Wow, it has been 11 months, almost to the day, since I lasted made a blog post. Time sure flies! I have been busy on the paper craft front, but still stitching (slowly). I have made a heap of cards since the last post, so I will share just a few of them here. They are all listed on my facebook page though, if you'd like to know more, or even if you'd like to buy one.

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

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.

 

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Belated Merry Christmas!

Oops, I'm slacking again. Better late than never, right? I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas spent with loved ones. I spent Christmas Day at my sister's place and had Boxing Day lunch at home with hubby's brother and his wife.

As promised last time, I'll add crafty pics until I'm up to date, and then hopefully keep on top of things. This is one I don't think I've posted in its complete form yet. It was a WIP for a while, then became a UFO because I don't know what DMC thread I used and after trying unsuccessfully to match it I put it in the "too hard" basket. I finally made myself match the colour (somewhat unsuccessfully I think) and finish it. I think it became a birthday gift for my mum.

• Name of the design is "L" I guess
• Chart is a freebie from this blog
• Fabric is 28 count lime green evenweave fabric from Stitches and Spice
• Thread is DMC something or other. I think it might actually be 2 different green threads
• Stitch count is 82 x 118
• Started in October 2011 I think!
• Completed in August 2014

I'm still alive!

I can't believe my last post was from August!!! :-/ Oops! I'm finding I'm posting most of my finishes on facebook these days. I've been into card making a lot lately but still keeping the cross stitch up too, in fact I've had a few commissioned pieces I've been working on. I'll have to go through my pictures and start posting some of my finishes since August. I'll be back later to do just that.

A Pikachu finish

I have another very quick finish, it only took a few days. This one will become another no-sew cube for my nephew who loves Pokemon. I found some Pokemon ribbon online and I'll just use some co-ordinating fabric for the cube. Here it is:

And here it is, fully completed:

• Name of the design is, well, Pikachu
• Chart is a freebie I found by googling
• Fabric is an off cut of white opalescent evenweave - my photography skills suck
• Thread is DMC cotton
• Stitch count is 40 x 39
• Started on August 25th 2014
• Completed on August 27th 2014