The Joan Elliott world is my oyster!

Hi all!

Since the first moment I saw her cross stitch charts I fell in love with Joan Elliott designs . I loved the details and the colours she used and the subjects - just the overall feel of her designs : ) However , a lot of them felt very much out of my stitching reach since I had never used beads - how scary! - and I found metallics really challenging to stitch with .
However , I challenged myself to use beads for a gift I made last autumn . . .

 



 ...using a Joan Elliott chart . I used slightly larger beads that I had bought cheaply at a craft sale and the process of stitching the beads to the fabric was such an exhilarating experience , and the the whole stitched piece looked sooo good with the added beads that I was truly HOOKED! Then I decided to stitch the beautiful Unicorn by Joan Elliott for my sister's 40th birthday , where I got to use Kreinik braid #4 which was a very nice experience ! I found Kreinik very easy to use compared to DMC Metallics . I also used the small seed beads for the first time , and although they did their best to escape from me , the beading was a lot of fun : )
So , now that I had conquered my big fears as far as JE designs was concerned , it really dawned on me the other day that I CAN in fact stitch ALL of her charts that take my fancy ! WOW ! Of course it would be quite expensive , since I would want lovely ( hand dyed ) fabrics and beautiful beads and Kreinik , but still , I could do it ! And I also realized that I have quite a few of her charts already since I collect cross stitch magazines and have quite a few bookazines with some of her patterns . Of course I had to get out back issues of the magazine that often has her chart , Cross Stitch Collection magazine , and I made a list of the JE designs that really took my fancy !

So here goes:

CSC issue 225

 I love this Fabulous flapper ! Who doesn't love the Charlston Era with all the fun dresses and headpieces etc ? ! And look at that necklace . . . lots and lots of beads : )

CSC issue 229

 I LOVE christmas ( which is why I have a Christmas blog! ) and I love vintry christmas designs ! This Christmas Rose Angel would be perfect christmas gift for someone : ) Those christmas roses are stunning !

CSC issue 204

 I love all the green foilage , poinsetta flowers , and christmas roses that surrounds this Winter Goddess ! The greens and the reds are really beautiful and there are some lovely gold beads and Kreinik braid used as well : ) It is just a very festive design , and the chart that comes with it is very easy to read , which helps a lot !

CSC issue 212

This Sweet Pea Fairy is simply stunning ! However, it is a rather elaborate and large design so I don't think I'll be stitching it yet . I feel I need a little more stitching experience before I tackle it . It is definitely on my to-do list though ! I've always liked Sweet Pea flowers and this design really reflects the beauty of Sweet Peas : )

CSC issue 214

This Dragonfly Fairy is definitely one of the charts I am thinking of doing next : ) I like those muted colour and the easy, breezy feeling of this design ! I would definitely have to find the perfect hand dyed fabric for it though , since the fabric really is in focus on this design .

So those are my stitching dreams/plans for the moment ! I love the fact that I have lots and lots of beautiful , inspiring , beaded projects on my to-do list ! Whatever else life throws at me , I know that I have lots of lovely stitchy moments to look forward to in the future : )

Oh , I mustn't forget to show you my progress on my present JE project !

 

At the moment I'm looking to do some of the backstitch on her skirt so I'm trying to finish all those dress folds . It is now possible to see where some of the beads will be positioned on the dress too : ) The hair is also basically finished and just waiting for the beads and Kreinik decorations . I love the feeling of the hair , the way it just falls freely on her (invisible) shoulders . Yes , I know , I'm dragging my feet on the skin areas . . . just bear with me !

 

Now I bid you all farewell for this time because I'm going to return to stitching my Lavender Fairy by Joan Elliott : )

 

Happy Stitching Everyone!

 

Annie

My secret projects are not so secret anymore!

Hi all!

The last few days have been crazy busy over here! It was my sister's 40th birthday and my mum and I worked hard to make it a great celebration for her , so Friday , Saturday and Sunday were all spent dealing with party business . There was no time for relaxed cross stitching on the sofa , or watching my favorite English murder mysteries such as Midsomer Murders or Lewis . . .

I made a birthday card for my sister . . .

 

 . . . using a cross stitch chart designed by Angela Poole from Cross Stitch Collection issue 200 , and I also made a little brooch/necklace for her using a self-cover button , felt and ribbons .

Finally I could also give my wonderful sister her birthday present that I have been working on for the last couple of months . Knowing that she likes unicorns , I decided to cross stitch Joan Elliott's beautiful design Magical Unicorn for her :

 

This was the first time that I stitched with Kreinik braid #4 and Mill Hill Seed beads and I absolutely loved using these embellisments . The Kreinik was soo easy to stitch with compared to other metallics and sooo sparkly , and the beads were so much fun to attach and made the unicorn look fabulous ! According to the chart I used (which came from The World of Cross Stitching magazine issue 189) the stitching time was 90 hours, but my own stitching time is normally double the time they state in the magazines so with the beading and the Kreinik I estimate that it took me about 200 hours to stitch this beautiful unicorn !

Close ups :

 

 

I made a couple of changes to the design compared to the original chart . I cannot afford the beautiful hand-dyed fabrics so I picked an blue marbled aida instead as an economy alternative , and I decided to use varigated DMC tread for the forest in the background . Both these changes worked out well I think .
Although this was a time consuming project I loved stitching it and I definitely want to stitch a Joan Elliott design with beads and Kreinik again sooon ! In fact , I have the Lavender Fairy in my stash . . . hm . . .

Yesterday I also visited my VERY good friend T who also celebrated her birthday this weekend , and for her I had made a big bag in which she can store some of her stash of knitting yarns : = )

 

I added two stitched decorative cross stitched patches . . .  

. . .using this wonderful little design by Emma Congdon from the Cross Sticher magazine issue 288 . I LOVE this stitching related design and have stitched it several times , although I have had to change the colours since I didn't have the exact thread colours from the original chart .

So . . . now I have to decide if I want to pick up a WIP. . .
or if I should make a new start. . .
or maybe two new starts. . .
or maybe all the above. . . ? ? ?

Such lovely stitching decisions to be made ! ! !

Happy Stitching everyone!

Annie

My first encounter with seed beads!

Hi!

I just had to laugh at myself today as I was stitching. . : ) I have read quite a bit about stitchers' trouble of keeping those seed beads contained during sessions of attatching beads to cross stitch projects. Having never used seed beads myself, I have wondered to myself : ' how hard can it be?! They are just beads, right ? '

Today it was my turn to stitch with those little Mill Hill sead beads for the first time and whilst I had full confidence in my ability to keep the beads safe and contained , I was more worried about attatching them to the stitched piece . I bet you can guess what happened next. . . ha ha !
Once I had opened up that tiny little plastic container in which the beads were stored in , it didn't take more than a couple of seconds before quite a few of those tiny little beads had landed in my lap and spread onto the sofa. . . and while I tried to pick those ones up , before I knew it more beads had escaped the container ! Hahaha ! By now I had realised that this wasn't going to be so easy , so I had to come up with a plan of attack ! I went looking through my freebies from cross stitch magazines and luckily I found a shallow , little metal box perfect for beads. . .

. . .and I tried to transfer the beads into it. Needless to say a few more beads escaped in the process , but I think I found most of them and finally managed to put them all in the box . With my newly found respect for seed beads , I was then terrified that my dogs would somehow knock over the open little box while I was attaching the beeds onto my project .

Luckily that did not happen thanks to a few shout-outs on my part : ) I could very easily see myself crawling around on all four in the livingroom searching for those blasted little beads. .  .haha!
Anyhow , it was soo much fun attaching beads to my project and I really loved the whole look of the stitching together with the beads ! I will show all of you the actual result later on in the month : ) I have a feeling there is going to be lots more beads in my stitching future , but from hereon I am treating seed beads with the respect they deserve : = )

Happy Stitching!

Annie