2015 Cross Stitch Projects

Hello! One of the reasons for my recent break in blogging is because I have been spending so much time crafting! Last year I found it had got to the point that I was spending a lot of time writing about what I wanted to make, but not a lot of time actually making  things! So I promise that I did put my time off to good use! I have a tonne of projects that I want to share with you! But for now I will just focus on my cross stitch projects, as that is what most of my time has been dedicated to recently.

Before I show you the projects that I have got planned for this year, I just wanted to show you what stitching I did towards the end of 2014. The first project that I finished was my Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery Once Upon A Time Sampler.

I’m such a sucker for their wonderful designs and this one is probably my favourite so far! I think the border is stunning and was such a pleasure to stitch, and each month I looked forward to seeing which fairytale would be the next one! I did have to play catch up a little bit after missing a few months after I moved house, but I did manage to finish the sampler on time by mid-December and I was so pleased! I’m absolutely thrilled with the finished piece!

As well as finishing my sampler, I even managed to squeeze in a small stitching project for over Christmas! I have a small box of little kits, such as freebies from magazines and gifts that people have bought me, which I keep in my drawer at work and call my ’emergency cross stitch kits’. I cross stitch on my lunch break so this is there in case I ever finish a project or forget to take it with me one day, hence the ’emergency!’ Anyway, as I had a couple of weeks of 2014 left, I decided to finish it off by completing one of my small kits that I had stashed away. I bought this little Liberty of London kit from eBay after seeing it at the store then kicking myself for not buying it! I’d been eyeing up for quite some time so I was pleased that I had a little bit of time to work on it, and it was nice and portable to take with me when we went visiting over Christmas! It made a nice change to be able to finish a project so quickly, and my Secret Santa from work must have know exactly what I would be working on, because they bought me this beautiful frame that was just perfect to put it in when I had completed it!

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Happy Mother’s Day! A Quick Stitch

I hope all of the blogging mums out there had a lovely Mother’s Day! Yesterday was Mother’s Day in the UK, and you might remember that I blogged about the gift that I had made my mum in February. To go with it though, I wanted to stitch my Mum a card.

Valentine’s Day Treats!

Now that Valentine’s Day has been, I can finally share with you the project that I was working on for James! Throughout January I stitched away at this cute ‘Elements of Love’ design by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. I thought it was ideal for James with his interests in science, but the cute kawaii design definitely represented an element of me too! I also loved the pretty pastel colours. James was also thrilled with the design. He knew that he was getting a handmade gift, but he said that he wasn’t expecting a cross stitch so it was a surprise for him!

To add another element of fun to the present, I painted the frame in chalkboard paint and drew some designs on it. I wanted to make it look like a school chalkboard, so I added some equations and some ‘love graffiti’. It was quite hard to draw on with the chalk though…I possibly could have done to sand it some more before I drew on it! Here is the finished frame.

Reviewing January Goals and Looking Forward to February

Since the end of the month is almost here, I thought it would be a good excuse to look back on what I have achieved throughout the first month of 2014. Early on in January, I set myself some targets that I wanted to achieve, and I am pretty happy to say that I managed to achieve most of them! 

The first goal that I completed was to finish the pair of beanies that were in the set that my Grandma got me for my birthday. These were a pretty quick make and I really enjoyed doing a small project for a change!

 

Next I could cross off completing James’ Valentines’ Day present, but I can’t share that yet because I want to keep it a surprise! I can share the next couple of projects with you though, I completed my ‘January’ square of my Fairytale Sampler in just a few evenings, so I am on track for completing each square on time each month, although I do have some more work to do on the border as I go.

What I’ve Been Up To Recently…

Well, yesterday I handed in the final essay of the semester, which gives me two weeks off before I start semester too (that’s ignoring the fact that I have 30 books to read for next semester but still…) so I am enjoying (relative) freedom, around the reading and my overtime at work. Since I have been so bogged down in essays though, I haven’t had chance to share my recent activities on my blog. I have been doing quite a bit of crafting in general, and I have been making small steps towards some of my 23 before 23 goals.

Getting Organised/Having a Clear Out:

So, two of my goals were part of my aim to get myself organised and de-cluttered! While these are likely to take a long time to achieve completely, I have been making a start! I scoured Pinterest for some ideas on room organisation, and I created my Organisation Board, to get me in the mood. It certainly worked, because last week I had the urge to start my sorting with my wardrobe and drawers (which I generally hate…) I try to sort out my clothes pretty regularly, but they were well overdue. After a couple of hours pulling things out and trying things on, I was left with a bin bag for the tip and two boxes for the charity shop! There wasn’t masses to get rid of, but just clearing out some of my unnecessary stuff felt incredibly satisfying. I didn’t just stop there though…oh no! I put some of my Pinterest tips into practice to make my clothes storage work better for me. I began by adding some drawer dividers into my socks and underwear drawer, to prevent it from being such a free-for-all when I was getting ready in a morning.

My second drawer holds my t-shirts, hats, scarves and gloves, now nice and accessible.

Very Berry Handmade ATC Swap 2 (and a winner…)

A few months ago I signed up to take part in the second instalment of Very Berry’s fabric ATC swaps. After having so much fun the first time, I couldn’t wait to take part again! I have been meaning to share pictures for ages now but I never got round to it!

First of all, here is the one that I made for Angela of Pretty Little Things in a Box. I have been a follower of her blog for ages now and she was the person who intro Swap-bot and Postcrossing, so I have been desperately hoping that we would get paired for a swap eventually, and what a wonderful one to be paired for!

I know that she likes fairies, so I picked a fairy from the ‘Autumn’ section of my Fairy Cross Stitch book (we both love cross stitching too!) and I made this for her:

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! 

Storyland Cross Stitch by What Delilah Did

I first saw this book weeks ago when it came into work. Instantly I fell in love with it and smuggled it away into the cupboard ready for pay day; and then pay day didn’t come when it should have! It has been sat there patiently ever since and I have seen so many blog post about this book that I have been itching to finally get hold of my own copy. Well, as pay day came last week, I instantly treated myself to it!

 

The book features 15 projects and an array of designs that are cleverly grouped by ability. As a confident stitcher, I would feel happy tackling any project in the book, but for beginners, I can imagine that it is comforting to be able to work up through the stages from some more simple patterns to more challenging ones.

My favourite design in the Wise Owl Pillow:

Another Very Busy Week!

I’ve been keeping myself busy with my crafts again this week, around my graduation that is! I have done my weekly CAL so I’m up to here:

The next set of instructions is out today so I am looking forward to the next few rows! You can also see my new tin in the photo…I bought this in Scarborough after a trip to the beach this week and it is the new home for the ATC’s that I have received….they have a lovely snug fit in there 🙂

I also managed to finish the maxi skirt that I have been working on for a while!

What I was busy doing in my break

So, I know that my blog was neglected for a while when I was revising for my exams and writing essays but fortunately my crafting wasn’t! I have been really busy improving my sewing skills and working on several cross stitch pieces!

Before I show you those though, here is an update on my Not Your Average Crochet CAL:

 

Week three is done! I spent Saturday quickly finishing my Dad’s Father’s Day card ready for Sunday morning, so I had completely forgotten about the CAL. It made a really nice surprise to find it as I was browsing through my reader, so I spent Sunday evening after work busily stitching the next few rows…I’m really impressed with how quickly it is growing! I can’t wait to get the next set of instructions tomorrow.

Now, here are some of the projects that I have been working on recently:

The first sewing project that I completed was my set of three fabric baskets. One holds my pattern envelopes, one is great for my stash of fat quarters and the third holds my post supplies!