Thursday, October 25, 2012

Re-usable Christmas gift tags.

Head over to www.TangledThreadsandThings.com for free cross stitch charts, tutorials, tips and more!

Monday, October 22, 2012

I hate black aida!

Although you would never know as yet another finish is on black aida!



Two in a row on black... I deserve a medal! 

Actually, I don't really hate black aida, it's just that I find I stitch so much more slowly on black compared to a light coloured fabric, and since I officially hold the title of 'Queen of Slow Stitching', you can imagine just how long these black finishes take me! I love how the black background really makes the colours pop on this design (which will be made in to a card sometime in the very near future.). It's incredible the difference the colour of the fabric has on the finished effect as you can see when you compare how it looks on the website on white fabric. I have some navy blue aida which I might use for one of the other designs in the set - but only after I have had a respite from dark fabrics and stitched some more on white!

Here's another finish (thankfully not on black!!) which as you can see from the hoop marks is, quite literally hot off the hoop!


This is to match the coffee design I did earlier. This one is also going to be made in to a gift, but I'm hoping to do something a little bit different than the coffee basket....let's hope that some inspiration strikes soon!

Until next time...happy stitching!
Rhona 



Thursday, October 18, 2012

A change of plan!

In my next TUSAL report, you will no doubt notice a lot of green threads in my ort jar - all because I had a change of plan!

I had stitched up my Russian Dolls design  and was intending making it in to a Christmas card but then changed my mind and decide to make it into a little box. Well, a girl can change her mind, can’t she?!!

So it went from this…



…and this….




….to this….








I decided to take out the Christmas greeting on the stitching so that the box would be suitable to use all year round. Although the green border would have been fine on the box, (the size fitted perfectly) if the design is positioned the slightest bit off, a border really makes it noticeable. So to make life easier I just unpicked the border at the same time as unpicking the ‘Christmas Greetings’ – I’m all for an easy life!

So all I did was gave the cardboard box a couple of coats of black acrylic paint. I painted inside the box too, to give it more of a finished look. As you know, I usually back my stitching with iron-on interfacing to stop any colour shining through, but as I wanted to keep this design very black I missed this step out. I cut some black felt the same size as the lid and glued that to the top of the lid to give the design a very slightly padded look. I then placed double sided tape all around sides of the lid (outside edge) and then positioned the stitching where I thought it looked best and pressed down the edges onto the tape. I trimmed the excess fabric so that it was just above the base of the edge. I then folded the four corners back and taped them down. I tried to take some pictures of the corners, but the black against black just didn’t show up well, but you can just see the corners on this picture….





With more double sided tape, I added a ribbon to the edge to hide the cut fabric. The final touch is to add a bow – if desired. I can’t decide if I like it better with or without the bow!

All I need to do now is buy a gift to go inside the box….although this step is optional! The box itself would make a great gift.



I took the bow off for taking this picture, but now I think it might look a bit bare without it…. arghhh, I can’t make up my mind! What do you think?

The great thing about this design is that it works really well for Christmas but works also for any other time of the year too!


This is one of my gifts that will be linking up with the Gift MAL with Pull The Other Thread, if you'd like to join in with us and post about you Christmas makes, please click here to find out more.

Until next time…happy stitching!

Rhona




Monday, October 15, 2012

TUSAL and other updates.

I'm quite surprised at how many orts are in the jar this month! I've either stitched more than I had though, or I have been rather wasteful with the threads. I'm hoping it's the first excuse reason. Here's this moths orts along with my jar for the year...


I've also managed to finish the last of the scarves that are Christmas gifts (and it's only October!!! Woohoo!)


I found a really interesting cushion cover made from this yarn, which I'm quite tempted to try. You can see it here.  I'm just not sure if my knitting skills are up for the challenge!

The granny squares count is creeping up albeit rather more slowly than I had hoped!  The grand total is now 86. 


And finally, some updates on my cross stitching projects! Here's the progress on the Geisha...



And you might have to be a bit eagle eyed to see any changes in Simple Treasures...


...but there are a few more stitches than last time - honestly!

Phew! I think I've been rather productive...let's hope it lasts.

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Red noses....

As the first chilly days of autumn appear, I end up with a rotten stinking cold - you can tell I'm a summer lovin' gal can't you?!!

So, due to the fact that my head feels like it's stuffed with cotton wool, my nose is doing a fantastic impression of Niagara Falls and my body feel like an eighty year old that's just ran a marathon, not much stitching has happened here these last few days. 

I did manage to finish this....


Rudolf and I have the bright red nose in common! This is going to be made in to a funny gift for my son for Christmas. I have five other reindeer to stitch - I know there should be eight others, but for this gift, I only need five more - I'll show you the finished gift nearer to Christmas.

I find stitching on plastic canvas to be quite a slow process and I end up with an ache in my fingers, so I'm going to pace myself with each of these little fellas. Thank heavens it's only October, but, knowing me, I'll probably still end up scrambling at the last minute to get this gift finished! 

Anyhoo, I'm off to have another hot lemon drink (or maybe a hot toddy?!!) and hopefully get rid of this cold.

Until next time...happy stitching!
Rhona

Monday, October 8, 2012

'Will Trade Coffee' gift basket



I’ve had this project sitting around for quite some time, but finally I managed to get it finished and made into a gift. So can I have a big fanfare for my finished 'Will Trade Coffee for Gossip' gift basket….


I think it was worth the wait, don’t you? 

I love making this type of gift as you can tailor it exactly for the recipient. Another great thing about making your own gift baskets is that they can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want to make them. When I went looking for the items to put into the basket, I found that there were lots of coffee themed items, mugs, towels etc. in the shops that would have been great for putting in this basket, but when I saw these mugs I knew they were exactly my friend’s style (don’t worry, she doesn’t read this blog.) I fell in love with the mugs myself and after making the basket, I went back to the store and bought myself the same set!

Here’s the cross stitched items that I made for the gift...




So let me tell you what I put in the basket – remember you can put whatever you want to in to the basket, which is the beauty of making this type of gift. I bought a plain cream tea towel to line the basket (it makes it look a bit prettier – and it’s practical too!), a set of two mugs, the cross stitch coasters that I had made, a jar of instant cappuccino, some packets of cookies, some homemade chocolate spoons and then I slipped some individually wrapped biscotti into the little gaps in between the items. I’m not a big fan of biscotti, but they are brilliant for filling in the gaps!

Here’s a picture looking down on the basket and you can probably see each item better.


And did you spot those chocolate spoons nestled in amongst the other goodies?




These spoons are so much fun to make and if you are a chocolate lover they’re great with coffee or hot chocolate – or even just eating on their own! You can find how to make them here, here and here, or you can  Google ‘chocolate dipping spoons’ and there will be plenty more to choose from. I’ve a feeling I’ll be making more of these to eat  give as gifts at Christmas.


I used the same design as one of the coasters and made it into a card. This was just a very simple card, but with a cute gift, that’s all you need!!!



All that’s left to do now is to wrap the gift up with cellophane and tie a big bow on to it.










Until next time…happy stitching!

Rhona 


Thursday, October 4, 2012

Simple Treasures

Don't you just love it when all those random X's of different colours magically appear as something?  I've been stitching on Simple Treasures and it didn't really look like anything, just random splodges of colour, and then  suddenly bam...there it was, the rope, the seashell....yayyy, it's beginning to look like the picture on the package! Here's how it's looking now....



I'm really enjoying working on this piece, but this week is Geisha week, so Simple Treasures has to sit there collecting dust for a week before I can pick it up again. :(

And remember the scarves I was knitting? Well, I've finished another one! It's such a great feeling to be able to cross things off your Christmas to-do list, at least it would be, if I had a list!
*Note to self - make a Christmas To-do list and cross off  'make scarves'! *

Here are the three finished ones together...



Three down, one to go!

And I finally managed to get my Will Trade Coffee design finished into a gift!  I was going to make a wall hanging out of the stitching, but I decided that a frame would be better....and quicker! Here's the design framed...


I'll have a separate post about the design made as a gift. This one worked so well that I'm going to do a Tea one for some of my tea loving friends...watch this space!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona