The finishing

I finally managed to mail the Holly Ornament to Marsye Wray and it came back in less than two weeks!  It has a white satin flat back finish with the white edging and a pale blue bow.  How cute!

Another Finish!

The Holly Ornament by Melissa Shirley is finished!  I bought the canvas from Good Harbor Needlepoint along with the stitch guide by Patricia Sone.  I did follow everything she had written for the guide.  This one is ready for finishing.

Working right along!

I finished the bottom bands of colors and have the background almost done!  This is a fast stitch!

So cute!

This little canvas is so cute!  It is stitching up fast too!  The ornament cap is done, the top designs are worked down to the white area.  From the bottom up, two rows are in!

From the work table

I have all the threads pulled and am going to frame this one up.  Another one that will come off the work table to the frame......Melissa Shirley Designs, 1832-D  Holly Ornament with a stitch guide by Patricia Sone.

Finishing the Holly ornament

I decided it was time to finish the Holly ornament by Jody Designs. http://www.jodydesigns.com/ This is laid out on a piece of black so that you can see what I am using. On the top left is a piece of white velvet and the top right is a copy of the completed design. On the bottom right is a green ribbon that matches the left side of the holly. In the middle is a piece of foam, and the right bottom is the finished piece, with the muslin strips still attached from being attached to the frame.

First I cut out the piece from the canvas, and to the right of it, the piece of corresponding velvet for the back. On the bottom row, is the paper copy cut to size of the stitching and on the right is the piece of foam cut this same size. Actually two of them, as I need one for the front and one for the back.

I then shaped the front and the back around one of the pieces of foam, each. I also glued the green ribbon that will be the hanger to the back. Jody provides the ribbon for you and if you look at the top of the photo you will see the gold label with her name on it. I wanted to include this on the ornament as well.

I then glued the front and the back together and let it dry overnight. Last, I glued the green trim around the outside edge.

I mailed this piece to my sister in Grand Rapids with her recent birthday card. She just loves it! I talked to her last night so I know she has it and therefore was able to post the final pictures.

Jody Designs now has a presence on Facebook if you would like to stop by and see what is going on over there!

The Holly ornament is stitched!

I finished the Splendor stitches around the outside of the ornament so that it can be finished. This was a fun piece to stitch and I will do the finishing myself and post it here so you can see how I do this one. Thanks again to Jody for her approval to blog stitch this and for all the great designs.
You can see more of her great designs at http://www.jodydesigns.com/. She told me that you can purchase this same canvas, along with many others directly from her by emailing her directly at: jodydesign@aol.com (note, no s on the email addy!). She is working on a website that will be up with a full catalog download soon!
I hope you take some time to cruise the wonderful pieces she has created.

Background

I am stitching the background on the Holly Ornament today. I am alternating between the Kreinik 032 white in the ball of the design and have also started stitching the white in Splendor around the outside edge. Unfortunately, the picture does not show up so great, so tonight you have to take my word for it!
Happy stitching!

The second leaf

I finished the green on the second leaf, put a dot of black in each of the berries, and also worked more of the white down the left side and in the center. Pretty good progress after not stitching for a few days1

One completed leaf

I finished all of the dark green with the Gold Rush 18, and also the medium green on the left leaf. Remember this is done with two strands of Nordic Gold. This is moving right along. I am going to add a dot of black in each of the berries in the next session, so that they are realistic as well.

I changed my mind

Yes, I changed my mind. If you read my blog you know that I occasionally do this. LOL.
I did not like the medium value I had originally chosen for the leaves in the Kreinik # 12's.
So I spent some time this afternoon and took out all of the Kreinik. I then pulled out some Rainbow Gallery. A single strand of Gold Rush 18 in 144C is now the darkest value. Two strands of Nordic Gold in 5 are the medium value. A single strand of Gold Rush 18 in 33C is the lightest value. I also added Red 003 Kreinik 12 to the lightest red value in the berries.
Much better, now I can sleep. LOL

Leaves and berries

Tonight, I put in the dark green 009 Kreinik #12 for the outside edge and the veins. I put in the dark red 308 on the other two berries. I then filled in more of the 032 white background.
This ornament is very well painted and stitches up beautifully. I don't think it will take long to finish this one because it goes fast and is very pretty!
I will finish this one myself, and will blog finish it for you all to follow along.

Two Photos!

The first photo is designed by Jody! This is one of the pieces I picked up on the trip to Michigan. I have a sister who loves Holly and she chose this piece for me to stitch for her. When I contacted Jody of Jody Designs, she told me she designs a lot of Holly patterns as that is her daughter's name! You can see more of her great designs at http://www.jodydesigns.com/. She told me that you can purchase this same canvas, along with many others directly from her by emailing her directly at: jodydesign@aol.com (note, no s on the email addy!). She is working on a website that will be up with a full catalog download soon!

So, I have been using all tent stitch on this piece. The top of the ornament is worked in Kreinik #12 (I am using all #12) 002J, gold. The white background is 032, the dark red on the holly berry is 308, and the first green is 008.



And then, I got a note from Mom! She said Mornin Luv looked like he was blind! Oooohhhhh, Nooooo! She said I had to go back and fix his eyes, using a darker color and putting the iris in his eye with a French knot. Yes, Mother. So, I did, and you know how mothers are always right???

You decide.
Yup, she was right!


P.S. Jane wants to know about his slippers. Yes, they are supposed to be fuzzy, but not bunnies!