Christmas Tree!

Just a photo of me with my tree :-)

Christmas cards

The last of my Christmas stitching! All free kits from magazines.

Christmas tree craft

Just some close ups of my home made tree decorations.

Heart Sampler

This is a design from the latest issue of Cross Stitcher. I fancied doing something in one colour although it was blue in the original design. I will turn it into a hanger.

Santa decoration for a friend

Here is another Christmas decoration I made. I'm going to give it to my friend at work who knitted me a beautiful Remembrance day poppy.

Recent finishes

So recently I have done a little bit of Christmas stitching which I love. I bought some charts from a craft fayre I went to which is where I got the design for the Christmas present card from. I bought Krenik metallic threads to use on it and they were so fiddly! Took three times as long to stitch with those.

I then stitched one of the free designs which came with Cross Stitcher magazine this month. I don't normally buy that one but they have nice designs at Christmas tine.

Lastly my sister's boyfriend is graduating next week so I have adapted a design from an old magazine. I'm going to put his name and degree title on it and turn it into a card later today.

Heart hanging

My engagement present from Jenny :-)

Polar bear decoration!

This is what I spent yesterday doing! Turned a magazine design into a christmas decoration, using plastic aida and white adhesive felt.

First attempt at decopatch

Today my mum and I have given decopatch a go! She had the owl and I had a the giraffe. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. We've ordered some Christmas decorations and paper to have a go at!

Finished Christmas owl!

Here he is, backed onto red sticky felt.

Recent finishes

Just a photo of finished pieces!

Christmas owl

This weekend I have started stitching a Christmas tree decoration for my mum. I have used plastic canvas to give it a sturdier feel. Here is my progress so far!

Weekend stitching!

I've been lucky to have a bit of free time to stitch this weekend and this is what I have achieved! The penguin kit was free with this month's Cute Cross stitch magazine and I used the home sweet home design from an old issue of Cross Stitch Crazy but changed the colours. The card is for a friend at work.

Engagement invitations

I have a good proportion of the afternoon making invitations for mine and Jack's engagement do! I bought all the stuff from hobbycraft this morning and I am really pleased with how they've turned out!

Birthday present!

Jack surprised me with a lovely sewing machine for my birthday at the beginning of August! Off to Hobbycraft tomorrow to buy some bits to practice with!

A special wedding gift

Here is the finished stitch, framed and ready!

Update on wedding stitch!

I have almost finished!! Just got the back stitch on the champagne flutes to do. Working out where to place the writing has taken a long time to get right as I have changed the words from the original design.

Thank you card

Thank you card for my teaching assistant. I adapted a design from Cross Stitch Crazy magazine.

Wedding cross stitch so far

Here is a picture of a wedding cross stitch I am doing for my friend's wedding. I have used sparkly fabric and the hearts were stitched with one strand of pearl and one strand of gold. This hasn't taken me long to do so I should finish in no time. I have included a picture of what it will look like in the end.

Birthday pig

Here is a card I made for my cousin! Didn't take long at all.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I have finally finished my cross stitch for my friend Kelly who had a little girl last Tuesday. I stitched the name in a nice girly purple to match the attenae. Now I can't wait to give it to her when I see her next weekend! I might even try to take a photo of it with baby Tillie and send it off to a magazine.

Prizes!

I have just received all these goodies in the post for having my letter published in The World of Cross Stitching magazine. It includes: a Lickle Ted kit and chart, a chart of two sisters on a sofa, craft creations baby girl toppers, some flower buttons and a DMC countryside chart book. Can't believe how much they sent me!

Welcome to our house

This is the first stitch I am keeping for myself! The pattern came from a book I was bought by a friend for Christmas. I started it back in December and have come back to it in between other projects-it was my mission to complete it this half term! It's now sitting pride of place on my shelving unit.

Fishing boat framed.

Here is the fishing boat I have been working on for Father's Day! I am really happy with how it looks in the frame and mount. Just got to wait a few weeks to give it to him!

Anniversary card

Here is a picture of the anniversary card I stitched for my parents. I used a kit which came with a previous issue of The World of Cross Stitching magazine. It was my first experience of adding beads to the design, I'll definitely give it another go! 

Little sailing boat

Here is a picture of my progress so far on my little sailing boat. The background is mostly half stitches in pastel colours whereas the boat uses full stitches in bolder colours. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but it's on lilac aida too! The plan is to give this to my dad for Father's Day.

Cupcake exchange

Here is a picture of the card I was sent by Lorraine from the cross stitch forum. I love the different shades of red and is a really nice design. Thank you!

Paramedic stitches!

Here are a few designs from The world of cross stitching magazine #200. I did them for Jack but I'm not quite sure what to do with them now!

Pretty colours!

I came home to a nice little parcel containing my new threads to stitch a cupcake from The World of Cross Stitching magazine. I already had some of the colours i need but i was missing these ones. They look very pretty altogether so I'm excited to see how my cupcake turns out!

Finished card!

Here is a finished picture of the birthday card I have stitched up this week. Now who should I give it to?!?

Cute doggy!

I have been working on this little cross stitch today after finishing my mammoth load of marking. It was a free kit in Cross Stitch card shop and it's taken about 4 or 5 hours so far. Still got to do the back stitching which I will do tomorrow.

Cat card!

Here is a quick finish stitch from Cross Stitch Crazy magazine. It only took a couple of hours. I needed to stitch something small whilst I'm in the middle of a bigger project!

Stitch show!

Just got home from a brilliant day out at Olympia for the Spring stitching show. There were so many types of craft on show! Very inspiring, there just aren't enough hours in the day to do it all. I spent around £50 on these bits and pieces:
A seat frame and clamp
Anchor Wedding cross stitch kit
Derwentwater boat cross stitch kit
Sparkly cream aida
A magnetic board
2 lots of happy birthday stickers
Needle threaders
Glue

Not bad!! Will be booking up to go in October too.

Easter card in the post!

I was really excited when i got home and saw a package waiting for me! It was a beautiful easter card for the easter exchange on the cross stitch forum. I am currently munching on the mini eggs that came with it!

Mum's Birthday Card

This is a card I have made for my mum's birthday. The design comes from a booklet which came with Cross Stitch Crazy magazine. It took about 2 hours to do. I tweaked the colours slightly according to what I had in my stash!

Welcome to our home

Here is an ongoing project I keep stopping and coming back to. This design is by Helen Philipps and comes from a book Dawn and Mark bought me for Christmas. I can't wait to display it as my only cross stitches so far have been for other people!
I have stitched it on rustic looking aida as suggested by the designer. Gives it a nice authentic feel. I will post an updated picture when I have finished :-)

Easter bunny!

Hi! This is my first attempt at a card  I got quite excited and bought loads of aperture cards and am in the process of making another one for my mum's birthday!

Mother's Day Teapot

Hi everyone!
Here is one of my most recent projects, it's from issue 200 of The World of Cross Stitching. It was lovely to stitch, I like the selection of pastel colours it uses. The flowery pattern adds a nice touch. It is a gift for my mum for mother's day so I hope she can find somewhere to hang it!

Winnie the Pooh!

Cross stitch: Classic Pooh Birth Sampler.
Date started: 4th January 2013
Date finished: 3rd February 2013
Size: 20 x 20cm
Colours: 21
Material: 16ct aida

Now i have given this as a christening present i can blog it!
This is my second cross stitch kit and was a christening gift. The backstitch of the reeds was particularly tricky!

Now my next project will be something for Mothers Day, then Easter!

My first cross stitch kit!

Forever Friends 21st Birthday

Date started: 16th December 2012
Date finished: 1st January 2013
Size: 12.5 x 12.5cm
Colours: 17
Material: 14 ct aida

For my sister's 21st birthday, I decided to cross stitch a cute little forever friends bear. As it was my first cross stitch kit, I went for a fairly small design and one without french knots!  Once it was finished, I displayed it in a silver frame. She was very pleased with it!

Forever friends cross stitch