Stitching and movies

I spent last night stitching away and watching two movies. One was 'Ruby Sparks' which I loved. It was about an author who dreams up his dream girl and writes about her and she comes to life. It was a really fun story with a quirky ending. I couldn't put my needle down after that movie so I watched a three part mini series called ' Mildred Pierce' which I also loved. It is based in the 1930's which is an era I am fascinated by. Two wonderful actors too, Kate Winslet and Guy Pearce. I recommend both highly.
This is how far I got in my stitching.

I am loving her crazy wavy hair which reminds me of my own hair. I've always dreamed of having beautiful thick locks, but unfortunately I was not born that way, mine is more wavy, thin and flyaway. You always want what you can't have though. Although I did have better hair as a teenager, it was long about waist length and was more of it. It changed when my hormones did! I am also loving the blonde colour I chose in my stitching to suit my own. So stitching away and watching two movies put me to bed at about 12:30pm! It was worth it though. Especially when my husband let me sleep in in the morning while he tended to our baby girl.

Happy Stitching x

Ready set..stitch!

I made my way to spotlight this morning to be pleasantly surprised by all the DMC thread colours I needed to start my new project, were in stock. I accidently doubled up on a few colours because I forgot to check first if I had them first but that's ok, a double up doesn't hurt and won't go to waste. So of course I couldn't wait to get started, so when my little girl went down for her nap, out came the stitching. This is a bit of a floss toss with a small start too. The colours have an Autumn feel to them I think. Photo isn't great quality because it was taken outside and I couldn't see properly with the 30 degree sun glaring down at me!!

I never ever make changes to my patterns except I've decided to do a change with this one. The bride has brown hair in the pattern and because I have blonde hair I have decided to swap colour 434 (brown) with 768 (blonde). :-)
It feels so good to start a new pattern again, I've not had that feeling for a long time as it's been awhile since I started a new pattern. I am looking forward to seeing how this one comes together.

I just want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. I look forward to sharing my stitching blog with you next year (hopefully without the absence). And seeing all your beautiful work too.

Happy stitching xx

A parcel for me..

The last few days have been exciting for me when our postman delivers mail because he is delivering such beautiful Christmas cards from my family and friends and a parcel came for me, which was a gorgeous cut of 32 count Belfast linen. I've been waiting for it since last Wednesday when I ordered it from www.sewitall.com.au which were by the way, good to order from and very prompt.

It is such a pretty colour (natural) just what I wanted. I am hoping over the weekend I can get to spotlight to buy the threads I need also so I can start it! I always love the excitement of starting a new project.
Last week I FINALLY finished a project that had been sitting idle for about 13 years (cringe) I know terrible. Many years ago (13 to be exact ;-), gosh I am getting old) I did a teddy bear making course. I really enjoyed making teddy bears and I made about three bears before the shop I was completing the course shut down sadly. So because I was onto my 4th bear at the time, I put it aside still unstitched in areas except for the head and lost interest. When I was at my parents I noticed my bear still sitting there unfinished looking sad. So I took her home to try and work on her again with my old bear making tools. I had stitched her legs and body wrong after trying to do it myself one day when the shop shut down so I jumped on good old you tube and looked up some videos on doing a ladder stitch which is what I needed to complete and fix my bear. I pulled out my needle and thread while I was being taught on you tube and that's what I did. I am pretty proud of how she came up I must say, especially after not stitching teddy bears for ages so I was a bit rusty. She has been hand stitched and has a mohair head and arms but the rest of her body is calico as she is supposed to be a sitting bear that you can dress in clothes if you wish. She is not really a child's toy but I have given her over to my daughter who already loves her. She sits in her nursery on the rocking elephant. I don't know if it's just me, but she looks like she is happier now. :-) Her name is Lizzy.

I am thinking about getting back into bear making as I did enjoy it, it's just so hard finding the time to do three hobbies, let alone 1!!! I need more hours in a day.

Happy Stitching xx

The start of something new

Where is our summer weather we are supposed to be having? It feels like winter here, it doesn't even feel like Christmas to me yet, I hope this weather of ours starts to warm up soon. The last few days have been the type of days I would normally curl up on the couch with my stitching and stitch away with the rain and wind lashing outside, but because I didn't have anything on my 'to go' list I sat down to some scrap booking instead which I also love doing.
But today I opened my tub of stash to see what was hiding away that I had forgotten about and it seems I've forgotten about many patterns and kits I had. This is what I found, I am sure there are a few other kits lying around somewhere else.

There are many kits and patterns there I would love to stitch, it's hard to choose just one. But when my husband and I went to Europe on our honeymoon, one of our places we visited was Paris. I found a beautiful cross stitching shop there which was very exciting for me because I knew whatever pattern I bought would always hold memories of where it came from and what I was doing when I bought it. Such a special memory to know the kits I did buy would remind me of our honeymoon together. I will always think about this when it's hanging on our walls too. So, the kit I am going to start next is called 'Les Marie's' which is a gorgeous wedding sampler.

Isn't it cute? I also love the one underneath my wedding sampler in the previous photo of the girl running with the cupcakes. I also bought that in the same shop but I will hold off on that one. It reminded me of myself straight away since I not only love eating cupcakes but I also love baking them! The only problem with these patterns is, they are all in French! Of course..but they have the listing of DMC colours I need at least. I will have to try and translate the instructions on the internet with the fabric measurements I need. I am looking forward to getting started on this one soon, not sure when but soon.

Getting back to baking, I baked this cake for my Mum for her 60th birthday over the weekend. I was quite proud of it and wow did it taste yummy if I can say so myself! It was vanilla cake with lemon butter cream icing.

 That is all from me today, off to make myself a cup of tea now and relax at the end of a night.

Happy Stitching xx

Hello....anybody?

How embarrassing...I can't believe the last time I wrote on my blog or even looked at blogs was in March!! Where does time go? I am not sure. I have been inspired to get on the wagon again by a lovely friend of mine Melissa who shared her blog with me and various others she follows, and inspiration from all the beautiful creative crafters out there willing to share their work.
Even though I've been absent for those months, I have been stitching and scrapbooking still. My latest finish which I blogged about back in March is Halloween Fairy by Mirabilia. She is so lovely, and I really enjoyed stitching her. It took me 7 months to complete as I am busy with my 22 month old daughter of a day so she was mostly stitched on in the evenings.
She was stitched on 32 count natural linen and I used crescent colour threads which I thought were a joy to work with. It was my first time and I loved how smooth and vibrant they were and the colour changes were slight but still noticeable.

I loved doing the beading on her hair, dress,wings and wand. I thought it added such pretty character. All I need to do now is have her framed and sitting next to feather fairy. The coincidence about finishing Halloween fairy was that I actually finished stitching her on Halloween. It wasn't meant to work out that way but it did. We don't celebrate Halloween much here in Australia although it's just starting to be more recognised.
I don't have anything else in the pipe line as yet but I hope to soon. I have a tub of stash stacked away so I could easily just pick my next project but I am going to wait and see what comes to me first.
Hopefully I get back into my blogging and reading again. I really do love seeing what everyone has been doing.

Happy stitching xx

The moon and the fairy.

I have a few new updates to share. It's been over a month since I last posted but there has been

stitching progress.

This is a piece by waxing moon called 'love you to the moon and back'. I stitched it for Adrian for our two year wedding anniversary as the traditional present to give is cotton, I thought a stitched piece was a nice touch. He loved it! I must say, I loved stitching with crecsent colours thread as stitching the crosses one by one gave it a beautiful look. I also must say I hated stitching on the cashel linen darker fabric colour! It did my head in and I made numerous mistakes, but I got though it in the end. The result was worth it. And I love the little moon button.

I have started stitching a new pattern now as I finished all the projects I needed to and I was so excited to start on something new!! There is nothing like starting a new cross stitch. I've had this kit tucked away for over a year in my tub and I finally bought her out. It is a mirabilia design called halloween fairy who I've always loved! I bought the kit once when I went to a stitchy show so everything was in the kit already. I am stitching it on 32 count natural linen from zweigart along with cresent colour thread again and beads by mill hill. This is my progress so far which I only started about a week ago.

I am really enjoying stitching this so far. Only this time I am not stitching each cross one by one as that would take FOREVER! Halloween fairy is going to match my feather fairy I stitched two years ago who sits proudly on the lounge room wall. I will have to sit them next to each other when I've finished stitching this fairy.

Next weekend I am giving my sisters their babies birth samplers which I am very excited about. They've been framed and are all ready to be handed over. I can't wait to see their faces.

Happy Stitching xx

A new year

It's been a few months since I've been on here, November to be exact. Happy new year to all my readers.

As you know I am still around and cross stitching of course, my love for our hobby will never leave and I try to find as much time as I can to stitch and do my other hobby scrapbooking which I also love.

My baby girl turned one in January, so that was a big milestone for us and a very exciting one for my family and I, can't quite believe a year has gone by already. I hope everyone has had a lovely start to the new year.

I've been meaning to get onto blogger since December last year to blog about me finishing my nephew's birth samplers. I had so much fun stitching the patterns that I chose that I'd actually be happy to do them again if needed be.

The first one to show you is a tatty ted design called 'baby powder'. Stitched on 29 count evenweave over two threads with anchor standard thread. This one really took me no time at all, and the backstitch wasn't painful which was good as there wasn't much on it.

The second one is a country companions piece by DMC called 'baby boy'. It is stitched on 28 count evenweave with DMC thread. I loved watching this one come together, especially the little hedgehog with his little bottom up in the air. :-)

Even though I finished them both last year, I haven't had the time to wash or iron them yet which I intend to do in the next week so I can take them to the framers. And they will then be in the hands of my sisters.

My current project is the anniversary present I am stitching for my husband that I took a photo of in my previous post. It's a waxing moon design called 'love you to the moon'. I am loving the thread colour changes, they are so pretty but stitching on the dark cashel linen is tricky at times especially at night time. I am getting the hang of it now, but at the start I was going up through the wrong holes at times. I can't take a photo of it though incase he sees it. Now that I am getting the hang of it, I am enjoying stitching on it. I need to get it completed by the 7th of March which I don't think will be a problem.

That's all for now, until next time happy stitching xx