Category: Angels

Angels · Joan Elliott Round Robin

Spring, Spring and Spring?

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Weird title, huh?  Well, I have sort of a Spring theme going on.  First, I have been working on Spring Garden Fairy on Johanna‘s Round Robin.

Progress on Spring Garden FariyShe is Joan Elliott’s Spring Garden Fairy that is featured in the current issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework.  Johanna asked if I would like to stitch her on her Round Robin and I am so glad I am.  So far she has been a pretty easy stitch and she is so sweet.  Even the hair in this one has been no problem.  Can’t wait to finish her.

On Saturday, February 1, I started Lavender & Lace’s Angel of Spring:

Start on Angel of Spring

That is all the progress I made on this one.  I wanted to start this one with Tanya, a stitching friend , and I am so glad I was able to.  After many fabric changes and problems with scroll frames, this one finally came to life.  I will have to put her down and finish the RR, but I will pick her up again soon.

And for the final “Spring”, where is the real Spring?  Here in Michigan we broke a record for the most snowfall in any month this year.  Can I say that I am so sick of snow and winter? And we are expecting 2 more snow storms this week 😦  I have no idea where hubby and son are going to pile up more snow.  I think a lot of people are saying that this year.  So…where is Spring?  Is is just around the corner?

What are you stitching these days?

Angels · Frogs · Mermaids · New stash! · Nora Corbett · snowmen · Stitchy Gifts · Uncategorized

A Birthday Finish

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I celebrated my 50th birthday on Friday, and this weekend.  And the birthday present to myself was I finished Angel of Grace!  Woo Hoo!  Yep, finished her just before midnight on Friday for a great birthday finish. Here she is:

Finished Angel of GraceShe is Angel of Grace by Lorrie Birmingham Designs.  She is stitched on 28 ct Salmon and Gold Linen Banding, which was not fun to stitch on.  She is pretty much stitched as the pattern is charted, but rather than outline all the little squares that were left open on the dress, I decided to add gold beads.

Close up of basket on Angel of Grace

A basket charm, Austrian Crystals and 14kt butterfly charms were included in the pattern.  She really turned out beautiful, but there were many obstacles along the way on this one.  I truly wondered if I would ever finish her.  She will eventually be turned into a bell pull and given to my Mom for her birthday this summer.  I am just so happy to have her finished, and on my birthday 😉

So speaking of my birthday, here is how I celebrated all weekend:  I had a Stamping workshop at my house on Thursday night and the hostess brought me this:

birthday cakeYummy!  White cake, my favorite.  And I love that she had 29 put on it rather than 50.  She also brought me these:

HyacinthsBeautiful, pink, fragrant hyacinths.  My personal Spring!  Every time I look at them, and smell them, I know I am edging towards that much awaited day when the weather breaks and green starts poking though.  It’s a good thing I am in the basement right now as I don’t want to look out the window at this moment.  And a cute little frog key chain that lights up and croaks.

I spent most of my actual birthday on Friday, stitching.  My hubby and youngest took me out to Chinese for birthday dinner and then it was back to stitching until I finished the Angel-almost midnight, but I did finish her on my birthday.  Hubby bought me this:

New selphy printerMy own little personal printer and it’s wireless!  I had the earlier model, but the printer cartridge got stuck inside and it would have cost almost as much as a new one to fix it.  So now I have a new one and it’s wireless!  I love having my own personal printing for my scrapbooking.  And now I can print from the computer, too.  Awesome!

I also received a Gift certificate for 1-2-3-Stitch from a my sweet stitching friend, Annie.  I am waiting to see if they get the new Ophelia’s Pearl mermaid in so I can get that and her bead pack and threads.  That will be a super project to have in my stash.

On Saturday, my Friend, Carol, came over and we spent the day scrapbooking.  We did take a break for presents!

Carol scrapbookingShe gave me pink tiger ribbon (great for all of those zoo pictures I still have to scrapbook), Lindor Limited Edition chocolates (My favorite and in a pink bag :),  2 boxes of adhesive, (we scrapbookers go through a lot of that) and a set of Vampire Academy books.  I had not heard of them, but Carol knows I love vampires.  Can’t wait to read them.  And all my gifts were in a very nice re-usable shopping bag.  I love taking them to the grocery store instead of getting tons of plastic bags.  We also went out to Chinese for lunch and then back home to scrapbook.  While scrapbooking and having fun, this is what came in the mail:

shopping spree stashThe items from my Birthday shopping Spree at Stitches N Things. The thread is my missing thread for Biancabella.  The Snowmen Trio by Country Cottage Needleworks was too cute not to add to my stash. And the newest Mermaid Letters from Nora Corbett.  The “G”  is for Ginny of course, and the “I” is beautiful.  It almost doesn’t look like a letter.

And this was in the other package I received in the mail:

Frog pincushionMy Best Stitchy Friend, Johanna, sent me this adorable pin cushion.  It’s not small either.  It’s about 6″ tall and 7″ wide. The most adorable thing I have ever seen!  I love collecting decorative pins, so now I have a beautiful pin cushion to put them in.  I have to get a better picture of the froggy pin in the back:

Frog pinIsn’t it just the cutest?  And he is even wearing a birthday hat 🙂  I love it!

Blowing out the candle

So I had a wonderful birthday weekend and it wasn’t so bad turning 50.  And I finished the Angel!!!  Do you have a project that has been hanging over your head for a long time?

Angels · Cross Stitch Patterns · Mirabilia · New stash!

I See An Angelic Finish Coming

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After my first finish for 2014, I picked up a WIP that has been around way too long.  At least a few years.  You may remember her; Angel of Grace? Well here is how she looks now:

progress on Angel of GraceI’m getting really close to a finish.  She certainly is a challenge on that fabric.  It is 28 ct Salmon and Gold Linen Banding.  It is the most uneven fabric I have ever worked on.  The pattern is Angel of Grace by Lorri Birmingham Designs.  I am hoping to finish this by the end of the weekend.  I just have her ruffle to finish and some gold stitching on the right of the dress,  then outlining and some charms, buttons and beads.  I am so happy this one is actually coming to a finish.  It is a gift for someone special and I will by happy to finally have it crossed off of my WIP list.

And because I don’t have enough Mira stash, this is what I purchased on Saturday from Stitches N Things:

Biancabella stashThis month is my birthday, so I went on a birthday month shopping spree.  Shown here is the lovely Biancabella and her bead pack and one of two Waterlilies needed.  The other is on backorder.  I love the colors in Biancabella.  I am thinking of adding a snowflake in her hand instead of the apple.  She is my favorite winter colors, so I think a snowflake will be perfect.  Some day I will get to work on her.    I also ordered a couple of patterns that were not in the shop yet.

So now, back to stitching on Angel of Grace.  What WIP have you had in your stash for a very long time?

Angels · Nativity

Marbek Nativity

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While re-organizing my cross stitch patterns and going through bins of “stash” last weekend, I came across this:

This is the left panel of a 5 panel nativity scene that I started back in 1993.  WOW!  I remember that I had to do this piece twice.  I chose some fabric to do this shepherd boy on and when I went back to get more fabric for the next piece, that fabric had been discontinued.  WHAT??  So I purchased all of the fabric for all 5 panels, all of the krenik threads and specialty threads all at once.  And here it is 18 years later and I still don’t have all of it finished.  I do have 2 other panels finished:

I loved stitching this one.  All of those different threads.  And just look at those little tassels!  So cute!  And this next piece I finished about 3 years ago:

This is a nice colorful piece and I love the angel.  I just hope that when I get it finished (and I will get it finished) that the special frame kit will still be available.  When I finished the angel piece above, I was told at my LNS that she could still get the frame kit.  Another project on my long list of projects to finish.

Angels · My nails

Guardian Angel

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I was looking around my house to see what finished pieces I have not shared with you and I believe that this is the last hanging piece I have to share.

She is Guardian Angel by Lavender and Lace.  I finished stitching her on September 4, 1993.  I added the Bible verse to the bottom.  This one hangs in the hallway right outside my bedroom door.  She is beautiful and I need to stitch more of the Lavender Lace patterns that I have squirrled away.

I finally had a few minutes to add some stamping to my nails this morning.  I had them painted a week ago and they were in desperate need of a top coat.

They have grown out a little since my manicure last week and the tips are a little worn, but that’s ok.  I try to keep my polish on for 2 weeks as I hate going without.  I haven’t stamped them in a while and really have been itching to add something fun.  They are not perfect as I hurried to get them done before taking youngest son to drivers education, but they look cool.  And they are good for another few days before I add another layer of top coat.  This one’s for you K. Marie. If you get a chance, visit her blog A Stitcher’s Stitchings.  She is a wonderful stitcher and she does her nails really cool, too.

Angels

Angel of Grace

My Time Stitching4 Comments

Hello my stitching friends.  I had to give this piece a little love last night.  It is one that has been in my “rotation” for over a year now. It is Angel of Grace by Lorri Birmingham Designs.

She has not been a fun stitch. I had her stitched about down to her hands and realized that she was too far to the left.  I was going to add a Bible verse, but I realized the ribbons on her dress were going to be too far to the left edge.  So…I spent  a lot of time ripping her out.  I had to put her away for a while before I re-started her.  I haven’t stitched on her in a couple of months and thought she needed a bit of tending to last night. She is stitched on 28ct Salmon/Gold Linen banding.  And I must say it is the most UNEVEN fabric I have ever worked on!!!  It was a very expensive piece of fabric and the pattern says that the linen was spun in Ireland and woven in Germany on a 150 year old wooden loom.  Well, it has good history, but it is not fun to stitch on.  I probably purchased this pattern back in 2000 and wanted to stitch it for my Mom.  I was hoping to get it done for Christmas 2011, but now I am hoping for Christmas 2012.

Angels

Summer Angel

My Time Stitching3 Comments

Good afternoon, my blogging friends.  I have another stitched  piece to share with you today.

She is Summer Angel by Lavender and Lace.  Before I found Mirabilia, I found Lavender & Lace (aka Told in A Garden).  I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her and stitched her up in 1994.  I love her pink dress.  If you know me, then you know I LOVE pink.  Even back then.  And that she was an Angel pulled me in, too.  I remember the beaded garland was a pain to stitch-all confetti stitching.  Not my favorite, but am glad I stuck to it.  She is a favorite of mine and currently hangs in my dining room.  Some day I would like to stitch Angels from the other seasons so that I can change the Angel with the season.  I’ll just add that to my list of things “To Stitch, Some Day”. Ha!