A Happy Dance!

It's finished! Finally finished! This one was defo not enjoyable to stitch at all, even tho the finish piece looks very nice. The whole thing is 1 over 1 on 28 count. My first time doing that, and the last. The empty square is for a key charm, which I already have, just need to add to it.

I hope to stitch part 11 of my ATW next week. Hubby has been away a lot lately and Eddie has been on a good phase, going to bed early and staying in it (which is more important) so I have been having more alone-time lately. My way of coping with not seeing hubby as much is by cleaning the house like a crazy person and stitching A LOT. More of the latter of course. But house looks pretty clean and tidy too.

And I have been cutting scraps of paper into octagons for some patchwork cards (this fits into my cleaning/organizing time). This is still a plan and I'm cutting loads at the moment and will put them together in panels so when I get the sewing machine out, I only have to add the stitches. Watch this space ladies :)

I haven't touched my mini album this week. I have cardboards cut to size and the acrylic paint right beside the bag, staring at me. I'm dying to buy the travelling designs paper pad from Do Craft but haven't had time (or the spare money) to go to an ArtsnHobbies lately. Silly life getting on the way again...

Talk soon

Cami

Finally a finished project

I have been working on big projects this year, and finishing something hasnt been on my list for the past 4 months.
So I have decided to stitch a small project and it was quicker than expected lol Look for this space as I have to stitch another pin cushion, this time for our local exchange group

Souvenir de France - Blackbird Designs

Apart from this little project, I have been working on a Mini-Scrapbook-Album. I had a couple of photos that didnt make the cut for my Eddie's Scrapbook Album, which is 8x8, and after watching several tutorials on YouTube I have decided to give it a try. Even cut my own cardboard and did the biding. I need lots of practice but it turned out better than I was expecting. Will post photos as soon as I manage to get all photos in place and decorate the cover properly but I can give you a sneak peak :)

Talk soon

Cami

A finish and two starts

Why do I have the feeling it's been a long time since my last post? Am I getting addicted to blog?

A have a finish! My first in 2013. Roll the drums....

I have added a charm instead of stitching the pair of scissors. It was a gift from a friend (who Im trying to bring to the dark side of needlework) and it suits the pattern so well, dont you think?

And for my new starts:

First is the Emerald Isle SAL called 'Lets Stitch' from a designer called Patty Carbaugh and pattern is bought through her Etsy shop. I cant find the link I used to post, sorry.

Im using 11count fabric I had in my stash (remember: stash diet!!!). It has lovely flowers printed on it and it matches the colours used. This will be my Sunday stitching project which is just great as TSS has a new Sunday SAL and I can use this at the moment.

Lets Stitch - Patty Carbaugh - Emerald Isle SAL

Second is Birds Sampler from Angies Designs. She sent first part yesterday and I just needed to start it as soon as I could. My new rollers arrived on Monday so fabric was already gridded and ready to start.

Birds Sampler SAL - Angies Design - Part 1

And then, when I thought postman was done with his work, I receive this:

Angel is from Dusty from TSS as a thank you for a pattern I sent before Xmas. Im just in love with her work. And the pillow ornament is from Bev from XStitch Exchange Group. Unfortunately the first parcel she sent me went missing in the post (boohooo post office!!!) so she kindly sent me a second parcel after new years. A big Thank You ladies for my pressies.

I havent started HAED yet. Im waiting for the exact moment, when all SALs are up to date and my needle is in need of something different. I struggle a lot with high count fabric and whatever way I have my stitch-station I cant attach my magnifier, so need to move to dinning table and thereI dont have enough light. And with the dark days we have had in Dublin on the past few days I just cant get myself to start at it. Soon!

And I need to post a photo of my ORT jar. I know, cant believe it's the 11th already.... Will do it tomorrow hopefully.

Talk soon,

Cami

Happy New Year! And projects kitted up...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all readers! And may 2013 be better than 2012.

Looking back, there wasnt much going on this year for us, and by us I mean DH, DS and me. There werent big changes in our lives, that's what I mean. We did buy a car, because our family car, that carried part of our house in the boot - apart from the kitchen sink, died a horrible death and ended up for scrap, so dad kindly gave us a pre-loved and much looked after one. But other than that 2012 was pretty standard. Eddies health (my DS) has been improving and now that we know what we are fighting, it is much easier to deal with attacks and episodes. As I said, pretty much standard. 2011 was such a bad year that I didnt think 2012 could beat it, and it didnt! Points for being optimistic!

Anyway.... Lets talk stitching!!!!

Jenny has dragged me to her New Year Resolution: NO MORE STASH. Yeah, that's right, you heard me. A full year without adding anything to our stash. To be honest, I do think I have fabric for 3 life times, but hey, what crafter is not in this position? My problem is that I dab in other crafts too (cardmaking. scrapbooking, crochet...) but at least I dont knit. Have you seen a knitters house?? The same for quilters. They have piles and piles of wools everywhere :) I have told SIL to store them in one of those vacumm bags to see if stash would like slightly tidy up. 

So, no buying stash for me. Or at least try. I even returned credit card to hubby, just in case I feel compelled to with all those Sales around.  

So, photos!

This is my House of Needleworker. I do hope to finish it soon as I need the scroll bars for a new SAL.

And postman got tired of being stalked and decided to delivery my parcel from 123. All my threads for my new projects. (PS: that was bought in 2012 so it doesnt count on the new resolution). Here it goes:

HAED project - 20 count evenweave Cream/Pink ish (Thanks Maud!!)

Bird Sampler SAL - Angies
Design - 17count Aidan Beige

And this is a birthday present from Jenny. Isnt it beautiful??? Im sure she put a lot of hours and effort and Im so happy with it. It was meant to be a needle case but I made one myself (see previous post) so she changed  a bit and didnt add the felt on it. I just love it!

Front

Open

Back

Lets see if I get this right. These all my projects for 2013:

* SAL Papillon Creations - ATW80

* SAL Angies Design - Birds Sampler

* HAED - Floral Filigree

* SAL Emerald Isle group - You will hear about this one soon

* LHN - I have a couple of patterns that I want to stitch, but not sure if I will

And that's all folks! Talk soon

Cami

Finished Ornaments and Cards

Hello all!

First I would like to thank Melissa for awarding my new blog the Liebster Award. It is an honor to have an award in such little time of existence.  THANK YOU!! And thank you to all the new followers. Nice to see the group growing

So... Christmas is just a 4 weeks away. Cant you believe it??? And I need to explain something about me: I dont deal well with the Christmas madness that infects every single person and cause a mayhem in our lives. I just dont do madness. Not that kind at least. Another thing is that I believe that open up your post box and finding a card from a friend instead of the everyday bills makes a day much better and put a big smile on my face

I have been making Christmas Cards throughout the year so I wouldnt have last minute crafting. Same with my tree ornaments. So this week I've decided it was time to get all cards addressed and ready to go to post office when December arrives (Im from Brazil and a good number of cards have a long trip to make, so the earlier the better). I had all inserts printed already and only had to address, sign the cards and write my personal little messages in it. It was quicker than I had expected. And here are a couple of the cards:

 

Last week, while Jenny was stitching her stockings (see previous post) I was cutting cardboard for the stitched ornaments. I managed to cut and attach the wadding in all pieces of cardboard but didn't have time to actually finish it. So this week, it was time. Mounting these ornaments is a new thing for me so I'm trying to learn how to use the trims and how to choose them for each piece. Needless to say I love LHN huh?

And this is the Eskimo from 2 weeks ago. I turned it into a round ornament and not sure where I will put it but I'm love with the twisted cord. I used a Lucet to make the cord. I'm learning how to work with the Lucet and how to make different cables. So far so good

And last thing done this week: Aiveen had offered to give me a hand scrapbooking my wedding album. I had an accident with glue leaking through the album pages (don't ask... I have already cried so much over it...) and now the whole album is done. Thank you so much Aiveen for the dies and paper and Thank you Jenny for getting this organized. I wanted to keep it simple and really just hide the marks but managed to create something nice. Here are a couple of pages:

Thanks for stopping by!

Cami

Busy Busy Week...

I was trying to keep these post weekly but I have done so much on the past week that this is gonna be a long one again. 

Last week Jenny came to visit me. She is into Quilting at the moment, and is dragging me to her new hobby. This is not a complaint and Im enjoying lots learning the new technique but hubby is already moaning about fabrics and pins everywhere. I reckon he will have to learn how to live with it : )

So the first project I've finished is a needle/scissors/bits case. The pattern is from The Stitch Witch and outer fabric used is from Kilbora Quil Shoppe. All bought last RDS show and I just couldn't wait to make it and put all my bits in it.

 The outside of the heart

 Open heart - Still needs to put all accessories in it :)

Second project was my Stocking for Christmas. I bought this pattern/fabric from the Limerick Quilting Centre. The lovely lady at the stall said it was an easy project, not that easy if you are a totally beginner. We did manage to make 4 of them (2 for me and 2 for Jenny) and it was fun trying to add embellishments.  I have decided to leave mine without them, apart from the little square and pearl in one of them (left side one).

Christmas Stockings - Limerick Quilting Centre

 And then I started a new stitching project. It is a LHN pattern called ' Home of a Needleworker (too)' (you can see it here). I had to replace the threads from the pattern as I dont have any Crescent Colour in my stash so Im using Anchor/DMC and Week Dies Threads. This is what I got so far, and I reckon it wont take me too long to finish.

House of a Needleworker (too) - LHN

I guess that's all for now. As I said, busy busy week but got lots done. Ah! On top of all this, I got my Christmas cards nearly all ready to post when December comes. I have been making them all through the year and I'm very pleased I'm not in a rush now to sort them.

Talk soon

Cami

Papillon Part 7 finished

I will start by Thanking you all for all the wonderful messages I got on my first post last week. I've had nearly 200 visits since then and quite a number of followers so far, so a big thank you to all of you!

I've been having a busy week and somehow I managed to stitch quite a lot in my spare time.

I have finished part 7 of the SAL ATW80s. I am enjoying this piece so much. All the new stitches to learn!

So here are the photos:

 Part 7 - Around the World in 80 Stitches

Part 7 close-up

Complete piece

Isnt it a beauty?

Last week, while doing my groceries, I spotted the latest CrossStitcher mag, and even tho I promised myself I wasnt gonna buy anymore magazines until I can clear out my bookshelf, I couldnt resist this one. It's full of Christmas patterns and I just love stitching Christmas ornaments. So after reasoning for hours, I've given up, bought the mag and went straight looking for materials to stitch a small and simple pattern. 

Pattern from CrossStitcher magazine - November/2012 issue

Photo is not doing any justice to the fabric. It is a bright pistachio green and looks gorgeous with the bright blue

And a huge Thank you to my dear Jenny who gave me the felt for the little fish

I am still learning my way around this blog, so please ladies, if you are still having problems to stalk me or can see photos, please let me know and I will try and fix it as soon as I can.

Talk soon

Cami