On Holiday from everything except stitching

well, almost everything, actually mostly just home & work.

We have travelled south to Oamaru for the holiday season & I hope to catch up with a few friends, even a couple that I haven't seen since High School, but let's not count the years.

Some project have been finished - yah! namely the Christmas Biscornu Tree. Perfect to have finished the project I was given last year for Christmas, in time for this Christmas. Not sure if you can see, but it was done on sparkly fabric.

Then onto some Xmas cards - I never give out many, but I try to make a few each year... really wish I could get more organised & have a stash ready & waiting.

 

I'm not sure about the sheep heads, but am very happy the way the other two turned out, & nice to start & finish a simple task.

Next I will do some work on my sampler book & I now have another biscornu pattern to do for 2012 Guild challenge. (feeling like such a stitching geek).

Now it has been given

I can show the world is all it's glory:

Recipient was happy too.

Finishing Touches

here is a sneak peak at some of the wording... you will get to see the entire finished result after the recipient has received it.

and yes, sometimes I bleed for my art:

Sorry about the blurriness, but taking photos while bleeding, with your left hand is tricky. Oh and please be more careful than me when framing with glass... of course, it is recommended you don't wield sheets of glass while talking on the phone. On the plus side, the following day was spent with an Ariel disney band-aid.

and here is my first Biscornu:

so, as you can see a Biscornu is a fancy kind of pin cushion, where you take two equal sized squares, decorated & stitch them together where the corner of one meets the centre side of the other, which creates an 8 sided seam around, and then you sew a button in both centers creating a dent (oh and you need to stuff it too, but not too tight or you can't do the button part) - any questions?

When Less is More

Day 11 & 12:

Right, best get back to it!

Getting Closer

Day 8 & 9, man I love weekends where I can stitch... although I recommend that if you choose to stitch in the sun, remember sunblock - 20mins caused a little pinkness (nothing too bad though)

 

Day 10 & I am VERY happy with the result & my progress. Still have to make finishing touches to House, & then will need to add words... probably some very classic old-school looking font.

More Days

  

sorry, have been playing with Blogger - probably not something I should do, but that's how I roll... anyhoo here are the updates for the last week:

Day 4, 5 & 6 (although there was at least one day somewhere this week where I did none - gasp!)

  

Day 7:

I think he is coming along a lot better than the last one :)

The House Challenge

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 3 was taken at night, so the flash makes it look whiter & now I am starting to add in the colour... must buy those extra threads required today!

Been busy, actually no, been slack/unmotivated

I aim to fix this, but must have the lulls which then boost the productive time. I'm not one who can go along at a steady pace all the time - so you get what your given.

I did have a birthday this week & my Mum got this amazing card made just for me :)

Made by a lady in Timaru I believe... what is super amazing is the inside:

Yep, I can definitely see how this is made, but seriously awesome & I Can't even imagine what this lady's spare room must look like!!

In the meantime I have decided to take my new car (did I tell you I bought a new car? & I mean NEW car) to Auckland & back to see The Twits on stage with the Auckland Theatre company (www.atc.co.nz) in December a week before I drive south.
Before I go I have one challenge for myself - to complete a previously failed attempt at House. I started last night:

but why oh why when I have so many threads already that the two main ones are the ones missing???
Apparently I am a fast stitcher, so lets put that to the test over the next 3 weeks!

It isn't easy being Green

this is what I have been working on for the last wee while, amongst other things as well.

This is a collection of the different stitches I have worked with this year & so as I am new to the guild I consider myself "Green"

 I think I am particularly pleased with the butterfly.

Shoes to Hit the Streets with

sorry no stitching today, but I have been thinking about these for a little while, since I saw these although I'm not really into cartoons/comics... but for a few years I have had a collection of maps from National Geographic magazines which used to belong to my Grandparents (I have been told that my Mum & Aunts used to use these magazines for school projects - copying only)

I like Maps & I LOVE shoes - my daughter claims I have too many pairs, there is no such thing.
I have these shoes:

Good shoes, but they are navy & I always feel weird wearing navy shoes with black pants, so as comfortable as they are, they barely get worn.... that's all about to change.
Next step choose the map, here are some pics of some of the maps I have:

But I chose New York, mostly because if I went on the shoe shopping trip of my dreams, NY would be one of the top 5 places to go.

 

& Mod Podge is the substance to do this - I found this at Pete's Emporium - If you are near Porirua & at all crafty, you have to check out this shop, it is massive & has so much stuff!
Just so you know, this Mod Podge if kind of like PVA, but stickier & dries pretty fast.

Now I need to let them dry & then trim the edges.

Dont worry, I'm still stitching, just in the middle of a few things right now & really need to start on my 'Challenge' project for Guild, which is due November - I have a few ideas - lucky!

An update on the Sampler

hahaha. I did it, now was that so hard - please don't leave letters out of our alphabet - that is mean.

And here is the whole alphabet now:

right, only 8 more pages to go.

If there is a reason, can someone tell me why

A few months ago, Wellington put together "Hands Up for Christchurch" where a collection of Christchurch shops brought their wares to Wellington & local shop owners donated funds to get their goods here & staff to help them. Some of these store owners like 'Follow the White Rabbit' were lucky (due to a back door) to be able to get their goods out & unfortunately may not open again. This was a really cool little shop in Poplar lane, which I had only discovered on my trip to Chch the weekend before the Feb quake. 'She Chocolat' delicious noms who have gone bus!
My main draw card was 'Broomfields' who firstly turned their garage into their shop & have now managed to reopen in a new location. Here I spent much time browsing (so long my daughter wandered off in search of her own treasures) & bought two patterns. The first I have recently started. It will be a sampler book:

it's a lot smaller than I initially thought & finer - 32count, one stitch over cross stitches with one thread.
Now I am working on the second page and was looking at the pattern... something was off...

There is no 'N' arrrrgggggg why??? that's just silly - unless there is a legitimate reason, so I'm working my way up, & unless someone has a good reason as to why there is no 'N' I'm going to try to put one in on the top line.

Sorry, did I say a week?

obviously i forgot about 'Stitching Sundays'. also known (by my daughter as 'Cupcake Day')

And so the Thimble Pod is complete. Here is the Fushia side:

& The Strawberry:

There are some things which aren't perfect, but given that it was my first time doing any Stumpwork, & needle lacing, I am fairly pleased with the result.

When you press the two tassel ends together, it pops open as such:

(yes I played with some photo effects - I really need to work out some photography skills at some point)

Week of Awesome!

although it has been two weeks really.

Last weekend I was off to our work annual conference where our team won "Dealer of the Year" this was a huge surprise & amazing feeling to be told you are part of the best team in NZ.
This has slowly sunk in with help from two of the most delicious cakes supplied by our suppliers :)

Then on Monday my best crafty friend arrived from Chch & I took Wednesday& half of Thursday off work to Craft shop with her & do general craftiness. We scoured Wellington's crafty shops & this was a real treat for me as I dont get a chance to get out to many of these places. I think the two best places we went to were 'Thimbles & Threads' in Upper Hutt & the new & improved 'Pete's Emporium' in Porirua. Although Petone's 'Villagebeads' deserves a mention for having the very best fudge I have ever tasted (& they have free tastings). I have to go back there soon, as I am already out.

Wednesday I made this:

it is a scarf, it did look like a ball of wool when I started. This is for my final FB handmade gift - yah! mission complete :)

Today I went to my Thimble Pod class, & so now need to finish that... here is part of what I have so far:

& a close up of the Strawberry:

I'm quite please so far, although some of this is brain scratching, after today I feel quite confident at finishing it - hopefully within the next week.

Snow Post

This what have started from the class on Saturday, very interesting, eventually it will be a thimble pod thanks to Barbara Kerry - great tutor. Small class & have already learnt a lot. I also have a lot of homework to do. which i did a little of on Saturday afternoon, while some methods were still fresh.

So Sunday I made a jacket. hmmm... seamstress I am not. I think my main problem is my lack of trust of sizing in patterns & so while the jacket looks pretty cool, it is far too big. Then it snowed.

Snow is very rare for Wellington - first time in the 5 years we have been here that we have seen it.

So, I made a scarf for one of my Facebook friends of whom I owed a handmade gift. Finished this morning before work & it has now been delivered - perfect for this "polar blast"

While it was a kit, I bought the kit for the knitting pattern part of it. I tried the crochet pattern, but got confused as I have never actually crocheted anything before, where as the knitting part, while expanding my knowledge was comprehensible enough to pull it off - yah!

Oh and today I got my Amazon embroidery book purchases... such prettiness, but I must finish projects on the go first. So now to my homework, as i am off to Auckland this weekend for work - no sewing :(

Frustrations & Success

Bit of a delay between posts, but I have been busy! Not all of what I have been doing has been successful however.

Firstly I was attempting to create a costume for my work function in Auckland later this month. The theme is Super-Heros & Villains & so I started to attempt this character:

She is the best character in the movie Kick Ass. & for a super hero - surprisingly well covered.

So I got this material:

& decided to start with the leggings/trousers & just happened to have this pattern lying around

Yes, it is from 1987 :)
then I realised that my purple material has no stretch in it what-so-ever. So off to the shops I went & bought some material that was more suitable.
The pattern was just as advertised - Quick & easy. - sorry no pics of this. Then, i thought I would attempt to get my overlocker to work...

I got this for free through "Freecycle" about 2 years ago, got my Uncle to give it the once over & make sure it was ok to use, then I left it in my spare room.
I think i followed the diagram to make it work & it would cut material (Yah!) but the stitching didn't happen. I gave up in frustration and it is back in my spare room until I give it another go. one day.
Then it was late & I was tired, so I stopped.
Now, I will still make the jacket of the costume, but I realised why I don't make clothes very often - all the cutting out! shesh! it takes so long!! But I WILL complete it on Sunday. promise.

Meanwhile I completed the stitching of the biscournus (pics will come) now they are resting until I decide if I want to put any embellishments on them.
I have completed 3 "Congratulations" cards - it seems there are many lovely ladies I know who are "in the family way"

 

Firstly I did the stitching, each one took about an hour. Then to mark where I wanted the boundary, I pulled a thread. Next, because of how I wanted to present these, I ironed on some interfacing to give them more rigidity. Then cut to the pulled thread lines. (these cards have been sitting in my house for a few years now - good to have a use for them)

My next project is to re-learn to crochet & make a couple of scarves (hopefully before summer) & this Saturday I am going to my first embroidery class since I was at primary school... making a thimble pod.