Paris Cross Stitch

I haven't picked up my cross stitching in a very long time. Probably longer than two years. About a week ago, I picked up the last thing I was working on. I call it the Paris Cross Stitch. Here is the picture from the CrossStitch magazine...

And here is where I was shortly after I started it (like 4 years ago!)...

I decided to finally finish it off, and try to do so before the end of the year. Well, it turns out that I had done quite a bit of it, and there was only a few days of stitching left to get it done! Here is the finished project...

I still need to try and turn it into a pillow. Although my sewing abilities are not great. So maybe I'll frame it as a picture for my craft room. I haven't quite decided yet. But I am so glad I got it done!

Cross-stitch project

Normally, I don't like to post pictures of a project that's only part way done. It takes me FOREVER to finish a project, and posting about it before it's done is just a negative reminder to me of how long it takes me to do anything. But, in the spirit of "if I blog about it, I may actually finish it", I give you this...

In a few weeks / months / years??, it may end up looking like this...

Hopefully. At least that is the plan. I'll keep you posted.

crafty day

It's been a long time since I posted anything crafty. That's probably because I haven't been very crafty lately. At least for the last 8 months or so. But, I'm on vacation this week, so I thought I would try and finish something off this week.
This project came out of Britain's No 1 Cross Stitcher magazine Issue #243 from Sept 2011. I stitched the pattern about a year ago. But, never got around to putting it together until today. The cup and saucer was one of the ones that Grandma gave me when she was cleaning out her house. It had a chip in it, so I never used it for a tea cup. It was the perfect cup for this project, because the colours were the same as the flowers in the pattern. I love the finished product!!

Cross-stitch update

I haven't posted anything about cross-stitch for such a long time. Mostly because I haven't done any cross-stitch for such a long time. But, here is a new pattern that I've been working on, and just completed...

Yes, I know!
It's a Christmas dove.
Yes, I know!
It's like the 2nd week in April now.
I told you... it's been a long time!
I'm trying to get back into it again. I do miss it. I felt my blood pressure go down a couple of notches when I picked this up to finish it. That's why I started cross-stitching to begin with. I find it very relaxing.

Project 52 - April 4th

It's Project 52 time again, and I haven't done very much. I've spent the last week sick (again) with the flu. I think I have bronchitis this time, because I can't stop coughing. But, I also haven't been back to the doctor yet. I've been feeling all sorry for myself the last few days, until this morning, when I started catching up on my blog reading. Two of the blogs I follow, both woman broke their arm/wrist this week! Karen... one of the hosts of Project 52 is one of them. Ikes! Now, I don't feel so bad. I may be coughing, and tired, and not feeling well. But, at least I haven't broken anything!

Here's a link to our hosts of Project 52: A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy
The list is small this week. With work being so busy, and me being sick, I just haven't done much of anything.

29) Cross Stitch more
Here's the latest butterfly. This is the second one. I'm working on number 3 now, and will post a pic when she's done.


52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (12/52)

Butterflies!

I'm working on a new series of cross-stitch patterns. All butterflies.
Here's the first one that I've completed.

There are 9 in the set, but I only plan on doing 4 or 5 of them. I'm not sure what I'm going to end up making out of them. But they were so pretty and "spring like" that I just couldn't resist. Also, they are done with full cross stitch only... no backstitch, no 1/2 stitches, no french knots or other fancy things. So, they are simple and easy to stitch, which I find very relaxing.

If you are interested in the patterns, they came in the magazine "Britain's No.1 CrossStitcher" Issue #236 March 2011.
I'll post pics of the rest of them as I get them completed.

Christmas Cross-stitch

I've finally completed the Christmas Cross Stitch patterns that I started before Christmas last year. OK... so it takes me awhile. But, like everything, I start a big project, get bored part way through, and put it down. And then I never finish it. So, I put this on my Project 52 list as a way to force me to finish it. So, who cares if it's March and everyone is thinking of spring, and daffodils, and Easter time. I'm stitching snowmen and reindeer!!

Actually, it wasn't that bad. I had most of it done. Santa was done before Christmas. Snowman was stitched before New Year's, just not framed. Reindeer had been started, but not finished. So, I took the last 2 weeks, and just plugged away at it until I was done. I love the end result. Aren't they cute?

PS -- Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Done!

Here's what Mr. Snowman looks like now.

All done! Well, all done stitching. I just have to frame him now.

Christmas cards

I don't know what it is, but I'm so totally into Christmas this year. And early! I usually don't get this way until after the US Thanksgiving. I think it's the weather. It's downright chilly today, and a lot colder than normal (-10 * C as I write this).

This weekend, I did a lot of Christmas shopping. I think I have about 1/2 of my list done now, and so far, I'm under budget. I also spent some time with Grandma. Hubby and I had breakfast with brother-in-law, and his wife and kids. And I spent a lot of time this weekend working on my Christmas cards. I only had a few cross-stitch ones made up, so I made the others with paper and stickers that I had in my stash of stuff. One night, I made all these...

And then the next day, I put together a couple more...

Until a nasty paper cut on my finger forced me to stop!
Next year, I'm going to try and get organized so that I can send out the same "theme" to everyone. The biggest problem I have this year, is who gets what card!

Part 2

This is going to be a snowman. He's part 2 of 3 of the Christmas series I've been working on. Santa was first. Now Mr. Snowman.

I still have quite a bit to do. But, hopefully I will find the time to finish it before Christmas is here!

Done!

Santa is all done now!

He has his little bell sewn on, and he's framed now.

A note about the bells. Does anyone need some? I went to buy 6 bells from Michael's for this project. Santa and Reindeer both have one, and Snowman has 4. I didn't have any problems finding 6mm jingle bells. But, I did have a problem only buying 6. I had to buy the only package they had, so I bought 80 of them. That's right. 80! They didn't come in a smaller package.

I didn't pay a lot for the package (I had a 50% off coupon, so it didn't cost me that much). But, I do kind of wonder what I'm going to do with the 74 left over bells! I think I'll have to come up with a new project to use them up!

x stitch update

Santa is coming along....

Monday update

I’m back!
It was a wonderful week off. I didn’t go near a computer for about 10 days… except a couple of times to look up things on Google or to download my emails. I didn’t read any blogs, I didn’t update mine, I didn’t mindlessly surf, and I even didn’t watch much TV. I tried to stay away from light emitting boxes (TVs, Computer screens, iPods) as much as possible, and tried to ‘get out’ more. So, I did lots of shopping, lunches with friends, visits with family, and hanging out with hubby. I also read a lot, and did a bunch of crafts and stuff too. The weather wasn’t the best as it rained a lot. But it seemed the sun always came out when I had to be somewhere or had to drive across the city to meet up with someone. So, it all worked out well. And the best part… I feel so relaxed! I encourage everyone to ‘unplug’ at least once in awhile. It’s amazing how good you feel when you go without electronic gizmos.

For the superstitious out there... my last post was my 666th post since starting this blog.

Here’s an update on the UFO project…

It’s finished! All done, and hung up now. So, I should be working on the next UFO project, right? Wrong. I started a new one instead. But, I had all the materials, thread, and frames in my stash of stuff, so it’s not like I went out and bought all new stuff for this one. It’s a series of 3 Christmas images. Santa, Reindeer, and Snowman. I started Santa first. Not that you can tell what it's going to be by this pic...

And I’m going to try, try, try to get all three done by Christmas. Even though I have Christmas cards to stitch still, and a whole bunch of new books to read (thanks to hubby, who renewed my Chapters card and bought me a couple of books for my birthday!)

Slow as molasses

Ok. I told you I'm not the fastest stitcher on earth. But then again, it doesn't go very fast when you only spend an hour or so a week on it... Gotta find more time in my day.

UFO update

Ok...because I promised to post a pic of my unfinished projects each week.... here you are...

For a link back to last week, click here.

I didn't get as much done this week as I thought, because I wasn't counting right. I had to unpick a large portion of the top part of the E and W, because I was off. But, it's a long weekend coming up, and it's supposed to rain all weekend, which means less time in the garden, and more time cross-stitching. I'm already getting antsy to start my next project. But, the deal was to finish each project first before continuing on to the next one! So, I'll need to work hard to finish this one first.

UFOs

Yesterday, I mentioned that I have a lot of unfinished craft projects on the go. Well, this week, I've decided to try and put a dent in some of them. The idea is to pick up one item, and work on it until completed, before going on to the next. Now, my attention span is like a 2 year old's, so it will be interesting to see if I can actually do this or not.

I don't normally post pictures of half finished projects. I never know when I'm going to finish them, and it could be months (or even years) before you see it again. So, by actually posting a pic of an unfinished project, then I kind of force myself to finish it, don't I? So, I promise to post a pic each week of the current project, so you can see the progress (or lack of progress) made. And it will force me to actually get something done, because I don't want to face the embarrassment of having something linger around for months at a time. At least, that is the intention.

Here's the first item. It's a cross-stitch pattern. I won't tell you what it's going to be...I'll let the pictures do the talking. But, it's not a complicated pattern (in fact, it's quite easy), so I chose it as my first because I think I can get it done in as little time as possible.

Keep in mind that I'm not the kind of stitcher that can finish a project in hours. When a pattern says it takes 8 hours to complete....well, that will take me weeks to finish. I envy those stitchers that can bang off small projects in record time. But, I know that I will never be like that. I usually don't have enough time in the week to work on stuff....

(SEE!! The excuses are starting already!!!)

new house card

I'm making a card for my brother and his wife for their new house. I completed the cross-stitch for the card this weekend, and will be finishing up the card this week...

Although, Hubby did say that the house looks more like a mushroom than a house. I don't think so. And I hope my brother and sis-in-law don't either. Otherwise, the card will have to read "Congratulations on your new Mushroom" ?!?

cross-stitching

This...

will eventually look like this picture...

...if I can get back into it.

It would seem that I get all hyped up about starting a new pattern, and then part way through that pattern, for some unknown reason, I decide I don't want to do it anymore.
This one is like that.

I don't know why I chose to work on a pattern of a Greek Village. It's really not my style. Not to mention that I've never been to Greece. And with the economic problems the country is having now, it's unlikely I'll be going there anytime in the near future.

Oh well, I may not be able to finish it anyways. I need DMC 451, and Michael's has been out of stock for 2 weeks now. My little independantly owned cross-stitch store that I usually go to when Michael's is out of stock, has closed up shop. They only sell online now. And who wants to order one skein of DMC 451 for $0.49 online?

Done

Completed the bookmark!

bookmark

I received a free bookmark pattern in one of my cross-stitch magazines. The pattern was supposed to be for a Mother's Day gift, because it says "for my Mom" on it. But, it was cute, and I liked the lavender in the pattern (I love lavender!), so I decided to skip the words "for my Mom", and just stitch the rest of the bookmark. Sorry Mom!! :-)

This is a pic of it now. Almost complete. I'll probably be done on the weekend.