Monday, September 28, 2015

It's been a while....... :-/


I have been incredibly quiet here on my blog, for one good reason. Facebook. Not an intentional move away from my blog, just a gradual transition as I find it easier to keep up with things all in one convenient place. It seems to have been months since I've been here, but not much has changed. Still working, still driving kids around (although the eldest is now 18 and driving himself in his own car!), still crafting. The crafting has changed a bit though. I am still stitching (and have a few finishes to blog about), but card making has been making quite an appearance. I find it quite appealing putting together a finish in as little as 10 minutes. Speaking of card finishes, I'll post a few more here. Again, many are for sale on my facebook page.

This one was for my mum's 80th birthday

A card for my niece

A card for my niece's 21st birthday


A personalised card, made to order
Some karate themed thank-you cards





Another personalised card for a young wrestling fan

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Sunday, March 8, 2015

A card or 50

I've been making a lot of cards lately as they are quick and easy - if the creativity is flowing! It's nice to start and finish a project in an afternoon, not something you can easily do with cross stitch. Most of these are for sale on my facebook page if you're interested. Feel free to like and share my page. Here's a selection of them.

 












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Another finish or two!

Here's a few quick stitches I did for some friends in the lead up to Christmas. The stocking was a pre-made one I added the name to using gold metallic thread and waste canvas. The bookmarks I designed myself using alphabets and designs from the internet, finished on aida banding with felt backs.



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Saturday, March 7, 2015

I'm still here!

And I have another finish to show, this one has been in the making for months. I haven't done a lot of stitching on this one for a while due to other stitching commitments and card making pursuits. Here it is, although it is showing sideways for some reason:

  • Name of the design is "Hearts & Butterflies"
  • Chart is a downloadable one from "Love Thy Thread"
  • Fabric is a limited edition monthly melody piece from Colour Cascade fabrics
  • Thread is silk from Carrie's Threads in "light raspberry"
  • Stitch count is 241 x 193
  • Started in about October 2014
  • Completed in March 2015

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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Another XS finish

This one was done a few months ago using a scrap of perforated paper leftover from another project that I am yet to post about as well. Oops!


  • Name of the design is, well, penguin!
  • Chart is from an old UK magazine
  • Fabric is leftover perforated paper
  • Thread is DMC cotton
  • Stitch count is, well, small!
  • Started in November 2014
  • Completed in November 2014

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Saturday, January 24, 2015

A web site to check out



I just wanted to let everyone know about a safety equipment business that a friend of mine runs at http://www.workplacesafetywarehouse.com.  You can get a lot of great workplace safety PPE (personal protective equipment) there, so you might want to give it a visit.  Feel free to link to it or share with your friends. Thanks
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Sunday, January 4, 2015

Frozen Fever

The world has gone Frozen mad, and I've been taken along for the ride! A friend asked me to stitch Elsa which she would turn into a pillow for her niece's birthday. This proved not as easy as it sounds. There weren't a lot of patterns out there, and even less halfway decent ones that were small enough for me to stitch in time. We settled on one, and I got to work. The problem was it appeared clear that the picture had just been thrown through a conversion program without any tweaks. The colours were awful and not realistic at all - yes, I was aiming for realism in a cartoon character! Far too much time was spent tweaking, stitching & ripping. Don't even get me started on her hair. I almost admitted defeat! Anyway, it did turn out cute - in no small way in thanks to my friends sewing skills - and the recipient did like it. Here it is:


  • Name of the design is Elsa
  • Chart is a freebie I found online somewhere
  • Thread is DMC cotton
  • Fabric is 28 count white opalescent evenweave with a pale blue snowflake pattern. I used this same fabric for my snowman finish from January
  • Stitch count is
  • Started in October 2014
  • Completed in November 2014

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Another crafty catch up

This was a commissioned piece for a customer of my facebook page. It is a cottage that appeared as a chart in a magazine years ago that she had kept. She lived near it in Mt Gambier, South Australia and wanted it stitched for herself as a keepsake. It was originally charted for an unusual thread, so I converted the colours to regular DMC cotton and added some more flowers to the garden to make it like she remembered. I also organised the matting and framed it myself, before sending it to her. It was a big hit!




  • Name of the design is Frewville Cottage - or that's what we chose to nae it!
  • Chart same from a very old "Handmade" magazine
  • Thread is DMC cotton
  • Fabric is cream 28 count evenweave
  • Stitch count is
  • Started in October 2014
  • Completed in November 2014

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