memory jars - Cross Stitcher 334

What a great wee surprise to come back to from holiday: Susan Bates` memory jars pic is out in the latest issue of Cross Stitcher! 😃

"Surprise" because it was supposed to be in issue 335, according to my paperwork, but some projects must have been shuffled around - maybe just to amaze me with yet another strange little coincidence in life? (Yeah, coz the universe is out there to amuse me.) 😆 Anyway, so while on holiday, we went to see my BFF, who works as an event organiser for one of the museums in Budapest, and they recently opened a Frida Kahlo exhibition.

Obviously, that is not inside the museum: it`s the Wee Man posing with Eugene of Savoy just outside, because he has to climb up on every single thing. (My son, not Eugene of Savoy). Anyway, so imagine my surprise when I came back and saw this cover:

What are the odds, eh? *shakes head, bemused* And the next surprise was to finally learn the name of the designer of the memory jars (for some reason, it`s never included on the paperwork that I get with Stitcher projects). Although with this one, I had my suspicions. 😉 My first clue was the beach scene, but the warm yellows, reds and oranges seemed familiar too, I think they`re very characteristic of her designs, and now the mag confirmed that it is, indeed, by Susan Bates. 😊

I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this project. Each jar took 4-5 hours (40 hours in total), so I did 1 or 2 a day, depending on my mood, just revelling in the feeling of accomplishment that you get when you stitch card-sized designs that you can start and finish within one day. The colours are gorgeous, the backstitch gave each little pic amazing detail, the captions were quick work, loved the easiness of the aida... as I said, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole project. 😉 I took a photo of each individual wee scene, the lighting (as usual) is not the greatest but hopefully, you can nevertheless see a bit more detail. Happy stitching!

coastal scene and psychedelic hippo

Last Friday the latest issue (318) of Cross Stitcher hit the UK shops and it has the beautiful coastal scene on the cover that I stitched a few months ago.

It`s a Maria Diaz design at its best: patches of colour that make it easier to break the whole down to manageable areas, `daily bits` that help the project grow so much faster. The flowers in the foreground (1 day), the sea (2 days), the cliffs with the lighthouse (1 day), the beach and the harbour with the little houses (2 days) - and then, instead of spending another day or two backstitching... hardly any BS to add because it`s more like a watercolour painting! 😍

Fair enough, it took me a month to finish it, but only because I had the flu for 3 weeks in the meantime - fact is, it can be stitched in a week (if you need an urgent last-minute present for someone) because it`s one of those projects that you can`t put down, you know the type I mean? I think every stitcher is familiar with the concept of `I`ll just finish this little bit here and then I`m off to bed` and then you stay up till 2 a.m. 😂

The above-mentioned flu made me rethink a few things and I realised that the only time I have for myself is time I spend sick in bed, unable to do anything anyway - not exactly quality me-time. 😩 So I`ve slowed down a bit and now I can make room for other stuff too, e.g. I picked up knitting again and finished the little psychedelic hippo I started months and months ago. I named her Lucy after Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and put her in my Etsy shop for someone to fall in love with. 😁 I also dug out my Personal Stitching but I can`t show any pics of it yet, it was supposed to be my parents` Christmas present in 2016 but hopefully, they`ll get it this year. Happy stitching, folks!

I`m finally famous!!!

I wasn`t going to write today but this has just happened and anyway, I might as well celebrate the fact that I have...ta-dah: TWELVE followers! Yes, a dozen! And they`re not all just family any more, lol! Besides, I`ve just spent almost the whole day with my Mummy-in-law and I`ve got a new commission: she saw the hat I`d made yesterday and now she wants one too (before you think there`s something wrong with her taste, no, she didn`t see Gregory`s photo and no, she doesn`t want it in the same vibrant colours, just a plain black beanie). According to my laconic Scotsman of a hubby, she probably needs it for going to funerals - the cheek of him! So, I quickly amended my plans - I meant to stitch the freebie bookmark that came with WOCS?/Crazy last month (?) but 1) we gave her something similar a couple of years ago anyway (not that it matters: she could use a different one in every lovey-dovey she`s got) and 2) I`d rather give her something she really wants or needs. I already started it but as there`s no point in showing a picture of it just yet, I`ve decided to share with you some photos instead which I came across while looking for something completely different:

I forgot to add this on Valentine`s Day - this is the card I got from my wee boy :)

I accidentally found this in the archives, the model I stitched for Bothy Threads, called Sand Castle

Another model for Bothy Threads, a sporty sampler from Kate`s experimental Paddington series

Oh, and I almost forgot: today, in Dundee, I finally found a copy of Cross Stitch Collection 219 (now that 220 is already supposed to be on sale), so I`ve got my little owls where they belong, in my folder (remember? Ticking boxes...) and I`ve seen my Easter cards... OK, they`re actually Lucie Heaton`s, but you know what I mean - so I saw them featured from next month`s issue. Well, I haven`t bought issue 220 yet and if you haven`t either, here`s a sneak peek:

And finally - good job I didn`t mean to write today at all! - another surprise waited for me when we got home from Dundee: my copy of Cross Stitch Crazy 175, with my (well, again, it`s Jenny Barton`s, technically) Baby ABC in it... and for the first time ever, my name is mentioned!!! Yay! I`m going back to knitting MIL`s bank robber hat with the hugest grin on my face!

coastal fridgies

Here are the first four of my Coastal Fridgies series (4x5 cm fridge magnets worked on plastic canvas):