TryllaCraft

Drama Queen - A proper page finish

2012-02-13T00:34:00.004-05:00

Several months ago, I almost finished page 5, but I left 40 or 50 stitches of pure confetti hell for a later time. I really did need a break from such a confetti-heavy, complicated piece. So I tackled page 6 and it's gigantic chunks of red.

I haven't touched Drama Queen since the end of November.

This week, I finally had the energy to stitch DQ again, and so I took advantage of that energy by tackling the unfinished confetti on page 5 and working on some of the white/off white stitching on page 6.

The confetti is so strange to stitch because the colours (when they are in your needle) seem to make no sense - reds, browns, purples, blues, greens - all blend together to make the picture come alive.

It is slow, painstaking work, but I'm glad I have a real finish on page 5 finally (and 84% done page 6). I need another break now ... LOL.

Swirly Snow - Update 1

2012-02-09T17:52:00.003-05:00

I couldn't resist picking up another easy silk project, so I spent the last few days putting stitches into the project from Day 6 of my UCJC - Swirly Snow. I was such a pleasure to stitch!

I think I've almost recovered from the stress and strain of the UCJC. I think I'm ready to pick up Drama Queen again. Hurray for confetti!

A WIPocalypse Finish!

2012-02-07T00:00:00.004-05:00

It's that time again ... WIPocalypse is drawing near and we must finish projects!!

So, I did. :)

I finished my first ornament of the year: Christmas Eve Flight by thesamplergirl.com.

I did not forsee this as my first finish from my Ultimate Crazy January Challenge. Funny how things work out. Now I need to figure out what I feel like stitching next!

(Only 30 more finishes to go .... hrmm, might be a tall order.)

Tribal Butterfly - Update 1

2012-02-05T00:44:00.002-05:00

After the hustle and bustle of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge, I desperately needed to pick up a relaxing project. I just couldn't handle the thought of working on my complicated Drama Queen, so instead I picked up my Tribal Butterfly from Day 4 of UCJC.

It's not surprising that I picked up a silk project (I do {heart} silk after all), but I needed it to be as simple as possible. No variegated threads, no complicated patterns, just an easy and fun stitch.

Now that I'm feeling more like my usual stitchy self, it's time to switch to something else (but not DQ yet).

2012 UCJC - Day 31 ... and done!!

2012-01-31T22:39:00.006-05:00

I can't believe this day is finally here. I also can't believe I managed to start 31 new projects in 31 days!! Holy crap! If I wasn't crazy before, I am now. What a ridiculous challenge!

Today's start is SK Oriental Courage by Lee-Anne Seed (HAED). I'm stitching this on 28 ct black jobelan , 2 over 1 tent stitch. I decided that since this piece has such huge chunks of colour that I would try tenting on this one too. I find the stitches are a little uneven right now, possibly because I am adjusting to stitching on black, which is more difficult than I had expected. Good progress for not a lot of stitchy time.

This challenge was 100x more difficult than I had expected. What a lot of ups and downs! It started off super exciting and fun, but within a few days the stress of switching projects every day started to get to me. I hung in there, and the stress of switching diminished thankfully, but then I couldn't remember most of what I'd stitched -- it was a blur. After 3 weeks, when I had 10 starts left, the exhaustion set in. While I enjoyed my daily stitching, I really wanted the challenge to be over.

Today I take a big sigh of relief -- no more pressure to start and stitch daily. No more pressure to blog like a mad woman. I can just stitch as much or as little as I want on whatever I want. Hurray!

I originally thought that I'd pick up Drama Queen and put some time into that piece once the challenge was over, but I don't have the energy or concentration for such a complicated piece. I think I'll pick up one of my simple, monochrome silk projects from the beginning of the challenge and just relax for a bit. :) It'll be interesting to see what gets finished in the next 11 months.

To my followers, old and new, thank you so much for joining me on this adventure.

2012 UCJC - Day 30

2012-01-30T23:26:00.003-05:00

I stitched a Lickle Ted kit last year, and I know how tiresome stitching shades of cream and beige can be. Add to that the annoying fractionals and loads of backstitching, well, I have no idea why I chose to do another one. I will admit they are very cute though.

During the entire challenge, I dreaded starting this project the most.

Oddly enough, I rather enjoyed stitching today. I was bummed that I only had a very limited amount of stitchy time.

So, today's start was Lickle Bit Shy by DMC. I traded out the aida in the kit (stupid to have aida with a pattern with so many fractionals) and replaced it with some 32 ct white lugana.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of the challenge. I've been trying to decide what project I'll work on on February 1st, but I really can't decide. Maybe I won't stitch at all, who knows?

2012 UCJC - Day 29

2012-01-29T22:33:00.003-05:00

I was so not in the mood to stitch today. I am burnt out from all these new starts. I dreaded starting today, and I dread starting projects for the next 2 days. But ... after getting this far, I'm going to finish the stinking challenge.

Anyway, today I started the last of the tiny kits - Sapphire Snow Christmas Jewels Charmed Ornament by Mill Hill.

2012 UCJC - Day 28

2012-01-28T22:58:00.004-05:00

Another fun and easy start today!! I was working on a freebie ornament called Christmas Eve Flight by thesamplergirl.com.

I made decent progress too. :) It's stitched on 18 ct white aida using DMC 321, 433, and 826. The blue might be a bit bold, but I like it!

2012 UCJC - Day 27

2012-01-27T23:14:00.009-05:00

I really liked today's project, even though the stitches started off a little funky.

Today I started a new HAED - QS Blue Butterfly by Ching Chou Kuik. I'm stitching this on 25 ct Night Magic lugana by Sassy's Fabbys, 1 over 1. The picture doesn't do the fabric justice AT ALL. It's not grey, it's actually a very deep, dark teal. It's gorgeous.

The first 100 or so stitches in this piece looked funny to me, and I was worried that the hand dyed fabric was responsible for the weirdness. Although, as I put more stitches in, it seems to be working itself out.

It's very strange to be stitching with so much pink (this is the second project this week that has been nothing but pink so far), but I'm kind of enjoying the happy, bright, bold colours. I think this piece is going to look amazing on the dark background.

To be honest, it shocked me when I printed out the chart ... only 2 full pages and 2 itsy bitsy partial pages. For a HAED, even a quick stitch, it's tiny! This might just be finished this year after all!

4 more starts to go. :)

Edited to add a slightly better photo:

2012 UCJC - Day 26

2012-01-26T22:28:00.003-05:00

Today I started Imperial Irises by Serendipity Designs. I did not make much progress. It really doesn't look like anything yet. But it's a start! LOL

Side note -- This past weekend was IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend). While I did stitch, I feel like I have nothing to show that's new. Everything I stitched has been posted as part of the UCJC. So, sorry for falling short on that mark. Next month -- I promise it'll be better!

2012 UCJC - Day 25

2012-01-25T22:12:00.003-05:00

Another Serendipity Design -- Carolyn's Garden Sunflower.

It's hard to believe I've started 25 projects, and still have 6 more to go. To be perfectly honest, I'm exhausted. I usually stitch every day for an hour or two, but with this challenge, I feel pressured to not only stitch daily, but to make enough progress that a photo doesn't look like nothing.

As well, the first 15 projects I started were designs that I LOVED, and couldn't wait to stitch. I already know where I want to hang half of them. The last 16 projects on my UCJC list, well, most of them I'm starting because I have the kit, and I like them, and I should start them eventually, but the passion to stitch them isn't really there. I also feel guilty for starting a few new HAEDs, even though I haven't put much of a dent in the current HAEDs I have on the go.

I'm glad I did this challenge. Organizing my projects was a blast, and most days the stitching has been fun. It certainly got me out of the stitching rut I was in. I will not do this again next year. (I think I need next year just to finish what I started this year.) If I do this challenge again (perhaps in 2014), it will only be 15 starts. 31 is just too insane.

But I will finish the challenge this year. I will start them all!!

2012 UCJC - Day 24

2012-01-24T23:02:00.005-05:00

Another fun stitchy day (though not as much time spent stitching as I'd like)!

Today I started another Serendipity Designs kit called Carolyn's Garden Violets. These kits are actually really nice. I love the thread sorter card that comes in the kit and the pattern is easy to read. I have a few of these in my UCJC list -- cute kits, but I doubt I'd buy any small kits like these again. What can I say? I like bigger projects.

Anyway ... here's my progress:

2012 UCJC - Day 23 & January TUSAL

2012-01-23T22:25:00.005-05:00

I had such fun stitching today! I started on a little design from a book called Quick to Stitch Cross Stitch Cards. The design itself is a little pink kimono by Joan Elliot.

I think I made decent progress. I'm not normally a pink kind of girl, but this was just so cheerful! I like that I can SEE substantial progress.

It's also time for the first TUSAL post of 2012. (TUSAL = Totally Useless Stitch-a-long)

I didn't think I'd have much in the jar, but I have done a ridiculous amount of stitching over the last 3 weeks. I'm so used to stitching large, complicated projects where I spend half my time threading needles and planning my stitching route. I don't make a lot of ORTs with those projects. All these crazy starts generated not just a lot of ORTs, but a wild array of colours too!

2012 UCJC - Day 22

2012-01-22T22:55:00.004-05:00

Not much to see today, but it's still a start.

This is Snowflake Tree - part of the Festival of Trees Charmed Ornament line by Mill Hill. I actually stitched this same ornament last year and I loved the look of it so much, I'm stitching it again!! It's a pretty easy stitch and shouldn't take me long to complete, once I get a chance to put some time into it.

2012 UCJC - Day 21

2012-01-21T22:49:00.005-05:00

I decided to try tenting again.

Today's start is a HAED called Catch a Falling Star by Julie Fain (retired). This was the first HAED pattern I ever bought, and I LOVE IT. It is a huge piece though, with dimensions of 400 x 509 stitches or 16 x 22 1/2 inches. I would like to finish it in my lifetime.

I'm stitching it on 25 ct ice blue lugana, 2 over 1 tent, using DMC. For some reason, this time around my stitches are laying quite nicely, though the coverage isn't spectacular. I keep reminding myself that it only looks bad when you're inches away from it. It'll look fine at a distance.

This is also the first time that I really felt the need to grid. I've gridded my other HAEDs, but only by page, not by 10x10 block. I'm a cross country stitcher, and a pretty good counter, so I never really saw the purpose of gridding each block. This piece is completely different. So much of it is the same colour (139,929 stitches of DMC 939) that it is almost impossible to accurately count the tent stitches. Gridding makes it SO MUCH easier -- consider me converted.

I will say that tenting is just ridiculously fast. I only put in a few hours here and there today, and I managed 728 stitches (or 14% of the page). That's lightning speed compared to my other full-cross HAEDs.

I have 2 other HAED starts coming up in UCJC -- I think I'll do the butterfly in full-crosses, but the Storykeep might just get tented too.

Ages ago, before Christmas, I took a picture of all of my kitted up projects spread out on my treadmill. I took another picture today. Hard to believe there are so few left on there. Only 10 more starts. :)

2012 UCJC - Day 20

2012-01-20T22:35:00.005-05:00

Not much stitching got done today, but I still managed to start another project. Today I was working on a kit called Oriental Orchid by Dimensions.

The aida isn't dirty; it's got this weird background shading on it. I stitch overtop some of it. There's also two blends in there, but it's difficult to tell. It all looks the same in the photo.

I love the design, hate the aida. Yuck.

2012 UCJC - Day 19

2012-01-19T23:15:00.004-05:00

I missed stitching with silk!!

Today's start was the Oh Bugger Subversive Sampler by Kincavel Krosses. I'm stitching it on a 16 ct aida called Tarnish by Picture This Plus using Carrie's Creations in Mostly Deadly Nightshade.

This combination happened accidently when I was kitting up all my UCJC starts back in November. I was sorting through all of my fabrics and silks, and I put them to the side for a few minutes to do something in the kitchen. When I came back I saw this silk slung across a corner of this fabric, and I loved it. I knew immediately that I wanted to use them for this design.

Though I didn't find much time for stitching today, it was definitely happy stitching.

2012 UCJC - Day 18

2012-01-18T22:28:00.004-05:00

This was an interesting one today. I first saw this pattern when it was a SAL on crossstitchforum.com and XandraS was kind enough to mail me the pattern when she was finished. I kitted it up ... and never got a chance to start it. A year and a half later, and here we are. When I pulled it out last night to prep it, I realized I had made some pretty funky (and my funky I mean awful) colour choices. So I spent half an hour (at least) browsing my DMC boxes to create a much more suitable colour palette.

The pattern is "I Stitch Therefore I Stash" out of an issue of Cross Stitch Crazy (no idea which issue though). I used the same fabric I'd originally chosen -- an odd bluey-green piece of 18 ct aida from Picture This Plus called Glacier. I'm using some variegated DMC, solid DMC, and some Kreinik #4 to add some bling! I'm actually really liking the new colours I came up with. It's unusual, but I like it.

2012 UCJC - Day 17

2012-01-17T22:46:00.004-05:00

Today's start is a little kit from Serendipity Designs called Carolyn's Garden Poppy. After the blah time I had with the Mill Hill kit the other day, I wasn't looking forward to today's start. Happily, it turned out to be a very nice little chart to stitch. I think I made decent progress as well.

This might just become a Mother's Day present ... :)

2012 UCJC - Day 16

2012-01-16T23:18:00.004-05:00

I started this piece just after midnight, and I was so not into it. I did a little more stitching this afternoon and it got a little better. For some reason, this piece (even though I love the design) was not fun to stitch. Perhaps it's the super stiff aida that turned me off. Maybe it's because I was stitching with 4 stands of floss, so I had to change from my usual DMC size 28 needle to a size 26 gold John James needle. Every time I pulled the needle through the aida it squeaked. *cringe* It was like nails on a chalkboard.

Anyway, today's stitchy project was Woodland Enchantress by Dimensions Gold Collection. It's stitched on 16 ct dove gray aida. Not a whole lot of progress. :(

2012 UCJC - Day 15

2012-01-15T23:12:00.004-05:00

Today is the last day of the Crazy January Challenge. Luckily for all of you -- I'm doing the ultimate version, so there are still 16 more starts to come.

It's amazing ... a few days into the UCJC I was feeling very off-kilter because I found it frustrating to change projects every day. Now, 15 days (and 15 projects) later, I can't remember what I've started. There are SO MANY projects that it's a bit of a blur. I can barely remember what I stitched on yesterday, let alone what I worked on 10 days ago.

The interesting thing is that I no longer find it stressful to switch projects every day. I have a routine. I stitch till about 10pm, then I take pictures and blog about that day's stitching. Around 11:30pm I start prepping my project for the next day, and if I'm still awake enough to stitch, then I'll put in a few stitches after midnight. Rinse and repeat.

Originally I was just going to do the 15 start version of this challenge, so I had saved the "best for last." I have been wanting to stitch Cirque des Carreaux by Ink Circles since the second I saw the pattern several years ago. I've been tossing around colour ideas for ages, but I finally settled on a combination that I really hadn't seen anywhere else yet. I've chosen to stitch this on 25 ct Night Fall lugana (Sassy's Fabbys), 1 over 1, using Carrie's Creations silk in Epiphany. The neat thing (I think) is that I'm doing an almost tone-on-tone version.

This start is also part of the BAP Challenge hosted by Becky over at Becky Bee's Stitching Hive. I'll make a separate page for that challenge.

So, all of the pieces in the first half of this challenge were projects that I'd been dying to work on for ages. In the second half of this challenge, I'm mostly working on kits that I have had in my stash for far too long or on HAEDs that I shouldn't start but am going to anyway. It should be an interesting ride.

2012 UCJC - Day 14

2012-01-14T22:30:00.005-05:00

I'm back on the silk wagon!! Today's project is the Welcome Sampler by Kincavel Krosses stitched on 18 ct white aida using Carrie's Creations Pizzazz.

I must admit that I kind of "altered" the silk I'm using. I love the blue, green, and purple in Pizzazz, but there's actually a fourth colour (brown) that I've cut out of the lengths of floss. It was just so icky compared the the richness of the other colours. It'll be our dirty little secret, okay?

2012 UCJC - Day 13

2012-01-13T22:19:00.003-05:00

My stitching didn't start off too well today ... but it ended on a good note. :)

Today I started the first kit in my UCJC line-up - a Mill Hill bead kit called Diamond Holiday from the Christmas Jewels Charmed Ornament line. It's stitched on perforated paper, and as I started I was rather disgruntled with it. The first stitches just looked all funky and funny and awkward. BUT I was good and kept on going even though I wanted to put it away.

I'm glad I kept at it because it's starting to come together. I'm about half done the cross stitches, then it'll be on to the beading. It should only take another evening session or two to finish it (once UCJC is done).

2012 UCJC - Day 12

2012-01-12T23:33:00.003-05:00

Had a major visit from Mr. Frog today, so even though I was on a roll with my stitching, there isn't as much progress as there could/should have been. Good news is that I caught the booboo early and I'm still loving this piece. Big chunks of colour and non-varigated thread make this a joy to stitch.

Anyway, today I'm stitching the Spring Pansy by Solaria Gallery (I prefer to call it Stained Glass Pansy -- it's more descriptive) on 32 ct antique white lugana, 2 over 2, using DMC.

It's strange to think that everyone doing the Crazy January Challenge are beginning to wind down, the end is in sight. But for me, because I'm doing the Ultimate version, my challenge isn't even half done yet. Craziness!

2012 UCJC - Day 11

2012-01-11T23:31:00.003-05:00

I find it fascinating that you can look forward to stitching some projects (like yesterday's start) and then not enjoy it once you get going, and other projects that you aren't as excited for, end up being a delightful stitch (like today's start)!

So, today I started Austrian I by Bleu de Chine (pattern in JCS Jan/Feb 2010) stitched on 32 ct white lugana, 2 over 2 using Carrie's Creations Heart on Fire (not silk sadly).

I think I made decent progress today, and I really, really enjoyed stitching it. :)

2012 UCJC - Day 10

2012-01-10T23:18:00.005-05:00

Just a splash of colour ... you'll see.

Today I started Rules for Life by Kincavel Krosses on 18 ct Royal Purple aida (by Sassy's Fabbys) using Caron Waterlilies Tropic Seas.

I didn't really ejnoy stitching this. :( I'm not sure if it's the thread or the fabric that's throwing me off. Both are beautiful ... but the thread is really twisty and funky and my stitches dont look great, and the fabric holes are really small and difficult to find, possibly because it's been dyed. I don't know -- this might have to sit a while before I'll come back to it. But the colours are gorgeous!

I'm super busy at school, so my progress on my starts the past few days has been rather miniscule. I'll try to do better. :P

WIPocalypse - January progress

2012-01-09T23:08:00.003-05:00

To be honest, I don't have much progress to show on my WIPs because I have been so busy with all my starts for the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge. As of today, I have 9 new starts and it's boggling my mind a bit. :)

Anyhow, I thought I would show the tiny bit of progress I made on Drama Queen during the holidays.

It's a whole lot of red. :) And there's still more red to go in there.

This will be on the backburner until all my new starts are, well, started. February will be the perfect month to stitch red!

2012 UCJC - Day 9

2012-01-09T22:49:00.004-05:00

Didn't have as much time to stitch today as I would have liked, but I do have a little bit of progress to show.

Today I started Elizabeth by Miribilia on 32 ct Silvery Skies lugana (by Enchanting Lair), 2 over 2 using DMC and Mill Hill beads. I must admit that I just LOVE the fabric I'm stitching this on. I can't wait to see how all the colours come together on it.

I love this design ... but I don't think it'll get much love in the first half of this year. Too many other things to stitch!! LOL

2012 UCJC - Day 8

2012-01-08T22:51:00.004-05:00

I have to give a big shout-out to my LNS - Thread & Eye. Kathy and Neale are just the nicest, sweetest people ever!

Today's project is Metamorphasis by Ink Circles. I ordered the chart near the end of November, but it didn't arrive at my LNS till after I had left town and headed to my parents' place for the holidays. I'd already made arrangements with Kathy & Neale to kit up the chart for me so it would be ready to go when I picked it up at the beginning of January. Lo and behold, I get an email just before Christmas from them ... they had everything ready for me, but they had some hand-dyed fabric that would look lovely and would I like to see it before they cut the white lugana I had original planned on using? (Twist my rubber arm!) So they waited for me to pop by in January and they showed me the most perfect fabric! It's a gorgeous buttery beige and the threads looked stunning when I did the floss toss.

So, I am now stitching Metamorphasis on 32 ct Heritage lugana, 2 over 2, using the recommended GAST threads. I'm loving it!

I made decent progress today too. I will be getting back to this one sooner rather than later. :)

2012 UCJC - Day 7

2012-01-07T22:38:00.003-05:00

Today I started a freebie by Penelopis called Wieniec Korona. I'm continuing the silk trend too -- black HDF silk, 2 over 2 on 32 ct white lugana. I didn't have a lot of time to stitch today :( so my project doesn't really look like anything.

My only complaint with this pattern is that when I printed out my working copy, the graph paper was all fuzzy and blurry and the pattern was very difficult to read.

I had to rechart it by hand so I could follow it.

2012 UCJC - Day 6

2012-01-06T22:34:00.004-05:00

The silk trend continues ...

This is a sweet little chart by My Big Toe Designs called Christmas Snow. It doesn't really read Christmas to me ... so I like to call it Swirly Snow. :P Anyway, I'm stitching it on 32 ct Siren's Ocean lugana by Enchanting Lair, 2 over 2 with (you guessed it!) white HDF silk. I {heart} silk.

This piece is fun to stitch, and I love the look of the white on the hand-dyed fabric. I'm getting used to stitching with just one colour thread per project, not sure how I'll adjust when I get a chart with lots of colour changes. LOL

I've been trying to follow as many other Crazy January Challenges as possible, and a common thread of conversation revolves around how difficult it is to start so many new projects so quickly (and we're only 6 days in). I must say I feel that way too. I love starting the projects - it's really satisfying to start all these charts that I've had in my stash for ages and just never found time for. I like seeing my thread and fabric decisions become a reality in my hands. At the same time, it's really disconcerting to stitch for a few hours, take the piece off the q-snaps, tuck it away in its baggie in my drawer of starts, and then prep the new start for the next day. The urge to continue stitching on one project is almost overwhelming. It's just weird.

2012 UCJC - Day 5

2012-01-05T22:33:00.005-05:00

More silk!!!!

Today's start is a fun one, that's for sure. I'm stitching the NATO Phonetic Subversive Sampler by Kincavel Krosses on 28 ct white lugana, 2 over 2 using Carrie's Creations Fantasm. (It's not subversive -- yet! But it is beyond pretty!)

Close up!

This one is fun -- amazing colours, lovely silk, and a simple, straightforward design. The size amazes me though, it's so small -- only 4.5 x 3.5 inches. I look at the chart and my brain thinks it should be as large as the page is for some reason. Once it's done, this will be a fun piece to tuck on a shelf in my office at school and see if anyone notices the subversive message! LOL

2012 UCJC - Day 4

2012-01-04T21:27:00.003-05:00

In case you haven't noticed or didn't know, I LOVE LOVE LOVE stitching with silks. This is my fourth project in my UCJC and it's the second one using silks! There are 7 more in the line up as well. I'm seriously addicted to them. Love them!

Today's start uses Vicki Clayton's HDF 2125 on some hand-dyed 16 ct aida (Whimsy it's called) from Picture This Plus. I'm stitching the Tribal Butterfly by Sparklies.

In person the silk is much brighter and shinier; I am already in love with this piece. It looks great and is stitching up pretty fast. Plus, it's such a simple straightforward stitch -- a very welcome change from what I commonly stitch. It kills me to put this one down!

2012 UCJC - Day 3

2012-01-03T23:49:00.004-05:00

Tried something new today -- hardanger. It was a little intimidating at first; I didn't really understand the chart and the threads were like nothing I'd ever worked with before. Caron Watercolours (aka perle #5) is gigantic!!!

So this piece is called Clover by Mabel Figworthy's Fancies. The model is stitched tone on tone, but I thought clover should be green ... and have some POP to it! So I chose to stitch it on 25 ct white lugana using Caron Collection threads in Emerald (Watercolours and Wildflowers) with some Mill Hill Petite Seed Beads.

Once I got going and got used to the threads, it was actually a lot of fun to work on! No cutting has been done yet, but it's coming!! I am looking forward to coming back to this piece and finishing it soon.

I love starting all these new projects with UCJC, but I almost wish I had a little more time with each start. I'm just getting into a piece and I have to put it down again. It'll be a month before I can touch this again.

Anyway ... NEXT!!

2012 UCJC - Day 2

2012-01-02T20:58:00.004-05:00

Today's stitching did not start off as well as I'd hoped. I decided to try tenting on some of my larger, fully stitched pieces b/c I really want to get some finishes in sooner rather than later. I loved the idea of being able to stitch 2x as fast this way.

Full of high hopes, I started stitching Fractal 284 Bookmark, and after almost 200 stitches ... I HATED it. My stitches looked all funny and uneven. (Though they look better in the pic then they did in real life.)

No offense to those out there that tent, but I just can't fathom enjoying stitching an entire piece that way. This means that the other 3 pieces I was planning to tent will now be done with full crosses, and will take forever to finish. :(

So I spent an hour or so frogging out all that I'd done, and restarted using full crosses.

I'm 240 stitches in, and it looks ok. There's something about this piece (perhaps it's the fabric?) that's making me not love stitching it. This one might not get pulled out again for a while.

And it begins ... 2012 UCJC - Day 1

2012-01-01T22:19:00.005-05:00

I've been so excited the past few days just waiting for the 2012 Ultimate Crazy January Challenge to start! 31 new starts in 31 days -- how crazy am I??

So here I go ... Day 1!! Today's start is the 2009 Christmas ornament by Tor Rhuann Designs. (Check my UCJC page for a picture of what it should look like when finished.) I love the look of assisi-style designs, and it feels good to get a head start on my ornaments for next Christmas. I'm stitching this on 18 ct white aida with HDF silk (Ethereal Ice) and PTB Silver.

And my progress today:

I also have a card to share today. I played around with creating my own washi tape the other day using authentic Japanese origami paper. I love how it turned out, and it was fun to make an Asian-inspired card.

Wrapping up 2011

2011-12-30T23:55:00.004-05:00

A final post for 2011 -- no last minute finishes unfortunately, but I did make some progress on my Tree of Stitches, and I expect a finish early on in 2012 (well, after I've started all of my UCJC projects in January).

While visiting my parents over the holidays, I managed to get parts 6-9 finished.

I don't love the Jerusalem Stitch. I HATE the Floral Stitch. I didn't actually do the Norwich Stitch; I chose to do the Woven Cross-stitch instead, which looks AMAZING, even if it was tedious and a pain in the ass to do. For my Star Stitch, I chose to do the diamond eyelet version - which is fine, but not that exciting.

One day I may try this tree again, but I'll only use my favourite stitches -- but that won't happen anytime soon!

This past year I saw TUSAL (Totally Useless Stitch-a-long) posts all over blogland. I didn't sign up in time, so never posted any pics, but I did participate "in spirit" and I collected all of my ORTs throughout most of 2011.

Pretty isn't it? It's cool to look at all the layers of colours in this jar and remember what I was stitching at the time. I've signed up on Daffycat's blog and will be participating in 2012. Just think how varied it will be with all my UCJC stitching!! Such fun. :)

Thank you to all who have followed me, commented on my posts, and generally made me feel good about my forays into creativity. I have enjoyed sharing my efforts with you. I look forward to another fun and colourful year with lots of finishes!

Happy New Year everyone!

The Final IHSW of 2011

2011-12-20T22:33:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was the final IHSW of 2011 -- my pics are a little late, I'm sorry. I was working and travelling a lot so that I could have some down time at my parents' place for Christmas.

And so, during my belated IHSW weekend (I didn't manage to stitch at all until Monday and Tuesday) I completed parts 5 & 6 of my Tree of Stitches (by Abi Gurden). Part 5 was the Rice Stitch, which I neither loved nor hated. Part 6 was the cushion stitch, which I loved! Easy, fun, and SO PRETTY. I thoroughly enjoyed stitching the past few days - a nice change from the confetti frustration of Drama Queen that I normally deal with.

The tree (parts 1-5 - sorry it's a tad blurry):

Close-up of the stitches:

Another challenge card

2011-12-17T20:57:00.006-05:00

I've decided to enter another challenge! I just love the colours in this week's challenge over at The Play Date Cafe, so I'm going to rustle up some courage and enter a card.

The colours and inspiration are:

And my take on it:

It didn't turn out quite how I had thought it up in my head, but it has some elements I really like. I dusted the black snowflake with some perfect pearls to add a little shimmer and soften the starkness of the black ink. And the bling practically just jumped onto the card.

Edit: I just realized after I posted this that the challenge colours match the colours of my blog !! No wonder I was drawn to this challenge! Hehe.

Disappointment, Christmas Cards, UCJC, and My Boy

2011-12-13T22:16:00.011-05:00

I have lost my stitching bug. It's gone -- been MIA for almost a week now. I was working like mad trying to finish page 3 of HSH, and as I got to the last 5-7%, I got bogged down. Not because of confetti or anything like that, but because I HATED the colours. I was stitching pinks and purples, a wonderful change from the array of mustards, oranges, and browns I'd previously been working with. I should have been delighted, delirious, or over the moon!! But, I hate the colours. They look nothing like they should and I think it looks hideous. I was so upset that I had to stop stitching and tuck the piece away. I don't know what to do with it now. Bleh.

See what I mean? (Here's a close up.) Compare it with the pic in my sidebar. Not even remotely close. Grr.

I (of course) didn't make enough Christmas cards in the last 3 months, so I have been a little frantic trying to make a few last minute cards. I used Versamark to do a subtle holly and berries pattern on the background, but it didn't work out quite as well as I hoped. I'll try clear embossing next time, that might give it a little more oomph.

This next one is for my parents. It's simple, but I really like it. Some of the best fussy cutting I've done to date.

The trick is to use distress inks on the little white edges to cover them up (worked like a charm), then I spritzed it with shimmer mist. They look magical now!

I have been preparing for the 2012 Ultimate Crazy January Challenge. I have 30 of the 31 projects kitted up and ready to go. The only one I'm missing is Metamorphasis by Ink Circles, and I still need the chart, fabric and threads! I'm hoping my LNS comes through for me before January!

See -- my semi-organized piles! (And my treadmill put to good use.)

Lastly, I have pictures of my boy to show you. I've never done this before, but he's so freaking cute, I just couldn't resist. He's a 5-year-old Miniature Schnauzer named Toka.

He hates the rain, so sometimes I let him run inside instead.

PS -- IHSW is coming up this weekend. It's the last one of 2011. Cross your fingers that my mojo comes back in time!

Do you see what I see?

2011-12-07T00:36:00.004-05:00

That's right! The roof!! The roof!! Woohoo!!

I needed a break from the confetti nightmare that is DQ, so I pulled out my long neglected Home Sweet Home and put a dent in page 3. Page 3 was about 30% done, and now it's 90.4% complete. (Overall I have 15,103 stitches stitched.) You can now see the peak of the roof and part of the tiny top window, and all that's left on this page is to fill in the pinks and purples. I am so EXCITED about pinks and purples after all the orange, mustard, and brown I've stitched on this piece.

I also have a recently made card to share. I hate making sympathy cards :( but I think this was a simple and elegant design. Plus I had a chance to use my new Perfect Pearls for the first time. (Side note - I LOVE VERSAMARK. Where has it been all my life?!?)

There is something so appealing about a clean, simple, and neutral card with a single pop of colour. Variations on this might be forthcoming. :P

It's STASHMAS !!!

2011-12-01T18:26:00.003-05:00

Today is STASHMAS!! It's a "stitching holiday" created by the members of crossstitchforum.com to celebrate all things stitchy and delight in the giving and receiving of stash!

I received my gift from Octoberlace, and it is wonderful! Thank you!!

I received a beautiful piece of hand-painted 28 ct lugana from Crossed Wing, and a smaller cut of hand-painted fabric from Dovestitch. I got a pack of Piecemaker neddles, and she slipped in a Bohin needle (her favourite) for me to try. I got a great butterfly pattern with some simple hardanger in it too. It doesn't end there! I got some Carrie's Creations and Threadworx threads, some thread sorting cards, a notebook and some lovely bags of tea. (Which is perfect, cause I love to sip tea and stitch!) How spoiled am I?!?

Below are pics of the stashmas present that I sent to Noctifyre.

And I stitched my first ever humbug just to commemorate Stashmas!! (This is one of Kell's designs.)

All packages should arrive full of stitchy goodness -- seriously!!

What's better than stash in the mail?

2011-11-29T00:21:00.006-05:00

The answer is easy -- stash in the mail with extra surprise stash inside!!

I ordered some threads from Carrie's Creations a month ago for one of my UCJC projects (Cirque des Carreaux by Ink Circles). Of course I couldn't just order the 5 skeins of silk in Epiphany. (Though they are gorgeous!)

I had to add to my silk collection , so I ordered 2 skeins of Fantasm, and a skein each of Foxfire and Tiger Eye. I also ordered a skein of Hearts on Fire (even though it only comes in cotton and not silk).

I was beginning to wonder where my order was, it hadn't ever taken this long to get my threads before. I'm not sure what the delay was, and I'm not even sure that's why the extra special surprise was in my parcel, but I was OVER THE MOON excited when I realized that Carrie had included 4 limited edition skeins of silk floss. *DROOL*

My big dilemma now is that I need to revisit all of my floss decisions for my UCJC projects, because I just have to use some of this beautiful silk. Did I mention that I am addicted to stitching with silk? Seriously -- I would stitch everything in silk if I could afford it!

A Couple of Firsts

2011-11-27T01:18:00.004-05:00

Today I am trying something new -- I'm entering a card in a blog challenge. Eek!

I saw the current challenge over at Young Crafters Unite, which is to incorporate die cuts into your card design, and I immediately had a card idea pop into my head, so I started creating!

This is what I created:

I'm kind of nervous about entering my card -- I'm still rather new at this whole cardmaking thing and I still have tons of tricks and techniques to learn. Gotta start somewhere though eh?

My other first ... I won my first ever blog giveaway!! Kari over at KWCardDesigns picked me at random and I won a most generous prize ... a $30 gift card to Simon Says Stamp. I've been browsing and drooling over that store for a while, and this was just the push I needed to go shopping. Of course I spent more than the $30, but the gift card certainly helped. Thanks Kari!!

My new stash:

I decided I should try something new, so I picked up some Perfect Pearls, some Versamark Watermark ink, and 2 beautiful new Hero Arts stamp sets - Asian Frames & Anytime Messages.

Now I just have to find time to play with it all!!

Terra Update

2011-11-26T01:55:00.003-05:00

So I've been sluggishly stitching away on QS Terra, trying to finish my one-page goal. To be honest, I hate stitching her. I don't know what it is, but I hate it. So I am going to give up trying to finish the first page (which has taken me ALL year) and I'm going to put her away indefinitely.

I managed to finish 7251 stitches (92.5% of the page or almost 21% of the whole piece).

Time for a Change

2011-11-25T10:46:00.002-05:00

Allow me to direct your attention to the top of the screen -- do you see it? That's right, I changed the name of my blog.

To be honest, I've never really liked the original name of my blog, but at the time it was the best I could come up with. I hadn't really begun to immerse myself in blogland and never expected that anyone would read my blog but me. It was just a place to keep progress pics of my cross stitching.

But now -- I'm an avid blog reader of all things cross stitching and papercrafting, and I'm beginning to explore the world of hooking. (I love how naughty that sounds!) I'm at the point where I feel like I need to solidify my online persona a little more. I've been using the name Trylla online for more than 10 years, (on forums and when gaming) and I'm just as comfortable identifying with that name as my real one. Actually, I think that online I feel MORE comfortable being known as Trylla. And so, I changed the blog name to reflect that.

I hope you continue to enjoy my blog. Thank you for reading and sharing in my creative pursuits.

Insomnia = Organization?

2011-11-22T03:07:00.005-05:00

So I can't sleep right now, which sucks. I figure I may as well do something semi-productive.

Normally I organize my floss collection by winding them on bobbins and putting them in bobbin boxes. I have a bobbin box for each of my large projects (HSH, DQ, and Terra) plus one for floss not currently in use on a project. That's four big bobbin boxes!

The problem with this is that there is often a lot of colours that I need in multiple projects. I don't want multiple bobbins of the same colour, so I end up moving bobbins around a lot. I find it very irksome to need a colour, realize it's in a different project box, then have to go find the boxes and figure out which one it's in. So much stitchy time wasted!

I've been flipping between projects a little more often lately, so it's becoming more of a problem. Then I started thinking about UCJC (Ultimate Crazy January Challenge), where I'll have more projects then I have bobbin boxes, and my dilemma became more pressing. Once January is over, I'll have (um math in my head ... 31 + 4) 35 projects on the go! That'll be 13 projects that are strictly using DMC floss.

I needed a new system.

So, I reorganized all of my DMC into number order, which filled 2 and a bit bobbin boxes. It's a little cumbersome to have all the boxes beside me when I stitch, but at least I don't have to get up and search for bobbins anymore.

I need to do a little DMC shopping before January (I need 55 new floss colours), and that means the 3rd box will be almost full as well.

A smidgeon of stitching for IHSW

2011-11-20T23:44:00.005-05:00

This weekend was IHSW (International Hermit & Stitch Weekend), but I only got a smidgeon of stitching done (hence the post title).

Even though I was up to my eyeballs in schoolwork, I was bound and determined to pull out my Tree of Stitches and make a little progress. I managed to get part 3 (the dreaded French knots) and part 4 (the eyelet stitch) finished.

I was going to try making colonial knots, but really, I don't see the difference between them and French knots. I know there's a difference in the way you wrap the thread around the needle, but the result looks identical to me. Since a good friend taught me how to do French knots properly last year, I have no fear of them and that part went quite smoothly (although I do find them tedious to do).

Close-up!!

The eyelet stitch, on the other hand, is so fun!! O-M-G!! They take a while to do, but I love them!! I love the way they stitch up and the way they look. Fun, fun, fun! They are the first stitches I've ever done that pulled the threads and manipulated the fabric. It was very cool to do. Did I mention I love them?

Sadly TOS is going away again for a while. Fingers crossed I get a chance to get a little more done in December, otherwise I won't be touching it again till at least February or March because of the Ultimate Crazy January Challenge (UCJC). Click here for details.

First Crochet Project - Finished!

2011-11-19T13:11:00.003-05:00

I joined a CAL (crochet-a-long) back in September hosted by Maybe Matilda. Her aim was to help people learn how to crochet. Her instructions were easy to follow and made the entire craft more approachable. I didn't end up making the project that was intended for the CAL (I don't wear cowls), but I did join in by making a bobble scarf from a pattern I cobbled together from pictures of a Bobble Baby Blanket from Maybe Matilda and a tutorial from Tales from Cuckoo Land.

Today I finally finished all 56 inches of it!

A DQ Milestone

2011-11-16T12:01:00.003-05:00

I've been working pretty steadily on Drama Queen for the last little while, and this morning I hit a milestone -- 20,000 stitches done (or 25.89%).

The stitch count:

This coming weekend is an IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend) and I think I might just pull out my Tree of Stitches and finally work on part 3 (the dreaded French Knots).

Also -- I need to give a huge shout-out THANK YOU to Rachael of TimRachael's Blog for being so incredibly generous! She had a giveaway last week, and I won! So in my email yesterday, I received a chart from HAED. It's gorgeous!! It'll be yet another present for my mom ... eventually. I'm not sure when I'll have time to sneak it into my rotation. (Perhaps CJC 2012 will have to expand to 16 days!) It's QS Blue Butterfly by Ching-Chou Kuik.

A Waiting Game

2011-11-09T19:48:00.005-05:00

So, long-time readers might remember that I often read and participate on a forum called crossstitchforum.com. They have an annual exchange called Stashmas. It's on December 1st, and it's just a celebration of all things stitchy. This is my second year participating and it's so much fun to have a package full of goodies arrive on your doorstep!

I sent out my package more than a week ago (pictures to come in a later post) and today I received mine! Yay! And you should see the package it came in ...

Though the sender gave me very strict instructions:

And so the wait begins.

Masculine Birthday Cards

2011-10-31T14:44:00.005-04:00

So I decided to make a birthday card for my Dad. I tend not to make masculine cards, so this was a bit of a challenge.

My first try:

It started off with good intentions - browns and blues, but somehow pearls and shimmer spritz and ribbon jumped onto the card. It's cute, but not my favourite, and not exactly masculine either.

My second try:

It looked better in my head, but it'll do.

Patchwork Cards

2011-10-30T19:24:00.004-04:00

I saw a card somewhere in blogland (I'm terrible at remembering where I see inspiration - I know, I'm sorry) that used 3 patterned papers as a background and it made me think a little bit of a patchwork quilt. So, I took that idea a little further and created a Christmas card and a Halloween card.

I went to my local Fabricland the other day, and found some great lace. I've never used fabric on a card before, but I love the subtle texture it adds. I also kinda dig the "frosting" I added to the sentiment. I love heat embossing!

Confetti Break!

2011-10-29T18:57:00.003-04:00

The confetti intensity on Drama Queen is getting to me. Progress is SO SLOW ... I'm losing my mind. I decided I needed a break from confetti, but I needed to keep making progress on DQ, so I started on page 6. There is a TON of 666 to stitch -- big beautiful chunks of it!

And so, here is my confetti break progress:

Page 5 only has another 300 or so stitches to go, and I've already stitched almost 1,000 on page 6. In total I've stitched almost 17,000 and the piece is 22% complete. Yay!

CJC 2012 Stash

2011-10-28T16:37:00.005-04:00

So this week has been a great shopping week for me -- clothing, electronics, small appliances, and stitching stuff!!

I popped by my LNS today and picked up a few items for the 2012 Crazy January Challenge (CJC). There will be another stash run in late November/early December once I figure out all my fabric needs.

First off I picked up the chart for Mirabilia's Elizabeth. (LOVE IT!)

I picked up a few specialty threads for some of the other projects - some Caron Collection Watercolours and Wildflowers in Emerald, HDF silks in white, bright purple, and an icy variegated blue, and some silver Petite Treasure Braid. I also picked up a few packs of Mill Hill beads. One is for my Hardanger project and the other is one of the ones I need for Elizabeth.

Another semi-related purchase this week is a new camera to take pictures of all my stash and projects! My mom will be thrilled when I return her camera to her. LOL

All in all a fun week of shopping. Next post -- a stitchy update!

Call me an idiot ... it's okay.

2011-10-23T10:13:00.003-04:00

I know that I'm busy. I know that I have far too many hobbies and nowhere near enough time to spend on them. I also know that I have more stitching stash then I know what to do with, and a lot of it is tucked carefully away because I have so many huge projects on the go.

So what do I do? I sign up to participate in the 2012 Crazy January Challenge, of course!

This challenge has participants starting a new project every day for the first 15 days in January 2012. The aim is to try to finish all 15 projects by the end of 2012. I've created a page on my blog JUST to help track my progress -- click here to check out what's on my "to do" list. Kitting up and starting all these projects will be fun, but trying to finish them all will be very difficult, especially since I already have several huge projects on the go. We'll see what happens ...

As an added incentive, I've also signed up for the 2012 WIPocalypse (click here for details). This challenge is based on the idea that the world will end in 2012, so participants are trying to finish their WIPs (works in progress) before the end comes.

I'm an idiot -- I know.

Retail therapy and some Christmas cards

2011-10-20T23:32:00.004-04:00

It's been rainy and gloomy here and I have been buried in schoolwork this week. As a result, I have been rather grumpy. Naturally, I figured some retail therapy was in order! So off I went to my LSS. I picked up a new Fiskars paper cutter, some Spellbinders dies, and a 6x6 pad of paper that is loaded with butterflies (which makes it the perfect paper for cards for my mom). I have also discovered Glue Dots -- and they are AWESOME. How did I craft without them?!?!

Anyway, I decided to try out my new Christmas Spellbinder dies. LOVE 'EM!

I really like this first card, so simple but looks great.

I made two of the next card; they are similar but not identical. (I've only taken photos of one though.) I even practiced using my distress inks. I still haven't quite got the hang of them yet.

I probably should have resist embossed the snowflakes, but I was just too lazy to pull out all my heat embossing stuff. I kinda dig the swiss dots folder embossing on the snow. First time I've used that folder. (I bought it and forgot about it -- oops!)

Oct IHSW - Not a lot of progress

2011-10-17T23:20:00.003-04:00

It was IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend) again, hosted by Joysze over at Random Ramblings. I signed up to participate, and had every intention of making significant progress on my QS Terra Fairy Sprite, but it just wasn't to be.

I went away for the weekend and didn't even end up taking any stitching with me at all!! It's pretty unusual for me to go that long without stitching something.

So I added an extra day to my IHSW weekend and put in a couple hours tonight on QS Terra. Not exactly the progress I was hoping for, but it's a little farther along.

Birthdays, Christmas and More

2011-10-12T19:14:00.003-04:00

I told you there would be more cards coming!! I managed to get a few of the personalized cards done, as well as a few Christmas cards. The rest will have to wait until next week sometime, since I am going away for the weekend.

First up, is a card I'm strangely thrilled with. I made this for a good friend of mine who is defending her thesis proposal this week. Woohoo!

I really don't like the colour orange -- I'd even go so far as to say I hate it. But I picked up a used pad of 6x6 paper at a garage sale and I decided that this would be a good opportunity to use some of it. As the card started to come together, I started pulling different shades of orange cardstock out of my stash, then I found some orange flowers and gemstones. I have no idea how I ended up with so much orange!! But I think it really worked.

Next up is a birthday card for my brother. I don't often make masculine cards, and I (like many others) struggle when I try. What do I do with all that space when I can't put ribbons or flowers or other bling on it?!?! I think this turned out pretty well despite the lack of bling.

And finally, a few Christmas cards to add to my growing hoard. The bow on the first card was a pain to make, but it looks okay. For the second card, I struggled with the blahness of it -- then I added the snowflakes and it suddenly wasn't such a failure!

Don't you worry now -- there are still more cards on the way next week!!

A New Card-making Style

2011-10-10T23:35:00.005-04:00

I think I have finally mastered the art of matting, and I am LOVING how it looks. I made a Thank You card for some friends who had me over for dinner. I wanted it to be elegant, yet funky/edgy/cool. I almost don't want to give it away!

The patterned paper is from a 6x6 pad that I bought recently at my LSS (local scrapbooking store) Scrappin Great Deals. It's by KaiserCraft, and it is my favourite paper EVER. (Or at least until I fall in love with other paper, though this stuff is going to be tough to beat.)

I have a ton of cards I need to make this week, so there will be more card posts coming up. I'm also at work on a pile of Christmas cards, which are in various stages of assembly at the moment, and I hope to post pics of them before the end of the week.

I missed having my crafting mojo. I'm very glad it's back.

A Progress Milestone!

2011-10-09T22:59:00.004-04:00

I have been slowly, but diligently, working on the third page of Drama Queen. I don't have a page finish to show you, BUT ... I do have photos of another milestone. I have now finished 20% of the pattern. In other words, I have stitched 15,450 out of 77,250 stitches.

The current page in progress:

The stitch count:

The overall progress:

I'm into another batch of confetti, so progress might be slow for a while. Gotta keep plugging along though.

Cards, cards, glorious cards!

2011-10-04T21:38:00.004-04:00

Okay not really. I haven't had time to craft much lately, but I have been upping the bling quotient on the few cards I have made.

First, a glimmery, shimmery, clean & simple Christmas card:

And my Mom's birthday card (it'll be late because I don't want to send it in the mail and squash the butterflies, so she'll get it the weekend after her birthday) with a heap of faux pearls, some shimmery butterflies and even a little glossy accents!

Another poppy is popping!

2011-09-30T23:07:00.003-04:00

School has been crazy busy, so I haven't made as much progress as I would like, but still, the stitches are going in. I've finished about 2.5 pages and the second poppy is starting to take shape.

So far this page has been very enjoyable to stitch -- nice big patches of colour. The confetti monster will get me later I am sure.

A Proper Try

2011-09-20T19:52:00.004-04:00

I started learning how to crochet about a week ago -- a crochet-a-long (CAL) on Maybe Matilda's blog prompted me to give it a go. I used some grey worsted wool for my practice piece, mainly because it easily allowed me to see the stitches and what it was exactly I was doing.

The CAL is using a pattern for a cowl from Lion Brand Yarn, but since I dislike cowls and wouldn't ever wear one, I decided I had to give something more my style a try.

I fell in LOVE with the Bobble Baby Blanket that Maybe Matilda made. So, I did a little digging, a little research, and I concocted my own Bobble Scarf pattern. I emailed it to Maybe Matilda and she was a dear and helped me make sure it was viable.

And away I went ...

So far I have 3 inches crocheted. I'm using a bamboo yarn from Bernat that is simply gorgeous! It's soft and supple and so ... so ... touchable! It's going to make an awesome scarf! I'm so excited about it!

DQ after the Sept IHSW

2011-09-19T08:57:00.004-04:00

A few posts ago, I showed you my almost finished first 2 pages of Drama Queen. I didn't put more than 20 stitches into it before this past weekend, so the progress you'll see is almost entirely from IHSW.

I'm loving it right now -- big chunks of colour, little or no confetti. Just a joy to stitch!

Like I Need Another Hobby ...

2011-09-15T23:08:00.006-04:00

I managed to talk myself out of learning how to quilt (which I still want to learn someday), but I stumbled upon a blog, Maybe Matilda, that is hosting a crochet-a-long FOR BEGINNERS. Lots of pictures, detailed instructions, and starting with the very basics -- how could I not give it a try?!?

And so, I humbly present my first attempt at crocheting:

Just practicing single crochet, half double crochet, and double crochet stitches. Haven't started an actual pattern yet.

Drama Queen - 2 down, 14 to go

2011-09-12T09:42:00.004-04:00

The last few weeks when I've been working on Drama Queen has almost made me mental. The confetti is SO heavy, and while it looks great, it is exhausting and frustrating to work on. But late last night I got the urge to make the final push (and I almost succeeded).

There is one stitch left to do on page 1. (I'm waiting to stitch it because there is quite a bit of that colour on page 5.) I have 29 stitches left to do on page 2. (Most of which is confetti, which I just don't have the energy to tackle right now.) And I've put in almost 500 stitches onto page 5! (I decided to move to page 5 instead of page 3 because it looks a little less confetti heavy, and I need a page where I can make good progress for a while.) In total I have stitched 11,244 (or 14.27%) of the entire piece.

This is a close-up of the poppy. Here you can see some of the intricate confetti and the range of colours I get to use. There's purple in the centre of that flower!! Go figure!

During a confetti break last night, I made a quick card for a friend of mine who had a rough week last week. It's simple but I love the elegant lines of it. I might have to make a small pile of these, I like them that much. The stamp is from a new set I got from Denami Designs. They are lovely to work with! I wouldn't mind more stamps from there in the future.

Christmas is coming!!!

2011-09-09T16:49:00.005-04:00

To be honest, I'm a bit of a humbug. (Okay, a big humbug.) But I like making (and giving) cards, and what better time of year then at Christmas? So, I have started stockpiling a variety of Christmas/holiday themed cards. It also provides a great excuse to buy more stamps and paper!

My first card was actually made because I was practicing resist techniques with distress inks.

I picked up a new snowflake embossing folder for my Cuttlebug. I just had to play with it!! Plus I like the clean and simple design. I made 3 of these; each with basic variations in paper etc.

I made 3 of these cards. I just changed the placement of paper to make each one unique.

Slow and not so steady progress ...

2011-09-06T08:46:00.004-04:00

Time for another update on my HAED BB QS SAL project - QS Terra Fairy Sprite. Though we've been sent 5 of 6 pages in the chart, I am still slogging through page one. I don't know what it is with this one, but I just can't seem to make much progress at all!

Anyway, here she is for September:

Another start - Tree of Stitches

2011-09-04T11:46:00.004-04:00

I always like to have a smaller project on the go, and since my Autumn Tree was finished faster than expected, I just had to go ahead and start another tree! (Seems to be a bit of a theme with me.)

This project is called the Tree of Stitches and was designed by Abi Gurden of TheStitchSpecialists Yahoo Group. It's my first time trying all of these specialty stitches, but the instructions so far are fantastic and I am looking forward to learning more.

I chose to stitch this 2 over 2 on 32 ct lugana in Siren's Ocean by Enchanting Lair. I love the colour and the mottling! So pretty! I'm using HDF silks for this as well (surprise, surprise). The trunk is done in HDF 5271, and the smyrna stitches in HDF White Chocolate.

Part 1:

My very first Smyrna stitch:

Parts 1 & 2:

Secret Finishes!!

2011-09-03T11:43:00.006-04:00

Because certain people visit my blog on occasion, I have had to keep a few finishes secret until they received their gifts!

It's been the year of the baby it seems, and I have managed to finish two baby announcements for some of my closest friends.

This is a French Country Baby Sampler by JBW Designs that I adapted slightly. It is stitched on 25 ct antique white lugana 1 over 1 using variegated DMC 93. (The photo looks crappy - sorry!)

And this is Lickle Ted by DMC, stitched on 32 ct antique white lugana 2 over 2.

An Unexpected Finish

2011-08-30T00:47:00.003-04:00

I've been working on my Autumn Tree lately. I finished all of the leaves and started to work on the 'wind' element. I had chosen a beautiful HDF blue silk that matched the richness and intensity of the leaves, but from the first stitch I knew that I didn't like it. I hoped that the colour would grow on me like the leaves had, so I kept stitching. No such luck. After 3 lengths of thread, I couldn't stand it any more, and I frogged it all out. I LOVE the tree as is and I think the leaves worked out beautifully. I think I'll take artistic license and leave the wind off the piece.

And so ... my Autumn Tree is suddenly finished!! Yay!

More button bow cuteness!

2011-08-29T08:37:00.003-04:00

Okay, so my impromptu button bow on that birthday card the other day really inspired me. I sat down yesterday and spent a few hours putting together a few new button bows that I think are deliciously cute!

And I think they look great on cards too!

Looky looky what I got!!

2011-08-27T19:49:00.004-04:00

I have been wanting a Cuttlebug for ages, but haven't been able to justify the cost. Well, I just happened to be in a Michael's on my birthday last week, and there it was -- on sale!! So, thanks to my mom's generosity, I am now a proud owner of a Cuttlebug (and a few accessories)!

Now for some cards! This one used both edge embossing and my Nestabilities dies.

Just edge embossing on this one, but doesn't the button and bow look cute? I'm going to have to work on that bow ...

What do you think?

2011-08-24T11:29:00.003-04:00

I've added a few leaves in golden yellow to my Autumn Tree. What do you think?

I'm undecided so far. I want to love it, but am not entirely sure that I do.

This project is done on 28 ct cashel linen from Picture This Plus (of course I can't remember the exact colour name). I've used HDF variegated silks in Kodiakery, Terra Firma, Marque des Cercles, and Old Blue Eyes.

August IHSW Update

2011-08-22T15:00:00.004-04:00

I participated in IHSW again. (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend hosted by Joysze at Random Ramblings - check out her blog to see details and follow everyone's progress.)

Since it was my birthday weekend, not as much hermitting happened as I would have liked, but I still managed to get a little stitching done.

I worked exclusively on Autumn Tree this weekend. When I started on Friday, it was just a brown trunk with branches, but now the orange leaves on one half of the tree are completed. Once the orange leaves are done I can start adding the golden yellow ones!

Here's where I got to:

I must admit that I really don't like stitching on linen. The roughness and unevenness bugs me! The camera catches all of the imperfections that I hate. Thankfully it's not as bad in real life.

Hello Cards!

2011-08-18T22:06:00.004-04:00

I warned you there would be more cards ...

I got a new tool today for my card-making: a 2-in-1 rounded corner punch. It is wonderful!! I had no idea what I'd been missing. It sounds like such a simple tool, but it totally changes the feel of a card.

Anyway, I decided to make a bunch of "Hello" cards for some friends. School starts again in a few weeks (well, the undergrads start, us PhDs do school year round), but it means that everyone is back in town and floating around the faculty. So, I made some cards to let my friends know that I'm glad we get to hang out again.

I think these are some of my best yet!

Just a few stitches away ...

2011-08-18T00:18:00.004-04:00

I've been working on the 2nd page of Drama Queen during the last 2 weeks. It started off with a few nice big chunks of blue and I was also excited about adding the vibrant reds of the first poppy. Well, my enthusiasm waned a little as I got into the confetti. I have NEVER worked on a project with this much confetti -- it's insane. It takes me longer to plan my stitching route than it does to stitch the handful of stitches in that colour. The results are wonderful, and I know how amazing this will look because of all of the confetti, but holy doodle it's a nightmare.

I never quite seem to finish a page before I do an update. I'm always leaving a few (and this time it's quite a few) stitches off. I just want to update!! To be honest, I'm updating now because I'm a little frustrated with this piece and have decided to put it aside for a few days. This coming weekend is IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend - see Joyzse's blog for details), and I'm hoping to get a good chunk of my Autumn Tree done.

But enough rambling, time for a picture:

What a surprise!!

2011-08-17T10:22:00.004-04:00

I've been a member of Crossstitchforum.com for over a year now, and I really enjoy reading about and seeing the progress these stitchers make on their projects. It's good to know they often have the same type of issues with fabric, thread, or frogging, and there is always someone (or more) who can give great advice when you have questions. It's a real community.

Last January, one of the members (Ali-Cat) went on a biscornu making spree. She must have made 20 or 30 of the little things. And so, she offered to make and send one to any member of the forum who wanted one. Now I think biscornus are very cute, but I doubt I'd ever stitch one. (I really have no idea what to do with them.) Still, I thought seeing one in person and having just one would be great, so I messaged Ali-Cat and asked nicely if she'd send me one. After that, I promptly forgot about it.

Yesterday I went and got my mail and I had an unexpected package from overseas. I couldn't for the life of me think what it could be. I hadn't ordered anything online lately ...

Lo and behold, it was not one, but two lovely little biscornus made just for me! Because she'd taken so long to send it to me, she decided that I should have a second teeny-tiny biscornu as a way of apology.

They are beyond cute!! I adore the colours on the larger one; it is perfect for me! A huge thank you goes out to Ali-Cat for her generosity and effort.

Cards for Everyone!

2011-08-14T21:00:00.005-04:00

Every time I turn around this month, there's another occasion that needs a card. Here's a bunch that I've made over the last week; more will be made next week.

A "little" stitching

2011-08-12T21:11:00.005-04:00

I have all of these huge projects on the go ... each with thousands and thousands of stitches. So crazy me took a break, and decided to stitch something much smaller.

My first Mill Hill Beaded Ornament kit:

Double Update

2011-08-09T16:31:00.004-04:00

I've made a little bit of progress on two different projects.

First, my little Autumn Tree is now a whole tree sans leaves and wind.

Second, the poppy in Drama Queen is starting to POP and some more background got done too.

Oh so slowly ...

2011-08-05T22:00:00.003-04:00

I did a little work on my HAED Bulletin Board QS SAL - Terra Fairy Sprite. I love the picture, but stitching this piece just seems to take FOREVER. I'm still not done page one ... and pages 2, 3 and 4 are already sent out!

But anyways ... here she is:

More Stash .. Oops!

2011-08-01T18:46:00.004-04:00

I have been very good and haven't bought any stash in several months for any of my crafty hobbies. I was bad today ... oops.

Wandering around Wal-mart and Michael's means that I am bound to purchase something, or in this instance, several somethings to add to my card-making stash!

Everyone needs more tools right? Scissors and punches, just what I needed!

I'm addicted to buying new stamps. I just can't seem to get enough! Today's was a substantial acquisition.

And who doesn't love a little embellishment? Seriously!

The worst part is that I'm staying with my parent's for a week, and am nowhere near the bulk of my stash. I am dying to get home and spend an afternoon (and evening) making some new and beautiful cards.

Moving Along Nicely!

2011-07-31T22:25:00.004-04:00

I disappeared up into cottage country for a few days for a "work-cation." I desperately needed to focus and get some school work done (which I did), but I also managed to put in quite a few solid hours of stitching each evening.

The poppy is starting to POP!!

Just wait till I get some of the shading in there!! I'm so looking forward to seeing how well the detail and depth of colour stitches up. But before I get all caught up in the craziness of confetti stitching -- I'm going to work on the huge colour blocks of blue up at the top.

So close to a page finish!

2011-07-26T17:06:00.003-04:00

I am basically finished page 1 of Drama Queen - there's just a tiny corner of confetti stitches left to be done. I wanted to get an update up before I went on holidays (again).

I've really started to see the brushstrokes come out in the 2nd half of this page. I love it! The confetti stitching is hellish, but the results are worth it.

My first IHSW

2011-07-18T20:50:00.007-04:00

IHSW - International Hermit and Stitch Weekend.

I've wanted to join in on this for ages, but for some reason never got around to it (or I remembered after the weekend was over). Sign up is on Joyce's blog Random Ramblings and the directions are as follows:

IHSW takes place every 3rd weekend of each month, for us to squirrel some time away for ourselves and "Hermit and Stitch." You can stitch as much or as little as your time permits, on anything you like, and on Monday of the following week, we post a progress picture and check out each others' blogs.

I started on my Autumn Tree just before the weekend, so I spent most of my time working on that (see my previous post for a progress pic). But on Sunday I decided to switch over and do some work on my Drama Queen. I feel like I am so far behind schedule on this piece. It needs to be finished by next August so I have time to frame it before my Mom's 70th birthday in October 2012. There's 16 pages in the pattern and I only have 13 months to get it done. I'm not even finished page one yet. Small panic attack -- eek!

Anyway - back to IHSW! Before:

After:

LIke I need another new start ...

2011-07-17T08:11:00.005-04:00

I recently returned from a 3 week vacation abroad, having taken along my HAED BB SAL QS Terra to stitch on (which I really don't enjoy THAT much), and I crazily decided once I got home that I needed a new start. All of the projects I have going at the moment - Home Sweet Home, Drama Queen, QS Terra - are all huge projects (56, 16, and 6 pages respectively). I needed a littler project where I could see a finish in the near future.

And so, I pulled out an already kitted up project - what I call Autumn Tree. If you are a long time reader, you might remember that about a year ago I stitched an Alessandra Adelaide tree for my brother as a family heirloom. Well, I'm now working on its little brother. I'm stitching the same tree pattern, but this time it is 1 over 1 on hand-dyed 28 ct Cashel linen (from Picture This Plus via my LNS) and the leaves on the tree will be orange and gold instead of green. As before, I'm back to using my beloved variegated Vicki Clayton HDF silks. They are beyond lovely to work with! I'm planning to make this my mom's Birthday or Christmas present, depending on when I finish it.

Without further ado, my start:

QS Terra Fairy - July Update

2011-07-13T14:28:00.002-04:00

Finally made a bit of progress on my HAED Bulletin Board SAL. I'm still struggling through page one, and page 4 just got emailed out. Eek!

This will end up in my rotation during the next few months.

The First Poppy Update

2011-06-18T21:52:00.005-04:00

I started this piece more than a month ago (on Mother's Day), but hadn't been able to put too much time into it because of my trip out East and my desire to finish my mandala. Once all of that was out of the way, I spent a solid week focusing on it. I'm now ready to reveal my progress to date:

It's not too interesting yet, as I'm still working on the blue background, but I can see/feel the brushstrokes beginning to take shape. I think the colours will make more sense once there's more to see. They look a little disjointed, but it's hard to see how they fit when they are only a few inches away from your face as you stitch. I have faith in the charting.

Success!! A finish!

2011-06-15T18:21:00.003-04:00

I've been concentrating solely on this piece for the last few weeks. It has traveled all over the Maritimes with me. Progress was slow. Tons of counting and constant stopping and starting. I found this project exhausting. It'll be a while before I do another mandala.

All that being said, it looks lovely finished. I'm glad I decided not to do the black outline. It's softer, more organic this way.

A very late update on my T & E Mandala

2011-06-11T18:07:00.003-04:00

I took pictures of my progress on the mandala several weeks ago, but I've been out of the province and haven't had a chance to post them.

And so ... here they are:

I am hell-bent on finishing this piece. It's just very slow going.

Poppies for my Mom

2011-05-16T16:10:00.006-04:00

My mother turns 70 in a year and a half, and it just dawned on me the other day that if I want to stitch something in time for the big occasion, then I need to start right now! After thinking about what I could possibly stitch for her that she'd go nuts over (and knowing that I didn't want to stitch any more butterflies for her) a perfect idea came to me. Poppies. My mom loves poppies. More importantly, my mom loves the way a certain artist, Angie Strauss, paints poppies.

Luckily, my mom happens to be good friends with the artist, and I know her as well. So, I immediately scoured her website to find the perfect painting that my mom didn't already own, and then I emailed Angie and enlisted her in my secret project. Being the dear that she is, she instantly gave me permission to have the painting converted into a cross stitch pattern. She even had a super high quality .jpg sent to me.

Once the perfect picture was in my grubby little hands, I emailed a lovely lady in the UK that I know from crossstitchforum.com who does conversions for a small fee. I've seen some of her work and know she's very good, and she certainly didn't disappoint! We went back and forth several times -- on the first go the poppies looked spectacular but the background was kind of blah. Try two had the background really capturing the brushstrokes and complexities of the paint, but the poppies looked one dimensional. I asked her to see if she could combine the best parts of each. Lo and behold, third time was the charm! The poppies looked great and the background captured the brushstroke details without being too confetti heavy. In a word -- perfection!

I started it on Mother's day (how symbolic!) and decided to share the project with my mom that evening instead of keeping it secret. I was just too excited to keep it from her for more than a year, and this way I didn't have to have a cover project to hide what I was doing. My mom was speechless that I went to so much trouble for her (no trouble, really) and is thrilled to be able to watch the progress of the piece as I go.

Look for updates soon!

I Lied ...

2011-05-14T00:56:00.003-04:00

There are only 211 beads on Jasmine Pixie, not 300. But they are all on now ... she's finished!!! (Though she still needs a wash and a press.)

It's amazing what a little insomnia can do. :)

I love the beading on the flowers on her dress, but the wings and a few of the longer trails are perhaps a bit too densely beaded for my liking. I'd guess that's partly a function of shrinking her down to 22ct over 1 and using all petite beads. If I ever did another pixie/fairy/mermaid of this type, then I wouldn't shrink the piece, I'd just suck it up and stitch over 2. It's unlikely that I'll do another like this anytime soon though.

Thankfully I do still like her enough to get her framed and hung up -- but not till the fall when I've recovered from my traveling spree this summer.

Mandala - May Update

2011-05-13T18:22:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow is the final group gathering for both the Thread & Eye Mandala and the Blackwork SAL groups. Those who can from both groups will gather to ooh and ahh over the work that's been done thus far.

My blackwork piece was finished a few months ago and will be proudly displayed, but my mandala has taken a backseat more often than I wanted and isn't anywhere near done yet.

Over the past week as I traipsed all over the province for a conference, I did get a little bit nearer to being finished.

Just the corners left to stitch. I'm hoping the balance of colours evens out a little. I feel like it's a little blue/green heavy right now.

This piece will be headed out East with me later this month as I attend yet another conference for school, and I hope to finish it on that trip.

One step away from a finish!

2011-05-08T00:58:00.003-04:00

After almost a year, I have finished all of the cross and back stitching on my Jasmine Pixie by Mirabilia. Now I just need to attach approximately 300 beads and it'll be done! It feels good to be close.

And again, it has to be put to the side because I can't travel and bead ... Maybe I'll get to it in July once all my traveling is done. Here's hoping!

Cards for Great Friends

2011-05-02T20:57:00.004-04:00

Just thought I'd share the cards I recently made for a few very good, very deserving friends.

Finally an Update!!

2011-04-23T23:29:00.003-04:00

It has not been a stitching-friendly month. Between schoolwork and traveling I have managed to get barely a stitch done on my Thread & Eye Mandala project.

It's not much, but here it is ...

The next few months are full of school and travel and so I am sad to say that my updates may continue to be few and far between. :(

More Cards for Charity

2011-03-27T22:05:00.004-04:00

I managed to finish a big assignment for school this morning, and so I treated myself to a small shopping spree for card-making goodies. Then I spent a good chunk of the afternoon and evening putting together a few more cards.

Hope you like them (I can't tell if I'm getting better at this or not):

Suddenly Its All About Cards

2011-03-26T23:24:00.005-04:00

This blog is really supposed to be about stitching, or at least mostly about stitching. Lately my time to stitch has been severely limited and what little stitching I have done hasn't really resulted in progress worthy of taking pictures. This is very frustrating to me. I like progress, I like finishes, and I love stitching, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards for me right now (no pun intended). Instead I take an hour here and there to unwind by making cards.

A lady on crossstitchforum.com had asked if people would donate stitched pieces for a craft table at a Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser in England (a cause close to my heart). While I had every intention of stitching up a few bookmarks for her, my school schedule and workload have made that impossible. Fortunately she's happy to accept non-stitchy donations as well.

This is the first batch of cards.