My Mental Health Weekend was a complete success! I'm ready to get back to doing all of the stuff I should be doing (instead of stitching all day), and that's a sure sign the break was needed and effective. I highly recommend it.
Sunday was the Austrian Grand Prix. Can't stitch while that's going on... too exciting.
But I did finish Super Honeybee! Here she is, in all her super power-y glory!
I stitched her on 32 ct. mint green linen, which I obviously can't get a good picture of! The top two pictures are too washed out, and the bottom is too yellow. Anyway, it's a very pretty soft green. Here are the other changes I made:
DMC 894 changed to 3609
DMC 956 changed to 3607
DMC 601 changed to 718
DMC 209 changed to 955
E168 changed to Kreinik #8 101
eyes, eyebrows, nose: DMC 3031
cheeks: DMC 224
lips: DMC 223
hair: DMC 4145
earrings, floss lasso: Kreinik #4 001HL
pants, trim & soles of boots: Kreinik #8 010HL
(on the parts where I used #8 braid, I would have used #4 if I had had it; that's what I would recommend for 32 ct.)
The next thing I need to do is have a Finishing Weekend. I have a bunch of projects that need finishing and framing. Maybe I can swing that in a couple of weeks.
It's the first day of summer. Where has the first half of this year gone?!
I "summerized" the basket in my sewing room. I don't have many summer finishes because--I must confess--I have no interest whatsoever in summer. I use it as a preparation period for my two favorite seasons, fall and winter.
And I came sooo close to finishing Super Honeybee, but we had some severe weather last night that interrupted my stitching. All is well, but I didn't quite finish her.
I have to say, I absolutely love how she's turning out. That raised eyebrow kept bugging me, so I changed it. I think I'll change the "B" on her shirt from silver to pink as well, so it will show up better.
The MHW continues apace: slowly. It's been a slooow, quiet weekend (except for weather drama last night), which is just what I wanted. One more day to savor.
Could the Mental Health Weekend (MHW) get any better? Why yes, yes it could. When I decided to give myself a mini-vacation, I also placed a strategically timed order with 123 Stitch, knowing it would arrive in time for my MHW (because they have such great service). Sure enough, first thing Friday morning, stash arrived!
The new Mill Hill Celtic Santas: Scotland, Ireland, and Wales
And a couple of spooky-cute designs. I'm starting to feel ever so slightly Halloween-y. It happens around this time every summer!
Movie-watching marathon... Bogie and Bacall!
Bacall: I don't like your manners.
Bogie: And I'm not crazy about yours. I didn't ask to see you. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them on long winter evenings.
So great.
Painted the piggies purple. Because it's MHW.
And got Super Emma Honeybee about half finished. As you can see, I've changed pretty much everything. When I get her finished I'll list my changes (if I can remember them all). I showed her to Mr. Wonderful and he said, "She looks like you!" Precious man.
Still debating about that raised eyebrow. I may change it. And I had to change the mouth because after stitching it four times, I couldn't manage to keep it from looking like a duck's bill (my fault, not the designer's). And that hair took forever. It's stitched in DMC Color Variations 4145 which--amazingly--is really close to my actual hair color of dark ash blond. But what took so long was that I stitched the hair in "waves" instead of in rows so that I would get a more realistic look, instead of the bands of color you get when you stitch in rows.
I had to mark off every stitch to keep track of which "wave" I had stitched and where I should go next. A lot of trouble, but I like how it turned out.
I really enjoyed my Friday. Especially when Mr. Wonderful brought home Mexican food for supper!
The MHW continues...
I am not a TV watcher. I like sports and old movies, but that's it. Last week while perusing the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) schedule, I discovered that Thursday night was monster bug movies and all day Friday was mystery/suspense movies. Also, the Austrian Grand Prix is Sunday (that's Formula 1 racing, by the way). An idea was born. I decided to do something I never do: sit in front of the TV for hours stitching and watching old movies and racing. I've been in need of a very low-key "mental health weekend" and this weekend would do nicely. I had a very productive week, got everything on my list done, cooked up a storm on Thursday so Mr. Wonderful wouldn't starve... and then I went "off duty."
I had laid in supplies:
I chose a fun new project. I thought about working on Snowfire Christmas, but that takes too much brain power and I wanted something to capture the spirit of my weekend. I chose this freebie by Brooke Nolan. You won't be a bit surprised to hear I'm changing all the colors in her outfit, as well as cutting and coloring her hair (so she'll look a little more like me!). Oh. I'm also putting pants on her (also so she'll look more like me). *snort*
I settled in to watch mutant insect movies from the 50's, because why not?
Someone else showed up. Yes, that's the TV you can't see.
Giant larva attacks Tokyo!
I'm feeling better already. I mean, how could you not?
Stay tuned for all the unexciting low-lights of my ultra low-key Mental Health Weekend!
My humble little stitching blog has hit 100 members! Thank you to all who have joined. Thank you to all who have left such sweet comments.
I know I am not a typical blogger. My blog is not exactly easy to stumble upon. That's on purpose. I don't share much personal information. That's on purpose. I am what is called a "no reply blogger," which is apparently a huge no-no in the blogging community. That's on purpose. See a theme here? There are reasons I have made these choices, and I am aware that as a result, my little blog will never be wildly popular or have oodles of members. That's okay with me. I do appreciate every one who has managed to find me, and every one who has joined, and every one who comments.
And despite my best efforts to keep a relatively low profile, Tiger Lily has still managed to become an international celebrity. Fame is so tiring.
First picture, leaflets 1-3: Chickadee, Cardinal, Tree Sparrow, Whiskey Jack, House Finch, Robin
Second picture, leaflets 4-6: Bluebird, Goldfinch, Wren, Hummingbird, Golden Crowned Kinglet, Nuthatch
Third picture, leaflets 7-9: Christmas Robin, Mama Cardinal, Oriole, Swallow, Summer Tanager, Wood Thrush
The Christmas Robin is finished as an ornament because she was first published in the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament issue and I stitched her then, not knowing she was the first of a series. She was re-published in leaflet #7. I'll re-stitch her at some point, as I've decided these will be made into a wall hanging someday.
Just finished the Woodthrush, the 18th and last Button Up Birdie (Victoria Sampler).
Hope to get pictures of the entire set tomorrow when the light is better.
Guess what? My first Button Up Birdie (Victoria Sampler) finish in over a year! If you've been here that long, you may remember that I was slogging my way through the whole series... all 18 of them. Here's Summer Tanager, #17. One more to go and I will have completed the whole series.
If you'd like to see a few of my other Button Up Birdie finishes, click on the label "birds." There are only a few there, as I had stitched some before I started blogging. When I finish the series I'll post all 18 of them.
