Happy snail

 

Had a lovely time at the craft fair yesterday. Great atmosphere and a good footfall. As always at craft fairs some people didn’t sell at all or very little but I did well. I was so please people like my cross stitch and I sold the Pooh bear one I made recently. I posted a pic of my stall on Facebook and one of my crafting friends asked to buy my fairy cross stitch and is happy to pay postage.

This is my latest cross stitch made from a pattern by Durene Jones. I bought a couple more patterns from The Little Stitchery, part of Lili of the Valley so will be starting one of those next.

Stitch

 I made this during a few evenings before Christmas. It is a 4” hoop using a pattern from Durene Jones. The pattern says take life one stitch at a time but I only wanted the word Stitch on it so adapted it a little. I do love stitching these little pictures.

A friend saw it on my Facebook timeline and bought it so I will need to make another.

Christmas pudding

Another cross stitched Christmas card using a pattern from Durene Jones.  I thought my blogging friend Kate would like this one as she has a cat and a good sense of humour.  The image does make me smile.  I used some old LOTV paper, tartan of course for Kate in Scotland. I made a frame for the image and used an old Memory Box holly branch, a Woodware punch and some card candi.

 

Cross stitch meets Card-io

I have my last few Christmas cards to share with you before Christmas.  This free pattern from Durene Jones came up on Facebook a couple of weeks ago and as I have a friend who loves hedgies I just had to stitch it for her card.  I stitched it on perforated paper so I could cut him out and add him to the background.

Having used distress inks for years I am also now loving the distress oxides and used the chipped sapphire again. I also added a little black ink to the sky.  The trees were stamped in silver which came out really well I thought,  I am finding the torn paper so much easier to stamp over than using a plastic mask.  I added the foliage and some red liquid pearls.

We are not mixing very much but we are having a Christmas lunch with some friends today.  We arranged it weeks ago and there are only 6 of us in a nice airy restaurant.  

This new variant is very worrying even when you are triple jabbed as we are.  We have started taking lateral flow tests twice weekly to safeguard ourselves and others,  Stay safe everyone x

 

Amongst the flowers

I finished backstitching this one last night and I was so glad to finish it. Backstitching all those leaves became a bit of a chore but I am pleased it is finished. I sewed it in a 5” hoop as the stitching is so near the edge of a 4” hoop. I then transferred it to a 4” hoop and laced across the back of the fabric. A white felt circle to neaten the back and it is all ready for sale. I used a pattern from Durene Jones Etsy shop. 

I always post my makes on Facebook and am very pleased to say that a friend asked to buy it. It is nice to think someone will be enjoying it rather than it just being added to my stock.

Well the weekend has come around again. We have had two more theatre shows rescheduled this week. One of them should have been last year. At least the new dates are later this year. Last week we had one rescheduled to next year so we got a refund instead. I hope we can get to the theatre later in the year as it seems so long since we have been and it is something we really enjoy.

Have a good weekend. Do something that makes you happy. I know choices are limited but we just have to make the most of each day x

Daffodils

I have 4 Mother's Day cards ordered and this is the first one. I cross stitched the daffodils using a Durene Jones freebie chart on Facebook. The lady who ordered liked it when I sent her a photo and asked me to make a card for her Mum who passed away. I used some Laserlowe Love 12 x 12 paper as this is a 7" card. I used a MFT scallop circle frame die and added a doily behind the the image. The butterfly is from the same paper pack. The flowers are some old ones from The Hobby House and the leaves are from a flower pack from Hobbycraft.

Christmas card number 3

I had been doing well this month with a project every day but I didn't have anything to share yesterday. This snowy weather we are having made me feel like making a Christmas card and this cross stitched penguin has been sitting waiting to be made into a card. The pattern is from Durenee Jones.  I used some free magazine papers cutting an aperture into the top paper. I used a Joy snowflake die, Christmas tree dies and a LOTV sentiment.

Sunday and Monday were so cold here with an icy wind but yesterday wasn't so cold so we managed to get out for a lovely walk. A good chance to wear my snow boots I bought 3 years ago after we had the last bad snow. Since then we haven't had enough snow to warrant wearing them until now. It does look pretty out there and as long as it isn't icy underfoot I enjoy a snowy walk.

First Christmas card of 2021

I really enjoy cross stitching small pictures and they are ideal for making into cards. This is from a pattern by Durene Jones and is a freebie on her FB page. The papers are some old favourites Bo Bunny Altitude. I made a frame for the image using stitched square dies from The Works. I used white glitter card with a Martha Stewart snowflake punch and tree dies by Marianne and Doohickey.

I belong to a cross stitch group on Facebook and I am amazed by the time some people spend cross stitching. I love crafting but I don't want to do it all day every day but some of these people are obsessed. They begrudge anything getting in the way of them stitching and some of them have head torches for stitching in the evenings. I want to laugh at some of the posts like the lady who said when you make a hot drink, fill a flask as well so you can make another drink quicker than waiting for the kettle to boil again allowing more stitching time! That takes obsession to a whole new level I think.  I am glad nothing obsesses me that much.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. Let's hope for a much better year. Judging by the lack of blog posts many of you like me haven't done much crafting between Christmas and New Year. I have been cross stitching but only went into the craft room to make this cross stitch into a card. I do plan on getting back in there this afternoon after we take down the tree and cards in the lounge.  We took the other decorations and tree from the conservatory on Wednesday. I love them but it is nice to have a good clean and get straight. I can't bear decorations left up after today. New year, clean start.

I really enjoy sewing small cross stitch images and this owl is from a free pattern from Durene Jones. I changed the colours as the owl is purple in the pattern which I thought rather odd. I also like using whatever colours I have and that I feel suit the image.  I made a frame using a stitched square die. Unfortunately I didn't have the right size square die to cut out the centre so had to measure and cut the centre out. The paper is from an old pad by Nikki Sivils called tree love. I punched some stars and made the moon using a small circle die.

I didn't make as many cards as usual last year, though I still made 163 plus various other items. I didn't do as much scrapbooking as planned either. I start every year with good intentions but last year was such a strange year that I didn't always feel like crafting as much. We did 86 jigsaws, mostly 1000 pieces, which is more than we usually do. Many afternoons were spent puzzling and playing music. A good way to forget what is happening in the world along with reading. I must have read around 50 books I reckon.

Yesterday we printed out some photos from our Cornwall holiday and I have sorted them into a new scrapbook along with photos from the previous two years. I will be making a start on that soon and will endeavour to be a better scrapbooker.

 The next two months will be mainly spent at home I think so plenty of time for crafting, puzzling, cross stitching, reading, listening to music, going for walks and watching TV.  Thank goodness for Netflix and Amazon Prime. We have enjoyed some great shows on there since we subscribed last March.

Stay home, stay safe and happy crafting. 

A change from Christmas

I started sewing this a few weeks ago then put it to one side whilst I sewed some Christmas decorations. I decided to finish it this week and was pleased to see that most of the cross stitching was done so I finished that and then added the backstitch. The pattern is by Durene Jones on Etsy.

We are going out for breakfast at a local farm shop and cafe today where they have good precautions in place. We need to get a sack of potatoes and a few other things while we are there. We will be wrapping presents today and tomorrow then apart from fresh vegetables we are all ready for Christmas.

 

Snowman and robin

Friday already and 4th September. I have done well so far this month with 4 projects in 4 days. 

I enjoyed making the last one of these so much and as there are four different designs in the set I made another Christmas decoration. I stitched it onto perforated paper which is stiffer than material and can be cut without fraying. I stitched the ribbon onto the back and then backed with white felt stuck down with Collal 3d glue.

I have an order for a bookmark to do next as a friend liked the one I made for my Mum.

Bookmark

We had a lovely day with my Mum yesterday. I asked her what she would like for her Birthday and she asked for a new knitting bag, the type which have a folding frame and pockets inside. I bought her one with bees on it and decided to use that as my theme for her presents. One of them was the bookmark I made her. I used part of one of the bees and flowers patterns that I recently used to make a set of 4 hoop pictures, see a previous post.  I backed it with white felt and blanket stitched around the edges. 

 

Flowers and bees

I have so enjoyed stitching these pictures using the flowers and bees set from a digi pattern from Durene Jones cross stitch.  It is the first time I have done a whole set and I love the way they turned out. I used the nearest colours as I have lots of threads. The only thing I did differently was to use all pink threads for the flowers whereas on the pattern some of them are blue. I didn't think they would show up as well as there are already blues in the patterns. The way they turned out I am glad I followed my instinct.

Snowman decoration

I took some time out from a larger cross stitch I am doing to make my first cross stitched Christmas decoration for this year. It actually took a lot more work than I thought but I love how it turned out. It is one of a set of 4 Happy Snowmen patterns I bought from Durene Jones on Etsy. I made a few changes as the button was cross stitch, the eyes backstitch and the mouth and baubles french knots. I decided to use buttons and seed beads instead. 

I must have had the seed beads since I first started crafting. I think they came in one of those plastic containers I bought when starting out as it had all kinds of embellishments in it. I think it is the first time I have used the seed beads so I am glad I kept them.   

I stitched it on perforated paper which is nice and stiff, then added a ribbon loop and used strong glue to attach white felt to the back. Tomorrow I will be sharing a Christmas card with you.

Cat with flowers

As promised this is my latest cross stitch picture. A nice little 4" hoop. The pattern is a freebie from Durene Jones. She posts one of Facebook every Friday. I changed the colours as in he pattern the cat was blue and the circle was yellow. It also had a square border but as I wanted mine in a hoop I left that out. I also added a couple of extra butterflies outside the circle, to balance it.

My next project is a much larger fairy from The Little Stitchery which is part of Lili of the Valley and I also want to sew one of their new smaller bear designs so plenty to keep me busy.

We are both going into the city this morning for haircuts so may have time later for some crafting. I will be back tomorrow with a card.

Another birdhouse

You may have seen a birdhouse cross stitch I posted recently which was part of a larger pattern by Durene Jones. I looked again at the pattern and liked this part of it so stitched another 4" hoop.  I would never want to sew the whole panel as it is rather large but using just a small part of it works well. They take longer to sew than many people would think but I do love making these.

I have my first craft fair of the year coming up on March 15th and my cardmaking classes start again on 18th March.

Birdhouse cross stitch

I love stitching these 4" hoops and am always looking for different pictures which will fit into them. I have some old cross stitch magazines I got recently from somebody who no longer does cross stitch and sorted through the patterns, tearing out any I like the look of and then filing them into a ringbinder.  One of the patterns by Durene Jones is a large picture of birdhouses. I didn't want to stitch the whole things so chose one of the birdhouses to stitch.

Being from a magazine the picure goes across 3 pages so I copied the pages I wanted, then cut out and stuck the pieces together so that I had an easier pattern to follow.   There were a few butterflies in the picture so I added 3 of them to fill some of the white space.

I came back from my weekend away with a very sore throat which turned into a cold so had to cancel plans to meet my Mum in Norwich yesterday as I felt really awful and didn't want to give it to her. So we have rescheduled for next week as she wants to see a Maker's exhibition. Just hoping my cold soon goes and Graham doesn't get it.

Hedgie cross stitch

I really enjoyed sewing this hedgie. I bought a set of 4 and a set of 4 snowmen from Durene Jones Etsy shop when she had a half price sale before Christmas. I sometimes adapt a pattern slightly as I did with this one as the flower on the right hand side should be at the top but I wanted it to fit into a 4" hoop. It may not look that much sewing but it has taken me hours, but very enjoyable hours.

Put it on Facebook this morning and a friend bought it straight away! 

Robin, holly and poinsettias

I am so glad I discovered perforated paper as it has given me a chance to combine cross stitch with card making. I used a free pattern from Durene Jones Facebook page, fussy cut the image and attached using strong glue. The papers are First Edition Perfect Christmas. I used a cross stitch circle die and some ribbon from Crafty Ribbons. The poinsettias are from Hobbycraft and I used a Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen on them.  I made this for our line dancing teacher as I knew she would appreciate it as she is also a crafter but she sews mainly bags.

Our new sofa is arriving this afternoon which is exciting. So pleased it will be here for Christmas. We should be going to a little party at Prima Rosa this afternoon (the tesahop/gift shop where I sell some things) but it depends on the time of the sofa delivery. 

I hope you are all organised. I like to leave the present wrapping until near Christmas so that is the plan for tomorrow.  We have bought most of the food and drink, just mainly fresh items to get on Monday.

Cross stitch and papercraft

There is a lady on Facebook called Durene Jones and every Friday she has a free cross stitch chart. I have a few of these and thought it would be fun to sew this reindeer on perforated paper and use it on my Mum's Christmas card. I gave it to her yesterday so can share it on here now as she looks at my blog every morning.  I am really happy with how it turned out.

I used some embossed card cut into hills and used glitter card for the diecut tree and layered snowflakes which are from MFT.  I kept the design quite simple with not too much colour to show off the reindeer. If you saw my cross stitch snowflake the other day then you will have noticed that was sewn on perforated paper. The trickiest part is the fussy cutting.

I am definitely going to try a few more cards like this next year, I have several cross stitch magazines so will be looking through them for more patterns.