Pages

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Happiness Is

Having your mojo come back with a vengeance and driving you to a lovely finish!


I fell for Sapphire when she first came out. I've already mentioned how I don't know anyone with a September birthday and that I don't like the May fairy. But the May birthstone is an emerald and there's enough green in Sapphire that I'm going to claim her as my "May" fairy.


I left off the wings since I don't care for them. I had to very slightly modify her left shoulder to compensate. And I left the vines/trailing frond things until the end and decided that she looks just fine without them.

I didn't like the coverage of the original Kreiniks. The "L" line is kinda thin. So I just dug through my stash and replaced two of them with thicker ones. I didn't have the required orange in any thickness so I randomly grabbed one. In the interest of being cheap frugal, I chose not to buy the Caron Waterlilies. Instead I stared hard at my computer screen trying to figure out what DMC the 175 looks like. It's only there in the cage base. The rest of the cage base is in 930, and the model makes the 175 look a little darker than the 930. So I went with 930+310 as a replacement for 175. (I have no idea how others do this sort of thing, so I thought I'd mention my way).


I was also under the impression that I had all the required beads. This was not so. I had half a pack of the green ones, so I used them for the isolates in the kimono. I also had the same colour in a smaller size, so that ended up in the sleeves. Every other bead was chosen by eyeballing online pictures and my bead stash. I ended up with two purples in the dress, although I don't think it's at all noticeable. I originally went with the ones in the "flowers" which didn't look good in the purple border, so I had to pick a different purple for that. I'm not sure they're any good either, but I don't have any other purples and I am disinclined to head to the LNS.


One of the results of changing the beads and the metallics was that I had issues with the hair. The contrast between the red+purple and the orange+yellow looks fine in the model, but my changes made them too strange. So I ended up switching the purple beads in her headpiece with red ones, and the yellow beads in the orange fronds with orange beads. This left a bunch of purple beads in her hair. I just replaced those with one of the browns from her hair. And I quite like the result. I think there's a slight difference between the original's face and mine, but I like mine, so it's all good!



TitleSeptember's Sapphire Fairy
DesignerMirabilia
Start dateMay 20, 2011
Finish dateSeptember 14, 2011
Total time61.5 hours
Fabric32 ct Waterlily Jobelan
Floss DMC as charted
DMC 931+310 instead of Caron Waterlilies 175
Kreinik 026, 003HL, 152V
MH 252, 2011, 2031, 2033, 3053, 18014, 42031

41 comments:

Christine S said...

Absolutely gorgeous!! Congratulations Blu!!

pandy said...

She looks amazing :)

Bec said...

She is stunning! Absolutely beautiful stitching, your beading is perfect. Love it :)

valerie said...

Congrats on your finish! She looks amazing!

Lesleyanne said...

Congrats on your finish. She is absolutely stunning.

Poppypatchwork said...

I love this, I was worried when you said, you were not going to stitch the wings, but she is beautiful and amazing, I love your colour matches, I do it all the time, you should feel very pleased with your self.

♥ Nia said...

Gorgeous!!!!! :D
Congrats on your finish!! :)

Anonymous said...

Love it. beautiful stitching, she's on my wish list.

Annie said...

She is so fabulous! I wouldn't be able to do anything but stare at the finish all day if I were you! Congrats on all that completing all of that. You definitely have gotten back your mojo!

Carol said...

Now that is one fabulous finish, Blu!! Your mojo has definitely returned in a big way :)

Rachel said...

I am so happy to see your stitching mojo return!! It was worth it too, what an amazing finish. I love the changes you made as well. She's gorgeous!!!

Lynn said...

She's stunning Blu! You've done a wonderful job on the changes.
I have a May birthday and I have to agree, May's fairy just doesn't do it for me either.

Blog da Leda said...

So beautiful... congratulations...
kisses!!!

Erin said...

Gorgeous! Your changes are perfect....and I have a couple fairies/angels in my stash that I'm contemplating "de-winging," too.

Giovanna said...

Congratulations, she's stunning!

Mouse said...

ohhh she looks gorgeous and the changes you made are FAB ... well done and doing a happy dance here for you know :) sooooo what's next ??? love mouse xxxx

Deborah said...

Wonderful finish! She is just beautiful.

Veronica said...

Your Sapphire is Gorgeous! I think you did a great job substituting the beads, Kreinik and Caron Waterlilies to what you have available in your stash. Congratulations!

Angela said...

I love her and my Birthday is this month :) Maybe I will have to stitch her one day! Congrats on the lovely finish.

Sara said...

It's gorgeous :)
Congratulations on your finish

geeky Heather said...

Congratulations on the finish...she's gorgeous and I think your changes look great!

Also, I love your little "Leave your comment" ditty. =) Made me smile!

Ranae said...

She is gorgeous, congrats!

Kathy A. said...

Congratulations Blu on a wonderful finish. She is absolutely gorgeous!

Unknown said...

This job is very beautiful....fantastic !
Pat

Anonymous said...

Hi Blu Thanks for visiting my blog :-)

Your September Fairy is scrumptious, adapting her was really creative and successful.

I must dig out my miribilia chart and have a go once I've finished the Crazy January Challenge!!

Rhona said...

Congrats on your finish, she looks amazing! Love the close up pictures of the bead work too. Your changes look great...no-one would know if you hadn't said anything.

Sally said...

She is absolutely beautiful! Congratulations on a gorgeous finish!

Lonneke said...

Beautiful!
I think your adjustments work really well. And they make your stitching a one-of-a-kind!
(I think she's better off without the wings as well.)
Congrats with your gorgeous finish and hurrah for the mojo!

Sharon said...

Congrats on a stunning finish! She is gorgeous!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Gorgeous finish. I love that you made a note of all your changes, I make changes and then forget what I subbed!
I'm torn between her and J for me (I'm a September girl). J is very green too so I might chnage her to blue...

butterfly said...

Your Sapphire Fairy is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

well done, she is absolutely gorgeous i think she looks stunning and much better without her wings!

Cindy said...

absolutely beautiful! and she is so unique...you should be very proud of you may faerie :D

Pumpkin said...

Stunning Blu! You should be proud of this finish :o)

Anne said...

She is gorgeous!! I love all the colours and her butterflies are cute! Congrats on the beautiful finish!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an amazing finish =)
Congratulations on this beautiful lady!!

Joysze said...

How did I miss this??????? I know how.... stupid work and not enough time!!

CONGRATS BLU!!! Oh.... she's magnificent!!!!!!!! GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS!!!! And there is absolutely nothing wrong with being frugal and using what you have, especially when this is the result!!! :D

Anonymous said...

She is lovely, well done.

The Maiden said...

Beautiful and I love that you removed the wings! You are so brave counting hours, stitching really is a full time job!

Karoline said...

She's gorgeous, congratulations

Tatkis said...

She is so beautiful and elegant! Congratulations with the finish!

Hugs,
Tatyana