First WIPs of 2013

The bad blogger is back.

It's WIPocalypse time again, and though the world isn't ending this year, it's a fun idea for posting WIP pics every month. :)

This year I'm going to try to participate in Theme-a-licious, too, so there is one wip that I won't share until the 31st. I'm very confused about it all, but that's nothing new.

The theme for WIPocalypse this month is to introduce ourselves and share our goals for this year.

So, who am I? Hmmm. I'm Karen. I'm a stay-at-home mom of two kids, Boy-child, aged 10, and Girl-child, aged 3. My husband, Sean, is a hard-working, put upon, computer geek, who tolerates my stitchy and stashy habit, but just barely. We live in Marengo, Illinois, USA, which is around 60 miles west of Chicago. We have a very sweet soft-coated wheaten terrier named Teddy; four cats that I adore, Bubba, Mimi, Squash, and Honeybee; and a tank of fish. I used to be a travel agent until I had the boy-child. I've got a few hobbies, but stitching overshadows just about everything. I'm trying my hand at designing cross stitch patterns, but it's going to take me a while to get the hang of it. (I'm working on a mermaid right now) I'm completely addicted to hand-dyed fabric, as you can see by looking at the "Fabric" tab above. I used to bellydance, but I haven't for a while because all my time and money has been going to stitching. I'm a little obnoxious, I freely admit it, but I think I have a decent sense of humor. Up until recently I was posting pictures of good-looking men on "Hunky Fridays." I've been a bit lax in the last couple of months. I'll try to get better, as it seems to be quite popular. Sometimes I think you only love me for my hunks. (Just kidding.)

I recently shared my "to-do" list, but for the purposes of WIPocalypse, I'll copy and paste.

2013 Stitching Plans

1.      Mermaids of the Deep Blue – Mirabilia

2.      Queen of Fairies – Passione Ricamo

3.      TOT Fairy for October birthday

4.      My 2011 Mirabilia RR – finish my square

5.      My 2011 Band Sampler RR – finish at bottom

6.      2012 Band Sampler RR – almost done

7.      Key to My Heart – Stoney Creek

8.      Handiwork Memories – Stoney Creek

9.      Spring Garden – Stoney Creek

10.  Passione Ricamo Mistery Fairy SAL

11.  Bellydancer No. 1 – Yiota

12.  RAK Project – Maidenhair

13.  The Book Store – Country Cottage Needleworks

14.  Overlook Café

15.  Mirabilia Large-Stitch RR 2013

16.  Joan Elliott RR – May 2013 start

17.  Butterfly Garden – The Drawn Thread

18.  Fire Goddess – Joan Elliott

19.  Joan Elliot 2013 Diary SAL

20. PIF project

So what have I accomplished this month? Lots!

I stitched my section of Jo's Band Sampler round robin. Her theme was "purple with an accent color." I chose turquoise. I love turquoise. My bands are from four different Just Nan patterns.

I'm really proud of and happy with this. I finished all the seaweed, and my mermaid on my Mirabilia large-stitch round robin. I really love how the softened edges came out!

My South Seas Mermaid

Tons of beads!!!

And more beads!

 I also started January's entry in the Joan Elliott 2013 Diary. I hope I can finish it before the end of January, but we'll see.

Not much worth mentioning on this one, but what the heck... I put in a few more stitches on Overlook Cafe.

I treated myself to a new start after finishing my mermaid, but like I said, it's for Theme-a-licious, so I won't post it until the 31st.

Lastly, it's not a wip, it's a finish! I received my 2012 Joan Elliott round robin back, right around the time that my FIL passed away. I was in a funk, so I didn't post a picture of it. Well, here it is!!!!

 It's fabulous and I love every stitch that went in. Thank you so much to all the ladies that worked on it!! I'll get around to framing it some time this year, I swear. I'll post another pic then.

So, there you have it, my first WIPocalypse of 2013. If you got this far, thanks for reading. See you next time.

Oh, and I just hit 10,000 page views! How cool is that? I have to go tell Sean.

October? (November) WIPocalypse #11

Okay. Late again. But there is a small amount of good news. I seem to have gotten some of my stitchy mojo back. I haven't gotten lots done, mind you, but I did start getting into a groove.

So, let's check in...

 I did a wee little bit on CCN's "The Book Store." Just a bit on the door and the bricks.

 

 I did an even "wee-er" little bit on the centerpiece of my Mirabilia Large-Stitch RR. It's got me a little concerned that I won't have all my seaweed or my own mermaid done before it's time to get it in the mail.

 I'm not quite half-way on Sophia's Band Sampler RR, but I am doing two sets of colors (red and orange) instead of one. It is a series of Celtic knot bands that are in beautiful rainbow colors using all silks. Yum.

Here is my big finish! I did the last portion of the Joan Elliott RR on Jacqui's piece. I have stitched for her Joan's Goddess of the Sea. She came out beautifully and was pleasant to stitch.

 

Here is the full piece. Jacqui just needs to finish her square with Cinderella, and add, I think, verses in the blank squares. It is a lovely piece, and I'm so glad I was part of this Round Robin.

 

 Well, here's hoping my mojo will stick with me through the end of the year, and beyond!

I need your opinions

Hello All!

I've been thinking about my Mirabilia Large-Stitch round robin. I wasn't sure if I was happy with the seaweed borders as I had them. I've tried a different look to the seaweed. I'd like to know if you like Version 1 seaweed better, or Version 2. Please keep in mind that the mermaids will be in their full regular color, not the silhouettes I've shown. Also, the black rectangular borders around each mermaid are just for placement.

Version 1

Version 2

Please share your opinions. Thank you!

Tardy WIPs and Hunks

I know, I know. I'm tardy again. Being on time has never been one of my strong points. (blush)

I've been busy stitching away this month. Here are my WIPs/Finishes:

Let's start with my RAK project. You've already seen this, and I haven't added anything else, but it counts as a WIP for this month, right?? ;-)

Next, we have my RR portion of Kathy's Mirabilia piece. You saw a sneaky pic of it last time, but now it's done. I loved this one! (except for the #8 Kreinik. Blech!)

 

I finished my section of Debbie's Joan Elliott RR. This is Water Goddess. This piece is absolutely fantastic!

Next up is Linda's Band Sampler RR. She is doing an Indigo Rose-themed piece. Really stunning.

 

I finished Part 2 of the Passione Ricamo Mystery SAL, just in time to receive Part 3!

 

I added another 300+ stitches to the Bellydancer from Yiota's . 

 

I started some of the shells and coral that are going in the center of my Mirabilia large-stitch RR.

Lastly, I did a bit of work on TOT from Nora. Most of you out there know what I mean, but I'm being purposely vague. This is a birthday present for a dear friend that might, possibly be reading this blog. I don't know if I'm going to get it done in time, but I'm sure gonna try.

 

Now, for the hunks.

I've been feeling really down this week, so I think I need some extra hunkage today. One of my very favorite hunky movies is King Arthur, starring Clive Owen. There were LOTS of hunky, manly men in this movie. Here are my favorites.

Clive Owen as King Arthur

Ioan Gryffudd as Lancelot

Mads Mikkelsen as Tristan

Ray Stevenson as Dagonet

Joel Edgerton as Gawain

Hugh Dancy as Galahad

I hope you found one that you like. I found six of them!

See you next time.

I've been busy, but it's Hunky Friday!

I've been up to stitchy craziness, in a good way. Not that I don't have anything to do, (deadlines, eh?) but I'm starting to get ready for January's kick-off of the Mirabilia Large-Stitch round robin. We decided that we'd like to do an RR in which we can get more of a design in, i.e. fairy wings, mermaid fins, etc. So, we will have a guideline of 5000 stitches, compared to our normal 2500, and we'll have 12 weeks per round instead of 6 weeks.

I decided I wanted to do a "Mermaid" theme. I didn't really want to go with the typical geometric shape for stitch areas. What I really wanted was something softer, less rigid. So I've been working on marking up some charts into soft areas of an appropriate size. I picked a seashell motif to put in the center of my fabric.

Yesterday, I spent a bunch of time on PC Stitch plotting everything out, and here's my result.

Now keep in mind that they won't be stitched as silhouettes, and the boxes around them are just for basting so we can keep the placement where I'd like it. When I had everything mapped out I drew in some seaweed. I think I'll get some Waterlilies for the seaweed. What do you think?


No, I didn't forget...it is Hunky Friday. There's a new James Bond movie coming out in a while, and I was inspired by the opening ceremonies at the Olympics. Here's Daniel Craig...