Sunday, October 12, 2008

Outside the Box

Hey there, Stitchy Peeps!

This is what I did recently. You like?

winter bird

winter bird outside :)

(Pattern by Annie Oakleaves.)

When it comes to stitching, I seldom think 'outside the box'. I tend to stick with traditional colors. Of course, there are exceptions and every so often I get super creative and do something like this rainbow buggy. Not exactly what you'd find in nature, but not that off-the-wall. ;) So I found myself sort of surprised when the floss toss I did for this Winter Bird yielded these results: PINK and BLUE. Pink and blue? A pink bird that isn't a flamingo?

(I am loving it.)

I think I may have been inspired by the Christmas decorating magazines that line the shelves of my local supermarket. While there are many glossy, beautiful photos of homes decked out in traditional schemes of red and green, there are also many non-traditional color combinations that I find myself drawn to. I've always loved using all-blue lights on the tree or in a nativity scene...and I have a fuzzy yet persistent childhood memory of my great-grandmother's home at Christmas, decked out in all-blue lights and decorations.

It's hard to tell, especially in the second picture, but the little guy is tinted pink. I shouldn't really say tinted, however; he is simply filled in with a colored pencil. It's very subtle, but I thought he needed a little something, and filling him in with stitches just wasn't an option. I didn't want to compete against the wing & tail, or the details in the hat & scarf. So once again, it was colored pencils to the rescue. :)

Winter Bird has put me in the mood to do some Christmas stitching...I will have to peruse my collection of patterns for Christmas-y and wintry things. Hopefully I will be back soon with some seasonal stitching to share with you. Until then...

Happy Stitching!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the blue and pink, and also the subtleness of the pink tinting. I need to check out that pattern -- it would be great for embroidered ornaments =)

I've color-tinted with Crayola crayons before, but never with colored pencils. How do you set the tint with those???

Glenda

Anonymous said...

I love these colors for Christmas!!

I have drawn and made something I will be sharing soon! It has 1 Christmas package with the pink/green colors!

So out of the box!!! It's refreshing!!

Kristi said...

glenda--I actually don't set the tint..eek! I am careful not to color anything that I plan to wash. I am anxious to try crayon tinting. Then maybe I can put away the pencils, lol. :)

miss paula--I can't wait to see what you have to share! :)

Anonymous said...

Cute! I'd love to know how you do a floss toss.

Brook said...

oh my gosh!!! this is so stinkin cute!

Candice said...

Akh! Too too cute! **♥♥♥♥** the little penguin!

Though why are you onto winter stuff already?? It's barely even Autumn!! ;o) Then again, I guess you were hittin' up the Halloween stitchy stuff in, what, August?? ;o)

Just teasing! It was fabulous seeing you last week, and I've been loving that Starbucks card. Thank you thank you thank you (again)!

Love ya and miss ya!

Claudia said...

so, so cute!
i love those colors too, very winter-y :)

AJ Bindel said...

Oh so cute, Kristi! I think this might be my favorite little critter.

xoxo

Anonymous said...

Love it, but I could say that about everything I see on your blog. I have a Christmas tree that is decorated with blue birds, yellow birdhouses, and white snowflakes. Yep, I like those nontradional Christmas colors too.

I understand what you mean about colors. I tend to do most things in traditional colors, but when I branch out, everyone loves the "odd" colored things better.

Anonymous said...

Cute! And your stitching is so lovely, as always!

Chrisi said...

Adorable! I have trouble thinking outside the color box too. Love these colors!