Blurry Photos!!

Here are a few photos I took of some of the gifts I made for my friends this Christmas.  Sorry about the quality.  I suppose it is time to look for a new camera.

Oh and I received a gift certificate to Traditional Stitches from my friend who I stitched the "J" for.  I am very excited to do a little shopping for my next projects in the new year! Thank you Jenni!!!!

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, but I have had troubles with my camera.  It seems to deplete batteries even though I added new ones in.  So I am stuck with my cell phone camera which doesn't take the best photos.  I may use my husband's cell phone camera, which seems to take slightly better photos than mine.  I wanted to say Merry Christmas in my post because I celebrate Christmas on January 7th and am getting excited to having a turkey dinner with my family (plus opening my presents!!)  The beginning of January is always so busy, starting with New Years, then my birthday, then finally Christmas.  I hope to fiddle around with the cell phone cameras and put up some pictures of what I have been working on.

Merry Christmas!

Here are the photos as promised!

I think that the little guy and his snowman friend are enjoying the carolers!

Getting Excited for Christmas!

Well, it has been a busy few weeks with work and family gatherings.  I have finished two more pieces and stitched a couple others.  I will have to post some pictures when I get some batteries for my camera! In my mind I assumed we had a drawer of batteries, and other odds and ends, but when I looked, there wasn't any batteries in the drawer! So I searched high and low for some, but to no avail.  As soon as I get the pictures I will post them. 

Estonian Snowflakes

I found these wonderful snowflakes to stitch up from the amazing Needleprint site.  The snowflakes were fun to stitch and I am thinking of how to make them into ornaments. I'm a bit slower than most with finishing, but since I've started this blog I can happily say that I have been finishing projects! I have finished a second pinkeep for a friend and can only show the back of it, since the front will give it away.  Once Christmas is over, there will be a lot of pictures of the fronts of the pinkeeps so look forward to January!

Question: How does one stop the fraying of cord? I knotted the cord that is on the pinkeep but I am concerned that it will come undone.  Will craft glue work?

First Pinkeep!

Well, I managed to finish my very first pinkeep! Certainly not perfect but it is still lovely.  I'm sure my mom-in-law will love it.  Now I need to reorganize my sewing desk and set up my sewing machine so I can get on with the rest of my projects.  I've been very busy lately and will get busier as the weeks go on, so I will try and update when I can.

Here are some photos of the pinkeep as well as this great little "Merry Christmas" Design from Nan at Threadwork Primitives.

My trusty old Stork scissors

Some cotton fabric I found at my moms's

28ct Evenweave Design by Nan from Threadwork Primitives DMC threads

See the holly fabric? I just got that and it will work perfectly

A Tale of Two Thumbs

Wow.  It took me an hour to stitch two parts of a pinkeep today!  I didn't even know that an hour had passed until my husband called me and said "Haven't you left yet?"  I was supposed to be at my Nana's for her birthday party by 2 p.m., but got caught up with my two thumbs trying to fiddle around with "perfecting" the edges of my pinkeep.  I take my hat off to all you ladies (and gents!) who make their stitching finishes look so perfect and easy.  Perhaps since it was my first time crafting a pinkeep, I should be easy on myself.  I just hope my next three...or is it four...will be easier and faster. 

Once I arrived at my Nana's, I rifled through her big button tin and pulled out some really great buttons.  I told her to keep her eyes out for charms, ribbon, and all sorts of crafty things that I could use for future projects.  It was great fun for the both of us, since she has saved those buttons for well over 50 years!  We had a lovely dinner with wine and a yummy cake and talked about all sorts of things.  My aunt gave her a beautiful picture of a blue heron, from the Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park.  My aunt is a very talented photographer and should be selling her prints!  I might get some of her prints to post on my blog for people to see until I help her start her own. 

Here are some photos of the pinkeep in process, although I still need to add the ribbon and whatnot for decoration. There is an uneveness on the top part of the pinkeep that I just couldn't get to work for me.  I think it has something to do with the cardboard I cut out :(

Look at those ghastly corners!

Buttons!!

 

Another Christmas Ornament

But this time it's for us! I realized I haven't really made anything for myself so I decided to do a cute little ornament from the JCS magazine.  It was very quick to do and fun to stitch, now to find some kind of carboard or mat board to finish up all the pieces I've been stitching.  Here are some photos below:

Happy Skater by LHN

28 ct Raw Linen DMC Threads

 I didn't have all the DMC threads the pattern called for so I used what I had.  Also, I'll post a peep of another gift I'm making for a friend.

Close up of Blackwork Ornament

I found a better picture of the blackwork ornament.  Here it is.

Mmmm Italian Sausage with Rice Pasta

Hello all!

Just finished an amazing dinner, Italian sausage with rice pasta, courtesy of my lovely hubby.  We are really starting to like organic rice pasta.  It tastes great, and you can't get better than organic! Anywho, I'm just going to upload a picture of my current project that I'm working on for a friend.  The linen I used is kind of a butter like colour, although I don't think it shows very well in the photo.  I used the one of the letters from the Sajou website, which is linked on my sidebar.  The site has so many different letter designs to choose from it makes it difficult to settle on one.  I think the one I used is perfect for her and I can't wait to see what it will look like when it is completed.  Here it is!

The cord on the upper right hand of the photo is from my Nana.  She told me that she bought it a long time ago to put onto my Grandpa's chair in his office at UBC, but never actually got around to adding it! Good thing she saved it because it works perfectly with the linen and thread.  I'm thinking of turning this into a pinkeep and will add the cord and some red ribbon to match the thread.  Can't wait to find the fabric for the back!

Some old unfinished pieces

Here area some pictures of unfinished pieces I have done.  The geisha and teddy bear just need a bit more backstitching then I will have to frame them.  I will attempt to frame them myself.....yes I will frame them myself! I just hope I don't hammer my finger or anyone else that might be helping me (side glance to my husband).

 

Tatty Teddy Birth Sampler

Geisha Girl

Some old house I stitched when I was 15

A cute pansy pattern I stitched when 

I was young, just finished into a 

lavender pillow a few months ago!

Ornament Finished!!

Woot woot!! I'm pretty happy with the way the ornament turned out.  I did take awhile to get to it, but alas, life is busy and we have had a sick kitty.  Well she is not so much a kitty, but an ol' gal, much loved by all.  Luckily, she has done a turn around and is more like the Lucy we love and know. Once the kitty crisis passed, I set my self upon the three projects I promised to complete before Christmas. I'm amazed that I am ahead of schedule and can actually fit in 3-4 more projects for more friends and family.  Two of the pieces I have not "finished" but I did prep the pieces for what I have in mind, so I am on the way. I've been itching to buy some more linens and threads to make some cute Christmas ornaments, however I stopped myself from pressing the "buy" button! Anyways, here are some photos of the ornament, and the two pieces.The ornament is the last photo.

  "L" from Sajou Alphabet Stitched on Raw 28ct linen

                                              Rose Garden by Blackbird Designs

                     Stitched with R & R Reproduction linen 30 ct Valentine Blend

                                    Threads Crescent Colours in Jakey Brown

Rose Garden Update

So it has been awhile since my last update.  I have been busy with work, family and stitching of course!  I've been enjoying stitching "Rose Garden" by Blackbird Designs immensely and can't believe that I am almost finished!  Here are two pictures of my progress.  Most likely I will finish it today, although I am still unsure as to whether I want to make a lavender filled pillow or a pinkeep for my mother.  I'm now leaning more towards a pinkeep because I found a gorgeous little iron picture holder in Prince George.  It has a little bird and some leaves on it and it would work perfectly for a pinkeep.

Here are the photos, although they are not the best photos because I took them with my cell phone.  

See how beautifully it is coming along! I added my mother's initials on the right and the year that I will be giving her the gift for Christmas.  Some of you may wonder why it says 2011, well that's because we celebrate Christmas on January 7th.  We are Orthodox Christians and use the old calendar for our feastdays.

Enjoy the pictures!!

Putting Things Together

Alright, so I finally took some photos of my linens and threads.  I am not the greatest photographer and my camera is kind of old so the photos will not look super professional.  I'm still learning how to work this blog but I don't have much time these days to fiddle around with the settings, so it is a work in progress.  I am trying to finish the ornament for my sister.  I just need to make the tassle and then put it all together.  Below are photos of the pieces that will be stitched together.

Well for some reason I can't upload the pictures even though I changed the size to really small.  I'll have to try another day.

Okay I figured it out! So here are the pictures!

Stash and Finishing

So it has been a week since I have posted anything.  I was quite sick for awhile and now I have a lovely, lingering cough.  On the bright side, I have finished the second side of the ornament and found the ribbon and piping I am going to use for trim.  Once it is completed I will post pictures of the ornament.  I have also been busy working on finishing a couple other projects, mainly back stitching, something I wish I could enjoy, but I just don't.  Perhaps it's because some of the charts I have are difficult to read and therefore difficult to figure out where to back stitch.  I try to do it free style and sort of see where the stitches should be.  I have a lot more success with the free style method than following all the crazy coloured lines all over the chart! 

I also have some exciting news, I received my stash from Traditional Stitches yesterday!! Once I organize the threads and linens, I will post some pictures online.  I am trying to figure out what design and linen to use to make my mom and mom-in-law's Christmas gifts.  I have an idea of what to do, but need to play around with the colours and linens.  I wish I had more! But alas, I must wait till after Christmas to purchase anything more.

Christmas Blackwork Ornament

All Change by Elizabeth Almond

                                                              Stitched on 14 count Aida

                                                                  DMC Black and 798

                                                                       Freebie link

Not the best picture but it's all I have at the moment.  I still need to stitch the same design for the back of the ornament. 

Spilled Juice!!

Nearly keeled over last night as I spilled juice on my computer last night.  Luckily I was fast acting and managed to get off the majority of the liquid, then turned my laptop over so the remaining drained off.  I was also fast enough to turn off the computer, one of the first things a person should do if they find themselves in the same position I was in last night.  Phewwwww!

So, I am trying to figure out how to add things onto this blog and cannot understand how to add the gidgets?gadgets? to my blog.  I've begun to add some of the blogs I visit but there are many more to come and right now I'm busy transferring over pictures, files and music mp3's to my external hard drive in the event that juice decides to take a trip into my laptop's hard drive.

Yesterday was not all bad. I managed to stitch up a beautiful little blackwork design for a Christmas ornament I'm making for my sister.  I still have the other square to stitch then I can put it together!  I had to find some aida cloth to work on instead of linen.  Still waiting on my order to come in a couple of weeks.

Until then,

toodles!

Annitha

First musing

Alright, here I am in the blogasphere.  My first time doing this....so a bit baffled at how to do this, but I'll give it a go.  I actually don't feel the need to tell the world about my thoughts and am a bit guarded in regards to privacy, however, I will try to overcome this and try to write something interesting and witty when I feel inspired.  I'm not that inspired at the moment, seeing as I just woke up and the rain is beating down quite heavily.  Well, that's not quite true.  When the rain comes, I often feel the urge to take up reading large and difficult books, War and Peace in particular, as well as start a new cross stitch project.  The book I can do, but the cross stitching I cannot.  I don't have any linen!!  My city, Vancouver, B.C., does not have a single embroidery or cross stitch store anywhere.  We have a Michael's, but their selection is teeny tiny and not inspiring at all.  So I have to resort to looking at online stores and blogs and dream up of my projects, keeping mental notes of all the little pieces I want to stitch up for family and friends.  It's a bit of an obsession, cross stitch that is....and Russian authors....and I wish that I had lots of beautiful linens and stash to work from. 

A little history of me and stitching.

My mother taught me how to cross stitch and embroider at a very young age.  She would buy me little kits to work from and I actually finished a lot of projects as a young girl and teenager.  I took a textiles class in high school and won the award for best student.  I think the teacher loved my enthusiasm and genuine love to work with my hands.  Then I went off to university and stopped stitching for a long time.  Very sad, I know.  I only took up my stitching a couple years ago because I realized how much I missed it.  It's very cathartic for me to stitch and create little pieces. 

I'm not going to ramble on too much longer.  I may post pictures of my pieces (there are not many, most I gave away) and hopefully I will get encouragement from all the amazing ladies out there that have so much expertise and creativity to help me with my WIP's (some of which have been put aside for ten years!).

Toodles

Annitha