a whole lotta latte

I Like a Sleigh Ride | Cross Stitch

Ok.  I know what you're thinking.

Um....sleigh ride???  We JUST barely  made it out of winter, and you're already talking about sleigh rides again???

Well, yes.  I am.  Now, don't get me wrong, none of us is happier than me that it was warm and humid today, TRUST ME.  And usually I don't start ranting and raving about Christmas until July, when it's time for Christmas in July.

However....

Let me introduce you to these stupid cute sleighs and their cross stitch designs.

This guy is about 4 in long - the stitched part is only about 2 in long, and it's done on perforated paper.

I know.  Another thing that you're thinking - "But, Jack, you're legit obsessed with teeny tiny count fabric - how did you allow perforated paper into your house???" 

Well, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.....I used to do a lot, and I mean A LOT of Mill Hill cross stitch and beaded ornaments on perforated paper.  So much, that I have a stock of the paper from oh so long ago.  I still do Mill Hill cross stitch and beaded kits, but I replace the paper with fabric and go from there.  Saved me from buying some for these wicked cute projects, though!!!

Ok.  So, the sleighs and the graphs to go with them are from Dixie Darlin.  If you'd like, you can order your supplies from my LNS.  The ladies at the shop would be more than happy to help you get what you need to make all your sleighs for the Christmas season!!

I have a plan for all these little guys that I'm stitching up (and - side note - they're WAY QUICK stitches.  way quick - i whipped this bad boy up in about 2 hours.), but you'll have to wait for the Christmas in July celebration in my house to see what's in store! 

I had to show you a little something in the meantime, because, seriously....SO STINKIN' CUTE!!

I hope you all have a fantabulous Tuesday!  Go forth and be creative!!!

Much love ~~~

Bloom. | Cross Stitch

I don't know about you all, but I feel like warmer weather just will NOT get here.  Yesterday was the first day I could leave the office and not freeze on my way to my car.  Ridiculous.  

And, yes, my electric blanket is still on my bed.  Whatever.  Don't judge. 

Moving on....

 All around are glimpses that spring might actually be here soon.

These are my azaleas at the front of my house, which seem to have exploded overnight.   For realzies.  LOVELOVELOVE the coral colored one on the left.  LOVE.  My rose bushes are on the verge of blooming, too, and I cannot wait for them to open up.  

To keep myself occupied during these still cold nights, I've been working on a few finishes for my LNS.  It's seriously so  much fun taking finished models and going that next step and making something so totally different than if it were framed.

Enter a piece called "Bloom Sampler" by Threadwork Primitives. 

I knew I wanted to finish this piece as a pillow, like the model, but I didn't want to finish it in the same way.  I dug into my Mary Poppins carpet bag of finishing supplies that the girls at my LNS gave me, and came up with hand-dyed twill tape from Crescent Colours.  

 

Hello, fun twill tape! Can you see it????  It's sewn in right at the end of the stitched piece and the small piece of fabric I attached to the end.

Here's a close-up...

The green matches perfectly, and I decided to create dimension by sewing it in place with a contrasting color - I chose brown to go with the bunny and the plain fabric on the right.  

Just a lil' close-up of the stitched piece...I'm loving the pinks and light reds throughout...

For the backing fabric, I again went to my carpet bag of finishing supplies, and came up with felted wool.

Have you ever worked with felted wool?? Not gonna lie - it's pretty cool, and is so awesome with smalls and such.  The piece of wool I was given for finishing has a herringbone pattern.

Awesome, amiright????  The color of this wool could not have matched better with the fiber colors of the stitched pattern.  Love.

 There you have it!!  Another finish that will be displayed at my LNS...as soon as I can get it to them....which should be this weekend.  So, if you're in the DelCo area, stop on by the shop after Saturday, and you'll be able to see this cute piece live and in living color!!

What are you all doing to keep your creative juices going as the flowers start blooming this spring??? 

I'd love to hear what you're all up to!!!!

Do something creative today!!!

Much love ~~~

Rose Garden | Cross Stitch

Oh, my friends.  It has been entirely too long.  I didn't realize how long it'd been since I sat down and posted something until I looked at my most recent post - 1 April.  Almost a month ago!!!

It's just been a couple of those kinds of weeks, ya know?

But I'm back, and with a faboo little cross stitch finish for you all.

It's funny how tastes change over the years - I used to have zero interest in the more primitive designs, yet as I stitch and the years go by, I find myself drawn more to those kinds of patterns.  Not all of them, but some of the designers catch my eye.  Blackbird Designs is one of them.

You may remember the piece I did by them - Halloween Eve - which I changed slighly and it turned out super cool.  This one is a "small", and I changed this one, too, but not quite as drastically as Halloween Eve.

It's called "Rose Garden" - I did the finish work on it this afternoon.

The original graph was stitched on a light fabric with pink fibers, but I chose to do the complete opposite for this.  You know, spice things up a bit.  The fabric I used is 40 ct. Brandied Apple by Silkweaver, and I used Crescent Colors Lambswool for the stitching.  Since the thread had a slight pinkish hue to it, it actually worked way better than I thought for this fabric.  I won't get into how I have a full fat half of that fabric, and only used about 5" of it for this project.  

Ahem.

Moving on.

A little sideview so you can see how the year is to be stitched in - it's part of the graph, so you just insert the year, and move on with the border! Easy peasy!  The fabric in the background is what I used for the backing fabric for the piece. 

For the edges, I tacked down Crescent Colors overdyed chenille - I've had a couple packs of this lying around here, and finally had the perfect project to use this one on! The color is Toasted Marshmallow, and again, perfect!

This is a glimpse of the other side, where you stitch your initials.  Like the year, the initials are graphed, so you just choose yours, stitch, and finish the border!  Love it.

That's it for today, peeps!  I hope you all have a wonderful Monday, and I do hope to have something to post later in the week, so I don't end up going 3 full weeks again before sharing with you all.  I really need to get back into the swing of things with my posts!!

Much love ~~~

A Needlebook Finish | Sewing

Hello all!  :-)

I hope you had a wonderful Easter, if you celebrate!

This past Friday, I brought another model finish to my LNS, and this was just as much fun to finish as the last one that I did.

I'll be honest.  When I set out to do the finish work for this piece, I wasn't totally sure where my sewing machine would take me.  I knew I wanted to do something a little different than a simple "small" or an ornament, but wasn't sold on quite what to do.

Then, I had the idea for a needlebook.  The stitched model was about 4" square, so it wasn't so big that a needlebook was out of the question, and not so small that it would get lost in all the sewing fabric.

So, I decided just to go for it.  I headed to my fabric stash, and even though the stitched model was red, I wasn't convinced surrounding it with more red fabric would be the answer.

I stumbled upon some brown fabric, and even though it sounds like it wouldn't really work, it totally did.

 

Here's the needlebook closed, with the ribbon tied in a pretty little bow :-)  I kinda love this fabric - it has just enough of a pattern motif so it's not boring, but it's not overwhelming. 

Untie the riboon, and viola!!  This is on the inside!  The stitched model is on the left (obvi), and the right has the felt to stash your needles....in this handy little...book.  Needlebook.  Clever.  HA.

Here's a close-up of the stitched model -

Pretty, right?! Love that lil' key...

And here's a shot of the other side with the felt -

How.stinkin'.cute is that button ribbon????!!! (yah. you read that right - that's ribbon that looks like buttons. love.)  Perrrrfect to match this felt, and it adds just that little extra detail to really make this complete.  The total estimated size of this needlebook is about 6.5" square when it's closed, and when it's open, it's about 13" long.

That's it!  That's my latest finish!  If you're in the DelCo area, stop in the shop and see this model finish in real life!!!  :-)

OMG. Shoes.

In my last post with my sister's wedding gift, I made a comment about our hotttt yellow shoes that us bridesmaids wore with our pewter dresses.  I didn't want to distract from the stitched piece, so I didn't post a pic.

Enter this post.  It's all about shoes.  OMG.  Shoes.

Mine are on the left - one of the other bridesmaids wore the ones on the right.  Holy hotttt amiright???  Those babies were a solid 4 inches high, with a platform.  

The obligatory "get in a circle and take a pic of your shoes" shot. 

Picture time on the front lawn!

And all our bouquets, purses, and shoes, lined up in the limo on the way to the reception.

Fun, right??!!!!

I really need to find somewhere else to wear those shoes....

 

 

 

So, There Was This Wedding... | Cross Stitch

It was my little sister's, and she looked beautiful.

Naturally, I had to stitch something that fully captured her on this day, which was no easy task.

I was able to find a pattern, and made some changes so it was more personal; more....her.

This is a Lavender and Lace pattern called "The Wedding".  If you click the link, you'll see an obvious change I made to the original graph - I took out the flower girl.  My sis didn't have a flower girl, so I didn't really see the point in having her there...plus...she kinda creeped me out back there.  Just sayin'.  Also, I took out the veil, since my sis didn't wear one.  Andddd....it looked like ribbon dancers (who else remembers them?!!!?) exploded from her hair.  No thanks.

Here's a quick close-up of the frame -

Love the detail on this frame - it's not too much, but just enough to accent the piece.

For my version of this gorgeous piece, I changed the color of the flowers to yellow, since the color of the flowers in our bouquets was yellow (as were our shoes...hottttt....), and I changed the ribbons to grey, since our bridesmaids' dresses were pewter.

I quickly became obsessed with the folds in the dress....they look so fluffy and fun :-)  And the beads on the bottom give the illusion of lace along the bottom edge.

A close-up of the bride and groom....

Like with the flowers on the dress and the bouquet in the bride's hand, I changed the color of the flowers pouring out of the "U" in the wording at the top.  I changed the gold thread from the DMC called for in the pattern to a Kreinik.  I hate Kreinik threads with a firey passion, but sometimes, there's just no way around it - you have to stitch with them to create the look.

I wanted this to be perfect, so there was a lot of ripping out & doing over, but I think it turned out just how I envisioned.  Simple, elegant, and classic.  

And the bride is in a poofy dress...just like Cinderella would wear...and I'm sure that's exactly how my lil sis felt that day - just like a princess :-)

So, there ya have it, folks.  The long-awaited lil' sis wedding gift!  It was torture not being able to show WIPs to you all, but I do hope it was worth the wait !!

 

Much love ~~~

I Bonded With Color Shine Last Night | Scrapbooking

Holy crap, you guys.  Holy crap.

I don't know how many of you dabble in scrapbooking, but one of my fav designers, Heidi Swapp (you may remember me being stupid excited to make this mini album from scratch using one of her tutorials), has a line of paper called Color Magic, and mists called Color Shine.  

I'm legit obsessed with the gold.  True story.  I may need an intervention.

Anyways.  The paper has this...magic...quality to it where only some of it absorbs the color of the shine that you  use.

Observe - 

Do you see that???  The color is all over the letters, except for the dots around the center.

Hello!!!!  That heart sticker?!!!??  Purple + gold = obsessed.  See how it zig-zags & the color is only on part of it??  Seriously. LOVE.

You may recognize this album....it's the one I made from scratch using Heidi's tutorial.  I finalllyyyyyy found a use for it - I'm going to make it sorta like a SMASH book with all my Instagram shots I've taken and had printed from last  year.  {ps - for those of you looking for an awesomesauce printing company for your Instapics, Persnickety Prints is AMAZEBALLS.}

Not even kidding.  I think everything will be purple and gold.  OB.SESS.ED.

 

"Amazing" stamp by Kelly Purkey; "created" date stamp by Amy Tangerine

Clearly, I have more work to do, but I had to walk away from the Color Shine.  It was getting out of control.

 

 

 

A New Blackbird Designs WIP | Cross Stitch

So, as most of you know, I've been working on some pretty gihugic pieces lately - my sis's wedding gift, and Quaker Christmas II.  

Since I stiched up that little coffee beaded piece wayyyy quicker than I thought, I clearly needed a small piece that would take me a little teeny bit longer to finish, but not quite an entire year, like the other biggies I'm working on.

Enter: Blackbird Designs' "Rose Garden".

 The original graph calls for a light fabric with a pink fiber...but, as you should know by now, I'm all about switching that up.  Since this is a one color pattern, it was really easy to make whatever change I wanted.

As you can see from the pic, I did the complete opposite of the graph instructions.  I mean, why the hell not?   Change it up - make it your own - that's what you need to do with some of these patterns.  If you don't like what the picture is telling you, change it!!!

I'm stitching this bad boy on 40 ct. Brandied Apple from Silkweaver using Shaker Threads Lambswool.  The color variation in the thread is just enough to be noticeable, but not overwhelming, and the overall color blends soooo nicely with this fabric.  

I've had this fabric around for a while, not knowing quite what to use it for, but this is working out perfectly!

What do you guys think?  I'm not big on pink fabric, but this one is growing on me, especially for this piece.

Much love ~~~

 

Happy St. Patty's Day! | Cross Stitch

Yeah, I know.  I'm a day late.  Better late than never, though, right?!  Besides, I'm late for ev-a-ry-thing, so late with a holiday wish should be no surprise.  HA.

I didn't do any special projects this year for St. Patty's Day, but I dug up this old post from 2 years ago, which has a cute little shamrock freebie from Paulette over at Plum Street Samplers, and is a super quick stitch.  Somewhere in that post I make some outrageous claim about doing the finish work on it so I could put it out for the following year (meaning 2012) to celebrate the holiday. 

Ummmm.......it's still in my "to be finished" pile.

Ahem.

Also, in case you missed it, I posted a St. Patty's Day model finish for my LNS the other day, so be sure to check that out, too!!

Have a fabulous Monday!!!

{note: to download your own copy of the freebie, head to Paulette's site, click on "freebie" in the category list on the right hand side, and scroll until you find it}

 

A Weekend Stitchy Post | Cross Stitch

Hello all :-)

It's a dreary Saturday here in March, but since tomorrow is St. Patty's Day, I thought I'd share this cute little model finish I did for my LNS, The Strawberry Sampler.

As if I don't have enough to do these days in my project room (including fixing the table I do my work on...but fixing is low on the priority level when there are so many things to be creating instead....), I'll be doing model finishing for The Strawberry Sampler.  

As an alternative to framing this fun piece, I decided to make it a little quilt wall hanging.  The stitched piece is 7 x 7 square, and with the fabric frame, it's a total of 9 x 9 square.  I used a dowel I had on hand to hang it for this pic, but you could use anything to hang it - a finished fabric strip, ribbon, cording, anything!

If you're in the DelCo area (outside Philly), stop in the shop!  More of my model finishes will be arriving at the shop soon!  I'm SO EXCITED to be working with those ladies and sharing my creativity with you all in the "real world" in addition to here in my little piece of bloggerville!!  :-)

Happy weekend, everyone!  Do something creative today!!!

Much love ~~~