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 , , ,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Heather

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. I hope your day is full of friends, family, moist turkey, and piles of blessings.

happythingsgiving

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Ornament Stitchin’

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Heather

We are about a third of the way through October, and I am working hard on my ornament for this month’s Ornament SAL. The next check in day is October 30th, and while I was hoping to stitching a Halloween ornament in addition to my monthly Dragon Dreams ornament, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to. We shall see, though.

Ornament Peek

Ornament Peek

That is just a sneak  peek at what I’m stitching. I’m making a few changes, just to add a bit more sparkle to it. Hopefully you will all think it looks pretty.

Another peek

Another peek

So, how is your ornament stitching going? What holiday are you stitching for this month?

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More Canvaswork

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Heather

I thought I would share another Creativ Festival canvaswork design today. This one is Creative Persausion by Carolyn Mitchell.

Creative Persuasion, designed by Carolyn Mitchell (wip, showing part of one quarter)

Creative Persuasion, designed by Carolyn Mitchell (wip, showing part of one quarter)

To be honest, this design really is working up quickly. I’m just not spending any time on it. I think it is lovely, and I enjoy the fibres and stitches, but I really hate working with a frame. I stitch everything in hand, and I find working with a frame really awkward.

Close-up of some stitches

Close-up of some stitches

Sadly, Carolyn Mitchell isn’t going to be at the Creativ Festival this year. I really enjoyed my classes with her last year, and would take another one with her given the chance. (Actually, my LNS has a weekend class with her in November, but I’m not able to make it. I’m very disappointed.) Her designs are lovely, and she definitely knows what she is doing when it comes to stitching.

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Dragon Wings

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Heather

The Creativ Festival is getting closer and closer, and I’m a bit disappointed that I haven’t made much progress on last year’s class pieces. My focus right now is to finish up Dragon Dream’s Canvaswork Dragon so I can take it to the show to show Jennifer.

Canvaswork Dragon, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams (wip)

Canvaswork Dragon, designed by Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams (wip)

I’m getting there! All that is left is the border, two and a bit corners and the dragon’s eyebrow. I would also like to find some beads to add in the corners of the corners.

Close-up of wings and border

Close-up of wings and border

I’m a bit unsure about the interior of the wings. I think the fibre I used (DMC perle cotton 5) is a bit thick. It actually sticks up above the edge of thw wing, which wouldn’t happen with a “real” dragon. However, when you look at the piece at a distance, it doesn’t look bad at all. I guess I will just stare at it some more.

Close-up of dragon's face

Close-up of dragon’s face

I’ve got about two more weeks to finish this up, so I should be able to manage. I can’t wait to share it when it is all done.

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iPhone Case Redux

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Heather

Two Octobers ago I stitched a case for my iPhone 4. Since then, Apple has released a few different iterations of the phone, but I’ve never upgraded. I’ve stuck with my iPhone 4, and my lovely dragon case. But, my poor phone has started to lose its mind a little (the GPS is often wrong among other issues), and my poor dragon has started to fray. So, just as you buy a new car when the ashtray is full*, it is time for me to get a new phone.

Where is my phone?!

Sadly, my new phone is on back-order and I have no idea when it will arrive. Apparently the gold phones are very popular, which actually surprised me. But, thankfully, my new cross stitch case is here and I can get my phone’s home started.

I’ve been stressing out so much about what to stitch. I keep thinking that I have to make just the right choice since I will be living with this phone for a while. But, my husband took pity on me and remind me that these cases are actually pretty cheap compared to many other cases, so if I don’t like what I stitched, it will actually be okay to buy another one, or even get a regular case instead. 

iPhone case and lotus

iPhone case and lotus

So, after look through my (far too big) collection of charts, magazines and books, I settled on waterlilies designed by Joan Elliot, and found in the magazine/book The Ultimate Joan Elliot Cross Stitch Collection.

Hopefully I’ll have the stitching all done by the time my phone arrives.

* An old family joke, but from when I was a kid, people smoked in cars, and my parents smoked like chimneys. Cleaning out the car’s ashtray always grossed out my mom. Do cars even have ashtrays anymore?

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