Dragon Game: First Post

Okay, I've been dark, sorry.  I even missed my Saturday post.  I don't have a good reason, just crazy work, which should be settling down and me not really wanting to work on much that I've already started.

So I started something new. :S  This is called Dragon Game, artwork by Molly Harrison.  It was a free chart at one point on HAED's site.  It is no longer available on their free chart page.  I'm stitching this on 20 ct. white and gold  Lugana.  You can kind of see the gold in the pictures below.

I did the color with the most stitches first, as is the norm for me.  And I took a picture with this one color, which is actually over 16% of the overall design.

Next I just did some colors that were within grabbing distance.  Colors that were in other charts I was working on.  I think there are three more colors added in this picture.

And this is where he's sitting right now.

Project Stats:
Pattern: Dragon Game
Original Artist: Molly Harrison
Pattern by: Heaven and Earth Designs
Started Stitching: July 19, 2013
Fabric: 20ct. White with Gold Lugana
Floss: DMC 2 over 1
Percentage: 31.26% complete
Stitches: 1,601 out of 5,121 complete

I was being such a good little stitcher with HAED's last few sales.  I hadn't bought anything in a loooong time.  Until I saw Hannah Lynn Disney's Punch of Color Girls 4.  I haven't been a huge fan of her artwork.  But I've seen many people stitch her work, I love her colors, and the cheerfulness of her pictures and wanted to find one that I'd want to stitch.  I liked Fisherman's Catch, and I think I might eventually purchase the mini, but it didn't call out to me.  Punch of Color Girls 4, didn't call out to me either... it screamed.  I love how the splotches of color are splotches of paint (kind of reminds me of Creative Dog), she's pretty, but her outfit makes her look tomboyish to me.  I'm thinking of doing her on 28 ct. evenweave, the same fabric I'm using for Her Special Place.  Okie that's enough from me, I finally have the floss for Pelagic, so I really need to finish him up.

Completed Project Add: Beaded Flowers - Flowering Cactus

Another beaded flower for this week's post.

This is a cactus I made for my dad to take to his office.  I think this was the third beaded flower I'd made.  I might be wrong on that.  There are some things I would like to fix, but overall I think it turned out pretty well.

And a couple more views:

Now, let me tell you... those gold spines are just as sharp and prickly as the real thing.  I don't know how many times I poked myself while putting them on.

Project Stats:
Pattern: Cactus, Flowering
Flower Design: Dalene Kelly
Arrangement Design: Me
Started: June 2007
Finished: August 22, 2007
Beads: 11/0 Czech Seed Beads
Wire: 26 ga. floral wire and Artistic Wire

Maritime - Pelagic: First Post

Here's the other half of Maritime, Pelagic.  I was going to change this one from the sample, but I ended up not doing so.  I did like the background color, and still do, I love blue and this is a great blue color.  I didn't really like the yellow that there seemed to be in the picture of the sample.  I looked up the color anyway and didn't see the same yellow color in the photo of the thread.  I decided to buy it and decide if I wanted to use it when it arrived.  I'm guessing the light source for the sample was slightly yellow since I don't see any yellow at all in my thread.  So I decided to use it.

One thing I did notice about the Dinky Dyes thread I received is the varigation isn't very even, it seemed odd, but it seems to be working out well with Pelagic.

Up first is... this...

175 Stitches

I really don't know what part of the body this is.  Is it a fin?  I'm just going to call it an appendage and get on with the rest of this post.

Next up the main body and beginning of the tail.

1030 Stitches

And here's the rest of the tail:

1841 Stitches

I was going to post at this point, but I was pretty sure I was going to run out of thread so I decided to keep going until I did run out.  I got one of this fins completed.

2198 Stitches

And then I got a portion of his head done.

2419 Stitches

I can't help but giggle and think he looks like he has a shaved head.  I ordered more thread but it won't be in until almost the end of the month.  However, I have stitched enough to order the mats and frame for him.  I know that I've stitched the furthest right, left and bottom stitches.  And there's only one stitch higher on his "hair".

Project Stats:
Pattern: Maritime - Pelagic
Pattern by: Fire Wing Designs
Started Stitching: July 7, 2013
Fabric: 28ct. Twilight Cashel Linen
Floss: Dinky Dyes - Mint Ice, 2 over 2
Percentage: 82.25% complete
Stitches: 2,419 out of 2,941 complete

Now I'm just waiting for materials to come in to work on the other Signets.  But that doesn't mean I'll be idle.

You Are Never Too Old: Second Post - Complete

So this one's been MIA for a while so here's the short version:

I messed up and didn't feel like frogging at the time.  I put it away.  Apparently I put it away too well and lost it.  I decided to look for it again the first week of July and found it in a place I swear I looked in a million times before.

So I frogged two sides of the border and redid them, correctly this time, and did the last two sides, and the pink of the dragon's ear.  Everything's done except for black and gold.

I next worked on the gold.  The scales on the dragon hardly took any time at all.  But the words just seemed to take forever to do.

And finally, the black of the nostrils and the backstitching.

Project Stats:
Pattern: You Are Never Too Old
Pattern by: Dragon Dreams
Started Stitching: March 7, 2013
Finished Stitching: July 7, 2013
Fabric: 28ct. Dusk Cashel Linen
Floss: DMC 2 over 2, or 1 over 2 Kreinick #4 Braid
Percentage: 100% complete
Stitches: 2,861 out of 2,861 complete

There's a big sale at work right now on framing.  I'm going to see if I can finish the Signets before the end of the month when the sale ends.  Pelagic is next.

Completed Project Add: Beaded Flowers - Shamrocks and Apple Blossoms

I'm posting this midnight on Saturday so I actually post on Saturday, for a change.

This was actually my first commissioned project.  A friend at her work was asked about making beaded flowers and she knew I made them.  So she asked if I minded talking to her, I told her I would love to.

The woman had bought a vase in Dublin, Ireland.  It looks like a tree stump with shamrocks painted on it.

Going through some of my books we combined shamrocks, to match the ones painted on the stump and apple blossoms to match the white of the stump.

This is how it looked when I finished according to my design:

I decided that it needed more shamrocks, so I made a few more and added them in:

The photo was very dark, so I had to play around with it.  I'm rather bummed that I don't have any really good pictures of this.  And, unlike most of my other pieces, I have no way of getting it back to rephotograph.

One thing I did learn while making this, was I charged her way too little for how long it took me to make.  But it was my first experience, like just about everything, it's a learning process.

Project Stats:
Pattern: Shamrocks and Apple Blossoms
Flower Design: Dalene Kelly
Arrangement Design: Me
Started: June 2007
Finished: August 22, 2007
Beads: 11/0 Czech Seed Beads
Wire: 26 ga. floral wire and Artistic Wire

I have been working on items.  A little bit on my nephew's blanket, a little bit on my sister's ornament, and I finally found You Are Never Too Old, so I decided to see if I could finish that up quickly.