Tag Archives: nora corbett

June WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, High Five For Friday, lavender & lace, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, WIPocalypse by

WIPocalypse is a monthly DIY SAL hosted by Melissa over at measi.net This is my third year of formal participation & it’s something I definitely high-light in my planner. Click on the icon on the right to join up, or see links to other participants.

Let’s review June’s goals:

  • Finish Emi, my portion of Julie’s round robin (Stitch From Stash “Finish it Up” SAL) – COMPLETED
  • Finish Andromeda – or at least get the conversion nutted out & rock completed – ACHIEVED! COMPLETED THE CONVERSION DETAIL & ROCK. And as of last night, Baby Got Back.
  • Work at least one day on MH Believe (Stitch Maynia Whine & WIPs SAL) – ACHIEVED
I started 2 over 1 tent
then I hated it so this is “normal”

It’s just as well that I didn’t list “stay in budget” for Stitch From Stash as I’ve blown it. In the last month, too, of Part A, but I should be golden for the whole year. I was out at our Panmure store and just oops! Ribbon Rose was open. All I actually needed was a $3.90 pack of beads for Andromeda (03035, they might not work but they are pretty so I’ll use them somewhere), but I browsed. I never hardly ever get the chance to browse with no-one breathing down my neck or whining that I am spending too long or that they are hungry/thirsty/bored. So I took advantage of that to kit out the Mia Mermaid, the (yucky shop) freebie from the recent Mira meet-up. I had a fairly specific idea about the dyed threads that I wanted to use for the tail, but once I started laying things out I moved from the suggested to other Waterlillies, and then I turned around. A wall of Gentle Arts Sampler Threads (often abbreviated to GAST). Heaven could be a needlework store, right?

Mia-Mermaid-MirabiliaSo here’s my current thought process. Of course I’ll use Kreinik silver instead of the suggested DMC metallic, which goes without saying!

For her hair, sub from the dark DMC 3031 to GAST Dark Chocolate (1170). For the lighter portion, sub from CWL 137 Copper to GAST Toffee (7078).

For her tail, moving from the darker shades to the light:

  • CWL 083 Pine Forrest to GAST Pine (0120)
  • CWL 207 Bermuda Reef to GAST Mistletoe (0113)
  • DMC 958 to GAST Silver Fern (0114)
  • DMC 964 to GAST Evergreen (0150).

I like the subtleness of the dye difference compared to the wilder variations in the Waterlillies. I also won’t be stitching the lettering, but I’m thinking about keeping the year.

I also picked up the Mill Hill/Sandra Cozzolino Renaissance Santa (Florence) with his gorgeous painting but it was $27.90NZD which is a hideous price. At least there are the materials to stitch him at least twice – once for Lou and once for me.

MD151_40284On top of that spend, I purchased some things thru Down Sunshine Lane (www.downsunshinelane.com) who are amazing. They had the 3 new Mill Hill/Sandra Cozzolino Santas for 2017 at a reduced pre-sell, so I ordered those, and a Lizzie Kate Coffee design, and after everything was confirmed, the new Nora mermaid was released so I emailed the team, and they added that one to my package! I am in love with the Renaissance Mermaid. And with the top-notch service. It was so much better than 123, who charged me freight TWICE cause they split an order. I would have preferred an option to cancel as $12USD for a $7USD kit is not really worth it!

So onto July’s goals.

  • No stitchy spend (even framing).
  • Start & complete MH Christmas Island Santa (as that chart & leftovers are going to Michelle #sprinklestitchykindness Garrette, & she’s sending me Hawaii)
  • Finish Andromeda. Before I start Renaissance.
  • Kit up & grid for August start, Nantucket Rose, with Dena (half stitch) & Emily C (eclectic possessions) on Flosstube/IG. Which really means – decide on fabric. Hint of Autumn (mine is lighter than the sample) or blue? Dawn or full daylight?

 

Question of the month: Show us your Stitchy Spot!

So – not a question but the reason I’ve delayed posting this by a week. Si decided that he wanted a new chair, so we went looking. Two weekend’s searching narrowed me down to this: the modern Wingback from Freedom Furniture. High back, short-ish seat (I don’t have long legs and don’t want my feet hanging over!), decent padding and nice feet (that I can change out later if I want). All the frames in the lounge are black so the material will do for now. I’ll likely change it out in a few years tho. Mase helped me put the base on – he’s a natural!

WIP Wednesday edition ????

Posted in conversion details, cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

One of these days I will count out how many WIP Wednesday posts I actually have made…I probably should number them as I go, to differentiate, but then again, that would eat into stitch time!

Since I last wrote, I’ve done some stitching. It doesn’t feel like a lot, with the reading I’ve done taking over stitch time, and then there was the (semi-wasted) six hours hunting out the perfect chair for the MOTH. I found mine in the second shop we looked at. At about 1/3 price of the ones he is looking at. I feel that I should get the difference added to my Stitch From Stash fund!

With Believe, which is my Stitch MAYnia “whine” piece (it’s too big to hold comfortably, and paper too) I finished the last 7 stitches in the lettering, and started on the background. I should have stitched this on evenweave. Next time! Andromeda is my home/stitch group piece and I’m slowly working my way up the robes. I still haven’t decided on her skin but am learning towards over-one, despite knowing that I would not finish her until August.

andromed-on-antartic-stormAndromeda is stitched on 28ct lugana by Countrystitch in the colour Antarctic Storm. I asked Catherine to dye it slightly heavier & I’m really pleased with how the colours “pop”.

 

WIP Wednesday

Posted in conversion details, cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash by

Well, so much for this year’s flu vaccine. The whole family has been unwell (today is my first day back at the desk since last Thursday morning). We are not hungry. We are all coughing like extras in a plague movie. It is not nice at all. I will be operating on written word and sign language today.

While I had my laptop at home and have kept working, so I don’t have a huge pile of insurmountable crap, I have also done a lot of stitching. This is what you do when you have the cough chorus going on and both sailing and rugby book-ending your TV hours. GO EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND! There was a large amount of frogging, as I worked out the DMC conversion, but I am really happy with the vibrancy of Andromeda’s robes.

I went from here: to here:

I’m still not sure if I will do her skin over one yet. I’ll keep on with the robes while I decide.

SFS – I am well in the black as I sold a Mira I won’t stitch, Fairy Treasures, for more than what I paid for English Roses. Score!

english roses.jpg

WIP (somewhere it’s still) Wednesday…

Posted in conversion details, cross stitch, freebies, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, work by

I just found this in the drafts – whoops!!

I had a full-on day yesterday, so apologies for not writing. Hubs packed/left for a work trip (solo parenting, oh yay); I had work, I left work early to look after sick MIL & sick child, worked at home, did three loads of washing (did I mention sick child?! I meant, SICK child), stitched a little, forgot to eat lunch, found warm clothes, left Screaming Teen in charge and went to the British & Irish Lions game at Eden Park (thank you adidas crew). If you want a match report, go HERE

As you can see, primo seats, right on the 22 and UNDER COVER. The only wet was from beer spillage when the people in front of me cheered. Unexpectedly, the Auckland Blues won 22-16. Personally, used to rugby league referees, I thought this one sucked when it came to positioning. He appeared to be in the way multiple times so kudos to the players, having to add “don’t pass to the dude in white” to their thoughts every time they passed from the base of the scrum or a ruck.

Stitching-wise, I am nearly completed all the DMC in Andromeda’s rock. I have decided to change out the charted green to a Kreinik to give gloss, like you could expect from wet seaweed/mussels, and eagle-eyed punters will see that I have frogged the lilac in the waves on the left & worked out that I will replace this with 3752, which is in the same depth group.

The image on the right is very true to the colours of the fabric, which is Country Stitch Antarctic Storm on 28ct lugana. Catherine likens it to DMC 800 and that’s pretty much what it is, just slightly darker as I specifically requested.

http://www.countrystitch.com/Handdyed-Fabric/Handdyed-Fabric-Antarctic-Ice

 

May WIPocalypse & Smalls

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, goals, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin by

Hi everyone!

20170529_145118.jpg

I can’t believe we’re at the month end already. Winter is playing with the senses; the leaves on the trees are hanging on just that little bit longer than last year, and on my drive home they fill up a portion of my emotional bank. I like autumn; I hate winter rain.

Let’s re-visit May’s goals:

  • Disney hoop & needle book for new swap – COMPLETED but modified; I ended up making four little people as plastic canvas magnets for my partner’s fridge. She’s also getting a fox-applique zip wallet pattern & a few other goodies. These are my SMALLS choices this month.
  • Start Julie’s round robin (if I get a finish, I will start Andromeda!) – STARTED but I also started Andromeda. She’s my travel piece as I didn’t feel I could take Julie’s huge piece of fabric around in the car.
  • Finish Mill Hill Believe (about ½ done) – FAILED it’s still in the basket at home. No urge to even do a thread’s worth.

20170530_055537

June’s Goals:

  • Finish Emi, my portion of Julie’s round robin (Stitch From Stash “Finish it Up” SAL) – should be easy, I’ve only got the black DMC and the Kreinik bow body to do
  • Finish Andromeda – or at least get the conversion nutted out & rock completed
  • Work at least one day on MH Believe (Stitch Maynia Whine & WIPs SAL)

CHAT-071-MM-i-Castle-1-white.jpgQuestion of the Month – Which designer’s projects do you absolutely love, but are too intimidated to try?

I’d vote for Chatelaines https://chatelaine.de/  by Martina Rosenberg. I’m thinking I might start with one of her Mini Mystery castles – but the pattern alone is nearly $40 NZD plus then I’d have to buy silks or convert. And the specialty stitches!!! I’d be living at Liz’s and I don’t know if she’d like me anymore after that 🙂  They are a huge investment in time and money & the perfectionist in me has trouble with that right now, especially with three kids still at home.

Perhaps I should just finish those TWs I have instead!

WIP Wednesday 

Posted in books, cross stitch, embroidery, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin by

It’s been a big, big day. I’ve had some problems with one eye and today was the retinal exam. Anaesthetic drops and dilation drops later, & I looked like a Snapchat filter. 

You’re not getting that photo. No. 

Eventually I got home (cloudy day & I looked like a wanker wearing shades on the train). I couldn’t read or do anything for about 3 hours, but eventually I could cope with the light and started to be able to focus.  Big print on the kindle, but a win. 

I also remembered a wonderful opportunity I had in 2011. Sir Roger Moore had just released his autobiography (read it, you’ll howl with laughter) & I was working for Whitcoulls. We hosted him and after Shanee & I got an autograph & a photo op. I gave him a copy of Hairy Mclary to read to his grandchildren. RIP, Mr Bond. ❤

This afternoon I’ve managed to get some stitching done. This is Emi, a Nora Corbett bewitching pixie. No conversions, as its part of Julie’s RR. Sorry, I don’t know the fabric details!

WIP Wednesday

Posted in conversion details, cross stitch, embroidery, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin by

I *should* be working on Emi. I started…

But didn’t want to take someone else’s piece away in the car. So I picked up Andromeda…

28ct Antarctic Storm lugana from Countrystitch, DMC over 2. I’m going to convert the lilac robes. I’m running all the thread thru Thread Heaven and it’s making a huge difference. I’ll have to clean/ scrape off the black thread residue before I carry on with the waves but so worth it. 

Day 5: 

April Smalls, Stitch from Stash Update & WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, freebies, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, WIPocalypse by

Smalls is hosted by the lovely Heather on her blog, click here for the rules:  http://stitchinglotus.ca/2017-sal/

WIPocalypse is hosted by Mel at her blog http://measi.net/measiblog/

And another month draws to a close and I got some stitching in! Mind you, it was a bit of a race for the last portions of beading on Mermaids but – I got a finish!!! My goal for the month was to finish all the stitching, but I could see the finish line and off I went.

April Goals:

  • FFO the How to Train Your Dragon pieces for the swap & post (bookmark, needle book and small hoop). COMPLETED – but I kept the small hoop
  • Finish all the stitching on MOTDB and get to the beading potion. SMASHED
  • Start Julie’s RR piece (as that has arrived to me super early). NOT STARTED
  • Plan what I will do for the #disneycraftswap (waiting for my partner to post her mosaic still). PLANS COMPLETE, STITCHING STARTED
  • 15th – Diamonds. Beading the clear beads on MOTDB. IGNORED
  • 22nd – Earth Day. Start the Mill Hill Seagull kit. COMPLETED

I also worked on a small Easter piece, the freebie Prairie Schooler chart that Kristine sent me. I chose black aida (stash!) and initially stitched it in similar colours to the original…I plan to repeat with different colours to make a basket of mini eggs.

So here’s my pieces for this month:

20170430_092619

Question of the Month – What projects are in your UFO pile? There’s not too much in my UFO pile, to be honest. Just the one piece that I have kept the pattern & half-completed project away. I am tempted to re-start it on evenweave as it is on aida & I had become a bit of a snob but maybe I should just pull it out. If I can’t get the threads to match it might be worth a restart…apart from this, I do have Tapestry Cat at 11 years of age but as I am still working on this, I don’t think I can call it a true UFO. Just a resting WIP. And I have a few of those!

  • Tapestry Cat, Dec 2006
  • Toy Story Birth Sampler, Oct 2013
  • Nora Corbett Arezzo, March 2014
  • Mirabilia Persephone, May 2015
  • Nora Corbett Reindeer, July 2015
  • Mirabilia Raven Queen, Jan 2016
  • Tamara blackwork, September 2016
  • Lavender & Lace Celtic Winter, Dec 2016

My May goals are fairly small. I’m not going to participate in StitchMAYnia, but there are some new starts:

  • Disney hoop & needlebook for new swap
  • Start Julie’s round robin (if I get a finish, I will start Andromeda!)
  • Finish Mill Hill Believe (about ½ done)

Lastly, I’m still in the black for Stitch From Stash. This is more good luck than management but I’ll take the win.

Apr-17
 Budget $25.00
Andromeda @ CountryStitch -41.40
Kreinik @ RR -27.90
HTTYD hoop FFO 10.00
PS Easter Folk Egg 5.00
MH Seagull 5.00
Mermaids of the Deep Blue 59.30
Rollover $2.92
Total Available Budget $37.92

WIP  (very late on) Wednesday 

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash by

And here I am, beading! I hit my goal to finish the stitching on Mermaids of the Deep Blue and pulled out the beads. 


Loving it! I wish you could see the gleam and glitter. And in true stitch from stash fashion, I’m subbing in the gold that I already have, and the big pony beads are also from my stash. 

Oh My Gosh

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stash cache app, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

If there was a time that my Stitch From Stash resolution would be broken, now is that time. The new Mirabilia released overnight (NZ time) and sigh…she’s on order. Won’t get to me until March, so I had better get some finishes in.

andromed-on-antartic-stormThis isn’t the perfect image (go to http://www.Mirabilia.com or join in the FB SAL for Lori’s shots while model stitching) but this will be the fabric I use.

Nora has charted in her constellation in glow-in-the-dark Kreinik (just like Cassiopeia!!) and that too is perfect.

If you use Stash Cache, I have uploaded the file to that section now. Download, save as .txt and add to your phone/tablet.

(WIKIPEDIA) In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of the North African kingdom of Aethiopia.

Her mother Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, the nymph-daughters of the sea god Nereus and often seen accompanying Poseidon. To punish the queen for her arrogance, Poseidon, brother to Zeus and god of the sea, sent a sea monster named Cetus to ravage the coast of Aethiopia including the kingdom of the vain queen. The desperate king consulted the Oracle of Apollo, who announced that no respite would be found until the king sacrificed his daughter, Andromeda, to the monster. Stripped naked, she was chained to a rock on the coast.

Perseus was returning from having slain the Gorgon Medusa. After he happened upon the chained Andromeda, he approached Cetus while invisible (for he was wearing Hades’s helm), and killed the sea monster. He set Andromeda free, and married her in spite of her having been previously promised to her uncle Phineus. At the wedding a quarrel took place between the rivals and Phineus was turned to stone by the sight of the Gorgon’s head.[3]

Andromeda followed her husband, first to his native island of Serifos, where he rescued his mother Danaë, and then to Tiryns in Argos. Together, they became the ancestors of the family of the Perseidae through the line of their son Perses. Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons: Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, Electryon, and Cynurus as well as two daughters, Autochthe and Gorgophone. Their descendants ruled Mycenae from Electryon down to Eurystheus, after whom Atreus attained the kingdom, and would also include the great hero Heracles. According to this mythology, Perseus is the ancestor of the Persians.

At the port city of Jaffa (today part of Tel Aviv) an outcrop of rocks near the harbour has been associated with the place of Andromeda’s chaining and rescue by the traveler Pausanias, the geographer Strabo and the historian of the Jews Josephus.[4]

After Andromeda’s death, as Euripides had promised Athena at the end of his Andromeda, produced in 412 BCE,[5] the goddess placed her among the constellations in the northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia; the constellation Andromeda, so known since antiquity, is named after her.