Snakes on a plate!

I know this is a stitching blog, but I have to show you what my daughter and I made over the weekend....

Teehee....strawberry shortsnake! How cute is that?!! All those hours wasted researching on pinterest were worth it. We took this to our friend's barbeque where it was a great hit....it was also easy to make too!


So, onto stitchy news. I'm back working on the Grain of Salt designs and have finished the coaster!

It's not a great picture, but I will show it again when I have it in the acrylic coaster. I still have the card to stitch and I'm hoping to get that done, or at least started , sometime this week.

I can't believe how little stitching I've done this past week...hopefully this week will be more productive!

Until next time...happy stitching!
Rhona

It’s a party!!!

And you’re invited!

To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee the wonderful people at The Making Spot are hosting a virtual street party. So hang those buntings, wave some flags, pour yourself the great British cuppa (or even some champagne!) and join in the fun.

To start your celebration stitching, I’ve designed this Jubilee cake band which you can print off and start stitching while your cake bakes in the oven! If you’re more of a ‘Mr Kipling’ kind of baker, then your cake will be ready even before you’ve got your threads sorted!

The colours used were            Red DMC 666

                                                White DMC 5200

                                                Blue DMC 797

                                                Black DMC 310 (back stitch one strand)

If you don’t have these thread colours, simply use whatever reds and blues you have in your stash….any will do!

The great thing about this cake band is that you can use it for lots of celebrations. All you need to do is change the ‘Diamond Jubilee’ wording or even leave it out altogether. With the red, white and blue colour combo, this would be great for those 4^th July celebrations too! Change the colours to pastel pinks or blues and, voila! Celebrate the birth of a baby!

Birthdays, weddings, engagements, graduations…this designs has you covered (or at least your cake!) for them all.

To print off the chart simply click on the picture, then right click and then click ‘print picture’. If for some reason the chart doesn’t print, just let me know and I’ll email you the chart as a PDF.

So…what other craftyliciousness is there in this street party? Head on over to the party hosts here  and there will be a list of all participants.  There will be freebies, discount codes, tutorials, crafty projects… a veritable cornucopia of ‘craftyness’! (wow, where did all these big words come from?!!) Keep checking back to The Making Spot throughout the day as they will be highlighting different projects every hour….and you don’t want to miss out on any of the fun.

Anyhoo,  please, please, please don’t be a party pooper! Leave some comments when you visit the various blogs and websites that are involved in this street party and spread the love!!! It will be great to see how many countries this street party reaches.

Until next time…happy virtual street partying!

Rhona

There's something special going on....

....but you have to pop back tomorrow to find out what it is!

Ok, ok, I'll give you a hint - it involves lots of craftyliciousness, free charts and celebrations (not the chocolate kind though)

See you tomorrow!!!

Rhona

TUSAL and other news!

Before I show you my ort jar, I want to show you why I got absolutely no stitching done over the weekend......(proud mama alert!!)....

My son graduated university! Like every Mum who's child graduates, I'm very, very proud of him. He graduated SUNY Plattsburgh with degrees in Criminal Justice and Anthropology and a minor in Political Science - hard to believe this was the kid who hated doing homework in high school!

Here we are together before the ceremony...

 And afterwards...

It just seems like yesterday that we were packing up the car and getting him settled into the dorms -  and I cried all the way home!!! lol Those four years have flown by!

Anyway, enough of the proud mama stuff  and onto the stitchy stuff!



Here's my ort jar for this month....

You can see some of those lovely bright greens that I was using for the Grain of Salt design. There might even be some of the geisha threads in there, but you would have to look very, very closely! I can't believe that it has been a month since I showed you any pictures of her. Sadly, there's really not much to show. She's a VSWIP... a Very Slow Work In Progress!   ;)

I'm hoping that since it's been so long since you saw her last you'll not notice just how little progress I have made! *hangs head in shame*



Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

It's finished!

Well my little tease from Sunday is actually finished! I'm so pleased! I had designed this one a while ago and had been putting off stitching it as, for some reason, I had got it into my head that it would take a long time to stitch.  And why would that be a problem? I don't know, suffice to say, it had been put on the back burner. So with a little trumpet fanfare, here it is....

Those of you who guessed cocktail glass were right! Sorry, no prizes though!!!

I admit that I did spend most of Sunday stitching it...but it was wonderfully relaxing and I was so pleased with the finished stitching. 

The top of the glass is covered with....dare I say it.....french knots! I can hear the groans of those people who hate french knots along with those that can't do them. But this design would be great for those who struggle with french knots - honestly! Since the knots are supposed to represent the salt on the glass, the knots really don't have to be neat at all....in fact, it would probably look more realistic with very uneven knots - who can complain at that?!!!

Here are a couple of close ups of the top of the glass.

For those people who like french knots, you can just squeeze in as many as your heart desires!

Along with the sampler I've also designed a matching coaster (seems fitting!) and a card.
I've started working on the coaster, but haven't gotten too far with it...

I won't be using french knots on the coaster design as they would just get squashed underneath the acrylic of the coaster.

Once I get the samples stitched up, this design will be available on my website. The chart will also be available with alternate wording -
     Birthdays should be taken with a grain of salt
     Fridays should be taken with a grain of salt
     Saturdays should be taken with a grain of salt
     Weekends should be taken with a grain of salt
 (You will get ALL 5 charts  plus the card and coaster design when you order this package)

So now I'm in the process of deciding how to make this into a little gift package. You know how I like to make my cross stitching into little gifts!  :)


Until next time...happy stitching!
Rhona

More bits 'n' pieces!

Yet another week with very little stitching done! But at least I do have some things to show you....phew!

A few months ago I was asked by Craftseller magazine to design and make a little box that could be used by a bride as a wedding favor box. It had to be quick to stitch and not too big. Here's the box that I made and sent to them...

I can show you it because the magazine has now been published. Here's a picture of how it was presented in the magazine....



Craftseller Issue 11

June 2012

Immediate Media Company Ltd

While browsing through the magazine I was delighted to see fellow blogger Lori!

Here she is....

Congrats to Lori for a great write up in the mag. Pop on over to her blog and check out her amazing work. Her  toadstool cottages are sooooo adorable!

So....what have I been working on? . This is a DIY type alphabet designed with males in mind, but could easily be used for any female who is handy with a paintbrush, hammer, screwdriver etc. Some of us have to be as our hubby's are useless!!! Just don't tell him I said that!

Here's the sample I stitched...

I'm not sure what I'm going to make with this, but of course, whatever it is, you'll be the first to know!

And finally, here's a sneak peek at my newest design 

All will be revealed in time...... teehee!!

For those of you who are celebrating Mother's Day today....Happy Mother's Day, I hope you are being spoilt!

Until next time...happy stitching!
Rhona

Bits and pieces!

I had the strangest weekend....I didn't pick up a needle at all! I can't remember the last time I didn't do any stitching at all, in fact this may be a first...and hopefully last! So my post is very much a mixture of bits and pieces !

So, I've got a couple of things to share with you. First of all, I was thrilled to be  asked by Ruth, the editor of The World Of Cross Stitching,  to write a piece for their website. How could I say no?!!!She wanted me to write about the acronyms of stitching, you know these strange terms that we use but any non-stitcher would be totally confused about, and probably wondering if we were up to no good! You can read my post here.  Just don't laugh at my photograph, I hate having my picture taken!

And here, is the final project using the chef alphabet!

Basically it's a little bucket full of barbeque bits and pieces - herbs, spices, hot sauces, basting brushes....whatever you fancy putting in the bucket! The great thing about this is that you can tailor make it to the recipient - and it doesn't cost a fortune. 

I added the little chef letter to a wooden stick and added a black and white checked ribbon to match the little chef's apron...how cute is that?!!

To make it specific for a Father's day gift I added the 'Dad' stitching, and hey - presto, an instant male gift!

The great thing about this alphabet is that it's suitable for male and female chefs (or wanna be chefs!) For Mum, if she doesn't like barbequeing, just fill the bucket with baking/cookie making supplies! This would also be fantastic for getting  kids interested in cooking or baking. They would love having their own baking supplies and would be able to carry everything in their own little bucket!

And of course, no chef  (big or small!) would ever dream of  working without their apron.....

Of course, you could stitch anything onto the apron, a name, a title, 'head chef' etc. the possibilities are endless.



I hope you've enjoyed these little chefs as much as I have!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

A visit from the Finishing Fairy!

Well the Finishing Fairy not only sprinkled some finishing dust, but I think she must have moved in with me this week as I have so many things to show you! Talk about being productive!!! You might want to grab a cuppa as I've a feeling this might be a long post!

So you may remember my little chefs that I showed you last week, well this is what I did with them.

First of all, I decided to make a card (my goal to make at least one card  per month is still on track!) I thought the little chefs would be great for both male and female recipients, but since females are soooo much easier to make for, I decided to go for the easy option. I can't take credit for this idea, I found it while wasting time  researching on the internet. It's a little apron card that's quite quick to make....

..... and doubles as a gift card holder!

When you make the pocket, just be sure to put a thin strip of glue only on the base and the sides.

This idea can also be used to make a male card just by changing the colours. A dark blue and white stripe like the old-fashioned butcher's aprons would work well, or even use a natural coloured card. The possibilities are endless.

I then added my little chef to an oven glove!

This one was bit tricky as I have never actually added any stitching to an oven glove before. I have often seen it done in magazines, but when I came to attach it I was stumped! The oven glove was so thick that I didn't think that it would be practical to stitch the design through all those layers, and of course, when I went looking to see how the magazines had done it, I couldn't find any projects like this!

After a quick trip to the craft store  for some advice, (ok, it wasn't that quick!) I came back with some fabric glue, which I have been assured is permanent and washable.  Having never used it before, I really don't know if this is true. If you've ever done anything like this before, I'd love to hear what product/method you used and how successful it was!

Another neat idea I found on the internet (if only someone would pay me to do this!) was this cute little post-it note cover.

The project I found on the internet didn't have the bottom fold, but I figured that if I were popping this little note holder into my bag, having the bottom fold over would stop the note pad getting bashed and bent. I just added a stick-on Velcro dot to keep the whole thing closed.

If I were doing this project again (which I will be!) I would put the Velcro nearer the bottom of the card. I thought this would be another great idea for when you need a little gift but can't think what to make.

Ok, still with me? Need another cuppa? We're almost there!

I used the 'We're having a barbeque' design and made it into a card invitation....

I love using ribbon on my cards, but didn't want to add a bow because I thought it might turn out too 'girly'. Instead I just tied a knot - so much easier than faffing about trying to get the perfect bow! I'll definitely be making more cards with knots from now on.

Another little change I would make if I were making more of these invitations , is to do the lettering in red thread to match the apron. I think it would stand out so much better, but hey-ho, we live and learn!

Phew! Told you I had been busy! I have one more item to show you using this chef set, but I'm going to save that for another day!

I think it's time for me to have a cuppa!

Speaking of tea, if you want to see the little thank-you gift I sent to Mouse, (she sent me the most gorgeous scissors) please pop over and visit her blog. You'll only see it there as I forgot to take a picture of it!

Anyway, until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona