FOR REAL Go-Live and switching projects

We are DEFINITELY going live with our new software NEXT Monday at work or I've threatened to go work at Target...no more delays! I'm not sure if I'm excited or terrified, but it's been helping my stitch progress! I left off on Night Wish here last week:
NightWish054
And, thanks to a rough work week, I didn't get much further on her, only two days stitching, but she does have more of a defined face with about twenty more colors of purple and pink added to her head (not to defend the little bit of work I did do). There is also more background encroaching upon her, but overall, you can't tell she moved much, so without further ado, here she is:
NightWish056
My headaches have also increased, but our weather has gone from the low 20's and snow flurries, to the high 60's and storms and back down to back up. NOT the best for migraine sufferers!

Then, on a whim, I decided (late Thursday nite, mind you), that it was time for Alice and the B's to come back out to play. I left off on them back in April of 2019, so not that long ago (unlike Night Wish and Snow White):
alice172
And, after just a couple of days (and I worked through the weekend too, so not much stitching except for Sunday), I managed to get this far:
Alice176
Considering its size and it's only four days worth of stitching (and taking into account how many hours I spent at work), I'm pretty proud of that progress! I'd forgotten how quickly these princesses move along. The actual stitched size is 18 x 22 on 28ct, so they are the largest project I've ever done. Princess and the Pea, which was HUGE even on 28ct and it was only 190,250 stitches. Alice and the B's have 329,175 stitches! Granted, compared to the Aimee Stewart, MC/SS Bookshelves, they are nothing...those range in the 713,000 area, but I will probably do those on 32 or 36 tent, even though I've never tried tent stitch before and I'm not always a fan of the results I've seen with it, but those patterns would take YEARS with regular stitching and the amount of color would just be too much. Besides, at 36ct, I would never be able to see the holes well enough for one pass, let alone two!

Considering what is ahead for the final week before go-live, I would be CRA-ZY to stitch this week, which probably means I will be a stitching fiend, and next week, while the Cali boys are actually down here, it would be even stupider, so again, we'll see and I'll make no promises, but I'm bad at deflecting, so odds are, it will benefit my stitching progress immensely if I'm trying to avoid dealing with the pressure of work. But I may not be able to get away from it, even if I want to. Time will tell!

Another whim I had during Valentines Day week was I FINALLY broke down and bought three diamond paintings from Diamond Art Club that have been calling to me since I first saw them. I was waiting for a sale because they are a bit on the expensive side, but apparently for good reason. These paintings are HUGE and I'm not sure when I'll ever get around to doing them, especially now that I'm stitching again. I have no place to hang them if I ever do them (and these are the type to frame, unlike those cheapy-kind of diamond paintings I used to buy from one of those Asian companies that took months to come in (I literally had these in about three days). Most of those never held the drills long-term or looked as good as they were supposed to, even when I bought the largest size. I have high hopes for these puppies though from DAC.

I bought a couple of others thinking they were twins and they would look great in my office, but one was REALLY tiny and the other had round drills instead of square (which I'm not a fan of and didn't notice when ordering...I was looking at the pattern and not the details...that always bites me in the butt!), so Happy B-day Sis (her B-day is coming up and she prefers the round drills). It's probably the first hobby that she and I have ever shared, although she likes it a lot better than I do. I get bored with it too quickly...to me, diamond painting is like cross stitch you finish in three days, instead of three years and there is no "reward" to it. For her, it's MORE rewarding because you don't have to work three years to finish it and you have something to show after three days! Go figure! It would make sense we'd share the love of it, but hate it also for entirely different reasons!

She a bit scared of the squares because she's afraid she wouldn't be able to keep them straight. Maybe it's because I'm a stitcher, but I don't have that issue. But I do also checkerboard them if it's a large area of solid color (which I don't do in stitching), so that helps. I don't like the round because it's not full coverage (another carry-over from stitching) and I don't like seeing the canvas underneath (again, stitcher's hang-up).

Plus, it's not something I can do sitting on the couch like cross stitch...I have to have this whole setup at the kitchen table, which is INCREDIBLY uncomfortable, especially after several hours. I can stitch on the couch for five or six hours at a time and never move. Less than an hour at the kitchen table and my back is screaming (and I don't have back problems). She also used to sit at the kitchen table, but she DOES have back trouble and it was too hard for her and she thought she was going to have to give it up. She has since, somehow, learned how to do it in her bed! I can't even IMAGINE diamond painting in my bed! I'd have drills everywhere! I'm lucky enough I don't get them everywhere now (and sometimes I still drop them and have to rush to beat the pups to the pick up). She's explained it to me how she does it, but I still can't picture it. And, she has HUGE dogs (her dogs have dog toys bigger than my actual dogs), so I can only imagine what happens when one of her dogs jumps on the bed while she's working! UGH! But she doesn't seem to have issues, so good on her!

But here are the three kits I bought, all of which are MASSIVELY HUGE (I won't show the other two, one because it will be a gift for my Sister and the other because I'm not sure what I'll do with it). The Sleeping Princess, The Lost Princess and The Brave One, my three favorite Disney Princesses (and I will end on this note).
the-sleeping-princess-diamond-art-painting-11356345499699_1000xthe-lost-princess-diamond-art-painting-11667762675763_1000xthe-brave-one-diamond-art-painting-11667765461043_1000x

Comments

Hope the Go Live is Going Live and Well!
Great progress on the stitching.
Diamond painting is not something I've got into but I can see that those three will look lovely with the sparkly gemstones.
ps are these the Cali boys you might be working with? Make sure you pick their brains about life over there!
Awesome progress on both your projects!! I have tried diamond painting but I just don't enjoy it like I do stitching and for the exact same reasons as you. I love the ones you got! I am pretty sure I have the stitching charts to match them :) Good luck with the go-live!
I hope all is going well with your Go-Live which should be happening...today? Hopefully.
Great progress on your stitching! It seems that switching projects right now was the right call, Alice & Co seem to suit you well right now.
We seem to have similar thoughts about diamond painting! I quite enjoy doing it (with the square drills), but doing any of my cross stitch patterns that way would feel like cheating (just like doing tent stitch...seems like I enjoy making life hard for myself). I have, how ever, bought one pattern (and wishlisted a couple more) with the explicit intend to do it in Diamond Painting since I think it will look better in all it's glittery glory.
The three kits you bought will be gorgeous as well, I'm sure!
Hello! I look forward to seeing more of your projects. You are an amazing cross stitcher! I’m always in awe of your work.