Completed Cross Stitch - Luli's "Stella"

 

***
First, I just wanted to take the time to thank you.  You, yes you, sitting there right now reading this--you are awesome!  Thank you for all of your kind words, support, encouragement and whether we have exchanged any words or not, I appreciate your precious time that you take to look at the completed cross stitch pictures and WIPs on this blog.
Thank you for being here.
***

We all need something to look up to don't we?

For some it is hope, for some it is a special person or even someone looking up to their own reflection in the mirror and being either his or her own best inspiration.

I could not tell you the last time I just literally looked up and kept my head up to look up and around.  Maybe my last vacation sightseeing??  But day-to-day?  Not sure about if you do the same as me but I think I'm either looking straight ahead or down....a lot.  A few examples would be like when I'm reading, watching TV, cross stitching, and I was going to say driving but I guess you have to look up at the signals but I was thinking more along the lines of looking up towards the sky.

Some people who come to mind that look up a lot are astronomers (hopefully not at the sun), rock climbers, bird watchers or hey even UFO enthusiasts right?  There really isn't too much that I can think of that makes most people look up very much really (I could insert a Godzilla or Superman joke here but I won't..haha).

But getting back to hope I guess for every positive there is a negative right?  The song by the band The Trews called "Hope and Ruin" comes to mind reminding listeners of this (pretty good song but I'm not a fan of the music video despite part of it being filmed here in Toronto though).

Is hope a disease that keeps us perpetually ill with want or desire that may or may not come to fruition? or is hope that inner drive which gives each day new meaning that feeds a perpetual and renewable interest in life?

One thing that I believe may be true (from my communication studies):  // if you hold your head up your mind and spirit will perk and follow the same trajectory \\  Please try it sometime soon? :-)

This completed stitched piece was made just after spending almost a week at the hospital with one of my dogs (he is doing great now and is back home) and it gave me pause to reflect on just how precious the things that we love in each of our lives just really are.  It inspired the choice of this cross stitch subject.

Details regarding this piece are as follows:  finished size = 5" x 7", stitched over 2 threads on a 32 count linen with DMC B5200 and DMC 816.

Completed Cross Stitch - Charley Harper's "Cool Cardinal"

 

 

 

The American Modernist nature artist, Charley Harper, has a minimalist style that has definitely stood the test of time.  He has worked with the Audubon Society, various zoos and even the Ford Motor Company and his active years appear to be about the 1950s to 1970s.

 

One of the reasons I point out that his work is timeless is that just for one example "Cool Cardinal" was originally released in 1974; the hand-drawn cross stitch pattern from KD Artistry, Inc. (for Puckerbrush) is from 1985 and finally, here it is again in 2013 in thread and fabric form.

Here is my list of random information bits about this latest completed work:

 

1. Finished size:  15.25" x 4.25"
2. Linen 28 or 32 count, possibly Monster Mash from Picture This Plus
3. DMC white used not DMC B5200; DMC white is more yellow and B5200 is more blue (brighter white) - I only had white on-hand at the time (maybe B5200 might have been too overpowering)
4. Used 3 strands instead of 2
5. Would not recommend linen for geometrical work
6. Kreinik Metallics #032 blending filament used with white (really adds a delicateness to the snow and keeps the overall work from looking too flat or heavy because of the bold colours and lines)
7. Would not recommend this pattern for beginners - too hard to understand some of the instructions
8. Discovered a new technique from this pattern:  the use of interchanging double and single lines of backstitching for effect (that was really cool...no pun LOL)
9. Snowflakes got a little tedious to work on at times
10. And lastly, one time I looked up from this work and saw a cardinal sitting outside my windowsill...awwww

 

I have added a picture of the Kreinik blending filament to show the iridescence because unfortunately it does not seem to show up through the photographs (sorry, I tried several times with natural and artificial light).