Crafty Stuff

October 28, 2015 My Time Stitching27 Comments

Yesterday I told you I would post my purchase from my weekend get-away. So here goes:

These fun things ended up in my bag from Stitches N Things. The newest Mirabilis pattern, Twin Mermaids and the bead pack. No plans to start this right away, but just had to have it. It’s 2 mermaids! And some threads and a horn book for an upcoming project.

This past weekend hubby and I spent the weekend in Frankenmuth, MI for our anniversary and he spoiled me wonderfully. We stopped at one of my favorite shops there. Rapunzel’s Yarn and Boutique, where I picked up this:

I didn’t get a picture of the yarn hank before I tore it all apart. I forgot to have them wind it for me, so ended up spending the whole trip home trying to detangle it. But as you can see, I started knitting a scarf already. The yarn is so awesome; lots of fun fibers and textures all in one skein! The yarn is Alp Premier from Feza. It was quite an expensive hank, but like I said, hubby spoiled me. So I can’t let this yarn just sit around. I will work on it in between everything else. And if you click on the picture, you will see those cool looking knitting needles I picked up. I had planned on starting this on the car ride home, and needed a pair of needles. These are from Knit Picks. Very pretty, made of wood, with very sharp points. They are actually very nice to knit with. I am glad I picked them up.

I am also still crocheting on my Spice of Life blanket. I have 4 more rows to go before I start the border.

This blanket has been keeping me warm the last couple of days while I crochet on it. I am really liking it and am hoping the border will not give me any problems so I can get it finished.

We stopped at a bead shop while in Frankenmuth. Boy was I overwhelmed! I haven’t taken up beading yet. Not sure I ever will, but I like looking at all the beautiful beads and charms. Bead Haven was the largest bead shop I had ever been in and if I were going to shop that day for a project, I wouldn’t have known where to begin. Hubby found a rack in a corner of the store that had some hand made knitted items and he purchased this beautiful hat for me.

I love it! It’s a pinky mauve color and fits me perfectly! I can’t wait for a little bit cooler weather so I can wear it. Someone did a wonderful job knitting it and lining and adding beads and fibers to the sweet knitted flower.

Dear husband bought me this awesome bag to carry around while shopping for the weekend.

It is a very nice bag and held all the little things we picked up over the weekend. Right now it is holding my scarf project and it’s perfect.

And for my most favorite purchase of the weekend… Hubby bought me this as an anniversary present from a wonderful shop called The Enchanted Garden.

She is a beauty and I love her! She is 26″ tall and gorgeous! So I had a wonderful weekend and was spoiled to the max. So now I am off to crochet a bit and see if I can get those last few rows finished.

What are you crafting on today?

Crochet · cross stitch · Hand Dyed Fabrics · Mermaids · Mirabilia

Life is Changing…Everyday

September 10, 2015September 10, 2015 My Time Stitching29 Comments

Hi! I know, it’s been a while. As my title says, Life is changing. I am changing and just doing things differently. Nothing major, but there just comes a time, or times, when I just have to change it up a bit. I won’t bore you with details, but all is good. And I have been stitching. Always stitching. That is one wonderful constant in my life. I can’t imagine my life without stitching. So here is what I have been working on. First up, The Raven Queen, by Mirabilia.

This is where I left her a few weeks ago. From the middle down is finished and now I am working my way up to her sweet face. I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Twixt N Tween from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. Love the Queen on this fabric. I have put her away, for another new project; yes, another project. I can’t help it! I saw someone stitching 3 little mermaids on one piece of fabric and I just loved it! So here is my first mermaid:

It is Nora Corbett’s Coral Charms. I stitched her in 12 days. Just finished her last night, minus the beads which I will add when I finish stitching the other 2 mermaids. Mermaid Azure will be stitched on the left and Mermaid Verde will be on the right. I am stitching them on 16ct Aida Summer Showers from Sunny Dyes. Teri, over at Sunny Dyes, switched my fabric up a bit from her normal Summer Showers. She made it more blue for water and since 16ct Aida doesn’t come in opal, she added glitter and big glitter rain drops (or water bubbles in my case) and it shimmers and sparkles just perfectly! Sorry I couldn’t capture the sparkle in my photo, but trust me, it is sparkly! I love the idea of the mermaid trio and the Summer Showers fabric so much, that I ordered another piece so that I can do the other 3 La Petite mermaids to match this piece.

The last project I have to share is a crochet project I have been working on and I must say, it is a mess 😦

I only have 5 more rows to go on this Citrus Stripe Blanket. I will finish it, but I am not pleased with it. It seems that I still have an issue with turning and starting in the correct stitch. The first row of each color is a stitch that leaves big holes. I am still not sure I like them. I keep having visions of a baby getting their little toes stuck in them. Anyway, when I started, there were 25 of those holes across. After the first yellow stripe, somehow I did something wrong and only have 24 holes. Where I have stopped, I only have 22 or 23. So clearly, my crochet skills are not getting any better. And if I were to do another one of these (not saying I will, but I have lots of yarn left) I would not use the Taupe yarn again. The pattern called for Bernat Baby sport 300 grams and I barely used any! And the yarn is quite scratchy compared to all the other Knit Picks yarns that I used. They are so soft. I would definitely get another color in that yarn to replace the Taupe. I also have the border to do. We shall see how that goes.

So, that is what I have been spending my time stitching on. What are you stitching lately?

Crochet · cross stitch · Mermaids · Mirabilia · Passione Ricamo SAL · Uncategorized

Still Here and Still Stitching

August 9, 2015August 9, 2015 My Time Stitching18 Comments

So in between getting ready for and having a garage sale, going on vacation with my wonderful hubby and getting back to the real world, I have been stitching. In fact, I had a finish!

Yep, I finished her. This picture really doesn’t do her justice. She is beautiful and she sparkles when the light hits her just right. I absolutely love her and I am very proud of myself for keeping up with this one until the very end. I stitched her on 16ct Aida Nederland Sea from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. The pattern is “Under the Moonlight” SAL. If you would like to stitch this beauty up, you can purchase it at www.passionericamo.eu

I have also made some progress on my crochet baby blanket. Not sure I am liking how the pattern connects the rows. The holes seem a bit large. I keep imagining a baby’s foot pushing right through, LOL. I will continue on, though. Here it is so far.

It is nice to work on while in the car or when I have a few minutes here and there. And it is getting me reacquainted with crocheting.

I have also made great progress on Mirabilia’s Raven Queen.

She really is a wonderful stitch. I am enjoying every stitch of her. So relaxing. But I can’t wait to see her sweet face appear.

So that is what I have been spending my time stitching on. What have you been working on lately?

Crochet · cross stitch · Mermaids · Mirabilia · Queen

Cross Stitching, Beading and Crocheting, Oh My!

July 1, 2015July 1, 2015 My Time Stitching33 Comments

I have forced myself to put down Mirabilia‘s Raven Queen to get back to beading on mermaid. This is how she looked last night after 10 evenings of stitching:

I know it’s not much, but it is a pretty good start. I have enjoyed stitching on her and will get back to her real soon. Right now I am getting to the beading on PR Under the Moonlight. Here is what I did last night:

There are going to be a lot of beads on this project! I managed to make them fit along the top border by omitting a few and and then taking my needle through the entire length to try to get them as straight as I could. The corners were easy and look very cool.

I hope to get a lot of beads stitched on tonight. Over the weekend I started another project. I know, like I really need another project. But it’s not a cross stitch project. It’s a crochet project 🙂

I have been wanting to do a crochet project for quite some time now. After seeing the Citrus Stripe Blanket on Not Your Average Crochet, I knew it was time to get started. My Step-Mom taught me to crochet when I was 12. And I was pretty good at making ripple afghans and over the years, a lot of Bed dolls. But I wanted to get that hook out and do something current and have a “quick, go-to project, that can go anywhere”. The only problem is, I can’t remember a lot of how to connect rows and turning is the biggest problem for me. So, I started with the peach stripe, and decided to sign up for a crochet class. I go next week at a local yarn shop. By then the other colors of yarn that I ordered should be in and I can continue on with this baby blanket.

So, that is all of my stitchings for this week. What are you stitching on?

Cross Stitch Patterns · Fabric · Mermaids · Mirabilia

So Much Stitching in My Head!

June 22, 2015June 22, 2015 My Time Stitching27 Comments

I know, weird title. But it’s true. I have so many projects I want to do and in my head I can see myself stitching on all of them. But in reality I can only stitch on one project at a time. So, what have I been stitching on? Well, I finished the last section of Under The Moonlight SAL by Passione RicamoRicamo and have started the beading.

It is a very small bead start as there are a lot of beads on this project. I love beading and couldn’t wait to get to this point, but then I was distracted! By this:

Yep! Miss Nora did again. Another gorgeous design! This one is The Raven Queen by Mirabilia and was released on June 15. I ordered her and all her pretties right away from Stitches N Things and picked her up on Saturday! I played in the Viewer on Monday and Tuesday, so I already had my fabric picked out from my stash. I decided on Twixt N Tween 16ct Aida from Hand Dyed Fabrics by Stephanhie Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie. Here is my layover:

I LOVE it! I think she will look fabulous! Here is my floss toss:

I was so excited to get her and all her goodies, that I started her on Saturday night. Here is my progress after last night:

Not much, but a start. I will stitch on her for a few days and then force myself to put her down and work on beading the mermaid. I also picked up this sweet pattern by Hinzeit; She Sells Sea Shells.

It came with a little package of real seashells and a little blue star fish, but somehow the bag was open and the embellishment package fell out at the cross stitch store. LouAnn knew it must have been mine, so she called to let me know she has it for me and I will pick it up when I go back to pick up the little Nimue fairy framing, which has to be sent back. There was a little piece of plastic behind the glass at the bottom of the framing. It looks like it might be a broken piece of a spacer. So I will show pictures of her when I pick her up next time.

So… what projects are calling your name these days?

Fabric · Mirabilia · WIP

New Start – Moon Flowers

March 21, 2015 My Time Stitching14 Comments

Last night I started a new project; Moon Flowers by Mirabilia. I am stitching her on 16ct Aida Black Magic by Under the Sea fabrics. This fabric turned out exactly how I envisioned it for Moon Flowers. I am typically not a dark fabric kind of gal, but when I first saw Moon Flowers, I knew Black Magic would be the perfect fabric. And Leslie didn’t disappoint. I am so excited to start stitching on this one. What new project are you looking forward to getting started on?

Mermaids · Mirabilia

A Mermaid and Her Sparkly Chandelier

March 9, 2015 My Time Stitching25 Comments

I finished Mirabilia’s Siren and the Shipwreck last night and just LOVE how she turned out.

Her colors are so beautiful and that chandelier is so full of beads that make it sparkle so beautifully when the light hits it just right. If you click on the second picture, I swear it looks like the chandelier is lit up! I am so happy for this finish. Can’t wait to get her framed and then I will have to find a place to hang her. I stitched her on 16 ct Aida Under The Sea by Sunny Dyes Fabrics.

What are you hoping to finish soon?

Afghans · Cross Stitch Patterns · Mirabilia · New stash! · Passione Ricamo SAL · snowmen · WIP

I Am Making Stitchy Progress, and Adding More!

January 16, 2015January 16, 2015 My Time Stitching21 Comments

I can’t believe it is already half way through January 2015! But so far I am doing well with my stitchy goals to work on finishing projects and keeping up with another. I just finished section 7 of the Passione Ricamo SAL #4.

I am really itching to see the mermaid appear on this one. The next section is due out on January 26, so I have some time to stitch on another project I have been working on:

Autumn Snowman! As you can see, I am getting really close to a finish here. I will pick him up tonight and work on him until he is finished. Hopefully soon.

Last weekend I visited my favorite Needlework Shop, Stitches N Things. I belong to the stitchy club there and get to have a 25% off shopping spree once during my birthday month. And since January is my birthday month, I just had to go shop. And boy did I shop. Here is what I actually brought home:

Lots of awesome goodies: Nora Corbett’s Fairie Winter Dream ,even though I have it in magazine version. The magazine pattern is a color pattern, which I am not fond of. I also picked up 2 more of the little witches, Ana and Mari. And the main reason for visiting the shop and using my birthday discount was for Mirabilia’s Christmas In London and the bead pack. This is a gorgeous, gorgeous pattern and I can’t wait to stitch it. I ordered a piece of 16ct White Aida to stitch her on. The latest edition of Stoney Creek magazine called to me because of a particular pattern that caught my eye while flipping through it.

The Snow Friends Collectors’ Series Afghan. I am a sucker for snowmen and I have been thinking about doing an afghan. I love working on an afghan during the winter months. Keeps me warm while I stitch away. So after I checked out at the LNS, and after ordering a bunch more stitchy stuffs (with birthday discout 🙂 ) I headed over to Michael’s to pick up the floss. And to my surprise, found the required afghan there also. It was about 1/2 of the cost of what the magazine wanted and I had a $5 off coupon so that made it even better. It looks like a nice, warm afghan, too. I thought that the first 2 blocks started with this issue, but when looking at the back of the magazine, I saw it actually started with the Summer issue, so I called my LNS and had them order it for me and it will be added to the bag that will be filled with goodies when all of the things they are ordering for me come in. It will be like Christmas again! I’m sure I will be starting this afghan soon, but not until I get a finish 😉

So that is my stitchy updates for now. I will be back soon with a Snowy finish, I’m sure. What new project are you itching to start on?

Mirabilia · snowmen

New Year Stitching

January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 My Time Stitching19 Comments

Happy New Year! I hope your New Year is off to a great start. This year I decided not to do a new project start on New Years Day, but rather focus on getting some finishes in. So, I worked on Mirabilia’s Siren and the Shipwreck up until December 31, 2014 and here is how I left her:

She has a body and skin and I couldn’t resist doing a little stitching on the chandelier. I will get back to her soon, as she is such a sweet stitch! On January 1st, I picked up Autumn Snowman. I can’t remember if I started him in 2010 or 2011. He is a pattern in the September 2010 Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine. He is the third in a series and I am hoping some day to add the Winter snowman, too. I am stitching him on 14 ct white Aida and he is going so slow!

When I picked him up and started stitching, I noticed that the white thread doesn’t match. I had pulled all of his threads for other projects, so I had to start with new threads and the white doesn’t match the previous white. I have not had that happen before. Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but the bottom of him is more white than the rest of him. And it is going to have to stay that way as I am not ripping it out. The white is the most boring part of this guy! It doesn’t look like it in the picture, but he is about 14″ long, so there is a lot of white that would have to be pulled out. I have decided to live with it 🙂 It will be good to get this guy done and off of my WIP list.

So what project are you trying to get off your WIP list?

Angels · Cross Stitch Patterns · Mirabilia · New stash!

I See An Angelic Finish Coming

January 15, 2014January 15, 2014 My Time Stitching11 Comments

After my first finish for 2014, I picked up a WIP that has been around way too long. At least a few years. You may remember her; Angel of Grace? Well here is how she looks now:

I’m getting really close to a finish. She certainly is a challenge on that fabric. It is 28 ct Salmon and Gold Linen Banding. It is the most uneven fabric I have ever worked on. The pattern is Angel of Grace by Lorri Birmingham Designs. I am hoping to finish this by the end of the weekend. I just have her ruffle to finish and some gold stitching on the right of the dress, then outlining and some charms, buttons and beads. I am so happy this one is actually coming to a finish. It is a gift for someone special and I will by happy to finally have it crossed off of my WIP list.

And because I don’t have enough Mira stash, this is what I purchased on Saturday from Stitches N Things:

This month is my birthday, so I went on a birthday month shopping spree. Shown here is the lovely Biancabella and her bead pack and one of two Waterlilies needed. The other is on backorder. I love the colors in Biancabella. I am thinking of adding a snowflake in her hand instead of the apple. She is my favorite winter colors, so I think a snowflake will be perfect. Some day I will get to work on her. I also ordered a couple of patterns that were not in the shop yet.

So now, back to stitching on Angel of Grace. What WIP have you had in your stash for a very long time?

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