Still Growing ...

I haven't been able to touch anything else since I started this piece. Now I have to put it down :( because I've run out of silk. Hopefully I can pick up some more later this week.

I think it's looking just gorgeous though.

A few more curly-ques on the far right branch, 6 leaves, the main trunk of the tree and the wind and I'll be done. Not that much more to go to be honest. :)

It's Growing!!

I haven't been able to put this piece down! It's a simple stitch and I'm finding it very relaxing. (Besides, all I'm doing in my other projects is backstitching at the moment ~ bleck!)

You can see some of the subtle variation in the threads in this picture. I can't wait till it's all done! I'm curious to see how the wind turns out at the bottom.

Albero Delle Fiabe by AAN (It's a tree)

Years ago my brother somehow acquired an old piece of embroidery that my grandmother stitched and hung it with pride in his house. He sweetly refers to it as a family heirloom. I decided that a new stitched piece would make a great Christmas gift ~ a "new" family heirloom.

I choose to stitch Albero Delle Fiabe by Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks.

While I don't love the monochromatic model, I do love the shape and flow of the tree. When I give it to my brother I'm going to call it a Family Tree Heirloom. I think he might get a kick out of that.

I'm stitching it on 18ct ivory Davosa evenweave and it's stitched with hand-dyed silk. I've never worked with silk before, but I am LOVING it. So soft, so supple and the delicate variation in colour is awesome. I've customized the colour scheme and given the piece a more natural look:

So far it's been a fun and easy stitch. I'm so excited about finishing this and seeing my brother's reaction. Actually, I like this design so much I might just have to stitch it again for me. :)

A Homemade Framing Finish

At long last I managed to frame the Lizzie*Kate - Welcome Baby that I stitched for a friend of mine ~ and I did it all on my own!!

I think it looks great, and I'm pretty darn proud of it considering how un-crafty and un-talented I am with projects like this.

I left the glass out, but I added some cotton batting behind it to make it soft and cushiony. I give it to her tomorrow ... I hope she likes it!!

End of Summer Updates

After a break from stitching because of my injury (I burnt my hand while on vacation), I hopped back on the stitching bandwagon for the last week of my vacation. School starts tomorrow (officially), so my stitching time will drop dramatically from now on. Thankfully I did manage to get quite a bit done this week.

The background on my butterfly forest has grown significantly, and I plan to do some backstitching on the big butterfly next time I get a chance to sit down and work on it.

My pixie has all the flowers and vines on her dress finished with just the backstitch left to do. (Well, she needs beads too, but that'll wait till the rest of her is done.) Once the backstitch is done, I'll give her a top half.

Tried Something New!

Call me crazy, but I decided to expand my creative/artsy/crafty repertoire by trying my hand at card-making. Of course, I did it with cross stitch! I think it turned out quite well, might have to do this again someday.

A New Baby & A Finish !

Okay, so it's not a new baby for me, but my friend did have hers. A beautiful little girl named Kayleigh, and so I finished up the little Lizzie*Kate baby announcement I was working on. The stitching is all done, now I just have to frame it for her.

The fabric is actually a softer, prettier green in person, but the lighting in my apartment at night isn't the best for taking pictures.

Birthday Stash!!

An impromptu weekend away to visit friends for my birthday resulted in (as usual) a trip to the LNS. And of course, I could not resist adding to my stash!

I picked up a big piece (24 x 32) of white 22ct hardanger for a HAED project I want to start once the butterfly project is done, a large piece (24 x 20) of black 22ct hardanger for a fractal project, a smaller piece (15 x 15) of ivory 18 ct evenweave for an Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks' design that I want to do for my brother for Christmas and the 3 hand-dyed silks for that project, plus I picked up two Mill Hill Beads Christmas ornaments (super cute and I'm itching to start them). I also splurged and bought a pair of beautiful Stork scissors and a magnetic needlekeeper. (They match!)

No more stash buying trips for a while ... really, I promise!!

Butterfly Update 8

Another butterfly update - though not as much progress as I'd hoped. I got distracted with finishing my angel and working on my pixie, so the butterflies kind of took a back seat during the cottage stitch-a-thon. Still, more background did get done.

Jasmine Pixie Update 2

The cottage also meant I had time to work on my pixie a little bit. She has legs now!! I don't know exactly what it is about this piece, but I just adore working on her. I get immense satisfaction from seeing this piece grow. Although progress will slow a lot now because I'm doing a lot of confetti stitching in the flowers falling from her dress.