A headband and

I have finished the carrot nose, the smile, the pink headband, the little bit of shoulder and more of the sky! 

Final details

Santa is done.  He has his eyes and the holly on his hat.  I have also finished the 3rd snowman's face!

Faces

Santa has his eybrows, mustache and beard. A fuzzy dude!
Internet Explorer is acting hinky and won't upload photos....anyone else having that problem?  I went over to Firefox and it loaded right away....go figure!

Re-do's

The third thread and fourth stitch and I finally finished Santa's hat!  Whew!  Now I can move on!

More details

Santa's hat and mittens are stitched in Very Velvet and his face is all done in Splendor. 

The last of the threads came in, per a phone call I got today, so next week I will be starting on Jubilee.  Sorry for the delay, but I am getting other things done too!

A few more

Gravy stains  by Marie Englehart made from a collection of ties.  http://www.artprize.org/marie-englehart/2013/gravy-stains

 Silkwaves in the Grand River.  28 foot high flags waving in the breeze http://www.artprize.org/al-laurie-roberts/2013/silkwaves-in-the-grand

 Carved wood-a 6 inch piece of wood carved into a quilt!  http://www.artprize.org/fraser-smith/2013/finding-beauty-in-bad-things-porcelain-vine

 She always tries to measure up--dress and purse made entirely of vinyl tape measures.  http://www.artprize.org/dawn-wohlford/2013/she-always-tries-to-measure-up

Sleeping Bear Dune Lakeshore is a collage landscape art quilt.  http://www.artprize.org/ann-loveless/2013/sleeping-bear-dune-lakeshore

We walked a total of 8 miles seeing all of the art!  And, we did not even see it all!  I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of the mediums that I thought were appropriate for the blog.  There is a multitude of other pieces that are also fabulous but it is time for me to resume some stitching.  You can go to ArtPrize.org and click on find art and see much, much more.  Voting for the first round ends Saturday nite and they will be announcing the top ten!  I can't wait to see what they are

So I have....

I have been visiting ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI!  This is a huge displays from artists all over the world that set up displays from September 18 to October 4th.  From the www.artprize.org website:
"ArtPrize® is a radically open, independently organized international art competition with an unprecedented $200,000 top prize decided entirely by public vote." 
Each year, we make two or three trips to see all of the art around the city--on the streets, in the Museums, in Frederick Meijer Gardens....in the businesses too! 

The above piece and close is called Vortices and is by Allison Svobada and is Traditional Japanese sumi-e on kozo paper, hand cut. 

 This entry is called Woolhouse.  Staged in a little corner, you can see where Annie Belle, cast on her balls of wool roving and knitted the walls,

 the mailbox,

 and the couch, inner walls, a rug on

the floor, pillows.  For more detail see: http://www.artprize.org/annie-belle/2013/woolhouse

 

 

So while I am perusing other art, and casting my votes, I am also planning my stitches and threads for the next pieces.  This is a great event to see and if you get the chance, check out the website, or come and visit!

Layer One

 Layer One is stitched and ready for the beads.  I added the star Rhodes with Neon Rays and then added Fleur de Lis Crescents with Splendor.  Both sides are done and here is the overall photo so far.

I am setting this aside for a while so I can get started on the Leigh Design Jubilee. 

Another one!

This also came in the mail--ordered them both at the same time!  This, of course, is Champagne Corliss!  A friend has asked me to stitch her for her.  I usually won't do a piece a second time, but a very special friend won out!  She is one of the series of Floozies by Leigh Designs and you can see the rest of them here:  http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp489x.html
I will probably work on this separately and only show occasional progress as you have seen this one worked before.  Check the right side of the blog, Champagne Corliss, and you can see what I am going to be doing.  There is also a stitch guide available with the purchase of the canvas from your shop. If you already have the canvas, you can also get the guide from me.

Jubilee!

I love it when a new canvas shows up!  This is Jubilee by Leigh Designs.  She is one of the Showgirls series, and is 8 x 20 design on tan 18 count.  You can see the entire series at the website: 
http://www.leighdesigns.com/Grp502x.html
I just finished ordering my threads, so it will be a few days before we get started but think bling and glamour!  I am going to write a stitch guide for this piece in case it is in your stash!

Filling in

Next up were 3 x 3 Jessicas, 5 x 5 Jessicas and a line of Rhodes stitches done with Kreinik and then Silk Lame Braid petite.  Last, I worked Star Rhodes stitches in Neon Rays.  Just a bit more to do and this layer will be done.  This time, I used the right wing to show the progress.

First Layer

I have started the First layer--what the designer calls the wing sections.  First, a large star Jessica is done in blue Petite Frosty Rays.  Next, small star Jessicas are done with Kreinik.  Mirrored Crescents around the star Jessica is more Kreinik as are the three x three Jessicas.  I am working both sides at the same time, but only photo'd one side.

The last one!

It took a while, but I made it!  All of the outlining Symrna's are done!  Now the fun can begin!
Hope you had as busy a weekend as I did!

Lots more lines

Sorry, I know this is the boring part, but only a few hundred more Smyrnas to go!

Starting the fill

Next are four more lines of Smryna crosses that will create the sections to fill in with decorative stitches.  I have decided to work down both sides at the same to ensure I have no more errors.  The pattern comes with the right wing charted and if you look close you will see that I am using a highlighter on a copy to mark off my progress!

All around

The wings are all crossed all the way around.  Next up is more Smyrna Crosses for the wing patterns.

One done

I finished the first snowperson!  Her hair is all done, I did her nose in a modified Rhodes heart stitch, added some black cube beads for the eyes.  Last I did a bit more of the sky!

A little here and there

I did the face in a brick stitch and then added the Fuzzy stuff for the rest of the earmuffs.  I have started doing buillion stitches for her hair!

Zipping along!

I finished the scarf, added more to the sky and then stitched the earmuffs with fuzzy stuff!  Going to figure a face stitch tonight.

Reversing

I have started the left wing on Mariposa.  It is not charted, so I have to reverse the right wing
in order to stitch this.  I am not so fast at doing this!  But, it is a start!

Finally!

I am back at the stitching!  Hopefully all had a great Labor Day too!  I finally got this count right and have the right wing done.  Lesson learned:  custom painted canvas is not one to make a mistake on.  Look at the outside of the wing on the right side and you can see where I removed and corrected my stitches.  Fortunately, there are stitches outside of the Smyrna cross border and I am hoping they will cover my boo boo!