Finish and an Exchange

Hi everyone

I hope you are all well.  I am good...better than good...looking forwards to the weekend when I don't have to sit by my son until 10.00 pm while he does his homework.  He is coping with school life really well but still likes me to be near to boost his confidence: so I am homework supporter until he decides he doesn't need mom! This means as I found last night, if I stitch as he works, the frogs come aplenty!!!!
So thank goodness it is Friday!!!!!

I'm not coping so well with him being in school; I feel like I am missing an arm.  My role has changed and frankly over the last 6 years I have had enough of change...never mind: I will soon settle into this new normal, I'm sure!

I took part in a Halloween/Autumn Exchange with one of my Yahoo Groups.  My partner was Elaine.  Poor Elaine, not only is she my model stitcher but she also had to stitch me an exchange gift...she must have very sore fingers by now!

Anyway: look at what came.  It is beautiful; it has beads and charms and little plastic pumpkins and the stitching is lovely.  I know she made the cording that went around the outside as well.  I love mixed media: I think we should do more of it, and those little pumpkins compliment the design perfectly!

I can't wait to get my sewing room decorated and get all my exchanges and gifts up on one wall: my special wall, full of stitchy goodness!

I also have a finish!  I stitched my Boo-tiful in Black.

I stitched it on 32 count coffee dyed linen.  The dress was stitched in WDE Gunmetal: my favourite thread at the moment!

The light here is terrible, so there is a picture of it behind glass where you can see reflections but can see the actual colour of the fabric, and a picture without the glass; no reflections and not-quite accurate fabric colour.

Darn the Autumnal light.

And yes; we do live in a Victorian house: that is a marble fireplace it is on and as I look at it there, black on black, I realise that because I sit opposite the fire when I work, that must be what is triggering my childhood memories of the huge (and I mean HUGE) Victorian house I lived in as a child in Cheetham Hill which is in turn influencing my chart designs.  Victorian rocks!!!  And living in Ireland I am aware the celtic colouring is very under appreciated in cross stitch: so here she is in all her ginger gorgeousness!!

I chose not to stitch the border: I wanted the frame to do the work for me!  I like clean cut designs; not too fussy but with a bit of movement in them.  I am still finding my style and whilst a part of me wonders if they are any good and then I stop myself.  I like doing them, I like stitching them and seeing them....and that is all that matters.

RE: the website, well I seem to have mastered it (four days later).  I can no longer offer charts pdf: Elisa (another model stitcher) found a flaw which seems to occur when I print them out in a certain way.  To counteract the fact I can only offer hard copy now, I am absorbing postage and handling costs in the cost of the charts and will put a little freebie in as well.

It has to be affordable and that is why I use DMC threads usually.  But as you can see from above, it is very easy to alter the charts and add overdyed threads of your choice!

Radiant in Red has been completed: Graceful in Green is being stitched as we speak.  I can't wait to see them.  Ironically, the ideas come faster than my stitching does so they are being stitched by very talented and significant 'others'.

Well, that's me done!  Have a truely wonderful weekend and I will see you soon.  Oh, BTW, I have put a link up for the free autumn chart which I will be stitching myself this weekend......even if there is homework!!!