I'm soo excited...!

Hello Everyone!

I've had nice quiet week which thankfully meant lots of time for stitching. Instead of working on a large piece though, I felt like stitching some smalls. Here are a couple of them finished:

They are from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 301 (designer: Fiona Crouch), and the best thing about these designs is that the threads were provided as a freebie gift with the magazine! Hopefully I can turn these into some nice gifts for birthdays and Christmas:)

However, the most exciting thing that has happened this week is that I have finally placed an order for a couple of Prarie Schooler charts and some other stash!!! Thanks to a month with slightly more money left over, I jumped at the chance to buy some more charts! Of course I went a bit crazy when ordering (why pay for postage more than once lol??), so the rest of the month will be a struggle financially...but I just don't care! I just can't wait to get my hands on the charts, and I order some threads too so I can start stitching at once and also finish my Cosy cushion:) The next few weeks will certainly drag before I get my treasures LOL!

Hope you're all finding some time for stitching this weekend!

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

A few of my WIPs . . .

Hi Everyone !

OMG , you should see the state of my livingroom table ! ! ! Or maybe not . . . ha ha !
It is totally covered with Zip Lock plastic bags filled with a variety of different cross stitch projects . . . One day I may be brave enough to share a picture of my own personal WIP chaos , ha ha , but today is not the day : ) )

I cannot show you ALL of my Xmas gift projects , but luckily there are still plenty of WIPs whose future recipients won't read this blog .

So here are a few of my WIPs screaming for attention on my livingroom table . . .

 

I have shown you these before . They are freebie gift tags designed by Fiona Crouch from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 286 . I have now finished these and I am in the process of thinking of how to use these charts again for more gift tags - hence the WIP status : ) I loved stitching these simple yet Xmassy  designs , but instead of stitching with red thread on white aida , I think I'm going to stitch them on red aida fabric with white thread . That should be equally Xmassy , don't you think ? ! Or I might stitch these designs using metallics . . . If I am going to make gift tags for all my Xmas gifts I still have about 40 to do so wish me luck : )

 



These strawberries ( designed by Lucie Heaton in Cross Stitcher magazine issue 239) you have seen before too , but now I have started the backstitch on the first few . And you were all right ; they benefited from some backstitch : ) I have now stiched 6 berries and I have at least 6 more to stitch . . . Boring , but I must say that they look yummie , so I am pleased with the progress :)

Those of you who take part in the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 recognize this Prairie Schooler Santa , which is going to be my ornament for August : ) I love working on this Santa ( from Cross Stitch Collection magazine issue 243 ) and I am really looking forward to do the other two designs featured in the magazine : )

 

This ABC I found in Cross Stitch Collection magazine issue 246. I loved these pretty Zweigart letters, but I realised too late that I should have stitched them on coloured aida instead of the white aida band . . . I just wasn't thinking . . !  As this looks , you can hardly make out the pretty LITTLE flowers, nor the blue backstitch . Bummer ! However, I will carry on with this particular aida band , and maybe I'll stitch it onto a blue towel to bring out the blue in the letters . But next time I use this pretty ABC it will definitely not be on white aida !

 

At last I just have to show you my progress on Joan Elliott's Christmas Fairy ( from Cross Stitch Crazy magazine issue 159 ) ! I'm a huge Christmas nerd (I even have my own Christmas blog ) and in the evenings I have started to watch some Xmas movies and lit some scented Christmas Candles and then stitched on my Xmas Fairy . Therefore progress has been good : ) This is another project that I am totally in love with , so I am very happy that I have been able to find some special time in the day when I work solely on this Fairy , just for myself : )

That is all from me for this time : )

Happy Stitching!

Annie

Aida band projects!

Hi Everyone !

The last few days I have started to stitch on my old unused aida bands . Since I find counts smaller than 14-count way too fiddly , I was a bit scared of stitching on the bands . However , it was much easier than I thought ; the needle just glided through the aida holes and it wasn't tricky to count the squares either : ) The only thing I found a bit tricky was fastening my threads since the stitches are quite small on the back . . . How on earth do you guys manage to fasten threads on 18-count ? ! !

Anyway , one of the projects I started are these strawberries designed by Lucie Heaton from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 239 . I have yet to add some little white backstitch on the berries to create some texture . The strawberries are also outlined with backstitch , but I am not sure whether I am going to add it or not . . . I kind of like how they look now : ) It's also quicker to skip the backstitch . . . What do you all think I should do ? ?

Once I had stitched two strawberries , I realised that I should have added a little bit more space between them than what it was in the original design . Now I have to stitch quite a few berries to cover the width of a towel . . .bummer!

I have also started on this ABC design by Lesley Teare in Cross Stitcher magazine issue 289 . I really like this alphabet because it is quick to stitch and doesn't use too many colours AND looks really swee t! I have a feeling I am going to be using these letters a lot this autumn...:))

 

I think the biggest issue I am going to find with the aida bands is that I do not like to stitch any design

more than once - it is boring ! However , I have a feeling I am going to have to ignore those feelings this autumn too if I want to get any Xmas gifts stitched . . .

 

I really wanted to stitch some Xmas designs today too , so I decided to stitch a bit on these gift tags designed by Fiona Crouch from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 286 .

 

A easy, quick Xmas project to pick up now and then in between all my other projects : ) )

While I stitch two of my furbabies almost always rest with me on the sofa .
One of them like to rest his head on my legs (whilst hiding under a blanket) . . .

...and the other one by my right side:))

 

It is very soothing to be surrounded by my babies whilst I stitch away:)