Ornament SAL – October Check-In

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Heather

Happy end of October! It is time for the Ornament SAL check in.

Joy Ornament, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

Joy Snowflake, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

This month I stitched Joy Snowflake by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams. It was a class piece from the 2012 Creativ Festival. I made a few minor changes, mainly having to do with the colour of the beads, and changing around the placement of the metallic fibres. (I misread the chart. Oops! But now I can’t tell where I made the changes, so it obliviously isn’t a big deal! lol!)

Close-up of Joy Ornament

Close-up of Joy Ornament

I really love Jennifer’s series of snowflake ornaments (Joy, Hope, and one other one I can’t remember…). I really hope she designs more in the future.

So, what did you stitch this month? I can’t wait to see! Please fill in the form below so everyone can check out your stitching. Remember, every month you enter your link, you will get one more entry into the end of the year draw. It’s never to late to join in. (And if you would like to donate something, please let me know.)

Next month’s check-in with be on November 27th. And, then the final check-in will be on December 30th. (You may want to try out your blogging platform’s scheduler for that post. I will be leaving the form up longer than usual since we will all be busy with holiday stuff.)

As for next year, I’ve had a lot of you contact me to say you are interested in another Ornament SAL. I’m wondering if, perhaps, a smalls SAL would work for everyone. I’d really, really love to stitch some TW smalls next year, very few of which are ornaments. Let me know what you think in the comments below, send me an email, or contact me on Twitter at @silverlotus152.

(Also, more Creativ Festival recaps are on the way. I’ve spent the last couple of days catching up on life!)

8 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged , , , ,

Creativ Festival 2013 – Day 4 – Needlework!

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Heather

Sadly, the end of the Creativ Festival is in sight. I’ve had four fun, inspiring, and very tiring days. And I’ve got one more to go! Yay!

Santa's Helper?, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

Santa’s Helper?, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

Today was all about needlework. The day began with a Christmas ornament class with Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams. It is stitched on a nifty wired aida band, and I think it will look adorable on my Christmas tree.

Materials package from Ellen Mervin's Stitching Beyond the Traditional

Materials package from Ellen Mervin’s Stitching Beyond the Traditional

My second class of the day was with Ellen Mervin of Ruach Craft. It was called Stitching Beyond Traditional, and dealt with trying to think about cross stitch charts in different ways. For example, reproducing them in beads, or as needlepoint, or even in a hooked rug. We got a nice package of small pieces of fabrics and some fun threads to play with.

Dragon Canvaswork Pin Cushion, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

Dragon Canvaswork Pin Cushion, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

My last class of the day was with Jennifer again. We worked on a canvaswork pin cushion that features a lovely little napping dragon. You can check out this page for some larger images of Jennifer’s classes.

Tomorrow, I have two finally classes with Jennifer. (It will be so sad to say good-bye to her for an entire year. She is such a lovely person, and I really enjoy all the time I spend in her class.) My final class of the year is Zentangle. I hope it goes well!

2 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch | Tagged , , ,

Creativ Festival 2013 – Day 3 – Bracelet and Canvaswork

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Heather

Whew! Another long day at the Creativ Festival is over, but I sure had a lot of fun. The morning began with a braclet class with June Beach. We died a metal bracelet with alcohol ink, and then wired on some really lovely Swarovski beads.

Green Bling Filigree Bracelets, designed by June Beach

Green Bling Filigree Bracelets, designed by June Beach

My mom and I took the class together; her bracelet is the top one.

During the afternoon, I took two seminars. One covered basic sewing machine maintenance and the other dealt with troubleshooting problems with your sewing machine.

Canvaswork Coin Purse, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith

Canvaswork Coin Purse, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith

My final class of the day was a canvaswork coin purse with Jennifer Aikman-Smith.

I didn’t get very much done, but at the end of a long day any progress is good. 😀

I’ll have better pictures, and a fuller updated, on Monday or Tuesday. I’ve managed to do a bit of shopping, and I’ve seen and learned some pretty neat things.

Tomorrow: more classes with Jennifer Aikman-Smith. Yay!!

 

1 Comment | Posted in Crafts, Cross Stitch | Tagged , , ,

Creativ Festival 2013 – Day 2 – Sewing and Jewelry

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Heather

I had another busy day at the Creativ Festival. Today, I took a six hour sewing class with Edith Kauffeldt of Sew Have Fun.

Leather Bottom Bag, designed by Edith

Leather Bottom Bag, designed by Edith Kauffeldt

Unbelievably, I actually managed to finish it.  I did have some problems sewing the leather, but I think it turned really well.

Crystal Waterfall Necklace, designed by June Beach

Crystal Waterfall Necklace, designed by June Beach

My second class of the day was also my first attempt at making jewellery. The project was the Crystal Waterfall Necklace, designed by June Beach. It is lots of lovely chains, and piles of Swarovski crystals. Thankfully, it was simple enough for a complete beginner to finish in just over an hour. The final result is amazing! Unfortunately, pictures taken later in the evening can’t do it justice.

I’ve got three more days of classes to go. I can’t wait!

 

 

1 Comment | Posted in Crafts, Sewing | Tagged , ,

Creativ Festival 2013 – Day 1 – Tambour Beading

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Heather

My first class at this year’s Creativ Festival was tambour beading, taught by the wonderful Robert Haven. It is, to my mind at least, a combination of crochet and beadwork. Essentially, you use a tiny crochet hook to pierce fabric and attach beads with a chain stitch. And, while it may seem very easy, it takes a lot of hard work and coordination to master the technique.

Tambour beading frame

Tambour beading frame

We worked on frames designed and created by Robert Haven (who also does woodworking). The fabric is a silk organza, and was very lovely to work with.

After practising the technique a few times (plunge, wrap, turn, snap, release, push and pull, turn, repeat), we got started on a small flower design.

Tambour beaded flower

Tambour beaded flower

I only got as far as doing the bugle beads and seed beads, but I will be adding sequins and some surface stitching to it as well. (The black lines are thread ends that will be trimmed later.)

Tambour beaded flower - close-up

Tambour beaded flower – close-up

I thoroughly enjoyed the class, and I’m so glad I decided to do something way outside my comfort zone. And I would take another class from Robert in a minute!

If you’d like to learn more about tambour beading, you can check out Robert’s videos on Youtube. I’d also recommend checking out his website, where he has some pictures of some of his fabulous creations. They are stunning!

 

2 Comments | Posted in Crafts | Tagged ,

One Day Until the Creativ Festival

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Heather

Tomorrow is the first day of the Creativ Festival, and I am far too excited. This year I’ll be taking classes in tambour beading, jewellery making, canvas work and cross stitch. I’ll be sharing pictures of workshops and shopping through my Twitter account and through blog posts.

creativsupplies

I’ve got my pile of supplies ready to go, as well as a small shopping list.

creativsupplies2

Truthfully, I’m most worried about the jewellery classes. My mom has been making jewellery for a couple of years now, and she assures me that the projects I’ve picked aren’t too difficult. But, when you are a beginner, everything seems very challenging. I’ll be tackling this necklace in a class on Thursday evening. And, on Friday, my mom will be joining to me take a class to make this bracelet. Wish me luck!

1 Comment | Posted in Canvaswork, Crafts, Cross Stitch | Tagged ,

Finished Dragon

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Heather

I’ve finally finished my Canvaswork Dragon! (Except for some beads for the corners of the corner squares.)

Canvaswork Dragon, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

Canvaswork Dragon, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams

I am very, very pleased with how he turned out, especially since I picked most of the fibres and colours myself. But I’m still not totally sure about the colour inside the wings…

Canvaswork Dragon - eye

Canvaswork Dragon – eye

I used DMC Perle Cotton #3, Flair, Arctic Rays, Watercolours, DMC Satin, Vineyard Classic Silk, and a couple of other fibres. And it was just so fun to play around with fibres that I’ve never used before. (I’m not looking forward to using Flair again, though…)

Canvaswork Dragon - wing and claw

Canvaswork Dragon – wing and claw

Using a bunch of different stitches was fun too. I used Upright Cross in the eyes, Hungarian stitch for the body of the dragon, Florentine in the border, and a bunch of other stitches all over the place. I even picked out stitch that I didn’t think worked. That was a really big step for me, since I really hate taking out any of my work.

I can’t wait to do more canvaswork. 😀

9 Comments | Posted in Canvaswork | Tagged , , ,