Square 21 Complete

Hi there,

I’ve been incredibly busy behind the scenes of this blog (as any of you who like the Facebook Page are aware) though have been really bad lately at posting on here. My apologies, it’s a combination of getting things as close to finished as possible, and preparing for Christmas… as well as the usual winter joys of colds, work and everything else life wants to throw my way!

Today is in fact my birthday (yep 27 today), so as I have a quiet day of relaxing ahead I thought I would catch you up a little!

I am nearer completion of The BIG Project, though it won’t be finished by the 1st (of course) I still want to get it done though, so do keep checking out, if nothing else it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes!

Today I’m sharing completed “Square” 21, the dreaded Angel…. I struggled so hard with this one, I just couldn’t find a design I liked, so I just drew out a basic design and went with it, it’s not my favourite by far, but works nonethelesss: I found the angel designs I found EVERYWHERE were simply too “cartoony” for what I wanted, so I just simplified it totally. 

If you have been on the Facebook Page, (or go there now) you will see “Square 22″ as well, which I will post on here very soon, and I am working on 23, so there isn’t much further to go on the images at least, though of course then there is the joy (!) of metallic numbers that need stitching on all but one of the “Squares” and then putting it all together. Though the last part will be the least time-consuming! IT IS more than possible to get this done, so, here’s hoping it gets there!

Hope you have all had a wonderful November, and a great Thanksgiving for those of you in the USA, and are looking forward to Christmas! 

Happy Crafting!

Square 19 Complete

Hi there!

I’m sorry I’ve been so rubbish lately, I had stitchers block, then I got a cold, and my internet has been especially useless of late! Add to that I had a job interview on Friday, and a trial there yesterday so my time has been spread a little thin!  

I’ve also neglected blogs I follow and want to have a good catch up, hopefully tomorrow as I don’t have much planned, so don’t worry I am going to be back, commenting and sharing the love haha!

I am working on stitching still, and praying I can still get the advent calendar complete before December 1st, which is still possible, if I actually get to work.

I’ve started work on “Square 20″ though it was put to one side for a couple of days while I worked on a birthday present, and planned out a card I need to stitch for a friend. Hopefully I can get stuck into that today and then I will only have 5 to go! (Though I’m still trying to find one tricky pattern). 

Ok, so apologies done, onto the 19th square of the advent calendar: 

I actually really like this one, though the bow doesn’t show up as well on camera as it does in person… This was one I was sort-of dreading to stitch, because it wasn’t very exciting, which is possibly why it’s taken me so long to complete!

The remaining squares are a bit more interesting though so WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Hope you are all well!

Happy Crafting!

2/3 of Square 17

Hi there!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already… I’ve been working on another “square” this week for the BIG Project, and of course the inevitable happened, I haven’t finished it (now do you see why I’ve given myself a fair bit of time this year) in my defense, it is one of the more detailed patterns, if you look back over other BIG Project posts from last year, you’ll notice some are a lot bigger and more detailed than others, hopefully it’ll work when it’s finished, to add a bit of dimension to the finished advent calendar.

If you’ve been following for a while you’ll also know I really don’t like working with metallic threads (which isn’t to say I don’t do it fairly often) and I have managed to get all the metallic stitching finished for this one, so it’s simple from here!

So here it is: I do really like this piece, I don’t even mind it taking as long as it has, because it’s so pretty to look at already!

Because patterns for this whole project have come from various locations I’m not saying where they’re from! Because it’s work to find them, most (like this one) come from many back issues of Cross Stitcher but if you’d like to know I can look them out for you, so don’t hesitate to comment/email/Facebook me for information, or just a hello! 

So, this should be finished today and I’ll have a new one for you on Monday! 

I hope you’re having a great week, whatever you’re up to! Do feel free to come and say hi on the Facebook Page if you’re procrastinating at all!

Happy Crafting!

 

The BIG Project is Back!

Hi there!

I hope you have had a lovely weekend, I have been busy picking up the BIG Project once again! This is a project I started last year, to make an advent calendar, that hopefully once finished I can keep for years to come!

Last year I completed 15 squares of cross stitching, which will be stitched onto the front of pockets for each of the days of advent. This year, the plan (and I’m saying plan this year, just in case) is to complete the final 10 images, and then bring it all together at the end! What I hope to see by the beginning of December, is the completed advent calendar, hanging up, ready to use!

This is why I have started now! 

I didn’t post all week last week, as I wanted to be able to share something complete this week! So here it is, “Square 16“:

It seems really weird even to me, to be working on christmas cross-stitching right now, but I am happy with my little snowman. I’d love it to snow this year, I’m a sucker for the white stuff, though not that big of a fan of the cold! Do you get festive snow where you are?

I’m already working on the next square, and as I said in my last post, I will only be posting a couple of times a week at the moment, just because this is the only thing I am working on! 

I am really hoping on a major catch up though, and along with Nicky (check out her blog while you’re here) am hoping to get back to the ABC Book of Me project very soon, you can check out the last post which were the L layouts, HERE. So yes, I want to be back to that sooner rather than later too! 

Have a great Monday

Happy Crafting!

September Crafting

Hi there!

So, it is now September, and The BIG Project is out of storage, ready to be picked up again, hopefully to be completed this year!

For a bit of a catch up I’d recommend at least checking out THIS POST if you haven’t already, as this is where I’m picking up from. The BIG Project is an advent calendar I started last year, and I’m hoping I’ll get it finished and be able to add it to the decorations I made last year. My plan for today isn’t very exciting, as I need to iron all the completed squares, and then dig out all the patterns from various places, to decide where I want to go next.

Once all the squares are finished, (I have 10 to do now) it’s to the sewing machine with me (something that makes me a little nervous, it’s been a while). To make pockets and of course bring it all together. To do this I still need to find a backing I like (something I really struggled with last year).

Are you planning on doing anything crafty for christmas? Have you already started? 

For me this does however mean a bit of a change here on the blog, because I have no more cards to make, unless something comes up in the meantime, other than my christmas cards, which I am going to sort out next month. So things will quiet down a little for a while, as I plan on getting squares finished. On the other hand, I do still have a couple of projects I want to work on between christmas stuff, but I won’t be posting daily on my progress, more likely a couple of times a week, as things will otherwise get a little monotonous. Other than squares, I need to work on my Scotland Mini Book, at least one small project, and I am in talks about completing a quite large cross-stitched something for a friend of OH’s Grandma. So what with all the stitching, it’s not going to be as interesting if I post every day with what I’m doing! At the moment I am planning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for posting, though of course there is no certainty!

I do have one thing to share with you all, you will be happy to hear, Surfer Ted has finally been finished, and is also awaiting the iron, and then will be framed, so here he is: I am really pleased with how he’s turned out, though I must admit, I got a bit bored of it, more because of the changes in colour, which weren’t big enough to make it feel interesting, but more small enough to be annoying! Looks good though, and once he’s ironed he’ll be framed and put away until he is given as a gift at the end of November.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Happy Crafting!