If I didn't know how to stitch...

...I would have had to learn just to stitch this design! I'm working on Mirabilia's Gypsy Queen, and she is just everything I love about cross stitch; beautiful subject, very colorful and full of bling. Here is my progress as of yesterday:

A better angle to see the beads:

I'm hoping to get a lot done on her this weekend; I'm just loving every stitch!

Speaking of Mirabilia, the 4th annual Mirabilia retreat is taking place this April 7 - 10, in Cincinatti, Ohio. I missed it last year, but have signed up for this one, and have already booked my room. Nora will be there again this year, and will sign a pattern for you. If you're interested in learning about it and you're on Facebook, you can join this group. If you're not on FB, you can contact the retreat organizer, Leslie, through her website Under the Sea Fabrics. 

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

Like a kid in a candy store

That's me, after I finish a model (especially one that I worked on for the better part of four months!). I'm bouncing around my craft room, trying to decide what to stitch, and it's so hard to choose just one!

I have done some more on Bramble Crafts' Cinderella; the wicked stepsisters are taking shape:

I recently ordered some patterns from Shannon Christine Designs, and one of those was the start of a series of the monthly birthstones, garnet. I'm still waiting (impatiently!) for the bead pack to show up from Canada, but I did get all of the stitching done:

I'm planning to stitch all 12 of the designs on this piece of Tattersall linen; it should be a very colorful and sparkly finish.

By this past Thursday I was still feeling the need for more color, so I decided to start the latest Mirabilia, Gypsy Queen. I fell in love with her when she was released back in December, and I just couldn't wait any more. Here is my small start, on a piece of Belfast linen from Silkweaver named, appropriately enough, Gypsy:

I think I'm done bouncing around for now, as these three projects should satisfy my need for color and bling, but only time will tell.

Hope everyone has a great stitchy weekend!

Still here!

I have been spending every spare moment on the model, and am happy (ecstatic!) to report that I finished it two days ago, and mailed it off to Karen yesterday. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted!

I spent most of yesterday taking care of my woefully neglected chores, and I still need to take the Christmas tree down, but I'm going to take the weekend off and do that on Monday. The lack of presents under the tree makes it entirely too easy for the kitties to climb up the middle:

Speaking of presents, I received my prize from the Winter Whisper contest, and love everything Laura sent:

Part of the prize was my choice of a digital chart, and I asked for her newest release "Into the Darkness"; I love how moody the whole design is, and am looking forward to stitching it.

My newest start is a chart from Bramble Crafts, which is known for their papercut designs. I asked the owner, Deborah, about possibly getting a couple of the designs as cross stitch charts, and ended up getting Cinderella and The Princess and the Pea. Today I started Cinderella:

The details are a bit 'blocky" due to the transfer process, so I'll probably play with it a little bit, but I think I'm really going to like this one.

I need  to stitch fast, because my almost-empty ort jar makes me sad; here's a picture of last year's orts, next to the soon-to-be-this year's orts (it does have a bit in it now, from finishing the model):

Hope everyone is having a good new year so far, and a great stitchy weekend right now!