Finishing Up

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Heather

You know what they say about good intentions, right?

Christmas Doves

These dove ornaments have been waiting to be finished for two years. You see, they were the cover kit from the December 2010 Cross Stitcher magazine (British), and I stitched them up right away. However, it turned out the that the stitched designs were actually too big for the holes that were pre-cut into the doves. Well, of course I had every intention of cutting the holes larger so the beauty of my wonderful stitching would be clear for all to see. (lol!)

I never got around to it.

Not surprised, eh?

So, Wednesday night I dug them out of the drawer where they have been since sometime late November/early December of long ago and I put the darn things together. Small holes be darned!

I continued my fit of finishing by attaching hangers and backings to the Halloween ornaments I stitched up for this year. Just in time, since I put all the Halloween decorations away yesterday morning…

Halloween ornaments for next year.

I really need to work on finishing stuff up more quickly.

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Steve

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Heather

Good morning! I hope you all survived last night’s spooky ghosts, goblins and princesses. Since we live in a condo building we didn’t have any creepy little visitors last night. But I did send one Creeper, along with a little boy, off to school.

“Steve” with his Creeper… making a face.

The little man is dressed as Steve, the player’s character from the game Minecraft. His little friend is a Creeper, one of the most annoying monsters in the game. It sneaks up on you and explodes!!!! On the little man’s shirt is a pickaxe that I made from Pyssla beads. We were going to make a full-sized one for him to carry, but the school asked for no weapons.

A Creeper and his pickaxe.

I’m very proud of the Creeper. He was a pain in the bum to make, but I think he turned out really great. I followed these instructions (but used my machine to sew the sides together; I hand stitched the tops and bottoms of all the blocks). And to get the face just right, I printed out a 4″x4″ Creeper face, cut out the eyes and mouth, taped it to the head, and then painted the features on. Perfect! (Unfortunately, he left it at school. I really hope it is still there!)

Next year I think he will be the Ninth Doctor. A black outfit and a sonic screwdriver. And maybe a fake nose. lol!

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Happy Halloween! (And Blog Hop)

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Heather

Happy Halloween, and welcome to all of you who are following the Halloween Blog Hop.

Happy Halloween!

The letter for the blog hop is:

D

Your next stop is Cathryn’s Place!

Thanks again for stopping by. I hope you have a spooky, ookie, safe and fun Halloween! And please stop by again.

9 Comments | Posted in Cross Stitch, Site News |

Dragon Boats

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Heather

And by that I mean the kind you hang on the Christmas tree, not the kind that go in the water.

My first dragon boat (the top/front).

Pretty, isn’t it? It is from a class I took with Carolyn Mitchell at the Creativ Festival earlier this month. It is really very simple, just a bit time consuming. And, goodness, does it ever use up a lot of thread!

The back side. Please ignore the off centre pins…

If you’d like to make some of your own, all you need is some thin cardboard (like from a cereal box or the type you slip into comic book bags), glue, glass head pins, and lots of thread. Check out some very good directions here or here.

I really enjoyed making it, and I’m planning on making a few more before the holiday season arrives. (It is less than 56 days until Christmas! Can you believe it?)

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Seren’s Rest

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Heather

Another Creativ Festival finish: Seren’s Rest by Laura Dickson of Enchanting Lair.

Seren’s Rest, from Enchanting Lair

It is a really quick stitch since it is fairly small. But it is very lovely, and so bright! It is stitched with Dinky Dyes, Threadworx (although most of the kits got a similar colour of Gloriana), Kreinik braid, and PTB. It uses several different specialty stitches, and the dragon in the centre is stitched over one. The only change I made was doing regular cross stitches for the centre frame, rather than the rice stitches that were called for.

I’m not sure yet how I’m going to finish it. I might frame it, but it is almost small enough to be made into a large ornament. I just don’t know yet. 😉

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Seeing Red

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Heather

The little man has a bit of a soft spot for Angry Birds. Actually, it would be more accurate to say he likes the Angry Birds characters, but actually feels so-so about the games. So, what is a mommy to do but crochet him up a little toy.

One angry bird.

The pattern is Angry Birds Cardinal by Karla of Itsy Bitsy Spider. The pattern, sadly, is no longer available. (More about that here.) The yarn is Red Heart Soft (the red), Michael’s “house yarn” Loops & Threads Impeccable (the black and white), and Bernat Satin (the orange). It was a fairly easy pattern to work up, but as with many character projects, the details are key. Sadly, one of his eyebrows is a bit off. But, otherwise, I think he looks pretty good.

To give it a little bit of heft (no throwing in the house, please!) he is stuffed both with regular stuffing and some marbles. I think he could knock down a few naughty piggies.

I’m lucky enough to have a few more Angry Bird patterns (a different designer, but equally as good), so eventually the little man may have a whole fleet of Angry Birds to decorate his room.

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Very Scary is Very Done

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Heather

On Saturday I put the final stitches into Lizzie*Kate’s Very Scary, the mystery sampler from this summer.

Very Scary by Lizzie*Kate

I purchased the kit, so the fabric and threads are as per the chart. However, I did make some changes. The most obvious is the omission of the cat wearing the pumpkin mask. It didn’t appeal to me at all. Instead I’ve substituted a tombstone button from Just Another Button Company, and I like the way it looks a lot better.

A tombstone button. (I’ll sew it on once I iron the piece.)

The other change was very minor; I stitched the moon in Honeysuckle so that it looks more yellow than green, as it is originally charted.

Yellow-ish moon.

I am working on one of the bonus ornaments right now, but I’m not really in a rush to finish it. Honestly, the bonus ornaments aren’t too my tastes particularly, so I may not bother to stitch them all. The small pieces of fabric meant for them will work just as well for other ornaments. 😉

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