Double Dog and Fizzy Moon

I almost forgot to post about Double Dog! 😲😱😂

This cute little pup, designed by Makiko, is the free gift with the latest issue of Cross Stitch Crazy (250). As far as I know, he has no name - only I call him Double Dog, because I got to stitch him twice, once in May and once in July. Yep, some of the Christmas stuff gets prepared that much in advance (so no wonder the odd pup goes walkies occasionally). 😉 But the main thing is that he and his little robin friend reappeared for showtime:

And still on the subject of Christmas cards: last weekend I did some private stitching (IKR? 😱) and finished this Fizzy Moon for my mom-in-law. Hubby chose it from my stash (clearly, a man who has no idea of what backstitch is), but it got done and after my freshly ordered super-sticky double sided tapes arrived, I even made up the card so am well pleased with my effort - hope she`ll like it too! 😊

polar bear and printer`s tray

OK, if I don`t post tonight, I might never do (I know I`ll be snowed under for the next week or two). #accidentalpoem

Last week, issue 275 of The World of Cross Stitching came out and the free gift with the magazine is this cute little polar bear cub, designed by Angela Poole:

Isn`t he a sweetie pie? 😍 I stitched him around the same time as that two-sided snowman bauble, i.e. still during The Great Metallic Shortage, so the sparkly snowflakes were added later, and I love how they appear in the clever aperture card:

And today the latest issue of Cross Stitcher (338) hit the UK shops, with my printer`s tray on the cover:

This folksy project was designed by Faye Walsh from Little Dove Designs and I had great fun with it. As you can see, I got one big piece of aida to stitch it on, which was then later cut to size and fitted in the tray`s compartments. I always enjoy simple designs with hardly any backstitch between two fiddly, labour intensive pieces, and this printer`s tray project with its bright, cheerful colours was a breath of fresh air. I took close-ups of the individual patterns, hope you like them, happy stitching! 😊

singing mice and Aladdin

Yesterday I had two new magazines delivered (yay!) so I`ve got some pics to share. 😊 First up, the cover kit that is the free gift with this month`s Cross Stitch Crazy (issue 249). It`s another cute Margaret Sherry pic, this time of three little mice singing Christmas carols - and there`s even a wee red hoop in the kit to frame the finished stitching, how cool is that? 🤗

And from today, issue 151 of Cross Stitch Gold is available in the UK shops, with my Carol Thornton cushion in it of a cat that I affectionately named Aladdin - you`ll see in a minute why. Coz from just the tabby, it might not be that obvious...

15 hours

But then this happened:

24 hours

And even though I knew he was lying on a cushion or rug, all I saw was this:

But then I started to add the paisley border and it looked less magic carpety and more Christmassy:

30 hours

Finally, after 70 hours, it was complete:

And I love how turning it into a cushion transformed it: I`m surprised every time I look at the finished item how different it looks with the edge of the design touching the cushion`s piping and those four paisley corners were made to measure! 😍 I`m a big Carol Thornton fan (as it happens, I`m stitching another one of her pictures for a later issue of Gold atm) and I`m already excited about the wintry watermill I see in the preview of issue 152. I loved that beach cottage that was in a recent Gold too, and also her autumn watermill - who knows, maybe I`ll start a wall of "Buildings by Carol Thornton" one day, when I have loads of time (ha! Ha. HA!). Happy stitching!

private zoo - thanks to Superpostie 🤗

Oh my, oh my, oh my! Still dizzy from hyperventilating a bit and legs still shaky from all the happy dancing I`ve been doing - but look at what postie`s delivered! 😮😍

Remember the tiger, the koalas and the lambs I stitched a while ago? Well, today I got them back... *continues to scream the house down*

Aaaaaaand it`s October! 😲 Which means: Merry Christmas, everyone! 😆

This week, issue 274 of The World of Cross Stitching hits the UK shops, and the Cover Star (their words, not mine btw!) is this super sweet design by Margaret Sherry of three kittens in Christmas stockings. Well, that`s the official title anyway - but I think that wee mouse steals the show hands down! 😄 I`ve got a few progress pics for this project, my favourites being the two between 30 and 32 hours - that`s when I added the green backstitch to the needles of the tree and I lurved the difference it made.

7 hours

14 hours

19 hours

30 hours

32 hours

35 hours - finished! 😊

And here they are, nicely framed in the magazine:

Now, I can also share some pics of the Durene Jones Cover Kits Galore Event that is happening these past couple of weeks: last week, the latest issue of Crazy came out with "our" robin gift tags (more on those in a mo) but first, the snowman bauble kit that is the free gift with this issue of WOCS.

When I saw the wee pack, for a split second I wondered if I just dreamt that this had two sides - but no, if you check the bottom left corner, there`s the back of the snowman. 😊 And if you`re really eagle-eyed, you may also spot that the finished bauble has metallic BS added that`s missing from my original pics - the threads didn`t arrive in time so the team had to add the snowflakes, etc. in-house (there you go, a little behind-the-scenes info for ya). 😉

So as I said, last week issue 248 of Cross Stitch Crazy was published, and its cover gift is also by Durene Jones: a set of 8 little Christmassy robins that have been turned into gift tags. I loved stitching these, as well as the front-and-back snowman - they were fun, festive and cheerful, just the kind of project to put me in the Christmas mood, no matter what month of the year. 😃 Happy stitching, everyone!

cosy autumn sampler - Cross Stitcher 336

This week the latest issue of Cross Stitcher is out in the UK, and in it is this gorgeous design by Rebecca Spencer that collects all the things we love about autumn in one curl-up-on-the-sofa-under-a-blanket-and-revel-in-the-cosy-feeling sampler. 

While you try to make up your mind whether the teddy is your favourite or that mug of hot chocolate, may I just point out that there`s a sewing machine there too? *squeals excitedly* 😉 And talking about sewing: it`s too late now but I wish I had taken photos before adding the backstitch - as it is, you`ll just have to take my word for it that I had that deeply satisfying feeling you get when after a few well-placed stitches, a splodge of reds and oranges turns into a basket of apples, or a rectangle of blue into the padded back of an armchair. #clever

I have a few close(r)-ups for this project, here they are:

Hmm, that last one`s a bit flash-bleached... anyway, you get the idea. 😉 In other news: some of the DMC projects I stitched a few months ago have been launched now so I can add them to my photo album here. This pair of love birds was a sweet little exercise as the fabric is pre-printed so I only had to stitch the birds themselves and the background is already done. #noice

And around the same time, I stitched these gorgeous flowers too - I`m glad to see the kit is available to buy now. Thank you for scrolling through all these pics, happy stitching!

Christmas crackers, baubles and Russian dolls

Another month, another post. (By the way, how can it be September already?!?). This week, there are a couple of new magazine issues out - first up, Crazy 247, with which the free gift is a set of two cute Russian doll felties, designed by Cheryl McKinnon. I`ve always loved matryoshka dolls, ever since I was a child, so I had great fun stitching this pair:

Issue 273 of The World of Cross Stitching is about to hit the UK shops too, so I can finally share pics of the gorgeous Christmas crackers that Fiona Baker designed. I enjoyed this little detour from the "stitch it, frame it, hang it on the wall" routine: while I usually like to work on big pictures, from time to time it`s nice to make something that shows a different way of displaying one`s stitching. And this project ticked all those boxes: novelty element? Check. Christmas stitching? Check. Traditional Christmas colours of red, green and gold? Check. Something that not only looks like a Christmas cracker (i.e. already a winner) but recycles loo rolls? Say no more. 😄

There`s a handy tutorial in the magazine that shows the process of turning these festive napkins into awesome crackers:

...so that one could decorate the Christmas table like this:

Awesomeness! 😃 In other news, we just spent our first weekend away in the new (i.e. new to us) camper van - talk about awesomeness! Of course, I couldn`t just leave the house for two whole days without any stitching - so I took a piece of aida with me and some variegated thread, and I made a bauble for Mr X Stitch`s Christmas tree at Standen House (if you`d like to find out more about the project and/or download the free bauble patterns, you can do so here). And even though it looks more like a strange planet than a bauble, I hope it`ll fit in with the rest of the hoops on that beautiful stitchy tree this Christmas. 😊