Convent's Herb Garden/Chatelaine

FINALLY I finished the final put together on this beautiful design. Its been sitting in my corner for years~~I don't know why I procrastinated it so much! I had my girlfriend, Valerie put it together for me and I just had to stuff it and stitch it closed.

This was the first Chatelaine garden I've ever done. It was such fun to stitch because each side is different in stitches and colors than all the other sides. The photo looks a 'lil washed out, but its stitched on Lavender Bliss Belfast, which is such a delicate and pretty color.

My new kitten couldn't resist being near those tassles! (uh oh...)

Convent's Herb Garden

Here are close up pictures.

Castles in the Air part 4

Well, here it is, all caught up!

Of course, I have to do things MY WAY. Since I'm stitching on white, I just couldn't make my water fountain have white water...so I found a nice Rainbow Gallery petite Treasure Braid in a nice light blue. Just sparkley enough to resemble water with the sun shining on it.

I've only stitched one side of the fuschias. They are soooooooooo beautiful up close. I was so excited stitching them! I think I'm going to make the other side's fuschias the same color since my other colors would make them blue and we have blue peacocks... That's why I'm thinking more blue wouldn't look as nice as more pink. But I will hold off on them a bit, just to make sure thats a good idea.

I did add another braid when I saw that my peacocks needed some bronze color in their feathers.

Castles in the Air part 3

Oh! Here's my part 3. I'm so anxiously waiting for part 4!!

Too bad the little sparkles don't show in the Opalescent fabric. Its ever so pretty in person :)

Castles in the Air SAL, part 2

I'm just loving this!

I've spent HOURS looking at other people's pictures and picking my own colors. Such fun! I'm so loving the white opalescent fabric. Its my first time of using it. I was a little dismayed at how small the holes are, but I'm used to them now. :)

Next I need to send this picture to them at http://www.papillon-creations.com/newsletter_corner/newsletter_frame.htm with a listing of my colors so they can post it alongside the others.

Chatelaine Biscornus

Remember how I said I was going through my cabinet and it was a mess? Well, both these were in there, just hanging out. the purple one had a bead that slipped off the end and was in need of repair.

So I got out that needle and thread and redid all of them! And took new pictures so I could share them with you.

These are both freebies from Chatelaine Designs. I love all the elaborateness of her designs and can't wait to embellish them even more. lol

Swan tin

I love swans.

I think they are so beautiful. I don't understand howcome no one ever designs one wearing a crown. So I added my own.

Witches floss tag

Here's my little witches. I think they are so cute. I added extra bloss to make the broom more dimentional. Its a Nimue design. I purchased it from here:

http://www.creativepoppypatterns.com/nimue-m-21.html

Recent finishes/ Hillside Samplings Stitching Necessaire

I have this gorgeous antique cabinet in my living room. Its tall and has 2 cupboards with glass doors and shelving inside. Between the 2 cupboards is a set of drawers and a pull down cover that makes it into a little desk. Its made from oak. It’s beautiful. I got it from some dear friends of mine. In it are all (or most!) of my stitching things.
I was going through that cabinet and found way too many things that I had started but set aside and never got around to finishing. Too messy!
So I started pulling things out. A cute set of witches I wanted to make into a floss tag thingy, the Hillside Samplings Necessaire that I must have started 3 years ago… A sweet little needle book from C.A. Wells, and the Chatelaine Leporello. All are just so beautiful and so deserve to be finished!
I passed the needlebook and the leporello off to my friend, Valerie, who does incredible finishing work. I did part of the finishing work on each of them but then I got stuck on the instructions and set them aside. Valerie loves a challenge so I was happy to hand them to her.
I finished the witches and then started working on the Necessaire. What a challenge that was. I’m such a visual girl and I couldn’t find any close up pictures to it anywheres on the web. So if you are someone working on this and wants to see close up pictures, let me know, I took plenty.
I am not an alphabet girl. So I left the letters off. I love how it turned out.

Squirrel

YAY! I just finished the sunny Squirrel from the newest Just Cross Stitch magazine (May/June 2009)

I added my own bit of brown "Whisper" yarn for the lines on his tail to make it look more fluffy.

Cloud fabric is my favorite! There's just so darn many uses for it!

My bigggest piece EVER!

When I saw this design of Queen Eleanor, I just had to do it.

But oh my! Was it EVER a big undertaking. There were 14 pages to it and not a single bit of fabric was left uncovered.

The design was downloaded from this place:

http://www.goldenkitestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_72&products_id=2640

I'm pretty sure I won't ever do one of these again. lol

It hangs in my living room. I ever so love the way the shading came out. Its beautiful in person.

SCA gift

Here's a scissor pouch and fob I stitched up for the local SCA group. It needed to be "period accurate." I was happy to find out the biscornu was first seen in the 1500's, so it was an appropriate way to finish my fob. (I wanted it to be different than all the others)

Bunny from Just Cross Stitch magazine

I love this little bunny that was designed by Janelle Geise. It was published in last month's Just Cross Stitch Magazine.

I used Whisper thread to make the bunny soft and fluffy :)

I love how it came out and I plan to put it on the top of a wooden box.

Provance thus far

Here's what I've finished in the overall picture.

I plan to remove the thread in the arches. I'm just not fond of that pinkish thread for vines. Also, I plan on using a royal blue for the flowers in the vines. I'm going to find a redish that is more vibrant for the flowers on the tops of the arches to balance the picture more.

Goodness, it sure needs ironing!! It's so large that it needs to be bunched up so it doesn't get dirty. The completed picture will be 21" x 21".

OH! I don't have any of the pretty seed beads or crystals added on yet, either. I always wait until the end to put those on. They really bring the picture alive with their extra colors and prettieness!

(is that a word?)

Provance Corner with detail

Well, so far I have one corner finished. Yay!!

Provance pictures

Here is the design for the bottom.

I inverted it so that when its on my wall, I won't be looking at an upside down house.

I also altered the color of the flowers on the bottom left using a varigated silk with pink & peach. the door was "supposed" to be left white, but I decided I wanted color in mine.

Provance pictures

Here's the one that will be at the 3:00 space

Provance pictures

Here's the picture that will be in the top part of the design.

Provance Mandala pictures

OH MY!

Its been nearly a year since I started working on this ever so large project! I've made a few changes to the colors (as I like to make it more "mine"). But here are some current pictures.