A sea of green

The solid dark green background behind the nutcracker is now finished on both sides, and the white scroll on the right is completed.  Reward time!

Black Petite Very Velvet was used on his helmet, accented with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002 and #003HL in tent stitches and a Leviathan variation stitch in the center.  Two Leviathan stitches form the buttons on either side of the brim.

The band across the helmet was outlined in a slanted Gobelin stitch with Vineyard Silk Classic Tea and filled in with VSC Natural in basketweave.  The zigzags were added with more Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #003 HL in tent stitches.

The nutcracker's face and "chops" are finished--I'll save the hair and eyebrows for my next reward.  The plume on the helmet and his mustache and beard will have to wait for later so the stitches don't get "smooshed" as I scroll back and forth.

Off to a good start

Where do you begin stitching on a new canvas?  There are plenty of choices with Nutcracker Christmas.  If you believe in "taking it from the top," you'd start in with the canopy above the nutcracker. Or maybe you just can't resist all the little details that comprise the nutcracker's uniform.

 I've started with the dark green background behind the nutcracker.  This is a fairly large area, and I know if I left it for later, I'd get too bogged down.  So far, the right side has been stitched with Impressions #5060 in basketweave, covering the random leaf-like motif.  I'm working from my stash, and want to get a better idea of the additional threads I'll need in the next trip to my LNS.

Working with the dark thread on the dark background by day, I switch to the swirl area of the canopy at night, working it in basketweave with Vineyard Silk Classic Natural.  When I reached the top of the striped area, I treated myself by starting the nutcracker's face, using four strands of DMC cotton floss.

Time to scroll back to the top of the canvas to work the left side of the background!

Another long-term project

With the evening purse canvas safely at the finisher and another project out of the way, it's finally time to tackle the project I've been wanting to do for some time.  Liz Goodrick-Dillon's Nutcracker Christmas stocking arrived at my LNS, and I'm itching to get started.

The design area is about 10-1/2 inches wide by 21-1/2 inches long, so it's going to take quite a while to stitch this piece.  But I've admired it for a long time and it's perfect for its future recipient.

I'll be back with a progress report when I have some significant stitching to show for myself!

In honor of Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

The inspiration for this design was my own mother, who raised shopping to an art.  She once spent three hours cruising a mall, finally emerging with a single pair of stockings.  The only person who could match her shop-for-shop was my youngest son, who inherited the shopping gene that had eluded me.

This piece was stitched in DMC cotton floss, Kreinik metallics and DMC Medici wool in French knots for the hair.

Purse Finale

Why this photo showed up sideways, I don't really know.  What matters is, I've completed stitching on the evening purse and it's ready for the finisher!

The pattern, a variation of a Maggie Lane design, was worked in five colors of Vineyard Silk Classic and two colors of Kreinik metallic braid on 18-ct. canvas.  It was stitched completely in basketweave to keep the snag factor to a minimum.

I'll be sure to show a photo of the finished purse when I get it back!