Friday, February 18, 2011

A Little Bit Early

With the Valentine's Day holiday over we're on to the next! Even though I'm not a lover of corn beef and cabbage or green beer, there is something about that holiday that just draws me in. Must be my Irish roots or maybe the fact that my favourite colour is green!

My latest finish was a really quick stitch. I just seemed to get on a roll with it...perhaps it was the repetition of all those lucky shamrocks!


In my stash I had the perfect frame; just the right size for the piece but the light colour just didn't work for me. I dug out my old (very, very old) craft paints to see what I could do to change things up. I had some clear crackle paint which I put right over the cream colour and let it dry.



I then found some brown paint which I thought just might work. Opened the bottle and it was very thick... but I bit the bullet and decided to put a coat on anyway. It wasn't long before the neat crackle finish began to appear before my eyes.


I'm so very happy with the end result! This was a very "frugal" project from beginning to end (you'd be proud of me Jody!). I had every single thing I needed on hand to complete it all which is always a plus!

An Irish Shamrock Sampler
by Lucy Lyons Willis
Copyright 2006 La Chatelaine Designs

Stitched using:
GAST- Dried Thyme and Tarnished Gold
Weeks- Chestnut

I printed this freebie in 2006, and always knew I would stitch it someday. You see, from my teen years on I knew a lady named Hazel who was a very close family friend and she always used the word "grand"... whether she wrote "have a grand day!" in your carefully chosen birthday card, or tell you that "she had a grand time!" when our families would spend time together. So, to honour this special lady I'll proudly display this sampler every St. Paddy's Day.

Miss you Haze!!

Tracey

4 comments:

Siobhán said...

What a sweet finish! Great job.

jayne@~an eye for threads~ said...

wow, I love that frame girl. It looks awesome. Funny, my paternal Grandma always used the word Grand... It is one of onomatopeia's
As always
ps luxury grand suite= 4 long days @the BGH for my new knee..... lol hows that for keeping it positive

Jules said...

When you have Irish roots, there is no such thing as "too early" for St. Patty's! I, too, am of Irish descent and love all things Irish. Love the finish!!!

Erica said...

Your shamrock sampler is lovely!
Could you tell me where I might find the pattern?

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