Xmas Fairy and Xmas SAL!

Hello Everyone!

When I woke up this morning the rain was pouring outside , so it seemed like the perfect thing to do to stay indoors and stitch on my new Christmas Fairy project ! I heard a faint voice in my head that tried to tell me to stitch on my Xmas gift projects instead , but I ignored that voice . Today was only for my Xmas Fairy !

So this is where I'm at right now ! Since it is quite a small fairy (stitch count 140x112) I'm making good progress : ) I already have all the different red-coloured threads I need so I can finish those parts of the chart . Unfortunately I do not have all the greens so I had to leave the wreath etc as it is for now : (

I have also made some plans to add more bling to this design by Joan Elliott .

A reminder of how she looks finished:)

JE has already added red seed beads to the skirt and wreath , and gold Kreinik to the wings . I am planning to also exchange the single white cross stitches on the dress for white seed beads , and to stitch the green xmas-tree branches surrounding her in green Kreinik . I think that would look great ! Maybe also switch the black cross stitches in the fur for black seed beads . . . we'll see how it goes : )

Still , I really need to tear myself away from this design for a bit . At the moment I am trying to find suitable pretty alphabet charts that I can stitch on 5 cm aida bands for gifts . Most of the ABC-charts I have are just a tiny bit too large for that size which is very annoying . . . !

Speaking of Christmas , I have joined my very first SAL ! It is the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 hosted by Kaye at Kitten Stitching ! I am soo excited and have already begun to think of which Xmas designs to stitch !

I just love Christmas ! ! !

Happy Stitching !

Annie

Christmas Stitching in July!

Hello everyone!

I don't know about you all , but I am in the middle of planning my Christmas stitching right now . I have always enjoyed giving handmade - by me - gifts and Christmas presents to my nearest and dearest . Due to financial limitations the last couple of years I really need to MAKE most of my Xmas gifts this year , and I need to use my crafty stash as much as I can .

However , as you stitchers all know , stitching lots of gifts will require lots and lots of stitching time . . . and lots of browsing through patterns and cross stitch magazines . . . and lots of thread-sorting . . ! When I think of it like that it almost feels as if I am a bit late starting all this in July . . . ha ha ha !
Still , here I am and I have made a start on my Xmas stitching plans , but sadly I could not keep my eyes entirely on the ultimate goal . . .

As I browsed through a Cross Stitch Crazy magazine (issue 159) two days ago , I fell completely in love with a particular Christmas chart ! I desperately wanted to stitch it but not as a gift for someone else , but for MYSELF! Clearly this is not the best time for me to fall in love with yet a new chart , but you know what it is like . . . certain charts just grab you and demand you begin to stitch them straight away ! And luckily ( or maybe not so luckily ha ha! ) I had almost all the threads so OF COURSE I just had to make a start . . !

And what is this going to look like sometime in the future you may ask . . ?

 

A Chrismas Fairy by Joan Elliott ! Isn't she stunning ? !

 

I just have to stop falling in love with these JE charts . . . ha ha ! But how can I stop when they are all so gorgeous ? !

 

But today I have been good and put the fairy aside for a bit and started on one of my many Xmas gift projects . . .

 

This ABC chart is actually from the same magazine and designed by Lucie Heaton . I have swapped some of the thread colours for some from my stash . I am going to have to order some more threads for some of my other xmas projects , so I'll try to use my stash whenever possible .

And just to let you all know - and to warn you , ha ha - I am a complete Christmas freak and there will probably be a lot of Christmassy posts coming up here in the next five months ! !

Happy Stitching !

Annie

A Finish: Lovebirds!

Hello Everyone!

 

Here's the Finish I promised you in the last post! It is called Lovebird Pair and is designed by Jenni Mills and the chart was published in The World of Cross Stitching (issue 199). I stitched it as a 50th birthday present for my very good friend's husband:)

 

This is a picture I took before I removed the stitched guide-lines and before I added...

 

 

...my friends' names and the Swedish words for 'Forever', and and washed, ironed and framed it:

I really enjoyed stitching this motive with all its bright colours, and the black backstitching really made the design stand out:)

 

My friends seemed really happy with the picture and made plans to hang it in their living room:))

 

Happy Stitching!

 

Annie 

Speaking of dogs . . . and a little XS : )

Hi all !

 

I have finished a project ! Yay !

Sadly I cannot show it here yet until I have given it to its recipient , but I am very pleased with it and all I have left to do is to frame it and give it away : ) Pictures coming soon , I promise ! !

 

I have also been stitching on my little dog : )

This project looked like this a few days ago . . .

 

 

. . . and then I stitched a bit on the top right corner . . .

 

. . . and on the bottom of the armchair . . .

 

. . . and on the cushion . . .

 

...so this is what it looks like right now :

 

I'm not sure I have ever enjoyed a cross stitch project as much as I am this one - it feels as if every cross stitch is stitched with love <3

 

Speaking of love , my oldest furbaby , my dearest friend , celebrated his tenth birthday yesterday !

 

He is my very first dog that I have owned myself . . .

 

. . . and I just cannot imagine my life without him !

 

Happy birthday , my very dearest , dearest friend !

May you run like this for a very very long time ! !

 

Happy Stitching Everyone ! ! !

 

Annie 

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