Ghost #1 reviews his hand

Half of the border is done on "The Gamblers," so I was able to concentrate on getting the center ghost stitched.

His "body" was worked in basketweave with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #032. Tent stitches in DMC floss #415 produced his eyelids and arm shading. His eyeshade was worked in tent stitches of black Petite Very Velvet and slanted gobelin stitches over two threads in Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #008HL for the visor.

The cards he's holding were stitched with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #221 and DMC floss #666, the same threads I used to stitch the cards in the top corners of the border. Now that this little guy is in place, I can start working on the orange background!

Bordering on the other-worldly

I'm fairly predictable when it comes to starting a canvas: if it has a border, I usually begin stitching there. Likewise, if there's a lot of one color involved, I tend to put as much of that behind me before tackling "juicier" areas!

I'm stitching "The Gamblers" as a door-hanger, and already know how I'll have it finished-- backed with black velveteen. I think of a border as a frame for a smaller scene, so I wanted this area to have a slightly higher profile.

The inside and outside perimeters of the border have been worked with black Petite Very Velvet in a slanted gobelin stitch, over either two or three threads. The inside background used four plies of white DMC cotton floss in a diagonal mosaic stitch to add a little texture. I then started to fill in the symbols for the playing card suits with the same PVV in basketweave.

There's also a fair amount of orange background to be worked in the center section, but I'll need to do a little "ghostly" stitching before I can start this area!

Shaking the sillies out

Passing a glorious display of jewel-toned chrysanthemums outside our local market earlier this week, it suddenly hit me: fall is fast approaching! Time for another Halloween design!

I chewed on an idea all the way home and, having dutifully stashed away my groceries, sat down to sketch. DH sailed through the kitchen and I showed him my crude drawing--he laughed. A good sign! I then transferred my idea to graph paper, and having slept on the count for the border, painted the design you see here the next day. "The Gamblers" was born!

These little poker-playing ghosts join their singing and dancing counterparts of "A Chorus Line" and last year's "Dreamgirls," and offer me my once-a-year opportunity to let my imagination go wild and be slightly ridiculous! I'll be stitching this canvas as a door-hanger, so drop in to watch my progress!

An angelic finish

The model for Judy Harper's July guardian angel is finished, and what a fun project it was! One of the things which made it particularly appealing to me was its use of my favorite colors: blue, green and hot pink.

Heading into the home stretch, I gave the little angel a bolero jacket using Vineyard Silk Classic "Celestial"--appropriate for an angel, don't you think? The jacket was trimmed in a gobelin stitch at the front edges and cuffs, and filled in with a framed mosaic stitch. I chose this shade of blue. which matches the darkest blue of the water, to tie the top and bottom of the canvas together.

Last of all, the water lilies themselves! I chose four values of DMC floss--from darkest to lightest, #335, 899, 776 and 818--to shade the petals. I began with the darkest value in the center petals, stitching over the stamens, which I added later on top of the stitching using three plies of DMC floss #743. Using either satin or long stitches, I worked outward with the lighter values of pink floss. The veins of the lightest petals were worked with two plies of the darkest pink on top of the previously-stitched areas.

Hopefully I've come close to achieving the look of Monet's garden at Giverny for this little angel, who will now wing her way back to Judy for finishing.

Of wings and lily pads

Just for fun and variety, I wanted to stitch the wings of Judy Harper's July angel a little differently. You may recall the December angel's wings were worked in a Nobuko stitch with Kreinik gold metallic--fine for a winter angel, but a little heavy for a summer angel.

This time I was aiming for a "sculptured" look. I first tent-stitched the lines of the wings drawn on the canvas with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #032. Then I filled in between the metallic stitches with white DMC #5 perle cotton in satin stitches. I had first tried floss for the filler stitches, but the floss didn't provide the sheen and "loft" I was looking for. The perle cotton, being a tad heavier and with a slight twist that is light-reflective, was the better choice here.

Heading back into the water, I then worked the lily pads in three shades of Petite Very Velvet--V622, 623, and 624. I first worked the veins in the medium green in tent stitches for the top and middle lily pads, filling around the veins in basketweave with the lightest green. For the lily pad at the bottom, I used the darkest green for the veins with the medium green around them. I was pleased to see that adding the lily pads enhanced the look of depth to the water.

I'm on the home stretch now--only the angel's bolero and lilies themselves remain to be stitched!

From neckline to hemline

There are a lot of values of blue in the dress Judy Harper's July angel is now sporting!

From the neckline to the water line, the dress was needle-blended using four plies of DMC floss #3755, 3325, 3841 and 775 in staggered basketweave. That was the easy part!--I'd used this "recipe" any number of times to create skies for lighthouses.

The water, however, was a trickier matter! There was no single blue/green color family in DMC floss that would give the smooth gradation I was looking for in the water--I would have to needle-blend this area, too! Working from the top down, I began with a combination of two plies ofDMC floss #3755, the darkest color in the "sky" area, and two plies of green DMC floss #992.

The two plies of green floss remained constant as the water gradually darkened using DMC floss #334 and #322. I gradually dropped the green floss out of the equation and used solid blue, ending at the bottom with a blend of DMC floss #322 and #312. All this stitching, of course, was only done after a lot of trial-and-error experimentation on doodle canvas!

It's time for this little angel to earn her wings, so I'll be working on that area next!

Taking it from the top

Just like the December angel, I began working Judy Harper's July angel canvas from the halo down!

The outside of the halo and radii were worked in tent stitches, then filled in with satin stitches using Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002V. Then I moved to the face and neck, working these areas in basketweave with four plies of DMC floss #948. I stitched over the eyebrows which had been painted in and skipped the eyelids, nose and mouth. The eyelids and nose were added with DMC floss #754 and the mouth with DMC floss #760. Two plies of DMC floss #898 in straight stitches were stitched over the previously-worked areas for the eyebrows.

For the hair, I chose Silk & Ivory "Chocolate," dividing it into four sections. The bottom sections were worked in satin stitches slanted away from the face, while the top sections are slanted down to either side from the crown.

Per Judy's request, I reworked the top of the bodice to make it less prominent. The same gold Kreinik thread was used here in tent and Smyrna cross stitches to surround the Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #061 "rubies," the birthstone for July.

Now for the dress itself! I've begun needle-blending with four plies of DMC floss #3755, working five horizontal rows of basketweave. I then began subtracting one ply of #3755 and adding one ply of #3325 for each section. When this photo was taken, I had just finished a section with four plies of #3325.

I've a long way to go before finishing the background of the dress, so I'd better get back to work!