Embroidery Project with Cross Stitch- Papillon 2009 SAL, Castles in the Air, Part 1

Delicate, Light, and rather Elegant!

I’ve never been one for samplers, but lately, the email groups that I’m part of have chatted about Papillon Creations’ 2009 Stitch Along Mystery Sampler, Castles in the Air.  You are supposed to use the 10 charted colors and choose 11 colors on your own to finish off the color chart. I took to the challenge and sought out  fabric, thread and beads that I had on hand and decided to join in.

This is my Mystery Sampler after completing Part 1. I purchased both the cross stitch version and the specialty version of the SAL. I decided to stitch the specialty version simply because I LOVE EMBROIDERY! Surface embroidery is still my all time favorite needle and thread creation, and this SAL has been surprisingly enjoyable.

The photos don’t show all the ‘bling’  and glitter that really is on this canvas. I used a ‘Vintage Gold’ metallic thread as my one specialty thread. It’s a black with a gold twist wound around it. All in all it gives this part, the Formal Garden, a look of wrought iron. I just love it!

I love this pinkish color. I think these flowers look like hibiscus.

I didn’t keep the original 10 colors assigned. Yes, I know… I cheated. I changed the blues to match the other colors that were free choice. My new ‘peacock blues’ match the hues of my other choices now.

This is the photo that I sent in to be uploaded on Papillon Creations website. Hopefully, my Part 1 will show up here soon.

Your life needs fun. Go ahead, have some fun!
smiles,
alicia in Hawaii
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Cross Stitch Project – Mill Hill “Kitchen Collection” Cupcake and Mixer

Shiny, shimmering, glorious beads!

I love my local needlework shop, Fiddlesticks Hawaii. They brought these kits in for me…just to tantalize my addiction to stitching.

Each of these were lots of fun to stitch up. The colors are just…well…”fun”. There is something about them, that when viewed in person, make them almost mesmerizing. Here is the Mixer. Kit is Mill Hill, “Kitchen Collection”, Mix It Up. Design by Debbie Mumm.

Here is the Cupcake. Kit is Mill Hill, “Kitchen Collection”, Lil’ Cupcake. Design by Debbie Mumm.

The one area that is not that much ‘fun’ to tackle on these projects is that little strip of red or green below the main picture. That can get rather tedious and it is very easy to make mistakes there since the greens and reds are scattered so. I started each of the projects there…at that boring band. I saved the fun stuff for last!

I also stitched and beaded at the same time. Some folks like to complete all the stitching first then return to do all the beading. These projects are so small… I didn’t think it would hurt to bead while stitching along.

I have the other kits in the Mill Hill Kitchen Collection and as soon as I finish up the Elephant I am stitching up, then I’ll continue with the rest.

…maybe I’ll make the Toasty Toaster

…no…maybe the Bowls…yikes! So many to choose from!

Your life needs fun. Go ahead, have some fun!

smiles,

alicia in Hawaii

Cross Stitch Project – Mill Hill Wildlife Elephant

If you view and elephant from the side…you might see…

See all the beads.

See all the stitches.

Changing gears, yet again, here is my newest time interest. Mill Hill comes out with new bead kits every so often and once in a while I find something that catches my fancy.My local shop here, Fiddlesticks, ordered this one special just for me.

Look at this! It was just too adorable to pass up…and I have the perfect space to display it while ‘gently reminding’ people that “I’ll never forget”…heehee…<evil grin>

I actually started off back into cross stitch with Mill Hill’s release of their “Kitchen Collection” (which will be my next post) and from those two pieces I stitched up, I moved onto doing just this little elephant.

I just love the texture, colors and shimmer of the beads. The complementary colors are done well in this piece and makes it just irresistible in my book! Had to get my artsy hands on this one.

After picking it up yesterday at the shop, I’ve gotten this far today with it. These kits usually take me 2 days to complete…so lets hope that tomorrow or the next day will show us a full grown, stitched shiny blue elephant!

Your life needs fun. Go ahead, have some fun!

alicia in Hawaii

Beaded Embroidery Project-Beaded Berry/Berries Full Size Pincushion

While hanging out in my local, most favorite, stitchery store, Fiddlesticks (believe it or not, they do not have a website), my hubby found a great bead embroidery book. Beautiful Bead Embroidery published by Country Bumpkin.

Within it, there are projects for beaded berries. Which look like the cover of one of their Inspirations Magazines; Click Here to see berry cover. He was so enamoured with them…he couldn’t get over how real the berries looked and he was so impressed, he thought it necessary for me to have the book…and to embroider the berries.

Well, I’ve been through a beading phase, so beading, I can do. I opened the book, learned that the projects are for jar lids…and determined that a jar lid is not a useful project for me. So, I thought of my little bottle cap pincushions. Yet, a bottle cap pincushion just seemed too small for a cluster of berries to either sit up top of or to hang off the sides of. So, I thought it best to make the berries to adorn a full size pincushion.

I used felt for the body construction of the pincushion. The pincushion is sewn with Kreinik gold filament(2 strands), embellished with a vintage gold button, and topped with a scrumptious yummy cluster of berries. Berries are made with Mill Hill beads, as per the book instructions.

I didn’t get any pictures of it’s creation in progress, but, here is the final product.

And, being the southern gentleman that my hubby is…he says…after all that I went through to create this beauty….”Wow! Looks like a doughnut!” He’s so funny.

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Since I had the beads out…I went ahead and made up a little design and added a few to a “quick and easy bottle cap pincushion”:

Have you made any beaded embroidery items? Berries? If so, I’d love to hear form you and see your pictures.

If you are a beginner at embroidery or even a beginner at beaded embroidery, you may want to try l little cluster of berries to adorn a small quick and easy project. Your life needs fun. Go ahead, have some fun!