First of all, I finished the stitching and beading on the Dragonfly Boudoir Box, which is another Chatelaine Design. Now I have to follow the instructions and put together a box. Which is a bit work also. The instructions are written by Judy Odell, THE master of finishing in my opinion, so that shouldn't be too bad. Still quite an amount of steps to follow though. But what makes me nervous is ....you can't make any faults. Period. And it's stitched with silk, there is quite some value involved. What if I DO make a fault???? Today I can't start, I need first to find a nice backing material (phew...lol. But anyway, I'll have to give it a go, and will post a picture if succeeded. If I don't, I'll simply drop the subject...lol.
Outback Gum by Fiona Jude
Another thing to tell is that since my last blog entry I found out that the real name of the piece I'm stitching is not "Coming to Life" but "Coming to Water" and thankfully I finally found also the artist who painted this beautiful piece of art. He is called Bo Newell. I looked up his art, and he is a great artist. His work is just lovely.
Now I have to change all pictures into "Coming to Water".
The little chart I offered last time will go to Courtney, or better said, her daughter. I think that's the perfect solution for that little kit.
And there was a big surprise for me as well. I told you that the main reason for me buying that grab bag was that it said "Fiona Jude kit". And guess what. Fiona Jude herself visited my blog, was not a happy camper that a kit she created for children and for that shop got put in a grab bag where it fooled people like me. She offered to give me something else for it. Which is so nice of her. And she gave me a link to her website. Gosh that got me into drooling mode. Plus, that she has a very nice service on her website. You can order any of her kits also directly from her with linen instead of Aida. I showed Mike couple of the designs and he really liked them a lot too. Chances are that he gets me one of these kits for my next birthday. Which will take a while, but ....lol....but I have already so much kitted up here that that doesn't matter.
Anyway, back to the email with Fiona Jude. After I thanked her for visiting my blog and her kind offer, I told her that I can't send the kit back to her because I offered it on my blog and it seemed only fair to send her that little kit to Courtney's daughter. Besides, by doing so the kit will go exactly there where it was meant to be: to a child who is interested in learning cross stitch. Perfect solution.
Anyway, here some pictures of Fiona Jude's work. Then you can see why I'm such a fan of her work. The pictures are clickable and go to her website. There are so much more pictures on her website. Most beautiful birds and other Australian animals (I stitched the Eastern Rosellas already), beautiful Australian flowers, and of course the landscapes. She is a great designer, and quite well known in Australia.
If you think her kits are expensive, then it is because it's Australian dollars. When converted to US dollars, its way cheaper. 40 Australian $ are about 25 US.
The first picture looks a lot like the areas we hike regularly.
Mountain Ranges by Fiona Jude
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17 comments:
Your dragonfly box is beautiful, Gabi. Congrats on receiving a response and compliment from the designer. :)
I am duly impressed that you got a response from the designer. She's right to feel that the grab bag was inappropriate (though it did give many of us a good laugh!) Too bad she wasn't willing to send something along to you anyway after all the nice things you said and how you promote her work.
Don't even think about making a mistake on the box!! Read all the directions first. Take each step one at a time and don't rush. (I tend to want to get it ALL done really fast - that's where the mistakes come in!!) I know you will do a great job. The stitching is so lovely! I don't know how you do it on dark fabric - that is really hard for me.
Good luck!!
Oh Jean, Fiona offered to do so. But I don't feel I can ask for something like that. It's completely up to her. And to be honest, by appearing on my blog and being so thoughtful she already made my day.
Thank you also (and thanks to Maeri as well) for the compliment for the box
Beautiful finish. Good luck with making the box. I am sure it will come out just fine! How exciting about the designer looking at your work.
Heidi-ILCS
Box stitching is beautiful! Congrats on the designer coming by and complimenting you, which you deserve, btw! Don't stress over the box; I'm sure it will be beautiful when finished!
Gabi I had a look at Fiona's website and wow! She has such lovely designs... I may have to save my pennies and have a splurge on her site (just dont tell my hubby he thinks i have enough stash already, but you can never have enough!)
Gabi, that box is stunning! Don't be too scared of the finishing: Leporello was my first time finishing anything large, Judy's instructions were just excellent and I was pleased with the result. If I can do it, so can you!
Glad that the little kit found its way to a junior stitcher.
The stitching for the dragonfly box is gorgeous! I can't wait to see it all together.
I can now see why you were disappointed with the other Fiona Jude kit. :) Her scenes are beautiful.
Your Dragonfly Box is absolutely gorgeous!! Wonderful!!
You will get finish just fine. I do not remember any failures at all from you - just not possible!!
What are you going to do with the box when you finish it?
Congrats on Fiona's interest in your Blog!!
Love and Hugs!!
Deborah
The Dragonfly box is awesome.
Your dragonfly box is stunning! I can see how you'd be reluctant to rush into starting that box! I'd be scared I'd ruin it!
I am really impressed that Fiona Jude would respond to your email and offer to fix the error. I think your solution was spot on. I'll bet Courtney's daughter loves it!
The box will be gorgeous. I know your love of boxes!!!! Very cool about the designer seeing your blog and offering to make things right! I'll look forward to the day you stitch one of her designs.
One of these days I'm going to unsubscribe from your blog to save myself from temptation.
That box. *swoon* And it's not even finished yet! It is going to be the most fantastic Dragon Fly box out there.
Absolutely stunning! Your dragonfly box is wonderful! You will have no trouble following Judy's instructions. I have finished several of Martina's projects with her guidance. :)
Hoi Gabi,
Thanks voor je bezoekje aan mijn blog, dat deed plezier.
Ben jij ook een "uitgewekene"? Ik ook, ben een Belgische maar woon sinds 7 jaar in Zweden. Ben jij Belgisch of Nederlands? Waarschijnlijk woon je al lang in Australië? Ik heb er ook nog wat uitgeweken familie eigenlijk.
Wat de stof betreft die ik gebruik, het is een evenwave van 17,25 count. Ik wou graag iets fijners maar helaas was er hier in de winkel niet veel keuze, en ik kon niet meer wachten tot ik naar een andere winkel kon ;-))
Groetjes !
Mich.
"Coming to Water" is gorgeous! Beautiful stitching Gabi! Your box is going to be amazing:)
How exciting Fiona Jude visited your site and offered you such a sweet gift! Her work is beautiful!
Gabi your dragonfly box is just gorgeous. I've got Judy's finishing instructions for the Japanese Octagon Box and she explains things so well. If you decide to go for it, I'll be here cheering you on. hugs, di
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