A cross stitch finish

This will be a quick post to show the finish of a cross stitch project that has been unfinished for at least 20 years.  When it surfaced a couple of months ago, I promised myself I would at last get it done, and here it is.

Nothing too complicated, but a lot of color changes for a 6" pattern.  I won't use it as a trivet, and maybe mess up the surface of the plastic, so it is just for show.  I have 3 more of the same sort of design, but for now I will work on the big projects.  I have a dozen of them lined up already.

I have been submitting photos to Shutterstock, an online source for searchable images to use in commercial designs.  The way it works, an image is submitted for review and if it meets the criteria for size, sharpness, etc. etc. it is listed under the keywords I select.  So I recently added two photos and one was accepted and one rejected for lack of sufficient sharpness.  Here are the two:

Raven is the all-black Newfy, and Maggie (Magpie) is the black and white Landseer Newfy.  The shutterstock people rejected Raven's photo because it was out of focus, and over processed.  Both photos were taken back to back, and neither had any photoshopping done. And I especially like the way Raven has her eyes cut to one side, as if she is saying "now what?"  So I think the Shutterstock reviewers don't see the difference between a fuzzy photo and a fuzzy dog.  Ah well, only one person's opinion.

Time to move ahead with my next subjects.  At least when I shoot dogs and cats and sunsets I don't have to get a model's release form.

Bye!