Could this week get any happier?!

Hello hello!

This week marks the finishing of my version of Mirabilia's Dressmaker's Daughter, part 1: the stitching. Part 2 started today and is for adding all the beading!

263 hours of extreme relaxation. See the full scan [here].

I learned a great deal from start to finish on this piece, and with true honesty most of it was learned starting with Autumn since I taught myself (with google to aid) about starting on linen, working with Canon Watercolors, working with Krenink braids, ironing while still attached to a loom, how to use my new loom, how 23 hours of stitching can use up 24 meters of thread, and so on. It's been absolutely wonderful! It's a personal project done on personal time and I'm happy about that too - my heart would break if I had to sell this piece, it's just too much love poured into one piece of fabric!

If you are starting a Mirabilia piece and would like some pointers, please check out Autumn's WIP post: [just click here]

Today I started the beads, which is daunting. I hope that I'll get faster as I go along but I'm using the technique from that page I posted last week to secure them. When I feel stronger about my skill on it I will be creating a quick tutorial for future stitchers.

Mirabilia's Dressmaker's Daughter is one of the few projects you can't really follow along with through my Facebook page as it's a personal project and won't go up for sale. That said, the other project I've been spending time on this week is the peacock I claimed from my cousin back in June. So far I'm 13.5 hours into working on it. 7.5 hours were spent just on the tail feathers! It's a nice break from working on the linen for Mirabilia's and I'm looking forward to the next part: tons and tons of half-stitching for the sky and leaves. The entire 7x5 inch box is going to be filled by the time I'm done!

That's it this week for the current projects, but it's not the end of planning done this week. I purchased more beads for Princess Peach, the 401 size 11 (rainbow white) beads I need for Peach and Monochrome Eumelia are ordered, secrets project beads, an ocean-color dress's beads, and I'm eyeing a finalization for a custom dress for myself. That's five more bead dresses in the line up! Oh, and let me say again here, the ladies over at Simply Beads USA are so kind! They fully refunded me for the white beads I couldn't use in the form of a coupon. When I used the coupon this weekend (Labor Day weekend) I couldn't combine it with the holiday sale coupon, but she refunded me the amount for the sale as well! It made me smile quite a lot when I got the email, another high point this week!

On top of that I'm playing around with the idea of Christmas presents this year. Christmas presents can't be too elaborate because I'm trying to save money on materials and time costs, but I'm really really hoping I'll be able to pull it off properly.

Here's the really big news, yes!, even bigger than finishing the stitchwork at 263 hours!! My friend-of-a-friend-and-now-my-friend Katie Dean got a job at Bead Magazine as an editor and has asked me of all people to do an interview and be featured!! She's the same who's been in my To-Do List on deviantART since last year to do a chocolate beaded cake! This won't be posted or done until Spring of next year but you can rest assured I won't let you forget to see it!! It's pretty much the most exciting thing ever and I won't attempt to hide my enthusiasm, it's so so so fantastic and I'm so honored to have been chosen!

Other happy news this week has included a Princess Peach figurine being announced (of quality I would actually be able to use her as a reference), Shulk was announced for Super Smash (a character from one of my favorite games), I've been invited to do some volunteer work at the local art club, my friend Bev Choy is sending me a goodie bag which is incredibly kind of her!, and all sorts of other random tidbits of happiness! This week has just been amazing and I hope this bright smiles carry me on through September!

Until next Sunday my crafty friends,
Ashley Mae
Pinky