Carol's Christmas gift

Hello to you all!!! Merry Christmas!!! I just wanted to show you what my sister Carol stitched for this Christmas..isn't it lovely???...Thanks a lot Carol!!! I LOVE it!!!

Lots of pics...

This past saturday I went and picked up my Row of Love from the framer. It turned out very beautiful. I took this piece to a new framer, and a think she did an incredible job. I think I'll take my pieces to her from now on. I always complain that I can never find good supplies for stitching here in Peru, but one good thing about living here is that to frame things is not expensive, for this one I only payed about USD 20 ...*grin*

I also worked on Noah's Ark last week. I haven't stitched a Precious Moments' chart in a long time. I didn't remember how easy they were, since they have big blocks of color. I'm almost sure I'll have it done in time.

I got my camera back...YEY!!. So here are the pics of my latest finishes.

This is how I finished Stoney Creek's Tada!

This is how I finishes a Lorri Birmingham piece I did a couple of years ago.

Here it is again hanging in my entrance hall with a Dimension's kit I did last Christmas

My sister Carla is back from her trip. She'll be posting all about in the next days. She's also very excited because she finally has some free time for stitching again.

Finished!!

Today I decided to pick Row of Love and I didn' t stop until I finished it. There was little left, just a few stitches and the backstitch. It took me about 140hrs to complete.
I'm really happy with it. This kit was a welcome home gift from Carla back in March when I came back from Spain. I've always loved this piece, so I was very happy when she gave it to me.
I'll try to frame it this week, since I already know where to hang it in my bedroom.
Here's the pic ....

WIP: Rune Gypsy

This week I stiched on Rune Gypsy. But, I haven't made a lot of progress, there seems to be little time for stitching this days.
Right now I'm stitching on page 3, and there is a LOT of color changes in this part. That has made my progress a little slow.

On other things, my sister Carla has finished her classes in Maastricht. She's told me, she really enjoyed her stay there eventhough she had a hard time getting used to the time difference. She said that the first few days she felt very sleepy during classes.

She's now traveling through some european countries for 2 weeks, she'll be back home just in time for Christmas.

An update...

This past weeks I haven't been stiching that much. I'm so busy doing other things, that I have very little time left for stitching.

A couple weeks ago I decided to start stitching Noah's Ark. So I went ahead and dyed a piece of Aida I had in my stash. This was the first time I dyed such a bib piece of fabric (30" x 35"). I've always dyed small pieces before. But I think it turned out pretty good. I didn't want to but fabric, since I'm trying to save as much as I can for my Christmas shopping. Anyway, here's the pic.

This is how much I have done on it so far...

This past week, I picked up Row of Love again. I worked on it for ten more hours, which means I've worked on it for almost 130 hrs now. There's very little left to finish it, so maybe next time I stitch on it I'll have a new HD

I also did some finishes, but because I still don't have my digital camera with me, I'll have to share those pieces with you all later. They are two Christmas projects.

This week I'm stitching Rune Gypsy again.

My next project...

I've chosen to do this design for my friend's baby. I think it fits for both, a boy or a girl. I decided not to do a birth sampler since I have to have it done almost a month before the baby is due. My friend' mother is traveling to the US to help out with the baby during the first weeks. So she's told me she could take it with her so that way I can save the shipping fee ;0)

I think it's cute... I just hope they like it

Because Ann asked

My HAED piece has 105,000 stitches (16 pages). I've completed two pages and 20 rows of the third page, so I've done 16,926 stiches. I still have 88,074 stitches to go.

I know I still have a long way to go, but I hope my enthusiasm lasts so it won't become a UFO.

HAED update

Well, here's an update on my HAED piece, I've worked on it for the last 4 days. But I haven't had that much done. There's a lot of color changes and confetti stitchesin this page. But it's looking good so I won't complain.

This week I'll pick up Row of Love again, I want to have it done by the end of this year. I just hope I feel better in the next couple of weeks. I'm sick again, this weather is so crazy. It's almost summer here, but we're still having gray cold days here. I hope this changes soon.

After finishing my weekend project (the snowmen tree), I now have space in my rotation for a new piece. I have to do a birth sampler for one of my childhood friends, but I still haven't chosen one. I want something really special and nice, and for a baby boy.

It's finished!!!

After two years I've finally finished this cute Snowman tree by Stoney Creek. I was supossed to work on this one only on weekends, but I couldn't help myself it was almost done so I decided to go ahead and work on it until it was finished.
I love this piece, the colors are so bright. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish it, I'll propbably make a pillow but I can still change my mind.
My sister took my digital camera on her trip, so I had to scan it in order to show you. That's why the picture is so bad. I'll take a better one when she gets back, then you'll find out what I did with it.

Now I'll go back to stitch my Haed piece.

I started going back to the gym this week, every inch of my body aches righ now, i can't hardly move. but I needed to do it, I had gain some weight since I got back from Spain back in march, and obesity runs in my family so I have to keep it under control. I'm going to a new gym that has just opened here in Lima is really fun because the groups are small, so it's more peronalized. It's a 6 week program, so it's very intensive. After that I'll go back to swiming which is something I enjoy more.

WIP: Row of Love

I stitched very little this week. I was very busy running errands for my sister who leaves to Europe tomorrw morning. I had to do a lot of stuff for her, since she had to attend classes until yesterday. So she's had only one day off to prepare.
I wanted to complete the last of the teddies I had left, but just didn't have the time. But, I'm happy I could at least put a few hours on it.

Carla: Have a great time !!

Snowman Book

Some of you have been asking me about the snowmen piece I've been stitching. It's a design from Stoney Creek's Number 159 Book: Snowman Parade.

Weekend update...

This weekend I spent a few hours working on my "lost project" (as some of you have named it). There's only 3 snowmen left now. Now I'm sure I'll have it done in time for Christmas YEY!

Because I started this piece about 2 years ago, I've realized that my stitchibg has improved a lot since then. It is more neat now, the crosses are more even... it's great to see that I'm getting better.

WIP: Rune Gypsy

This is my progress for this week on my HAED project. I've now finished page 2. There was not many confetti stitches on this page so it was faster to stitch than the previous one. I can't wait to see her face but there's still 3 pages to go before I get to it, ...so there's something to look forward to.

I also bought two new charts of HAED today, both artwork by James C. Christensen:

• When Fairies Talk
  

• Isabella
  
  

Maybe when I finish Row of Love I'll start "Isabella", but I'm not sure yet. I don't know if I can handle two large projects, it might get very tired for my eyes. So I'll still have to think about that.

Ta da!

I just got my laptop back today, my sister had borrowed it for a few days. So now I'll show you my progress of last weekend. I worked on Stoney creek's: Ta da!. I basically did the backstitch, since I wanted to know which of the snowmen were allready finished

I also hand-dyed my first fabric...I think it turned out pretty good. I'll probably use it to make a christmas gift for a friend

Not much stitching done....

There was so much going on in my life this week, that I didn't have much time for stitching. I was in bed with the flu the first days of the week, not really in the mood for anything. Then on Wednesday it was my brother's birthday, so we had some friends for dinner. That same day my cousin came to visit, and she's staying with us for a few days. So everytime I took my stitching out of the bag something or someone interrupted me. But I'm glad I was able to finish at least one more of the bears, there's only one left now.

Here's my progress at 110 hrs...

The other day while organizing all my stash, I found this piece by Stoney Creek. I didn't even remember I had it. This project has a loooon story. I started it a couple of years ago while working in the north of Peru. I wanted to have it done for Christmas of 2003, but because I was missing some colors I wasn't able to. Then I went to study to Spain, so I left at my mom's house. Then when my parents separated last year, my mom sent all my stuff to my apartment here in Lima, so it stayed there until last weekend when I decided to organize.

I was surprised when I saw it...it's almost done...so I have to finish it. I'll put it in my rotation now, as my weekend project.

"In other news", my sister Carla is traveling to Europe in a couple of weeks. She's so exited, she's never been there before. She has to attend some classes in Maastricht as part as her MBA. She's staying there for 3 weeks, then she has 2 free weeks until she starts classes here again, so she will make a quick tour through some countries there, not sure which ones yet.

I'm so happy for her, she's hardly had any free weekend in almost 9 months, so she'll probably have a good time.

I'm sooo tired

We're almost done with our apartment "mini makeover". There's just a few things that need to be finished. I spent all Saturday very sore because of all the boxes and stuff we had to carry.

I did manage to work a few ours on my HAED piece on Sunday afternoon, but then I had a headache so I decided to call it quits for the day. I think I have the flu now.

Anyway, if I feel better in the next days I'll work on Row of Love

HD!!

Today after 108hrs I finished Mermaids of the Deep Blue. Definitely my favorite of all the Mirabilia mermaids.
There's a lot of beads in this piece, that was probably the only thing I didn't enjoy that much. I don't really like to attach the beads, put for some projects they are a must. In this design that is the case.

This piece was stitched on a 32ct Siklweaver Hand-dyed Lugana: Wandering Ivy. I'm actually really glad I chose a light green fabric, the gals with all those greens on their bodies really pop.

I have to give thanks again to my sister for giving me this pattern as a gift for my birthday...(gracias Carla, me encantó)

I don't know if I'll be able to stitch this weekend. We're doing some redecorating in my familiy's. And because I'm an architect they would kill me if I don't help.

Weekend update...

I wasn't in the mood for stiching this weekend. But I still managed to put some hours on my HAED piece. There was a lot of color changes and confetti stiches in this section... so frustating. But it's all worth it if at the end it will look like the original artwork.
I've now finished page 1... 15 to go....

I'm going back to my Mirabilia piece again this week, maybe I'll finish it by the end of the week. It depends in how I'm feeling in the next days.

Two done, two to go...

I'm at 100hrs on this piece now. I finally have two of the teddy bears completed, except for the backstitch (I'll do that at the end).
This kit came with a 14ct aida fabric, and called to be stitched with 2 strands. But the threads that come with the kit seem to be thiner than DMC, because I don't get as much coverage as I normally do. But eventhough there's a lot of white showing thru the stitches I still believe it looks good.

After completing my hours on Row of Love today, I thought I didn'te get much done this sweek. But then I saw my previous post on this design and realized that I DID get quite a bit done, especially on the background...So I was happy again.

I'm back again to stitch Rune Gypsy this weekend...

WIP: Rune Gypsy

This weekend I worked on my HAED piece. I stitched mostly on Sunday, I wasn't in the mood on Saturday. Now you can see a bit more of her head. There was a lot of color changes in that small section, a lot of confetti stitches, but I believe it's totally worth it. And because of the tent stitching system it's was easy to keep track of all those different colors.
I'll probably pick this piece again next weekend. Anyway here the pic...

This week I'll try to put some more hours on Row of Love. I'll give my eyes some rest aswell, since it's much easier to sitch on Aida

At 80....

Here's my progress on the Mermaids. I'm having so much fun stitchings this gals.
There's so much beads on them, it seem like a never ending task. But, it's worth it...they just look so beautiful (if I may say so). I'm so glad I didn't leave all the beads to the end though...
They are very fast to stitch, I think the next time I pick them up, I'll probably finish them.

Today some friends came to visit, and saw these mermaids. And were so amazed by them. They said so many nice things about them. Even my brother made a nice comment (which is very rare)... They just made my day!

A Small Happy Dance!!

After 4 months without time to stitch...This weekend I finally had some free time, so I decided to do this free kit that came with the WOCS. I think he is adorable!!

HAED General SAL

After this weekend HAED General SAL, this is how my WIP is looking. I've been able to stitch about half a page. It's a lot more than what I have thought, eventhough it's only about 2% of the whole piece.

There's a lot of color changes, that's why I decided to do tent stitch on this project. I think I'll make less mistakes this way.

Now that I have started this beautifull piece, I'll definitely put it in my rotation. But it won't be my main project until the mermaids are finished.

If you want to see the original artwork of this design, here's the link: Rune Gypsy - Stephanie Roberts

Row of Love WIP

Ok, here is where I'm at with this design. I've worked on it for about 75hrs now. I'm glad to see one of the bears has a face now -*grin*-
I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but this design has really bright colors, which I'm totally in love with.

This weekend I'm joining the HAED General SAL. I'll start with Rune Gypsy, since I already have all the floss for this design. I'll post a picture of my progress on Monday. After that I'll go back to work on the Mirabilia's Mermaids.

Someone asked me if anyone stitch the Heaven and Earth designs, I must say that I only know of one person who has ever finished these designs, but there are many people working on them. There is actually a board, that is very active, dedicated to HAED. If anyone is interested here you can see other people's WIPs and visit the board: HAED BB, go to the "Stiching Support" section.

Mermaids of the Deep Blue WIP

This is how they look at 50hrs. I spent a lot of hours stitching all those beads this week. There are a lot more beads than I have thought, but it's totally worth it. In real life they are very sparkly.
This is a very fun and fast design to stitch so far.

Now I'm back to working with Row of Love...

New stash!

I bought two new charts from HAED today, they're having a sale this weekend. Eventhough I haven't stitch their designs yet I just love how other people's WIPs look so far. I'm gonna start mine in the next couple of weeks, I just need to put a few more hours on my current WIPs.
Anyway, these are the designs I bought:

• Oxigen by Linda Ravenscroft
  
  
  
  I'm planning to stitch only half of this design.
  
• Midnight Orchard by Ian Daniels.
  
  
  
  My sister hates this design, but I just really like it. And since I'm the one who is going to stitch it I went ahead and bought it.
  We try to agree in what we are going to stitch, but this time I just didn't listen.

WIP: Row of Love

This past week I've been working on Row of Love. I've put about 52hrs on it now.
I'm really enjoying this project, eventhough there is a lot of color changes. But I think it's really worth it, since the bears furr looks more "real" because of it.

(Sorry the pictures is dark)

Now I'm back working with the mermaids, I've done some progress on that one too. I'll probably post an update by the end of the weekend.
I've also recieved my threads for the HAED chart I want to start. There are 50 different colors on that one!!!
I'm trying very hard not to start it, I need to finish one of my current projects. Otherwise, one will probably become an UFO.

WIP: Mermaids of the Deep Blue

This is my progress at about 24hrs. I'm stitching it on a Hand-dyed Silkweaver 32ct Lugana: Wandering Ivy. I decided to to use a fabric with green shades, since the ocean where I live ¡s green rather than blue. I've lived 5 minutes from the beach all my life and the pacific ocean has never looked blue. And since that's the one closer to me I thought I would use it as a reference.
This time, I'm adding the beads as I go, because last time I hated leaving all the beads to the end (Crystal Christmas). And this design has lots of beads aswell.

And Anneke because you asked me this, the Row of Love project is medium size compared to the HAED chart. Rune Gypsy is a 16 page long chart!! So it will probably take me a loooong time to complete. But I just love the design so much that I have to do it.

Row of Love

Because I got my new Mirabilia chart today, I just had to start it. So I'll post a pic of where I'm at on "Row of Love". This is at about 30hrs.

I'll be rotating between these two. And in a few weeks I'll be adding my HAED chart to the rotation

More stash!!

I came home today from classes, only to find out our latest order from ABC Stitch Therapy had arrived. I was so excited... because I knew inside tha package was Mirabilia's Mermaid of the Deep Blue my sister bought for me as a gift for my birthday (charts, beads and treasures... the best sister ever!!!).

I also recieved HAED's Rune Gypsy by Stepahanie Roberts... I'm gonna give it a try with this big project...I just love the picture...I only hope I don't get bored so I can finish it.

WIP: Row of Love

This is the new piece I'm working on, Dimension's: Row of Love. This is my progress at about 11hrs. It seems so easy to stitch since I'm using the fabric that comes with the kit 14ct Aida, and my latest projects have been done in evenweave type fabric. So I'm giving my eyes a rest.

I recieved as a birthday gift from my sister, Mirabilia's new chart: Mermaids of the Deep Blue. So once I receive my package , I will try my first rotation ever, between row of love and the mermaids.

Stash

I just received some stuff I order from an ONS. A recently released kit of Newton’s Law and Mirabilia’s Enchanted Mermaid. I got EM with beads and treasures half price off .

I'm a year older today

Happy birthday to me!!

Today is my 28th birthday... even though my sister and I are identical twins we don't share the same birthday. I was born 11.55 pm and she was born 10 minutes later. Because of this we have a 2 day celebration.

This is when we turn 2.... we have never been able to tell who is who

This is a picture of us with our older brother. He's 2 1/2 years older than we are.

Here we're at the airport getting ready to board a plane to Boston.... my sister had just started the university and my parents gave her that trip as a gift... she was kind enough to take me along... I had started classes the year before.

(Carol is on the left, Carla on the right)

This is a more recent picture of us, at our parents' house

(Carla on the left, our mom, Carol on the right)

Latest finish...

This is what I've been up the last couple of days....4 My Boys': Live ~ Forgive ~ Love. I've had this chart in my to do list for some time now. I decided to do it, because it was very simple and fast to do. It only took me 10hrs total.
I didn't use the colors listed, since I wanted to use a piece of fabric left from another project, and those colors didn't look well with the fabric.
What's next?...haven't decided yet



By the way, this is still Carol... *grin*