Supersweet four-legged cutie!

Hi all!

 

I've been waiting around for my thread order - which is taking its time - and meanwhile I suddenly found myself looking for a change of project . . . So I dug through my pile of WIPs and came up with this adorable dog . . .

 

 

. . . from Cross Stitch Collection issue 224 . The designer is Jayne Netley Mayhew and it feels as if she has designed this gorgeous dog based on my own furbabies . . . ! 

So the last couple of days I have added some more cross stitches especially around the eyes . . .

 

. . . so that he now has a simply adorable gaze ! ! ! 

This is where I stopped tonight .
I had to stop working on this one whilst I stitched Joan Elliott's Unicorn for my sister and somehow it ended up amongst my WIPs , but it feels great to be stitching it again ! I have always loved this design : = )

Happy Stitching Everyone !

Annie

More fairies and quick and easy flowers!

Hi all!

Finally the Ultimate Cross Stitch Fantasy bookazine has arrived in the post ! !

I couldn't wait to have a look through it , and I was not disappointed : ) I liked almost all the designs but there were a few that I really loved , and that I can see myself stitching very soon .
I especially liked the Joan Elliott charts , as usual : )

 

First of all , there is this Spring Fairy ! How I love all those bright colours !

 

And how about this pretty Woodland Fairy ? Isn't she cute ? !

 

I also like this Tulip Fairy , especially all the pretty tulips : )

 

At the moment I am waiting for my order of threads for my secret project , and whilst waiting I've been stitching everything I can of the chart with the threads I DO have : ) 

 

 

Here is a pic of part of the design : ) I am waiting for some yellow and green threads . . .

 

In a recent issue ( 230 ) of The World of Cross Stitching magazine I also found some handy , simple charts for greeting cards by Lesley Teare . Since I'm always on the lookout for quick , colourful and fun charts to use for cards I decided to stitch one . 

 

These sweet flower charts are absolutely perfect for left-over threads , and in fact I didn't use the exact DMC colours they recommended in the magazine . I also swapped the 14-count aida for 11-count , since I wanted the flower to be a bit bigger . I stitched the flower in one day , and I really enjoyed it : = ) In fact I enjoyed it so much that I decided to pick some other threads from my stash and started to stitch another one of these flowers :

 

There are a few birthdays coming up in my family soon so I think these cheerful flowers will come in handy for future birthday cards : )

 

Finally a little greeting from my furbabies who are enjoying the Swedish summer sun on our balcony : )

 

 

Happy Stitching Everyone!

 

Annie

Cross Stitch Magazines coming up!

Hi all !

I have been soo busy this last week that I've hardly had time to pick up my needle.
It was my 45th birthday on Saturday and in preparation for the celebrations I basically spent a week in my little kitchen baking goodies . . .

Swedish cinnamon buns !

. . . and cooking up a storm !

 

I prepared a salmon cheesecake, a sallad with beans ande oven-rosted vegetbables,
a quiche and rosted chicken!

I had let my whole family know that I wanted craft-inspired gifts, and luckily they heard me : = )

I received this creative box with yarn, crochet hook and flower designs . . .

 

. . . and from my lovely sister I received wonderful handmade gifts, amongst which was this gorgeous handmade recipe book . . .

 

 

. . . and this stunning handmade dragonfly for my balcony !

 

 

I also received cash which I immediately spent on some cross stitch magazines!

Firstly, I ordered a year-long subscription of one of my favourite XS magazines . .

 

. . . Cross Stitch Collection !
Then I also took the opportunity to order a back issue that I did not have : )

 

That Ed & Edwina hedgehog design from Anchor is soo cute ! !

And I ordered this back issue from Cross Stitcher since I love those Vintage Roses on the magazine cover !

The tiny amount of stitching that I have hade time to do have been spent on the project that is a birthday gift for my friend's husband . Here is a little teaser from my progress so far ; of course I have to show some actual cross stitches in this post . . . ha ha ! It won't do otherwise : )

 

Anyone who recognizes the design ? ? ?

I leave you with a cute pic of two of my furbabies : = )

 

Happy Stitching everyone!

 

Annie

Ultimate Cross Stitch Fantasy!

Hi all !

 

I am soo excited !

I received my tax returns the other day , and I decided to treat myself to a wonderful up-coming magazine , Ultimate Cross Stitch Fantasy !

 

I pre-ordered it online from England and I just can't wait until I have it in my hands ! I am sure I'll find many new projects to stitch in this beautiful collection ! !

Lately I have really struggled to find enough time to stitch properly . The Lavender Fairy is very slow-going because of all the Kreinik ' bling ' I have to add .

At least I have managed to stitch all the Kreinik on the four top wings , and I am now working on the other four wings . I have also added some Kreinik to her hair and stitched the necklace ( minus the beads ) .

 

After I had finished stitching Joan Elliott's Unicorn for my sister in April , I promised myself that for a good while now I would only stitch for myself and without any deadlines . No stress and no pressure ! ! ! I bet you can guess what happened next . .  ? ? Well , here I am , two months later , and stitching a gift with a deadline . . ! I am so annoyed with myself . . . ha ha ! Still , I hope that it will be an appreciated gift . I will keep the progress secret until it is done , but it has obviously taken up some of my time . The only problem is that I have to order some more threads , so I hope I'll still be able to finish it on time . . .
Why do I do this to myself ? ! ! 

Hope you all have a nice weekend ! Personally, I am going to enjoy a lovely Swedish Royal Wedding on the telly tomorrow !

Annie

The fairy starts to sparkle ! ! !

Hi all!

 

The last couple of days I have been able to put in some stitching time on my Lavender Fairy . Yay !That means lots of Kreinik Very Fine (#4) braid ! I love stitching with it since I find it so easy to handle compared to other metallic threads . I also love, love, love all the sparkly effects : ) )

 

I have stitched the stems of half of the lavender flowers in green Kreinik :

 

As usual the picture does not do justice to the effect of the Kreinik and I tried to take a close-up of the stems to try to capture the lovely sparkle . . . to no avail . . . Oh well , you just have to believe me when I say that it looks gorgeous !

I have also started to add bling to the wings with more Kreinik but in another colour ! This too looks so wonderful ; I really have to focus on carrying on with the stitching instead of just admiring how it all looks : )

I have also started to stitch all the little cute flies that fly around the fairy , but they are very hard to make out at this point in time . They will really start to stand out once I add the beads later on .

 

So this is how Belle looks in full view at this moment :

 

 

I just love adding all the bling to my Belle , but it is a VERY time-consuming business ! ! It feels as if my stitching speed slooows down as I am doing this  , but at least she will look fabulous when she is done ! I just cannot wait to put her up on the wall in my living room ! ! !

Happy Stitching everyone !

Annie

Mother's Day card!

Hi all!

 

So , yesterday I was determined to finish the little card for my mum as it is Mother's Day here in Sweden today , and I knew I was going to see her at 2 pm today !

So, I stitched . . . and stitched . . .and stitched . . . And I swore over the tiny holes in the 16-count aida . . . and I swore over the short , short threads that were included in this freebie card set . . . and I swore over the fractionals I had to do in the tiny aida squares . . . and I swore over the very fiddly backstitch . . . and I swore over the mixing up of cross stitches stitched with one thread as opposed to two threads . . .

An hour after midnight I finally finished off the last thread , rubbed my aching fingertips and relaxed my hands and drew a deep sigh of relief . . . my self-appointed task was done ! ! ! Yay !



 

 

And actually , I am very happy with this little chap ! ! ! He is really cute and those of you who are familiar with the designer Margaret Sherry will recognize characters like this one : ) Personally I have not stitched many Margaret Sherry designs before , and I am not sure I will in the future either . The end result is simply wonderful , but the road to get there . . . ! Well , that backstitch is not for the faint hearted , especially when using 16-count . . !

 

Anyway , having put the card together it looked like this :

I am glad I stuck with it because it looks really , really sweet , but frankly , I cannot wait to get back to my Lavender Fairy with its beads and Kreinik . . . much easier ha ha ! !

Happy Stitching Everyone !

Annie

Freebie card

Hi all!

What a frustrating week I have had ! Life has gotten in the way of my cross stitching and I have barely had time to stitch on my fairy ! I have started stitching with the Kreinik but so far I have had so little time to stitch that it is no point posting an update pic yet : ( ( Hopefully I can get some cross stitching done over the weekend - I feel like I will go insane if I have to wait much longer to stitch on my fairy !

I was hoping I might get some time to cross stitch tonight, which I did . However, here in Sweden it is Mothering Sunday this Sunday , and since I do not have the money at the moment to buy a gift for my lovely mum, I decided that the least I could do was to stitch a card for her . . . !
So I dug through my box with all the freebie cards from cross stitch magazines , and found a suitable card to stitch . It is not too detailed and should be reasonable quick to stitch. The one thing I do not like is the 16-count aida used ; I find it too fiddly and prefer 14-count. But since it is only a small card I am going to do my very best to cope . . . !

So this is as far as I got tonight . . .

I know , pathetic progress isn't it ? ? I definitely blame the 16-count aida . . . ha ha !
Can anyone guess what it will be . . . ? ?
Hopefully I can show you a picture of the finished card tomorrow evening !

Hope you all find time for some wonderful cross stitching this weekend !

Annie

Fairy progress

Hi all!

 

This is just a quick post to show you my progress on Joan Elliott's Lavender Fairy .

 

I have managed to stitch a bit over the weekend so now all the skin areas are practically finished . I still have the backstitch left to do on her arms and shoulders and on the rest of the dress . The lavender flowers are also done , except for the stems which will be backstitched in Kreinik . The last week has been quite stressful for me so I have found it difficult to focus on my crafts , but I hope that things will quieten down now so I can get back to some serious cross stitching again : )

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Annie

A Little Birthday Card

Hi all!

My plan was to do lots of cross stitching this week but anxiety and stress put a stop to my plan . Then I also received the heartbreaking news that my wonderful physiotherapist passed away very unexpectedly . . .  Needless to say I have barely stitched anything on the Lavender Fairy , but I hope that the weekend will bring some peace and renewed stitching energy , because I can hear Belle calling from the pile of WIPs : )

Meanwhile I have a small project to show you which I stitched last weekend . It is a birthday card for an acquaintance and I used a chart designed by Durene Jones from the magazine Cross Stitch Gold issue 100 .

I love her designs since she always uses a lot of bright colours and has a very interesting and different way of using sketchy backstitch to highlight her colourful designs : ) These particular charts were originally meant for a female recipient , but I fell in love with them and decided to try to adjust the colours and the design to fit a birthday card for a male recipient . I also added the name and tried to add backstitch to the name in a way that would match the rest of the design .

There are five more similar charts to this one in the magazine and since I really loved stitching this card it is quite possible that I will stitch a few more for future birthdays . But then I think I will stick to the recommended thread colours - it is much easier that way : )

Now I am going to try to get some rest and relaxation so I can get back to stitching my beautiful Belle : )

Happy Stitching Everyone !

Annie

Not long to go now!

Hi all,

 

Lately I have spent a lot of hours on Belle , the lavender fairy . All her fairy wings are stitched . . .

 

 

 . . . and I am now stitching the lavender flowers on each side of her .

 

 

The lavender itself is not difficult to stitch . I began to stitch each flower on its own and finishing off the thread before I moved to the next flower . However , it seemed as if the amount of thread the kit provided dvindled rather quickly when I did it this way , so I then decided that I would ' jump ' with the thread beween the small lavender flowers as long as the distance wasn't more than 2 - 3 aida squares . I am also going to add Kreinik for the stems , so I am hoping that any threads on the back won't show through the fabric later on .

 

The other two things I have left to do now is to finish the skin areas and to stitch all the little pretty flies that fly around the fairy . However , the flies are tiny which mean a lot of starting and finishing threads , and stitching the skin colours requires a lot of concentration so I'll only stitch those in the daytime . Still , I hope I can finish those last areas this week so I can start with the beads and Kreinik soon : ) Can't wait !

 

By the way , does any of you know whether it is possible to hand wash Polstitches hand-dyed fabrics ?

It would be nice to be able to wash the stitching since I have handled it so much . . .

 

Now I am going to take time to catch up with all your lovely blogs ; my stitching has taken up all of my time lately and have made me neglect my blog reading !

Happy Stitching Everyone !

Annie