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

Catching up with you all...:)

Hello Everyone !

How are you all doing ?
Here in Sweden there seems to be an cold virus epidemic going across the country ; just about
everyone I know have been coughing and sneezing and eventually the virus found me too last week .

I spent the week on my sofa doing nothing else but going for short walks with my dogs and watching films . There wasn't much energy for blogging or reading other blogs or anything else that required brain power . Luckily I managed to do some easy cross stitching at least , but most of it was on a secret Xmas gift which I can't show you yet . However, the last day of September I actually managed to finish my ornament for  Christmas Ornie SAL . . .

. . .which felt like quite an achievement at the time .

My stitched Iphone case is slowly coming together .

I just stitch a bit on it here and there in between other projects so it is going very slowly at the moment .

Today I've been working on these strawberries . . .

 

. . . which are proving to be a bit of a challenge for me since I hate to stitch the same thing over and over and over again ! However , I think the aida band will look great once it is sewn onto a towel , so now I am determined to get this finished ! I've stitched all the strawberries I need so now I just have to finish them off with the green bits and the grey and white backstitch . . ! I tell you , I am going to be so relieved  pleased when this project is finished !

If you are curious and wonder what the background is on the last photo , I can tell you that it is the back of my BEAUTIFUL christmas blanket that my sister made for me last year ! I just got it out today to be enjoyed all the way until Christmas: ) )
Do all you crafters want to see it ? ?
Of course you do . . !

Isn't it beautiful ? ? ?
Whilst I quite happily can spend hundreds of hours on a cross stitch project , I can't imagine ever making a quilt like this one ! I think my sister would say the opposite lol : ) Isn't it great that we can enjoy our different crafts together and exchange such beautiful gifts with each other ? ? ?

Happy stitching everyone , and stay healthy !

Annie

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