Canada's 2013 Christmas Stamps

I was shocked to see that Canada's 2013 Christmas stamps were cross stitch related! Or as they said embroidery but that's close enough. Normally I don't collect stamps but these seemed like a no brainer :)

6 Pages Done on Cinderella!

YAY!! I just finished the sixth page of my Heaven and Earth Design Cinderella! I wanted to have the six pages completed before the new year. I was stitching gong ho on this piece and averaging 800 stitches a day until I hit a wall with 100 stitches left. I just finished it up tonight :)

Again this is a HAED. Artwork is by Ruth Sanderson and it is stitched on 18 count aida. I have 34,200 stitches so far in it and not at the half way point just yet.

I have been working on other projects, but alas, I cannot show them yet because they are secret. Hope everyone is stitching lovely Christmas items too! Tonight I am going to finish one more ornament for an ornament exchange so it can be sewn together in the morning and sent off on Thursday. Happy Holidays everyone from your northern Canadian friend! :)

Free 2013 Christmas Ornament

Here is a Christmas Ornament cross stitch pattern I have designed for all of you. It uses the leaf satin stitch some of you used in the September Free SAL. Use your imagination and choose your own colours! Make it fun and personal! The red dots can be either petite beads or French knots.

Free 2013 Christmas Ornament. For Personal Use Only.

This pattern would be perfect for a quick ornament to stitch as a gift. You could also stitch it on a linen bag or make it into a Christmas card!

Christmas Elegance Day #6

After almost a week of stitching I have come this far:

It is stitching up fairly quickly and I am happy to say I am nearing the half way point on this. Every day of stitching this I am falling in love with it more and more. I really can't wait to start putting the beads onto it, it is going to sparkle so much!

Christmas Project 2013 Day #2

This time around I have decided to keep track of exactly how many days it will take me to stitch this piece, unless of course I get distracted again which is a huge possibility after the latest Mirabilia release "Ella, Princess and the Frog" yesterday. It is already in my shopping cart but thankfully it will take a week or two to get here so plenty of time to finish this up.

Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia Day #2

I was actually pretty pleased with the colours. Originally I thought the dress would be more of a blue green but it has turned out to be more emerald in colour which I am loving even more! The colours seem more blended than in the model photo but I guess that's what happens when 20 years have passed since it was released and dye lots have changed. I am going to change majority of the beads to be petites, I prefer working with petites, and may add a few crystals in some areas. We shall see!

Christmas Project 2013

Every year I try to pick one new Christmas cross stitching project. This doesn't necessarily mean I will finish it for that year (or ever) but I like the feeling I get working on the project leading up to my favorite time of the year.

This year's project is Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia. Instead of using the suggested blue fabric I opted to go for an opalescent purple fabric. I picked purple because I find when it snows in the evening right before nightfall there is a purple ambiance all around. It is truly a beautiful sight of the serine purple and fresh falling snow.

Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia Floss Toss

 The fabric is 32 count Zweigart Lugana in the colour Dragon's Desire. In some lighting it looks like a pastel purple and in other lighting it looks like a greyish purple.

Here is my progress so far after one day:

Day 1 progress on Christmas Elegance by Mirabilia

 I am loving this project. Nora Corbett has some amazing patterns out there and I hope to get around to stitching all of the ones I love sometime in my life time.

2 Week Old Kittens

As promised here are some pictures of the little kittens we had rescued!

The orange kitten on the left hand side was named Pumpkin. He (or she) was the fluffiest of the group. If we had kept one it would have been that one. But unfortunately I don't know what my living circumstances will be in a few weeks or months so I was unable to call dibs on it. Plus he had to go with his mom and was too young to survive on his own.

This one was Peaches. Always so bright eyed and wanting to know what was going on all of the time.

And this one was the runt of the litter. Super feisty and hissed all of the time thinking she was tough (nevermind she had no teeth yet and her legs were too short to scratch when held lol). She was the 5th one who hid on us while we brought the others inside then went back out to make sure we didn't forget any...good thing we did.

I would have taken more photos but Tuffie didn't like me going anywhere near her babies. She really didn't like me as much as I thought she would. It took both my dad and I to catch her and put her in the create with the kittens to take them to the SPCA. We had it set up so she would have to go through me to escape the living room. She tried going through my legs and I caught her with my legs then shoved her into the create closing the door almost catching her tail and said "its ok you never really liked me anyways". The ladies at the SPCA thought that that was hilarious.

If things were different and we were more prepared we would have kept them. It just got too stressful and our lives were just revolving around them to the point we were barely getting any sleep. We went from no pets to 6 over night and the kittens were already moving and climbing over each other. It would only be another week or two before they would try making their way out of their playpen.

Section #4 September Free Stitch Along

Hi everyone, sorry for the week delay of the 4th section of the stitch along. I can't believe how exhausting it is taking care of a cat and kittens. We ended up finding a foster home for them where they will all get fixed, vaccinated and good homes to go to. On to the final section of the SAL now!

Each specialty stitch is done using 2 threads. The grid lines in the following diagrams represent the threads of your fabric.

For the eyelet sections of this project you will bring your needle up through the odd numbered holes and down through the middle for every even hole then up through the next odd. Pull tight to achieve a hole to create your eyelet.

For this satin stitch bring your needle up through 1 and down through 2 then up through 3 and down through 4. Continue until you have done all five lines.

To create the leaf you are going to bring your needle up through 2 and down through 1 then up through 2 and down through 3 then up through 2 and down through 5 and continue this until you have created your leaf.

For the fan leaf you will bring your needle up through 1 and down through 2 then up through 1 and down through 4 then up through 1 and down through 6. Continue this until you have finished the fan shape.

For the straight petals go up through 1 then down through 2 then up through 3 and down through 4 until you have finished the petal. Continue until you have done all 4.

For the diagonal petal go up through 1 and down through 2 then up through 3 and down through 4. Continue until your done the whole petal. Do three more.

Section #4 Will be Delayed...

Sorry but section #4 of September free SAL will be delayed for the next day or two. I will make it up to you guys with 3 week old kitten photos tomorrow!

If some of you didn't know we had a stray show up in our back yard about 3 weeks ago.

Well she has basically adopted us and the past week or so my dad and I have been outside trying to coax her indoors and giving her lots of love, attention and food. Did I mention she was pregnant? Yeah...she had her kittens right out side of my bedroom window under a pile of branches.

I have been on night duty and completely lost track of what day it was. Tuffie (as we affectionately call her) likes to sit outside a lot so when we see her we go out there and pet her and talk to her trying to gain her trust. We have made so much progress this past week, she eats inside with the door closed and allows us to pet her as she eats and purrs away. She even comes running when we open the door knowing she is going to get a really good ear scratch. We bought a little box and today she used it so we know she is house trained which means someone for sure dumped her :( She looks about 6 or so months old herself.

Tomorrow we are going to bring the kittens indoors because it is getting really cold out at night and they are starting to wonder out of the nest, we also found a raccoon the other night (another reason I stay up all night) so it is a lot safer inside. I honestly have had no free time...my whole life revolves around this cat right now and I hope once the kittens are inside I will be able to do some more stitching related stuff knowing they are safe and warm.

And yes we do plan on keeping Tuffie and one of the kittens with both for sure getting fixed ASAP! All of the other kittens (4 that we know of in total) will be adopted out to people we know.

Again sorry about the delay...I will get it done as soon as I have a little free time in the next day or two. I should be sleeping right now as I have a job interview in the morning!

September SAL Section #3

It is time for the third instalment of the September Free Stitch Along!

If you were able to do section #2, section #3 should be easy for you. It is a variation of the Satin Stitch, just now creating texture and a different shape.

*Remember for the diagrams below, each line represents a thread of your fabric, and all stitching is done using 2 threads.*

Leaf Corners:

Bring the needle up through 2 and down 1 then up 2 and down 3. Then bring needle up 5 and down 4 then up 5 and down 6. Then up through 8 down 7 up 8 and then down 9. Bring your needle up 10 and then down 2 to create the stem. Rotate diagram and repeat steps to do the other two leaves in each corner and finish off with a French knot.

Acorns:

Basic cross stitch 3 stitches then bring the needle up through 1, down through 2, up through 3, down through 4 and so on until you finish up through 9 and down through 10. Finish off with a French knot on top then move onto the next acorn.

Leaf Sides:

Bring needle up through 1 down through 2 then up through 1 and down through 3. Move one thread down and repeat the same and continue doing this until you reach the bottom. Flip the diagram upside down to create the upwards stitch.

Owl Christmas Ornament

This little owl Christmas ornament was cross stitched for my little sister. She draws these cute little animals and when I saw these little guys I knew it would be the perfect project for her. I plan on finishing it off with fabric in the next few weeks so she can have it for Christmas this year (I meant to have it finished last year oops).

This pattern can be found in Just Cross Stitch 2000 Christmas Ornaments Collection. The pattern is called Woodland Joy by Something in Common. I did alter a few things in the design, I left the border off around it and I added sparkly threads in the ornament, because every ornament needs something blingy.

French Princess Shoes WIP

The wisdom tooth surgery went very well! It was all over by noon and I had a very yummy smoothie for lunch and that's about all I remember. Apparently the first thing I said to my dad when I came to was "I want to stitch my Cinderella" which probably wouldn't have been the greatest idea! The rest of the afternoon and evening I was passed out and not fully with it. Around 3am though I woke up and decided I needed to do some stitching. That lasted for about a half hour before I realized I was dozing off again. Oh and I bought a cross stitch magazine on my iPad...don't recall doing that, thought it was a dream! It was the new World of Cross Stitching magazine with Joan Elliott's Christmas motifs so obviously I needed it.

Yesterday and the day before I pulled out one of my own patterns to stitch the model. The shoes have been sitting patiently in the bookcase waiting to be picked up again. I don't take too many photos of it because it is difficult to photograph. The photo doesn't do it any justice. All of the colours are jewel tones and they do look awesome together.

Lasting Allure's French Princess Shoes

I am nearing half way done this pattern. Once the beads are on I think I am going to be madly in love with it. Still unsure what type of frame I will pick out for it or if it will need a matt, but I have plenty of time to figure that out.

September Free SAL Section 2

For all of those who are participating in the September Free Stitch Along here is section #2. I am releasing it a day early since I will be out of commission for a few days due to wisdom teeth surgery tomorrow. If you have any questions I will try my best to answer them as soon as I can.

Section #2 of "Tiny Autumn Sampler" Copyright Lasting Allure Designs

In this section you will be stitching a Satin Stitch in the empty spaces between your cross stitching. A satin stitch can be worked in many other shapes, it is a stitch used for filling in areas. You will be using 2 threads for this area. Here is a diagram of how you will work this stitch:

Square Satin Stitch Diagram

 The lines in the diagram above represent the threads of your fabric in the area (When you're cross stitching you're counting up 2 and over 2 but for this step forget about that rule). When you have finished the stitch it will be the same size as your 2x2 blocks of cross stitching. You will start in the 1 position and bring your needle down to position 2. Then you will bring your needle up through position 3 and down to position 4. Then up through position 5 and down to position 6 and so on until you finish filling in the blocks.

Your piece should now look something like this:

All Stuffed up for Christmas

Christmas is coming!! It is my most favorite time of the year (just ask anyone in my family). I know it is only September but I have been playing with some Christmas ideas since July.

This little guy is a new prototype for my latest pattern. He is about 2 inches tall and chubby from the stuffing. There will be a few other little characters to follow but I was making sure that he could be sewn up like a gingerbread man shape.

I am stitching up another one over the next few days with the alterations I learned from doing this guy and then will put the pattern together as a PDF with instructions on how to finish them off. I personally don't think the photo does this little guy justice, he is so cute in person! Just imagine a plate full of them...

To keep it simple the first part of the September Stitch Along is simple cross stitching. Follow the pattern below to create the framework that you will fill in during the following weeks with the other sections!

Please don't send the pattern to others, instead point them in the direction of the blog so they too can join in and be able to participate in other future activities. Please also note this pattern is not intended for resale including but not limited to patterns, kits or finished projects. If I find someone has breached my trust I will be unable to continue hosting future stitch alongs.



Section #1 of "Tiny Autumn Sampler" Copyright: Lasting Allure Designs

Stitch count is 40 stitches wide by 40 stitches high. It is highly recommended to stitch this pattern on 32 count even weave linen. (Don't pull a me and stitch on an uneven weave linen or else you will end up with a rectangle rather than a square as depicted in the bottom photo) Use your imagination and try different threads for this project!

September Free Stitch Along

Autumn is definitely in the air right now, well at least at night time, but days are becoming shorter and the leaves are slowly starting to change colour ever so slightly.

With fall time in my mind I decided to offer my readers a challenge. During the four weeks of September I will be releasing certain parts of the following design for those of you interested in stitching it! The autumn sampler is a mixture of cross stitch and specialty stitches to help some of those interested in dabbling in embroidery.

"Autumn's Tiny Sampler" Copyright: Lasting Allure Designs

The design is pretty small and each section will only take an hour or two of your time to stitch. However I feel the small project will help some who may want to learn some specialty stitches without being overwhelmed. With each section released there will be a few diagrams to help you stitch the pattern.

The first section will be released on Tuesday and all of the other sections will be released on the following Tuesdays. I encourage all of those who are stitching the pattern to change the colours up or use special threads and to post links in the comments section below so we can all see what you have done.

For those of you who want to get a head start you can get your fabric and floss ready. You will need:

• Stitch Count is: 40 stitches wide by 40 stitches high
• 32 count linen (28 is ok but you won't get very good coverage...and this project MUST be done on linen to be done properly)
• DMC colours: 741, 742, 780, and 3011
• I recommend using a Qsnap or hoop

If this stitch along goes well I will consider doing more!

Purple Rose Sewing Bag

These purple roses are cross stitched on 32 count cream. The purple is my own conversion, originally they were to be a pink but I thought I would be a little daring. I am going to turn this into a small pouch that I plan on using to keep buttons, pins and other small things in that I would use for sewing or cross stitching.

I am thinking I will turn the process of turning this into a pouch into a tutorial to share with you all. I should do the same for how I finish off my smaller patterns into ornaments (like the donkey from a few days ago) so people can finish off some of their Christmas cross stitching into gifts. Yes I am already thinking of Christmas! Now is a good time to start your projects to give you ample time to finish!

Joan Elliott's Victorian Lady

I had originally started cross stitching Joan Elliott's Victorian Lady the night the digital Cross Stitch Collection magazine came out, but the school course I was taking at the time made me abandon this project for a while. It was pushed to the side and forgotten about for a few months...until now.

Joan Elliott's Victorian Lady

I am in love with all of the colours in this cross stitch pattern. It just fits my style so well so she will look amazing hanging on my wall. Her skin is done 1 over 1 to create more of a layered look, the only portion of the skin done so far is on her arm between her sleeve and glove. I have managed to stitch her arm tonight and plan on working on her a bit more this week. There is three other ladies that go with the Victorian Lady but I think I will only stitch the Edwardian Lady who is all blues and holds the same flowers that are found in this pattern. I just love the way Joan Elliott shades her designs, the folds in the dresses are amazing!

Future HAED Project!

During the 50% off sale Heaven and Earth Designs put on I came across this lovely cross stitch pattern of Myles Pinkney's artwork. I loved the colours and had to have it!

The purple background has already been removed so it is an oval pattern with many partial pages in the 35 pages of the pattern. There are 90 pretty DMC colours in this pattern with many blues and purples. I have bought everything for it already and plan on cross stitching it on the 18 count fabric that I had found in Michaels. I was actually shocked I found it there because it is a HUGE piece...I bought two hehe! Thankfully I had a 25% off my entire purchase so it only made sense...right?

HAED Cinderella 4 Pages

Four pages of my Heaven and Earth Design Cinderella are done! The red brick wall has formed and I am now working on her dress. The bright pink bow has already shown up!

Heaven and Earth's Cinderella by Ruth Sanderson

My half year goal on the HAED bulletin board was to have two partials and one full page done for a total of six pages complete on Cinderella and to have one full page of Ruth Sanderson's Golden Wood done. I think I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew considering I wasn't expecting the 50% off sales and found a new pattern I fell in love with. We shall see how the next four months pan out to see if I can reach this goal and maybe sneak in a new start.

Computer Mishaps!

My lack of posting can be blamed on my horrible luck with computers as of late. The past month I have had the joy of buying 3 new computers (2 of which I was able to return for full refund)...I have to tell you though the novelty of a new computer doesn't last too long when you're constantly having to adjust all of the settings to your preference!

During the computer problem crisis though I have managed to finish off a few projects! As some of you may remember I was working on Mermaids of the Deep Blue for a while and ended up stalling on the progress once it came down to beading time, which is odd since I LOVE beading and sparkles. I was able to finish it last week and I am in love with it!

I added a few extra treasures and crystals from my stash. I also changed a few of the bead colors (they needed some "pearls" in their hair!) This is the first Mira I have done for me :)

My mom did the stitching on Nora Corbett's letter P, I came to the rescue and did the back stitching and beading. I made a few alterations on this one too, nothing drastic...just more beads.

This one is Nora Corbett's Letter M without the M and wings and done in a Christmas conversion. I am contemplating stitching something around her since I am going to frame her with fabric. She will sit for a while as I make that decision.

And this Donkey ornament...is something I would have never stitched for myself lol. This is for a friend of mine who is expecting her first baby and who loves animals (wants a donkey right now) and requested an animal birth sampler from me once she has the baby. We go back a LONG time, pretty much grew up together and it is funny how distance makes the friendship grow stronger and you find out who your true friends really are.

New Patterns!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few weeks. I was away house and cat sitting (and I think it is safe to say I would love to have a cat in my life after house sitting these two lovely cats!) for an entire month. During those four weeks away from home I managed to design two different patterns.

Peppermint Avenue by Lasting Allure Designs

I submitted this to a couple magazines but unfortunately missed the Christmas deadlines. It is now available through my Etsy site as well as each individual house for those who only want to stitch one. The stitch count is 200w by 80h and would make a lovely fireplace mantel piece or wall hanging for Christmas.

Another pattern I designed:

 This pattern is Halloween Tree. It has a combination of 2 over 2 and 1 over 1 stitching. I realized I didn't have any Halloween patterns and thought I should change that! I have a few more Halloween patterns in mind to design this month as well as a few more Gingerbread ideas!

Petite Point Christmas Ornament

Feel free to call me crazy, but I have been bitten by the petite point bug! My mind is about to explode from all of the petite point projects I want to do. For those of you who don't know what petite point is, it is basically cross stitch but instead of working 2 over 2 threads on linen, you're working 1 over 1.

"Poinsettia Purse" done 1 over 1 on 32 count Cream

As you can see the petite point makes the design look more like it is painted onto the fabric and makes the project looked very detailed.

The idea for the project is to turn it into a small purse Christmas Ornament. I am going to play around with some beadweaving for the "frame" part of the purse in gold beads with a Swarovski crystal bead closure. The bell is a 24 karat gold plated charm that I have had laying around for a while waiting for the perfect project. I am also going to add a beaded fringe to the bottom. The reverse side has a small bow and garland with the year and my initials, which I am currently stitching right now.

Canada Day Weekend Freebies!

It has been a while since the last freebie cross stitch pattern, so here is the latest pattern for your weekend enjoyment. A pink stiletto shoe embroidered with gold flowers!

For some reason the quarter stitch symbols don't show up too well due to how I had to make this into a jpg so I could share, if you leave them off it won't make a huge difference to the design but if you zoom in well enough the symbols are a bit easier to see. To save the pattern click on the picture and right click and save.
On top of that, to celebrate Canada's birthday I am offering a 10% off coupon for my Etsy store until July 2nd when you use the coupon code CANADA2013 at check out!

French Princess Shoes

Here is a little sneak peak at my latest cross stitch design.

Twelve Princess shoes sit on the gold and jewel adorned shelf waiting to be worn. The pattern was designed with my love of the Brother's Grimm Fairytale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" in mind. In the cross stitch pattern I have incorporated beads and Krienik to add small details to the French inspired princess shoes.

Along with this bigger project, a bell pull pattern and a small gift tag pattern are also available.

Bell Pull:

 Gift Tag:

These patterns are for a more advanced stitcher or someone looking for more of a challenge. Quarter stitches and color changes are used to create the gold framework and the shoes of each pattern. The patterns will be available in the next couple of days and can be found on my Etsy site.

Cinderella 3 Pages Done!

I had to put my 30 day design challenge to the side for now. It will be picked up again soon, things just got busy and in the way! (I did manage 6 patterns though, 3 of which I can't share just yet!)

While vegging out I have made a lot of progress on Cinderella! In total that is 3 pages complete with..I don't know how many more to go yet lol.

My half year goal is to get 2 partials and one full page done by the end of the year, plus a page on Golden Wood by Ruth Sanderson.

I am thinking of adding some petite beads to the swirly stuff when done, along with a small crystal on her glass slipper to make it something a bit more special! We shall see when I am done the stitching though.

I see Beads in my Future...

Just a quick update!

Bluebell's stitching is done now too! Her and Ivy get washed tomorrow and while they dry I will be adding the last of the beads to Nora's letter P my mom had stitched a few weeks ago...I don't mind I love sparkles!

 

I have a feeling I will be beading more than cross stitching this month I also have this to bead:

 

Which is this far along...it could have been done completely 2 months ago if I just did it: