Swirling ribbons

The ribbons encircling Herald Angel were painted in muted tones--dusty rose probably best describes the overall look.  I chose to brighten the ribbons a bit to coordinate with her turquoise dress.

Using three strands of DMC floss #600, 602 and 604, the ribbons were worked in an encroaching Gobelin stitch.  The angel's lips were added in tent stitch with DMC floss #602.

Winging it again

The only thing I wasn't crazy about in the Herald Angel design was the yellow with which the wings were painted.  The yellow paint wasn't an intense hue, so covering it up wasn't a big problem.

The individual segments of the wing were first outlined with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002 in tent stitch.  Each segment was then filled in with a satin stitch using four strands of white DMC cotton floss.

The white wings show up nicely against the navy Petite Very Velvet sky and will fit in much better with our decor.

Herald Angel - Part Three

A quick trip to my LNS took care of the gap in navy Petite Very Velvet under Herald Angel's outstretched arm!

Her dress is now finished, using the three shades of aqua Impressions in basketweave.  I used the Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002 from her dress to work the body of the horn, with #2122 for the ring at the bottom.

Time to move on to the wings!

Herald Angel - Part Two

Stash raiding again!--this time for the threads to create the Herald Angel's dress.  Scouring your stash to find old threads for a new project is a little like traveling down Memory Lane.  In this case, the last time I used them was for Mindy's Winter canvas, stitched for my Needlepoint Now column a couple of years ago.

The outline for the hem and accents on the dress were provided with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002 in tent stitch.  The body of the dress is being stitched in basketweave with Impressions #8112, 8114, and 8116 (darkest to lightest).  The hem was filled in with slanted Gobelin stitches.  Working my way from right to left, I've reached the tails of the ribbon, a little more than half-way through the dress.

Herald Angel - Part One

The form of the Herald Angel has already been outlined on the canvas, so I decided to tackle the background first.

 The idea of posing the angel against a night sky appealed to me, and using a dark color here would make the colors of the angel "pop."  My choice of thread was navy Petite Very Velvet, which has a matte finish that would make all the metallic areas twinkle even more.

Two cards of PVV covered all but the small section under the angel's outstretched arm--I'll need another card but dye lot won't be an issue since this area doesn't touch previously stitched sections.  I've started outlining the hem of the angel's dress with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002--there will be a lot of this thread in Herald Angel's costume!

Heralding a new project

You've probably heard the phrase "passing it forward," when a person who's benefited from a good deed repays it with another to someone else.  Well, this is a case of "pointing it forward."

A cyber-friend recently decided that she was unable to continue stitching due to arthritis in her hands and was looking for a good home for her stash.  She asked me if I would like a canvas--Herald Angel designed by Judy Harper--and I responded with an immediate and resounding "Yes"!

I recall Judy showing this canvas on her blog as an example of one of the angel designs she had created for Texas First Lady Anita Perry to grace the Christmas tree in the Governor's Mansion.  This angel was one of the last canvases that Judy painted as her health declined.  I'll be blog-stitching it so it can join the rest of my angel collection next Christmas, hopefully finished as a stand-up mounted on a dowel in weather vane fashion.  If anyone knows of a finisher who could do this, just email me or leave a comment.

Jane Seymour: Finale

There really wasn't much left to do to finish off the Jane Seymour canvas--it was just a matter of finding the time to do it!

Instead of adding beads to her double-stranded necklace, I opted to stitch it with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #127, one of the threads I'd used on the Anne of Cleves canvas.  Petite gold beads were used to decorate her English gabled hood.