It's Giveaway Time!!

Thanks to my newest follower Chiara I have now reached 250 followers and can host a sponsored giveaway!  BTW Chiara blogs as The Grey Tail and is hosting a giveaway of her own at the moment.  Why not pop across to her blog and join in?  She's a newbie to blogging so I'm sure she'd be happy to meet some new followers!

Back to MY Giveaway - A while back I was sent a free cross stitch kit by Yiota to review.  I chose the Coffee Fairy and here's my progress so far:

And here's what she will look a little like, one day:

Well, Yiota must have liked my review because she offered to sponsor a giveaway on my blog.  As I was so close to the magic 250 I decided that would be a great excuse.

All you have to do is visit Yiota's website, browse around the gorgeous designs and choose your favourite three.  Come back here and leave a comment on this post only, telling me what your three favourites are.  I will choose three people at random to receive one of their choices.  Actually, the Large Boy will randomly choose three people!

The closing date is teatime BST 31st May 2012.  There are three prizes of one pdf chart each.  The chart has to be one of Yiota's designs as they are the only ones she can make into pdfs.  The descriptions on the designs clearly state which ones are available as pdfs, so that makes it easier!

You get one entry for leaving a comment with your top three and an additional entry if you mention the giveaway and Yiota on your blog.  To qualify for the additional entry you must link the words "cross stitch kits" to Yiota's website.  The geeky reason for this is that it moves her website up the Search Engines' priority lists.  So if someone googles "cross stitch kits" Yiota's website will be closer to the top of the page the more links there are across the internet to her site with those words.

Finally, a Big Thank You to all my followers, old and new, especially those that comment.  It's so good to connect with stitchers around the world.  Next post I'll be putting up details of how to join in with the Summer Postcard Trail.  It's all go around here!

May WIPocalypse and Manka's Hungarian SAL

Here's the round-up for the progress since the last Full Moon.

Part 1 - My 12 in '12

1. Completed all the letters on the Dark Alphabet, charted the title and signoff block, stitching an "A" for Alphabet.

I'll do a complete blog post dedicated to this design very soon.

2. No progress on Green Goddess.  Oh dear, poor old GG.

3. Stitched a couple of days on My Lovely Sewing Tools.

4. Home of a Needleworker - not started

5. Blackbird Designs - I tea-dyed a piece of fabric for this!

6. Ed Hardy Skull and Roses - not started

7. I chose the design for my friend's wedding.  This chart was a prize from Minnie of All XXs.

Isn't this lovely (and hopefully quite quick to stitch!).  I plan to put the Bride and Groom's initials and date in the centre rather than the verse.

8. Baby Sampler.  Have stitched A - N on this one.

9. Baby design for my cousin - baby due this month, gender currently unknown.  Not started

10. Yiotas Coffee Fairy - have made a start on this one (only 2 evenings but it's a start!)

11. Papillon Around the World in 80 Stitches (this "bounced" Castles in the Air off the 12, one of my "rules" is that I'm only allowed to bounce a design in favour of another design by the same designer).  Have started (see separate page for progress pic).  If you're stitching this too then let me know and I'll add you to my list.

12. Nora Corbett Trick or Treat Fairy - I did look at the fabric for this when I was sorting my stash out!

Part 2 - Just Nan-a-thon

Nothing at all for Nan this month.

Part 3 - Theme-a-licious: Amazon April

I worked on my BAPs - Big Alphabet Projects.  My Lovely Sewing Tools, Dark Alphabet and Baby Alphabet.  All of which featured in the Theme-a-licious update here.

I did sign up for a Mini Mystery SAL with Manka and a few others.  This is Part 1, stitched on 28count green evenweave using the current favourite DMC 4045.  I used this on Life's a Stitch, CCN Cherry Hill and the Needlecraft Haven monthly challenge (not pictured yet).  Here it is used again:

Now I can email this to Manka and get Part 2!

Be sure to look at her album on Pinterest for all the versions of this.

 

Finally, Yiota who makes the Coffee Fairy (see above) and all these lovely cross stitch kits has offered to sponsor my 250 followers giveaway.  Only problem is - I've stalled at 243!  Hopefully I'll pick up a few people through the WIPocalypse post on Measi's blog.  So if you're just drifting past looking at the projects, consider clicking on the "follow" button!

IHSW update and a forthcoming Giveaway

Last weekend was the third in the month and International Hermit and Stitch Weekend.  For more details in how to join in, just click on Hermie the Crab on the right hand side of this blog.

I decided to spend all of IHSW on My Lovely Sewing Tools from Gift of Stitching magazine and made some good progress as you can see:

I also finished the CCN design Cherry Hill Cottage which I will scrapbook.  I need to visit the craft shop and maybe buy some cherry themed trimmings.  I used the variegated DMC 107 for both the red and the pink but forced the colours by cutting the skein into red and pink sections.

The background is the scrapbook paper which I will be using.  Obviously the fabric will be trimmed to size and backed with plain white paper so the pattern doesn't show through.  But you get the idea.

I also made good progress on the Needlecraft Haven monthly challenge piece which I can't show here yet.  The progress was due to it being my handbag project this week.  The Small Boy has started Preschool this term, two days a week just for two hours a time.  I have decided to stay for the first two weeks but in a separate room while he settles in and his Key Worker gets to know him.  So far, so good.  Which means I have nearly 2 hours of uninterrupted stitching twice a week!  Although I did help with the washing-up today LOL.

(for overseas followers - in England children attend Preschool anytime from 2.5 to rising 4, then Nursery from the year in which they are 4, then proper school in the Reception class from the year in which they are 5.  Unless you work fulltime then they can attend a creche style setting confusingly also called a Nursery but it's from babyhood.  Preschool is mainly just playing with a little bit of structure at the beginning and end of each session.)

My followers are slowly increasing in number, the Easter Treasure Hunt was great for helping me and all the participants make new friends.  I was thinking of a 250 Giveaway when I received an email for Yiota, remember Yiota who sent me a lovely Cross Stitch Kit to review?  She was offering to sponsor my next giveaway!  Three winners will receive an email chart of one of Yiota's lovely designs.   So while you're waiting for my followers to reach the magic number, why not pop over to Yiota's Cross Stitch Kits site and have a look at all the gorgeous designs there and try to decide which you would like to win.  Don't tell me yet!

Anyway, "talking" with Yiota inspired me to make a start on the Coffee Fairy.  As my kit was supplied with aida I decided to use some evenweave I had.  I bought this piece from Sparklies with Nora Corbett's Trick or Treat Fairy in mind.  It's called Monarch - should be Mad Monarch!  I have never seen such an outrageously mad fabric before.  But it is perfect for Coffee Fairy.  I'm planning on just stitching the fairy, her cup and biccies not the background.  But here is the beauty of my plan - if the fabric is too overpowering then I can stitch as much of the background as I need, maybe just an oval around her.  Here is one evening's progress, it's the rim and handle of the cup:

This is a completely accurate colour match for the fabric, it really is that mad!

So now we have a rotation of sorts -

Coffee Fairy 1 day a week,
Baby ABC - 3 days a week alternate with
My Lovely Sewing Tools weekends and
2 different Round Robins weekdays as and when.
And Green Goddess must be fitted in too, and Papillon ATW, and I got the fabric for Snapdragon today...

That's just the evening stitching.  There are all the smalls for daytime too.

Finally, I got my copy of Just Cross Stitch (the American mag) through yesterday.  Gorgeous projects, there are several I want to stitch, so much better than the English mags!  I'm definitely going to cancel at least one of them later this year (when a certain series of charts finishes!) and spend the money on fabric instead.

Coffee Fairy review

I was recently contacted by Yiota of Yiotas XStitch who asked if I would mind reviewing one of her cross stitch kits.  She sells online kits or charts, mostly designed by herself and a few by others.  There is a wide range of subject matter from animals to landscapes, fine art and fantasy.

Many of the Fantasy designs are from artwork by Erin Ewer and have been converted into gorgeous cross stitch patterns.  They are what I would call "photo-realistic" rather than hand-drawn (like Mirabilias).  As a result they only feature whole cross stitches and no back-stitch.  Ideal for people who just like to stitch!  They can also be easily stitched on aida which the kit is supplied with.

I spent a long time browsing the site which is well laid out and easy to find the different designs.  Some designs often feature in two categories, eg Fantasy and Fairies which makes it easier to find something you will like.  There are often three different ordering options - full kit, just chart or email chart which suits everyone.

After lingering over the Art Nouveau astrology fairies, I finally chose this design, the Coffee Fairy.  I liked the humour in this design and can see her completed in my kitchen near the coffee cupboard. 

The parcel arrived this afternoon, in a solid envelope marked Do Not Bend so I got to meet my new postman again as he rang the doorbell.  I bet he wishes he got paid "per item"!!  This is what was inside:

Plus the chart of course!  The fabric is plenty big enough (haven't actually measured it yet) and the colours look so gorgeous all wound onto their little bobbins clearly labelled with the Madeira numbers.  The chart includes DMC references too so if I wanted to stitch it again or pass the chart on in a Giveaway I could easily do so.

The chart itself is nice and clear, it's spread over 2 pages of A3 paper and there is a 2 stitch overlap.  I like an overlap, the larger the better.  The symbols have been well chosen so the darker colours are more solid symbols, this means when you hold the chart at arms length and squint you can "see" the design.  It's also much easier to follow when stitching.

All in all, a nice kit with a nice chart of a lovely design.  An option for evenweave would have been a bonus but at least this way I can choose my own colour and count if I want to.  Also, the biscuits are not included, you have to buy your own!

One question for bobbin users, when you cut a length off, what do you do with the strands you're not stitching with?  Usually I tie it round a piece of cut-up card thread sorter and put it back in the Floss-a-way bags I use.   I'm thinking of making a thread sorter from card while I'm working on the kit as I'll be using the holes in the top to thread all the bobbins onto a split ring to keep them in numerical order.

While browsing the site I came across this kit too, Girl with a Pearl Earring based on the beautiful painting by Vermeer.  I saw a lady stitching this recently, on 48 count over 1, can you imagine it?  The design has 55 different colours!!  How I wish I'd had my camera with me.  I'm not sure if it was this exact chart as her piece was smaller than this one would come up (about 2 x 3 inches) but it was clearly recognisable as the painting.   Amazing!

Finally, a Giveaway.  This time from Crafty Rahenna to celebrate opening her Etsy shop.  She has some lovely Christmas kits, threads and fabric to win.  Rahenna has less followers than she deserves so pop over there and start stalking following her, tell her I sent you and we'll share the prize hahaha