Summertime stitching!

Been getting some good stitching time in so far as I have been off work. 

Ascendant is first up, I have finished about half a page into this row. She gets neglected, but everytime she comes out it reminds me how much I love her.

Large Travel Bookshelf is currently being worked on, very close to another page finish! Then I just need to make the tough decision to either carry on down the column, or move to the right. :)

Large Treasure Hunt has seen a lot of love lately too. All over the place as to where to stitch next, so I am currently just picking columns at random. Very liberating to ignore my OCD side!

Being off work means I get bored a bit, which means my stash size has been increasing. I've lost count at how many parcels have been delivered in the last few weeks...I try and hide them before boyfriend gets home!

While my stash size is increasing, I was finding my rotation very difficult to manage, so I have pared things down at bit. I also plan a restart of Sadness at some point, but I have made the difficult decision to switch to the mini version with no background, as I just couldn't keep any motivation for the current piece. 

As well, you will notice that one of the Sins has been listed on my progress bar. I finally got around to starting one on the lovely custom dyed fabric I had made by Tammy at Colour Cascade Fabrics. 

Once she has another turn in rotation I will get a good piccy for you all. 

Oh, and the wedding sampler got framed and delivered; I was quite impressed with how well it turned out!

The bride to be loves it, as it matches her wedding theme perfectly. 

I hope everyone is having a great summer, and thanks for stopping by! I am off to stitch, as it is a grey cloudy day here in Nova Scotia, and the pups are asleep, so it's a perfect Sunday afternoon. 

Happy stitching!

Nikki

I'm free!

So happy, my obligation stitching is finished for the year, so now I can work on whatever I feel like. 

Been spending some quality time with Large World Travel, and Large Treasure Hunt.

Travel

Treasure Hunt

And here is the last obligation stitch, a wedding piece for my best friend, who is getting married in August. :)

I also plan on some serious stash enhancement this weekend, as it's my big 3-0 birthday! Like I don't have enough already, hahaha!

Happy stitching,

Nikki

As promised!

Wow, only a month since my last post, definite progress! So as promised, here is the framed picture of birth sampler, with the cute little Liam modelling for us. His mum said he adores it, and loves to trace the colours through the glass. :)

I also managed to finally finish a page row on Ascendant, this is pages 1-12 now complete. Everytime I work on her I fall in love again, she really is stunning. 

I am also working away on a secret stitchy project, but it won't be revealed til July. I should have it done in the next week or two, which will free me up for some more time on my bookshelves. 

Happy stitching!

Nikki

First Finish of the Year!

I am back again! I downloaded Blogger for my IPhone, so I am hoping to do smaller but more frequent post this way. I always seem so pressed for time lately with the two jobs, that blogging always seems to take a back seat, and for that, I am sorry, as I love sharing my work with you all!

Okay, so it's not a HAED finish, but I have my first of the year, and my first goal complete. 

Birth Sampler

I sent it in for framing a few weeks ago, will get a piccy when it returns. 

I have also been working on Large Treasure Hunt Bookshelf, I adore the bright colours in this one. 

I was also very naughty and started Large World Travel Bookshelf, not much to see yet, but I spy an Indian dancers hand in the bottom row!

Sadly, that's pretty much it for the stitching front. I have brought another obligation stitch into rotation now that the birth sampler is done, so I should have some progress piccys for you shortly. And there are some definite screams coming from the rest of my WIPS, so fingers crossed for an update soon!

Hugs,

Nikki 

New Year, New Goals, and finally, a post!

I'm alive!!! And kicking, lol! Sorry for such a long absence, life got really crazy. Hopefully some pretty WIP pictures will make it up to you all.

So what happened to me you ask? Well, money has been tight, so I was casually looking for a second job, and the perfect posting came up. Great hours, good people, and I could work from home. So I applied, thinking I had a slim chance. Lo and behold, I got a phone call offering me the job back in September, and of course I had to accept! Who wouldn't want a job working for the company who keeps her addiction satisfied, and get a sneak peek at all the pretties that are going to end up in my shopping cart? That's right, I work for Heaven and Earth Designs now! I don't think I have ever been (busier!) or happier with a job, so I hope you all will forgive me for disappearing, I had a really good reason, honest!


So onward to the good stuff, pictures! I haven't had as much free time as I would like to stitch, and my rotation has changed (again) as I was getting overwhelmed with new starts and having too much on the go. I have downsized my WIP's, again, and retired a few to the UFO pile, hopefully to be picked back up once I get some finishes in. So my side bar has been updated with everything I am currently working on, and I will be keeping my stitch totals updated.

Ascendant

Still working on the second row, but not much to go before pages 11 and 12 are done.  

Sadness of an Angel

Slowly but surely...still dislike this one but need to get it done.

Asiria

Not much progress on her, my goal is to get at least a page done on her this year, hopefully more.

SK Water Dragon

I finished the first page on this one. Loving the fabric, but it is so hard to get a good picture!

The Ghost

She is so much fun to work on, but slightly creepy now that she is watching me.

One of my McBAP's (massively complicated big ass projects) that I started.

Trapped

Pretty boring so far, lots of dark greens and browns.

Another McBAP, I will be lucky if I finish this by 80 years of age.

Large Treasure Hunt Bookshelf

This is by far my favorite WIP at the moment, lots of bright colours and details!

Waterfall Dragons

Still slow and steady on this one, hoping to get some more done, as it really does stitch up nice.

Dragon Witch Furionchires

My dream chart from Nene Thomas, hoping to make some major progress on her this year. 

And finally, my non-HAED for this year, a birth sampler for a friend's little guy. 

His 1st birthday is in April, so hoping to have it done by then.

Phew! So 11 projects on the go, slightly crazy, but manageable at this point. I will admit I have another new start waiting in the wings, but am behaving....for the moment!

Happy stitching!

Nikki xxx

Where Did Summer go???

I can't believe it's almost the last weekend of August, and I haven't done a single blog post! I will make it up to you I promise, I have lots of stitchy pics to show you!

Things usually slow down on the stitching front for summer, as I spend a lot of time at the cottage, but I have made some progress on almost all my WIPS, and started a few new ones, hehehe. Feel free to check out the side bar on the right of my blog for the latest stitch counts and what I am working on.

First up is still my favorite WIP, Ascendant. I have finished page 10, and on my way through 11. Glad to see I am finally close to finishing off her lovely face.

 

Next up is Sadness, still not enjoying this one much, but making some headway.

One of my new starts, this is SK Water Dragon, stitched on a studio session piece from Cascade Fabrics. After I finished QS Twin Peek, I realized it was nice to have something detailed, but a little quicker than my huge projects, to see progress on.

I also discovered another lovely cross stitch charting company, and of course, I had to order a few, and I figured it was only fair to start one as well! So this is All That Remains, charted by Bev at LoveThyThread.

Another new start, this is Asiria, by HAED. I absolutely love Nene Thomas's work, especially her Dragon Witch series, so I had to start one.

Ghost has gotten a bit more love, working on 18 count is a nice break after all the teeny stitches in my other projects!

Waterfall Dragons is definitely a SLOOOOOW WIP, lost my mojo for this one over the summer, I recently picked it up again last week, I do enjoy the bright colours though!

Finally, Tow Mater has gotten a bit of attention too, one of these days I will get him finished!

So that's pretty much it for progress pics. Some of you may have noticed that Lust-HAED, was dropped off my sidebar. I came to a hard realization after I did up my must stitch list, that I was never going to live long enough to stitch all the projects I wanted to, and I really do want to stitch the whole 7 Deadly Sins series. So, I compromised, as HAED released them in mini format...I re bought the whole series! And then I had a brilliant (but expensive) idea, how cool would it be to stitch each of the mini's on custom dyed fabric to match each colour of the "Sin"? So the lovely Tammy at Colour Cascade Fabrics is working on some colour combos for me, so excited! So expect to see some new starts shortly as soon as I get an order!

Hopefully I will be able to catch up on all your lovely projects over the next few days, as I catch up on blog entries. Sorry again for my absence, will talk again soon!

Hugs,
Nikki

Very sucessful hermitage...my first HAED finish!!!!

I spent the weekend furiously stitching, trying to get my first finish of the year, and I squeaked it in on Tuesday evening!

Without further ado, here is HAED QS Twin Peek, stitched on 25 count Magic Guide, 1x1, full crosses.

Completely thrilled with how it turned out, still have to give it a wash to get the grid lines off. It took me a little over 6 months, not bad considering the amount of projects I have on the go, lol! So that's 2/8 of my yearly goals complete, on to the next!

Hugs,

Nikki

Updates, goals, and Happy Birthday to me!

Wow, it has been a busy month! Have gotten some stitching done in between the crazy that is my life, so without fanfare (well, maybe a little) here we go!

Happy to say I have completed my first yearly goal, I have finshed the 2nd page of The Ghost, HAED.

Doesn't she look fab? Love the way her eye turned out, but kinda creepy to stitch her while she is watching me!

Next up is QS Twin Peek...soooo close to being done, only a tiny bit left on page 5, and a partial page 6 to go! I have been working like crazy on this one to try and get it done.

Love the colors in this one; it's pretty confetti heavy, but well worth it.

Finally, here is TowMater, who is almost complete as well, all his backstitching is done, just have the banner above him to complete, which is pretty boring, as it is all the same color!

So that is pretty much it on the stitching front, been trying to get Mater and QS Twin Peek done, as I am starting to feel a litttle overwhelmed with so much in my rotation.

Imagine my surprise when I checked my email, and for my birthday, the lovely Angie from Miamina's Musings sent me a pressie!

I got a RAK of Selina Fenech's Waiting, which is a stunning chart!



Thank you again Angie, she is gorgeous, I can't wait to start her!

I also got some money from my family, so I am trying to decide whether to be responsible, and use it to pay down some household stuff, or to splurge and go on a stash binge, lol. And if I do a stash binge, what should I get??? Decisions, decisions, lol!

Hope you all have a great week!

Hugs,
Nikki

I'm back!

Hi everyone!

Surgery went well, took a bit for me to start feeling like myself again, but so far so good! I have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon at the end of the month to go over my results, but if it was something serious, he would have told me right away, so that's good news.

I did get a bit of stitching done, but with the weather getting warmer, and the days getting much nicer, I have been starting up walking again in the hopes of losing a bit more weight. But I still have some nice progress piccys to show you!

First up is Sadness, which I am proud to say is now officially over 50% complete, yippie!

Next is QS Twin Peek, I have finished 4/6 pages now, only 2 more to go!

Ghost has gotten a bit more attention, almost done the 2nd page. You can see the dagger hilt and part of her arm now.

Ascendant has another 2 columns done, hoping to get to finish her lovely face soon!

My BB SAL piece is growing ever so slowly...the confetti is crazy, so I pick away at it between other projects, as I just can't seem to get into trying to finish a whole column at a time.

And finally Red Dragon is at a 1/2 page complete now, still doesn't look like much!

Phew, so that's pretty much it! Think I will work a bit on Ghost tonight, would really love to meet at least one of my yearly goals this month, I already feel so behind!

Thank you for all your thoughts and support, you guys are the greatest!

Hugs,
Nikki

Updates and a severe case of Startitis

Hey all!

Been awhile since I posted an update! I have not stitched as much as I have liked over the last several weeks, but I do have some progress to show you.

First up is TowMater. He is getting close to done, I have now finished all of the stitching on him, and have started the dreaded back stitching. I also haven't stitched the banner up top yet, I am leaving it until last, as it's all black, and should be an easy stitch.

Lust (HAED) has gotten a bit of love, sorry for the pic, but getting a decent shot of dark colors is hard!

QS Twin Peek (HAED) has come a long way, I am now finished 3/6 pages!

And this weekend I have been working on my BB SAL piece, which I am sooo far behind on! Here is where I am at now, I have done about 500 stitches this weekend; slow going as this piece is sheer confetti!

I am kinda sheepish to say that I have also made not one but two new starts! My rotation went out the window for awhile, but I am now back on track, so here is my progress on my latest additions!

When HAED released this chart, I bought it and started it the same day! I have an obsession with dragons, and even have a full back piece tattoo that looks very similar to this chart, so I had to start it!

Red Dragon:

And here is my progress after 3 rotations:

As a side note, I have to say how much I absolutely love Magic Guide fabric! Makes it so easy as I stitch per column, so much faster when I don't have to grid or count. Plus, the coverage on it is great; I was a little hesitant, but the dark colors look fine on it, and I have been told that it gets even better once the piece is washed.


I also fell in love with another chart designer, Sarah Paine of Paine Free Crafts. She has some fantastic designs, and I plan on many more purchases.
Here is the first chart I bought and started from her, its called Lyssa, Disturb at your own Risk. Dragons and oriental art, what could be better?

My progress after two rotations, hard to see as it is all fairly light colors:

So that's pretty much it on the stitchy front. Things are moving along slowly but surely on the medical front, I am booked in for surgery at the end of this month, so keeping my fingers crossed! Thank you for all your kind words and support, I will keep you posted!

Hugs,
Nikki