Venetian Opulence

I fell in love with this piece the first time I saw a picture of it.

No, really. I don’t know how you can not fall in love with the gorgeous, rich colors. The beads, the elegance. (I know, I know, different strokes for different folks and all that. This piece just made my heart sing.)

It was a no-brainer to start this piece as I finished up Shakespeare’s Fairies, and I never regretted a moment of stitching it. I stitched it on 32 count Light Exemplar linen from Picture This Plus. I admit to a small moment of panic when I started the skin tones, but I think it worked out well, especially with the backstitching. Without the backstitching, it might have been a different story.

I started this piece shortly before I started working on StashCache, so posting these photos today seems a fitting way to commemorate the fact that I have submitted StashCache to the Google Play Store. Stitching Mirabilias is what finally got me branching out from kits and started my serious stash building, and ultimately what drove the development of the app. I’m really excited (and terrified) to put it out into the world, but I think it’s just as beautiful as this finish in its own way. Maybe not to some people’s taste, but I’m proud of it all the same.