Gift for a baby girl

Gabrielle Rose by La D Da
Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. Antique White
Name intentionally blurred for privacy

Here's another piece that I finally finished up and framed, and delivered.

Kelly is the daughter of a childhood friend of mine and I wanted to make something special for her nursery. Since the parents didn't go with a specific theme for her room, I chose this piece from my stash.  It's pretty and feminine without being overly girly and I think it will be something pretty for her room for a long time to come.

I used the recommended colors for the piece, but left out the initials in the corners, and changed the wording on the banner to Kelly's last name.  In hindsight, I might have used a lighter color thread for her name, since the grey does seem to blend in, but I like the subtleness of the grey.

You may remember the piece I stitched up for Kelly's brother Ryan.  They went with a jungle theme, so I stitched Safari Birth Sampler by Mary Stickley for The Coleshill Collection.  Since the furniture in the nursery remained the same, I ordered a similar frame for both pieces.

A sentimental gift

Remember Me by My Big Toe Designs
Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. Fog
With Crescent Colors Blacksmith Blue and Raspberry Parfait
Accented with antique buttons

I spotted this design early in 2011, after my husband's beloved grandmother passed away just days after her 99th birthday. I knew it was something we had to stitch in her honor for his mom. He agreed, and I picked up the chart and threads. I originally wanted to do it in two shades of pink (Grandma's favorite color) but he thought it would be too much pink and chose a darker blue accented by pink.

I picked this raspberry shade of pink for a particular reason. Right after Grandma passed away, I sent out an email to the extended family and cousins to let them know what happened and what the funeral arrangements were. (I stay in regular touch with most of the cousins via email and Facebook and it was my way of helping my MIL, who was feeling overwhelmed at the time.) As the response emails started coming back, I noticed a consistent theme in what people were saying they'd most remember about Grandma - her welcoming kitchen and delicious food, specifically her homemade raspberry jelly. My husband has mentioned this himself numerous times, and it seems he's not the only one it had an impact on. It's a little thing, but I am very sentimental like that, and I think my husband appreciated it as well.

What is obvious in the piece are the antique buttons used in place of some of the specialty stitches. I've mentioned the button collection we inherited from Grandma before, and these are some of the buttons from that collection. Just before he framed it, Mr. Sweet Pea picked out some of his favorites and stitched them onto the piece.

This is another American Frame, with a twist, as it's not the original frame I selected. Right after I placed the order, I got an email saying there was a mistake on the website and the frame I ordered was not in stock. Ugh. I hate it when that happens, but I went back to the drawing board and picked another frame. As it turns out, I like this one better than the first one I chose, and it works beautifully with the furniture in my IL's dining room, where it now hangs. I should also mention that Mr. Sweet Pea used acrylic on this piece (which is why you can see the glare) and some clear spacers to leave enough clearance for the raised buttons.

My MIL absolutely loved the piece and was deeply touched by the time and care her son put into stitching and framing the piece. She says she walks by it every day and it makes her smile to see it.

A gift for newlyweds

I've mentioned before that my cousin was married this summer, and I've shown the Pinterest inspired wedding invitation ornament I made. I also did two other stitchy gifts for the bride and groom.

The first one, another ornament, had already been selected, purchased and started before the Pinterest idea came into being, so I ended up giving the bride and groom TWO ornaments for a non-existent tree. Yep. They had no tree this year, mostly due to a new puppy with a penchant for chewing. They figured it wasn't worth the potential damage to the tree or the pup to risk putting one up this year. Next year, hopefully. Anyway, this is the ornament I stitched for my cousin and her husband:

All Hearts Come Home for Christmas by Historic Stitches
Stitched over 1 on 25 ct. Ivory with CC Ribbon Red

So pretty! Finishing it was a little bit of a challenge with the heart shape - the center part wasn't very deep and the angles made getting the fabric wrapped neatly a little bit of a challenge but at least it didn't suffer the fate of another ornament I attempted to finish the same day. I might have clipped an angle a little too close on a butterfly and ended up having to restitch it, but that's a story for another day.

I also stitched a wedding record that my cousin herself chose. She had asked me to stitch a piece as a gift for a wedding she was in, and while she was looking through charts, she spotted this one for herself.

Wedding Row by Bent Creek
Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. Belfast Linen in Flax
with recommended colors

Overall, I am pleased with how it came out, though if I stitch it again, I would probably make a change or two, notably the hearts. They looked red in the original pattern, but called for a more brownish thread. While it doesn't look bad, especially with the other muted colors, I would probably pick something a little more distinctly red for the hearts next time.

The frame was again ordered from American Frame, and I chose it to match their new bedroom furniture. Yes, I went back on my computer and looked at photos my cousin had sent me from when their furniture was delivered, and I tried to pick something that would work well with the simple Craftsman style of their bedroom. Mission accomplished, I think. Framing was a little tricky to get lined up correctly because the names stitched underneath throw the piece a little off center, or at least makes it look slightly off center when you first start figuring out how to place things. My husband ended up going back to the chart itself to find the middle point and working from there. I really should have him write a post on how he frames things - he has a patience with it that I completely lack.

In the end though, it all came out beautifully and my cousin and her husband LOVED it! (they almost didn't love it because I forgot that it was sitting on top of a cabinet at my ILs house and I had to run back in and get it before we left to meet up with the rest of the family.)

Mama needs a new pair of shoes

Well, *I* don't actually need a new pair of shoes, and I'm not really a high heel kind of girl. At 5'10", I already tower over a lot of people. Plus, I have a terrible time walking in them - I never really learned how. And although I can appreciate a beautiful shoe, sadly, when you wear a size 10, it's hard to find really cute shoes. Instead, I live vicariously though two of my friends who are confirmed "shoe-a-holics" and absolutely adore shoes. (And can walk in ridiculously high heels)

This first one is for one of my closest friends. We've known each other since I was 8 and she was 3, and she loves, loves, loves shoes. When she was moving to her apartment, her dad was helping and as shoe box after shoe box appeared, he started to wonder out loud just how many pairs of shoes one person needed. For that matter, how many pairs of *black* shoes? All explanations of flats, heels, casual, dress, and seasonal shoes went out the window - a foreign language to a man who owned sneakers, black dress shoes, brown dress shoes and winter boots.

But back to my friend. For as long as I can remember, blue has been her favorite color. She wasn't digging the pink when I showed her the original chart, and I assured her it didn't have to be pink at all. This is what I came up with:

The Shoe Shopper by JBW Designs
Stitched on 32 ct. Antique White with
WDW Americana (dark blue) and Morris Blue (light blue)

I am so excited with how it came out, and how COOL is that frame? I loved it so much I ordered it for another piece I want to frame up for my husband. I like the black on black detailing - it makes the frame a little more special without being over the top.

The frame came from American Frame, and I must say, I HIGHLY recommend them. Their service was excellent, the shipping was FREE and you can preview what your pieces will look like online by uploading a photo.

They will even send you samples of mat board and frame pieces ahead of time, though you are limited to five total samples before ordering. You can order additional samples when you place an order. I do have a teeny tiny complaint that if you want a complete set of mat samples at once, you do have to purchase them. Another framing company I use will send you a complete set for free, but it's not the same brand of mat. (These are Crescent mats) I figure there must be tons of scraps from mats they cut - surely they can send out free sample sets, but the savings on shipping makes up for it. I ended up not matting this piece anyway, but I do suggest (strongly) that if you are ordering mat online to order from an actual sample, NOT from your monitor color. The color on your monitor can give you the general idea, but when you're trying to match colors, an actual sample is the way to go.

For a relatively inexpensive price, the quality of these frames is excellent - very sturdy and well made, and impeccably packed. All my pieces were neatly and securely packed in the box - not a scratch, dent or ding. You can also order acrylic and backer board, and they offer an acid free foam core CUT TO SIZE for each frame. YAY!!! You have no idea how happy this made my husband (my chief framer and often disgusted with my cutting jobs).

And I did say PAIR of shoes. This is a second version of the same piece, for another shoe-a-holic friend, done in colors to match her apartment.

Stitched on 32 ct. Vintage Buttercream with
WDW Straw (tan), Crescent Colors Cupid (red) and GAST Dark Chocolate (brown)

She was absolutely thrilled when she got it, even if it was almost a year after I told her I wanted to stitch something for her. To be fair, it had been STITCHED since about March, but it sat around waiting to be framed. With the free labor I get, I can't be too demanding when it comes to getting things without a specific deadline framed.

Wow, I am on a ROLL!!! And there's still more to come. At this rate, I should surpass my posts total from 2011 by the end of February 2012. Or not, especially if Pinterest gets involved. Which it very well might.