The Mysterious Halloween Town Club

Wooo! 

Finally work can begin on the Frosted Pumpkin's Mysterious Halloween Town club!

I am tremendously excited to start stitching on this! :D

This is my progress so far (I started yesterday afternoon)...

We have a little pumpkin and a cute fat bird!

My fabric looks very pale! I took this photo outside so it's quite washed out. I am using a most beautiful fabric from Sparklies. It's an opalescent called 'Oatmeal' and oh my goodness the sparkles *___*

Aaaand the edges are already overlocked so there was no fabric preparation required *___* I could just stitch :D

I think I could've gone for a darker fabric but I'm still most pleased with this one. Today I hope to stitch some more grass and some more pumpkins.

Is anyone else stitching this? How are you getting on?

♥

Once Upon a Time - June

My, how fast the time is going!

The June block of the Once Upon a Time Sampler is complete!

It's the Princess and the Pea.

This block was fun to stitch - I love the colours of the different mattresses!

Here's how the whole thing looks so far...

Eeep! Half way there!

I wonder what next month will bring?

♥

Once Upon a Time - May

Time for May's Once Upon a Time sampler update!

Jack and the Beanstalk!

Just look at that cute cow :3

And we have our first boy character too.

Here's how it's looking so far...

I wonder what next month will bring?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I've also signed up for the Frosted Pumpkin's Mysterious Halloween Town Club! It's all very exciting *___*

I've ordered my fabric so that should arrived in time for when we get the first part of the chart in June

♥

Just Nan SAL April

Time for April's Just Nan SAL update!

Such a woeful amount of progress this month ^^;

Two bunnies is all I managed D: 

Really I should have finished this band before I started making granny squares...oh well...

It's not too bad that I've fallen a bit behind though as I'm quite a bit ahead of my original plan for this sampler ^^

♥ 

Still here!

Yes, I am still here :) 

Apologies for not blogging for so long.

I have a few health problems that mean that doing 'normal, everyday' things can be quite difficult for me at times, and recently has been one of those times.

I don't usual talk about personal stuff on my blog but I didn't want you to think I was bored with my blog ^^;

I have been stitching! I was going to schedule a few posts for each different thing but instead I'm going to a big long-ass post instead :D

♥ Once upon a Time Sampler ♥

April's block was Golidlocks and the Three Bears!

How cute are the little bears! They were fun to stitch. I stitched this block in record-time! It took two evenings.

Last month I mentioned how stitching the border a month at a time was turning into a real drag...well I decided to stitch the whole thing after I'd finished the three pigs.

Ta-da!

It's good to see how big it'll be and I can focus on each monthly block now ^^

♥ A Consolation Prize ♥

I was intending to go to a craft show in May. I was refraining from buying stitchy stuff in-case I could find it at the show. On a weekly basis I was checking for more info on exhibitors and waiting for tickets to come on sale. Nothing! Then! At the end of March I went to check the organisers website and the page for the Liverpool show and gone! D:

I emailed the organisers and their reply was 'postponed'. Yep, one word and nothing else ¬___¬

So, I was quite upset because I was really, really looking forward to it.

Soooo.....I needed a consolation prize!

BOOM!

On the left is a Caravan Tapestry which I was planning to buy anyway (at the craft show...) so I thought I'd get that. And then I saw the sampler on the right *___* I can't help myself when I see designs like this! I love them so much! So I decided to get the sampler as a 'Consolation Prize' :3

♥ City Cats - Spring ♥

After I had finished stitching the Three Bears, my usual MO would be to start on my Just Nan SAL, as I like to make sure that all my 'obligatory' stitching is completed at the start of the month. However, the problem with this is that it messes up how often I can update my blog as the Just Nan post is at the end of the month. So this month, the month that I don't blog at all *lol*, is the month that I decided to shake things up. Just Nan stitching now takes place in the last week of the month. This meant that I could start something new!

It is Spring! Let's stitch something joyful and bright because it's spring!

And so I bring you, City Cats - Spring...

Not very 'spring-like' at all, but it does fit quite nicely with the dull-grey spring we've been having :)

I didn't really enjoy stitching this. It coincided with the aforementioned 'health problems' and this is really reflected in my stitches - they are so messy! And I miscounted lots...but I don't think it's that noticeable in the end.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I'm currently working on Just Nan's 'Queen of the Needle' so there will be an update on that later in the week. The next project that I have lined up is a much more spring-like Spring Sampler which I hope to start at the weekend.

Today, I am having yet another crochet lesson with my mum *lol*

I'm feeling quietly confident that it will go ok ^^

♥

Just Nan SAL March

It's Just Nan SAL time!

~This SAL is hosted by Zeb. You can find all the SAL details on this post here.~

I have chosen to work on Queen of the Needle.

This month I have stitched two bands.

I really enjoyed stitching the verse. I went really really slow and found it so relaxing :)

The last band is one of cashmere stitch. It was my first time to work this stitch...and it was ok. Nice to work but it's nothing great to look at...

Here is how the sampler looks as a whole so far...

The next band to be stitched is another big one with the second verse.

I'll start work on it once I've stitched the April block of the Once Upon A Time Sampler.

♥

OUAT - March

Here is the March block of The Frosted Pumpkins Once Upon a Time Sampler...

How cute is the little wolfie! He is my favourite bit of this block, he's just super adorables :3

When I first started this sampler, I was going to stitch all of the border. I then decided that is was much to much to do all in one go, so I was stitching a bit of the border with each monthly block....

So I get my chart, and I'm all excited to start work on the block...then I am filled with dismay because I remember I have some border to stitch first T___T

So, slight change to my plans. Again. I'm going to work on the border a bit before I go on to my Just Nan sampler. That way, next month I'll be able to crack straight on with stitching the actual block ^^

♥

Poe Sampler

Remember this?

Well BOOM! It's completed!

Edgar Allen Poe Sampler by Pullen Designs from JCS Halloween Special 2013.

Stitched on 32-count natural linen from Wichelt using DMC and Madeira threads.

Yeeeeass!

Now that I have a new fancy-pants magnifier-lamp I thought I'd go back to stitching this. My last update was last year and I was stitching the writing at the top which is over-one. I was having to use my neck-magnifier, which I hated, so I sort of lost the will with this a little. In the past two weeks I've managed to finish it. I flew along on the over-one stitching and from then on it was like my needle was on fire. 

The original design was yellow-toned, but I changed to blue and I'm really pleased with how it turned out ^^

♥

Just Nan SAL February

Time for the February Just Nan SAL update!

This SAL is hosted by the lovely Zeb over at Keep Calm and Cross Stitch. You can find details of the SAL here.

I have been working on a sampler design called Queen of the Needle.

I'm really pleased with the amount of progress I have made this month - I've stitched six bands!

I was able to learn some new stitches this month which was a lot of fun! This is partly how I managed to get so much done - I love to learn!

Here we have satin stitch, Smyrna Cross, Daisy Satin, large 3-colour rose, heart darning stitch and fan vault.

The empty space in the middle is where I will attach a large charm at the end.

Here is how the sampler is looking as a whole so far...

The next band is quite a large one and is all cross-stitch and back-stitch so I am going to concentrate on completing that as March's Just Nan goal.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The February SAL check-in can be found here where you can see what all the other participants have been working on this month ^^

♥

Once Upon a Time February & craft show loot

I was really hoping that February's block would have either cats, bunnies or frogs...

What a handsome frog prince!

I loved stitching this block :D

This is a picture of the whole sampler so far, so we can see that it's going to be a nice size ^^

Holy crumpled fabric batman!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The craft show on Friday was a great success! Much better than it has ever been before :) We got there safe by thinking we had got horribly lost...if we had gone the way we thought we should have gone... who knows where we would've ended up D:

In the end, I was quite restrained ^^

I got some lace, ric-rac and buttons as they are always useful to have around. I got a kit from The Nutmeg Company to make a beautiful box. The lady's work on this stand was just beautiful *__* Then I found another awesome lady who had a stand full of charts from Blackbird Designs, Prairie Schooler, Lizzie Kate etc. I was very good and only bought two, both from Blackbird Designs. 'Midnight Watch' has been on my wishlist on Sew & So for a while so I decided to pick that up, and 'Wild Berries' was shown on the back of the chart for 'Bluebird of Happiness' - I loved it straight away but I had been having trouble finding it from a UK seller so no way was I leaving without it! The knitting chart was actually from Black Sheep (shop not stand) as we went there for lunch on the way home - they had it knitted up in red and I just had to have it ^^;

I was very tempted to get a magnifying lamp as I'm still scared about 40 count fabric. The magnifier I have at the moment is one of those one's that hangs around your neck...and I hate it D: I get really wound up when I use it *lol* So I would like a free-standing one. The one's on display at the show were really good..but I like to research these things a little as they can be quite pricey. So today I will be studying up on magnifying lamps! Does anybody use a magnifying lamp? Any tips on what I should look out for, or any recommendations? ^^

♥

Winter City Cats and birthday stash

Yes! Winter City Cats is complete.

I managed to stitch all the white yesterday. I thought that it might be nice if that would happen, but I didn't hold out much hope. But then I just flew along. It's amazing what an extended LOTR sitting can do :D

On Sunday it was my birthday and I received a few stitchy gifts from my mum...

I got some lovely charts :D At the top we can see a cute chart from Barbara Ana Designs. On the left is 'Bluebird of Happiness' by Blackbird Designs (this ticks all my dream design boxes *lol*). And finally on the right, yes, we have the famous Snooty Parrots Sampler from Barbara Ana Designs *squeee* I'm so happy to receive this! It's one of the nicest samplers I've seen in a while.

I was also lucky enough to receive a collection from all my friends in work. I really wasn't expecting this as my team of girlies had  got me some Vivienne Westwood earrings, so I was very shocked indeed. I got a joint card from everyone on my last day and when I opened it on my birthday a bunch of money was in there too Y___Y (moved to tears..)....so I decided to get all the recommended fabrics and threads for my two new samplers :) I got some beautiful threads from Gentle Arts. For Bluebird of Happiness I have 30 count Korty's Special Blend from R&R Reproductions and for Snooty Parrots I have 40 count Vintage Exampler linen from Lakeside Linens. I'm not going to lie....I'm slightly intimidated by 40 count...I keep looking at it and having a bit of a flap *lol* I got all my materials from The Patchwork Rabbit, a new shop for me, and I am delighted by the service! Karla has just been super :) I'll definitely be going back.

Continuing with birthday treats (it was a big birthday ^^) tomorrow my mum and I are going to the Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts show in Manchester. We used to go every year when it was at Aintree but since it's move to Manchester we haven't been (public transport is expensive!). But this year we got sent some complementary tickets so we decided to be brave and drive there D: We have google maps so I'm sure we'll be fine *lol* It's not really good for stitching goodness (mostly card making) but it should be a nice day out and we are also going to stop off at Hobbycraft on the way home.

Today I'm going to start the February block of Once Upon a Time - it's a special one! I can't wait to share it with you ^^

♥

Stitching questions

Today I come with a slightly different kind of post.

I have been stitching away on Winter City Cats - I'm almost finished! I will probably post an update on that later in the week as I am due to have some new materials delivered soon and I may as well post everything together ^^

Jan's most recent post over at Thread Garden featured a series of 'Stitching Questions'. I really enjoyed reading her answers so I thought I would give it a go myself ^^

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

1) Which fabric do you most prefer? Evenweave. I find it easier to work with than aida. Lately I've been stitching more samplers on linen which I'm really enjoying, but I think evenweave will always be my go to fabric.

2) What is your favourite fabric count? 32 count. It's easy on my eyes and I like the coverage of my stitches on this count.

3) What colour fabric do you most enjoy stitching on?  My all-time-favourite fabric colour is Zweigart Ivory. If I'm doubt as to what colour fabric to go for, I know this one will do the job :)

4) What is your favourite fibre? I have only ever used cotton. I would one day like to try stitching with silk.

5) How many of the 450 DMC Colours do you own? Quite a lot - I have three bobbin boxes that are full. I keep meaning to get a few more of the missing ones each month so that eventually I will have all of them.

6) Of your last five finished projects—how many used DMC/Anchor as the main floss?  All of them I think.

7) Of the last five projects, if you didn’t use DMC/Anchor—what did you use? n/a. I'm currently stitching the Once Upon a Time sampler from Frosted Pumpkin which uses some Weeks Dye Works, and I have just ordered some Gentle Art Sampler Threads - it will be my first time using them so I'm pretty excited :D

8) What needles do you prefer? Gold plated 26's from Permin. They last quite a while and they come in a little tube which is nice and handy.

9) What is the UGLIEST design you’ve encountered?  I can't think of any particular one that sticks out, but when reading UK cross stitch magazines I do find myself asking '....why?' of quite a few of the designs ^^; 

10) What is the most BEAUTIFUL design you’ve encountered? I find this really difficult to answer... It would have to be something samplery with soft, romantic colours and stitched on an ivory coloured fabric...that would be love at first sight *lol*

11) Who is your favourite designer? I refuse to pick just one! Teresa Wentzler, Joan Elliot and Gail Bussi. I didn't actually know until recently that Gail Bussi was one of my favourites. I was looking through the Just Cross Stitch DVD and every time I was sighing at the sheer prettiness of a design, it happened to be by Gail Bussi!

12) Least favourite designer? I don't have one, but I wish the Cupcake of the Month series in The World of Cross Stitching would finish already D:

13) Will you/would you support a designer whose personal beliefs offended/angered you?  Not consciously. Often I see a design I like and buy it not knowing who it's by.

14) Do you have a lamp especially made for needleworkers/crafters? I have a daylight lamp that I could not live without! My living room is pretty dark so it's become something of a necessity. I don't know how I stitched without it.

15) What brand of stitching lamp do you have/prefer?  The one I have is from daylight, but I want one of those fancy-pants lights that is old-fashioned looking and has attachments! *___*

16) What kind of environment best suits you when you are stitching? Somewhere warm and light and comfy with enough room to spread all my things around me in organised chaos.

17) Have you stitched any design more than once?  No.

18) Favourite design you have stitched and finished? The one that always comes to mind is this one :

It is from Cross Stitcher magazine and it was the first time I had stitched on evenweave. I loved everything about it. As soon as I'd finished I wanted to stitch it again.

19) Least favourite design you’ve stitched and finished? This one...

This is Flower Fairy kit from DMC that I stitched for my Nan. I really dislike fairies. Also, there were hundreds of french knots. I couldn't do french knots. There are two good things that came out of stitching this - my nan liked it and I can now do french knots.

20) Last, but not least, what’s your longest running WIP? Mystic Stitch! I actually started this again recently because I was unhappy with my first go.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I hope you enjoyed reading my answers ^^

I'd love to know other stitcher's responses to these questions so please have a try yourself :D

♥

Just Nan SAL - January

Welcome to my January post for the Just Nan SAL organised by the lovely Zeb.

I'd also like to say a big hello to all my new followers :D Thanks for joining me on my stitching adventures. The Grow Your Blog party was such fun and I have lots of lovely new blogs to read :3

So, on to my update!

First, I had to decide on which design I was going to stitch. Last year I managed to collect quite a few charts - here is what I had to pick from...

All samplers except for 'High Hopes'.

In the end I went for 'Queen of the Needle' as if I remember correctly, this was the first Just Nan chart I collected. It was love at first sight *lol*

I have decided to stitch on 28 count Zweigart cashel linen in pastel pink. Originally I was going to use Jobelan Honeysuckle pink which I had got as a Christmas gift, but decided I wanted to stitch on linen instead. I really did consider getting Au Ver A Soie threads, but it would have cost about £80...and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. The guilt would have been unbearable. So I am using the DMC equivalents.

I wanted to try and make this last for the whole year so that I would have something to update with each month, so I thought that I would aim for one band a month. There are 14 bands! Oh noes! Some bands are really tiny, so I could try and do two or more of them in a month. Ideally I'd like December to be free of any actually stitching on this so that I can take my time adding the beads and charm.

I think it's about time for a photo, no?

Band one complete :)

When I took this out of the frame to take the photo I realised that I had stitched on the fabric the wrong way ^^; So when I've finished I'll have quite a bit of leftover fabric that won't really be big enough for anything useful. I must stop getting myself so excited with new starts *lol*

And here is a nice angled shot. I think the colours are so pretty. I really enjoyed working with the perle thread too. I hadn't used it before so I was a bit worried I would make a mess, but I'm really pleased with how it's turned out ^^

I've had a look at a few of the other SAL posts...and there are so many pretty stitches! Quite a few small ones too that I will have to add to my collection!

If you would like to know more about the SAL or would like to join in the fun, all the details can be found here.

♥

A new start!

So, all those claims I made about not being a serial starter... 

Riolis has a range of kits called City Cats - one design for each season. I thought it would be a nice idea to stitch each one and then either put a new one up for each season or to have them all in a row. I've wanted them for a while so when Christmas came around I asked for one! It would be a start to my collection and would be a surprise as to which one I got. Well, I was very spoiled and received all four!

I decided to start with Winter as that is the season we're in! I think it's been a pretty mild winter (I think I've gone and jinxed us all there...) but the past few days have been getting a bit of a chill to them, so I feel it's very fitting to be stitching this design now.

I started this on...Wednesday I think. As of Friday, this is where I'm up to!

It doesn't look like much and it feels like it's taking me ages to get anywhere! I don't know which 'direction' to stitch in.. I think that stitching quite a few samplers recently has affected my stitching flow or something ^^;

This is the second Riolis kit I have stitched and I just love the thread provided! It's a non-divisible fluffy thread that makes your stitches all fat and soft to touch :D

I hope to crack on with this over the weekend.

♥

Once Upon a Time Sampler - January

Welcome to my first Once Upon A Time Sampler post!

I'm going to update once a month once I've finished the block for that month.

This month we have Snow White and the Seven Dwarves!

Apologies for the absolute awfulness of these photos!

How cute!!! That's all to say really ^^; It was a really enjoyable stitch. I started off by stitching all of one colour, but I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere so I switched to stitching motifs and I flew along ^^

I very arrogantly proclaimed 'I will stitch all the border first!' ...but it's too much! I have decided that I will stitch the border as I go to break it up.

I am using the recommended threads (DMC and Weeks Dye Works), which has reconfirmed how much I love WDW's ^^

I am not using the recommended fabric, which was Dubloon by Picture This Plus. I would have had to order the fabric from America so I don't know if I would've got it in time for when the first chart was sent out and I wanted to be able to start stitching right away! So, after much deliberation I made a decision! I went for a Polstitches fabric :3

28 count opalescent linen in Heirloom *___*

It is the most beautiful fabric!

The crappy photo doesn't do it justice!

I wonder what next month will be?

*excited*

♥

First finish of 2014!

I've never stitched anything for my boyfriend. It's not for want of trying...

Many times in the past I've tried to find a chart, or make one myself of something he would like. I really tried quite hard to make a chart for a bobblehead from Fall Out 3...but it was disastrous D:

After seeing the cute Gandalf stitch at Serendipitous Stitching I thought I'd have a mooch at PixelPower...and I found a free chart that would do just nicely.

It's The Dude from The Big Lebowski :)

I decided to make it into a coaster so that he could use it for his desk at work. I had to change the layout of the quote and stitch it over-one to make it fit. I'm really pleased with how it turned out as I epically failed at the maths a few times ^^; My boyfriend really likes it too.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I spent some time today preparing the fabrics I'm going to use in my SAL's, so I'm pretty much good to go! I hope to start work on my Just Nan chart tomorrow. I can't wait to share the fabric I have for the Frosted Pumpkin SAL...it's brilliantly beautiful *__*

♥

Mystic Stitch - Page 1 complete

Woop woop! Page one of my Mystic Stitch chart is complete!

Yaaaay!

Well, page one and a bit of page two as the last column went over onto the next page.

I'm so pleased with how this has turned out. And I really enjoyed working on it too. It got a little stressful when there was 900 colours in one square D: But yes, woohoo!

Now that I have completed one page I am going to take a break for a little while. It's going to sound a tad dramatic...but I don't want to suffer burn out with it. And ideally I'd like to stitch it in complete page blocks.

♥

2013 - My year in stitches

I wonder how much stitching I have managed to do in 2013?

These are all the things I have stitched, or finished stitching this past year ^^

Flower Fairy card - cover kit from a magazine

Cat card - chart from Cross Stitch Crazy

Riolis kitten kit

'Welcome to Counted Threads' - kit from the Cross Stitch Guild

Blackwork Welcome sampler from Itch to Stitch magazine

Home is where the cat is - The New Berlin Co.

Sampler tote from the Cross Stitch Guild

Keyring kit and bumble bee badge both from CrossStitcher magazine

Bird House Sampler from Cross Stitch Gold

Antique Animal Sampler from Elizabeth Designs

Owl keyring kit from CrossStitcher magazine

Fairy Tale book by JCA

Stag tote from What Delilah Did

Vintage rose kit from Mollie Makes

Spooky the Cat from Just Cross Stitch Halloween Special 2013

Jackalope from Storyland Cross Stitch

Berlin Roses cushion front kit from Anchor

Ring O'Roses from Laa Laa Land

Laurence the Fox from CrossStitcher Magazine

**I think this was from The World of Cross Stitching**

Wow! A lot more productive than I thought! Let's hope I can do just half as much in 2014!

♥