Too many projects and too little time...

Hi everyone !

This week I've been doing all sorts of crafts , so my stitching has had to take a bit of a backseat . . : (  Sadly there just isn't enough hours in the day for me right now to do everything I want to .
For example , I've been making crochet snowflakes . . .

 

 . . . that I am going to stiffen and hang in my Christmas tree this year .

I've painted acorns in silver and gold . . .

. . . and I have made more handmade decorations for my Xmas tree :

The one cross stitch related activity this week was that I joined the wonderful SAL Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics , which gives me motivation to get some stitching done every Friday at least ! So this Friday past I worked on my Christmas tree for the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 . . .

. . . and it is now finished ! Yay ! In the original chart (designed by Maria Diaz from the free leaflet with The World of Cross Stitching issue 183) the tree trunk and the top of the tree are left empty . . .

 

 . . . but I thought it looked odd so I decided to repeat the pattern ALL the way to the bottom and the top . I'm very pleased with it , but of course I have to turn it into an ornament as well in the next few days . . . Wish me luck !

I also started on another letter from the Crocus ABC in The World of Cross Stitching issue 212 : )

The ABC is designed by Lucie Heaton and it is a joy to stitch : ) I'm thinking I should use it to make something for myself too . since I like it so much . Maybe when all the Xmas stitching is out of the way . . : )

I have also started to stitch on a Iphone mobile case : ) This is the one that I am using right now . . .

. . . but I want to stitch myself a Christmas-themed case too ! A Christmas Fanatic like me certainly  needs a proper Christmas case !

I don't have a chart for this cover so I'm going to try to 'design'/put together something that I like . I have started off with this Christmas Tree from an old leaflet of Xmas designs from Cross Stitch Crazy magazine and then we'll see . . : )

I must try to get some stitching done on my Christmas gift projects this week - I have really missed my stitching ! The days and the weeks are starting to go by really fast now and there is sooo much I want to stitch before Xmas !

How is your Xmas stitching going ?

Happy Stitching Everyone !

Annie

Gingerbread sampler!

Hi everyone !

This is just a quick update to show you how I am getting on with my Gingerbread Sampler :

We now have a couple of reindeers and a start on the border : ) I'm still loving this , and suprisingly enough I don't mind all the starts and stops . On the contrary , I enjoying seeing the sampler grow item by item : ) I've had to do one change to the original chart . If you have a look at the three hearts in the middle , the heart to the left has a very invisible brown in the middle . . . Therefore I decided to find a slightly darker brown that would show up better on this particular fabric , and I filled in the other two hearts with the 'new' brown : )

Hope you've all had a wonderful stitchy weekend !

Annie

Christmas stitching update!

Hello Everyone !

I just HAD to show you all my progress on my Stardust fabric - I just LOVE that name ! ! ! And I love stitching on the this goldish aida ! This is my progress on my Gingerbread sampler from Cross Stitch Crazy (issue 208) so far :

I just love stitching this one so much and I could easily skip all my other projects to just work on this one , but I've managed to restrict myself to a couple of hours each evening : ) Some of the colours -like the light green - have a tendency to fade into the fabric but I can easily say that I don't care lol ! This fabric just makes everything look stunning ! There is also an aida with silver flecks , and I have a feeling it will be making its way home to me ( from the online store ) sooner rather than later . . .
I'm slowly coming to realise that I have a thing for stitching with a bit of bling ! !
Who would have thought ? !

Since I'm on a roll here I might as well show you my progress on my other Xmas projects : )
Here's my red and white Christmas picture  . . .

. . . where I am working my way across the red sky with my new red thread . I'm also working on the outside frame , so not long to go now : ) Still thinking of how to finish it . . : )

 Here's the progress on my Swedish santa :

I'm also stitching my way across this sky and it is coming along nicely . I had a go at stitching Santa's facial features , but it looked a right mess so I've decided to leave him as he is . . . I think . . ! I've been so spoiled with stitching Joan Elliotts beautifully detailed facial features lately . . !

Speaking of Joan Elliott , this is where I am at with her Christmas Fairy :

She hasn't had a lot of attention the last couple of weeks , but I've added a bit to the skirt and to the furry details of her dress:)

The other day I found this gorgeous Crocus ABC designed by Lucie Heaton in an old magazine (The World of Cross Stitching, issue 212)...

 

... and I just had to have a go at stitching some of these letters! The yellow and purple crocuses look wonderful and are very quick to stitch too:) I had some scraps of hand-died Polstitches aida to stitch on so these letters ended up looking absolutely fabulous : )

 

Happy stitching everyone!

 

Annie

New stash and WIPs!

Hi everyone !

It is about time I write a post again , don't you think ? !

I've been waiting for my cross stitch order from England , and today it arrived ! It's like Xmas Eve ( in Sweden we open our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve ) in September lol !
Look at this stunning gold-fleck aida . . .

 

. . . AND it is called Stardust . . . isn't it gorgeous ? ! ! I have finally been able to treat myself to a cross stitch magazine subscription , and when I received the latest issue (208) of Cross Stitch Crazy I saw this very cute freebie Xmas sampler . . .

 

. . . and I am hoping that it will look extra-special stitched on the gold aida : ) ) Fingers crossed ! !

Of course I also received some more threads for my many projects : )

There are red threads for my white and red Xmas picture , and some blue threads for my Swedish santa , and some threads for new projecs that I can't wait to start . . ! As if I don't have enough projects on the go already . . !

My sister actually gave me good advice when I complained that there isn't enough hours in the day for me to have time to stitch all the Xmas gifts I want . She also has a lot of craft projects on the go for Xmas gifts so she knows exactly what I'm talking about . Anyway , she suggested that I should try to finish ONE project for each person so that everyone is 'covered', and THEN I can go crazy with more Christmas gift stitching ! So that is what I am trying to do now ; just get something done for each and every one and then the rest is a bonus : ) )
It is soo nice to have a crafty sister to discuss crafty issues with : ) ) 

So one of those Xmas gifts projects I am working on right now is this aida band I showed you a month ago (look HERE):

I wasn't happy about the thread colour for the backstitch details . As you can tell the letter M is backstitched in a lighter blue thread that is quite difficult to make out . I decided to have a look through my stash to see if I could find a darker blue that would still complement the other three colours , but also stand out a bit more . As you can also tell , I succeeded:) I am much more happy with the A and the R, and it is now possible to make out the small flowers too : ) )

I am also working on my September ornament for Christmas Ornie SAL . I struggled to find a design I was happy with so in the end I decided to stitch something totally different . . .

 

. . . and that ended up being this Christmas tree : ) It is stitched using only DMC Metallics and it's from an old freebie chart leaflet from The World of Cross Stitching magazine . As usual it is impossible to do justice to the sparkle in a picture , but trust me when I say that it looks really nice : ) I haven't decided how to do the finishing yet , but we're only halfway through September so I still have time to think about that one . . : ) ) )

 

That's all for now , fellow stitchers !

 

Annie

Very pleased, indeed!

Hi Everyone !

I just had to write a quick post and show you my progress on the Swedish Santa picture : )

Look ! ! !
I have finished stitching the first half of all the cross stitches across the blue sky ! ! !
I'm just soo happy about this ; it was this big stretch of sky that put me off this piece ten years ago . . . and now it is done ! Obviously I have to do the other half of the cross stitch but that is as you know a piece of cake - if I hadn't run out of the blue thread that is . . . bummer!
So sadly I have to put the blue sky on hold for a bit until I get my threads . I'm still VERY pleased with myself though lol! I am also pondering what to do with the empty 'snowflake' squares ? In the original chart the squares are just left undone , but I think I'm going to fill them in . Perhaps with satin thread . . . I'll see . . : )

On another note , I have spent this weekend reorganizing my craft space/stash ; a task that was much needed : )

A question for you all , though :

How would YOU decorate/use this wooden candle holder ? ? ?

I've had this one in a box for a few years and I have yet to come up with a good idea of how to decorate it . . !
Any brilliant ideas , anyone ?

Hope you've all had a good weekend filled with some nice stitching !

Annie

Xmas books, Xmas stitching and Xmas boxes!

Hi Everyone!

 

Right now my life seems to be in a place where I don't find time to stitch as much as I would like : (

I am part of a great Swedish community of Christmas blogs and for us the run-up to Christmas 2015 has already kicked off so running my Swedish Christmas blog takes up a lot of time . Then I also have my Swedish day-to-day blog where I write updates every day . Then I'm also trying to keep up with all my various favorite blogs , as well as finding time to start this year's Christmas planning . Luckily my lovely sister has gifted me two lovely handmade books to help keep track of everything Christmas! First I received this stunning Christmas notebook/diary . . .

 

 

. . . that she made for me ! It is absolutely gorgeous and you can see more pictures of it in THIS post : )

Then she also made a new beautiful Christmas Planner for me . . .

 

 

. . . that I cannot wait to use A LOT in the coming months : )

 

I have found time to do a few more Xmas tags (designed by Fiona Crouch) . You may remember that I did some where I stitched with red thread on white aida , but now I have done some where I used red aida and white thread . . .

 

 

. . . and I really like the look of these : ) I just love the little Xmas charts too - so easy and quick to stitch ! Absolutely perfect to stitch when time is short : )

 

My red and white Xmas picture is also coming along slowly . . .

 

 

 

. . . but I have to order some more red thread before I can finish this one .

 

Today I guess I could have sat down with some stitching , but I had an itch to do some match box decorating instead : 

 These will be perfect for small gifts around Christmas : )

The last time I did something like this was last autumn so it took me a while to find my creative juices again but I'm quite pleased with how my decorated match boxes turned out in the end : )

Although I really should be stitching as often as I can (plenty of stitched Xmas gift projects waiting for my attention), it is really nice to switch it up with another kind of craft every now and then : )

Happy stitching and crafting!

Annie

Nice Xmas progress:)

Hi Everyone !

I'm still working on my Christmas pictures : ) It has been a busy week for me , and when I am at home I have been following the World Championship in Athletics on the telly . Therefore it has really suited me to stitch on my red/white Christmas picture : ) No time-consuming colour changes and an easy border !
After the first day's stitching on this piece - when I broke my own record for frogging - I started to get to grips with the chart , and I haven't had to do any frogging since. Yay ! ! ! There is one counting mistake , but I decided to leave that one as it was as it only made one of the houses slightly smaller and it's nothing that affects the rest of the picture  :)

So here is my progress so far :

As you can see I have decided to do half of the cross stitches first so that I don't have to refer to the chart when I stitch the second half of the cross stitches . I always prefer doing it that way when I stitch a big block of stitches in the same colour .

 

My other Christmas picture is coming along nicely too !

 

All this progress on my OWN pictures sadly means that I have not done too much on my Christmas gift stitching . . . But as soon as the Athletics are finished, I am back to my pile of  Christmas Gift projects . . . I hope, lol ! ! !

Have a good weekend and Happy Stitching !

Annie

Swedish crafts and Santas:)

Hi Everyone !

 

First of all I want to thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post! All your advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated and and I am very pleased that you all took the time to comment ! ! I am going to do what you all suggested and try to add the facial backstitch to my Swedish Santa's face , although I haven't been brave enough yet to do it . . . As for the sky issue I will come back to it later in this post : )

 

Speaking of my Swedish Santa , it occured to me that it would be nice to share my old Swedish crafty leaflet with you since you all love crafts : )

 

So this crafty leaflet is from 2003 and was published in a Swedish Women's magazine . It is full of Christmas ideas and Christmas gifts . There are crochet patterns to make these Christmas pot holders . . .

 

 

. . . and I actually thinking of making some of these since I love to have various pot holders for each season . I also like to give away pot holders as gifts , but I have made so many for everyone in my family that I fear they are a bit sick of pot holders . . . ha ha !

 

There are also other Christmas cross stitching projects (except for my Santa) like these aida band charts :

 

 

Although they are sweet they are not my cup of tea - the charts feel too old-fashioned to me .

 

However , the leaflet also included these two cross stitched mini tapestries which I really like !

 

I love the red and white Christmas designs ; they feel very much like old-fashioned Swedish Christmas , but in a GOOD way : ) ) I also like the fact that you only stitch with one colour since colour changes takes a lot of time . There is a problem though , and that is that the charts are very small . . .

I've added my hand to the charts so that you can see the dimensions.

 . . .and yet again they have no clear gridlines . And to add gridlines myself would be difficult ; the squares are small and I would risk not seeing the symbols if I try to add further lines to the chart . ( In fact , the problem is the same with the chart for my Santa picture . )
Still , I wanted to stitch these - and maybe turn them into cushions? - so yesterday I found a suitable red thread colour (the leaflet only said 'red' thread) and made a start on one of the charts .

 

I really could have done with those gridlines though , since it did not take long before I had to start frogging . . . and frogging and frogging . . ! The progress I have made so far included at least three times of frogging which must be a record for me . Still , I am not giving up , and thankfully , the more I'll stitch on it the easier it'll be to keep track of where I am on the chart .

 

I also have to show you the progress on my Santa from this leaflet : ) To remind you - and myself - this is what this 10-year-old UFO looked like when I picked it up again a week ago :

 

And this is what it looks like now :

I love having this blog to record my own progress ; it is really inspiring to see your own progress like this ! I'm chugging along with the sky - one row up and one row down etc - and it is still slow-going but I am almost getting used to it now : ) And all those dark tree siluettes - that I found so difficult ten years ago - are now done ! Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my mojo will stay with this project so I can get it finished soon , at long last !

Oh , and I almost forgot to show you the ornament that I finished for the Christmas Ornie SAL ( and you can read more about it there too ) :

Nice to have a finish every now and then , isn't it ? !

Happy Stitching ,

Annie

My Santa needs help!

Hi Everyone!

So , I am still working on my old-fashioned Swedish Christmas picture and this how far I have come in the last few days (I have been stitching on a few other projects as well) . . .

 

I am happy with my progress on this piece . However , I am now tackling that big blue sky - which put me off ten years ago! - and it is really slow going because of the many white empty ( snowflake ) squares that are placed all over the sky in a random fashion . I love the fact that it is 'snowing' but keeping track of the squares is a big hassle . I started off trying to stitch and count horizontally - which comes natural to me - but it just didn't work at all ! I kept loosing my place on the chart and on the fabric over and over again ! So annoying !

So then I decided to try to stitch and count vertically and that has actually worked a bit better - it is still slow progress but I only have to recheck the chart every tenth stitch . . : ) If the chart had guidelines I could have used them , but apparently they didn't do guidelines on Swedish charts ten year ago (and I don't know if it is any different today . . ) .

Another issue with this chart is the little cute Santa in the foreground , and that is where I need your help / advice ! On the chart there are very , very poor facial features on this Santa ; the eyes and mouth consists of three little backstitches . . . Absolutely horrible !

 

Being used to stitching Joan Elliott charts and beautiful faces nowadays , I am afraid that poor Santa's face will look horribly UGLY with those three lines ! When I stitched the skin colour and the beard , I decided to add backstitch to the beard to make it stand out more . . .

 

. . . and I am very pleased with how the beard turned out . So now I am wondering if maybe I should just leave the face as it is ( without distinct facial features ) instead of risking it looking dreadful and like a five-year-old stitched it . . . I have seen modern designs where the designer has left out facial features so it has been done before I guess . . .
Help! I need your expert opinions !
What do YOU think I should do ? ? ?

Anyway, it certainly is ' interesting ' stitching these older charts . . . ha ha !

Happy Stitching !

Annie

Do I ever finish anything ? ? ?

Hi Everyone !

Despite having about 15 cross stitch projects on the go , I found myself bored with ALL of them yesterday . . ! It would be simply impossible for me to stick to a rotation , or to stick to just one project at a time since I get bored so easily . . ! And the last thing I want is to be bored by my cross stitching , so then , of course , I HAVE to find yet another project that inspires me . . ! Sometimes - or quite often actually! - it feels as if I only START new projects , and never FINISH any! Then it is high time to have a look at my list of recent finishes just to remind myself that I AM capable of finishing things . . . sometimes : ) )

So , what did I decide to stitch on yesterday then, in the end ? ?

Well , I had been thinking of the gift tags stitched with white thread on red aida so I got some red aida and stitched some small white motifs . . . : )

It felt really rewarding to stitch something and to finish so quickly - maybe that's why I got bored with all my other projects . . ?

Then I decided to pick up an Christmas UFO that I started over ten years ago , when I still lived in England ! It is from a  Swedish women's magazine , and a project I got bored with back in the day when I faced ALL the evening sky stitched in blue . . ! However , everything with a Xmas theme inspires me at the moment so I thought, why not ? ?  So this is what it looked like when I started yesterday evening . . .

... and this is how it looked when I stopped stitching a couple of hours later:

It is stitched on 11-count aida , so it stitches up quite quickly : ) However , some of the chart is difficult to read and there are some faults so I am going to have to wing it a bit before it is finished .
However , I enjoyed stitching it and I will put in some more hours on it tonight : )

What I will feel like stitching tomorrow , however , is anyone's guess . . . ha ha !

Happy Stitching !

Annie