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

country companions progress

This is my progress of my country companions birth sampler piece I am stitching for my nephew. I started it three weeks ago and I can't believe how much I've completed already. I've been stitching alot of a night, and at the same time watching a new tv series my Mum gave me called 'downton abbey' which I've really been enjoying. This is how much I've done.

It's coming along really nicely, and it's an easy stitch. I also made a trip down to spotlight (our local crafty superstore) the day after I got the kit in the mail and challenged myself by buying 32 count belfast linen to stitch it on instead of using the 16 count aida which was in the kit. I was a little apprehensive because I'd never stitched on linen before, only evenweave and I knew it was going to be a little harder than evenweave with all the uneven slubs. But as soon as I started stitching on it, I loved it. It feels just like I am stitching on evenweave, you just can't pull the fabric as tight. It's more delicate, I love the old vintage look linen has.

If I keep up with the progress I am making, I might have it done before Christmas! I am sure I will have it done before then. Then I can start on Adrian's wedding anniversary present with the yummy threads. :-)

I am also hosting the next stitchy meet at my house, I think the last time I did that I was heavily pregnant, and it was in December last year. I am looking forward to it. It is going to be Saturday the 12th of Nov, hopefully Tabitha allows me some stitching time. :-)

Until next time,

happy stitching xx

Thank you postman.

This morning the postman arrived with my parcel! What a lovely suprise on a Friday morning. Here are the cross stitch kits I ordered.

I took a close up photo of the waxing moon kit as I am so excited about it!! Look at the pretty fabric and threads! The fabric is crystal mystic cashel linen (28 count) I love the names of the threads too, pixie dust, snips and snails, crushed pineapple and hydranger. I love how the thread colours melt into one another, it's so pretty. And I love the little moon button. I've never worked on such dark fabric before, but I am up for the challenge. I am itching to get started on these beautiful kits. Tomorrow I might make a trip to my local needlework shop to buy some 32 count evenweave for the birth sampler so I can make a start. And Adrian's suprise will have to be stitched when he's at work. Shh, don't tell. I might even start this today. :-) How exciting!

Happy Stitching xx

Baby powder.

It's taken me a good few months, more than a few actually, but last night I finished stitching my nephews birth sampler. Yay!! :-) It feels so great to have completed another design. I really enjoyed stitching this pattern. I think you are either a lover or a hater of Tatty designs, but I love them. I'm not afraid of the backstitch because I work on evenweave which makes it soooo much easier with all his scraggly hair. It would be a different story on aida. So, without further ado, here is the little bear.

I took a close up photo too as I think he is so cute! He is very cheeky puffing out the baby powder like that.

I stitched this design on 28 count evenweave, with the kitted up anchor thread. All that has to be done now, is washing and ironing the piece and having it framed. I hope Baxter likes it. I've decided I am going to wait to frame it as I want to complete my other newphew's birth sampler first and then have them framed together.

For my nephew Lennox, I picked out a gorgeous country companions piece which is just adorable. I jumped online and made an order on 123 stitch the other night. Along with that, I also ordered a waxing moon design I mentioned in my last post called 'love you to the moon and back'. I am going to stitch it for Adrian for our wedding anniversary which is in March next year. Hopefully I get it done in time!! The piece isn't that big which is good. I am very excited about stitching with cresent colour thread as I've never worked with them before. They look so pretty! Who knows how long each piece will take me to stitch, but I can always juggle them. Lennox's sampler doesn't have a deadline like my anniversary piece, but I don't want to hold off too long on his either. I would like to have it stitched by the end of the year, or at least January so both the boys can have them hung up on their walls.

So now, I am waiting for my postman to arrive with my parcel. I am very excited, I love starting a new cross stitch. After both of these pieces are completed, I can stitch whatever takes my fancy next. At this stage I am thinking either halloween fairy by mirabillia or another design I have in my stash. I can't remember what it is called though.

I will make sure to take a photo of my kits when they arrive, and my progress on both of them too. Now that I've made myself a cup of tea, I am going to catch up on my blog reading.

Until next time, happy stitching xx