones I love sometime in my life time.

Computer Mishaps!

My lack of posting can be blamed on my horrible luck with computers as of late. The past month I have had the joy of buying 3 new computers (2 of which I was able to return for full refund)...I have to tell you though the novelty of a new computer doesn't last too long when you're constantly having to adjust all of the settings to your preference!

During the computer problem crisis though I have managed to finish off a few projects! As some of you may remember I was working on Mermaids of the Deep Blue for a while and ended up stalling on the progress once it came down to beading time, which is odd since I LOVE beading and sparkles. I was able to finish it last week and I am in love with it!

I added a few extra treasures and crystals from my stash. I also changed a few of the bead colors (they needed some "pearls" in their hair!) This is the first Mira I have done for me :)

My mom did the stitching on Nora Corbett's letter P, I came to the rescue and did the back stitching and beading. I made a few alterations on this one too, nothing drastic...just more beads.

This one is Nora Corbett's Letter M without the M and wings and done in a Christmas conversion. I am contemplating stitching something around her since I am going to frame her with fabric. She will sit for a while as I make that decision.

And this Donkey ornament...is something I would have never stitched for myself lol. This is for a friend of mine who is expecting her first baby and who loves animals (wants a donkey right now) and requested an animal birth sampler from me once she has the baby. We go back a LONG time, pretty much grew up together and it is funny how distance makes the friendship grow stronger and you find out who your true friends really are.

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! 

HAED Kick Once Again

With all of this spare time again I don't know what to fully do with myself yet! I did start cross stitching another pattern a few days ago. It is Ivy by Nora:

 

I have done a bit more on her but alas, she got pushed to the side when I was inspired to work on a Heaven and Earth Design once again! I ended up pulling out my Cinderella by Ruth Sanderson again and have managed a few stitches into her!

She sure is going to be pretty when done. I am already dreaming about the frame she will go in!

Experimenting with Bead Embroidery

The end of 2012 I was working on the Bluebell Pixie by Nora Corbett. Naturally I got distracted when I was oh so close to finishing her off, and started stitching her Petal Fairy instead. But after 3 days of cross stitching I realized I needed to change it up a bit and decided to try my go at beading again.

Bluebell by Nora Corbett

For those of you who don't know I kind of went through a phase where I didn't see the point of putting all this effort into making beautiful things only to be swallowed by all of the resellers found on Etsy (Etsy is for Handmade or Vintage...a reseller is someone who buys mass produced items and then sells them off as handmade for easy money.) I pushed by beads to the side and indulged in my OCD and cross stitch and managed to finish a few projects. 2012 was the year I finally finished my first cross stitch pattern and got it framed. It then got me obsessing over other projects and managed to finish a total of 6 along with numerous other starts.

Anyways, after deciding to bead again I ended up frustrating myself with my bad habit of looking for something and tearing everything apart looking for it only when to find what I was looking for to say to myself "Oh I will clean this up later" and then eventually just shoving it all into a photo box or bin. So I started sorting. All the findings in one bin, seed beads in another, crystals in another, special beads....well you get the point. Once everything was inventoried in my head I came across an article my nan had cut out of a newspaper for me to read, it was bead embroidery, which I have been meaning to try.

This is as far as I have gotten so far:

 Notice a theme in color? I swear that was unintentional lol! The center portion is lace agate, so are the two beads on either side that have a criss-cross over top. Swarovski crystals are also used along with glass beads. I am designing as I go so it will be a one of a kind piece. I am thinking of adding a rectangular lace agate above the white long beads (picture below) and doing a peyote stitch around it like I did with the center bead, then adding another Swarovski crystal above that creating a dramatic tear drop shape.

I don't know what I should name this piece when it is done. Any ideas? What does it remind you of?

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.

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.