The original sign the pirate cat holds was painted to have navy lettering on a medium orange background with the edge of the sign in dark reddish-orange. Since I wanted to use Gold Rush 14 in a darker orange metallic, I couldn't find a reddish-orange in my stash that would stand out, so I switched the edge trim to one of my favorite Kreinik colors, #5007 Brocade. This is a newer color that mixes purple with orange I first saw used on Michele's blog when she stitched Tapestry Tent's Halloween March. It is perfect for the sign. However, it left me with a dilemma--what to do with the lettering.
I had purple beads only a slightly lighter shade than the purple Kreinik, so I attached two of them and then looked at the effect. They are too light in shade and the orange Gold Rush background overwhelmed them. Then I tried green beads, which you see in the photo above. They also are too light. A viewer just can't pick out the letters easily if they are green.
So I'm going to have to rummage around in my stash and look for navy or black.
This color delimma shows up a lot on painted canvases when you try to change colors. If the original color is very dark, you will need a very dark shade of another color for the whole thing to still work. The problem with my purple beads is they were medium in color while the letters were painted a dark shade of navy. The green beads are light in shade. I really need a dark colored bead to stand up against the the medium orange metallic behind them.
I did manage to stitch the cat's eyes before taking out the beads. I mixed green Kreinik with white and black cotton perle and tent stitched the entire area. The dark squiggle you see between the eyes is the loose end of my black thread visible through the unstitched areas of the canvas.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
