A Stitchy Update 9-18-2017

Good morning!
Here is this month's stitchy update!
A little more progress on Chatelaine's Desert Mandala ( I am not putting the pretty beads on until it's all finished..) 

I finished Part 1, and almost finished Part 2. I just have back stitching, and to add all the specialty stitches.

My favorite cactus with Belle Soie 'Sage' and DD 'Stormy Sky'

My finish for this month, is LHN 'Season of Plenty', which was stitched on 28ct coffee/tea dyed even weave. I changed the color of the months to help them not get lost in the fabric. How cute are these little pumpkins and crows?

My new start, is actually to start back again, with LHN, 'ABC Sampler' the letters,

'IJK'!!

Here's my progress so far! This is also stitched on 

28ct. coffee/tea dyed evenweave!

In the Garden, today/tomorrow, I'm going to try and start herbs in a mason jar, with Basil first!

I'm also going to set out in the front yard, a lantana, and repot a tomatoe plant that my mother started for seed for me, and with the cooler fall temperatures, I can set it outside now.

Happy Sunday, Happy Stitching!

xo Christine

April WIPs Mirabilia Queen Mermaid, Chatelaine and Brook's Books

Happy Wednesday to you! Last weekend, we finally got a little bit of Spring weather. It did get up to 97F already, but with the April showers it was a nice break. I was thinking of a title for this post, because I haven't really been doing to much stitching, it's been more of beading, beading and more beading.

I don't know what happened last week, but I started one day on my Brooke's Books ornament 'Faithfullness', and I stopped. I worked more on my Chatelaines and Mirabillia. A free week of stitching on my WIPs is planned for the last week of April, I just swapped it out for the first week. This all had to do with beading. When I started beading the Bride's Tree, I thought why not finish the beading on my Chatelaine, and then like a domino effect, I carried it over to wanting to stitch the beaded rattlesnake on my Desert Landscape.

Here is the second day I worked on my Bride's Tree. I noticed one of the roses needs to come up a stitch, which is an easy fix.

I'm stitching this as a Mother's Day gift for my mom! She loves roses! I'll give more of my thoughts on this WIP when I finish it. I do love all the Springy pastel colors in contrast to the pink of the rose.

Hopefully by the end of the week, I should have 'Tiny Rose Garden Mandala' finished. I just have a little more beading to go.

I've been working on Desert Landscape to get me to the point where I can start stitching the beaded Rattlesnake! Living here in the suburbian desert of Arizona, yes, my sister-in-law had a rattlesnake in her front yard! Being a Chatelaine, I know Martina would capture this gorgeous creature in her design and she always amazes me! I love the contrast of the Silk N Colors Copper Rose with the drab greys, and the sparkle of the Black TB really sets the snake off! It's the beads that really make it gorgeous! 

Since my LNS doesn't carry Delicas, and the gold bead in the design calls for actual gold plated beads, I opted to use the gold Mill Hill beads in my stash. I did find a limited list on Delica-Mill Hill conversion. The other bead on the rattlesnake is a rootbeer color, and I found a Mill Hill color bead that is a close match called Allspice. 

This is how far I've gotten. I do a small section a day, but I love the progress!

Finally we have more progress on 'Queen Mermaid'. Today I'm going to go back and add her arms. Last week I worked my way down to her lilac bustle.

I'm waiting to find out if this week, the new Mirabilia release is a Mermaid, because I'm trying to finish this one, so I have a reason to buy the new one. I have a feeling, I won't be able to wait, so I'll be working on two. If the new design released isn't a mermaid, than that's fine too, because I really want to focus on just finishing her first!

Wishing you a wonderful Springy stitching week!

Oh, next time I will be starting a new WIP, a beachy one for Summer to come!

Until next time!

xo, Christine

New Years Day 4/15

Today is another cold, wet, rainy day! While I did get some stitching done, I was only able to work on 3 projects. My daughter had a school project I worked on with her last night and this morning!

Starting off with a new Start, 2014 JCS ornie mag Ink Circles Stained Glass Mistletoe  . It's funny, but the colors of this design are off for me. They are just a little too mute for me, but I love the symmetry of the mandala. I'll be stitching the companion piece Stained Glass Holly next month, which I do love the colors. 

I continued on with Pierre the Penguin. What can I say, he's the sweetest penguin I've ever seen!!

Finally, I'm this close to finishing the first page of Ocean Unicorns, that I've been working on for about a month now. It's my first full coverage piece, and am finding the confetti stitching interesting!

Tomorrow, I'm going to keep working on Part 4 of Desert Mandala as my WIP for day 5, then on Thursday, I am going to start Joan Elliott's Stardust Fairy!

Wishing you a fun stitching day!

xo, Christine

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

New Years Day 3/15

Happy Monday! Today, I am enjoying a wet and cold, rainy winter day with a cup of hot tea, and working with silks, always puts a smile on my face!

I'm making some good progress on my 'Summer' Celtic lady from Lavender and Lace, and I'm finding the border of part 4 on Desert Landscape not only fun, but the colors of the silk combinations, absolutely gorgeous.

How cute is the Gingerbread Girl with her peppermint tree??!! I love working on Gingerbread Village series by Country Cottage Needleworks.

Tonight, I should have Pierre the Penguin's face completed. It's wonderful to see my daughter happy to see my progress on her Penguin ornamet from Brooke's Books.

Also, tonight, I'm working on finishing up Page 1 of Ocean Unicorns, for my Day 4 WIP. I'll have the stitch count on that for you tomorrow, but I can't believe I actually finished a whole page in a full stitch chart.

Wishing you a great week!
Hope you have a fun stitching day!
xo, Christine

New Year's Day 2

Happy Weekend! I hope you are all enjoying your Holiday weekend! I'm a little sad to say that today is the last day of our Christmas Vacation. The ornaments and decorations are all packed away, and I'm just getting ready for back to school tomorrow. Last night my husband and our son had a bonding night, so the girls and I made cookies whilst I stitched away, watching House reruns and Pirates of the Carribean on Netflix.

For Day 2, I started with my Brooke's Book SAL, Pierre the Penguin, her Animal Advent Freebie. I also bought Dorthy for her Wizard of the Oz, she's on her way, and my 12 year old daughter decided for next month to do her Grumpy Merry Christmas Cat, another freebie. That's 3 down, 9 more to decide on.

As much as I am having fun stitching Gingerbread Train, and believe you me, it is a quick stitch, I'm loosing steam, so to say! All I have left is half a peppermint wheel, and snowflakes. I just have to keep plugging away.

Now this is funny, and I don't know how it happened, but I figured out why I stitched the wrong colors on Desert Landscape, my printer somehow inverted two symbols, and I just stitched the  wrong colors. C'est la vie! Yesterday, I really wanted to pick up Mediterranean Waterlilies, but apparently it was a Waterlilly Kind of day at my LNS, they were all out, so I picked up Grape instead. When I finish the band, I will post an updated pic, but the color combination of Emerald, Grape, and Periwinkle is gorgeous, along with the turquoise cabochons of Delicate Teal, and I am loving Part 4.

My New Start for the day was Nora Corbett's 3 French Hens. In my kitchen nook, it's decorated Italian Rustic with Roosters and Hens, and I absolutely love this chart and can't wait to hang it in there. Although I'm not a huge fan of golds and browns, this was a fun and easy new start.

For today, I'm going to continue working on all the 3 WIP, if I have time I'm going to start Joan Elliott's freebie for my younger daughter, if not, I'm going to pick up Summer Celtic Lady from TIAG. I started working on the border, and I love the Green's and Golds.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Have a fun stitching day!
xo, Christine

Day 1

Happy New Year: Day 1

Happy New Year, to you! Last year was definitely better than 2014, and this year I am looking forward to being better than 2015! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Years Eve!
This year, I am all excited not only to have some fun new starts, but I'm planning on a couple big finishes, with my Desert Landscape Chatelaine, and Kustom Krafts Ocean Unicorns, being the top two!

Yesterday, My New Start for the New Year is Teresa Wentzler's Egyptian Sampler. I stitched once before as a gift, this time, I'm stitching it for me. I also joined the Brooke's Books SAL on FB, and started one of their Advent Animals ornaments for my youngest daughter who adores Penguins. His name is Pierre! So cute! I worked on Desert Landscape and caught two mistakes. One I stitched the wrong color on the outer border, and need to find where the mis stitch is, the outer border, doesn't line up quite right!
Even though, I'm so close to finishing Gingerbread train {hoping to finish tonight}, I started the second chart in the series Gingerbread girl and Peppermint tree, from Cross Country Needleworks.

For day 2, I am starting Mirabilia's 3 French Hens {I collect Roosters and Hens}, and I'm working more on Desert Landscape, as I'll be rotating this and the Kustom Krafts Ocean Unicorns, until I finish them.

Wishing you all a fun stitching day!

Unitl next time,

xo, Christine

2015 Ornament Exchange

Happy Weekend! It been a beautiful and gorgeous weekend here in AZ!

Today I wanted to share with you, an ornament I finished for an exchange I am in!



It was luck that I found this pattern, I wasn't even looking for a deer pattern, but as

it happened I've been obsessing with white deer busts, I just had to stitch one for Keala {and one for me}! I've been cross stitching for about 25 years now, and this is the first time I've ever stitched on linen. 

For a complementing back fabric, I went with small red buffalo check with mini white Christmas trees.

For finishing the ornament I chose this Tutorial on how to make a Flat Ornament!

You can find the Free chart HERE!

Wishing you all a fun stitching weekend!
Until Next time,
Christine