Grab a chair and a drink for this post my friends. I have a lot to share. :)
After five hours of reading on Friday night, I finished the 7th Harry Potter book. I was full of mixed emotions to say the least. It ended well, but being a big fan and knowing that it was over made me kind of sad. Needless to say, there went my creative mojo on Friday night. I posted my personal review on the book on my reading blog
here in case you were interested to read my thoughts. If you have any of your own to share, feel free to comment over there also.
In brighter news, I sat down to make a card tonight...finally after a couple weeks of no cards. I had the strangest feeling like my paper stash was calling to me, like it was feeling neglected...no I'm not crazy I swear! ;) I had this design in my head for a while. It is a really fun card cause Why?? Well... because it is Christmas and it has stitching! (Click the pic for better detail)
Most of my stash is from
Paper Wishes. I love their selection of papers and embellishments for papercrafts, cards and scrapbooking. They carry these stickers called Dazzles and they are fantastic. They add just the right glitz and final touch for your project. The gingerbread man, house and peppermints on this card are from a sheet called "Stitched Gingerbread People Stickers". The package comes with instructions on how and where to add stitching to give it the stitched detail. I did the stitching with DMC Color Infusions Metallic Thread. BTW my stitching friends, I would not recommend this thread for actual cross-stitching. I'm not even sure you can use it for that. It
splits like you have no idea. I will take Kreinick any day of the week. I finished off my card with some more glitz by using Gold Stickles (glitter glue) in a stitch pattern around some of the papers.
Next I wanted to show off my stash I got this weekend at my LNS. Of course, I went there for something particular in mind, but left with more. I blame mother nature for that. It rained HARD while I was there forcing me to stay. Believe it or not, that is not the first time that has happened to me. So what else am I to do while waiting out the weather??? You guessed it...inspect the merchandise! It took a lot out of me not to walk out with more, but my Visa was sending me messages that it would burn up in my wallet if I dared to grab anything more. :D So here are my goodies:
The new Just Cross Stitch Halloween Issue, a "Listen Honey, Life's a Stitch" pattern, A Beyond Cross-Stitch Learning Kit by The Victoria Sampler (the pattern focuses on learning Assisi Embroidery) some Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts Threads, a piece of 28 CT Waterlily Evenweave, and some new Piecemaker and John James Needles. Now, my bill tab was running just fine until I found the pattern on the left. "J" is for Juggler by The Victoria Sampler. It is part of an alphabet series and I happened to see the leaflets sitting on a table waiting to be put on the shelf. I fell in love with this pattern. I kind of had to turn a blind eye to the $30.00 embellishment packet but Oh Well...
What I really love about this chart is that it includes Specialty Stitches. It will be great practice for me and I just so love the colors in it. Super pretty. For you sampler fans, I would look into these patterns. They are all beautiful.
In other stitch news, I worked on my Nora Corbett "J' Fairy this weekend but nothing worth showing. I worked on re-beading some areas. Just when I thought I was attaching the beads right, I found out I was still doing them wrong. :/ I was 0 for 2 in beading! So I made it my mission to fix them, not all of them though. I'll post a pic when I make more progress on this design.
I also joined my first stitching exchange over at
The Rotating Designer Exchange hosted by Angela. My exchange partner is .................J/K! I'm not going to say. Now wouldn't that be a major faux paux on my first exchange experience. :P Our first designer is The Prairie Schooler! Very exciting and this is my first time stitching a chart by this designer. I already have the pattern and materials picked out.
I have also joined
The Stitch Specialist's Group on Yahoo. If you have been watching others stitch the Tree of Stitches pattern, this is the forum of which they are a part of. In fact, the hand dyed threads and Waterlily Even weave fabric I bought was for this design. I was picturing the tree in Autumn colors. I hope I chose my colors well. I am really looking forward to watching this design grow and learn the new stitches. I am very eager to expand my stitching know how. The stitchers on this forum are very friendly ladies too. I'm sure I will get great feedback and help as I truck along stitching the design.
Till next time friends, Happy Stitching!
Jen
This design is from "Pins and Needles" by The Prairie Schooler. I finished it into a pin keep. This was my first time finishing a project in a manner other than a frame. I am very proud of myself that I didn't mess up! The green fabric in the picture is the fabric on the backside. I didn't make the red trim like most instructions say. I bought that trim from the local fabric store. A much easier option.
