Beading, Cross Stitch, Works in Progress

Updated pic of Acorn Needlebook

Here’s a better view of the finished section of Periwinkle Promises’ Acorn Needlebook:

P1020815

You may/may not be able to tell, but the different green is in the final leaf on the top right of the centre acorn section, along with the backstitching on the top half of the same stem.

So far no more stitching done tonight as I ended up taking photos of my scissors fobs (I’d actually made more over the weekend than I remembered) – and I made another two identical copies of one of them tonight as I love the blend of the beads together … unfortunately I’ve now run out of those beads, which is a shame 😦

And I’ve also run out of camera battery … now all I have to do is find my battery charger … LOL – I feel like I’m living in the Bermuda Triangle right about now!!! 😛

Before my battery ran out, though, I did manage to grab a really quick of two pairs of earrings I made for myself recently too … there just may be a few more pairs in the making soon too – I’d forgotten just how much fun making jewellery can be! 😀

P1020814

Beading, scissor fobs

Gift for Tessa

Just a really quick post to show a scissor fob that I sent to Tessa last week – I’ve just heard that it’s been received in one piece, so I can show it now.  Tessa loves ladybirds, so when I saw these ladybird beads a while ago, I just had to get them – and then decided to make one into a fob for Tessa … I was lucky enough to find a ladybird charm to finish it all off 😀 

Glad you like it Tessa 😀

Scissor fob gift H

Beading, Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED, scissor fobs, threads

HUGE mail day coming up! and a Giveaway

I don’t know what has been wrong with me this last year – I’ve been exceptionally terrible at fulfilling promises, and have a HUGE pile of items and gifts that need to be posted to people – I have a massive desire to get rid of the backlog, as it is cluttering my brain (not to mention my bedroom!), so I’ve been making a large effort today to get a few things parcelled up ready to go into the mail next weekend.

Along with that, I’ve realised that I will never stitch with the following threads – I apologise to the kind-hearted soul who sent me these as part of a “summer” theme exchange years ago, but I’m just not a pastels girl, and I just can’t see me using them.  To that end, I have a card already filled out, and the threads are sitting in an envelope, ready to join the rest of the pile to be posted out next Saturday morning (the only chance I can usually get to the Post Office) – and I’m offering a prize draw for these to go to a more fitting home.

Seaside Treasures threads up for grabs

Soooooo, if anyone would like these threads, please leave a comment on this post only stating that you would like to go into the draw (if there is more than one comment – if only one person enters then they get the threads automatically).  The closing date is this coming Thursday 1 October – that way I can draw the name out of the proverbial hat on Friday morning and it will give me chance to chase a mailing address on the Friday if I don’t already have it, so I can meet my mailing deadline.

As for the other parcels, there are a number of threads and scissor fobs heading around the world on Saturday … here is the only one I can show you so far, as I’m pretty sure Karen doesn’t read my blog.  I just had to choose a dragonfly charm for her fob in honour of her old shop name of Dragonfly Dreams – I made this one this morning just in time to get in the mail today, along with the Lizzie*Kate pinkeep from a few blog posts ago 😀

Scissor fob gift G
This one has gone to Karen at The Stitching Post

I’ll post piccies of the others that have been posted out once I hear that they’ve been received … I don’t want to spoil the surprise in the meantime.

Beading, Gifts TO BE FIXED, Home & Family TO BE FIXED

First fob gift received

I just heard word that Dawn received the fob I recently sent her – this is the first fob to be posted on to my blogging friends, and I’m so glad she likes it 🙂

Gift for Dawn 07Sep09

Apologies for the poor quality, but I’ve mislaid my digital camera, so it had to go on the scanner before it went into the post! 

Still no stitching done here, so no stitchy updates to offer you – at the moment I’m spending all my spare time trying to set up a new computer (HP Desktop), and it’s driving me totally NUTS!!!  Fun things like CD programs that no longer want to upload, including Microsoft Office 2007 (after I found the ever-elusive disks!!) … and of course then there’s the fun part of downloading other files and copying existing files from the laptop and hard drive … I think it’s going to be a long, long road … but then again, it’s a great journey and the end destination is going to be awesome!! 😀

Beading, scissor fobs

Beading – More Fobs

Now I’m off to investigate the creation of my soon-to-be Etsy store. Here are the latest ones that I put together yesterday while Katie and I sat watching Supernatural series 4 (again), along with a couple of my favourite ones from the last two beading sessions (actually I just realised I hadn’t published those ones yet, so I’ll add the ‘group shots’ of those ones too at the bottom).

fobs 01aug09

Fob 01

fob 04a

fob 21a

fob 26a

fob 01a

fob 05a

fob 08a

fob 09a

fob 10a

fob 11a

More fobs 1

More fobs 2

Beading, Finishes, Finishing, scissor fobs, Stash

Beaded Scissor Fobs and some Stash

I’ve just managed to pop into the lounge to take photos of the scissor fobs I made last night – as you can see from the main photo, they ended up a real mixed bag in terms of length … there definitely will be more coming ‘cos they’re so much fun to make!  Now I know why some of my other stitching pals (Hi Cindy!) find these so addictive!! 😀

beaded scissor fobs

And here’s an individual photo of each fob so you can see the bead choices more clearly.

beaded scissor fob 1

beaded scissor fob 2

beaded scissor fob 3

beaded scissor fob 4

beaded scissor fob 5

beaded scissor fob 6

beaded scissor fob 7

I really do need to go shopping to get more clear beads etc, though, as I have an over-abundance of blue beads (funny that!) but not so many ‘fillers’ … I’m soooooo tempted to go back to the craft show today!! 😛

And finally, here’s all I have to show from the Craft & Quilt Fair yesterday – including a piece of the world’s largest ric-a-rac, and some more Swiss lace for Shepherd’s Bush needlerolls (can never have too much!!), and my squillions of ‘pandora’ beads … many of these beads are destined for other uses, eg fobs, but I did buy a bracelet while I was there yesterday too … and yes, there is rather an overload of turquoise and blue!! 😉

stash haul from Craft and Quilt Fair Jun09

Finally, here’s the sum total of my week’s stitching – one more tiny addition to Chatelaine’s Stitching Leporello. I just had the border left to stitch and the beads/metallics on it’s companion piece, which will hopefully be finished by the end of tonight … after that I will be trying to make some more progress during the week of my Sweetheart Tree UFO, Wildflowers Needleroll (which I started here in the flat while waiting for my furniture to arrive!).

Chatelaine's Stitching Leporello WIP 12Jun09

And now I’m about to, sadly, mark all my feeds as read in my feedreader, as it’s depressing the heck out of me – I’ve been trying hard to catch up on the backlog, but still have over 1700 unread feeds … I’m finally going to bite the bullet and wipe the slate clean, so I can continue to keep up with everyone’s news without feeling overwhelmed every day. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while but couldn’t bring myself to do it … but today is the day! I want to get back to commenting regularly again! So, in advance, I apologise if I’ve missed any major personal news, but I look forward to reading about you all regularly again 😀

Beading, Cross Stitch, Finishing, Mill Hill, pinkeeps, Stitching Smalls

Another finish-finish

Oh my goodness, I’ve had this piece of stitching sitting around for years and years … it was a Mill Hill kit that I bought back in the days when I used to stitch on Aida (shows you how long ago that was!) – it was also the first attempt I ever made at beading.  Unfortunately the silver beads have discoloured somewhat, and there were grubby marks on the sides of the fabric from when I used to use a hoop that would never come out … I decided today to finally make something out of it and opted for a pinkeep.  Who would’ve known such a scruffy piece of stitching would look so beautiful made up??!  I was pleasantly surprised with the result – and knew that lovely ribbon trip would come in handy one day! 😀

Here are a few piccies of the resulting piece – I love this one!! 😀

MH pinkeep 1

MH pinkeep 2

MH pinkeep 3

MH pinkeep 4

MH pinkeep 5

MH pinkeep 6

Apricot Elegance, Beading, Bullion roses, Canvaswork, Chatelaine, Cindy Valentine, Cross Stitch, Egyptian Garden Mandala, English Garden Sampler, Goldwork, Graeme Ross, Hussif, Jane Nicholas, JBW Designs, Le Jardin Silk Sampler, Lorri Birmingham, Martha Schmidt, Noah's Ark, Quilting, Rotation, Ruth Schmuff, Stoney Creek, Stumpwork, Sweetheart Tree, Teresa Wentzler, Textile Heritage, Wool embroidery, Works in Progress

WIP’s and UFO’s

This is especially for Kathy of the Blig Blog … here are photos of the current state of all my UFO’s (I could pretend that they were WIP’s but seeing as the majority haven’t seen a stitch put into them in over 12 months, 95% would definitely be deemed as UFO status!):

Macaw by Ross Originals Beaded Fish WIPs
Macaw -&- Beaded Fish

EG-01May07 TW English Garden Sampler
Egyptian Garden Mandala -&- English Garden Sampler

Le Jardin Silk Sampler 21Jan05 Flight of the Bumblebees at 2Jan07
Le Jardin Silk Sampler -&- Flight of the Bumblebees

TW Noahs Ark Winter Queen 01Jun08 1
Noah’s Ark -&- Winter Queen

Designs by Lena Rose-In the Dark needleroll 1 With Love & Affection
In the Dark Needleroll -&- Love & Affection

st-wildflower-needleroll Apricot Elegance
Wildflowers Needleroll -&- Apricot Elegance

Hussif by Monica Hunt XS Bookmark
Monica Hunt Hussif -&- Classical Garden Bookmark

Nature's Resting Place Beehive Needlecase
Nature’s Resting Place -&- Wool Beehive Needlebook

Oriental Poppy & Cornflower Summer Fruits
Oriental Poppy -&- Summer Fruits Pincushion

Pomegranates, Snail & Gold Bug HOCS Hussif
Pomegranates & Beetle – Martha Schmidt Hussif

Thimble Pipkin Thimble Pipkin Thimble Pipkin
Stumpwork Needlework Accessories

Goldwork Pea Pods Wool Embroidery
Goldwork Pea -&- Wool hot water bottle cover

Honesty & Heartsease stumpwork Bullion Roses
Honesty & Heartsease -&- Bullion Rose Facecloth

Frog Longstitch Butterflies & Hearts needleroll
Long stitch frogs -&- Butterflies & Hearts Needleroll

Dragonfly Common Hawker Dragonfly
Stumpwork Dragonfly

Berry Delightful Bag Mediterranean XS
Berry Delightful Bag -&- Mediterranean Village XS

quilting-ufo-2
Vicki’s Cot Quilt

Stitching Leporello isn’t included in the photos, as I’ve been stitching a complete section each time, so no individual section is in progress at the moment. And I can’t put my hands to either a photo or the actual project of GCC Ornamental Delights, so I guess that one won’t be getting stitched in a hurry haha.

Very sad that some of these projects are over halfway and never finished, however there are many there that are barely started … I’m sorely tempted to just unpick the bullion rose facecloth, for example, as I don’t know if I truly ever want to finish it, the same with a couple more projects in there … will see how I feel after one more stitching session on them, I guess, before I make the ultimate decision to turf out. It’s funny when you look back through the photos and remember why you stopped working on them … for example the Lorri Birmingham Butterflies & Hearts needleroll, I really hated the colours used, as I felt the wording etc just faded into the background, so no doubt that whole piece will be unpicked and started again from scratch with my choice of threads 🙂

I’ve already gone out and pulled numbers out of the hat for the first round, and highlighted the text in bold in the main list in the previous post … and I’m really looking forward to starting my rotation – I just want to finish my current piece first … although I guess I could just choose to start at the “free choice” slot and start counting my hours, that way I can continue with my current project and be starting my actual rotation at the same time – ooh, I like it when a plan comes together!!! 😀

That means my new current rotation is as follows:

  1. Focus Piece:  CA Wells class projects
  2. Medium/Large:  Lavenderblue Celtic Knot Quilt – From Nancy’s Needle
  3. WIP’s/UFO’s:  Berry Delightful Bag
  4. Focus Piece:  CA Wells class projects
  5. Small/Medium: Jumpin’ Jelly Beans – DKT Originals (freebie)
  6. Large/BAP’s:  Egyptian Garden Mandala
  7. Focus Piece:  CA Wells class projects
  8. Christmas Ornaments
  9. Finishing
  10. Free Choice