The Girl that Stitches

I’ve made a start on The Enchanted Manor by Josephine Wall. This one is being stitched on 14 count aida to boost the finished size of the crop.  I've never stitched on such a low count before and was curious to try it out! I’ve been working on this on and off over the past couple of months.  I'm using 4 over 1 full cross on dark colours and 3 over 1 full cross on everything else. Progress since December: I love it how Josephine painted a koala bear in the corner of this piece. The koala is native to Australia (my home country), which gives this piece a special resonance for me. Did you know that despite the fact they are often called Koala bears, Koalas aren't related to bears?! They are actually more closely related to kangaroos and wombats! They are often referred to as a koala bear because they have an obvious resemblance to a teddy bear… Currently I'm about halfway through the first page: Wishing everyone a safe and fun time over the Easter period

Of Earth, Air, Fire & Water I’ve made some progress on the Angel piece by Phelan.   I’m about halfway through working on the second page of “Of Earth, Air Fire & Water" (page 7).   Previous Progress: Current Progress:   Heavenly Sparkle This design has not been charted with metallic thread.  I decided to add metallic to give her more of an ethereal/translucent look as this seems appropriate for an angel!  I’m using one strand of E5200 over 3770 and one strand of PB10 over 3865.  It made sense to use the metallic with the more intense sparkle over the brighter DMC shade. I’m enjoying the way the sparkle in the wings is turning out!  I need to decide whether to continue the metallic blend all the way through the wings. The original plan was to do this… but now I’m getting to the part where there is more light yellow and need to check if it will tone in okay.  Using the E5200 over the 3770 lightens it considerably which may alter the shading too much f