Happy President's Day!

Hello Everyone!  For those in U.S. Government jobs, I hope you're enjoying your day off.  The husband is taking me to lunch in a little while. :)  I have to admit, I have not stitched on Persephone hardly at all this week.  I've finished all of part two of Deep Blue Sea, minus the Jessica Shells with Topiary Princess perle.  I'm also trying to get caught up with Part one now that all of my Glorianas are in.  Here is Part Two completed as of Saturday morning:

I really love the fabric!  The more I use it the more I like it!  Here is a picture as of this morning:



While I really love the Blue Grass and Blue Hawaii, I don't really like the Deep Blue Sea Gloriana.  According to the chart supply list and a couple of other websites, Deep Blue Sea is supposed to be a dark teal similar to DMC 3806.  Mine is exactly DMC 500.  I could have saved myself $7.50 on a skien of silk because it is exactly the same color as the DMC 500 with little to no variation.  I think I'm going to take a trip to the LNS this afternoon after lunch to find something a little more teal.  I just don't love the green and I don't care for working with Glorianas in general so switching the thread would be better all around. 

In other happy news, tomorrow I'm going to pick up my Shimmering Mermaid from the framer!  Super excited to get her done and on the wall!  I choose a thin gold frame similar to one of the kreiniks and I thought it looked great for her.  yay!

I'm close to 50 followers!  Yay!  When I reach 50, I'm going to give away a stitcher's eighth of my hand-dyed fabric to one of my followers.  Not sure what color yet.  I've been experimenting and I have several wonderful colors.
TTFN!

A Little Bit of Christmas S.E.X. and a Little Bit of Mystery...

Hello Everyone!  I'm so glad so many have chosen to follow me after just one post!  I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your support!  I'm gathering some pretty silks to give away to thank you guys when I hit 25 followers.  For now, I hope everyone had a happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwnazaa or just a happy day off with friends and family.  The fat red-suited man brought me several lovely goodies!  Mostly stitchy stash and I just love an excuse for Stash Enhancement eXperience!  First, I got a pre-Christmas treat when the fat-quarter of Sugar Maple's 32 ct. Diana Belfast came in the mail on Christmas Eve:

I intended to use it for Enchanted Mermaid by Mirabilia but I just don't think it's quite as dark as I'd like.  I'm going to do a floss toss soon to decide.  There are several colors from Sparklie's Fabrics I think would work as well and I'm putting together a list of samples to order.  I LOVE that you can order samples before you commit to a fat-quarter of fabric based on a picture on your computer monitor. 

I also recieved a lovely OttLite!  I wanted one for travel and this one is perfect!

And last, but certainly not least, I received a sit-on lap stand from K's Creations.  I love it! 

It came in unfinished wood, like you can see with the Q-snap clamp on top.  I opted not to stain the q-snap clamp until I knew for sure that the stain wouldn't rub off.. I've decided to go ahead and stain it and it is currently drying.  You can see a small preview of Mermaid of the Pearls in the Q-snaps.  I'll post a better picture of her and the fabric she's being stitched on later this week. 

Starting on January 1st, 2012, I'll be starting Chatelaine Mystery XV: Deep Blue Sea.  I think it will be a lovely compliment to my mermaids.  I've chosen to stitch it on black because I would also like to stitch Chatelaine's Octopus Treasure Cove and I think they should coordinate.  Here is a preview of some of the silks and the 32 ct. black lugana I plan to stitch it on.

So far, I'm loving the colors!  The first part of Deep Blue Sea has been posted but I want to get another good week into Mermaid of the Pearls before I pick up another big project.  Plus, I need to pick up a few more Glorianas to get myself started.  I took a few better pictures of Shimmering Mermaid today, but I've decided to save them for another post.  There are a ton of pictures in this post already!  Thanks for reading along with me!

~Leslie

Introducing myself... Hi... I'm Leslie

Hello all!  Hopefully, as time progresses, all includes more than just myself.  My name is Leslie and I love to cross stitch.  I decided to name this blog "Stitching Under the Sea" because I love to stitch nautical themed patterns and charts.  I especially love to stitch mermaids.  I recently completed my second Mirabilia Mermaid.  The pattern is called Shimmering Mermaid. 

I started her on October 1st, 2011 and I finished her December 21st, 2011.  She's stitched on 32 ct. opalescent linen that I dyed myself.  I love dying fabric and will post pics when I dye different fabrics.  The same day I finished Shimmering Mermaid, I started Mirabilia's Mermaid of the Pearls. I've converted most of the colors from blues and greens to wine shades.  I'll post a pic in a few days when I've gotten farther than her hair.  Thank you so much for reading my blog!

~Leslie