FINISHED Finishes and a Few WIP Pics.

Hello All!

I feel like I've been stitching up a storm!  I have THREE active WIPs!  I blame my friends Kenny and Andrea.  I also got two pieces back from the finisher!  Yay!

Here is Buttercup AKA Enchanted Mermaid back from Jill Rensel.  LOVE how she came out and I have her hanging in a spot so I can see her from my stitchy spot.  Thank you again to all of my friends who contributed!

And here is Elphaba AKA Ana back from my finisher.  She is finished into a stand alone cube and I love her!  You can email me at the profile email if you'd like the name and email of my finisher, Diana.

And onto the WIPs!  I couldn't very well stitch Elphaba the Wicked and not stitch Glenda the Good.  So here's my modest start on her.  Karen helped me again with the crown and I'll post the chart and color conversion when she's finished.

This is Sunflower Fairy from the September 2009 issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework.  She's so cute and tiny!

This is the most recent pic I've taken of Mermaid Undine but I'm quite a bit further.  She could be done in a week or two if I wasn't distracted by Glenda and Sunflower Fairy.

Well, that's it for now!  TTFN!

The "F" Word!

That's right!  I have a Finish!  She's FINALLY Done!   I Started Buttercup on November 15, 2012 and Finished her March 24, 2014.  So after One Year, Five Months, and Nine Days, here's Enchanted Mermaid, aka Buttercup.

She is stitched on a lighter variation of Moonlit Waters by Under the Sea Fabrics with a variety of silks, delicas and Swarovski crystals.  I came up with the conversion myself with a lot of trial and error and frogging and restitching.  The conversion is available in a tab at the top of the blog.

And now for some action shots:

First, a close up of her face and skin.  I found stitching the over one skin incredibly tedious but every cursed stitch was worth it.  I love how multi-dimensional she is.  I found an ADORABLE tiny Tanzanite briolette teardrop to use for her earring.  I'll try to remember to take a close-up next time I take some pics of her.  I used wisper in her stole instead of dmc and I'm still trying to get it to fluff up the way I want it to.

And here is a close-up of all of the beads on her tail.  She has a BUNCH!

This is a close shot of the beaded chains around her waist.  I wanted to add more dimension so I made the chains instead of stitching them in as the pattern called for.

This mermaid has a lot of memories stitched into it.  I worked on her during my husband's deployment, while I was starting my business, and during a move.  She is very special to me and I can't wait to get her off to the LNS for framing.  We already have mats and frames picked out so now it's just dropping her off.

TTFN!
Leslie

It's a New Year!

And of course I have a new start!

I've decided to stitch Quaker Gone Tropic in all beads.  I LOVE beading and it's going pretty fast.  Here is my first progress pic:

This is actually the amount of beading you can do with one skein of DMC.  Thank goodness my friend Tracie was able to procure 2 dozen more skeins.  The fabric is Fairy Flight Opal Cashel by Under the Sea Fabrics.

And here is Buttercup:

The Husband challenged me to finish her by the end of the year but I didn't make it.  Her skin is taking forever!  She's stitched on Moonlit Opal Belfast by Under the Sea Fabrics.

Here's my final Mary's Samplers:

 I chose not to stitch the border because I thought it was getting a little busy.  They're stitched on Witching Hour New Castle by Under the Sea Fabrics.

This is a cute little ornie I finished over the Thanksgiving weekend.  I've sent it to a friend for finishing.

It is stitched on a scrap of Ice Princess Opal Belfast by Under the Sea Fabrics.

TTFN!!!

Stitching at the Beach!

Hello All!  It's been a few weeks since I posted but I have a TON of fun stuff to share!  Sorry if it seems like this post goes on forever! :)

First, I went to the Cross Stitch Pals Stitching at the Beach put on by the lovely Amy of Down Sunshine Lane.  Admittedly, I didn't take any pics of the retreat itself because I was too busy stitching and laughing, but I have some great pics of the rest of the trip!

This is the view from the patio of our room.  The Husband and Littlemen went with me and enjoyed some quality man time while I was stitching.

The Husband and Littlemen as we headed into Ripley's Aquarium.  We had a blast!  The tunnel under the shark aquarium tank was really cool.

The Husband hanging out with me at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville while the boys played MagiQuest.  Isn't he cute?

This is all the Stash I acquired while at the retreat.  I had quite a bit of fun meeting vendors and designers.  I'm especially excited about trying out the mermaid peyote beading kit.  It would be a new technique for me.  I actually won the bag and needle nanny as a door prize and I bought the piece of fabric because the name was Under the Sea and because I want to try out Wexford Linen eventually.  For now it will just go in the stash for awhile.

And now for some stitching updates...  I've gotten a bit of stitching done lately.  And even though I tend towards one or two projects at a time, I have started quite a few lately!

This is Nora Corbett's Fairie Autumn Glow on Black Magic, the fabric of the month from Under the Sea Fabrics.  This was an oddball size and the fabric is actually much darker and a bit more purple than this picture.

Here is Mary's Sampler and Mary's Sampler II by Plum Street Samplers.  I'm stitching them on 40 ct Witching Hour New Castle Linen from Under The Sea Fabrics.  The fabric color is much darker and richer.  I changed the thread colors called for as well.  I'll post my conversion in a separate page tab at the top of this blog.  If I make minor changes  each week, I will note them.

And here's Lady Lazarus!  I call her my scary mermaid.  She's not too terrifying though.  She is being stitched on Siren Noir by Under the Sea Fabrics.  Her whole body is stitched in beads and her hair is stitched in a silk by Dragonfly Lotus.  I'll be doing a giveaway of two skiens of her silks in a week or so.  Since this pattern is Out of Print, we are doing a PIF SAL on the Under the Sea Fabrics Facebook Group.  Please join us!

And last, but certainly not least, Buttercup.  Making slow but steady progress on her.  Once I finish Lady Laz, I plan to go back to concentrating on her.

And that's all for now!  Check back for the silk Giveaway and hopefully a finish soon@
TTFN!

OMG!!!!! We Hit 102!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Everyone!!!!!  We hit 102 followers!  And, as promised, I'll give away a Fat Quarter of Fabric of your choice from Under the Sea Fabrics.  Just comment below and I'll draw a name on June 25th.

So, updates!  I finished Cherry Blossom for my RR.  I think she's so cute.

I've made a bit of progress on Buttercup. She's coming along nicely.

Admittedly, not my best pic since I used my phone.  And you can see my new mermaid Needle minder...  love her.


Don't forget to comment for your chance to win!

TTFN!

It's Been Awhile...

... Since I've posted.  I've let the blog go longer than I like to but I've been BUSY!  Christmas was crazy, I got the Under the Sea Fabrics website up and running (check it out!), and I've been a busy almost single mom for the last few months since The Husband has been overseas.  I haven't gotten a ton of stitching done but I do have a few updates :)

First, here is Buttercup!  I finally finished her hair and will be starting the petit point on her skin soon.

 

 

And here is a close up of the beading in her crown:

 



And here is Deepest Love.  It is for my friend Kellee's Round Robin.  Her theme is mermaids.  Sound familiar?  hehehe

And finally, an update on The Husband's Pirate Map.  This piece doesn't get much time because it is my travel project.

Thank you for stitcking with me!  And please check out my hand-dyed fabrics website.  I'm still adding all of my colors.  Under the Sea Fabrics.

TTFN!

A Finish and a Wip!

Hello All!  I'm sorry it's been awhile since I posted, but I've been stitching and dyeing up a storm lately.  :)

First, I finished my Round Robin block that I was working on.  It is Woodland Fairy by Mirabilia

My block completed the Round Robin so here is the finished project:

I had a lot of fun working on this Round Robin.

Here is a picture of my current WIP, Buttercup.  I started her over on Moonlit Waters by Under the Sea Fabrics and I LOVE her.  I wish I had all day to work on her!

I've done some major conversions on Enchanted Mermaid and when I've finished her, I will post it.  So far I've converted her to Purple and to red hair.  She's also being stitched in all silks and a few metallics.

Here is a close up of the petit point I'm doing for her skin.  So far, I really like it.

 

 

Well, back to my fish lady!  TTFN!

 

Buttercup and some other Queens...

Hello All!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!  It is a perfect, breezy 70 degrees here.  I've been stitching a bit lately.  I've finished the Apron thing on the front of Buttercup.

You can see by looking at this pic that I frogged a few colors.  I'm still changing and tweaking this color conversion so if I'm not happy with a color, I pull it out and try another one.  I've decided to work in a dmc pearl effects for one of the colors.  I've heard it is hard to work with but I'm going to give it a shot. 

Today, I received the next round robin I get to stitch on!  I'm excited!  This one is themed with the seasonal queens by Mirabilia. 

I'm going to be working on Winter Queen starting on Monday so Buttercup is going to be put away for a few weeks.

TTFN!

A Little Update and a Future Projection.

Hello Everyone!  I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend.  School starts on Tuesday for us so life is a frenzy right now!  But, I have been busy stitching and crafting a little bit too!

First, here is a current pic of my Enchanted Mermaid taken at a minor league baseball game this afternoon.  I had my own personal Stitch and Pitch :)

 

So far, I LOVE how the colors are working on the fabric!  I named the fabric Mermaid's Seas.  Thank you to Cassie for helping with the name!

 

Here is a pic of how she will hopefully look when she's done.  I used PC Stitch to work her conversion out and while it took forever to enter the chart, I like that I can manipulate the pattern so easily.  Unfortunately, PC Stitch does not support Caron Waterlilies, Rainbow Gallery Threads, or Delicas so I had to get as close as I could with DMC, Kreinik and Mill Hill.  But I still think it is a pretty good idea of how she'll look.

 

 

My husband has named her Buttercup.  He says her crown makes her look a lot like Buttercup from the movie The Princess Bride and I have to agree. 

 

Another thing I did this week was a new fob for my new scissors.  They are cotton candy scissors with a plastic sheath and they are my third pair of these little scissors.  Of course, I've lost the sheathes for the first two pairs so I designed a little fob that would connect the sheath to the scissors.

 

 

I am looking for a wholesale supplier for the scissors so I can sell them together. 

 

Small reminder:  My contest to name my individual dyed fabrics ends tomorrow evening.  I will pick my top three and the winner will receive an eighth of Mermaid's Seas on 32 Lugana and the two runners up will also get a small prize.  You can enter by commenting on the post in my Facebook group for Under The Sea Fabrics.

 

Thanks for reading and looking!  TTFN!