Happy New Year

My best wishes for a Happy New Year to all my readers.

To my friends who are going through a tough time right now - worrying over an ailing parent in the hospital, mourning the loss of a beloved family pet - know that my thoughts are with you.

Hubby and I are staying home this evening and will toast the New Year with a little bubbly at midnight.

Stella

At hubby's suggestion, she is called "Stella". She almost didn't get finished today as we slipped into town to meet up with some friends at the pub for a pint (or two - ;))

I received a small swatch of this blue and orange fabric in a swap. I love this colour combination and have seen these splendid colours recently in a very cool man's shirt.

And twenty years ago when we bought our house, we bought it fully furnished as the seller didn't want to keep the furniture. Guess what my colour scheme was for the first 5 years or so - blue and orange - right out of the 60s. Ah, I miss that bright orange naugahide couch.

"My chair is upholstered in real Naugahide,
When they killed that nauga, I sat down and cried!"
-Allan Sherman (song parody of Chim Chim Cheree)

Detail of Current Project

Above is a partial view of what I am presently working on. It's almost finished and just needs a few splashes of glitter paint here and there. I like to add the glitter after photographing it because I haven't figured out a way to take a picture without the glitter reflecting back at the camera and distorting the image.

I can't reveal all of her yet since this is a gift and I don't want the recipient to see it before it arrives in her mailbox. I will post this lady in its entirety once she arrives in her new home.

Regina

I didn't think I'd be posting again until the New Year. We had a change in some of our plans. It gave me more time to do some stitching so here I am.

I went to a fabric store yesterday just to browse, fondle the fabrics, see what was on sale, etc. etc. I spotted some really interesting cotton with a "primitive" motif with gold accents. This fabric is eventually going to end up as the bodice and pockets of a dress. I couldn't resist snipping off a piece to make the above doll.

There is a lot of embroidery on her with black, purple and gold thread. I finally found some gold cotton embroidery thread that gives the right shine - far superior to that awful gold metallic thread that I struggled with a few weeks ago. I'll have to think up some clever way of using the metallic threads I bought so I won't have wasted $10.00.

I have called her Regina as I was listening to a rare recording of Marc Blitzstein's opera "Regina" as I was stitching. I used to have this record on vinyl and regretted getting rid of it (and others) due to lack to storage space. I am pleased to have found a copy of this work again and now it's burned on to one little CD in .mp3 format which takes up hardly any space at all. :)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

To my readers, I extend my wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you in the New Year.

Which Background Is Better?

I had in mind to stick an angel on this years' Christmas card. As I got working, my angel turned out to be a Madonna Icon instead. I am pleased with the result.

Which background do you prefer? I'm thinking maybe the red is better. The second one's not bad either, perhaps just a sharper image is needed. I don't have much time to decide as the overseas cards have to be in the mail by Monday.

Blue and Purple Goddess Doll For A Swap

I am really starting to love to embroider. A year ago I was a hopeless case. I have since learned a few things, like, practice makes perfect and what a difference it makes when you use embroidery floss vs regular thread. It's been more years that I care to remember since I was first introduced to embroidery in a Grade 7 Home Economics class. I had forgotten about the embroidery floss, and almost all the stitches I learned way back when.

This little doll is for a Swap-Bot Goddess Doll swap that I signed up for. I had a purple face to use up so I thought, "a colourful purple-faced Goddess". She has lots of embroidery, a few sequins for some sparkle and and a beaded tail.

I just started stitching and used the fabric for inspiration. The stitches are very simple, but effective, I think. I'm itching to do some French knots but so far, I'm not getting it when I watch the demos on YouTube.

It's December already and I haven't started my Christmas cards yet. I'll be working on those next. And Belinda, if you're reading this, I haven't forgotten - I still want to do another swap with you.