Paddy yet again

I've been working on Padparadscha, although I did take a week off to help the daughter to look for her dragon. Little idiot decided to take Calypso outside... and Calypso decided to make a break for it. We are now going to hope she survives until it starts getting cooler out, then we'll try to recapture her before it gets too cold and kills her. Keep both daughter and dragon in your good thoughts/prayers/whatevers as the one won't survive the winter, and the other would grieve terribly if she doesn't.

Anyway, I have started doing the metallic thread in fly stitch, and I think it looks glorious! Thank you ever so much Rachel for the suggestion. I also did the nostril with a four ply french knot in the two lighter silks, with a small stitch in the center of the metallic, to darken the middle, if you see what I mean. The eye is done with a size 11 seed bead, and I did a small stitch of the metallic thread over the center of the bead, sort of like a pupil.

As you can see in the picture, I added the bottom wing as well. I used the metallic to add the wing struts--what are those called when it isn't an airplane? I still have the tail portion to do with the metallic, but so far it looks lovely. I plan to add a trellis stitch over the pearl in the metallic thread. After that, I really need to get the legs in so I can do some of the vegetation he is standing in.

Okay, here are a couple of pictures that will make you go, "Awwwwww!"

Detente kitties.

    

Calypso napping in her food dish--with lunch.

THE Magpie

Dragon noses

So I have been thinking about it, and I think I am going to do the nostril with a colonial/french knot. I am going to use either perle weight or something like it. I studied horse and cow noses, and also peered at Calypso, and I think I want to do something more like the horse. Or not. We'll see how it looks.

THE Magpie

Busy. But managed to carve some time for Padparadscha

Well, I got a bit more done on Padparadscha. I am starting to feel a bit more confident about my abilities as an embroidress, even to contemplating actually doing one of the Helen Stevens bird pictures, as opposed to just drooling over the photos in her books. I have an assortment of the flat silks, the ones used in the Chinese embroideries that so often crop up in the restaurants, mostly because they are drop dead gorgeous, plus the colors are to die for--or dye for, as the case may be.

Anyway, here is Paddy as far as I have gotten.

I am not sure how I am going to do his nostril, but his eye is going to be a bead--maybe one of my glow in the dark beads--we'll see. I think I am going to finish the mid color overlay, and then do the metallic fly stitch. His legs are going to be silk most of the way down, and the toes and claws I am planning to do in the metallic braid. Here is a close up of the stitching and overlay.

Once I stitch in the legs and finish the body, I plan to add the left wing, which will be tacked down to the ground fabric. After I finish that and before I do the feet, I plan to start the background. I have some fluffy and fancy yarns to use for grass and bushes.

Okay, I have to post some pictures of the other dragon in my life. She is a cutie pie, and sleeps in the most silly positions.

In this picture, she was asleep, but we woke her when we took the picture.

We measured her, and she is about seven inches long from nose to tail tip.

THE Magpie

Dragons, two this time

 First, here is a picture of Calypso, my daughter's bearded dragon. Okay, actually, here are several pictures of Calypso. Isn't she cute???

We don't know as yet if she is male or female, because it is hard to tell when they are young. However, we are assuming that it is a she for the time being.

Meanwhile, I have started on the body and tail of Padparadscha. I am using the dark rust silk to put the first layer of stitching in, which will follow with the other two colors of silk and end with the metallic braid in fly stitch.

If anyone reading this knows what the stitch is called, please do let me know. I use it as a filling that is more versatile than satin stitch, as you can follow contours, and usually I fill in very tightly but because I plan to layer three colors I am leaving spaces to fill later. I was assuming it was either long and short or split stitch, but it isn't split as I don't go through any of the stitches, but rather between them. Probably long and short, but all the illustrations I have seen of that are much more even than what I am doing.


THE Magpie