I finished.......

The stopper and neck is finished! I also started doing some backstitching on the left side. I am creating a wallpaper pattern for the background. I am using a single strand of Splendor and have completed some of the back stitch rows on the left. And,

I entered these three pieces in the fair this year. I am very pleased that the Summer Dream stump work piece in the center won the First place and Best of Show. Carol Lake's white gold In a Purple Passion, on the left, won second place and the judge's choice award. Mornin' Luv, on the right,won a third place!

Toothpaste and a Toothbrush

First, using Splendor blues, I filled in the tube base, tube body, some letters, and then the handle of the toothbrush. Next I padded the bristles with four strands of Splendor. Then using a single strand, I worked individual bristles. Next I used two strands of gray Splendor and two strands of Hightlights and did the top of the toothpaste tube. Last, I padded the paste with white Splendor and then stitched Snow over that.
Doncha just want to pinch his nose? LOL

A shoulder and part of an arm

Not found body parts, but actually what I stitched tonight! I started under his chin and put in some of the tan for a shadow there, and then moved over and started working across the arm and into the chest area. You can see I stopped at his toothpaste and brush as I want to continue to work from the top down.

Not shave and a haircut......Beard and a moustache....

Now despite several comments about this good lookin' dude that some of you may or may not have dated, I checked with Mom. She says she got this inspiration from a card from an old friend......We are going to go with that, okay? She also said she thinks it is coming along nicely, but said he did need gray in his hair tufts, (distinguishing...) and face. So, tonight, I added his beard, moustache, and some gray to what other hair we can see. I did not add any gray to his eyebrows as he is very vain and uses Grecian formula on them. By the way, I used a single strand of brown Splendor, and a single strand of gray DMC.

Eyes and Eyebrows

First, I finished stitching the face and outlining it and his other ear. Then, I outlined his eyes and the iris and then the eyelids tonight. I also added some eyebrows and a little bit of hair sticking out from under his nightcap.
I was going to outline his eyes with a brown, but Jane in CH prompted me to use a blue, and it worked great!
Now to answer some questions: Yes, Mom reads the blog and she is watching the progress on her fella. But, no she does not say who the model was!
I am glad you are enjoying watching this guy, as is DH! This one just makes us chuckle!

Starting the face

I am stitching the face with four strands of Splendor again. Around his ear and face I have also added two strands of a medium ecru to make them stand out. The same shade of ecru created his nose, and the darker shade of red makes his happy smile. I did his eyelids in a peachy color, eyes are blue and of course white. I need to outline them to stand out and will be putting in a lot more details once I finish the flesh tone.

Summer Dream is framed!

I picked up the framed Summer Dream! It is a shadow box frame to accommodate the depth for the stumpwork. The interior frame is line with black to showcase the butterfly and the bee.

Summer Dream is finished!

Here is my finished piece! I have attached all the elements by inserting the wires through to the back. Most of them are then twisted and then stitched to the back to keep them stable.
I hope you have enjoyed watching this piece develop. I encourage you to try stumpwork and highly endorse Luan Callery's instructions. She has made this piece a joy to stitch!

Cutting out the stumpwork

I have been cutting out all the stumpwork pieces. Each piece has to be cut close to the buttonhole stitch so there are no fabric whiskers showing. I use my Hardanger scissors and cut very slowly and carefully as close to the edge as I can. Here are all the components ready to attach to the piece.

The Lily has Stamens!

Aren't these wonderful?? I have never done anything like this before! I thought they were going to be bullion stitches, but I was wrong! I started by using one strand of thread folded in half through the needle. I came up from the back and then twisted the needle until it was very tightly wrapped. Next I folded that in half and it twisted back on itself. Then the needle goes back in the fiber and gently pulled the thread down and voila! Stamens that are free like the ones in a lily. Luan, you are very clever!
Gail: The piece does not use a lot of thread to complete the different features. I was very surprised!
Cyn: Since we are so close to being done, you will have to wait a couple more days for a full picture as I want to show the closeups of all the individual components! Be patient, my dear, the end is in sight! LOL

The top flowers are done

The top flowers are all done! I finished the rest of the needle weaving and have twisted the wires to the back and stitched them all down. I should have taken another overall photo for you to see but you will have to wait as I am done for the night! LOL
This piece is moving right along and thanks to all of you for the encouragement!

The flowers at the top

I started the flowers at the top of the piece. First, three of the blue beads were stitched in the center, and then I filled in with French knots using the DMC fiber. Next, I cut wire and shaped them into the petals. Then after inserting the wire into the fabric, needle weaving is done to form each petal using Watercolours. Voila, pretty, dainty little flowers! Then, the weaving thread is taken to the back and it and the wires are stitched down.
I will finish the other two tomorrow night.

Forget me nots

This is the start of the forget me nots. First I worked french knots around the dots previously traced on the background. Then, using two different colors of Neon Rays, I stitched two loops over each of the french knots. This created the petals for each flower. Tomorrow night I will add more french knots and some beads.

The Lily is stitched!

I filled in the front two petals with the long and short stitch. Last, I added the red beads. I laid the batiste piece on top of the background fabric so you could see all the petals together. The front petals will be wired in and then the added third dimension to this flower.
All the wired elements will done after all the stitching is done.

The front petals are started!

Tonight, I switched back to working on batiste in the smaller hoop. First, I traced the outline of the petal shapes onto the fabric. Next I cut two pieces of wire to shape around the outline of each petal. Then, I couched the wire in place with a single strand of DMC floss. Last, I did the Buttonhole Stitch around the outside of the shape and created a double strand of wool across the bottom of each petal to make a continuous stitch all around each one. The reason for this is you will notice that the wires coming out the bottom of each petal is separate. This makes it easier when taking the wires to the back and keeps the hole smaller and therefore less noticeable. Tomorrow, I will fill in each of the petals.

Petals 3 & 4 are done!

Here they are! Completing these two petals tonight, finishes the lily on the fabric! I really like how these have turned out, and, again compliment Luan on her excellent instructions. The padding in these two leaves accentuate the flower and the wired petals, yet to come, will really "pop" because of their dimension. Tomorrow night, I will begin working the wired petals on the batiste.

Petals three and four

I started petals three and four. They are foreground petals so they are treated a little differently. First, three different sizes of felt are cut and stitched inside of the split stitch. You can see the one on the left is higher in the center than at the edges. We started with a small piece, then a little larger, and finally the top and third one which fits inside the petal. Then the one on the right has the first row of the long and short shading shading worked.

Second lily petal

The second leaf is stitched. It has the edge turned over. The three darker colors are stitched in the split stitch but the turned edge was first straight stitched and then a buttonhole stitch worked over the top of it to appear turned.
Tomorrow night I start the bottom two petals!

The first lily petal

This is the very back petal of the lily. First I worked a split stitch all the way around the outside edge of the petal using Appleton wool. Then I started the long and short stitch with the lightest pink. Then I filled in with a medium pink working to the center of the petal, and last using a dark pink in the center. I am pleased with the petal. Tomorrow I will work the one to the left that has an overturned edge. All four of these petals are worked directly onto the background.

The butterfly is done!

Tonite I finished the wired wings for the butterfly. These will be attached by the wires at a later lesson. Like the body, I used three different shades of pink to fill in the outline stitched areas. This completes the butterfly sections and I think it is going to be a gorgeous one! Remember the leaf at the top will be attached to the top section of the piece, also at a later time.
Tomorrow I start the lily located at the bottom right of the design.