TUSAL and a Synchronised Happy Dance

It's TUSAL time, the Totally Useless SAL where we all show our ORTS and link-up on Daffycat's blog.

Here is my TUSAL with the current project:

What a great weekend, two happy dances in two days!

The first one is the latest Just Nan ornament, Royal Blossoms, which has taken much longer than any of the previous four.  A total of 35 days altogether doing 30 stitches per day.

stitched on 32 count white evenweave

It's not really very Christmassy so I am going to scrapbook this one rather than make an ornie.  I would have done it this afternoon but I couldn't find my Monet papers I used for the previous designs.

The second Happy Dance is for the July Mermaid from The Year of Magical Stitching by Joan Elliott.  I started her last August for a water themed SAL and finished her for the Just One and Joan Elliott SALs this July.

Stitched on 28 count Jazlyn in Peacock by Crafty Kitten 

I added beads to her necklace

and for the bubbles:

 The plan is to scrapbook her on this paper:

I am slowly working my way through my blogs adding the photos that Photobucket was withholding.  I decided to reorganise my pre-blog finishes and add the year to each one to make it easier to find them in the folder.  I did this as I worked through my Happy Dance blog and found 14 finishes I hadn't added there!!  All pre-2011 so now I have to guesstimate when I stitched them and insert them into the relevant year.

Finally, there will be a Tenuous Shoe-Horn Linky Party on the 8th August again this year.  I am still debating what the theme will be, so save the date and watch this space.  All you'll have to do is link up on the day, no need to send me anything or sign-up beforehand.

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

My rotation for the year goes as follows:

26th of the month - Lavender & Lace Enchanted Alphabet
Then Brooke's Books' Stitcher's Alphabet
Then Happy Hallowe'en with an option on Witches
Then a block of 12 Days of Christmas and one day of the header
Then one day of Gathering Eggs and one day of Memories
Rest of the month - Focus Piece for the month.

In my last post I had completed the 7 Swans-a-Swimming block for 12 Days so it was followed by a few days of daily swapping.

First I stitched quite a lot on the Herald Angel from 12 Days:

I am currently filling in the pale blue and then I'll backstitch her.

I worked all day Saturday so I took 12 Days in to stitch on my lunchbreak and then spent all of Sunday on Nora Corbett's Gathering Eggs:

The shawl turned out beautifully. 

On Monday I went to a coffee morning at a local craft shop which has just opened in town.  The owner makes various things herself and also rents shelves out in the shop to local crafters.  I did buy myself an early birthday present but that's gone away until September so no peeking!

I took Just Nan's Memories with me as it's a nice easy one to stitch and chat at the same time:

Today saw the start of my focus piece for the rest of this month.  Kerry is doing Just One July and there's a new Joan Elliott July group too so it made sense to stitch Joan's Mermaid from July in the Magical Year of Stitching.   I started her last Summer for the Olympic challenges and very unusually did not note down the fabric.  It's either Sparklies or Crafty Kitten, most probably the latter and it's beautiful!

Finally, the Blogger of the Week blog is going really well.  I am so pleased with all the comments everyone is leaving and being able to introduce people to new-to-them bloggers.  I'd love to have more people I didn't previously know featured so please mention the blog on your blog!  I've also decided we should have a little competition when we reach six months so pay careful attention and watch the blog for more information!

April TUSAL

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

Here is my ORTS jar posing with the current stitching project:

This week I have been stitching different things almost every day.  On Monday I finished another project from my 15 in '15 - Joan Elliott's Cherub from the 2013 Diary.  Tuesday was Satsuma Street day.  On Wednesday I went on a train journey so took Trick and Treat because it's all one colour, on Thursday I picked up Just Nan Winter Typography and Friday saw another finish for a DUCJC project - Sweetheart Tree's Tudor Rose.  Today is Saturday and a work day so no stitching so far!

Way back in December 2012 World Of Cross Stitching magazine had their most popular cover gift ever, a diary featuring 12 Joan Elliott designs.  I intended to stitch one a month that year.  Then I revised that to exclude three of the more cutesy designs then I revised it again and actually managed three finishes and one start!  February was started in February 2013 and was in last year's 14 in '14 (unsucessfully) and now in 15 in '15.  As ever, the crazy thing is that it only needed three days stitching to complete it.  Two were pretty full-on days though, we're talking four or five hours a day.

Stitched on 28 count evenweave dyed with fruit tea

(which smells lovely when you are stitching!)

Mounted in my scrapbook.

I need some more gold heart stickers, I only had silver.

I used the recommended colours except for the heart because they were too pink.  I also left off the border of backstitched hearts.  That saved a couple of hours!

Tuesday is a SAL with Linda and Kate on Satsuma Street's Pretty Little London:

(It's the scanner that makes the linen look weird)

This week I stitched more of St Paul's Cathedral.

The Sweetheart Tree Tudor Rose was very nearly completed last week but I wanted to save the beading for a day when the boys were at school.  Beading and the Small Boy are not really compatible!  Here are several photos of the finished piece:

Stitched on 32 count Light Mocha linen.

I substituted plain DMCfor the border and used DMC throughout.

The beads and charm were supplied with the chart.

I had stitched the centre last (as instructed) and noticed that it was quite raised where the eyelets had pulled the fabric so decided to make a stuffed ornie.

With the intended backing fabric:

 

All finished:

And hanging in place:

The chart was a gift from Vickie and will now be travelling on to Gillie as a prize for leaving my 7000th comment a while back.  I gave her first choice before I chose the Giveaway charts and she picked this one.

Finally, the Giveaway of the other seven charts is continuing.  To be in with a chance, just leave a comment on my Blogaversary post.  Anyone who links up for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL gets an extra chance.  You don't have to do anything to claim that, if you have commented and linked up then my spreadsheet will automatically put your name in twice.

Days 6 to 9 of the DUCJC 2015

The DUCJC is being held this year in memory of SoCal Debbie and I am attempting to stitch on 31 different projects throughout January.  A mixture of WIPs and new starts.

Day 6 - Joan Elliott - February Cherub

Stitched on 28 count evenweave dyed with fruit tea

I stitched the cherub's hair.

Day 7 - The Sampler House - Strawberry Sampler

Stitched on 32 count Antique White linen

This chart was part of a giveaway from Lee Under the Mountain.  It is a very old hand-drawn chart from 1990 and I love it.  There is a certain charm to hand-drawn charts.

Day 8 - Frosted Pumpkins Stitchery - Hallowe'en Town

Stitched on 28count Moondust evenweave by Crafty Kitten

I filled in some windows and a little bit of fence.

Day 9 - The Nutmeg Company - Sugared Almond Cottage

Roof stitched on 28 count Honeysuckle Pink evenweave.

This was a gift from Susan Yellow Flower Meadow.  She has sent me three of these cute cottages charts and leftover threads.  I hope mine will look as good as her's!

I'm actually getting into the swing of this challenge now.  It was hard the first two days because I just wanted to carry on with the same project and not put it away knowing it would be a month until I could see it again.  But now I am back at work and stitching on WIPs those days it is easier because I have an exciting new start to look forward to the next day!

Finally, three of these count for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL I am running this year.  And all of them count towards Stitch from Stash which I am also taking part in.  So goals are being met!

July WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi of Measi's Musings.

The main focus of my WIPocalypse this year is supposed to be my "13 in '13" a list of 13 projects I want to complete in 2013, click on top tab for the list.  But as I haven't stitched on any of them this month I'll show something else from the other sections instead!

I've been stitching some of the designs from the Joan Elliott diary which was a cover gift with World of Cross Stitching magazine last year.  I have completed three, January, April and June and have now mounted them for inclusion in my scrapbook.  February is nearly finished but has been put aside for next February so I can try stick to the relevant month.

Here are the two latest:

April Dragons

June Wizard (I cut that circle myself.  Neat, isn't it?)

And here is the Needlecraft Haven May Challenge piece from The Little Stitcher.  I added the stripy shoes embellishment because of course, we were all singing Ding Dong the Witch is Dead as we stitched this piece!

In this case she has been killed by cross stitch.

The lovely scrapbook papers came from a new-to-me online scrapbook shop I found by Googling "Wizard of Oz scrapbook".  The site is called Scrapping the Magic and is rather Disney overload (the owner set it up to sell to people who have visited Disney and want to scrapbook their holiday photos).  But if you dig around the mouse droppings there are some great papers and embellishments.  Sorry, I shouldn't be rude about Disney as many people love the company and they are superb at what they do.  Trimming the hedges at Eurodisney with a wood template to ensure each one is exactly the same is dedication to detail!

Here's a random Eurodisney topiary elephant:

The papers arrived very quickly, solidly packaged in a stiff cardboard box 12x12 so there was no way the postman could bend them.  Prices are very reasonable and I will definitely be using them again.  There is lots of advice for the newbie scrapbooker on the site and also a monthly competition.  Use their template to create a page on their theme and send it in.  

Finally here are the three hearts stitched so far on my Couer en Boites project:

Three done, nine to go.  Mii left a comment on the last post to say she has stitched this design too.  Of course when I went and looked at her blog Mii Stitch I remembered that is how I found the chart myself! Thanks for the inspiration Mii.

Wizardly Happy Dance

I have just completed my Joan Elliott Wizard this afternoon.  I made a few changes to the threads, mostly changing plain DMC to the metallics, in the stars, swirls and the orb at the end of his wand.  I also changed the confetti around the swirls to beads.

The fabric is a Crafty Kitten grab bag piece of 28 count linen.  Quite a loose weave so I had to be careful with the beads and metallics not to pull the threads of the linen out of shape.

I intend to scrapbook the design once I find the right paper for him.  This is the third piece I have finished from the Diary which was the cover gift on orld of Cross Stitching magazine last year.  I have also stitched about 75% of the February cherub.   The next design is the July Mermaid but I don't have the right fabric for her nor do I have any for August or September!!  So I suppose I better do some shopping soon.

I finished the Dragon Dreams 7th Dragonlet of Christmas in 2 days flat but don't have a photo yet so I'll save it for Ornie Update Day.

Finally, the second postcard in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop has gone out.  Here are the links for the Hop so far:

My card goes to Debbie at Debbie's Cross Stitch

Debbie's card goes to Christine at The Alchymyst's Study

Where will Christine's card go?  Keep your eyes open this week to find out.  There's still plenty of time to join in, click on the There's No Place Like Home picture on the right to find out here to send your postcard

Weekend Stitching

It's a Bank Holiday Weekend here in England and hubby has been working 20 hour days so it's just me and the boys and some stitching!

The first piece to be finished is Joan Elliott's April design for the 2013 diary.  This was the cover gift with World of Cross Stitching magazine last year and there are a group of us stitching-a-long on Facebook.  So far I have completed January and April and most of February.  I'm starting June's Wizard next and would like to complete him actually in June!

Here are my dragons:

The fabric is a piece from a Crafty Kitten grab bag, a sort of blue sky effect.  I used all the recommended colours but added backstitch in metallic purple to the purple fronds and also metallic silver bs to the wings.  The Large Boy is dropping heavy hints about needing this one in his room!

I have also been stitching away on the Mirabilia Round Robin, this is Shimmering Mermaid for Karen:

The bling arrived from SewandSo this week so it's all ready when I reach those parts.

Here's a finish from Thursday, the Needlecraft Haven Freebie Challenge for May.  A great design from The Little Stitcher called "There's no place like Home":

I stitched this on a piece of Emerald Green aida using DMC threads and a thick Madeira metallic red for the shoes.  I got the Maderia threads free from a magazine and I'm not a fan but it was good for this design.

I found a great scrapbooking website that had alot of Wizard of Oz themed papers so I'll be ordering some soon and mounting this for my book.

Also on the schedule was the next part of the Thread Pickerz Heartz SAL and the Hallowe'en ornie, pictures to follow.

Finally, I have been reading blogs and attempting to comment but the list keeps on growing so I never seem to reach the end!  Maybe I'll use the move to Bloglovin reader to trim my subscriptions and only follow the ones I comment on the most.  Maybe...

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May TUSAL and some Joan Elliott Stitching

It's TUSAL time again!  For those of you new to blogging, the TUSAL is a project run by Daffycat, click on the button on the right hand bar for more details.

This month my ORTS jar is posing with a nice Spring page from my scrapbook.  The paper has geometric butterflies on it, I've added some daffodil embellishments and some floral ribbon.

This is a close up of the page:

The two designs are Lizzie*Kate's Spring and The Snowflower Diaries Tulip and Bunny.  Both stitched over 1 on 28 count yellow evenweave.

Here is my current evening piece.  I'm really enjoying being a OAAT on this and don't want to put her down!

I've stitched half the fill-in on her face and intend to finish the other side then move onto the large Mirabilia Round Robin.  I have a Mermaid on that one.  Although I have until July to stitch her I don't want to be Ms Last Minute dot com!

This is another Joan Elliot piece, from the 2013 Dairy, this is April's design called A Mother's Love:

Not a brilliant scanned picture I'm afraid!  Here is another not-very-brilliant scanned picture:

These are the first two hearts for the Thread Pickers SAL on FB.  The first heart was charted as a solid heart to show off each person's variegated thread but I didn't feel like stitched an expanse of plain xxxs so I charted our initials in a heart shape (mine, hubby's and the boys').  The thread is a De Haviland imitation silk in rainbow colours.  I'm stitching on white 32 count but having seen some of the others I'm thinking black would have looked amazing!

Finally, this is a picture a friend sent me.  This was invented by her and her partner as an eco and cost-effective way of helping the elderly keep warm.  But what does this picture scream at you?

Hands up who said "stitching booth"?  Because that was my first thought!  This idea is only in the development stages, they have a patent (so don't try copy it LOL) but need feedback to see if people would actually buy one.  I can just see me having all my supplies hung on little hooks inside the booth and shelves on the outside or maybe pockets for fabric?

Any comments left about the booth will be passed onto my friend.  I'm not charging her for market research but maybe she'll let me be a guinea pig for one?!! 

Happy Star Wars Day

May the Fourth be with you!

So what's new this month?  Having finally finished the RR I decided to spend some time with Green Goddess, a Joan Elliott design.  Here's a close-up of the area I've been working on:

I've stitched all around her face in the ordinary DMC leaving gaps for the dragonflies as they have metallics in them.  I've also left the face til last so I can start a fresh skein and not risk a dye-lot change in the middle of it!

There is alot of metallic in this as most of the border is Kreinik and there are beads to add too but I do feel the end is in sight sometime this year!

Daytime has also been Joan's territory.  I dithered over whether to finish February's design from the 2013 Diary or start April's.  Karen told me to start April's dragons so like a good little stitcher that's what I did.  Here is my progress so far:

The fabric is a 28 count from a Crafty Kitten grab bag so it has no name but looks quite sky-like.  The dragons are stitching up so much more quickly than the Cherub did.  I have no idea why as I like both designs.

This is how I left February's:

As I'm not stitching any of the pixie designs I'm hopeful of finishing both of these and catching up this month.

I can also show a finish from last month's Needlecraft Haven Challenge.  Christine invited us to choose one of the Snowflower Diaries Spring designs featuring chicks and bunnies.  I chose this one because the plant reminds me of Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors!

I used the same yellow evenweave as previous Easter/Spring stitches so they can all be mounted together.  The bunny in the photo is the one I won in our corner shop's raffle.

Finally, I had a little stash enhancement via an Esty shop called The Pampered Stitcher and bought these three Shepherd's Bush charts.  They are from a series called the Botanicals and I have whortleberry, rowan berry and bluebells.  There is also a fourth design entitled buttercups.  If anyone out there has this chart they would like to sell to me I would be eternally grateful and your friend forever!

Here are the three I have:

They will look beautiful framed and displayed with these four I stitched several years ago:

Larger pictures found here

edit: further investigation reveals the existence of violets and aramanth!