Adrift, Page 20 is Complete

Page 20 is officially a wrap.  Started Aug 23 and finished Sept 10, it was a pretty quick stitch, with not much detail.  Just a whole lotta water and a li'l bit of hair.

The next page I should get a peek-a-boo view of the tail again.  I can't believe I'm only half way done, 58%.   These patterns are so large that you do a page, 7315 stitches to be exact, and the percentage only goes up by 2%.   But onward, next page update will be 60% complete.  I may celebrate that with a glass of wine - or 5.

I'm already back working on the Winter Hat Owl.   It's already 300 stitches in.  AND, I've managed to start not one, but two friends on a Heaven and Earth pattern.  (Bad Rai.  Bad, bad Rai.  It's not nice to enable people with stitching addictions.)  This next page of the owl will probably take me an entire month to stitch. It's pretty confetti heavy.  But the colors are pretty fabulous.

I'll see you in a month!  Happy stitching!
~Rai Rai

Winter Hat Owl, Page 10 is Complete.

Started July 18 and finished August 21.  The colors of this page were so much fun to work with, and to say I was into stitching this page is an understatement.  The only thing that got in my way was work.  Work and copious amounts of it, otherwise I would have had this angry little eye glaring at you all much sooner.

Here's a closeup.

He's adorable, and I absolutely love him!  It was so hard to put him down in order to go to work.  It's times like these I wish I was a kept lady!

Back to Adrift for a page, but it's mostly water, and looks to be a pretty fast stitch, then I can get back to the other glaring eye. 

I think when he's done, it's going to be hard to keep a hold of him. My sister is already making all sorts of noises that he will compliment her wall much better than mine, and to be fair, she has an owl collection that rivals none, and he would make a perfect accompaniment.  But I haven't yet made my mind up. Right now the only decision I'm capable of is deciding if I want a latte or an iced latte. 

Decisions, decisions!

I hope to see you soon with an update on Adrift.

~Rai Rai

Adrift, page 19 is complete!

The month of July shall be known in my memory as the month that I worked much and stitched little. This page seemed to take me forever to complete.  I started on June 23 and finished July 16 - a total of 7600 stitches.

Honestly, the monochrome color is hard to stay interested in, and I know that the 2nd half of this project is all water and tail.  I actually had the very strong urge to start another project, but I am firm when I told myself that I couldn't start any new projects until I had a finish.  So I will have to grit my teeth and persevere.  I know when this is done, the water will have all been worth it, and to my benefit, there isn't much confetti when it comes to the water.   It's just relatively easy, but boring colors.   First world problems, indeed!

Now I am off to work on my little owl, who, by the end of this page, will have one very stern eye glaring at me!

I will hopefully have an update for you somewhere toward mid to late August.

See you all then!

~Rai Rai

Winter Hat Owl Page 9 Complete

Started June 6, and finished June 22.  This is my 11th HaED page finish this year. 
7600 stitches. 

That tiny bit of the hat was 62 colours!    62!!!   The next page will see all sorts of goodies appear. An eye, and quite a few chest feathers!   I'm so looking forward to the splashes of colour I will get to work with.   But I have a feeling this next page is going to take me a while to complete. 

July will be a whirlwind for me.  I'm working crazy hours, which seriously cuts into my stitching time!  (As does picking the perfectly ripe cherries on my tree's, but I'm not complaining about THAT interruption! And for the record, I wish you all lived closer so I could unload some cherries on you, I seriously have way too many!)  

This little page finish is almost like an intolerable peek-a-boo, isn't it?  I want more, more MOAR!!! But alas, it is time to pick up Adrift once again.  I'm not sure when I'll be back with another page finish for Adrift, but hopefully it won't be too long.

~Rai Rai

Adrift, Pages 17 and 18 are Done!

Started May 14 and finished June 5, I am now officially at the halfway mark! 

I am delighted at how beautiful she is turning out to be, and I also feel a little daunted that I am only half way there!  Miles and miles to go before I complete. 

I am now 52% done. 

I wish I had more to say at this point, but I am merely content to just sit back and admire her.

~Rai Rai

Scissor Fobs and a Needle Minder

So, these are not the greatest quality, because I only have my phone, and it's not the best for taking super closeups, and trust me when I say, these are much prettier in real life.  But here are the fobs and the needle minder I recently made.

First up is the needle minder.  I found the most beautiful bead that was originally part of a bracelet.  The owner of the store broke the bracelet up and sold me the bead, as she is getting rid of her bead stock.  I used a bit of hot glue and glued a magnet to the back.   24 hours later (just to make sure it was truly dry) I now have a one-of-a-kind needle minder.

These are my favourite scissors.  They are Leah from the Gingher Designer series.  I know it's hard to see the detail, but they are the most beautiful purple roses with green leaves.  For the fob I used a lavender glass seed bead, purple swarovski crystals and a leaf green bead.  The centre is a swarovski ball and the end is a bobbin that I threaded some purple DMC thread on.

 Here's a closer look.

This is a terrible picture and I do apologize.  These are my Ginger Designer "Julia" scissors.  I used a smoky moonstone bead, a smoky glass bluish/greenish bead, glass periwinkle seed beds and ceramic blue bead for the middle.  The end bead is a fresh water pearl set in silver.

A better look, although the pearl doesn't really show up very well.

These are my Ashleys.  I used a pale pink pearl seed bead, swarovski purple, the same green beads I used for my Leah's, and the end bead is a pale pink rose.

A closeup of the rose.

These are my Charlene's. These were the first Gingher scissors I ever collected. 
The fob is swarovski amethyst and light purple, with a smoky rose bead in the middle.  The end is a swarovski heart.

These are my Alyssa's, which are tiny peacock feathers.   I used blue and clear seed beads, and blue and white swarovski crystal beads.  The end bead is a palm tree a friend whom I met on a cruise to the Caribbean gave me.

I really enjoy making fobs, and I've made them for all of my friends in my stitching circle.  Although they do run a tad on the expensive side to make, the crystals really catch the light and make for a stunning outcome.

And that's it.   I do think my Gingher collecting is at it's end, so my Visa (and my husband) can relax.  But who knows. Gingher puts out 2 new designs a year, and down the road there may be a pattern that I simply must have.  And of course, it will have to have its own fob!

Perhaps I had better not put the Visa away just yet....

~Rai Rai

Page 8 of Winter Hat Owl is Complete

Started May 7 and finished May 14, this is definitely the fasted HaED page finish I've ever had.  To be honest, my wrists are a bit sore, but I wanted to finish this page because I'm scheduled to work the next 3 nights, where I don't get a chance to stitch at all.  It would have killed me being so close to a page finish and not being able to pick it back up until Sunday.

This piece is now 50% done!   

The grey part of hat hat was my nemesis! Pure confetti madness which slowed me down to the point where I wanted to scream and fling it into the fire - if I had a fireplace, that is.  Instead I had to be content to using unpardonable language and copious amounts of it, which, on one occasion, scared the cat. 

I have been busy creating fobs for some Ginger designer scissors I received for Christmas, as well as a needle minder, but I can't seem to get a photo of them that do them justice.   If I can get a good photo, I will post it between my next update of Adrift, which should be in a little over a month because it will be a full page and a partial - which means a row finish.

Stay tuned.  Wonderful things will be coming down the pike!

~Rai Rai