Recess!

Thanks so much for all the cheers and kind words about Hare Pyns. As you saw, I still have hours left of back-ground stitches to do, but I am at the point where I do believe that it is possible. I do also have to finally finish up the lucet piece - I can't fathom that the classes are to be given next weekend!

Well, after focusing on one project for a couple of weeks, I simply had to switch gears for a while. I decided to take yesterday evening off and stitched a little gem; "initial needle kit" by Rovaris (I bought my kit from Silverneedle).
The kit contains everything but the floss and the finishing instructions, so do not invest in it unless you have some basic confidence in finishing work.

I decided to stitch both a front and a back for my necklace. There were a few small charts for motifs other than initials and I decided to stitch up the bird. After thinking about the fit, I decided to go to Echevette's blog and look at her tiny freebie animals. The bunny was perfect and I added the heart and the checkered floor just for fun. Since I could not make up my mind whether I wanted a red or a purple necklace, I decided to use a Thread Gathered over-dyed silk (Berry Spritz, SNC 042) which has both colors.
I kept the finishing as simple as possible by simply creating squares from the stitched pieces, making sure that they matched very well in size. Then I added a couple of linen pieces on the inside of the mitered corners and I used a cardboard piece sandwiched inside the frame to give the piece more stability. I whip-stitched the front and back onto the frame using a neutral sewing tread. After the stitched pieces were secured to the frame, I added some RG Very Velvet cord (color V213) that I got in a grab-bag years ago (I love stash!) by simply weaving the cord through the frame holes. (RG is an Italian product and is distributed by Rainbow Gallery here in the US) The piece was finished off with some purple beads covering the frame holes. I had a lot of fun being all kinds of creative with this one!
Besides missing finishing instructions, I would also like to point out that the jump-rings that were included for all the charms seem very weak, so that is something that I will likely exchange in the near future.

Here is the finished piece (photos are clickable, so that you can see the details better):

This is a very pretty piece and well worth the $32 I paid for it. I am looking forward to wearing it on the next stitch-meet I go to! :-)

Well, time to run. The birds are already driving me batty and DH is due home in just a couple of hours. Showers need to be taken, pets need to get fed and then it's out to find some birthday gifts! Hop, Hop!
Talk with you in a bit and Happy Stitching,