The Sheep Cube

This is another Kathy Schenkel design. It is a cube after I have it all stitched! Then it is tied like a package with the red ribbon and white ceramic heart you see in the bottom left corner. I pulled all the colors of Splendor and one Tiara that this cube will be stitched in. I then started putting in the sky with four strands of blue.
Pierrette asked about the penguin for the stocking. The penguin came with the canvas, so I don't have to make one to stuff it with. I do have to make the stocking with the lining to hold it! But, not today! LOL

The stocking is finished.

I added Peyton's name in cross stitches with Nordic Gold, and then I added three and sometimes four stitches all the way around the outside of the stocking. This, of course, is going to make it easier when it comes time to finish the stocking. Remember this one has a little stuffed penguin to fit inside of the actual stocking, so this one will have a lining and a backing. I will set this aside in the finishing pile along with the others until I get ready to start all of them at once.

Added Feet and Water!

I used the yellow Splendor and created the little lines that hold the fish on the red line. I filled in his tail with more of the black Neon Rays +. Next I did the frog in green Splendor 907 and did a black cross stitch for his eye. I then worked the lily pad in the white Splendor. The fish were next with gray Splendor 947 and more black cross stitched eyes. Next his feet are done with the yellow Splendor and more black but in tent stitches. The water worked up very quickly using the blue Splendor in the Diagonal Triple Parisian stitch. I found this stitch in my even More Stitches for Effect book this weekend!
Almost done!

A scarf and a fishing line....

So sorry for the picture quality! I thought it was okay when I took it, but it is a little blurry! You can, however, see that I completed his scarf using Neon Rays + in squares of red and green using the Fishbone stitch. I filled in his chest with the white Splendor and then used red Splendor to complete his fishing line.
Jane, I hope to get to his silk feet tomorrow! LOL

A head and wings

I used Black Neon Rays + to do the head and wings, so while it does not sparkle much in the picture, it does real time. Then I used white Splendor for his head, black Splendor to cross stitch his eyes, and finally Splendor 908 for the yellow beak. Jane noticed how cute his feet are, and I'm a goin as fast as I can! LOL
More surprises on this one to come!

The stocking has a background

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! I also hope if you had to travel, that you made it with very few issues. The news has been full of weather issue stories, and we are glad we were at home. We only traveled to go out for brunch, and then returned home.
Today, I got back to stitching!
Remember this is the Kathy Schenkel Penguin mini stocking for my great nephew Peyton. I did the outline of the top section in Splendor 860 blue, and then did the basket weave background in Splendor 802 white. I used four strands of fiber for all of these stitches. Since I will be putting color up next to the white, I decided it would be better to have all of that filled in so none of the colors would fuzz into the white.
Next up: Starting the penguin!

It is under the tree!

First, I did whiskers, again using the Alpaca 18. Next, I did the cross stitch x in red Neon Rays +. Then I finished by doing the spirals using black Fuzzy Stuff.

Last week, I took the piece by the framer--still on the stretcher bars, as I was still stitching! They measured it for the mat, glass and red metal frame. This past Monday, I picked up all the pieces in brown paper and brought them home. After taking it off the stretcher bars, I laced it to the 3/16 foam core padded with a single layer of thin batting. Next, I put the three sides of the metal frame together with the L hardware and tightened the screws to hold the corners. Next, I added the picture wire eyes and tightened them in place. Then I slid the glass, mat, and laced piece into the back. Lastly, I put the bottom piece on, tightened the screws, and inserted the tighteners in all four sides. I then cut a piece of brown wrapping paper and glued it to the edges to cover all the frame and lacing stuff. I added a sticky label with the date and designer name and signed it. I hung it on the wall and snapped this picture for you to see--along with my arm!--and then wrapped it! It is under the tree waiting for morning! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Update on the surprise!

I thought I would show you how far I have gotten on the surprise! I finished the white background with the Watercolours. Then, I filled in the black areas with the Alpaca, and the white is done in Angora. His eyes are done in black and white Mandarin. All I have to finish is the whiskers, the red dots and the black swirls in the background. I will be framing and wrapping this one tomorrow!

A mini stocking for Peyton

This is the Kathy Schenkel design that my niece picked out for my great nephew, Peyton. He is a great penguin design!

When I finish the stocking, the little guy below gets tucked in the top! He comes with the canvas--a great bonus! I will pull all my threads tonight and get started on this little cutie!

Two photos!

First, I finally got a photo of the Mornin' Luv all framed up. I took Laura Perrin's advice and lightly shaded, with my brown colored pencil, around the outside and then lighter out to the edges.

The mat is a wine color to pick up the darker shading in his hat and compliment his shorts and slippers. The frame itself is a bronze metal color.
I finished the tent stitches all around the purse so it is ready to be finished. I am going to set this aside for now and do a batch of finishing all at once.

Good news and bad

I finished framing Mornin' Luv tonight! I took five different pictures to post one. They all have issues: a reflection of the other wall, the flash in two, my arm in two. I must be really tired or borderline incompetent tonight. I will try again tomorrow in the daylight!

A finished purse

I finished the second pass of the Serendipity Stitch using Crystal Braid going in the opposite direction. Next, I will stitch around the outside of the painted canvas for finishing. The two gold beads at the top are done at finishing.

In my next life...

I will be an octopus! I spent some time on the framing of the Mornin' Luv, and then put in some more of the purse background, and moved on to work more background on the surprise! Whew! I am tired, and don't have a photo of any thing far enough along to show you .

Except, up on the roof top of the solar project, they have panels up!

This is bay two with the first row of panels.

This is bay one, in the distance, with all the panels up. they are rows behind that you cannot see. The project is due to be completed by this Friday. I took these photos on Sunday so you can see that they are right on track!

Step one....

of the Serendipity stitch is worked in a strand of Petite Very Velvet. I followed the stitch guide both by using the fiber and stitch recommended and I think they are both appropriate for a young ladies' purse! I will start the second and last part of the stitch tomorrow night.

You promise not to tell?

You can't tell him, but this piece is for my husband for Christmas!! He does not read the blog, that I know of, so I am showing you what I am doing! This is a canvas by Cheryl. When I saw it, I had to get it! This is so our cat--complete with attitude--which I know all cats have! I did the inner band with Ribbon Floss, alternating the squares with the black and white painted design. Then the outside rows of black and red are done in Neon Rays +. I started the background with Snow White Watercolours.
I am working on the background of the purse, and this afternoon I started the framing of Mornin' Luv. That means tomorrows photo will be one of those!
Happy Stitching!

The Hearts

Now I have completed all the heart on the front of the purse. I used Petite Sparkle Rays in periwinkle and pink and pale mint pearl in Crystal Braid and did a diagonal satin stitch over 3 vertical rows. Then the pale cornflower and yellow are done in diagonal satin stitch.

It just shines!

Pink Purse Progress

I started with the gold frame at the top of the bag. Using the Kreinik gold, I did a wave bargello stitch following the pattern instructions. Then using the white Sparkly Rays, I did tent stitches on the letters and Rhodes stitches on the hearts, again using the stitch guide provided. This is going to work up fairly quickly for Miss Kailyn.
Tomorrow I start filling in the hearts.

The next project

This is the next project. I purchased this canvas on the trip to Grand Rapids, MI in October. My niece Sara picked this Kathy Schenkel design for me to stitch for her daughter, Kailyn, my great niece! She is 16 months old and just loves pink! Kathy has granted me permission to blog stitch this darling piece. You can see lots of Kathy's designs at her website: www.kschenkeldesigns.com or by visiting your local shop! Several of the upcoming projects are designed by Kathy and they are all going to be a lot of fun!

Like the Holly leaves, I will be turning this into an ornament. I am planning on putting a gold chain on it to hang it with.

The fibers I will be using are pictured above: Sparkle Rays, Kreinik gold, and Petite Very Velvet!

The Holly ornament is stitched!

I finished the Splendor stitches around the outside of the ornament so that it can be finished. This was a fun piece to stitch and I will do the finishing myself and post it here so you can see how I do this one. Thanks again to Jody for her approval to blog stitch this and for all the great designs.
You can see more of her great designs at http://www.jodydesigns.com/. She told me that you can purchase this same canvas, along with many others directly from her by emailing her directly at: jodydesign@aol.com (note, no s on the email addy!). She is working on a website that will be up with a full catalog download soon!
I hope you take some time to cruise the wonderful pieces she has created.

Janet's Santas and Mom's Holly

I finally got the holiday decorations out, and I put the Janet Zickler Casey Santas on the console in the living room, amongst the Snowbabies.

The holly cone that Mom designed is on the dining room table sitting on the table runner she made. Which is also sitting along side some of the candy dishes she has painted me. Since we rarely use the dining room table for meals, it will be safely displayed through the season!

Mornin Luv has slippers!

I completed his fuzzy slippers using Wisper and did the shading by his ankles using Splendor. This completes the stitching for Mornin' Luv! I will do the framing on this one myself and will post a photo when it is completed.

Anybody got a razor?

Yup, I think he needs to shave his legs! This guy is just about done with only the slippers to finish. I added the tassel to his cap and added a little more outlining to his fingers so they show up a little bit better too. I added his fly and his shorts leg outline in the center.

Legs....not by ZZ top

If you remember ZZ top's song Legs, LOL! Yes, this one has his legs and boney knees I might add! What a character!
Next up is adding hair to those legs!

Exciting but not stitching!

I have a very interesting job as I work as an office manager in a welding shop. I see a lot of interesting and unusual things created every week. We have a lot of very experienced and talented people who work here and lots of unusual requests come in weekly. The guys always find a way to make whatever the customer wants. We are very fortunate to be working on one of the largest solar installations right now. Work is under way to use solar power to heat and air condition a 22 acre building. The guys have been fabricating and installing steel pipe to support the solar panels, installed a 27,000 gallon stainless steel tank for water for the system, and on Wednesday, install the frame for, and two chiller pumps on the roof. In the picture below you see the frame setting on the ground next to one of the chiller units. The EXCITING part is that all of this was being lifted to the roof of the building with a HELICOPTER! And.......I got to go and watch! Woohoo! The frame itself weighs almost six thousand pounds!
After the chopper came in, they unloaded all the cables and rigging you see setting to the rear of the chopper. Then the cables were attached to the four corners of the frame. The chopper started up and then lifted the frame up and over the roof to the far corner of the building.

We went up on the roof and watched from there due to the major air displacement around a chopper, and they require a totally clear path from takeoff to set down site. While on the roof, we could also see all the solar panels that are already in place. After this was set in place, our welders secured it to the building and the chopper went back and set down for a bit. When the frame was welded in place, the pilot repeated the procedure with both chiller units. This was totally awesome to watch and very exciting to see that more and more of the community is becoming more energy conscious. We were all grateful for beautiful weather--about fifty degrees and only a slight wind for the chopper pilot to negotiate.
I realize this is not much about stitching, but I was thrilled to see this and am very excited about the possibilities that solar and green resourcing can bring to our worlds.

Thanksgiving Cactus

This is my Thanksgiving Cactus in bloom. It is actually two pots of it and it takes the entire top shelf of the stand. The first one got so big, I started a second pot of it, and it now looks like maybe a third one will have to be started. The Christmas Cactus buds are set and it should be in bloom shortly too.
Back to stitching for me!

Background

I am stitching the background on the Holly Ornament today. I am alternating between the Kreinik 032 white in the ball of the design and have also started stitching the white in Splendor around the outside edge. Unfortunately, the picture does not show up so great, so tonight you have to take my word for it!
Happy stitching!

The second leaf

I finished the green on the second leaf, put a dot of black in each of the berries, and also worked more of the white down the left side and in the center. Pretty good progress after not stitching for a few days1

Happy Thanksgiving!

I will be away for a couple of days! My niece is here for the holidays and we have a lot of talking and shopping to do, so there won't be a lot of time for stitching! I will be back on Sunday, November 30th with another update.
Enjoy the company of your friends and family, thankful for the bounty they provide in our lives!
Safe travels to all whether on the road or in the malls!

One completed leaf

I finished all of the dark green with the Gold Rush 18, and also the medium green on the left leaf. Remember this is done with two strands of Nordic Gold. This is moving right along. I am going to add a dot of black in each of the berries in the next session, so that they are realistic as well.

Polka Dots & Hearts

This charmer is just stylin' in his polka dot and heart shorts! I also shadowed his waistline.
Mom likes him! Yippee!

I changed my mind

Yes, I changed my mind. If you read my blog you know that I occasionally do this. LOL.
I did not like the medium value I had originally chosen for the leaves in the Kreinik # 12's.
So I spent some time this afternoon and took out all of the Kreinik. I then pulled out some Rainbow Gallery. A single strand of Gold Rush 18 in 144C is now the darkest value. Two strands of Nordic Gold in 5 are the medium value. A single strand of Gold Rush 18 in 33C is the lightest value. I also added Red 003 Kreinik 12 to the lightest red value in the berries.
Much better, now I can sleep. LOL

Toothpaste and a Toothbrush

First, using Splendor blues, I filled in the tube base, tube body, some letters, and then the handle of the toothbrush. Next I padded the bristles with four strands of Splendor. Then using a single strand, I worked individual bristles. Next I used two strands of gray Splendor and two strands of Hightlights and did the top of the toothpaste tube. Last, I padded the paste with white Splendor and then stitched Snow over that.
Doncha just want to pinch his nose? LOL

Leaves and berries

Tonight, I put in the dark green 009 Kreinik #12 for the outside edge and the veins. I put in the dark red 308 on the other two berries. I then filled in more of the 032 white background.
This ornament is very well painted and stitches up beautifully. I don't think it will take long to finish this one because it goes fast and is very pretty!
I will finish this one myself, and will blog finish it for you all to follow along.

The belly

Nothing fancy, just a belly, with a little shading under his hand and the toothpaste tube. I also outlined his upper left arm and started on his left hand. I got part of it outlined, but not all of it.
And, you can see his eyes better on this one.
Blogger and I argue about why if more than one photo is loaded, that it won't enlarge. Blogger always wins, but I will still keep posting two photos once in a while.
As you may have noticed, I am rotation stitching for a while. I have several things I want to work on, and some nights, I am more drawn to one canvas than another. This may have something to do with how late I got home, and how much time I have to stitch! LOL
So, right now, we have the Holly ornament, and Mornin Luv. Soon, you will see more of what I will be doing.

Two Photos!

The first photo is designed by Jody! This is one of the pieces I picked up on the trip to Michigan. I have a sister who loves Holly and she chose this piece for me to stitch for her. When I contacted Jody of Jody Designs, she told me she designs a lot of Holly patterns as that is her daughter's name! You can see more of her great designs at http://www.jodydesigns.com/. She told me that you can purchase this same canvas, along with many others directly from her by emailing her directly at: jodydesign@aol.com (note, no s on the email addy!). She is working on a website that will be up with a full catalog download soon!

So, I have been using all tent stitch on this piece. The top of the ornament is worked in Kreinik #12 (I am using all #12) 002J, gold. The white background is 032, the dark red on the holly berry is 308, and the first green is 008.



And then, I got a note from Mom! She said Mornin Luv looked like he was blind! Oooohhhhh, Nooooo! She said I had to go back and fix his eyes, using a darker color and putting the iris in his eye with a French knot. Yes, Mother. So, I did, and you know how mothers are always right???

You decide.
Yup, she was right!


P.S. Jane wants to know about his slippers. Yes, they are supposed to be fuzzy, but not bunnies!

He is back!

Here he is with a chest and his right arm! The left arm is complete down to his toothbrush. I did give him a hair on his chest and forearm as well! Next up is the shading under the arm and his belly!

Octagon 33

This is the piece that I finished while traveling. I bought a wooden box at Michael's and spray painted it with metallic gold, inside and out. Next I cut a piece of cardboard, quilt batting, and gold lame the size of the top. Layering those with the canvas on top, I wrapped them all to the back. I then glued this piece to the box and trimmed it with the gold gimp.
Tomorrow, I will post progress on Morning Luv!

A shoulder and part of an arm

Not found body parts, but actually what I stitched tonight! I started under his chin and put in some of the tan for a shadow there, and then moved over and started working across the arm and into the chest area. You can see I stopped at his toothpaste and brush as I want to continue to work from the top down.

Not shave and a haircut......Beard and a moustache....

Now despite several comments about this good lookin' dude that some of you may or may not have dated, I checked with Mom. She says she got this inspiration from a card from an old friend......We are going to go with that, okay? She also said she thinks it is coming along nicely, but said he did need gray in his hair tufts, (distinguishing...) and face. So, tonight, I added his beard, moustache, and some gray to what other hair we can see. I did not add any gray to his eyebrows as he is very vain and uses Grecian formula on them. By the way, I used a single strand of brown Splendor, and a single strand of gray DMC.

Eyes and Eyebrows

First, I finished stitching the face and outlining it and his other ear. Then, I outlined his eyes and the iris and then the eyelids tonight. I also added some eyebrows and a little bit of hair sticking out from under his nightcap.
I was going to outline his eyes with a brown, but Jane in CH prompted me to use a blue, and it worked great!
Now to answer some questions: Yes, Mom reads the blog and she is watching the progress on her fella. But, no she does not say who the model was!
I am glad you are enjoying watching this guy, as is DH! This one just makes us chuckle!

Starting the face

I am stitching the face with four strands of Splendor again. Around his ear and face I have also added two strands of a medium ecru to make them stand out. The same shade of ecru created his nose, and the darker shade of red makes his happy smile. I did his eyelids in a peachy color, eyes are blue and of course white. I need to outline them to stand out and will be putting in a lot more details once I finish the flesh tone.

What am I doing?

I am working on the face on Mornin Luv, but since it was not complete don't have a picture for you today.

Stay tuned for progress tomorrow!

Finishing the Loretta Spears heart

UPDATE: 
This pattern is called Sweetheart!

I completed the finishing on the Loretta Spears Heart ornament. If you remember, I stitched this piece in the car on one of the recent trips. I found a great pink trim that also has little white pearls on it. I sewed this one to a piece of white velvet for backing, and stuffed it with quilt batting. After sewing it together, I sewed the gimp on with a doubled strand of the Accentuate that was mixed with the Needle Necessities Overdyed to stitch the piece. I then added a ribbon loop and bow for the hanger.

The man has a hat

I put in the second color of red Splendor so you can see the full hat. I will add his tassel to the end of the nightcap later. Since this is on 18 count, I am using four strands of Splendor and my laying tool to keep these very smooth.

Summer Dream is framed!

I picked up the framed Summer Dream! It is a shadow box frame to accommodate the depth for the stumpwork. The interior frame is line with black to showcase the butterfly and the bee.

Starting with the hat

I forgot to put the white paper behind this before I took the picture! LOL, so you see the base of the stitching stand. Sorry! Anyway, I started with hat with four strands of Splendor, in a dark red, for all the shaded parts. At least I got the battery recharged! Do you ever have days like this??