The Night Before, an Anne Stradal design

It has been a few weeks since I have posted anything on my blog, the reason being that I have not been feeling that well and have been taking things rather easy, which have given me the opportunity to do a lot of reading, something I love and usually am not able to find enough time for it.
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I have been able to do a little bit of stitching though and have been working on The Night Before which is the accompanying piece to The Day After that I have stitched not long ago.
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The photo below has been stitched by Anne Stradal herself and has been included with her permission.

[Designed and stitched by Anne Stradal of ABS Designs]

Below is a picture showing what I have done up to now.

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So far I have done a bit of the wallpaper, which I intend to do exactly as Anne did. I have done the flooring and the rug using the same color thread for the carpet (Rainbow Tweed RT55) and a DMC #5 perle for the flooring (mine is a shade lighter than Anne). The chair has been done in two shades of Velour Very Petite. I have stitched the table where the lamp is and the legs of the chair using the same DMC Perle #5 brown color.

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Now we are where things are getting a bit more complicated, at least for me :-) I wanted to change Mrs. Claus' dress, using the same color though as Anne did hers. At this point I am not sure if I like it or not. That is the reason I have not stitched yet her slippers as if I have to frog the dress, then I don't want to spoil the slippers. I was thinking of adding a little lace to the colar and bottom of her sleeves. Now, do I go for white or some pink color? I am still wondering what stitch I will be using for the apron and what color? Since she is not a maid, I don't have to leave it white if I don't want to. Oh! you may have noticed that I have stitched over the scarf that she is knitting and will also do the same thing over her apron because I want to add the stitched scarf over (like stumpwork). Still thinking about her needles as to how to make them. Also still debating about her hat, not sure what I will do..

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I have been wondering if I want to cover the shade of the lamp with some fabric instead of thread. Also have not decided how to do the lamp base, stem and finial. I will do the basket the same way as Anne did hers, but will wait for the balls of yarns as I may change some colors. As for the pine branches and bow, I may decide to do exactly as Anne did, unless I make the bow Brazilian embroidery style.

[My photo is a bit dark compared to Anne's but have used the same colors]

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So, lots of decisions still to make before this piece is completed. I will probably start working on the wallpaper while I am thinking about all this. If you have some ideas for any part of it, I would love to hear from you all and also tell me if I should change her dress or leave it as is. I don't mind doing a bit of frogging in order to make her look nicer :-)

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Pierrette =^..^=