Stashmas Decoration

Project: Stashmas Decoration
Started: 30.08.09
Finished:31.08.09

Design: (Front) One of the Winter Escape designs by Rhona Norrie from Cross Stitch Crazy magazine issue 130. (Back) Snowflake design by Kell Smurthwaite© and lettering from 120 Cards for Every Occasion freebie booklet from WOXS magazine issue 153.
Materials: 32 count Dragon Hand Dyed Jobelan in Heavens Above; Anchor 1211 (variegated turquoise) floss (2 over 2); beads from an old necklace

I’m taking part in the Stashmas Exchange on the Cross Stitch Forum – instead of a Christmas gift, we send a Stashmas gift (worth a maximum of £10 or the monetary equivalent) of anything stitchy-related. I decided to include a small stitched gift with mine to commemorate this year’s Stashmas Exchange, so I made this little decoration.

The design for the front came from the latest Cross Stitch Crazy magazine and I added some beads from an old broken necklace that I had, just to add a little sparkle and glamour. For the reverse, I designed a little snowflake and added a commemorative message in lettering that was from a freebie booklet  that came with World of Cross Stitching magazine a while back (120 Cards for Every Occasion). I then made a tassel (to which I added another bead) and a ribbon loop for hanging. It’s all just whip-stitched together and stuffed with regular soft toy stuffing. I think it turned out quite nicely and will be a lovely addition to the Stashmas gift I send out.

Stitching Friends Stitch-Along Exchange

Project: Stitching Friends Stitch-Along Exchange (Cross Stitch Forum)
Started: 28.04.09
Finished: 25.06.09

Design: From Le Blog de Lisette
Materials: Polstitches linen in Fallen Leaves / Venus 2482 floss / Cream Gutermann Seed Beads

This is my first ever stitch-along exchange and I’ve loved the idea of using the same basic design but playing around with the different materials to make something unique.

I settled on some linen I received in a grab bag from Polstitches – I think it’s the colour they call Fallen Leaves – and a deep turquoise floss (Venus 2484) which complemented it well to stitch the entire design. I replaced some of the stitches of the border with cream seed beads and added a couple of real buttons I picked up from John Lewis (they’re very pretty blue sparkly ones that I thought went well with the overall colour scheme) and a tiny gold scissors charm in place of the three stitched buttons. On the reverse, I thought it would be nice to commemorate the exchange by including the details (title, date and my own involvement in stitching it) and make it into a small cushion.

I know some other members of the forum have translated the motto into English or another language, but I decided to leave mine in the original French – it reads, “Stitched gifts, Gifts of Friendship” which I think is a lovely sentiment.

I’m very pleased with how it turned out and am looking forward to sending it to its new home at the beginning of September!

WiP Updates

I have a whole bunch of works in progress at the moment, so I thought I’d update them all at once:

Wedding Sampler:
I haven’t got much further with this, but as the deadline is at the start of  September, I know I have plenty of time to complete it.

Bold Blooms:
This little freebie kit is a lot of fun to stitch. There aren’t many different colours in it and the effect of depth and perspective is created by using only one strand for distance and two strands for close up. I think it will look very pretty when completed.

Stitching Friends SAL Exchange:
This is a sitch-along exchange I’m doing with my new friends at The Cross Stitch Forum. The deadline is 1st September, so again, I have plenty of time to complete this one.

Rainbow Cats Bookmark:
This is a gift I’m working on for a friend who is always very kind to everyone and deserves a little treat. She loves books and cats, so I thought I’d combine her two loves on this bookmark which is a design by Carla-Jane of Raevyn Designs.

Dragon Silhouette:
I’ve designed this piece myself for an arts and crafts competition on the Crafts and Creatures forum. The deadline is the end of the month, so this is the one I’m doing most work on at the moment!

Mittens and Stitching Friends SAL Exchanges

As a result of becoming a member of The Cross Stitch Forum, I will be taking part in my first ever Stitch-Along Exchanges – two of them, in fact!

One is the Mittens Exchange, the other is the Stitching Friends Exchange and both are to be exchanged with people later in the year, so I won’t be able to post progress pictures – just finished product photos once I’ve sent them off to my stitching buddies.

Anyway, for anyone else who is interested in joining these exchanges, all you have to do is join the forum and register your interest in the relevant threads (and say I sent you, just so I know who’s there as a result of reading my blog!). And if you want a sneak peak at the designs we’re using you can click on the exchange titles in this post and the links will take you to them.