Monday, October 05, 2009

I need some help

While working at the shop this weekend I took along some potential framing, but one of them has stymied me -- Mirabilia's Halloween fairy. No color actually in the piece looks good as a mat. Trust me, I tried them all. Sigh. So I cam e to a camel suede mat and a bronzed frame. Now I can't decide between single and double matting -- see that you think:
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or
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Who knows, I may switch formats all together. Any other ideas?

I recently joined the LHN Exchange group for their second round. This means I'm about to start an LHN ornie. Wanna see the floss toss? Why do I ask? I'm going to show it whether you nod enthusiastically or not! lol
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I so do love Belle Soies! They are like stitching with air.

Oh! I did get some great news while at the shop -- the "belt lady" (ie. the finisher we use for belts, collars, and shoes) arrived and Helped me work out how much of the belt canvas I had to stitch for the finished size I wanted. Turns out I can stop at 33 inches. Yippie-- that's 3 inches off the length it's painted. And this means I'm nearly half done! Hee hee. Here's a shot of it while waiting to have its frame moved --
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gotta run -- but finished the 1st book for the 10 Book Challenge-- Pratchett's Wee Free Men. Yes, I love all Pratchett. That said, the Tiffany series isn't my favorite. Although I do so love the Nac Mac Feegle. Some days I could really use a few Feegle. Anyway, it's fun, but as Pratchett says, you can be more overt and do more with young adult novels than with others.

Take care all !

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Ok, here's my P.S. on the Fairy -- I changed the color of the wings because the dandelion stem that came in my kit was a hideous murky grey-ish color. And I used actual black for the black bits not the overdyed. The upshot of all that is that black looks awful, that chocolate brown on its own looks bad, no orange works, all the greens are too blue, any brown I get that matches a brown in the piece (say the dress) looks awful because it clashes with the other browns (the hair). Ieven tried some peaches for the skin. Yuck. I tried a bunch of gold frames -- urp. The only other frame I liked was a weird antiqued green one, but absolutely no mats went with that. Sigh. Maybe I should look for fabric and make her a box or something. One thing for sure, she's going back on the to-be-finished aging hanger.

18 comments:

Unknown said...

I am a big fan of double matting, especially with the darker color at the edge. That said, if you decide to go with a single mat, I like the the darker undermat color better than the camel.

Laura - StitchinManiac said...

I like the double mat best, because I think it echos the two-toned theme of her dress and shoes... Nice!

valerie said...

I agree with Kathryn...not too big on the camel but if you doublemat, it's ok. I think the chocolate brown makes the dress pop.

I stitched this and didn't use a mat. The frame I used with a rustic green frame but I used kit fabric. Your fabby looks lighter than that...

Enough of my babbling...hope some of that helps.

Terri M said...

I like the single mat a lot. I was scrolling through the pictures, thinking, no other combo worked, reallY? When I saw the single mat, I thought, "Yes." And I don't usually think single mats look right.

Amanda said...

I like the darker undermat myself, but then it's similar tom how I framed mine. You can see mine here http://image63.webshots.com/563/4/51/52/2675451520055086583rXuCDg_fs.jpg It's actually a dark plum textured mat. Not sure if this will help you or not though!

Crossed Yarns said...

I like the double mat idea, but prefer the suede on top. Try reversing your mats and see how it goes with the frame. Just a thought
Pokua

Cindy said...

I like the double mat better. Could you use the dark brown on top and maybe an orange or green one underneath?

Chris said...

I don't know dear, it's alot of brown. I think you should bring it to Lazy Daizy next time you're in town, see what magic mat combination they come up with.

Karen said...

i really like the double mat myself but they both do look good. does that help you out? LOL I would go with the double matting.

Carolyn NC said...

Great finish, but definitely hard to mat. Not a big fan of the Camel, but do like the double matting. Something will jump out at you at some point, hopefully. Good luck!

mainely stitching said...

The double matting has me completely won over.

Mel said...

I really like the double mat!
And Halloween fairy is so cute! :)

margaret said...

HI Ruth
Margaret here. I also did the halloween fairy. I had a thin orange mat and then a darker brown, and then a brown infil frame and then the same brown mat. She looks gorgeous. If you sendme your email addy I will send you a photo of her so that you can see what she looks like. YOu wre after all the inspiratin for me doing my fairy as we don't celebrate halloween in Australia

CJ in OK ;-) said...

Maybe a green mat with the bronze frame, to liven it up a bit. Just a thought. CJ ok;-)

Siobhán said...

I like double matting... but then do you need a mat at all? I don't know. It's beautiful, though, regardless.

Sharon said...

She's beautiful! Great work! Here's a thought - what about a dark purple mat? That would be a different color than what's in it so it wouldn't clash but might "go" as it's a Halloween piece.

I agree with Chris. Bring it to Lazy Daizy in 2 weeks! :-)

Michelle said...

I would definitely go with the double matting. Love your color choices for mats and frame!! I need to stitch this girl up for sure!

Cyn said...

Hi Ruth,

I like the double matting as it really gives some depth to the piece.

One other idea. Did you try a triple mat? Yes, I know it will be pricey but if you add another color between the brown and gold it might work. Or mix them up again and try the brown on top with two colors of mat underneath.

If you try this, make either the bottom most mat very thin or the middle mat very thin compared to the other two.

The other option that I can think of is to add some interest to the mats themselves. Such as trying an oval at the top, or cutouts in the topmost mat. Will be a bit pricier but might get you a better "look".

Hmmm... Gold on top, brown in the middle with cutouts in the gold mat to show the brown with a hint of gold or green on the bottom mat. Or put the brown on top with cutouts for the gold underneath or switch up the middle and bottom mats or...

Okay, you get the idea. :-)

Cynthia
Windy Meadow