Cross Stitch, Finishes, Gifts TO BE FIXED

The Secret can be shared!

Yay, I received an email from the secret recipient of my gift piece to say it has finally arrived safely, so I can now reveal all! This little piece was meant as a cheer-up gift for our beloved BeckySC months ago – unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way, as I was trying to do it while I was really sick, and had a number of mishaps with it … when I ‘melted’ the blending filament on the wings, it was the final straw, and I couldn’t face it again for ages due to feeling so disappointed about it – but it finally got resurrected and fixed up, and got sent on its merry way to its intended recipient … I’m so so happy that it finally managed to reach Becky – better late than never πŸ˜‰ Anyway, here is the piccie from the scanner – try as hard as I might, I couldn’t get a clear photo on the camera … perhaps Becky will manage a better one πŸ™‚ It’s the first time I’ve ever sent a stitched gift to another stitcher, so I was a bit nervous – but pleased with the overall result πŸ™‚

Lana, good luck with stitching Dolphins Domain – I have to admit, it’s lovely when it’s stitched, but it can be pretty hard going with all those greys … I’m finding the best way to stitch it is to mix it in as a rotation with other smaller/brighter/more fun pieces. Looking forward to seeing it totally finished, though – it will be hard to part with it once it’s done, I think, but hopefully Vicki and John will love it seeing as they chose it as their wedding present years ago πŸ™‚

Sharon, if you want it, you’re more than welcome to my copy of Dolphins Domain when I’ve finished with it … hope you’re not in a huge hurry LOL. Seriously, though, I’m unlikely to ever stitch these critters again in this lifetime, even if I do think they’re lovely stitched.

For Cathy and Christine – “champers and panettone” is something new for us at Christmas this year … “champers” is just sparkling wine/champagne, and “panettone” is a traditional Italian Christmas cake – considering we have not a single ounce of Italian heritage in us, that was something new to try this year – it’s like the consistency of bread, with the fruit and peel in it, and is just lovely. We have a large Italian population in Melbourne, and I work with quite a few of them, and one of the guys at work said I had to try Panettone with Champagne, as that’s the best way to eat it … who was I to go against orders from an expert? LOL. I have to admit to disliking traditional fruit cake intensely, so I love the panettone!

Thanks everyone for your lovely and kind comments about my first ornaments. I have to admit, Bine, I did follow some instructions – I bought the Judy Odell/Just A Thought book, but didn’t find it as helpful without pictures (I’m a very visual person), so I backed her notes up with a trip to a website by CameoRoze as she has a step-by-step tutorial. It was pretty simple once I started the process. And I had so many wonderful examples that others had stitched for inspiration. At least next year I won’t be quite as phased by it all, and I’m going to try to stitch at least one ornament a month, so I’m ready for Christmas early in 2006 … well, that’s the plan anyway haha.

Mum’s hounding me to do the flat-fold finish of the Stars are Brightly Shining … we made some carrot noses out of Fimo before Christmas and she’s dying to see it made up! I decided I was too impatient to wait for ordering more buttons, and thought we’d give it a try in Fimo – looks pretty good, even if I say so myself … now I’m starting to think about trying other shapes with it too hmmm. Maybe on my next days off we’ll have another finishing session – but I need to buy some different batting first πŸ™‚

Kali, I can’t wait to see your outfit when you’re all dressed up as Cindy Lou Who … that sounds like a real hoot and a half!!

Rightio, off to do a bit of stitching before I have to go to work – I didn’t get much sleep last night, so I’m up early … the bonus is that I have more play time before work yippee πŸ™‚

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Gifts TO BE FIXED

Happy Mail Day!!


Just a quick post to say “I got mail” today … I received the first ever stitched item from someone else. I was very lucky to be the recipient of one of Jenna‘s ornaments – the Peace needleroll … I adore it! The blue is gorgeous, and the stitching and finishing beautiful πŸ™‚ I can only apologise for the poor photo I took – my camera just wouldn’t get focused on it properly in the bad light tonight … and I was too impatient to wait until tomorrow to take a photo! It is also the first ever stitched ornament I’ve owned … since my own first efforts still sit unfinished hmmm. And the great thing about this ornament is that it won’t look out of place sitting in my stitching smalls basket, so I can enjoy it year-round. Thanks again, Jenna – you’re a real sweetheart!! :)) I also can’t believe that mine arrived at the same time some of the ones are arriving in the USA – Australia Post rocks! πŸ˜‰ So tonight it is sitting pride of place on the very front of my little Christmas tree, and it looks lovely :)) Jenna also sent along some threads that she used to stitch a needleroll that she has in her photo album that I fell in love with – yet another very generous gift … the colours are stunning!! I really, really adore them – the Blue Lagoon threads by the Caron Collection are to die for, and the Blue Lavender Waterlilies is truly beautiful πŸ™‚ I can’t wait to stitch with these threads – yummo!!!

Re the carrot saga – I have to admit, Carol (in PA), I actually bought some orange Fimo to try making a carrot nose myself, but then I saw the buttons while I was ordering some opalescent fabric I needed for an ornament exchange I’ve joined – seeing I was ordering the fabric anyway, I figured I might as well pop those into the envelope too. As it is, I’ve got a FOTM order still with Country Stitch, so I’ll probably still order the medium one – but I may have a go and make the Fimo one too and make my decision later. Regardless, it won’t be finished ready for this Christmas, as I’ve decided to make it into a flat-fold finish, and don’t have the time or energy to do that just yet … might as well make use of that Fimo, though πŸ˜‰

We’re having a ‘Hotline’ breakfast tomorrow – I’m on a 5am shift still, so it will coincide nicely with my lunch break yummo … Eggs Benedict sounds like a wonderful lunch at 9am LOL.

Might have found one thing to buy with my Christmas money – Mum and I were shopping at Camberwell after work today, and popped into the local sewing machine shop for Mum to get a reel of cotton, and I spied some beautiful Klasse scissors in the window … I had a blonde moment earlier in the year and had my beautiful Gingher scissors confiscated at the airport (I forgot I’d taken 2 pairs with me to NZ, and only remembered to put 1 pair into my suitcase, with my good Gingher ones in my carry-on … hmmm, bye-bye scissors!! – pretty blonde thing to do considering I work for an airline haha). So, Mum suggested I buy myself some good scissors again – great idea … I get to buy something related to stitching as well as being practical – and so much prettier than an iron πŸ˜‰ LOL.

Anyway, off to bed I go … just a quick post, as I’m running late with everything – and it’s almost 8pm, past my bed time yikes!