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The Stitching Fairy
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| Are We There Yet? |
| 12.17.04 (11:00 am) [edit] |
Is it just me or does it seem like one minute you can't believe Xmas is only a few days away and the next that it can't possibly be here?? I'm so confused??? :wink:
Add to that the fact that I'm stitching Valentines and Ground Hog Day stuff and I'm left wondering how soon spring will be here...oh well!
I finished the Valentines Bird and next is the Ground Hog and then one more Valentine project. Here is the completed stitching of the bird:
It had a Rhodes stitch for one of the hearts and I couldn't figure it out to save my life, so I did a satin stitch instead and I actually like it better. :) I didn't expect this project to be quite this big, it's called a "Wee One" after all and it's turned out to be able to fit neatly into a 4x6 inch frame??? That's not what I call a "Wee One"... :wink: It was easy and fun, so that's all the really matters! And no I'm not going to cube this one as I'm not sure if I would like it that way...I think a nice red frame will do. :)
Greg finally finished his flower project and it's so pretty. We don't have it in the frame yet, that should get done tonite! I just love the colors on this one, I hope it looks as good framed.
Only 8 days till Xmas! For those of you already on holidays, enjoy yourselves, you deserve it!!!
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| Holiday Cheer! |
| 12.15.04 (5:41 am) [edit] |
This week has been busy even though it's only 3 days old. :lol: I had 2 xmas parties already and my mom visited over the weekend for shopping. :)
I also finished one cube and started another project. I was asked if I would mind showing a pic of San's xmas card and so as I was taking that pic I decided to take pics of all the xmas gifts I've received so far and then I got carried away and took pics of some of my decorations. So here's a big ol' picture update of xmas so far:
San's Card:
It's very beautiful and I haven't seen one like it here in the states.
My mom never waits for Xmas to give presents, so here is what I got from her:
It's a jar candle warmer, you put the jar candle into it turn it on and it heats up the candle so that you don't have to burn it, but still get the scent! A nice gift for someone who can't burn candles for fear of lighting their cat's tail on fire! :wink:
Gifts from Boss 1:
This is very interesting, it's an egg timer that you toss in w/ the eggs as they cook, when it turns a certain color you can tell that the eggs are cooked, soft, medium or hard boiled. I like this as I can never tell when eggs are cooked to my liking. :) And an adorable china nut dish.
Gifts from Boss 2:
His wife loves to bake!
Boss 3 gave me a gift certificate to Hobby Lobby (very nice) and Boss 1 and 2 chipped in and gave us all cash to spend as we wish. They do this every year, it's very generous of them!
Gift from Co-Worker:
Very adorable Xmas bracelet that has little bells on it, a lot of fun!
I gave Boss 3 and my Co-Worker their gifts that I had stitched for them and they were very pleased, it was fun giving something original that I had made.
Here's the cube I made:
It took one evening to stitch the project and then I cubed it on Sunday. I love the fabric and the reindeer ornament! I still have to cube up the snowman I made, just didn't have time this weekend.
Here's an update of Greg's project:
Almost done! It looks so beautiful in person!!
Here's my latest project:
Yes it's for Valentine's day! I decided to do a couple of these now and get them out of the way so I could go onto a project I've put off for months. I have one more Val project that I hope doesn't take long and I even have a Ground Hog's Day mini project that I'm going to do. LOL I'm way too much into these holiday projects. :wink:
Okay now I'm just showing off my holiday decorations, these are just a few of our favorites! But first I must show off Jesse the Grinch! I took these pics of Jesse and a stuffed Grinch I set out for Xmas. She looks so funny!
Here is her Grinch imitation:
LOL She is a silly cat!
Here are the decorations:
Greg's book reading Santa's in all sizes.
A Santa smoker that I painted years ago.
Our Snow Couples, these are our all time favorites:
We have been collecting snow couples, it's quite fun to find them. My favorite is the couple w/ the blue ribbon holding the roses and hugging, they are just so sweet!
And lastly, Greg's "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil" Snow Men:
This makes me laugh whenever I see it.
Whew! That was a lot of stuff! But I promised to show it all off! Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!!! Only 10 days till Xmas!
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| More Cube Quesions! |
| 12.10.04 (11:10 am) [edit] |
:D I saw another cube question in the comments and wanted to give the answer here.
The question has to do w/ cube feet and what do I use for them. This is a great question and for me it depends on the subject matter of the cube. What I mean is I select the feet based on the project. Overall there is only really one thing that is important for feet...they have to be something that can stand properly when attached to the bottom of the cube. They can be round or square, but all feet should be the same size when attached or one side of your cube will list. :wink:
I tend to use round objects for my feet. Mostly I've used wooden craft balls, the size depends on the size of the cube, but generally they shouldn't be larger than 1 inch around. When I have used craft balls I have always painted them, I feel this looks better, but it's not required. On several of my projects I have used other items for feet such as below:
These are Christmas ornaments, small plastic, glitter covered balls. I just pulled the tops off. I have also used halloween pumpkins on one of my projects.
Once you select your feet it's just a matter of deciding on their position on the bottom of the cube. Then I just use my handy dandy glue gun put a glob of glue on the top of the ball and stick it to the project. The amount of glue will depend on the weight of the foot, a heavier foot will need a bit more glue. Glue the feet on turn the project over and the weight of the project will help them attach. That's it!
You can be as creative as you like w/ the feet, lots of things will work, it just depends on the look you want. I love putting feet on these projects, it gives them a more finished look and it's another way to add whimsy. Plus I think they sit better w/ feet on them.
Hope this helps! Have a fun weekend!
Only 15 days till Xmas!
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| Xmas Comes Early! |
| 12.09.04 (5:45 am) [edit] |
I get home yesterday and amongst the bills and junk mail what do I find? This beautiful card and wonderful little stitched pillow from my good friend San, sent all the way from England! I was so excited and pleased and a bit remorseful. Excited and pleased cuz it's the cutest pillow ever and remorseful that I didn't think to send her a gift myself. (shame on me!)
San's Pillow:
Isn't it adorable! And the card is fantastic too, they have such nice cards in England. So thanks San for the wonderful and cheerful gift! It really brightened my holiday season!!
I also wanted to thank Isabelle, Ann, Amy and San for their nice comments on my cubes and pillow. I especially loved Isabelle's suggestion that I open a "kit store" to sell kits w/ coordinating fabric, etc for cross stitch projects. LOL It's an intriguing idea. And actually it could work if each contained pre-selected threads, cross stitch fabric and then the coordinating accessories.
For my part, I tend to pick the accessories "after" the project is finished as I find inspiration in each project for what fabric and accessory is right for it. They sort of "speak" to me as I look through the fabric stores and look for materials that match and then the accessories I attach to each one. It's very fun and always a surprise, because I never know what I'll find to enhance each project. For example the butterfly cube that has garnered so many nice comments started life as a mini project that should've been put in a tiny little frame. Greg decided to stitch it blue fabric that wouldn't fit in the frame, so I decided to cube it. I had the idea of finding butterfly fabric, but wasn't sure if I could, so off we went to Walmart and as if by *magic* they had several types of butterfly fabric to choose from, each one w/ different colors and types of butterflys. What luck that they had one that perfectly matched the design he had stitched. :wink: So now I have the perfect fabric, I need something to embellish it. I honestly didn't think I'd find any butterfly's at this time of year, but at another fabric store (Joann's) they were also selling Xmas ornaments and guess what was popular this year? That's right *butterfly's*, they had them in all different colors, including the purple one I used. LOL So you see it's all a matter of chance w/ me. I take my project head to the stores and each time I am inspired by the objects I find. I love matching the colors of the projects to the perfect fabrics and embellishments. But I think it's mostly luck and thinking outside the box that helps me find the right items to decorate the cubes. All in all I'm not sure if I could open a store to kit things for people, but I could certainly be a consultant. :wink: So my suggestion is take your project look for coordinating colors and themes in the fabric and if you want embellishments don't be afraid to look at all types of items to use, buttons, ornaments, etc., anything can be cut up, pieced together and made into beautiful cubes. :D
Also, Ann asked how I attached the beads to Santa Clothes. Well, most of what's on there are JABC buttons, which I sew on and then use a dab of hot glue to hold them down (it's the only way I can guarantee they won't be broken in two when I store the project after Xmas) The snowflakes you see are also buttons that I cut the backs off of (the part you would've used to sew it on the project) then I just glued them on the project as well. I know some people would never glue anything to a project, but sometimes it's a necessary evil and I never glue it to the stitching just the fabric. :wink:
16 days till Xmas!
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| Cube Explosion! |
| 12.07.04 (6:22 am) [edit] |
Well I finally got all those little projects cubed up and got my Santa Clothes pillow made! Yay me! It took most of the weekend, but it was worth it! They turned out great!! The pillow isn't too bad although I'm not a big fan of blue. I had problems finding more of this snowflake fabric, no one had any in blue. I had wanted to use it on the poinsetta that Greg made, but since I couldn't find more and I "really" wanted it for the Santa Clothes project I opted for something different for the poinsetta. I actually think it worked out better. I am glad that I used the snowflake for the Santa Clothes cuz it's just what I wanted for it. :D I was a bit disappointed with the beads, the weren't as long as I thought they'd be once I got them sewed into the pillow, but still a fun touch. So here are all the projects starting with the pumpkin project I found at my mom's:
I also finished up Happy Ho Ho Day and I am so pleased with how it turned out! I can't wait to get it framed!!
I am currently working on two more small projects that I want to make into cubes this weekend and then I'm going to make a couple of valentines projects.
Only 18 days till Xmas!! Happy Shopping!
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| Ho, Ho, Ho... |
| 12.03.04 (5:19 am) [edit] |
:D I am making quick progress on my Happy Ho Ho Day, it is rather small so it's no surprise. I still am not a fan of LONG rows of stitches, but this is so adorable and I love the colors! I loveTrilogy patterns they are always fun and easy to do and inexpensive!
I already have the perfect frame picked out for it and can't wait to finish it!
This weekend I'm working on a bunch of cubes and my Santa Clothes pillow. I hope I find the perfect fabric for it (crosses fingers). I have an idea of what I want but will see if I can find it. :)
So it will be a busy weekend for me, can't wait to get started!
Here's a quick update of Ho Ho:
And remember only 22 shopping days till Xmas! :wink:
Have a great weekend!
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What I'm Stitching
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