A Gift of Snowmen

I'm usually not one for stitching Christmas ornaments since I don't own a tree. However, I couldn't resist when I saw this design.

Design: He's A Flake

Designer: Little House Needleworks

Fabric: 32 count Natural Italian Linen

Fibers: DMC

Instead of making him into an ornament, I decided on something else... A mailart.

It arrived yesterday so now I'm able show it to you.

For the back, I stitched part of Snow in Love by Little House Needleworks. You'd probably recognize the little snowman at the top from my recent Drawn Thread Spot of Winter finish.

I used Colorful Christmas by Minds Eye for Riley Blake Designs fabric to line the inside.

Now, what's an envelope good for without its contents, right? Here's the card I made to go with it.

I've always thought of popup cards like the surprise inside Fabergé eggs. Of course, it's nothing even as remotely grand as those surprises but hopefully you understand my comparison.
Anyway, here's my surprise for this snowman card.

I found this design here if you're interested in making one too.

This gift of snowmen is for Mikey, my longtime friend, my best friend, my boyfriend.

Dearest Mikey,
Thank you for all the times you've been there for me when I needed you and especially when I thought I didn't need you.
Thank you for refusing to leave when I pushed you away and figured you'd be better off without me.
Thank you for loving me still after all the crap I've put you through and even when I'm not the most lovable person in the world.
I love you, too.

Happy Dances

Yes, Happy Dances. Plural, with an S. Come celebrate with me. It's a party. First up, here's Spot of Winter.

Design: Spot of Winter

Designer: The Drawn Thread

Fabric: 32 count Cream Italian Linen

Fibers: DMC & Weeks Dye Works

Being the last of the seasonal spot sampler series, you know what that means, don't you? Yup, the entire series is now finish. Another happy dance. Woohoo! (Yes, I'm counting this as another one even though technically it's one and the same :P)

Don't all four of them look great together? I certainly think so. This one has been three years in the making. The first one, Spot of Spring, was finished in September 2008. So glad to see this done.

Now, what's a happy dance without close up pics, right?

All the charms used in this piece were substitutes. I had problem sourcing for the originals when I first bought the used charts off eBay. This was way before The Drawn Thread's webshop was set up.

My favourite part of the entire sampler. Falling leaves in autumn. I think they gave an illusion of motion to the design.

Winter. I had the most fun with the Sprats Head Tree stitch (small Fir Trees at bottom right). Very interesting weave effect.

Along with the spot samplers, I managed to keep up with my November stitching schedule (so far) and finished She Tends Block 3!

Design: She Tends

Designer: Shepherd's Bush

Fabric: R&R Reproductions Alabaster linen 30 count linen

Fibers: Crescent Colours, Weeks Dye Works & Sampler Threads

Embellishments: Shepherd's Bush Silver Leaping Lamb Charm

I know, unbelievable, right? The confetti stitches in this one nearly drove me mad. Fortunately, it's small.

And that, my friends, concludes this party.

Next up, Little House Neighbourhood.

Happy Stitching!

Autumn

I've always love the rich palette of autumn. In keeping with my stitching schedule abeit slightly late, I completed Spot of Autumn.

Design: Spot of Autumn

Designer: The Drawn Thread

Fabric: 32 count Cream Italian Linen

Fibers: DMC & Weeks Dye Works

Stitching this has been a work of frustration and trial of patience. Have you ever felt like you did more frogging than actual stitching on a piece? This was one such case. Other than the red flowers on the bottom left, I must have stitched everything at least twice and the pumpkins three times! I'm reminded once again why it nearly became a UFO two years ago.

So has all that fuss been worth it? I certainly hope so. It sure is pretty, isn't it? Only winter left :)
I also managed to complete Part 2 of iStitch Mystery SAL.

I actually finished Part 3 last night as well but have yet to take a picture. Now it's on to Romantique Sampler.

Happy Stitching!

Small, Simple & Sweet

I've been in a fickle mood lately, finding it really hard to stick to one single project, especially if it's a rather complicated one with tons of colour changes. Have you felt this way before? To avoid losing my stitching mojo, I decided to pick up some small projects for some quick finishes. At least this way, I'll feel as if I've actually accomplished something. Thus, digging through my stash and evergrowing WiP pile, I came up with this.

It's been nearly a year since I've stitched Cappuccino, the first in the Coffee Series by Little House Needleworks. The time has definitely arrived to stitch the last of the trio. After a few days working on it, Caffe Latte is finally completed.

Design: Caffe Latte

Designer: Little House Needleworks

Fabric: Zweigart's Vintage Country Mocha (Marbled) 32 count Belfast linen

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie

Here's all three of the Coffee Series together. Don't they look pretty lined up like that?

By then, I was already itching to stitch something else. Once again, I went through my stash and ended up with a mini Shepherd's Bush finish. This is in fact the first time I'm stitching a Shepherd's Bush design and I gotta say I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Design: she Tends

Designer: Shepherd's Bush

Fabric: R&R Reproductions Alabaster linen 30 count linen

Fibers: Crescent Colours, Weeks Dye Works & Sampler Threads

Embellishments: Shepherd's Bush Silver Garden Girl Charm

All in all, a very sweet design. I look forward to stitching the other three blocks but I have no idea when I'll get to them because once again, I needed another change. This time round, I stitched The Drawn Thread's Spot of Summer. The variety of designers and style I've rotated between so far certainly keeps it fun for me and prevents me from losing interest.

Design: Spot of Summer

Designer: The Drawn Thread

Fabric: 32 count Cream Italian Linen

Fibers: DMC & Weeks Dye Works

Two seasons out of four is now done. As you can see, I'm stitching them as a sampler in a row...

Hmm... What's next, I wonder. Well, my WiPs should keep me busy for a bit. Thanx for dropping by.

Ice Cream!

Once again, I'll start off this entry with another block of Sweet Threats. Yummy, yummy 'Ice Cream'.

Two more blocks to go! Being in a SAL really helps motivate me into stitching one block per week. Jessie, how are you getting on with yours? Carol, have you gotten yours frame yet? How are you feeling? How is your knee?
This past Sunday, 31st August, was Malaysia's 51st National Day. (Happy Independance Day to all Malaysians!) Thus, Monday was a substitute public holiday. One more day to stitch. Yay! So I started something else...

Design: Spot of Spring
Designer: The Drawn Thread
Fabric: 32 count Cream Italian Linen
Fibers: DMC

I know, I know, I shoulda work on my many and ever growing WiPs but at least I finished it ^.^ I consider it a happy dance of sorts even though I still have Summer, Autumn and Winter to go.
Speaking of WiPs, I've joined the Me, Myself and I Round Robins. What am I getting myself into?!
Anyway, I'm sure most of you would have heard about it by now. If not, it is basically a Neighbourhood RR with a twist. Rather than being passed around among a group of stitchers like a round robin usually is, it will instead all be designed and stitched by you yourself. Consider it an SAL of sorts. As of Vonna's last count, there are now (Dang!) 72 of us. Construction of your neighbourhood won't actually begin until 31 December 2008. So... (taken directly from the blog) there is still plenty of time to get your permits, blueprints and waivers needed to begin construction on your neighborhood. Come join us if you're interested but be quick for there are limited spots left.
I am constantly amazed by the generosity of the stitching community. Remember Dixie? who sold me Just Nan's Patience whom I now call my friend? She saw that I had High Hopes by Just Nan on my wish list. She had just finished stitching it and instead of listing it on Ebay like she had intended, she took it upon herself to become my wish fairy and sent the chart to me...

...along with a pretty hardanger chart/card. I've never tried hardanger before but this is the perfect pattern to practice with. I have no idea how to express my gratitue, Dixie, except to say a heartfelt Thank You!
I also received a USD10 Gift Certificate from A Charming Place all because I mentioned them on my blog. Wow! I'm speechless. Thank you, Hayley. Just for the record, I'm not affiliated. Just a satisfied customer.
More things to be thankful for...(You've probably already deduced that this is gonna be a very long post, no?) Look what arrived in the mail today:

It's a LHN mail art from Joanne (no blog) in Malaysia too. She's my partner for the Mail Art Friends LHN Mail Art Exchange. Isn't her stitching pretty? Here's the back:

And here's a picture of the fabric she used to lined the inside and some stash she sent me:

Feeling envious, anyone? I know I would be if I saw this on anyone elses' blog. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm late sending my LHN mail art to her. A first for me. I got it all ready but... I can't very well send it empty, can I? The postman still doesn't want to bring her present to me so I can pass it along to her >.<>Little House Needleworks Silk Threadpacks?

I think I'm in love!
Lillie honoured me with another blog award.

This time I won't nominate anyone. There are too many blogs out there that I love. If I have left a comment on your blog before, you know that I love it. If I haven't, it's probably because I've yet to discover your blog or didn't have time to do so (which I'm profoundly sorry). Just leave a comment and I'll be sure to drop by.
To Jean who asked me to recommend some nice evenweave fabric two posts ago, (sorry I neglected to answer you last post) I've only used Zweigart's Lugana and Wichelt's Jobelan so I doubt I'm the right party to ask about evenweaves. I mostly use Linen nowadays. However, I find jobelan a pleasure to stitch on as the floss goes smoothly through and thus doesn't fray much. Hope that limited information helps?
And to everyone that complimented me on my stitching, Thank You! *Blush*
Stash-wise, I don't have much to show this week except for the fact that...

I seemed to have gone a little completely overboard with charm packs purchases from Deb. I guess now is the time to try out all the pretty finishings ideas, eh?