Christmas Caper Framed

This week I picked up two pieces at the framers.

I can only show you one of them as the other is a Christmas gift and I don't want to spoil the surprise!

Here is Christmas Caper all framed.  I do love this piece!  It just makes me smile every time I look at it.  I've decided to get an easel to use to display it so I can put it right where I can see it from my stitching chair.

Christmas Caper, Finished

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

The Christmas Caper by Charley Harper is finished.  I love this piece - it is just sooooo cute!

The garland took quite a while.  The popcorn is French Knots in snow white Watercolours and the red balls are Neon Rays Rhodes variations.  The tree is in Arctic Rays and I added a few gold beads.  I found a cute little silver moon to hang in the night sky.  Using the glitter canvas, I didn't have to do the stars!

Now to try to get it framed in time to enoy some before Xmas!!

Christmas Caper, Progress #4

These Raccoons are just getting cuter every minute! 
I have made some serious progress on Christmas Caper.
All 4 raccoons are finished.  The candy cane is done and the star.  I just used straight stitches for the candy cane, in Neon Rays.  The star is a Jean Hilton 8-pointed star, compensated. 
I worked the candy cane and the star out on graph paper first.  The star was really tricky!  But it turned out pretty good, in Kreinik #3 braid.  I haven't decided yet if I will put something in the center of the star!
Next up will be the garland.

Christmas Caper, Progress #3

While I have not been posting regularly for awhile now, I have been stitching.  Well, not as much as usual, but some.  Christmas Caper is coming right along.  I've worked on this piece the most because I really like it!  It is fun to stitch.
The Big Guy has a face!  And front legs!  He is all done in Petite Very Velvet. 
The chimney is finished.  I thought I was going to run out of thread, but I had just the right amount, even though I rushed to buy another skein just in case! 
And the snow on the roof is also finished.  I used #12 Kreinik 032, but the sparkles don't show up in the photo.  It is alternating Smyrnas & Mosaics.  It looks good and comes forward, as it should.
I think next I will do the other 2 raccoon faces that are peeking around the chimney.

Christmas Caper, Progress #2

Christmas Caper is coming right along.  What a fun stitch!
I finished the top of the chimney last night and I have a good start on the bricks.
The chimney is a simple square Mosaic in a very light tan Watercolours.  I used the same thread for the grout.
The bricks are also in Watercolours and I used the Alternating Oblong Cross.  I really like the way that is turning out!  I had quite a time finding just the right stitch that would give texture without a noticeable direction.  The bricks are too large (10 threads high) to use a brick stitch!
I will go to my LNS tomorrow to get the rest of the thread I need so Big Guy can have a head!

My new counter tops are in and the kitchen is put back together. 
I LOVE my new counters!  They are Silestone (quartz) in a color called Stellar Snow.  Aptly named, it is white & gray with shiny silver sparkles!  I also got a new undermount sink, stainless with deeper bowls.  It is great!  No more grout to clean!

I'm still pretty busy though & not getting in a lot of stitching time.  A friend is arriving today and will stay about a week.  We will have a lot of fun shopping and stitching and we have a mini needlework retreat to go to all day Sunday. 

Oh, and by the way, Happy Anniversary to this blog!  It is 3 years old.  Thank you followers and readers!

Christmas Caper by Charley Harper

I have temporarily retired all of the large projects I have been working on.  And started this cute, fun, smaller one.  This is a very busy time for us.  DH has G2E (gaming show) and is pretty much completely taken up with that this week.  To make it a perfect week, we are having our kitchen counters replaced - Thursday!  Eek!  They will be beautiful, but I have to empty most of the cabinets, or seal them up, because of dust.
I have quite a few of the Charley Harper charts and decided to do The Christmas Caper - just for fun!
The raccoons will be all in Petite Very Velvet.  I have a start on the big guy:

 I'm using the black glitter canvas, which is easier to work on than expected, but does not photograph well.  I'll try putting something dark behind it next time.
Nobody took a chunk out of his tail, that is where the garland will go across!
The gray is a little light, but it is what I had.  I do have to get some thread though.  I need a lighter gray for the faces or white if there is no such gray in PVV.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the garland, but that will be last anyway, so not to worry!  I think I will look for a charm for the moon.
The tail is in Encroaching Gobelin and the body is just a slanted gobelin, changing direction with each row.  The "lines" are backstitched with #12 pearl.cotton. 

New Stuff

Yesterday I went to my LNS. Although I was not looking for patterns, I found this darling Charley Harper pattern. It just jumped right into my arms! I love Charley Harper's designs and had not seen this one before. It would be really fun to stitch with a variety of threads & stitches.

What I really went shopping for was materials for my next Bargello - Twelve Days of Christmas. The canvas is a really dark green, which didn't photograph well laying on a white table! I won't use all of these threads, but I couldn't decide on the darkest green so I got several different things to try.