Affectionately, Saggy Boob Mermaid

stitched on 32ct Vintage Exemplar

A finish! This orphaned project found new life with influences from The Shores of Hawk Run Hallow. The Crone 



My first attempt at a box finish.

And I have to say, I am pretty pleased with the result. I assume they will get better as I go. A big THANK YOU to "The Twisted Stitcher" for her tutorial (see the link below!) It was easy to follow and like I said, I'm loving how it turned out! Not to mention she has some other amazing tutorials on how to finish up some projects.
http://tts-learntofinish.blogspot.com/2012/02/cube.html?m=1

 

 

 

The dreaded knot

I have avoided French knots my entire stitching career, but the time has come and I could no longer hide from them!

Here is a preview of a little project I started today, and the first 2 French knots I ever created!

I admit, I you tubed it! The Maiden

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1Cq24d5-8s

 

 

Unexpected Undine

Much controversy has surrounded this project, Undine by Mirabilia, and I must say I have been quite challenged!

 Firstly, the colors are not at all what I expected! After much debate (mostly on facebook) it was determined that the dye lot of my Waterlilies was very different than those used to stitch the model.

I almost gave the project up completely, but with a little nudge from Nora herself I decided to continue!

 The second I saw this pattern I thought "she looks like a Betta fish!" As soon as the words left my mouth a new "fish baby" found me! Meet Diaval, a coveted rosetail. I really had no desire to add to my school at this time, but I feel it was fate...

and the moment I began to stitch the purples in her tail, I knew Undine and Diaval would swim side by side in my bathroom perfectly!

 

A note about the stitching at this point: I have learned it is best to stitch all the DMC in an area first, then go back and "paint" with the waterlilies. I had not done this in the darker tail portion and lost all my beautiful ribbing!

 

Also, we all know I hate the 3 B's: beading, backstitching and blends, but I now must amend this statement. For the first time I encountered a DMC/Waterlily blend... and fell in love! You can see the outcome above in the outline of the tail, stitching the purple DMC and the waterlily with the blend inbetween really created a seamless color transition!

The Maiden. 

Waterlily

This will forever be known as the year of the commission for me!

Waterlily by Nora Corbett

Stitched on 28ct Autumn Glade

I had so much fun stitching this project and she went so quick!

The Maiden