Christmas Ornaments – Page 3 – Feather Stitching

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Just Nan

Ladybug Santa

6 June, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I’ve been working on this little piece in my bedroom over the last week – it never ceases to amaze me how long it takes to stitch up such a little project, but that over-one stitching and all those colour changes really slows things down. All-in-all, though, I’m quite pleased with this one, and now all that is left is to finish-finish it into its little WhimZi Frame.

“Ladybug Santa” by Just Nan
stitched on 28ct Misty Blue Cashel linen
with recommended threads (DMC & Kreinik #4 braid)

That’s the entire stitching update for this weekend – the rest of the weekend was spent having a handyman come to visit to put the hot-water tap back on in the shower, then driving over to the other side of the world for a few hours to visit with my best friend’s Mum, Doreen, who’s here visiting for a couple of weeks. As we have a ‘date’ tonight, and we’re out Fri/Sat next weekend, this was the only opportunity I had to say hello – it was really lovely to see her again, albeit briefly 🙂

Tonight we’re off to the movies with a couple of hot guys … the most sexy and gorgeous gay couple we know (beautiful both inside and out) … first up is a quick bite to eat, then we’re off to see the Prince of Persia. The two boys and Katie can drool over Jake Gyllenhaal while I just enjoy the action (Jake just doesn’t do it for me, alas … although even I have to admit he looks better than normal in the trailer for this movie).

As for what else is happening – my new job finally got announced last Thursday night, and I went to my first offsite meeting with my new team members on Friday morning. Even though I don’t take on my new role officially until 1 July, it was good to get a heads-up of projects that are currently underway that I’ll be involved with when I start.

Weatherwise we’re all pretty sick of the torrential rains this week in Sydney – I don’t usually mind it too much (and it’s been raining on and off for a few weeks now), but this week has been especially horrendous. Have to admit, if we weren’t meeting Peter and John tonight, I would be very tempted to bail on going out to the movies … it’s totally yucky outside!

Anyway, there’s just enough time to watch another old episode of The Mentalist before I have to start getting ready … so I’d best get cracking …

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes, Jane Nicholas, Stumpwork, Works in Progress

Back from a mini blog break

1 June, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Thanks to those of you (including Mum) who have enquired as to my whereabouts, and wondering why I’ve been absent for an entire week – and also where the photo posts have disappeared to. To be honest I’ve just felt a bit burnt out computer-wise (and therefore blog-wise), and haven’t felt like sitting in front of the PC much over the last week or three … the Photo Hunt themes haven’t really inspired me much over the last couple of weeks, and I usually sit and post all my photo posts for the week at the same time as doing my Saturday Photo Hunt post … so therefore no other photo posts either.

Anyway, other than that life is OK – just very hectic at work, and there hasn’t been much energy left over at the end of the day to do much at all. I can’t even say there has been screeds and screeds of stitching done … although I do have two small finishes – one that I can share, and one that I can’t … and one new start.

So, first up, here’s the one I can share:

“Snow” freebie by Whispered by the Wind
(freebie is still available here)
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed opalescent lugana
with DMC B5200

Just love the sparkly blue fabric – the photo in no way does this one justice … although the opalescent fabric is a total b*tch to stitch on, and I’m not in a hurry to repeat the experience …

And here’s the one I can’t share:

Scissor Pocket Exchange
Mystery design by Mystery designer on Mystery fabric with Mystery thread … to a Mystery recipient …

Then I started a new project, trying to stitch up some of the projects that I’ve entirely kitted up with DMC, just so I can return all my skeins to my master collection … meaning I won’t be forever “losing” the colours I need to kit up a new start. Here’s my very VERY minimal start on Mirabilia’s Trick or Treat Fairy (magazine version) … currently also known as “The Blob”. I managed to add another three whole rows tonight, but didn’t think it would make much difference to the photo!

And lucky last, here is a very very VERY old UFO that hasn’t seen the light of day since, well quite frankly I can’t remember when … all of a sudden I started getting the urge to finish off one of my oldest UFOs, and choose a project to challenge myself, and this is probably the closest to an actual finish of any of my ‘big’ stumpwork pieces … so I’m thinking perhaps I should bite the bullet and finish this little baby off. It will mean, though, getting my Jane Nicholas reference books out and jogging my memory on how to do all the stitches, but that’s what challenges are for right? Here are how all the various components look at this stage … with many more little petals and insects yet to be stitched up and finished! (Unfortunately the fluffed up bee body is looking a bit worse for wear after being in storage for months and in and out of boxes … but it should hopefully all work out once it gets trimmed back into the little bee body shape … fingers crossed anyway!)

So, be warned, and don’t expect too much progress too quickly … the one thing I find with stumpwork is that for me it seems to take an absolute aeon to finish one teeny tiny little piece of stitching, so this is one project that you won’t be seeing finished any time soon!

And on that note I think it’s time to bid you farewell again for the night – no guarantees when I’ll be back online again … but at least you know I’m still alive 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Freebies, Just Nan, Lizzie Kate, Works in Progress

Where did the weekend go?

16 May, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Well, I guess I know where … I spent the entire day in my PJ’s on Saturday ‘cos I was just too tired to do anything else – I sat up in bed most of the day and watched DVDs while doing a teeny bit of stitching. After playing in my stash for a little while (dragging out all the kitted up projects in my drawers) I managed to start and finish this little project (but couldn’t face leaving the American spelling of “favorite” so I added a little “U” to Aussie-fy it):

“My Favorite Time” by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on 28ct mystery Cashel linen (probably Clay or something similar)
with recommended GAST threads except Oatmeal where I subbed with DMC B5200

Then I started on a freebie by Plum Pudding Needleart – which will only take one more bedroom stitching session to totally complete it. In fact, I reckon about 2 hours of stitching will likely see it completed … but seeing as it’s now my ‘bedroom project’, and I don’t often stitch in my room, this may not see the finishing pile until next weekend again.

This morning Katie and I wandered over to the restaurant on ‘our’ beach where we had a leisurely brunch – I had the Eggs Benedict with a side of mushrooms, pineapple juice, and two skim cappuccinos … we were in heaven for a wee while. On the way home we picked up a couple of bags each of groceries from the local supermarket, then came in to vege out in front of the gogglebox for a few hours watching Flash Forward and The Amazing Race while I did a bit of stitching. After that Katie deserted me to go to her bedroom to read a book, while I cleaned up another episode of Good News Week, Fringe and Medium.

Thanks to our TV viewing session, the result is that Ghastly Ghostly Ghouls now looks like this:

I have to say I think the colour choices in particular for the two small pumpkins seem rather “odd” … but they’ll be staying as they are …

And now I’m going to open up Audible Manager and pop on an audiobook for an hour or two while I do some tidying up in my room, which is currently like a pigsty! 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishing, Gift of Stitching, Pay It Forward, pillows, pincushions, Stitching Smalls, tin topper, Works in Progress

Final day of finishing

26 April, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

Wow, what a spectacular weekend I’ve had finishing-wise – I’ve really enjoyed sitting around in my PJ’s and scruffy clothes on my own all weekend and concentrating on my finishing efforts. As the hours went on, I felt more confident again in doing finishing – and I’m thinking perhaps I should assign one weekend a month to doing the same thing …

Here are the final efforts from today’s finishing session – there is still one pincushion left to show, but I still have to stitch on the cord edging before I can claim it as being finish-finished 🙂

1 more Christmas ornament
(excuse the greenish tinge, it’s actually white fabric!)

1 tie-on Easter pillow (certainly not my best ever finishing!)

My first Pay It Forward completed (with my tea-dyed lace)
(name removed so the recipient can be surprised)

1 Tin Topper – LOVE this one –
I’ve been meaning to turn this into a tin topper for EVER!
(now I just need to find some magnet strips for the lid –
I’m sure I have some hiding away somewhere)

And I also ‘forced’ myself to sit and watch a bit of vintage TV tonight while I sat and stitched for about 2 hours … I’ve been working my way through The Professionals on DVD – from waaaaay back in the 70’s, this used to be one of my absolute favourite shows in my youth. I had the biggest crush on Bodie (Lewis Collins) at the time … and now just giggle a bit at the outlandish clothes and tight pants 😛

At least that vintage TV session gave me chance to put a few more stitches into Just Nan’s Ghastly Ghostly Ghouls – I managed to complete one side of the garden fencing, and planted a tree (well, OK, maybe HALF a tree!) 😀

And do you remember I said I’d mislaid my teeny white buttons for Lizzie*Kate’s Boo Club? Hmmm, I guess I was a bit smarter than I thought – I found them hiding where they actually should be … in my embellishments box … hmmm. Anyway, I’ve now thrown in my little black buttons with them too, so during my next stitching session I’ll be tossing up between Sapphire Star, Ghastly Ghostly Ghouls and Boo Club – oh, decisions, decisions 😛

Tomorrow it’s time to back to work again – where I will be putting my hand up for another 12 month secondment (that is of course if I actually get offered it) … it’s basically doing the same job that I’m doing now, and working within the same team, but being paid for by another department and working purely on their projects for 12 months – which means additional exposure to a different side of the business and chance to become more focused (plus it’s a side of the business I’m the most knowledgeable about). It’s going to be a massive 12 months, going by what I’ve heard about so far, but at least it’ll be a subject I enjoy … I guess I can only stick my hand up and say I’m interested and then see what happens … 😀

Boo Club, Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Little House Needleworks, Lizzie Kate, pinkeeps, Prairie Schooler, Stitching Smalls, Works in Progress

A very productive start to the weekend

25 April, 201025 February, 2012 Anne S

During the week I managed a little more stitching on Lizzie*Kate’s Boo Club – I’m definitely much happier with the project with the border on it. I’ve now halted progression as I can’t find (so what’s new these days???) the little while buttons I bought weeks ago for it. As soon as I find the little buttons I’ll pick it up again. I’m being difficult to myself and wanting to finish-finish each section as I roll it up the scrollbars … yes, I can be quirky and pedantic when I have my heart set on something! So this has been deleted to the corner basket while I continue my search for the little white buttons 😉

This weekend is a long weekend for us in Sydney (and most of Australia) – and with Katie gone all weekend, I’ve had my heart set on doing some finishing this weekend while I’m free to make as much mess as I want and be able to concentrate on what I’m doing, and so far those plans have come to fruition.

On Friday night I managed to finally finish 10 Christmas ornies that Mum had stitched for me – these have been in various states of finishing for the last few weeks, and it’s really lovely to see them finally finished 😀

I also managed to finally finish-finish my Blueberries by LHN into a pinkeep – this has actually been finished for a couple of months now, but I was never happy with the trim I used – finally I decided to rip it apart and used a plain ribbon that matched the thread colours instead … while it’s a lot plainer than the fancy trim I originally used, I’m much happier with it now 🙂

Yesterday pretty much my entire day was spent doing this …

… doing hemstitching on 4 x Shepherd’s Bush needlerolls (and the rest of the finishing). I really hate doing hemstitching because my left hand cramps up when I’m holding onto the fabric – I enjoy doing the stitching itself, though, as you get into quite a good rhythm once you’ve done the first few stitches … I just hate having to hold it in hand and having to de-cramp my hand every 10 stitches! Anyway, at least I have another 4 items out of the finishing box. I’ll add the photos to a separate post as this one is quite picture-heavy already!

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes, Lizzie Kate, Victoria Sampler, Works in Progress

A project returns as a WIP

20 April, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Last year I finished all of the stitching on Lizzie*Kate’s Boo Club, but I was given the used charts on loan and had to find my own buttons – I’ve eventually narrowed the search down and found suitable substitutes, and thought I’d start stitching them on tonight instead of doing some actual stitching … I’d just finished attaching ribbon hangers onto about 10 Prairie Schooler ornies that Mum gave me to be finished, and couldn’t find my felt for the backings, but wasn’t really in the mood to ‘stitch’ …

Well, I was never entirely sure whether to stitch the border on this piece and instead thought I’d use a ribbon stitched down … tonight I decided it really would look much nicer with the border stitched in place, so back it went onto some scrollbars and I’ve decided to stitching the border at the same time as adding the buttons … what was originally going to be about an hour’s worth of ‘finishing’ to complete this piece has now turned into a week (or more) worth of stitching. I think I’ll be much happier with it now, though 😀

As you can see from the photo, I didn’t get too far with the border stitching tonight, although not too bad considering … and 2 buttons down, 22 left to go …

I managed to snap a better photo yesterday of the Pin Pillow Exchange that I received (a HUGE yay for finding my little elusive Lumix), so I could finally do justice to the beautiful stitching and finishing.

I hadn’t noticed before how perfectly DMC 927 matches my bedroom duvet cover … I’m thinking a lovely sampler in this colour (along with the beige) just might look ever so lovely in my bedroom and now my mind is starting to work overtime and think of potential candidates! I’m thinking perhaps a nice Quaker design maybe … hmmmm …

While I had the camera out I also managed to take a better close-up shot of my finished heart from the Beyond Cross Stitch series by The Victoria Sampler – here is a nicer photo of my finish, and the beautiful specialty stitches on this piece. Sorry scanner, but your scans just can’t compare to the clarity of my little Lumix, even in crappy lighting!

Thank you to everyone who has voted to date for whether or not I should continue to combine both my loves of stitching and photography in this blog – it seems the majority agree with my gut feeling, which is to leave things as they are … apologies to those of you who prefer to see stitching only, but I’ve decided to leave things “as is” for the time being. I really appreciate you all taking the time to complete the poll, though!

Have a wonderful rest of the week everyone 😀

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Victoria Sampler

Beyond XS

7 April, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I got halfway through this post when my PC screen fizzed and died completely … so I may be offline for a wee while until I can afford to buy a new screen. Unfortunately my laptop is totally temperamental and keeps shutting itself down (I think the hard drive is on its last legs), so I don’t know how stable it will be over the coming hours, never mind the coming weeks. Alas I’m down to the last $20 in my wallet after spending more than expected recently, so not sure how quickly I’ll get the money together (my recent stash splurges cleaned me out hmmm).

Anyway, I’d better quickly get this post finished before my laptop dies again … here is my latest finish, hot off the Qsnaps today – once again I’ve opted for a scan instead of a photo, as it’s quite dark in here. If I remember, I’ll take some ‘real’ photos later 🙂

“Beyond XS #3-1 – Whipped Spider Web Rose” by The Victoria Sampler
stitched on 25ct white Lugana with kit threads and charm

I’m not sure what I’ll pick up to work on next – I think I’ll try to continue having a small project or two on the go for when I’m stitching in my room, and perhaps leave my Mirabilia’s and Chatelaine’s for stitching in the lounge.

Now it’s time to jump on a website or two to price up screens so I know what I’m looking at pricewise (while my laptop is still working) – then I’ll be stash diving for a new project 🙂

Updated: Well, it appears that this morning my screen is working fine – I unplugged all the wires and put them all back in again, and it’s started up straightaway. Different to my laptop, which died in the middle of “publishing” my blog entry last night, so I couldn’t have priced up screens if I’d tried!! Fingers crossed this will keep working for a while yet – but in the meantime I’m going to print off my contacts list etc in case it does go out of action again!

Christmas Ornaments, Finishes, Needlerolls, Shepherd's Bush, Works in Progress

Halloween Roll

6 April, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I managed to complete some stitching today – here is my latest finish (my photography tonight was appalling, so I placed this one on the scanner):

“Halloween Roll” by Shepherd’s Bush
using kit fabric and threads (Tobacco linen and DMC)

Then I made a start on a Christmas ornament by The Victoria Sampler – with any luck this one won’t take too long to finish.

Stitching has been very cathartic for me today! 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Rosewood Manor

Last finish for a while

22 March, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

I think I may be at the end of my record-breaking run of wee finishes now … I stayed up late tonight to put the final beads onto my little ornie, making 4 finishes in as many days – woohoo! 😀

“Red Berries” by Rosewood Manor
from Issue 11, December 2006, Gift of Stitching magazine
with DMC 221 and Hand Dyed Fibers premium silk “Jewel Weed”
stitched on 28ct white Cashel linen

I really should learn to take photos in daylight, instead of 11.30pm under bright light globes! It really doesn’t do this piece justice, as the beads are a beautiful metallic red. I have to admit, though, if I were to do this piece again, I would probably forget about the ‘star/snowflake’ things in the corners, as it seems a bit overcrowded and overpowering to me … but all in all I’m relatively happy with it 🙂

Now I have the quandary of what to work on next … I’m pretty keen to work on a number of projects, and the main ones that are calling me are probably the following:

Ghastly Ghostly Ghouls – Just Nan
Hocus Pocus – Lizzie*Kate
Winter Snapperland – Bent Creek
Ladybug, Ladybug – Little House Needleworks
2008 Halloween Fairy – Mirabilia (magazine chart)
Halloween Needleroll – Shepherd’s Bush
Quaker Huswif – Sampler Cove

And the list goes on … and on … and on …

Ah, decisions, decisions … 😛

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, JBW Designs

Prancer

21 March, 20106 April, 2014 Anne S

Here’s my latest wee finish – I was able to complete the stitching last night after picking up the elusive DMC 368, then I put the beads on this morning. It was supposed to be stitched 1 over 1, but I wimped out and stitched it over-two on 28ct, then just increased the bead size from 40123 to 00123 instead.

“Prancer” by JBW Designs
from 2004 JCS Christmas Ornie issue
stitched on 28ct white Cashel linen
with recommended DMC and Mill Hill beads

Now I’m off to find the ever-elusive bag of beads that I’ve already lost once, then I found them last weekend and put them somewhere safe … I should have known I was in trouble at that point, as “somewhere safe” usually means the equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle … only I can lose something twice in as many weeks!!! … ho-hum

In fact, I might just hold off the search party and go and have some brunch across the road first, then I may even put together my bookcase … and then I’ll decide whether to start the search party again for my bead bag, or whether to sit in the lounge and finish off Boo! 🙂

Updated: Hmmmm, I’ve just decided to check out my camera settings to work out why all my photos seem to be washed out just lately … sure enough at some stage I’ve managed to change my exposure settings permanently … now I’ve put it back to “0” adjustment, the photos are coming out more more crisply, so I’ve re-uploaded the Prancer photos – slightly darker fabric, but definitely a lot clearer on the beading detail!