Happy New Year, and Thank YOU!!!

Hello Everyone!

One of the best things for me this year has been starting this cross stitch blog! It has given me sooo much joy and inspiration. I have enjoyed 'meeting' lots of like-minded cross stitch fanatics; I have enjoyed sharing my various cross stitch projects with you and I have been very, very grateful for every wonderful comment I have received! And I have found a very enjoyable way to keep my English language skills resonably alive! Simply a win-win all around! So THANK YOU SOO MUCH for being part of this wonderful experience!

I'm really looking forward to sharing many more projects with you in the new year, and to see what projects you all will choose to stitch in 2016.

So, on to real stitchy matters:) Today I was not able to work on Festive Flurry as much as I would have liked. I had to make rasberry ice-cream for New Year's Eve at my sister's, and I had another project to work on as well. This is as far as I have come now:

I have started to add faint outlines so maybe you can start to see what it is...? I realised that I had to start stitching the background too, since it is much more boring than the colourful buildings in the middle, and I don't want to risk being left with only the boring background and then loose my stitching mojo in the process...! Let's hope my plan works lol:)

Time to show you another Christmas gift I stitched this year. I stitched this picture for my dad, since he loves the sea and boats.

He actually built a large boat that we spend every holiday on when my sister and I were children and he still has the boat that is now over 30 (!) years old. The picture looked like a simple design, and it was, considering the limited amount of colours, but it was much more time-consuming to stitch the big blocks of colours than I imagined! I worked on it up until the evening before he received it and I must have spent around 150-200 hours on it. (I'm not the fastest stitcher around...) The design is from Cross Stitcher issue 292 and the designer is Lucie Heaton. I did change the words into the Swedish version of 'Every day is a gift' instead of the original 'Every day is a new adventure'.

At last I want to wish you all a

 

VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR,

 

and I look forward to catching up with you all in the new year!

 

Annie

Festive Flurry!

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick note:)
Today I have only stitched on Festive Flurry and I have come...

...this far now:) I love these kinds of designs where there are plenty of blocks of colours, since I can then switch between different colours when I stitch and thus I'm less likely to get bored with the overall design along the way:)

Happy Stitching!

Annie

Happily back to working on my own projects...!

Hello Everyone!

When I wrote my previous post I realized how much I have missed my cross stitch blog and how much I enjoy reading your lovely comments and catching up on all your stitching projects and general news..! So, now that a wonderful Christmas has come and gone I hope to be a much more active cross stitch blogger again:) Wohoo! I have so much to show you all; crafty Xmas gifts I've been given, crafty Xmas gifts I have made and the progress on my own joyful cross stitch projects I'm working on now:)

Speaking of Christmas, I really love my new blog design I used for the Christmas season so I'm not quite sure what I will do now that the season for reds and santas are almost over...:(
Please bear with me if I keep my jolly blog theme for a while into 2016, whilst I ponder what next to do with the blog design...I have a general tendency to hold on to Christmas a bit too long into the new year so I guess it is only right that my blogs should be affected too lol.

So, I am really enjoying stitching just for myself again! First I picked up the Gingerbread House Sampler and this is...

...where I finished before Christmas:) After a few hours stitching the last couple of days it now looks like this:  

 

A bit more purple, and border, and pinks; basically just a bit more of everything!

I still really enjoy stitching this one - maybe the design would pop more if I had stitched it on white aida but I really LOVE the gold-sparkling aida so no regrets! I love it so much that I have also bought a piece of silver-sparkling aida, and now I just have to find the appropriate design that will do the sparkly silver justice...:)

Even though I love my GBH sampler, I have had a couple of charts that I have been loooonging to start stitching, so yesterday I stiched gridlines onto a piece of blue aida and started stiching one of those charts:)

 

It is designed by my new favorite cross stitch designer Emma Congdon. Her designs have bright happy colours and often graphic patterns and words. This particular design is called Festive Flurry and can be found in Cross Stitcher issue 298. I really had to force myself to put this down last night; it was soo much fun to finally make a start on it! Any guesses what it is?

 

The first of my stitched Christmas gifts that I will show you is this ornament that I gave to my sister:

 

If I am not mistaken I think this design is also by Emma Congdon. I have stitched it a couple of times in different colour combinations since it is such a nice little crafty-themed chart. This time around I decided to add some beads for extra bling since I was going to give it to my bling-loving sister. From what I could tell my sister really loved it and immediately put it up on display in her own crafty corner:) That warms a sister's heart, I'll say!

That is it for now; my new project is calling for me!

Happy stitching everyone!

Annie

Merry Christmas greetings from us!

Hello Everyone!

There haven't been many posts written so far in December, but as usual I - a Christmas Freak - have been knee-deep in Xmas cooking, Xmas candy-making, Xmas wrapping papers, family Christmas get-togethers and birthdays etc etc!
When I haven't been doing those things I have been stiching like crazy in order to get all my Xmas gifts ready, but still I had to give up on finishing about four different project..:(( I really find it difficult to let my gift ideas go for the time being, and to save them for future birthdays and Xmases but it is something I have to learn I think. Stitching things take a long time and it isn't always possible to find that time in time for the deadline... how painful it may be...!

Still, my only New Year's promise will be to start my Xmas gifts even earlier next year...it seems it is not early enough to start in July lol.

Anyway, I wish you all a Very Happy Christmas, and I hope you find some time for stitching during the holidays:) That is my own plan for the Holidays - lots and lots of stitching time on some new fun projects just for me... and perhaps finish the Gingerbread House Sampler:))

I will leave you all for now with some Xmassy pics from the last few weeks...

My Xmas tree in the living room which is mostly decorated with homemade ornaments:)

 

My youngest furbaby wants to join in making Xmas decorations:)

I've been busy wrapping gifts...

...and making gingerbread biscuits...

....and making Swedish meatballs and other Swedish Xmas foods:)

My oldest furbaby is keeping an eye out for the snow that sadly has been missing so far...

My bedroom window:)

My sister made me a gorgeous advent calender...



...and one of the gifts was this beautiful Xmas sign that she
has made! I LOVE it!

My third furbaby is absolutely mad for wrapped gifts, and when we celebrated
an early Xmas with dad my furbaby kept a close eye on the gifts under the three...

 

Some homemade Xmas sweets:)

It is stressful to celebrate Xmas so a rest every now and then is necessary:))

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

 

Annie

...35 years on...:)

Hello Everyone!

Last Saturday our family got together at my mum's for a bit of a pre-Christmas celebration, and she actually has my very first (as far as I remember at least; it was a while ago lol) cross stitch project:) It's a cushion that I made for her when I was ten years old, which means that the cushion is now 35 years old!!

It is just precious!
Of course the stitches cross in both directions in a random order, and the crosses are sometimes stitched in two very different colours, but I'm so impressed with my ten-year-old self! I even managed a quite complex basket with flowers:)) I LOVE the fact that my mum still has this very fine piece of stitching, and now that I have found my love for cross stitching again - 35 years later - it is absolutely wonderful to see this sweet piece of stitching, so full of love and history and child-like joy!

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Annie

Purples and candy canes...

Hello Everyone!

Hope you're all doing well:) I hosted a lovely Christmas Party last Sunday for family and friends, and after that I have been completely exhausted..! I worked so hard getting everything ready for that party that I ran out of steam once it was all over and all the home-made goodies were eaten.

So this week I have tried to take it easy, relax and work on all my Xmas gift projects that I have left to do. I have at least five on the go so I desperately trying NOT to get stressed by them all. Luckily there's plenty of sports on the television that keep me company as I stitch away. I enjoy all the projects, but I still found myself longing to stich on one of my own pieces so last night I got the Gingerbread House Sampler out again and promised myself an hour of stitching time on it.

Here is where I picked it up...

 

...and an hour later I had soo much fun with this one that I just had to carry on stitching it until it was time for bed:) It felt a little bit like a guily pleasure, but I thorougly enjoyed my time with this sparkly stitch:)

 

This is where I stopped when it was time for bed... 

 

A bit more of the border, some more purple and a couple of candy canes etc. I can't wait to get back to this one again, but now I have to 'be good' and finish some other more urgent projects first..:)

Now I'm going to watch the final of the best season ever of Swedish Pop Idol!

Happy Stitching!

Annie

Busy week

Hello Everyone!

It's very busy times for me over here in Sweden right now:) On Sunday I'm having my annual Xmas get-together for friends and family so I'm spending my days with Xmas baking, Xmas decorating and lots of household chores in order for everything to be ready for Sunday.

Sadly that means that I have had very little time for stitching in the last week or so, and I miss it. I have made a promise to myself though, that next week I'm going to spend lots of time stitching and resting before it is time to start preparing all the festive foods for Xmas.
I have managed to do a little bit of stitching and crafting though. Firstly I have put up my Swedish Santa on my livingroom wall.

I just used some thick felt as a backing but it turned out fine I think. It feels great to finally be able to enjoy this picture:)

Then I finished a Xmas stocking I made for my sister:) We exchanged stockings this year and when I saw this chart in Cross Stitcher...

...it seemed perfect for a stocking. And this is what it looked like finished!

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I hope it will look great at my sister's:))

I have also made some Xmas crochet potholders...

...as Xmas gifts, although I haven't finished off the loose threads yet...!As you may know by now, GOD JUL means Merry Xmas in Swedish:)

Hopefully I can be back with some more stitching progress next week!

Annie

Gingerbread House Sampler update:)

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for all the lovely comments lately -  <3 they really make my heart swell <3 !

I had another really good session with the GBH Sampler yesterday evening! I swear for once my needle was flying lol:)

So this means I have almost completed the 'merry christmas' phrase and stitched the 5 Xmas trees at the bottom:) In the original chart all the 5 Xmas trees were pink, but I decided to stitch the middle one in green - I think that makes the picture more balanced. And I really wanted to stitch a green Xmas tree too!
I hope to put in another hour or so on this one tonight too:)

Hope you've all found time for stitching this weekend!

Annie

A quiet time with Xmas stitching...

Hello Everyone!

This weekend I am resting and doing a lot of stitching. I have several Xmas gift projects still on the go that needs attention and I have a feeling I will be stitching like crazy in the next few weeks to get them done! Sadly I cannot show you any of those yet, but I have put in another hour or so this week on Gingerbread House sampler...

 
...which means a couple of more letters and a Christmas tree:) I'm planning to spend another hour on this one tonight - it is really addictive:)

Today I decided to stitch me an A from the Winter ABC designed by Fiona Baker in Cross Stitch Crazy issue 209.

Isn't it sweet? I really liked this ABC when I saw it; partly because of the winter theme and partly because it had hardly any backstitch:) Yay! I'm normally quite a slow stitcher, but this little chart came together really quickly so I'm hoping to do a few more letters:) And it was really fun to stitch too!

 

Whilst stitching and watching skiing on the telly, one of my furbabies lay sleeping next to me on the sofa...doesn't he look comfy??

 

I have a feeling he enjoyed the quiet time I spent stitching just as much as I did:)

Hugs,

Annie

Gingerbread House Sampler

Hello everyone!

Yesterday I got out my Gingerbread House Sampler from Cross Stitch Crazy to add a few stitches. I haven't had time for this one for a while, but I suddenly felt like bringing it out for a bit...

This is where I started last night...

 ...and after an hour of adding some more pink and brown I stopped here:

I really feel like stitching the whole phrase of merry christmas next...or maybe some more Christmas trees at the bottom... or another reindeer to the right...:)

I'm hoping to add another hour to this one tonight - no matter how busy I am at this time of the year I really feel like I must find some - or just a little - time for some 'just-for-fun-stitching'!

Happy stitching!

Annie

A Xmas finish!

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick post to show you my latest finish:)

This time it is my new Xmas Iphone case:

I love these cases that you can stitch on, and I did my first one this spring:) However, I felt it was time to have a case with a Xmas theme. Most of the Xmas tree is designed by Lesley Teare, but I had to make some changes to it to fit the case. Otherwise it is all my own design:)

I have used quite a lot of metallics to add some bling to the case...

...and the red letters say Merry Xmas in Swedish:)

This particular case can also be stitched on the sides which actually was a bit tricky.

However, it was well worth the effort, and overall I am very pleased with my new Xmas case:)

Hope you all find some time for stitching this weekend!

Annie

My Little X-stitch Nook goes Xmas!

Hello Everyone!

Thank you soo much for your lovely comments on my previous post:=) They really warmed my heart...and made me carry on my happy dance for a bit longer lol! It really is a wonderful feeling when you have managed a finish, and the longer you have been working on it, the better it feels, doesn't it??

Anyway, now that we have reached the month of November, I decided to decorate My Little X-stitch Nook for Xmas:) I am a huge fan of Xmas - as you may have noticed already - and of course my cross stitch blog should reflect that:) I have added some special Xmas designs to the header that mean a great deal to me!

The first design to the left...

...you already know about:) My UFO that I have finished after a decade of hanging around...:)

The second design...

 

...was stitched by my mum and given to me as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. She made one for herself first, and when she noticed that I really loved the design - I adore old-fashioned Santas - she secretly stitched it again for me! Since I really don't like to stitch something over and over again, I really appreciate that mum made the effort to make me another one of the same design. And as a cross stitcher myself - and it was mum that taught me to stitch as a child - I know how many hours go into a project like this one..!

 

The third design...

 

 

...comes from a set of Xmas designs that my dad bought for me soon after I moved home to Sweden. This is one of the first designs I finished after I picked up cross stitching again here in Sweden, and I really, really like the design:) Initially it was a framed in a red frame but last Xmas my youngest furbaby got hold of the picture and destroyed the frame so this Xmas I have put it in a white frame. High above the reach of any doggy teeth... 

 

The forth and final cross stitch picture is the most precious one to me.

 

My mum stitched this a long time ago, and I remember it displayed on the wall every Xmas when I was a child. It really embodied 'Christmas feeling' to me as a child. When I was a teenager, I really wanted to have a copy of this work myself, so mum kindly let me have the chart and I started to stitch it. However, a lot of things happened in my life, and in my parents' life, and somewhere along the way my stitching and the chart went missing and have never been found again. My parents divorced and I moved to England...

Over a decade later I returned home to Sweden and at my first Christmas at home I saw this picture at my mum's again and it filled me with wonderful Xmas feelings and lovely memories of childhood Christmases! Once again I was filled with love for this design and my lovely mum noticed this. So then she did something amazing! She used this stitched design (stitched on 11-count aida) as an actual chart and copied the motive onto 14-count aida so that the next picture ended up a bit smaller. Then she gave me the original stitched piece and kept the new one for helself! When I think of the lenghts she went to to give me this lovely picture...to say that I treasure this picture is an understatement!
It is just a VERY VERY special cross stitch picture and symbolizes true Christmas spirit to me!

Love,

Annie

A UFO finish!!!

Hello Everyone!

I'm doing a very happy dance over here in Sweden!!

Why??

Well, tonight I have finished my Swedish Santa UFO that I started over ten years ago!!!

I decided to stitch on it today as part of my Friday Frolicing , and it looked like this when I started stitching on it midday . . .

So I finished the sky and did some backstitched tree outlines and other missing bits of backstitch . Eventually I couldn't find any more missing stitches so here it is , AT LAST :

You may remember that I struggled with what to do about the Santas facial features . . . The original chart was not very precise , and when I tried to stitch the eyes etc following the chart it just looked horrible ! So then I thought I'd just leave out the details of the face . . . However , today I decided to try to add something to the face, so I stitched one eye and a happy mouth . I'm actually quite pleased with how his face turned out and it definitely looks better than on the original chart : )

So once again , here is another look at my FINISHED Swedish Santa picture that I started to stich over ten years ago , when I still lived in England . The chart is from a Swedish magazine dated 2003 so it is about time , wouldn't you say ? !

I feel really good about this finish : = )

Hope you all have a good weekend filled with stitching!

Annie

Wonderful Crafts Fair and some stitching!

Hello Everyone !

Yesterday I visited a yearly Crafts Fair in Stockholm (the capital of Sweden) and I had the most WONDERFUL TIME ! I spent lots of money and bought lots of crafty goodies : )
As far as cross stitching is concerned , I bought all these small beads for a real bargain price : ) 

They aren't Mill Hill , but I tried to pick beads in nice colours that I could use instead of Mill Hill seed beads . Now that I have found out how much I love beading I have to make sure I have a little stash of beady beauties lol !

I bought more of my very favorite knitting yarn !

 

I have never come across another yarn that is sooo soft and cuddly ! And luckily they come in my favorite colours too : )

I also got some sparkly metallic threads in Christmas colours for crochet projects . . .

 

Since this was a general crafts fair I also got some scrapbooking material and some crafty magazines ! Normally craft products - including cross stitch products -are very expensive in Sweden , so it is absolutely lovely to have an opportunity to find some bargains for once in such an setting ! It was just a wonderful time and something that really fed my soul with happiness : )

 

Otherwise I've had a really busy week and I've hardly had time to sit down to stitch . . : (

Therefore I had decided that today would be ALL about stitching , so for 8 hours I stitched . . . and it was pure bliss ! It made me realise how much I had missed not being able to cross stitch , so this week I have to make an effort to find more time for my cross stitch projects .

 

I worked on my Iphone-cover and made really good progress on it ! Almost all of the white background is done :

It is difficult to see on the pictures but I have used some white Pearlescent in the background . I tried to catch the sparkle from another angle . . .

. . . but I'm not sure it worked . . . lol : ) I can't wait to see this one finished and to be able to put it on my phone !

Speaking of finish , I am FINALLY finished with my never - ending strawberry band ! ! ! I did the last backstitching today . . .

Chart from Cross Stitcher issue 239.
Designer: Lucie Heaton

. . . so now I have stitched 14 strawberries in a row ! Mentally this was a huge struggle - soo boring to repeat a pattern over and over - but I must say that in the end they look great together all in a row ! However , I can safely say that I have definitely had enough of strawberries for this year lol !

Hope you've all had a really nice weekend with lots of nice cross stitching !

Annie

Lots of crafty Xmas projects on the go:)

Hello Everyone !

It's been a couple of weeks since I last checked in with you all , and the reason for that is that I haven't had any stitching to show you since all my stitching right now is Xmas gifts for people that may drop in here every now and then . . . And with no stitching to show there doesn't seem much point in posting on the blog . . . But just you wait until AFTER Christmas ; then I'll have lots and lots of stitching projects to show you : ) 

So , instead , if you don't mind , I'm going to share some crochet projects I've been working on lately . . . I tell you , there just isn't enough hours in the day to fit in all the crafting I want to do before Christmas lol .

I've been making some crochet lace . . .

 

 . . . and I've made about twenty of these crochet snowflakes . . .

. . . that I have to stiffen and bling up a bit before they are ready for this year's Christmas tree:)

I've been making these grey and white snowflakes that I am joining together for my Xmas blanket . . .

 

. . . like so . . .

 

 

. . .only now the blanket is much , much bigger : ) I really have to lay it out flat on my bed soon to see if I've made enough snowflakes to finish it . At last .

 

Lastly a picture of my three furbabies cuddling up together on the sofa . . .

 

. . . as a cold Sweden is slowly moving into winter season . And by the way , it is my stitching corner that they are occupying : ) We all love that corner of the sofa lol : )

Happy ( Xmas ? ) Stitching !

Annie