Friday 30 August 2013

Small things

The Madame La Fee chart that I ordered arrived on Wednesday! I chose the design 'Petits Bonheurs' as the colour scheme is so pretty and the whole thing is just so whimsical. I feel I'm going to get a lot of joy out of stitching this.


Excited!

I ordered the chart from SoCreaStitch. It was posted out on Monday and arrived on Wednesday. Super-fast all the way from France! The chart is in French but SoCreaStitch have provided an English translation should you need it. The chart also came with a beautiful key charm, two little heart buttons and a scrap of natural linen for the alphabet (bottom left of the design). I wasn't expecting this so it was a nice suprise ^^

Luckily I had most of the required threads - I was only missing four! The fabric was a whole other issue. I don't have a needlwork shop near me so I have to order my supplies on-line. For charts and threads this is no problem, but for fabric! Gah! Every picture on the internet for any given fabric looks a completely different colour so it makes it even harder to come to a decision!

The east part was what to stitch on - 32 count belfast linen from Zweigart. But oh what colour?! The instruction sheet provided from SoCreaStitch suggests 'flax' or 'cream'. After a long look on the internet I decided that this was far too dark! What had other people stitched this on I wondered? Some people had stitched on pink, which was very nice, but there's a lot of pink in the design which might become lost in the fabric. Pale blue? Very nice, but very cool, and to me this is a warm, comforting design. After much searching a decision needed to be made between 'white' and 'antique white'. There is a massive difference between the two... In the end I went for good old white ^^ The antique white was looking a bit yellow and I'd like this to be nice and crisp.

I can't wait to start! *___* Usually I'm a 'one-project' lady (UFO's don't count) but I think I'll be able to do this alongside 'Cats, Cats, Cats' as both are made up of separate panels/blocks, so once I've stitched a block on one, I can move over to the other.


Ignore this post ^^

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Wednesday 28 August 2013

More cats!

I was at a loss for what to stitch next...all the things I felt like stitching...I didn't have *lol*
So I decided to have a look through my stash and see if anything took my fancy....and I found a kit that I had started months ago! When I first saw this kit I fell so in love with it that I just had to have it. After quite a struggle I managed to get it....started it....and then lost all interest :/
So I decided that this was a good as time as any to have another go at it ^^

The writing was what I had stitched months ago, the past two days I've worked on the panel below...


Eeeek bad lighting!  D:
Anyway, this took so long to stitch! There was a lot of colour changes and odd stitches all over the place :( There are also about five different colours used for the backstitch!
This is my least favourite panel of the design. It looks like a scary three-faced cat and it freaks me out D: All the other panels are much cuter ^^

Monday 26 August 2013

Owl keyring

A little finish ^^
This cute owl keyring is the cover gift with this months CrossStitcher magazine.


The design was stitched on soluble canvas. It was pretty hard going ^^; I kept stabbing myself (really hard!) with the needle :( He is sewn together with blanket stitch....which I had completely forgot how to do! I had to watch a quick YouTube video to remind me what to do.

I'm going to give him to my mum as she likes owls. I've hung him on her Spooky Tree in her room...let's see how long it takes her to notice :D


Saturday 24 August 2013

Once upon a time....

Today I made my fairy tale book ^^


It was pretty easy to do in the end. I had trouble finding some padding but I managed to find somewhere that sold it this morning so I've spent the afternoon making it up. I'm really pleased with how it turned out ^^

Friday 23 August 2013

Stag bag complete!

Today I finished my stag tote bag from What Delilah Did ^^
Most of the stitching was completed yesterday and I finished of the stag this afternoon.


I love it! It's such a good size too - big enough to carry all my crap around with me ^^;
At first, I was a little frustrated stitching this. One of my favourite things about cross stitch is how methodical it is...all that counting and everything looking nice, neat and even. This being a stamped design, with no discernible holes to aim for.....it was a little stressful ^^; But once I realised that I could completely switch off and just let my hands do the work....I really enjoyed it! And I quite like how uneven and rustic my stitches look, I think it adds to the overall look.

I haven't decided what to stitch next. I have so much to choose from....and naturally, what I feel like stitching, I don't have :) isn't that always the way?

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Fairy tale book update

The stitching on my fairy tale book is complete! I finished the back-stitch today...and it was actually quite enjoyable :o


Now is the very daunting task of making it up!

Monday 19 August 2013

Pretty Rose - a quick finish

Hello everyone! From today I am off work for two wonderful weeks *___* And, I already have a quick finish :) I stitched the design yesterday and completed the making-up this morning.


A Pretty Rose wall hanging. This is a cover kit from Mollie Makes by the designer Eline Pellinkhof. I changed the fabric to evenweave and I painted the hoop a light pink colour. The making-up is a hot mess *lol* I'm not very good when it comes to making up....I feel like I'm going to take this apart at some point and make it up again :/ I was very impressed with quality of this kit - the lace trim is lovely and there was loads of thread, enough to stitch the design twice!

Sunday 18 August 2013

New stitchy stuff

I was reading Mollie Makes the other day and came across a book called 'Storyland Cross Stitch' by What Deliah Did. Instantly smitten I had to get it ^^ I decided to have a look at her site *____* 


Where has it been all my life?!
As soon as I saw this stag bag I couldn't stop thinking about it, so naturally I had to have it ^^
 As for the book, it's wonderful. I want to stitch almost everything in it ^^
Also, it has a jackalope *___* my new favourite creature.

Saturday 10 August 2013

TUSAL August 2013

And now for Augusts TUSAL post....


It's the same as last month! I am just a terrible stitcher D: 
My bear Perkin is making an appearance today. I thought it best to show something cute in place of TUSAL progress ^^

Anyway, not only have I been doing zero stitching, I have also done some pretty dumb stitching related things....

First up, I was actually kind of smart and bought the chart 'Sophie's Afternoon' by Brooke's Books as whilst browsing Sew and So I noticed that they only had two left and this had been in my wishlist for ages...so I had to get it. 


I just love it! 
So I was excited to receive it....I received a very floppy envelope from a place that wasn't Sew and So.... now, I'd also ordered something from ebay (more on that later) so I started thinking 'what have I done!' ^^;  I just opened it....and this was inside... excited to receive my chart....but disappointed at the quality :(  It's A5 in size and is printed on thin paper... It's already quite rumpled from just looking at it... :(

Second. Ebay. I love ebay. However my phone keeps logging me out and when I log back in it defaults all my search criteria. I found a kit I wanted for a reasonable price so went ahead and bought it. It was shipped out the next day. As it hadn't arrived yet I was double checking the posting date...and that's when I realised that I had bought it from Ohio. In America. Silly ebay for re-setting and silly me for not reading the details properly. So I have no idea when it will get to me :(

Third. Again me not paying attention... I have longed for a Madame La Fee chart for a long time but they are quite pricey...but last weekend after quite a poorly week I was in a frivolous mood (note that all these mistakes happened when I was in this frivolous mood) and I decided to just go ahead and treat myself. So I spent some time (over an hour) deciding on which one to get. I placed my order and have since been very impatiently waiting for to arrive all the way from France :) I got an email yesterday to say that 'as the front page says we are holiday so your order will be posted on 26th August' D: I could just die *dramatic*

The lesson to be learnt here? Pay effing attention :/

I have a weekend stitching goal to finish the stitching on my book! I am determined to follow through!

P.S. Apologies if the editing is a little off. I'm posting from my tablet so I'm not sure what will happen ^^;