WOXS 325 and Disney

It feels like it`s been ages since I last posted, and it`s because it has - usually, the publication of a new issue of WOXS triggers my memory and I haven`t had anything in the last 2-3 issues. However, the latest one (325) has not only my cute little 3D reindeer ornament as a cover gift, but there are also 4 blackwork Christmas cards in the magazine proper.

This adorable Rudolph, designed by Heather Nugent, started life as a `flat-pack reindeer` on plastic canvas:

But then as if by magic, he became a 3D tree ornament:

Also in this issue of WOXS, Fiona Baker`s four gorgeous Christmas cards are the perfect mini-break from cross stitch for those who want to try their hand at blackwork. 😊

While I`m at it, I`ve had a look on Hachette Partworks` website too to see where I left off: there have been a few of my pieces featured in their weekly magazines since my last post here, so I`m going to add my photos for issues 96 (Flounder and Sebastian), 97 (Goofy hoop), 98 (Mickey circus lampshade), 103 (Mickey road trip), 104 (Halloween Mickey & Minnie), and 106 (Cinderella clock). Hope you like them, happy stitching! 😊

Indian elephant and Van Gogh

I almost did something else again! But if I don`t post now, I never will. *puts on determined face*

I`m so busy having fun with my own stitching these days that I keep forgetting about other stuff I`m supposed to be doing. Not to mention the wee man`s school programs - and crocheting: have I mentioned I`ve learnt to crochet sunburst granny squares? I enjoy them so much I`ve started mass-producing them:

I`ve decided it goes faster if I do the same round on all of them - but when that gets too boring, I switch back to completing each square individually, it makes a change to swap between colours and stitch types. Hopefully, one day I`ll have enough squares to make a blanket.

So. There are some publications out there this week (last week?) that have my pieces in them, including this gorgeous Indian elephant in Gold 139, designed by Carol Thornton.

I love the vibrant colours and the straight lines that were especially soothing to stitch, as was all the filling in with that gorgeous pale yellow. Elephants are my favourite among favourite animals, so I was really pleased when this project came my way.

5,5 hours

11,5 hours

20 hours

32 hours

50 hours

67 hours - finished! 😊

I don`t always take pics of the back but I love how tidy those straight lines make this look

There`s also issue 257 of The World of Cross Stitching in the shops, and this month`s free gift is the beautiful butterflies card... that I think I`ve posted about already but here it is then, as a recap:

This week I was also excited to be able to pick up my parents` "Christmas" present from the framer - it looks just the way I pictured it in my head so I`m over the moon with it and I hope they`ll like it too. I`ll find out in about a fortnight - and when I come back from holiday, I can finally put some photos of it up here too.

What else? Finally, after 5 long years of owning the HAED chart of Van Gogh`s Starry Night, I managed to get round to having it re-printed in the library - I thought, why struggle when I can have the chart on A3 pages? So I had them done and last week I was ready to go:

I started from the bottom right corner and after 7 days I had my first page finish:

But then as I was showing it to folks on Facebook, I began to realise that I wasn`t happy with the colour scheme. 😩 I chose Starry Night not only because I love Van Gogh but also because blue is my favourite colour - as opposed to purple, the only colour I don`t like. I put my chart and a picture of the original painting side by side...

...and decided to abandon this project for the now. I think I`m going to chart it for myself, using blues instead of purples, and I`ll try to make it the right size so that I can still use this nice big piece of aida, which is still going to be quite large, even after I cut this stitched bit off (as there is no way I can unpick it). But so as not to be without Van Gogh in the meantime, last night I started his Sunflowers (I`ve had this Maria Diaz design for ages, it`s in the July 2009 issue (172) of Collection).

And while I was working on the bottom right corner of the purple Starry Night, I also realised that if I`m going to spend months and months stitching such a confetti-heavy piece, I`m going to need something (crafting-wise, I mean. At the same time, I`m also translating but that`s a different kind of challenge and satisfaction), so I`m going to need something that gives me instant gratification, i.e. a project that`s made up of blocks that can be finished in a day. So I had a look on the internet and found this amazing blackwork sampler (called `Save The Stitches`, free to download from Elizabeth Almond`s website), and I already have the fabric and threads - I`m going to use stranded cotton 301, 415 and 3821 instead of the metallics and no beads, either, I want to keep it simple and non-blingy. So in a few months/years/decades, I should end up with something like this:

How gorgeous is this?? 😍 I think I`m going to start this today 😉 Happy stitching!

blackwork birds - Card Shop 97

Another publication in the shops, yay! It`s Cross Stitch Card Shop 97, and in it are the gorgeous Lesley Teare cards I stitched back in January. I think they`re fab - a stunning combination of vibrant colours and the timeless elegance of blackwork (a great favourite of mine). I enjoyed working on these immensely and I`m happy that, after all these months, the magazine is finally in the shops.

Since I`m going on holiday in a few short days, I`ll write another post and time its publication so as not to miss issue 113 of Gold that`s coming out while I`m away. Hope you all will have a lovely summer, see you in August! :)

post-Christmas post

Now that the holiday`s over ("aaaw"/"yeay!", depending on my mood), I can finally share some more photos with you that until now were in the hidden vaults of my camera on account of being somebody`s Xmas prezzie. That is, I HOPE I can share them (still not happy with the way Blogger`s working for me at the moment, although I`m beginning to suspect the problem is with MY laptop).
Anyway, here`s a cushion I made for my friend Jo and her family - more exactly, I bought the cushion in ASDA, I only sewed my wee cross stitch on it (when I say wee, I mean not the size but how much actual work was involved which came to next to nothing. Note the big blocks of colours that make up the two dancers - a piece of cake, indeed. If you`d like to have a go at this design yourself, you can find it in Cross Stitcher Issue 211).

Another Christmas present was this blackwork picture of a street in Hythe from Mary Hickmott`s New Stitches magazine (Issue 183), which I absolutely adored and made for my parents - who, incidentally, brought a picture for us from my uncle this year, and since my Mum wrapped all their presents here to save the wrapping paper from getting torn in the suitcase, we exchanged almost identically wrapped pictureframes at Christmas. (For the notoriously curious among you, ours is a holographic/3D-kinda sailing ship, which Gregory absolutely adores. And here`s the one we gave to them:

Finally, here`s another present that Tam and I got but it`s also home-made. Long story short, this year I asked for flannel duvet covers but because of the different pillow sizes in Hungary, my Mum didn`t want to buy whole sets and then throw half of them away, so she bought the material instead and - knowing that I`d been longing for a decent sewing machine for a while - she bought one for me as soon as she got here. So here are the Xmas prezzie duvet covers that I made for ourselves with my brand new Argos sewing machine: