a patriotic finish

this was a "blink and you missed it" kind of project

i liked the star so much more without the beads that i decided to stick with an open stitch and let the shape speak for itself. while this might not be my favorite project i've ever done just kidding all my projects are my favorite, it is my dbf's fave, and that makes it even better. it feels good to have a needlepoint cheerleader, lol.

what's next you say? i'm still stitching through my stash, although it has dwindled significantly. next up is another small canvas, but packed with lots of culture and flavor!

the stars at night...

are giving me more trouble than i would like!

after completing the blue section, i tried a little beading from my stash. not really the look i was going for...

but ripping out beading is the worst so i just stayed in denial kept it in and continued on to the other sections

by the time i finished the red portion, i finally came to terms and ripped it out

at this point i'm toying around with the idea of doing an open stitch and letting the star's shape come out naturally. stars can be tricky, and i don't want to overcomplicate this piece.

#help

deep in the heart of texas!

i started on this little canvas (and i mean little) after the gumdrop house threads were put away and the canvas was safely taken off the stretcher bars. what a weird feeling to go from a large canvas to a teeny tiny one, i have to re-adjust my hand placement while stitching!

i consulted about 3-4 books trying to find the most perfect little stitches for this flag. i tend to try and over-complicate simple canvases because there's just so much to be left up to the imagination. it's a red, white and blue block and initially my mind wants to do something completely innovative and never-before-seen. 

i don't want to over-complicate this. i want to let the canvas speak for itself. i love our Texas flag, and i don't want to take away from the simplicity of its design by going off the grid with sparklies and ribbons. i did however, know that i wanted to bead the lone star, so i chose the mosaic background as a nice supporting piece to showcase that. 

coming off of a project that involved lots of frills and threads, it's sometimes hard to detox and get in the right mindset for a completely different kind of canvas. I equate it to dog breeds. each project is different, with its own personality. some don't want to be sparkly and frilly. and some want every single kind of trick in the book!

i'm going to stop now before i become "the canvas whisperer"...but i'm really liking how this is starting to take shape. 

have a great weekend and be sure to take time to do something that you love!

a sweet finish!

the gumdrop house is officially done and i am doing a major happy dance!

yes yes i know, it was only the bottom square that i needed to finish, but taking this guy off the stretcher bars felt pretttttttttyyyyyy amazing. this is easily one of my most favorite projects that i've done, it was a fun one!

for my next project, i decided to pull out something smaller that would be less detail-oriented. how apropos that i also started this new canvas on flag day? 

stay dry out there friends! 

gumdrop walls pt. 2

i honestly can't believe i've been working on this thing since April! i've been used to completing smaller projects in about a month, so this guy seems like it took forever!

i tackled the white/grey areas between each of the walls in floss, and then moved onto the last remaining candy components for the house.

i used memory thread for the lollipop sticks to give it some more dimension, but also it looks more realistic...

once the memory thread was wrapped in ribbon, i used a combination of kreinik and splendor silk to tent stitch the green portion as painted. then i used kreinik to french knot all of the red. 

i really wanted them to be lollipop topiaries, so i hope that's how it reads!

technically, the house is complete, but i still have to basketweave that pesky bottom square, so i'll be back to post an official "i'm finished" update. i also need to decide what my next project will be....

stay tuned!

gumdrop walls pt. 1

we had a lazy weekend that was mostly centered around work (his) and stitching (hers). i made some real progress on the gumdrop walls so i'm doing my best to organize each layer that i've been adding on slowly but surely!

this is what i started off with on saturday morning

there was a "paranormal activity" movie marathon on TV so i would stitch for a bit, then take a brief pause to tune into the ghost action

here's some leg action for you too 

i was able to start on the dark pink outline before petering out. my hand was also starting to cramp too. 

enter sunday:

i successfully completed all the dark pink outlines, and the tiny little continental stitches amidst the hesitation background stitch. it reminds me of peppermint ice cream, with the peppermint flakes mixed into the minty pink ice cream. 

it's still a lot of pink, but i love how the stitch came out, and am also glad to be rid of the neon rays and start the long cross to the finish line!

a special delivery, and a special finish!

i love being able to use needlepoint as a special gift for life's little occasions. one such occasion is the birth of a new family member! once my cousin and his wife confirmed the gender of the baby (boy), and once i had a few details on the nursery décor, i set to work!

i knew i wanted to use the j. child "baby sleeping" canvas because of the sweet little giraffe (and the fact that the nursery had multiple giraffes in it)

but i knew i wanted to incorporate a different background. the mommy-to-be had decorated in lots of navy and white stripes, so i based the background off of that. i covered up the star, and changed the color of the writing to coordinate.

(picture above was taken before giraffe's body was complete, but you get the idea!)

i was able to use most of my stash, with the exception of the navy neon rays. i forgot i had done this canvas once before for a friend wayyyyy back when, remember?

here's a horrible picture of my lap because we were racing to get to the hospital to see this sweet little face!

eek so cute! i love transforming a canvas to make it uniquely yours, and i know that it will have a special place hanging in baby boy's room.