A La Belle Etoile finish!

Well, I seem to be on a roll with the finishes here lately, which is making me happy. Last night I couldn't sleep, so I decided to burn the midnight oil and get yet another project finished. I seem to have run out of the Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Ivy League, however, more is on the way and it will take me all of half an hour to finish up the wee bit that's left, so I'm calling the project finished now  :P.


At any rate, here's the (almost!) finished piece:




Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Elegant Eggplant, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

And a close up of a particularly sparkly bit:

I really love how the piece turned out. I think if I stitch it again, I will stitch the house in Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk Elegant Eggplant and the door in Tumbleweed. I think it would look very pretty that way! (Or maybe in  Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Tulip! OOoooo....red houses! :D)

At any rate, I must be off. Today is house cleaning day and I gotta get going. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! :)

Respectfully submitted,

C. 

A La Belle Etoile SAL update

Been plugging right along with my The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode SAL. I am not too entirely certain I like the 'Hiver' stitched in the Crescent Colours Sweet lavender. I think it's a *tad* too light. I am thinking about ripping it out and restitching it the lighter portions of the Elegant Eggplant. I'd love to hear what people think about it. :)



At any rate, here is what I have so far:





Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Elegant Eggplant, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

Well, that's all for now. I have a ton of stuff I have to get done today. Hope everyone is having a great week! :)


Respectfully submitted,

C.

En ma Fin gît mon Commencement...

Happy new year, everybody! Hope everyone has gotten off to a good start to the new year and has sufficiently recovered from the Eve of the New Year. DH and I skipped the festivities this year, as he had to be at work at 6 AM :(. Ah, well. It's no matter to me, as the Strip this year was MASSIVELY overcrowded and they were charging 35 bucks a HEAD to be Downtown on Fremont Street. No thanks!


At any rate, I've kept to my promise of only stitching WIPs this year (so far!), however, I did have a new start on New Year's Day. It's not my fault really. I have been obsessing over this piece for quite some time now and the only way to get it to STFU was to kit the bleedin' thing up and start it.


So, without further ado, here is what I've been working on:



WIP #1:



Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Elegant Eggplant, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

Not too much progress, but I am making some. I've decided to leave the large portions of the Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru for the end of the night when my eyes become fatigued. This way it still gets stitched on and I don't have to count anything out, really.



And here is WIP #2, AKA The Piece That Wouldn't STFU:


Design: Mary Queen of Scots



Designer: Papillon Creations



Fabric: Picture This Plus 32 count linen in Phoenix



Fibers: Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru.


Stitcher's notes: Fabric was chosen as Mary, Queen of Scots was a red head as was her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. The motto at the bottom of the sampler, "In my End is my Beginning...", is a reminder of her mother, Mary of Guise. The emblem, the Phoenix, which on the sampler, flank the motto. It was a motto that Mary, Queen of Scots loved so much, she had it embroidered on her Cloth of State. The Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss was chosen as Mary's favorite color was white, as she felt it showed off her red hair to its' best advantage.



Stitched one thread over two threads of fabric.

Here is the wee bit I have done up close:

Funny how the lighting changes the color of the fabric so drastically. The first picture is the best representation of the true color of the fabric. I have no clue how the second photograph wound up being closer to magenta. o.o. I am still not certain of the coverage of the one strand. I am seriously thinking about switching to two strands. I should probably get out some test fabric and try both one and two strands.


Well, I best be off. I have a ton of stuff to do today. Hope everyone is having a great first week of the New Year! :)


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

Final Post of 2011

Well, Christmas has come and gone. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! The Hubmeister and I went to Half Moon Bay for the holidays and stayed with his mother. We all had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed being that close to the beach again. We have plans to go back in March to go see the Buffalo Sabres at San Jose Sharks. My MIL got us tickets for our Christmas present. She also got me a Ryan Miller Premier Road Jersey and The Hubmeister a Ryan Miller Premier Home Jersey so we will be suitably attired come game time. I'm so excited to go see another pro hockey game. I wish I could go see my beloved New Jersey Devils, but they aren't going to be on the West Coast again until next year. It's a bummer, but whatareyagonnado?


At any rate, since we had a 10 hour car trip (one way, I might add!), I took along my A La Belle Etoile SAL. I managed to get a fair amount completed. My house finally has a roof (yay!), however, I think if I ever stitch this again, I am going to swap out the beige of the house for the dark purple. I think it would look better that way. I didn't change it this time, as I am stitching with silks, and there is no way on God's green earth I am ripping out 20 dollars in silks to do a mere color change. Nuh uh. No way, no how...


ANYHOO...enough of my yapping! Time for some pictures! :)




Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

I like the way it looks so far. I am hoping to get a bit more completed, but it alas will not be finished in time for the new year. I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it in.


Here is my list of completed work for 2011. I think it's fairly respectable, but I am disappointed in how few WIPs I managed to complete. I am hoping to rectify that in 2012 with the 2012 WIPocalypse hosted by Measi. The only rule I am making for myself is to just grab a project out of the bag and go. No lists because every time I make one, I can never stick to it, so I am not going to set myself up for what I would consider failure. I stitch to have fun and relax, not to make myself feel bad!



At any rate, here's my list of finishes:



1. Merry Christmas by Blackbird Designs finished 07.07.11

2. Season of Growth by Little House Needleworks finished 04.26.11

3. Cherries by JBW Designs Finished 04.14.11

4. Let's Go To The Beach by JBW Designs for Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine, July 2009. Finished 04.20.11

5. Spooky Sunday SAL by SanMan Originals. Finished 11.01.11.

6. Harvest Sampler by Linda P. Reeves. Finished 10.26.11.

7. At Plimoth by The Sampler Girl. Finished 10.25.11.

8. Apple Butter by Cross Eyed Cricket. Finished 10.22.11.

9. Quaker Acorn by The Workbasket. Finished 10.21.11.

10. Leaves by Cross Eyed Cricket. Finished 10.18.11.

11. Witchy Hat by SanMan Originals. Finished 10.14.11

12. Salem Witch by The Primitive Needle. Finished 09.10.11.

13. October Quaker by The Workbasket. Finished 08.26.11.

14. A Very Merry Summer by JBW Designs. Finished 06.27.11.

15. Fleur de Lis by JBW Designs. Finished 06.22.11

16. Joy of Christmas by My Big Toe. Finished 05.11.11.

17. Miniature Monogram Hornbook-Margin Marker by Kelmscott Designs. Finished 05.04.11.

18. Bunny's Bloom by The Primitive Jewel. Finished 04.28.11

19. Downton Abbey by The Sampler Girl. Finished 04.27.11

20. Now I Know My ABC's by Blackbird Designs. Finished 04.13.11.

21. Basket of Memories by Blackbird Designs. Finished 04.10.11.

22. A Very Merry Spring by JBW Designs. Finished 04.05.11.

23. Summer Iris by Blackbird Designs. Finished 03.30.11.

24. Cupcake by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.26.11.

25. A Stitcher's Companion by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.17.11.

26. My Home threadkeep by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.07.11.



Well, I had best be off. I have a TON of stuff to do and time's a wastin'! I hope everyone has a blessed and prosperous new year!


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Respectfully submitted,


C.

Making it look like I'm doing something...

Not much of an update on my Thread Basket SAL. I seem to have caught the 'bug' that is floating around work. Yay. I haven't been able to concentrate on anything for any length of time, so as consequence, I sort of skipped around a lot when I was stitching.


Permettez-moi de te présenter, mes offres maigres (Allow me to present to you, my meager offerings):



Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone and Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone.

Closeup of the beadwork:

Well, I am off for now. Not feeling so hot again. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)


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Respectfully submitted,


C.