Hummingbird Sparkly Garden

This is one of my most anticipated new projects - Hummingbird Sparkly Mandala Garden by Chatelaine Designs. I have been lurking around the Chatelaine site for about a year now, trying to decide which project to do, and I finally settled on the Hummingbird. It's a big decision since the materials are not cheap (this one cost me upwards of $200 for all the fabric, floss, beads, etc) and also because the designs are so large and intricate that this will be a huge time investment. I decided to stitch this on 32 count linen from Silkweavers in "Mississippi Blue". The design calls for silks from Gloriana, Caron, Dinky Dyes, and Thread Gatherer, and also calls for Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid in various colors, and numerous shades of beads and crystals by Mill Hill and Swarovski. So I finally assembled all my materials and made a start on the project, and here it is: