Catching up

I'm not very consistent at the moment- neither is life. It's busy and occasionally threatens to engulf me entirely. But I am learning to recognise the anxiety  as it comes, to rationalise it and lean into peace. I'm getting there, slowly. This is a 'new' that is above and beyond all the changes in physical situations, but within. Maybe I'll talk about that next week (although I am going to the real life sea next week so you may be kept in suspense...)

On with the Stitch-alongs. I'm late for TUSAL and Gifted Gorgeousness but I'm here! I've actually missed the TUSAL for the past few months. TUSAL stands for "Totally Useless Stitch-along" and it's an opportunity for people to show off all of the scraps they've created by stitching over the month. We moved house in April and as a consequence my TUSAL jar was packed away, and I had to move on to a smaller, travel-sized version. I still haven't gone back!

 

Isn't it cute?

You can see the layers much more clearly from the different projects I was working on: lots of blackwork back in April, then some bold colours from my applique in May, and finally all the pastels from the 'Storytime Classics' sampler I've finally got stuck into this month!

It is also handy to carry around with me- I like to squeeze some stitching into my lunch break when I can, or just pass the time if I have to wait a while somewhere. I made a little drawstring bag way back when I bought that baby sewing machine, and it still gets plenty of use:

Just the right size to squeeze into a handbag! You can also see the progress I've made on the aforementioned sampler from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery; I got off to a very bad start at the beginning of the year but have completed 2 month's worth this month already, so I'm optimistic it might still be finished by January 2016.

Unfortunately it has been my main project this month, and is the only one that doesn't qualify for "Gifted Gorgeousness" (see what I did there?!)

Gifted Gorgeousness is run by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching and it's an opportunity to share any crafting that has been done as a gift, or received. Last month I could only share a teaser with you but this month I can share what I sent to Canada in the Disney Craft Swap I joined in:

My swap partner liked 101 Dalmations and mentioned that Cruella DeVille was her favourite character, so I stitched some blackwork Dalmatians and an applique Cruella for a tote bag. The dalmatians were also supposed to end up on the bag but that didn't work out, I'm pretty please with the notebook cover as well though! I really enjoyed making for somebody else- it gave me to opportunity to try things that I wouldn't have done otherwise, and I made things in a style that I wouldn't necessarily want to keep. This post is a bit photo heavy already so I won't post close-ups now, but I was REALLY PLEASED with how it all turned out.

I also included some Cadbury's Marvellous Creations chocolate (the one with popping candy because it's my favourite), some hand-dyed threads from riotous colours, and a card with an illustration of Leeds on the front.

It has also been my birthday since this time last month and I have been treated to some beautiful Gifted Gorgeousness! I was given this cross stitch kit by some good friends:

I've wanted a Bothy Threads pattern for ages but have never quite been brave enough to buy one so this really was a treat! I'm looking forward to having a go with metallic threads and a bit of beading too so that will be fun.

Finally, my wonderful husband MADE my birthday present this year. It has been very mysterious as lots of small envelopes kept arriving in the post, and then he borrowed my spray glue and got all a bit stressed out while I was not allowed upstairs, but look at this:

Isn't it gorgeous?! The postcards are all from places we've been abroad together. This photo doesn't show off quite how well it goes in the room as well. To be honest I would have been over the moon with anything he'd gone to the trouble of making for me but this is perfect. I am a very lucky lady.

Sun, scraps and swaps

The sun (or lack thereof) has been the big even across the UK today. As humans we find it amazing that our little moon can block the light of the sun, however we forget that the clouds do it all the time! Here is my picture of the sun covered by the moon covered by the clouds:

It's time for another "Totally Useless Stitch-along" check in.

There's a bit of fat orange right on the top there as I have framed up my 'Noah's Ark' Piece and used that to stretch it over some card. I promise this is my last photo of it, but I just have to show off the finished product:

The frame is actually without glass. This is partly due to my mounting skills being such that the glass really wouldn't fit, but I also worried less about it because I had been discussing mounting with a friend who said she much preferred cross-stitches not behind glass, because then you can really appreciate the texture. I like that idea so we can pretend it's by design; however I now have a 12x12" piece of glass up for grabs!

Finally, I am taking part in my first ever craft swap and my gift arrived yesterday! It was on a disney theme and my swap partner (@_ashyoung_ on Instagram) stitched a quote that I love into a frame and onto a pencil case:

I'm looking forward to taking the pencil case into work with me. I need to get cracking on my piece too; I'm still at the collecting materials stage!

A Tiny bit of TUSAL

There's a blog I've come across a couple of times where the writer uses the state of her laundry basket as an indication of how her life is going. I think ours would give a strong sign of our past couple of weeks- two loads down today and it's still three-quarters full! Still, normal service will resume shortly.

There has been another new moon (Happy Chinese New Year!) so it's time for me to share my scraps in the Totally Useless Stitch-along:

There are some extra greys and blues there from the novelty of sewing animals and water that aren't a variation on brown or orange!

I'm afraid I've got no further updates on stitching because you got two weeks worth on Monday. Three posts in a week, this blog has never seen so much action!

Same old, same old

I'm not feeling very motivated to blog just now, and I'm not really sure why.

I'm still stitching away on Noah's ark, and I reckon I have achieved half-way by now, which means I stand a chance at success! I was up to here by Wednesday:

I have since started on the giraffes, working on animals two by two! It is a bit frustrating not being able to start anything new but I am *definitely* not taking on any massive projects for a good while once this is done (famous last words...)

I was also disappointed to realise that I really should be starting a new TUSAL jar, as I was just about getting last year's one filled up! Admittedly I had cheated by adding my crochet yarn offcuts to the same jar, but it was getting there. I only got into the world of 'craft blogging' over the summer so it's fun being at the beginning of the year and learning what all the crazy acronyms mean. Here are the beginnings of my 2015 stitching:

Not a bad effort on half a month I think!

Hopefully I'm more inspired next week.

Festive Fun

What a month December has been.

Today has been my first chance to stop at home. I have pottered, taken some photos of all my festive creativities and cleaned the grout between every single bathroom tile with a toothbrush. I'm not really sure where to begin here, so I think I will just re-establish the blogging pattern with some follow ups of all the different things I was in the middle of before the Christmas mist descended!

First of all, this is a long-overdue picture:

FINALLY, it is framed and gifted! I had to re-arrange the text a bit as the pattern puts in a length which I didn't know, so I added the time as well. The sparkle in the fabric looks great in the frame and they loved it!

Also already gifted are my snowflakes. I starched and stretched them in batches of 5 and am so pleased with how they look, blocking them made all the difference.  Here is my little blizzard:

 And a surplus one that has made it onto my tree:

 It was a bit of a panic by the end, and for the first couple of days after they were all given out I didn't quite know what to do with my hands any time I had a free moment!

Finally, project number 3. There was no chance of me making the Christmas deadline and I'm already anxious about the March deadline for his first birthday, but here is the current structural state of Noah's Ark:

Getting there, slowly but surely! It would be no good for anybody colour-blind, just a hundred different shades of brown and yellow.

I've plenty more to write, some exciting crafty Christmas presents to show off and my "OneWord" for 2014 to review, but I think this will do for now. Just another long-overdue TUSAL to broadcast!

Totally Useless at keeping up!

Now for all the crafting. I'm beginning to feel the pressure a bit, and last Saturday I took the decision to do some crafting instead of writing about it. I'm also struggling to take pictures because the sun has been MIA for a week or two now so there's never any decent light! But hey ho, we can pretend the grainy, amber hue is some kind of vintage effect.

First things first, the "Old stitches, New tricks" competition! Thank you for the lovely feedback. Unfortunately my little basket was nowhere near the winners in terms of skill, scale or time invested. I did get a special mention on the blog though which I was pleased enough with! I hope you looked at the other entries, they were great.

I'm a week or more late on my TUSAL update, so here is my jar:

You'll see that I did cheat and put the ends from the basket in there as well (well it was kind of cross-stitch...) I can't show you the finished Doctor Who sampler as it's away being framed and I somehow neglected to take a photograph beforehand. Noah's ark is getting there (slowly) though:

That roof was a weekend's work. I'm dreading starting on the boat itself. Not going to make it by Christmas I don't think.

I've also been working on some snowflakes:

They've been quite fun to make and I feel like I'm almost getting to grips with crochet, at long last! I'm making one each for a group of friends so still quite a way to go, but they aren't slow to make. They are quite handy on the train, I can make one in a couple of days' commuting.

Finally, I made some crafty friends last Saturday! Kate of Beak Up Crafts had arranged a get-together in Leeds of people who like to make things. She wrote about it here. It was great fun; I don't think I would have been brave enough to go if it had been any further away but I'm glad I did. Everyone there was from such different backgrounds in the 'day job' but people were very open and we ended up having some quite personal discussions. I'm looking forward to joining them again for some 'crafternoons' in the new year.

What a difference a month makes!

A month seems to go by so fast these days, and it's time for that slightly-odd blog game where I show you how many loose ends I've cut off this month:

I'm getting there! There is LOTS of black from my Dr Who stitching this month, a bit of gold from the Dalek and some grey from the elephants in Noah's Ark. So fairly monochromatic.

BUT... *drum roll* ... I have finished the design on the Dr Who sampler! Just the words and framing to go, it is VERY exciting. Here's where I was up to by last night:

I am really quite proud of myself, to be on track for finishing an entire project within 2 months. We are house-watching for Josh and his parents this week so I'm considering whether I can get it done and framed before they get back, as a welcome home gift. Anybody got any advice on framing? This is what size the aida was that I bought so there's not much space all the way around, I think I might have to take it to a professional for it to look acceptable.

You'll also notice I've bought a needle minder- it's amazing what it turns out you can't manage without when you get into a hobby! This beautiful wooden button came from planetvonnychops on etsy. So cute!

Once the Dr Who Sampler is done I'll have time to start some new projects. Maybe I'll blog some of my ideas in the next week, now I'm off to get buying materials!


Have a look at other people's TUSAL odds and ends over here.

Cross Stitching Overload

So… I may have over-committed.

At the end of August so pleased was I with my “30for30crafting” exploits that I decided to take on a cross-stitch for a friend’s baby who had just been born. It was a Dr Who themed affair, quite large but with a good amount of empty space so I figured it was fairly doable.

The weekend after I’d bought the pattern and all of the threads was another friend’s baby’s christening, and we were to become God parents. It may surprise some parents to know that neither of us are from God-parenting church backgrounds, so we were somewhat underprepared for the situation in terms of gifts, and a friend staying with us that weekend persuaded me that another cross-stitch would be the perfect, thoughtful gift, and wouldn’t need to be ready before Christmas. So I scoured the internet and found a ‘Noah’s Ark’ kit (I really wanted to do this Bothy Threads one but it’s MASSIVE and very intricate… I was trying to be sensible!) which arrived shortly afterwards.

Well, this is the volume of Aida I have to fill:

Eek! Noah’s ark is about twice as big as I expected, and I’m losing the plot a little. Godson’s birthday is in March so I think he may have to wait until then. In the meantime (and in the two weeks since I started this post and never managed to finish it) I’ve made some headway with Dr Who. As a consequence I have lots of blue and black ORTS:

Maybe there is hope for me yet! No chance of using the beautiful wool my parents bought me from Scotland when they went last month though. All new projects are frozen until at least one of these is complete!

Isn’t it beautiful? That’s just what colour the sheep are, no dye has been used.

EDIT: Forgot to include the link for the TUSAL. See more jars of thread here!

Totally Useless!!

I have enjoyed getting my craft on over the past month, both with the #30for30crafting challenge (I'm just about still keeping up to it now I'm back at work) and generally enjoying what others get up to and where they squeeze it into their lives. What's lovely is that there are a lot of different communities: 'stitch alongs' where everyone follows the same pattern at a similar pace, and 'swaps' where people from across the world make things for each other (usually along a theme) and send them. It sounds like such fun!

I've not been brave enough to join in something where I could possibly let another person down: I'm not quite confident in my own abilities yet. But I have come across the "Totally Useless Stitch-Along" which I feel I'm more than qualified for!

It's dead simple: collect up all the scraggly ends of thread as you've been stitching, and store them in a glass jar. The colours are pretty and there's less mess in the house. The jars are called ORTs for Old Ratty Threads. Then take a picture and share!

I think you're probably meant to add a bit more detail as well, about what you've been making. Most of my threads came from my lightning-speed birthday card production, and some crochet-ing (which is nearly finished and I'll broadcast it then). I'm writing as I wait FOREVER for my MND/ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video to upload, so I'm reluctant to use up much more bandwidth just now!

All the other TUSALs this month are here...