Lanarte - Lime Green Flower I finish

I don't recall whether I've posted about this on the blog before, but I've been working on this kit on and off for about a year. I saw it in a charity shop and fell in love with the colours and shading, but didn't think it would be something I'd keep in my home, so my mum bought it for me so I could stitch it for her.

It was quite an easy stitch and came up quite fast once I actually sat down and put the time into it.

A Christmas Moose

I think it's supposed to be a reindeer, but it definitely looks like a moose to me. This is a little Christmas ornament kit I bought a couple of years ago, and finally got round to stitching up. It's by Rico Design. The frame was included in the kit. Framing was quite difficult as the linen it came with felt super stretchy, and I couldn't quite get it straight, but I like my Christmas moose anyway.

This will probably be the only Christmas ornament I'll stitch up this year! I like the idea of Christmas stitching, but I never finish it in time - there's so much other stuff that needs finishing first.

Luck

I've been going through my stitching boxes, finding projects I've finished but haven't done anything else with. This lucky bird was from a cover kit that came with Cross Stitcher magazine (I believe), and is now framed up. I really enjoyed stitching this because it is such a simple design with a really lovely outcome!

Wipocalypse 4 & first tapestry piece

I'm a bit late on my Wipocalypse post, and I don't have much to show, again. Just a little more work on one of the Japanese dolls.

Last weekend my boyfriend and I went to a fleamarket in the net village down from us. I snagged a large box of tapestry bits and bobs (including some kits and lots of wool) for 7.50 euros. I was really excited about this, as I've been wanting to try my hands at some tapestry, but have been a bit apprehensive about the cost.

First thing I've tried is a small kit from Pako.

I'm quite happy with the results, though soon after I took this photo the thing fell off the wall as the doublesided tape I'd used wasn't strong enough to hold the wooden ring up.

Lost: Stitching Mojo

I just don't know where I've put it, it's nowhere to be found.

Anyway, before my mojo disappeared I did a bit on Klimt. The top half is quite close to being done now and I am excited. 

Sonic bookmark

My boyfriend came of from England to visit me for a week while my family were away on holiday in France. We had a lovely time, and I was very sad to see him go this morning.

Friday was his birthday, and he had been asking for a new bookmark, so I stitched him another one.

It's a bit longer than a traditional bookmark, because I didn't take any measurments and didn't notice it would be until halfway through 'continue'. But it'll work for graphic novels and larger books.

I said a couple of weeks ago that I was getting some stuff from JJ's Collectables, as they were having a sale. Yesterday my parcel arrived!

I got this dragon kit from Janlynn. I started on it today. I was a bit worried about using the blending filament, as I never have used any before, and I thought it might be a lot like metallic thread, but it is ok, and doesn't really make a difference to my stitching.

 
This is all I did and it took me 1.5 episodes of CSI.

I also got this Lizzie Kate kit (well, it includes everything but the thread).

I also got some gold plated needles, and I'm excited to try them out on my Epic Pokémon pattern.

Speaking of which, I got a bit of that done this week while my boyfriend was playing Bomberman.

I know it's hard to see what's actually been done, which is why I upload all my Pokémon photos to a Facebook album, so I can just flick through them.

Living in the Netherlands.

That's sung to the tune of 'Living in America' and it's completely my boyfriend's fault that I keep getting that tune stuck in my head.

Well, so, I got here on Wednesday. It wasn't a very eventful trip, the trains were on time, the plane was on time. All I took with me was a suitcase and a backpack, pretty much stuffed full. As I didn't take very much with me, I also didn't take much of my stitching stuff with me. In fact, this is all I took:

And finally, I finished Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan.

I shan't lie, I didn't much enjoy stitching these two, but I am really pleased with the outcome. They just need a wash and iron, and then they can go off to be made into a quilt.

And updates on the other kits pictured above:

Tree of Life

Epic Pokémon pattern

Birds Sampler

In the two whole days that I've been here I already started doing some job seeking. The amount of jobs that I've found and applied for in those two days has easily been the amount that I usually applied for in two weeks in the UK. I am very hopeful at the moment that it shouldn't take me too long to find a job (though give it a month or so and I may be singing a different tune).

As soon as I do find a job, I'm going to be getting what I need to make a start on It's Berry Time which I'm really looking forward to stitching. I also found a couple of textiles courses in the area and I think I'll join them too.

Klimt and another on the to do list.

I haven't been doing much stitching lately because I've been reading. I recently finished David Gemmel's Dark Moon and Scarlett Thomas's PopCo, both of which are excellent books, and I just couldn't put them down long enough to stitch.

I have done a little more on Tree of Life.

It's still a joy to stitch and I am going to get back to it this evening, hopefully.

I found another kit at a local charity shop that I just have to have. I think it is very lovely in its simplicity. Now I have too many things on my to do list, I think!

It is Birds Sampler by Brenda Walton.

That's it. Happy stitching!

Klimt and PPG

I've been working hard on Klimt because I really enjoy doing the pattern, I don't even mind doing all the filling of the background colour!

 

Klimt's Tree of Life

I got a little farther than this this morning, managing to reach the left edge.

I think a few of you have heard of the Patchwork Pokémon Gym, but for those of you who don't, a brief explanation. A group of stitchers from the Sprite Stitch forum decided to do a charity quilt to benefit those affected by the Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami. They decided to make it a Pokémon quilt with patches for each set of Pokémon evolutions and the gym leaders. Check out the Patchwork Gym forum for more information.

I've signed up to do Hitmonlee & Hitmonchan and Drowzee & Hypno.
This is as far as I've got on Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan.

Colours are quite off, unfortunately.

I'm in Leeds at the moment, doing some resits for my university exams, and I'll be all done tomorrow, so I can do lots more stitching again soon!

Birthday presents and Sonic

Monday was my birthday and I got lots of lovely presents, including a couple of comic books from my boyfriend, and one from his brother, and some fancy biscuits and tea from his parents. From my dad I got two Scarlett Thomas books, two cross stitching books, the second part of the Pokémon Black & White guide and a cross stitch kit, I also got a tenner from my grandma with which I went down to one of the local charity shops and bought another cross stitch kit.

The books are the two on the left. The Newcomer's Guide to Blackwork by Lesley Williams and Twisted Stitches by Phil Davison.

Twisted Stitches has some interesting and fun designs in it and I hope the blackwork book will inspire me to design some of my own things.

I love the warm, rich colours.

The cross stitch kit from my dad is Klimt's Tree of Life from Yiotas Xstitch.
I've started on it already and can't wait to see it done.

I got this Marks & Spencer's anniversary kit from St. Elizabeth's Hospice charity shop.

I've been looking at it for a while and decided as it was my birthday I should just get it.






On to Sonic. I finished him yesterday. I need to give him a wash as I left him in the hoop and it discoloured the fabric. I also need to add markers for the numbers, and find a clock to fit him onto.

Finally done.

Pillows for little mice...

...as my boyfriend calls them.That's what I've been working on these past few days.

I don't have a sewing machine, so everything's by hand, and it's pretty atrocious.

Boot sale and not finishing stuff.

Yes, exactly what the title says. I went to a car boot sale today, and was very lucky to find some goodies and spend only £3.

 

 At the first stall I went to my boyfriend spotted these Hello Kitty charms, he thought that I might be able to do something crafty with them, and I hope I will think of something!

At another stall I saw this cute little Peter Rabbit kit, someone had made a start on it, but hadn't gotten very far, and for 50p I'm not too bothered.

At the same stall I saw a frame and thought to myself that I wouldn't be able to afford it, but I asked, the guy said he didn't know how much it was worth and gave it me for £1!

Now, onto my stitching. I've been naughty and starting new things before finishing others...

This little thing is the free kit from the latest issue of World of Cross Stitching. She's nearly done, but I put her aside in favour of something else for a little while.

This is my yet unfinished Easter present for somebody (I won't say who, in case they see this blog post!). The pattern is from here. I'm stitching it on the Zweigart Cashel I received recently, and I love the look of it. I'm hoping to finish it into a little pin cushion if I can find the right material to accompany it.

Finally, by boyfriend is looking for Wii friends to exchange Metroid Prime 3 friend tokens with. So please go and check out his post! Even if you don't have Metroid Prime 3 you can still add us as friends!

I did a naughty.

I'm supposed to be saving my money for Pokémon Black (which comes out on Friday, so excited!), but one of the charity shops in town had a special craft section today (and for the next fortnight, so I'll probably be back), so I got myself some goodies.

That's two kits both with flexihoops, and two lose flexihoops (you can just about see I already put Kirby in one of the hoops), a huge bag of iron on backing (some of which I just found out is seriously smelly, so I'm going to have to wash it before I can use it), four pieces of 12x15" of 14ct aida, eight Anchor skeins and six Madeira skeins, all for just £7.

Butterfly and Dragonfly

For Christmas I got a lovely little kit from the Stitch Garden. It included everything to make and frame these sweet little butterfly and dragonfly.

They were very simple to make, each took about an hour and a half to stitch.