Friday, September 27, 2013

Pumpkins for Cathey

This post is in honour of a very special blogger.....Cathey, who blogs as Pumpkin. For anyone who hasn't been to Cathey's blog, please do check it out. I am not eloquent enough to tell you her story, but suffice to say, she's one hell of a courageous person.

Cathey, you leave me humbled when I read of all that you are going through. I wish you and your family health and happiness.

The wonderful Sharon, aka Daffycat, came up with a plan to honour Cathey and show her the love and support of the stitchy community by posting pics of pumpkins as today is Cathey blogging anniversary. I had intended to stitch a little pumpkin, but you all know how good my intentions are, and that the results don't always match the initial thought. So, if you were thinking that I hadn't stitched the pumpkin, you would be correct...so, here's the nest best thing...


...a chart so everyone can stitch a pumpkin for Cathey!

The colours used are as follows.
Dk orange - DMC 921
Orange - DMC 721
Yellow - DMC 727
DK Yellow - DMC 726
Green - DMC 988

These are just my suggestions for thread colours, please feel free to use whatever colours of thread you have in your stash!

So a big thank you goes out to Sharon for organizing this event. 

And to Cathey, please take strength form all the love that is being showered on you today and every day from your fellow stitchers and bloggers.

Until next time...happy stitching.



Rhona




Monday, September 16, 2013

No longer the Queen!

Heehee...I'm no longer the Queen of Procrastination! Bet that came as a shock to you, didn't it?!!! Well after my last post when I wrote that I was the Queen of Procrastination, I decided that it was nothing to be proud of,  and decided to do something about it....like actually finishing something off. So before I did anything else, I finished off my stitching into the bookmark! Shock! Horror!!!  I did it.....and it looks great...


...and it wasn't too difficult or time consuming either. So the title of Queen of Procrastination is up for grabs....any takers?

A few weeks ago I had a email from Nia double checking my address (she was the winner of my chart giveaway) and I assumed that she was just going to send a little thank-you note. But look what arrived...


The instructions were to remove the ribbon to reveal the secret message...




How adorable is that?!! And to make it even better...Nia made it herself! What a very talented lady! Thank you so much Nia...I love it. You can check out the very talented Nia's blog here.

I hate that it's the end of summer, the only good thing about the fact that it's getting dark earlier and earlier is that we can get more stitching done. Here's  a project that's next in my to-do pile...

World Of Cross Stitching Issue 207
Immediate Media co.

...yes, I'm going to be stitching one (or more) of my own designs!  And since I'm no longer the Queen of Procrastination I might even have them finished for Halloween!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona


Monday, September 9, 2013

Phew!!! I made it....

....I had enough fabric to complete my bookmark! What a relief!

I finally put the last bit of back stitching on to the design and my Heilan Coos look great!


 I just have to make it in to the actual bookmark now....and that part might take me a while! I always seem to be the queen of procrastination when it comes to finishing off  my stitching into the final item.

Here's a close-up....


...isn't that the cutest face? And I love the thistles too. 

In case anyone is interested the kit is called Heiland Coos and is made by Textile Heritage.... but best of all, (well, in my opinion anyway!) the kits are made in Scotland!

And finally here's a quick look at this month's (or maybe last month's) Crazy magazine with my school designs.....

Cross Stitch Crazy Issue 180
Immediate Media Co

Back to school already...where did the summer go? Yup, we'll be talking Christmas designs soon! ;)

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, September 2, 2013

Upcycling....

.....or recycling....or trash to treasure....or whatever the correct term is! Basically, I broke a necklace and was about to throw it in the bin (after hunting down all the tiny beads that scattered for miles!) when it dawned on me that it would make a rather nice scissor-keep! So with a few snips of the scissors, this is what I ended up with...


And the little clasp on the necklace is perfect for attaching to the scissors...



No more lost scissors...I hope! 

One of my all-time favourite design commissions was published in this month's (or maybe last month, depending on where you are in the world and how efficient the postal service is!! lol) World Of Cross Stitching magazine.....


Here's a close up of the actual stitching, with thanks to Pippa (AKA Cross Stitch Gal) who did the stitching and who emailed me the pictures.




I loved designing this and was delighted to see how beautifully it stitched up. Not sure how delighted Pippa was with having to do so many French knots with metallic threads, but I think it's safe to say that it was worth the effort!

Also in the same issue of World of Cross Stitching was my Music Design Library...


World of Cross Stitching Issue 206
Immediate Media Company

...no french knots in metallics for these designs!

And now I'm of to get some more stitching done on my Highland cow....now that I know I'll not lose my scissors! :)

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona