Picture Frame

Well today was a very blustery day as Winnie the Pooh would say. We were under a tornado alert yesterday and had horrible rain, thunder and wind. This morning the wind was still here but at least it blew the clouds out. It's beautiful out now but way too cold for this Texas girl to venture forth. Instead I put my time to good use and I don't mean I did any housecleaning.

I stayed in my warm and toasty studio and painted a new design. I've been wanting to do some picture frames. I had one design finished and another one nearly so. I'm thinking this would make a beautiful Mother's Day gift for some lucky mom, perhaps even my own.

One Day Spring, The Next Day Christmas

Although we had another beautiful spring day, I found Christmas in my mailbox. At long last my Christmas Wreath was home. For a before view see #164 Winter Wreath on my website.

Janet Perry of Napa Needlepoint stitched this piece for me. We went back and forth several times trying to find just the right shades of red, green and gold threads to use. After seeing the stitched piece I can say that it all turned out perfectly. A big thanks to Janet for all the hours she spent stitching. The next step is to have it finished. Just this afternoon I was talking with Summer Truswell about my ideas for finishing. I wish I could say that I've been as industrious with the wreath I'm stitching. I'm working, and have been for a while, on the wreath that is featured on the first page of my websites new flip book. That wreath, #121, Spring Wreath features two white bunnies with pink daylillies and other greenery. It will be beautiful whenever I get it finished, all I need is a clone.

March Starts Me To Thinking Of Spring

March is my favorite month. First and foremost it's my birthday month, but it also means spring is around the corner. To celebrate the coming of spring my husband has added a new flip book to my website. It's filled with my favorite bunnies. He actually tried to teach me how to make one of these but it was a total joke. I finally gave up and bribed him with a batch of homemade rice krispie treats. Take a look: http://www.happyheartdesigns.com/ I hope you enjoy looking through the book.

The picture above features three of my favorite stitched pieces. On the right is Easter Time, #74. This is a design from my Two of Us Collection. The base was made by Sharon Hall of Mountain Shadow Studio. http://www.mtnshadow.com/ The piece in the middle is #75, Spring Equinox. I painted a small clay pot for the base, then filled it with moss and placed plastic Easter eggs on top. It's easy enough for anyone to do. The piece on the left is Happy Spring, # 167. Janet Perry of Napa Needlepoint http://www.napaneedlepoint.com/ did the stitching for me and made a stitch guide as well. I think she did an excellent job. I bought all the pieces for the base at my local hobby shop. I had my husband drill a slanted hole in the egg and then we used a screw to attach the wooden egg shape to the small base. After that I just painted it in bright cheery colors to match. And Viola.

Mardi Gras Heart, Stitched

Sunday night I sat up and finished stitching the Mardi Gras heart. The hearts are small enough that as a project they aren't overwhelming. This one is a special request from a shop owner.

I had outlined the eye holes and the edges of the mask with a wrapped-back stitch using the DMC floss the shop requested (yellow, #444). I wanted the mask to have some sparkle so I used Petite Sparkle Rays in a matching yellow to fill in. The next step was to stitch the feathers. Here again I used the requested colors of DMC floss, green #700 and purple, #333. The purple ribbon is stitch in two shades of Fyre Werks and the stick holding the mask is done in a padded satin stitch using the yellow DMC. After the mask was stitched I added the 'bling'. The center jewel is a large green sequin with a Mill Hill Crystal Treasures bead in the center. Then a row of emerald green Sundance beads was added along the bottom of the mask. My main problem was the background. I originally thought to make it a soft white but after stitching a small area it just seemed so blah. I tried several other colors and variations and finally settled on a bright lime green shade of Splendor. (#S1105) The background is stitched in a cashmere stitch. I plan to have it finished with a purple silk fabric on the back and a twisted braid trim using all three of the Mardi Gras colors.

While working on this piece I researched the colors of Mardi Gras. I found out that the Krewe of Rex first introduced this particular scheme in 1872 but the meaning of each color wasn't revealed until twenty years later. Purple represented justice, green was symbolic of faith and gold represented power.

In Honor of the Butterfly

I feel like a proud mid-wife. The Houston area is experiencing some mild weather, perfect for working in the yard and procrastinating on all other necessary projects. This is something I'm very good at by the way. This morning after I worked off all the StarBucks I drink by exercising at my neighborhood Curves I inspected my backyard garden. In early winter I had noticed several Monarch butterfly caterpillers on my butterfly weed bush. I worried and fretted over them during each cold spell. Several didn't make it but at least two went on to make their chrysalis.

Everyday I went out to inspect the chrysalis, hoping nothing had destroyed them. This morning during my inspection I noticed that they had both changed color from the previous lime green to a shade of black. I realised that this happens just as the butterfly is about to emerge. So I watched, encouraging them on, and sure enough first one butterfly and then the other slowly came out of the casing. At this point the wings are soft and wet. I carefully let the butterfly climb on my finger and then I placed each one in a sunny spot in my petunia bed. The butterflies will rest there, fanning their wings until they are dry and ready to fly.

To celebrate the butterflies I'm sharing one of my favorite designs, #132, Blue Butterfly. I stitched this up using Kreinik threads and had it finished as a purse inset.

Mardi Gras Heart

While at the January TNNA Market I had a shop owner stop by my booth to inquire about my Calendar Heart Series. They wanted to offer this series to the stitchers in their area. I told them they could take my stitched models to use as a selling tool. Then they asked if I would design a special 13th heart as an exclusive bonus heart for those who signed up for the entire series. Being the accommodating person I am , I agreed. The shop owner wanted the special heart to be a Mardi Gras Heart and said that she would send me samples of the purple, green and gold colors she wanted to use. Good to her word she sent me three skeins of DMC floss, #333 (purple), #700 (green), and #444 (gold). I got busy and completed my sketch of a Mardi Gras mask embellished with feathers and beads. My sketch is on the right side of the picture. The next step was to paint one on canvas, that's obviously on the left side. I took my canvas to the local shop to pull extra threads and pick up the beads I wanted to use. I'm going to use the DMC floss that was sent for the feathers at the top of the mask. I wanted the mask to have a bit of sparkle so I picked out Petite Sparkle Rays in a matching yellow (PS27). The purple ribbon will be worked in two shades of Fyre Werks, #FT24 (lighter) and #FT31 (darker). Along the bottom of the mask is a row of green beads. For this I selected some emerald green Mill Hill Beads, #02054. On the top and in the center of the mask is another larger "jewel". I couldn't find any bead or button that I thought look right. I decided on the faceted Mill Hill Crystal Treasures, #13016. I'm going to put one of these on top of a 8mm. green or gold sequin. The only thing left to pick out was a thread for the background. I decided that a soft white would highlight the mask without overpowering it. I don't know what stitch I will use at this point but I'm thinking I might use one that will allow me to add a small gold stitch in it. Of course, every thing looks and sounds good before you actually start stitching. So many times I have changed my mind in the middle of the project because it just didn't have the right look. Now it's time to get to work.

Hurrah ! Project Completed.

What a great feeling to finally get something finished. Some of you stitchers seems to be like those statues that have multiple hands, working through projects at an enviable rate. Not me, I start then sputter to a stop, life getting in the way, then pick it up again and continue onward. My one main rule is that I don't allow myself to start a new project until I've finished the last one. At least it can't be said of me that I have a drawer full of unfinished projects. Last night I put the final stitches in on my Dancing In The Moonlight canvas. I really only had the bunnies noses and eyes to finish and then the two bows around their necks. I used two shades of Tiara on each bow. Tiara isn't my favorite thread, the cut piece seems to fray too easily. Even if I use a short thread I only seem to be able to stitch with half of the thread, maybe it's me. First I outlined the bows using a wrapped-back stitch and then I filled them in with basketweave. So now it's done and I can move on. One picture shows the bows up closer and the other is the final project.