Etsy NEAT Entry - "Sparkles under the Sea"

Happy Hump Day, readers! I have been a busy little bee this week - my parents and fiancé visited for the holiday and we were all super busy playing tourists around Boston, but I made time and finally finished this little beauty! Here is "Sparkles under the Sea," my entry for the May/June Etsy NEAT Creative Challenge.  The theme for this round is "Water/The Ocean," so this should pretty much fit the bill.  :)

"Sparkles under the Sea," designed and stitched by Erin Turowski

This piece is actually quite small and detailed, measuring about 3" x 4" framed.  Here it is next to a credit-card-sized card for comparison:

"Sparkles under the Sea" is about the size of a credit card.

This piece consists entirely of specialty stitches and embroidery (no true cross stitches).  The following pictures are close-ups of each area and descriptions of the stitches used to create each piece of sea life.

All of the sea creatures are stitched with two strands of cotton embroidery floss and one strand of Kreinik blending filament in Pearl.

"Sparkles under the Sea" - Seaweed, angelfish, and ocean background

The seaweed is a modified fly stitch in green and yellow.

The angelfish is a series of satin stitches in black and white, with a French knot for the eye.

The water in the background is a slanted straight stitch, in progressively darker shades of teal as the water gets deeper.

A school of white fish and detail of the coral stitch used for the waves

This school of fish is a simple back-stitched fish shape in white.

The waves at the top are a specialty stitch called a coral stitch in pale blue, which produces a lovely scrolling effect.

Sand, a pink and white scallop shell, and two purple sea anemones

The sand is rows and rows of half-cross-stitches in a light gold color.

The scallop shell (left) is stitched in coral and white in a simple straight stitch pattern.

The bodies of the two sea anemones (right) are straight-stitched in purple, and their tentacles are a short turkey work stitch (kind of like a fringe, but with loops instead of loose threads).

Treasure chest and starfish

The treasure chest is straight-stitched in dark brown with two rows of gold chain stitching.

And, finally, the starfish is stitched in rows of straight stitches radiating outward from a body consisting of five French knots, all stitched in orange and white.

The frame was a Goodwill find that set me back about fifty cents.  :)

I am really happy with how this piece turned out!  It was a lot of intricate stitching, but I really enjoyed creating it.  I hope you all like the final product - maybe the specialty stitches will inspire you to create some wonderful under-the-sea embroidery, too!

Friday Update - "Celestial Dragon" by Teresa Wentzler

Hello, readers!  It is a balmy 91 degrees up here in Boston, which means that summer has officially arrived!  I know you can all appreciate how hard it is to stay inside and stitch when it's beautiful outside, but I have managed to get some cross stitching done this week.  If you are new to my blog, I am working on a design called "Celestial Dragon" by Teresa Wentzler.  The finished piece will be a monstrously huge 12.9" x 16.6" (32.8 cm x 42.2 cm) leviathan, so this one will take me awhile, but I am buckled down and ready to push onward!

I am still in my first corner, but I have finished the border and have started the dragon.  You can see two of his feet and the beginning of his blue serpentine body.  These colors, by the way, are WONDERFUL!  I love the brilliant blues, greens, and turquoises.

"Celestial Dragon" by Teresa Wentzler

Here is a close-up of the Chinese character ("virtue") in the lower left corner.  This character is stitched in two colors of royal blue, all over one thread, so the stitches are very tiny and neat.  I have included a penny for scale - this is 28-count fabric, so this can be a little tough on the eyes!  If you click on the picture, you can really appreciate the detail in the close-up shot.

Detail of "virtue" Chinese character block, with penny shown for scale

Here is a close-up of the dragon's body.  These stitches are made with two different colors of light blue and one strand of star blue Kreinik blending filament (#094).  I tried to capture the light reflecting off of the sparkly blending filament in this picture.  It was tough, but I think you can see some of the stitches sparkling!

Dragon's body, enlarged to show sparkling blending filament

This last photo is a close-up of the dragon's foot and his "fringe," both of which contain one strand of pearl Kreinik blending filament (#032).  Again, I tried to catch the sparkle in this shot, too, especially in the yellow and yellow-green areas.

Dragon's fringe (left) and foot (right), enlarged to show sparkling blending filament

The more I stitch this piece, the more I love it!  The colors and the textures are truly beautiful.  When the stitching is complete, the whole thing will then be peppered with gold and blue seed beads.  I will keep you posted on my progress!  :)

If you are itching for some project finishing tips, my framing tutorial will be posted on Daily Dose of Handmade this coming Sunday, so keep an eye out for it!

And, finally, IT'S FRIDAY!  Here's a happy Shiba Inu to welcome in the weekend.  :)

Thanks for your attention and your kind comments!  If you like what you see, please subscribe.  Have a great weekend, everyone - and stay cool!

-Erin

Less Bitching, More Stitching!