Christmas Secret Cross Stitch Finally Unveiled

Hey everyone, well Christmas is just around the corner and I think I am pretty well prepared at this stage. Presents have been bought, decorations are up, most of my gift wrapping is done and a super special secret Christmas project is done. This is a piece I had been planning to do for most of the year and now that it has been received by the new owner I can finally share it. I am ridiculously excited to show this off.

Handmade Christmas Stocking with Cross Stitch Piece Cuff

Here it is, my handmade Christmas Stocking for a very special member of my family. The cross stitch piece is from Just Cross Stitch Ornament Edition 2014 and it's a SamSarah Designs pattern called First Star. When I saw this piece I fell in love with it, and it is perfect for this project. It is stitched on 28ct antique white evenweave using DMC threads I had in my stash, 2 over 2.

First Star by SamSarah Designs - Just Cross Stitch Ornament Ed. 2014

Once the cross stitch was done I started putting the stocking together based on a template made from an old stocking of mine for size and shape. The inside of the Stocking is lined with the grey Christmas tree fabric that I used for the cuff, and there is a layer of batting between the outer layer and the lining to make it nice and squishy. I really took my time with this, carefully cutting out each piece and stitching them together. I even made a practice one out of cheap material and I am grateful I did! Based on the practice run, I decided to stitch the cuff into the sides of the stocking which made it much neater and easier to put together.

Stocking nearly ready to send to its new home

I thought that putting the majority of the stocking together would be fairly straight forward but the one thing that I couldn't figure out was how to stitch the lining to the inside so it wouldn't get pulled out. Thankfully the Internet came to the rescue and I used this tutorial to put it together so the lining would stay in place.

I am so delighted with how this project looks and I really hope the recipients love it too. It was super fun to make something so different and figure out the best way to put it all together. Hopefully this will encourage me to continue trying new ways to use my sewing machine and cross stitch finishes.

I want to wish all my readers an amazing Christmas and a wonderful New Year as this is my last post before the Holidays.

A Cross Stitch Halloweeny Finish, in time for Halloween!

Hey everyone, here we are on the 31st of October, the spookiest night of the year. Hope all the Halloween preparations are done, for those who celebrate it. We will be having some friends up this evening to watch some cheesy horror movies and munch on junk food. What are your plans, spooky or otherwise? Let us know in the comments below.

Well seeing as it is Halloween I have an appropriate cross stitched ornament to show off. You might remember this from my previous post here. It's a super cute freebie from Durene Jones, and I decided I would make it into a cute hanging ornament to be the first of, hopefully, many Halloween decorations.

Durene Jones Halloween Freebie - Available here

The first step was to look through my fabrics and pick out something for the backing that would match the cross stitch. I have a selection of 4" and 5" square pieces for quilting, I bought on Ebay just for this purpose. These small pieces are perfect for cross stitched ornaments as there is a large selection of colours and patterns included for a very reasonable price. This way I don't have to store a ridiculous amount of fabric, but still have lots to choose from for small finishes. I also have the option of stitching a few together if I need a slightly larger piece for a bigger project.

A thorough search through my collection later, and I had a combination of pieces I thought would go great with my Halloween Cat. I was torn between purples and oranges but in the end orange won the day.

Halloween Cat Ornament Preparation

The next step was to make up the back panel using the three squares I had chosen. I calculated how large I would need each piece to be, including the seam allowance, so that it would be the right size. Off I went with rotary cutter and mat, cut the three pieces and stitched them together.

The back panel stitched from 3 pieces of fabric

All that was left was to choose a matching ribbon. I decided to go with purple rather than orange as it gave the piece a bit of contrast. Once it had all been assembled correctly it went through the sewing machine. As is typical with me I didn't leave a very large opening to turn it the right way and stuff it with the polyester filling but I managed it, with some difficulty. I closed with an invisible ladder stitch, and I now am the proud owner of my first Halloween cross stitch decoration.

The Finished Ornament. How Cute is that?!?

I am delighted with this and it is now hanging up above the TV. If you like this cute Halloween Cat make sure you head over to Mii's blog and check out how she finished this piece off as an awesome cube, you can find it here.

Hope everyone has a great Halloween night, enjoy and stay safe.

Durene Jones Freebie Halloween Finish

Hey everyone, with Halloween time coming in fast, I have decided to share a finish I have been holding onto. This is a piece I did over a couple of days earlier this year and I thought it would be nice to wait to show it off. It is a freebie pattern by Durene Jones, whose charts I love, and is available on her Facebook page here.

Durene Jones Halloween Freebie - Available here

This little guy is just so cute, with the witches hat and tiny little spider. It was such a fun project to work on. It is stitched on a piece of 14ct aida, just a scrap I had left over from other projects, using DMC 2 over 1. The back stitching is really straight forward so using aida was no problem and it stitched up very quickly.

Durene Jones Mini Halloween Cross Stitch Finish.

The plan is to finish it off as an ornament of some kind and have it on display for Halloween, so there will be a post on that in the near future. Every year I mean to make some Halloween decorations but never get around to it, so this will be the first of what will, hopefully, be many Halloweeny goodies. There are lots of freebie charts on Durene's FB page that I want to stitch, as well as a number from various stitching magazines, so I'm sure you will be seeing more of her work on here.

We are really starting to see the effects of Autumn around here. The leaves are falling, the mornings are definitely cooler and the evenings are darker. I actually really like the early nights, I know quite a few people hate them but I just love that feeling of being all snuggled up at home with the darkness outside. Who else is a fan of the darker nights or Autumn/Fall season? I would love to know and also what you like about it, leave a comment below.

Well that's all for now.

Just Cross Stitch - Bird Seed WIP

Hello lovely readers, I hope you are all squeezing in lots of crafty relaxation into your schedule. Today I have a new cross stitch to share. A few years ago I was delighted to discover that I could get a CD with Just Cross Stitch issues from 2001-2010.  I love this CD and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Just Cross Stitch magazines. I spent many a happy hour scrolling through all the options and possibilities. During my exploration, I came across a chart called Bird Seed, which I fell love with and printed out right away. After I finished the Poppy Cupcake I settled on this as another relatively easy project.

A quick search through my fabric stash yielded a gorgeous, hand dyed 28ct Brittney evenweave from Sparklies, called Rainforest. I thought the beautiful green mottled effect would work really well with this design. I am using DMC equivalents of the charted Weeks Dye Works threads. I had very little idea of how the DMC would look but figured I could change it as I went if I was unhappy with the result. However I'm in love with the gorgeous earthtone, muted colours. This is being stitching 2 over 2.

Bird Seed - Bent Creed - Just Cross Stitch Apr 2002

So far this has been a really nice, simple project to work on. It mostly consists of full cross stitches with some backstitching. The majority of it is charted in blocks of colour, using fairly simple shapes but I can't deny that they are used extremely effectively, to create a lovely project. I'm finding the Brittney evenweave relatively easy to work with and the chart is of a nice size that I can use a small\medium sized embroidery hoop, happily stitching on the couch for hours.

I’m looking forward to playing with a few different ideas for finishing this off. Its size means that there are a number of interesting possibilities, other than my standard ‘frame it or ornament it’ approach. I thought that this might make a really nice cube, which would be technique I haven’t tried before. I’m really enjoying this, so hopefully will have another update next week.

This is turning out to be really great 'break' project. When I take a 5-10 min time out from other tasks I can pick this up and make some progress on it. Does anyone else use a cross stitch project in the same way, or do you only pick it up when you know you have a decent stretch of time? Let me know in the comment section below.

Good Enough to Eat, Smell or Stitch - Cupcake Mini Cross Stitch

Hello lovely readers. Recently I was looking for something nice and small that I could stitch up relatively quickly, which also might prove useful as a part of a Christmas gift. While looking through my stash, I came across one of the Cupcake of the Month designs from The World of Cross Stitching. So I am delighted to say I have a mini finish to show you.

I stitched the Summer themed cupcake a few months ago, had loads of fun stitching it and was extremely happy with the finished piece.  

If you missed it here's the link: Summer Time Seems a Little Nearer - Summer Themed Mini Cross Stitch Finish

When I saw the poppy one I knew it would be a perfect, quick project. I just love the colours, the design of the flowers and the swirls of icing on top.

Poppy Cupcake, Cupcake of the Month Series - The World of Cross Stitching issue 195

I had a quick look through my fabric box and found a small piece of 14ct Aida, which honestly I didn't think would ever get used, that was just about the right size to fit this cupcake stitch. There isn't a lot of clearance around the finished design but I think it will be enough to make this into an ornament, though not a flat, or stitch it into something larger. I was delighted to be able to find a use for one of those smaller pieces of fabric, which just appear to accumulate in my stash.

I had a whole day to just work on this, with Supernatural Season 1 DVD on in the background, and it came together really quickly. It's a nice simple design with very easy back stitching, always a bonus in my opinion. I was a little unsure as to how the poppies would look at first, I thought that the colours charted wouldn’t shade well together. I am delighted I was proved wrong, the subtle changes in shade are just perfect.

I probably would have managed to complete this faster if I hadn’t kept making silly errors, like when I had all the first half of the crosses done in the cake wrapper in the wrong colour and had to rip them all back. This was just one of many such frog related instances on this project. It was probably caused by the fact that I was trying to keep track of what was on the TV at the same time. In future I may just listen to an audio instead of trying to develop eyes in the top of my head.

I have a few more of these cupcake designs in my stash, mostly thanks to a very generous blogger and stitcher Justine. If you haven't come across her blog, do go check out her work as it is amazing: Click Here

I'm not 100% sure how I will finish this piece off. I would love to hear any thoughts or suggestions you have in the comment section below.

Floral Mini Cross Stitch Flat Ornament Finish No. 2

Well I don't want to startle all my lovely readers but here I am with another post. I stitched a mini floral piece a while ago but it has sat unfinished since. I didn't want to make a post until it was finished off properly. I really enjoy these floral mini cross stitches, they are fun to stitch and I think the result is so pretty.

Floral Cross Stitch Ornament - Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179

I was more careful with the placement of this piece than the last flat ornament I made, so the pattern is more central and I am very happy with how it looks.
You can see my first attempt here: HAP and YOTA SAL May and an Ornament Finish
I used Mod Podge for the first time and it worked nicely except for the satin ribbon. The glue wouldn't adhere the shiny side to the aida and foam core board.

Flat Ornament back.

I did make a mistake when I was cutting the foam core for mounting the fabric on, this led to the back piece being slightly larger than the front. It isn't that noticable as the difference is very marginal. The piece of fabric I used for the back was a little too small and when I was pulling it around to stick it, it warped the board. This means that there is a slight gap between the front and back espcially at the corners. Again it isn't very noticable and I may add some trim around the outside to hide it. It was a great learning experience and I look forward to using this technique again in the future and put these experiences to good use.

Stitch from Stash May Update

Month: May
Spent: $0.00
Earn: $0.00

It's time for another Stitch from Stash update, check out Mel's Blog for details. This month I managed a zero spend on cross stitch supplies, which I am very pleased with. However I must admit that my personal budget did implode this month.

Here is some of what I finished up this month:

Floral Cross Stitch Ornament - Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179

Somebunny to Love Finish - DMC Creative - Free Somebunny to Love Chart.

As some of you know I have been trying different techniques to attempt to get a better handle on my personal budget and to stop accumulating large amounts of "stuff". So far I have made a number of changes which have helped me to save more and created a less stressful financial environment for myself.

My plan was to keep my unnecessary purchases as low as possible for the year. This month I did make a big purchase that I hadn't intended to make. I decided to invest in a tablet PC. While it was a large expense I approached the purchase using some of my new budget skills. I decided on a maximum spend I was willing to make, then I did lots of research and found the best tablet with the features I wanted within that price.

I am so glad that I spent the time doing the research and am extremely happy with my choice. This does mean that I need to make a huge effort not to make any more unnecessary purchases for the rest of the year.

I have also decided that I will not be joining the SFS group for the second half of the year. I feel I have managed to get my craft spending under a certain amount of control and as the spaces are limited, I will leave it for someone else to take my place.

HAP and YOTA SAL May and an Ornament Finish

It is the start of a new month and therefore time for an update on how my HAP and YOTA SAL projects are coming along. Unfortunately this month saw no stitching on either project so I have nothing new to show. Check out last months post HAP SAL and YOTA Update - HAED Bridge of Wings & Dimensions Gold Elegance of the Orient to see where I am on both projects to date.

I have done some stitching, and finished a couple of small projects. As I normally finish mini pieces as cushion ornaments, I decided I would try a new finishing technique, similar to the pin keep finish. I used some foam core and batting to mount the cross stitch and the same for the cotton backing. Then I joined to two together.

Floral Cross Stitch Ornament - Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179

Back of Floral Cross Stitch Ornament

There are a couple of mistakes I made on this piece, the cross stitch is not centred on the board. The corners are not as tidy as I would like and I would love to put some trim around the outside to cover the join but am unsure how to manage that with the hanging ribbon in place. These are all things I will be experimenting with fixing in the future and hope to share with you.

However I am quite happy with how this piece turned out. The pin cushion in the background is another project that I completed recently and made many mistake on, but that is a post for another day.

I am still working on trying to improve my blog experience for my readers. My biggest issue at the moment is definitely trying to get the pictures just right. I don't have much of a problem with content, there are lots of things I want to write about, but getting the photos to work out for me is proving to be a big challenge.

If you have any tips or trick for these types of finishes please let us know in the comments below.

Stitch From Stash and The Budget Experiment Part 2

Month: March
Spent: $5.25
Earn: $8.00

This month I unfortunately didn't manage a zero spend. A very good friend of mine expressed an interest in learning to cross stitch, so I offered to teach her. I decided to pick up one to two supplies I didn't have in my stash to suit the chosen project.

However I did manage to earn some funds for a couple of finishes from my stash that I made. I have only taken earned funds for two of the three finishes, as the Lickle Ted project was one I had started before January and as it is small I decided to just leave it out.

Here are my projects for March:

Sweet Treats - Cupcake of the Month - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 192

Swirly Sheep - Christy Schmitz - http://www.just-crossstitch.com/featured_pattern.php

Lickle Ted - Christmas Stitch Kit - The World of Cross Stitching

HAED - Bridge of Wings

I also started a new mini project, a free Somebunny to Love design from DMC. I just thought it was so cute. The chart can be found here: DMC Somebunny to Love Free Chart

Somebunny to Love - DMC Free Chart -
 http://www.dmccreative.co.uk/Inspiration/Projects/Cross-Stitch-Inspiration/Dmc-SBTL.aspx?technique=cross+stitched

My attempts at controlling my spending are on going and I am continuing to try new techniques. I am still using the reward system, if you missed that post you can read it here: Stitch from stash and the Experiment to Spend Less. This is continuing to assist me in cutting much of my unnecessary spending. The last few weeks haven't seen much added to the reward jar, as I have needed to purchase some supplies for a craft class I am taking.

The new technique I have added this month is a food budget. I know that probably sounds incredibly obvious to many of you but I have never really paid much attention to a food budget. In the past I often used my credit card to buy groceries and as such would often overspend. Now I have allowed myself a certain amount, which I withdraw in cash on payday. This amount must be sufficient to cover grocery costs for the week. Any money left over at the end of the week goes toward the budget limit for the following one.

I have forbidden myself from using the credit card for grocery shops. This is working well for me so far and has led to smaller grocery bills and less food waste.

I would love to hear any thoughts you have on my new attempt to curtail my spending in the comments section.

Summer Time Seems a Little Nearer - Summer Themed Mini Cross Stitch Finish

I managed to finish the lovey Summer themed mini chart I posted yesterday. I didn't think I would complete it so quickly but I managed to get a few hours to work on it last night. The original chart had eyes and a smile on the sun but I preferred it plain so I adjusted the chart to suit.

Sweet Treats - Cupcake of the Month - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 192

I really love the colours in this piece and so enjoyed stitching it. The back stitching was nice and easy and the chart was printed in a larger format which made it a bit easier to work with.  This was stitched on 14ct white aida with the recommended DMC threads, 2 over 1.

I started a new chart which is another small, I am having so much fun with these right now. I will post a picture of my new start once I have made some progress on it. I'm not sure if I will sign up for IHSW or not this month, though I must admit I would love a hermit weekend as things have been very busy lately.

The Reign of the Mini Continues

I am still currently working on mini projects. I am finding them a really nice change from my large WIPs as I am getting some finishes, which gives me a sense of accomplishment. I'm not sure how long I will continue with the small patterns but I am happy to at least be cross stitching.

Here is the pattern I am working on at the moment:

Sweet Treats - Cupcake of the Month - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 192

I really like this piece as it is lovely and summery. I also have another mini that is close to a finish, however it doesn't look quite right so I will see if I can adjust it and will post it when it is complete.

Beating the Stitching Blues

Well I think I may have beaten back those cross stitching blues and coaxed my mojo back for a little while.

When none of my current projects were cooperating with me, or maybe me with them, I decided to would stitch something nice and quick. The project I settle on is one I have stitched before but this time I use different thread and 14ct Aida instead of evenweave.

Swirly Sheep - Christy Schmitz - http://www.just-crossstitch.com/featured_pattern.php

Here it is all finished up as an ornament. I went with a green swirl fabric for the backing. I used DMC 4065 varigated thread.

Click here for the other version of the Swirly Sheep 

Backing fabric

This finished help to spur me on to finish off my lunch time Lickle Ted project which just needed the back stitching. I put the last stitches into him today and so here he is aswell.

Lickle Ted - Christmas Stitch Kit - The World of Cross Stitching

I am having so much fun with these small charts that I have moved onto a new one, however I have no pictures of that one yet.

So lets hope that this change of pace will help to keep me on track and that I will soon be working towards the finish on Elegance of the Orient.

Edit: Sorry about the thread show through behind the bear in the Lickle Ted mini. This happened due to the way I took the photograph and can not be seen in real life unless it's held up to a light source.

Stitch From Stash and The Experiment to Spend Less

Month: February
Spent: $0.00
Earned: $0.00

Most of my stitching progress this month is from late January and early February. However my budget is going well, with my second no spend month. This year I have started a budget plan and will be trying various techniques to curb my spending in all areas of my life.

Lickle Ted - Christmas Stitch Kit - The World of Cross Stitching

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

HAED - Bridge of Wings

Lavender & Lace - Celtic Spring

The first technique I have tested is a reward system. Each week that I manage to make no unnecessary purchases I add a small amount to a fund jar. This will go towards a large treat at the end of the year.  I had to ensure that the reward was neither too big nor too small. Too big and I would find it difficult to find it in my regular budget, too small and it wouldn't feel worth it.

The first lesson I have learned with this technique is never reward yourself in advance. If you decided to give yourself a reward of €5/$5/£5, whatever your currency is, but you reach the end of the week and find that you only have a 10, don't use that for this and next week's goal. Little compromises with myself, like this, is how these attempts at change have collapsed in the past. As soon as I compromise once, it makes it difficult not to do so again.

I am finding this a useful way to keep myself on track. I do have to be very clear about what is an unnecessary spend, for this exercise it is anything I do not need to survive. Here is an example of an unnecessary spend I made recently is, my phone has been crashing apps and become intolerably slow. I decided I would replace it as I use it regularly. Although my old phone was not able to perform the functions I needed to an acceptable standard, it still functioned. Therefore I considered the purchase of the new one as unnecessary and missed out on my reward. As a new phone is a large expense, I debated whether I would forgo my reward for a few weeks, however I decided against such a harsh measure, as it was only a matter of time before my old handset needed replacing.

Do you have any tips or tricks you use to help you stop spending? Please let me know in the comments below. I would be interested in trying them out.

The Lickle Ted I Can Bring to Work

I am currently still working on my gridding tutorial but things have been very busy here of late and I am getting small bits done when I have some time. I do try to get some stitching in each day, usually on my lunch break at work, and this free chart is perfect for that.

This is a Christmas design I had started during the first Mega Mini Month Madness but didn't get finished before the end of October. I bring this to work with me as it is a nice small project that is easy to carry around and I get to see some progress even in such a short amount of time.

Lickle Ted - Christmas Stitch Kit - The World of Cross Stitching

This will be one of those projects where I will probably wish I had ditched the supplied aida for evenweave as it has the partial back stitching.

If you missed my post on the terrors of mixing aida and partial back stitching check it out: Back Stitching on Aida and Why Sometimes it's Torturous

I am hoping that I will finish this one next week and I will have a new mini start to show off to you all. I haven't managed to cook anymore new recipes but I have lots on my Pinterest board Recipes I Want to Try. Check it out to see what crazy culinary adventures I will be landing myself in some time in the future or use the link on the upper right to follow me as I Pin enough projects and ideas to keep me occupied forever.

Back Stitching on Aida and Why Sometimes it's Torturous

When I first started out cross stitching, I really disliked back stitching. I found it extremely time consuming and often very difficult. Over the years I have found ways of making this aspect of cross stitching some what easier. (I will be doing a post on some of the methods I use to make my back stitching more enjoyable and also better looking in a later post.) However some charts have complicated back stitching and using Aida makes the process close to nightmarish.

Why some back stitching more difficult on aida

This issues used to be a bigger problem for me when I had an unjustified fear of deviating from the recommendations on a chart in any way. Now it most often arises when using free card kits that come with magazines. The Margaret Sherry Mouse, pictured below, and the Lickle Ted design that is my current lunch time project are two such examples.

Margaret Sherry Mouse Card Kit

These two kits, and all other free kits that I have seen, include Aida for stitching on. They are the perfect size for the pattern so I use this piece rather than cutting something from my stash. Aida is a great fabric to work with as it is a nice and stiff, which makes it easy to stitch in hand. Each square on the fabric represents a stitch and I find it can be a bit more relaxing than evenweave as I don't need to concentrate on my stitch placement as much.

Then I get to the back stitching and this is when I wish I had gone to my stash. Both of these projects have small back stitches that may not start or end in a hole in the fabric. In fact they can appear out of anywhere within the stitch square. For instance if you look at the picture below, this is a close up of the ear of the mouse framed above.

In the circled section you can see that the chart called for the backstitching to come up about half way between the two top holes, piercing the fabric, and go down in the centre of the aida square, again piercing the fabric. Not only is this difficult to do, as it can be difficult to push the needle through the fabric, but it can also be hard to get the placement just right. I have often had to rip out stitching because it was askew.
 
Back stitching is a good thing

It must be pointed out that in both of these charts it is this type of backstitching that gives the piece its charm. These smaller backstitches are often used in projects where the subject has fur or is fluffy. The chicks in my recent Somebunny to Love project are another example of this type of back stitching and I think the effect is very sweet. While this type of stitching is difficult it gives some really pretty results.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Not all back stitching on aida is difficult, in fact some of it is down right pleasant when nearly all the stitches go from one hole on one fabric square to the opposite one either diagonally, vertically or horizontally. This sweet mini project by Joan Elliott is a perfect example of this.

Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection - Thanks You Cards

How working on evenweave differs

When working on medium/large piece, that has a lot of this small back stitching, I will usually use evenweave. It makes the piece significantly easier to do. tHis is because with evenweave you stitch over 2 strands of fabric. (This can make it a slightly more difficult fabric to work with overall and something I would not recommend to an absolute beginner.) Working over 2 for cross stitch means, you come up through one hole on the fabric, skip the next one diagonally and go down through the following hole. When a chart calls for small back stitches it means that instead of having to pierce the fabric, as you do with aida, you can just use the pre-existing holes.

The above image shows a small back stitch which came up through the hole on the left and down through the very next hole to the right. In aida the same stitch would mean having to pierce the fabric between the two holes in the fabric. Working on evenweave makes the whole process easier, less time consuming, less tiresome on my hands and leads to less ripping out.

This does not mean that I never use aida for these types of projects. The Lickle Ted project I am currently working on has small back stitching yet I am still using the enclosed aida as it is only a small project. However below are two projects for which, I really wish I had used evenweave. Though I think they still look great on the aida.

Margaret Sherry - Hedgehog - Summer Fun Booklet

Lickle Ted with Star  - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 167

I hope that this post has been enjoyable and that you found it useful. This was inspired by a question I recently received regarding a statement I made about back stitching on evenweave.

I would love to know your thoughts and if you have any other tips for working difficult back stitch on projects please leave a comment below.

I am still working on getting the images together for my gridding tutorial, hopefully you will see that in the next week.

Another Christmas Mini Finish

I made this piece for someone who was expecting their first baby around Christmas time. I originally planned to make it into a hanging ornament however it looked too big so I decided on a cushion instead. I thought the fabric colours look wintery and the pattern resembled ice cracks.

Snowflake - Just Cross Stitch Ornament ED 2011 - SamSarah Design Studios

The back is made from the same fabric as the front and a put a zip in it so that the insert could be taken out and the cover cleaned if need be. I made the insert separate so that it would be the right size for the cover. Both the recipient and myself were happy with how this turned out.

Mini Framed

Today's post is to show you all my Margaret Sherry Mini all framed up before I gave it away for Christmas. I thought this frame was so pretty and would match the decor of the recipients home. I really do love how it has turned out and I am thinking of stitching it again for myself, except on evenweave this time.

Margaret Sherry Mouse Card Kit

I will be posting another Christmas present finish in my next post so keep an eye out for that.

Christmas Ornie finish

Hope everyone is enjoying the run up to Christmas, for those of you who celebrate it. I am slowly finishing those pre-Christmas tasks and trying my best not to leave them to the last minute and end up very stressed.

So in that spirit I settled down with my sewing machine this week and finished up one of the Christmas minis I made during the year into an ornament. This is going to be part of a gift and is one of a few pieces I am giving as gifts this year.

I think it turned out well and I hope the recipient likes it :) I also worked on making the Snowflake mini project into a cushion but I was trying a new technique and it didn't work out for me so I had to undo some of the work and change it around. Hopefully I will have a post on it in a day or two for you all.

SFS November

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted in a while, been busy here. I almost forgot to post my SFS report for this month, so here it is.

Amount Spent:$18.81

New Starts from Stash: Lickle Ted Christmas Stitch Kit

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Trick or Treat - Barb Cooley, Plum Pudding NeedleArt - Just Cross Stitch Halloween Edition 2013, Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient.

I managed one day of stitching recently when my mojo made a brief reappearance. I decided to work on Elegance as that and Celtic Spring were the projects calling to me.

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

Trick or Treat - Barb Cooley, Plum Pudding NeedleArt - Just Cross Stitch Halloween Edition 2013

Lickle Ted Christmas Stitch Kit

Apologies for not having any listings on my Ebay at the moment. I will be relisting at the start of next month, as the fees are too costly for me otherwise, so do check that out if you are interested.

YOTA Kinda

Well unfortunately this month I have nothing to show you on my Bunnies or Elegance of the Orient. However in an attempt to make some head way on a few half finished projects that have been neglected for far too long I decided to finish off a long forgotten project.

Some of my readers will remember these four pieces I did as a gift for someone:

I had promised them that I would finish these so that they could have a muslin bag filled with something scented in them. However I have been putting off stitching up the muslin bags for an absolute age. I'm sure the recipiant has probably forgotten they are getting these. So I finally pulled out my machine and got stitching on the muslin bags. After a bit of trial and error I finally got them stitched up.

So here they are:

They are now ready to be filled with some nice potpourri or some essential oil scented rice. I am so delighted to finally get these finished up as it has been bothering me for a long time that they haven't been done.