WIPocalypse for June

I'm a little late getting this up but here it is . . . .  a little finish for WIPocalypse:

 

This sweet little thing is the final project offered by one of my favorite places on the internet, the Sticklounge yahoo group.  Sadly, at the end of this month it will be closed.  I have enjoyed this group tremendously.  A really BIG thank you to the moderators, 2 lovely ladies from Germany, for all their hard work and to the designers that provided so many wonderful projects.  Many thanks!!


I also had Iris (another great Sticklounge offering) framed and picked it up over the weekend.  I love it!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any work done on some of my older projects -- hopefully in July.  Have a good Thursday!

My first WIP for this year.

Unfortunately, I haven't stitched on any of the WIP's from last year thus far in 2013.  I'm hoping that will change in June because I miss working on them.  I did, however, finish  Iris in the month of May:

In the original pattern, there is an 'S' in the large empty area at the bottom.  I decided to leave  it out but I'm  not sure I like it as is.    Originally, I was going to put a little pulled thread stitch in that spot.  But now I think it needs some color there.  That empty spot draws my eye down to it too strongly.

I tried a large flower bead in the spot and I like it.  The colors are good, the size is good, the plastic bead catches a little light.  The problem is that the bead stands out a quite bit from the fabric ... but maybe that isn't much of a problem?  It really does look nice in this pic. 

Hmmmm, after seeing these pics, I'm leaning toward using the bead, especially since I just noticed that the five petals in the bead mimic the 2 five-petaled flowers at the top.  If I use it, I'll need to figure out a way to attach it with thread.  Invisible thread will probably work okay here.  It isn't my favorite thing but I hate using glue more.

 Enjoy what remains of your May.

My first IHSW of 2013

Well, I was finally able to participate in an IHSW.  The weather was gorgeous and I had a house guest on Saturday but other than that, I managed to get a few hours of stitching in.  I worked on the SAL Iris and actually had the presence of mind to take a before picture:

 and an after picture:

This piece is almost finished -- woohoo!

I was originally nervous about changing the colors on this project but at this point am happy with the results.  Happy Monday, everyone!

Lotsa little ornies

It appears that life is getting back to normal for me -- thank heavens.  I've been basically off line for that past couple months because of work and some health problems.  I always hoped that I didn't inherit my dad's cardiovascular system but now that I'm getting older, it appears that I did --- ratz!  So now I'm watching my salt intake, exercising and trying to lose some excess weight.  I wish I could figure out a way to stitch and exercise at the same time but so far I haven't come up with any good ideas.

And so there is little to show for the past 2 months stitching-wise.  Mostly I've worked on Christmas and Halloween ornaments:

I Believe in Santa by The Primitive Hare

Frosty flakes by Little House Needleworks

Scaredy Cat by Blue Ribbon Designs

Night Owl by Prairie Schooler

Haunted House by Handblessings

 And last but not least, I worked a little on my Sticklounge SAL:

Iris by Nolda von Hezewijk

It really isn't much to show for 2 months but all lined up like this, it doesn't look so bad after all  ;-)

What's new for 2013

I started a new project for the new year.  It's called Iris by designer Nolda von Hezewijk.  It's one of three patterns based on the work of Albert Smit.  Adriana was also based on the work of this gentleman.

You will notice after checking the link that I decided to change the colors a bit.  The bright blue is too much for my taste and instead of the gold thread, I'm using a DMC thread with blending filament over it (still lots of sparkle).  The fabric is 32 count cream Irish Linen and I'm stitching over 2 threads.  I'm lovin' the warm, caramel look of the browns.  Sooo yummy!

Another new thing is that I signed up for two ornament SALs in 2013.  One is for Halloween and the other is for Christmas.   I decided to try this because I find that I end up stitching lots of nice ornies for Christmas and never keep any for myself.  And so the plan is for me to end up with a few Christmas ornaments.  I have more Halloween ornies but decided to join it also.  Mainly because I really like stitching spooky stuff.

My Halloween ornament in January is a  Mill Hill kit called Bountiful Kitties.  I've had this one going for at least 3 years and would really like to finish it.  It's totally adorable -- which is why I bought it in the first place.  And for my Christmas ornament, I'm determined to finish one started back in January 2011 for the 2011 Crazy Challenge:

The kitty is actually finished (this is not a current pic) and all that needs added are the words and either french knots or beads to the tree.  How sad is that?

The final new news for the year is that last weekend, the dogs and I were in Edinboro for an AKC agility trial.  Meadow, my young female beagle, finished her 2 Novice titles.  These are her first AKC titles -- I'm very proud of her.  She's such a good beag!  And Willow, my oldest female beagle, got her second Open leg in standard and had a super JWW run.  She already has this title so the run was just for fun.  She's a super beag!

And here they are . . . .  my pups:

And if you made it this far  --  a happy Tuesday to you!