Cross stitch : Carp Complete

I finally completed my cross stitch carps after working on it for about 2 months. Doesn't it look beautiful? Have yet to decide whether to take it to the framers. As I've mentioned before, I made some changes to the original pattern. I changed the colour of the green carp to red whom is now known as transcolour =D. I've also decided not to stitch the red border as I feel that it would limit my framing choices such as size and colour.

Actually..I lied, this is not how it looks like now. I took this picture when I really thought I finished it...but then I was lazing on the sofa reading a book when it suddenly hit me...I forgot to stitch the Chinese characters on the left. But then I was too lazy to snap another pic...so that's why this pic below is without the Chinese characters.

I'm so proud of myself =D

These are the shiny threads I used to stitch the scales on the carps. It's 3 times the price of normal threads.
Of all the carps...I don't fancy these two the most. The red one looks kinda weird. Nothing really wrong with the gold one...just think they look awkward together.
This is transcolour. Supposed to be green but I made him red...he didn't turn out too bad did he?

Unfortunately, the black carps didn't really stand out even after I stitched it's scales. It sort of blended in too well with the water. And also it got overshadowed by the beautiful gold carp just next to it.
I like this carp the best. Maybe because of how the body is positioned...I can be so biased =P

Close up on the shiny scales. It seriously was a pain to stitch the scales on all the carps.

So...now that I've finished my carps, I'm moving on to other stuffs. Currently I'm working on some smaller stitching projects which I'll post here when the time comes. I also have a wonderful cross stitch project waiting for me in Macau. That one is a long story so I'll save the story for some other time.