White Clover

Alright guys, big stitchy news: I've changed projects. I was very bummed out about having had to leave our old place, and the flowers in the Baby Bluejays project were reminding me too much of our lovely almond tree beside my sunny stitching spot... that, combined with the intricacy of the pattern, were making me quite blue and frustrated. I obviously needed an easy, small design to take my mind off of things.

So, I picked up White Clover by Nora Corbett and I went nuts. Here it is so far:

I love, love, love that crown. It's so swirly and pink!

This pixie is part of Nora Corbett's "Poison Pixies" collection. I didn't understand why it was a poison fairy and I guessed that maybe white clover is poisonous, but as I stitched her I realized that actually, she does look poisonous! I mean, just look at those wings: they're full of sharp angles and changing, mesmerizing colors. If you saw that out in the wild you'd think twice before touching it! I have to say, Nora is very clever with her designs.

Some WIP pictures and my cats napping around:

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments on my last post- they were very encouraging and sweet, and I really appreciated them. And don't worry, I absolutely want to finish that Baby Bluejays piece! I'm just not in the right frame of mind for it right now, but I'll pick it up again :)

I hope you all have a great week, happy stitching :D

Baby Bluejays & Spring & LOUD neighbors

We've been enjoying some of the sunniest, warmest days we've had in months. I've been out on the terrace a lot, stitching in the sun, and it's just felt like SPRING! We've had so many days that have simply felt like April or May, that I wanted to celebrate the coming of spring with... Well, a spring-themed project.

I had two contenders: Baby Bluejays by Dimensions

And White Clover by Nora Corbett:

Both had beautiful colors and I want to make them both this year, but in the end I went with Baby Bluejays. I've had the design in my stash for a very long time now, it was one of the first Dimensions designs I ever saw and loved, and I'm just really in the mood for stitching some birds. So here we are!

It's actually the most intricate design I've had to stitch so far, with all the color changes and different stitches, but it's been fun stitching in the sun with my beautiful Sancho by my side: 

Sancho with the olive tree

Also, our small almond tree is blooming!!

Almond blossoms are so dainty yet spectacular. I love seeing these trees covered in white-pink flowers by the side of the road, a real spectacle every February! They remind me of the flowers in the Baby Bluejays design.

I also wanted to add that I'm late posting this entry because I started writing it right before we had to move out of our beautiful apartment. Long story short, we were sandwiched in between two very loud families who moved in some months ago. Due to the bad quality of construction (I would get into the whole Spanish Construction Bubble Which Burst During the Recession Story here but I don't want to bore you) it felt like we were living with four screaming children, four party loving adults, and three early-morning barking dogs in the apartment with us. 

If you want to imagine what it was like, think of your typical Kindergarten during recess. Are you there? Do you hear the children screaming and running and falling over and crying? Ok, good. Next, imagine there's a loud café right beside it of the Mediterranean variety where everybody talks in loud voices and stays up until 2am. Now add in some loud music to the mix with very strong base. And there you have it folks, our lovely home situation.

So after some months of this we decided that if we were to keep our mental sanity and not, you know, go to jail for flinging something at the neighbors, we just had to move. The opportunity came last week and we just took it, so here we are in our temporary apartment in the city while we sell and look for something new. Yay.

ANYWAY... 

How is everybody doing this week? I hope you're doing well and have plenty of crafty things to do! Thank you as always for your comments, I appreciate every single one of them. Until next time, happy stitching :)

Guardian Spirit: Finished!!

YOU. GUYS.

I have finished Guardian Spirit!!! I can't believe it!! But look: There she is in all her splendor. It still hasn't sunk in that she's done. 

Finishing this piece was an absolute nightmare straight from Hades. First, I ran out of the red thread I needed to finish the border around her head. I had to rummage through my DMC stash to find a similar color, with which I stitched the bottom half of the Xs, and then went over them with the correct strand of color. It's not perfect, but I was a stubborn mule and wanted to finish the project last night, so it'll have to do. Also, last night I got a cramp in my arm which made stitching that much harder, and then I got so sleepy and exhausted that I had to leave it until today to finish it, when I only had a small section to go! Insert creative frustration here.

But I did finish it, and it was awesome, and also can we pause a second to appreciate the neatest back that I have ever been able to do?

And also one of my cats getting curious during the washing process:

With this piece, I've realized that I really do have a creative process. Let's recap it here, shall we?

Robin's Creative Process

1. Excitement at starting a new project
2. Contentment as I fall into rhythm with the project and see it coming to life
3. Complete and utter hate & contempt for no other reason that the project seems endless and I will scream if I have to add another stitch to it
4. Awe and amazement when it is done and I realize I've made a beautiful thing

What can I say? Stitchers be crazy. Here are some more detailed pictures:

If you're still reading this, thank you! I'll be back next time with my next project for Phase One: Excitement! Until then, I'd love to hear of your own creative process. I hope you're all well and happy crafting, thank you as always for your comments, and see you next time :)