A rainbow of owls!

Well....almost a rainbow of owls! I still have more owls to do, but they are looking wonderfully colourful...

The top two still have the back stitching to be completed and, hopefully, I can get started on that tonight. I'm thinking of doing the next owl in shades of green....I have to do each one a different colour otherwise I wouldn't have my little rainbow of owls! (Also I get bored doing the same design over and over again! Changing the colour makes it a bit more enjoyable) I'm planning on personalizing each one by back stitching the recipients name on the bottom plank of the little sign.....I just have to hunt out some graph paper to make sure the names are centered.

Twilight fairy hasn't been entirely neglected, although I haven't been able to do much with her....but there is some progress...this was her last week...

...and this is how she is looking today...

...I'm getting there...albeit slowly!

Anyhoo, I'm off to hunt out the next batch of owl colours!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

TUSAL and the continuing saga of my PhD

Another TUSAL rolls around again.... and I'm sure I must have forgotten to empty my jar from last month....again!

So on to my PhD....I'm still chipping away at that pile of Projects Half Done!

Remember this gorgeous design....

 ....well you probably don't, and I'm not surprised if you don't, as it was finished such a long time  ago!  It seems criminal that such a gorgeous design, (and not to mention the hours and hours of stitching involved), has been left neglected in the PhD pile. 

Well not any more! I finally got it framed. 

Since getting it framed professionally was just a bit too expensive (at least for just now) I went and bought a frame and framed it myself. What made it even better was the fact that all the frames were half price!

I went for a distressed look for the frame....I thought it had that kind of beach feel to it.... and the blue colour really made all the gorgeous thread colours pop. I wasn't able to get a good photo showing the whole thing,(too many reflections even although it's not a particularly sunny day!) but you see how lovely the colours are with the blue frame in this picture. I'm so pleased that it is now hanging on the wall for everyone to see.

Next thing I tackled in my PhD pile isn't stitching, but will be used with some stitching (that I still have to do!) to make a little gift basket....eventually!

I made some coasters using some beer bottle labels and some white ceramic tiles...

...they still have to have one more coat of modge-podge to finish them....but they're almost done....and that's a great start for the gift basket I have planned....watch this space :)

And since this is a stitching blog, I will  end with the rather feeble amount of stitching that I managed last week...

...this little owl is from my 'oh-my-goodness-I'm-quickly-running-out-of-time -to get-this-done' pile :) 

And if I don't find a turbo charged needle soon, I think I just might run out of time for all those graduation cards I need to do....so guess what I'm off to work on now?!!!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Working on my Ph D :)

Yup, lots of hard work to get through my PhD ......projects half done ! 

I have a rather large pile of stitching that is completed but not 'finished'. The pile keeps getting bigger and bigger, and the bigger the pile gets the less inclined I and to do anything about it (apart form ignoring it!) So, a while ago I made a list of everything in the dreaded pile and how I wanted to finish each of them. It was awful! There was just soooo much to be done that it was off-putting. And that's just what I did....put it off and did nothing....sound familiar? Anyway, last week I looked at the pile on my desk and, apart from feeling a bit guilty, realized that some of the projects really wouldn't take too long to complete, so I decided that last week I would finish two of these projects....any two, it didn't matter what they were, how long they had been sitting there....they would be finished. And I did it....I finished two of the PhD's....yayyy me!

So here's what I finished.....

...first of all, a mug rug that only needed only a few little bits added and some blanket stitch edging....

....why oh why didn't I do this ages ago....it didn't take long at all...

...and now I have someplace for my cuppa and biscuit! OK, the biscuit is gone... I was peckish...what can I say? :)

And remember the book mark I stitched last week? Well, the stitching took only a few nights and since I was in the middle of a good book without any way of keeping my place, out came the scissors and some felt....

...nothing fancy....just trimmed and attached to some lilac felt...and then put to good use!

Wow....I feel so productive....must be the spring air!

And as for Twilight Fairy? She hasn't been neglected either!  Told you I had been productive :) This is where I was with her last time I posted a picture....

....and this is her now...

Stitching all the black was a bit of a chore, but it has to be done!

So my goal for this week is to finish at least one more of my PhD's as well as working some more on Twilight Fairy. 

I WILL conquer my projects half done.....I'm feeling determined.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

More little finishes!

Phew....for someone who's still feeling under the weather, I seem to be stitching up a storm! 

So while working on these free kits and other small designs in my stash, I was quite happily adding to a stock of cards to use throughout the year. Then I started to think about who I would need to send cards to so that I could make them specifically for each person, and then realized....to my horror....that I have quite a lot of family and friends who are graduating high school and university this summer! Mmmm, time to look  for more graduation designs... about half a dozen or so!

Anyhoo, here's what I've  accomplished so far. 

The troublesome bunny made in to a card...

...the first of many graduation cards stitched up....just the name and greeting to be back stitched...

And then, using the threads that were left over from my lighthouse finish, I stitched this lovely bookmark, the chart was a free gift from The World of Cross Stitching mag...

...aren't the colours gorgeous? And such a pretty design too.

So, my hope is to get back to stitching Twilight Fairy in between stitching all these graduation cards that I will be needing soon....I'm itching to get my hands back on her :)


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Cute card finishes

I've had a stinker of a cold this past week.....but I can't complain - life could be worse! 

I couldn't concentrate on Twilight fairy and kept making silly mistakes so decided to put her aside till my head didn't feel like it was filled with cotton wool! I hate sitting in the evening without doing anything, it seems like such a waste of time....anybody else feel like that? So I looked out some of the free kits that come with the cross stitch magazines and decided to stitch some of them....it fits well with my 'buy less, waste less'  challenge for this year.

I made the flowers from my last post into a little card....

....then I stitched a cute Margaret Sherry design......

I love the 'stitched by' on the back of the card....

Isn't that perfect?

Normally I would make my own cards, but in the spirit of not wasting anything, I used the cards supplied....and they are so cute!

Then I started working on this  design...

This one turned out to be quite the problem design! How can something so small be such a problem? First of all, I started stitching with the wrong colour of thread and had to unpick it. Then when I stitched the inside of the ears, the colours didn't look right . According to the chart they were supposed to be stripy, but mine just looked like the same colour....soooo.... more unpicking! After checking that I am in fact stitching in the right colours, I start again....but the ears don't look stripy at all..... the two shades of thread were too close and the difference didn't show up, arghhhh....more unpicking! So by this time, I decide just to do the ears a totally different colour just so that I can get it finished. Phewww....that was hard work :)

This design came with a cute little patchwork card mount, but unfortunately I have run out of double sided tape so I can't finish it yet. 

So, all in all, three little finishes in a week is rather good, especially when full of the cold!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

PS. I seem to be having lots of emails returned when I respond to blog comments. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I do try to reply to all comments  - sometimes it takes me a while :) so thank you for commenting and apologies if you're not receiving my replies.

Happiness is.....

.... some new needles and......

 ......a cute little finish!

Simple things make me happy :)


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Ahh......the guilt!

It's not often that I feel guilty about starting a new cross stitch project - or any project for that matter - but guilt got to me this time!

After finishing off the lighthouse design (see previous post) I was eagerly anticipating a new start and trying to decide which of my three new kits I would start on....each of them wonderful and all crying out to be picked first! Unfortunately...or maybe it's fortunately, I'm not sure.... I only have two scroll frames that are the correct size for any of the new projects, and guess what....they both have WIP's on them. And that, dear friends, is where the guilt comes in. One of these WIP's  would have to vacate the scroll frame for the new project to be started....so which one?  One I want to finish...and will finish (eventually!) and the other I kind of want to finish but would need to frog quite a bit of it ( I'm not happy with the shading) and I know that if I take it off the frame, I'd probably never go back to it.
So...what to do...remove one that I want to finish, or remove the other knowing that it would be relegated to a UFO?

Guilt, guilt, guilt!

Since I'm fortunate enough to have a few projects to keep me busy for a while, maybe the best thing to do to banish the guilt would be to actually complete at least one of the WIP's.....logical, uh?


Soooo, I'm back working on Twilight Fairy!

Here's where I left her....

...and I can't believe that it was November when I last worked on her (oh, more guilt!) ....and here she is now...

.....ahh...feeling a bit less guilty now! I WILL get her finished!

And in case you're curious to know what the design on the other scroll frame is (my almost UFO)....it's this one...

...and the strange thing is, I have seen other bloggers working on this and it looks wonderful....so why does the shading on the bodice part really bother me? Maybe it's something as simple as I've used the wrong colour of thread! :) Anyhoo....hopefully this Geisha won't end up as a UFO...but I can't promise!!!


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

It's finished!!!

Woo hoo...the lighthouse design is now completed!

The design makes me long for those warm, sunny, summer days...

....sand between your toes...

... listening to the waves ...

.... basking in the sun on  those long glorious summer days....

 ...you can tell I'm fed-up of winter....can't you?!!!

So while I'm shivering in what feels like sub arctic temperatures here, I'll look at the lighthouse and know that Spring will eventually come and summer won't be long after!

The design is a kit by Dimensions and is one of their Gold Collection Petites, called 'Cliffside Beacon'. It's stitched on 18 count cream aida with....wait for it.....enough threads in the kit!!!! In fact, this is what I had left over....

...can't complain at that!

Soooooo, what shall I start on now.....?!!!

Watch this space! :)


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Arghhh.....no time to stitch!

Can you believe that I have gone a whole week without finding time to do any stitching? Not a single stitch at all....unheard of! I'm beginning to suffer some serious withdrawal symptoms....my fingers are itching to pick up a needle......especially as I'm almost finished the lighthouse design. Hopefully this week I'll be able to carve out some time for myself and get even a few stitches done. 

Fingers crossed.

So although I didn't get any time to stitch, or crochet....or do any crafting at all....I did manage some stash enhancement (if you could only see me sitting here with a big grin on my face!)....funny how stash enhancement always makes you smile!

I went to the craft store as I had a $5 off coupon (even bigger smile on my face!) and decided to buy some yarn for my next crochet project....forward planning on my part as I haven't finished my current crochet project! I had gone in with the intention of buying greys and dusky pinks and came out with this colour scheme....

The colours are actually a lot darker in real life....I think all the snow reflecting the sunlight has made them look quite pale! 

I was quite pleased with my choices and even more so when I got to the check out and discovered that they were on sale....yayyyy! Don't you just love it when that happens?

Hopefully, next time I post I will have managed to get some stitching done (or crocheting)....and maybe even the lighthouse design finished!

Until then...happy stitching!

Rhona

Fudging, frogging and another late TUSAL !

Oops....I'm late again at posting pics of my ort jar. Not only am I late at posting the picture but I think I might have forgotten to empty my orts from last month as there seems to be quite a lot of threads for the amount of stitching that I have accomplished since last time.

I have almost finished my lighthouse stitching. Just the french knots and the dreaded back stitch to do....

Unfortunately I had  to do some fudging and some frogging as I had made a mistake somewhere, but couldn't figure out where it was...arghhh....don't you just hate when that happens? Since I can't find where the mistake is I figured no-one else would know....well except you, my blogging friends! Hope you'll keep my secret!

The little french knot flowers add a bit of colour....and (gasp) I like doing french knots! Weird huh?!!

Can't wait to finish this, but then I'll have to make a decision about which of my new kits to start on next....such a nice problem to have :)

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Stitching time? What's that?

Well it's been another week where life has hijacked my stitching time! I didn't really get a chance to stitch during the week, but I made up for it at the weekend....although I really should have been doing other things, but hey....what's life without stitching?!!!

I'm still not loving stitching the white, but I did force myself to do some more of it. You can see it better in this picture...

....unfortunately for me, there's still quite a bit of the white to finish off.  Arghhhh.

Did you notice my little scissor holder (go on...scroll back up and you'll see him!)...isn't he cute?

I spotted him in the clearance section of my local craft store just before Christmas...can you believe he was reduced to only $3.  So of course, he had to come home with me! Cute and functional and best of all....didn't break the bank!

Well, life is calling....tons to do! Thanks for popping by to my little corner of the blog world :)

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Still snowing!

I think mother nature is playing a cruel joke on us as it's snowing again! The forecast for this storm is anything between 6 to 10 inches....we await (snow shovels in hand) to see just what the final total will be!

So being stuck inside should have meant plenty of stitching time but, alas, not. I managed only a few stitches in the lighthouse design....but, progress is progress no matter how little!

I did manage to get some of the dreaded white completed!

I also managed to finish the free kit from this month's World of Cross Stitching magazine.

It's a sweet little design that was quick to stitch and I think might end up being made into a card. I love the free kits as they are perfect for stitching up quickly. You can pop them in your bag for stitching on-the-go knowing that everything you need is there (minus the old specs....can't forget them!) and then you have a supply of stitched pieces for last minute cards! 

So with all the snow we've been having, the poor birds have been rather hungry and flocking to the bird feeders in the back garden. It's a bit of a struggle to get out and clear all the snow off the feeders, but the rewards are some wonderful birds that we don't normally see....

...a rather large red-bellied woodpecker (I think!)....

...and a slightly cold looking Carolina wren with his feathers all puffed out trying to keep warm! Isn't he cute?

Speaking of trying to keep warm, that's what I'm about to try to do as I shovel more snow off the drive! Roll on Spring!


Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona