Exciting Mail

I put in an order from 123stitch.com a week or so ago and it came yesterday. I always try to order from my local stitchery shop, then Gitta’s, then other Canadian shops but you can’t beat the flat postage rate of $4.99US from 123stitch.

I ordered a skein of Gloriana 12-strand silk for the upcoming Hello from Liz Mathews chart I ordered as a result of the Needlework Expo last month. It should be arriving at Kim’s at the end of this month. Word has it there is a scarcity of blue silk floss so I wanted to get some so I wouldn’t be stuck without it when the chart arrives.

The pumpkin-coloured 35ct linen arrived for my Three Pumpkins project. It should be a quick stitch which I’ll work on between sessions of the model I’m stitching for Teresa.

The last item is Winter Rose Manor that I’ve been admiring for months and finally ordered. There is also a pincushion pattern. I doubt I’ll get it done before the Christmas season but am hoping to start it in November.

I spent all morning playing with watercolour paints outside on the deck. I found a series of tutorials by Emma Jane Lefevbre on YouTube and like how she breaks down the steps to create paintings and gives lots of good technical tips. 

I painted a colour wheel with primary colours and blended them to create the secondary colours. Then a second wheel blending the adjacent secondary colours to make tertiary colours.

It was a fun exercise and really showed the results of mixing primary and secondary colours.

Then I painted a sunflower from another of her tutorials using the thin-thick-thin technique on the petals using different pressure on the paint brushes.

I’m very picky about people’s teaching techniques and deem Emma Jane to be an excellent teacher. I’ve never attempted painting or had any art lessons before other can colour theory for dyeing yarn.  I probably will never get beyond the dabbling stage but have very much enjoyed playing with watercolours and a fabulous morning out on the deck in early autumn.

Skip took a photo of me as I worked ‘en plain air’. 

I want to do all the things.