Steph's birthday and the Noise

Hello lovely people, 

Welcome to my new followers too, my blog seems a bit higgledy piggledy at the moment with posts all over the place. It was a failed attempt at a bit of tidying up.  Onwards and upwards. 

It was Steph's birthday last week and I stitched her this Big Bang Theory quote (which sounds much better if you say it in a Sheldon voice!) 

I sent a little bundle of stuff too including a filled tin from Paperchase (best thing to happen to our city in ages) sweets, lipbalm, candles, socks  and a little sketchbook. 

Not the best photo, anyone else finding the clocks going back causing them  problems with their photography? If I haven't taken them by 4pm then the only place is our kitchen table with any degree in reasonable light. 

As many of you know I'm quite involved in my local church and this is what the youth did over half term in a project called The Noise which they did with 9 other church youth groups from across the city. Around 90 young people and 45 youth leaders did community projects like helping at food bank, a homeless day centre and visiting at elderly sheltered accommodation. They did 2 art installations on the high street. This is the before I die... one. 

So my question for you all is what would you put on the board? 

Before I die I want to...

Mine was get a degree and I did also put feed giraffes. 

That's all for today. I'm busy now with my  Christmas makes and I'm trying to put together a tutorial and a freebie design for the biscobell, so look out for those. 

Happy Sunday xx

Gifted Gorgeousness April check in

It's Gifted Gorgeousness SAL time again (well near enough!) Jo at Serendipitous Stitching hosts a monthly SAL where we stitch on something that uses gifted fabric, threads, kit, or finishing bits or is made as a gift for someone.

As I mentioned at the end of my last post Steph and I had an Easter swap too.

I made some Easter bunting inspired by the bunny brooch Steph O sent me.

I also stitched this gorgeous design from Snowflower Diaries. I love some of the designs on this site, a new favourite for sure.

I did add a little bow button to the design too but didn't take a close up. 

I'm currently stitching a small blackwork kit by Mottingham Cottage designs which was gift to me. im stitching it on evenweave Steph dyed for me a while ago.

I hope all my UK readers are enjoying this lovely weather. We've got a couple of busy weeks as both my kids have birthdays. 

Happy crafting 

Anniversary samplers

Hi all,

Firstly apologies for some random old posts that have shown up at the top of your feeds. I've been having a bit of a blog tidy up ready for it to be freshened up by hubby. I'm not sure what I've done but there you go, feel free to ignore them.

Anyhoo, here is the finished sampler. I'm pleased to say it was well received and I'm very happy  with how it turned out.

I made a couple of small changes to it, I wasn't keen on the green thread listed in the key so changed that one for slightly brighter one and added gold beads rather than the white ones suggested. 

I slightly changed the wording to and added my in-laws names and put two dates rather than just this years date as the chart showed. 

I ended up framing it in such a rush as my plan had been to pop into town for the frame and mount on Friday but due to boy being virusy, that completely went out the window. A little more time might of made it slightly straighter!

As I mentioned in my gifted gorgeousness post I used a chart booklet I've had for donkeys years. I did a sample for their 30th wedding anniversary from it too, and whilst we were there at the weekend I took a photo of them together...

Each sampler in the booklet is a slightly different size so it's not my dodgy stitching although there probably is some dodgy stitching in the first one. It's surprising looking back how I would have chosen to frame the sampler differently

If you're curious by the charts came from them - they were from booklet called seven treasured anniversaries by framecraft which I picked up for the bargain price of 20p when Beatties became house of Fraser. 

Anyway, back to stitching on Steph's birthday present...I have less than a week. Eek! 

Thanks for stopping by xx

Lovely surprise post and a couple of little finishes

Hello!
Thank you for all your lovely coments over the last few weeks. Sorry if I've not replied. My ME has reared it's ugly head and sometimes I just forget to.

I had a lovely surprise in the post a few weeks ago. I won a prize on Christine's blog. She is a brilliant upcycler and a whizz with the sewing machine so she sent me this cute cat, some pretty braid and a wooden stitching blank.

I've had a couple of finishes too. I did the little Royal Guard cover kit from an old Cross Stitcher.

I also completed the February Needlecraft Haven challenge which was a freebie stitch from here.
I loved finishing this one off. Christine chooses some fab designs. It's stitched on some of Steph's hand dyed evenweave.

March is a bit bigger but It's a sweet one. I'm hoping to have time to do it. Other than on my tree I don't have any stitched pieces for Christmas so it'll be nice to frame and hang this one up.

I've also stitched this biscornu from a chart I found on Pinterest. I've tried to find it on the link but the page seems to have 20 other designs but not the one I used. I stitched it in one of my favourite Anchor vari threads. It was a rather belated present for Steph's birthday. Happy Birthday Steph!!

March has turned itno a really busy stitching month, The lovely Steph at Show and Tell (and a different Steph from above!) and I are doing a 4 seasons swap this year with the spring one being echanged at the end of the month. I've already stitched one cute little thing and I have the everything ready for the next stitch. I've lots of ideas for this one so I just need lots of time and a fully co operative stitchy bug. I also have my Mum's birthday and of course Mothering Sunday to stitch for too. I need to make a wedding present for the beginning of April and fit in the NH SAL too. EEK!

Best I get on then! Thanks for stopping by xx

Jewellery, Florentines and the Olympic Torch

Me again!
I've had a bit of a jewellery making phase recently and here are the makes, I've shared the button bracelets and necklaces on other posts but here's the rest. My dearest friend Sarah asked me to make her a bracelet to match an outfit she'd brought for a wedding and gave me 2 weeks notice to design, order beads, make and get it to her (eek!)
So here is the Black and Magenta charm bracelet I made for her and I couldn't resist making a matching necklace and earrings for her, (even though she had brought something to match already).

I also brought these lovely wooden discs to make a bracelet. I love them and I've worn it a few times already.

I've had a bit of a baking fad recently and to be specific Florentines. My friend gave me a lovely recipe for Cherry and Coconut ones and I've had fun making a few batches. They are morelike a tray bake than a traditional round thin Florentine, but very yummy indeed. Percy pocket bug popped by to snaffle a crumb or two.

I took the kids down to see the Olympic Torch when it passed through our town last week. It was very exciting to see it even if I did make the children wait 2 hours on a park bench! We didn't see all the sponsor convoy but we saw the torch and also a hand over that happened a bit down from us. I'm full of pride to be British at the moment. I've never worn so much red, white and blue and I just love that I've been able to witness once in a lifetime events like the Torch and the Diamond Jubilee.

Well that's it for now and I'll fill you in on my biscornu swap later in the week. Hope you are all enjoying your bank holiday weekend. K. x

It's me

Good morning to followers old and new. Welcome if you're new and thank you for putting up with me if you've been with me for a while.

I've been very lucky this week to have my blog mentioned in Crosstitch collection magazine and a little interview too. It was quite surreal when they emailed me to ask if I would be happy to be featured as their blogger of the month I did actually make me think "have you read my blog?"

So here is my bit in the magazine.

They asked me to choose some of my favourite projects and I couldn't not let them have a photograph of my rather large collection of biscornu and small stitched cushions. 

I've also been having a little mooch on the bloggersphere and following a few new blogs. I look forward to reading those too. 

In other news I finished the sampler for my in-laws and I'm pleased to say they seemed to really like it I'll do a little blog on that next. 

Hope you're all having a great weekend. Thanks for reading. 

Kerry x 

October gifted gorgeousness

Well the 15th is rolled around again very quickly. So once again it is time for gifted gorgeousness. This SAL is run by Jo of serendipitous stitching. Each month we share what we been working on that is either a gift for someone or stitched using threads, fabric or finishing stuff gifted to us. 

Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that I rarely stitch for me usually for others so it's not always easy to find something that you haven't seen, especially as those who I regularly stitch for read my blog to so I can't get away with many WIP's. 

Anyhoo long ramble over, here is what I'm working on...

It is my in-laws Ruby wedding anniversary on Saturday so I've stitched been stitching them a little sampler. It's from a booklet I picked up many years ago, well at least 10 as I stitched them sampler from it for their Pearl anniversary. I got it for the bargain price of 20p! I think having stitched two of the designs I've probably had my money's worth! 

I did change the design slightly to enable me to personalise it and I shall put in an extra line towards the bottom to put the dates in. It's taken me about four hours to do that bit with at least half of that fighting with metallics and I still have two bands to stitch in the gold yet. I'm planning to just frame it quite simply with a gold frame. I'll try and get a pic of the other when I go up. I'd only been stitching about a year when I did the Pearl one. 

I was very lucky to have a lovely parcel of goodies from Steph this week. Steph sent me A cosy green scarf knitted by her mum, a Christmas mug, candle, Christmas craft magazine with some Dolly pegs to make one of the crafts and a lovely little stitched snowman which I believe is Barbara Anna design and a fizzy moon card just because I had set off the Christmas travelling box and mostly because Steph is a fabulously generous person. 

Here is a close-up of the card and snowman. 

So once this sample is finished for the in-laws I shall be finishing off Steph's birthday present and then Christmas crafting will be in full swing. 

Look forward to seeing what you've been doing with gifted gorgeousness. 

Byeeeeeee!!!!

The 'C' word

Hello everyone

Yes I dared to mention the C word in October. Well as Strictly has started it means the countdown has begun. Did you watch it last night? Jay's jive was a-maz-ing!!!

The Travelling box ladies and I are having a small Christmas version of the travelling box that made its merry way to Cornwall this week. We decided that we would only take four items or less as Christmas can be a rather busy time for crafters. As the box was starting from scratch I made 10 things to get the box on its way. It's been a couple of years since I enjoyed crafting  for Christmas as it's always seemed a bit of a rush.

So here are my makes. First up is a little biscornu from a pattern I designed myself

Here's the back. Just a simple border so I could pop on a Christmassy button. 

Next up are a couple of snowman designs, the stitched one is a freebie I found on Pinterest.

 the wooden one uses buttons and a heart from button-it and coloured using gelly roll pens. The little wreath is made up from 1" hexagons. I made a few of these last year too. 

On a quilting theme I made this little coaster using 1" hexagons again. It has a  tree design in the middle. It's pictured with a granny square mug cosy. As you all know granny squares are about the extent of my crocheting ability 

I love this little nativity scene.

 

Next up is a little tree made of buttons 

I made a little stocking for each of the ladies and filled them with a little chocolate. 

Lastly is the biscobell. I found the make up instructions on Pinterest and designed the stitching myself. If only you could have seen me trying to photograph

it. 

It's stitched inside too...

I'm so proud of this. 

This eek is a crazy busy stitching week. I have a small 4" x 6" sampler to do for my in laws ruby wedding anniversary on Saturday and I want to get Steph's birthday present stitched. Busy busy! 

Have a great week all xx

Work in progress

Hello friends

Just a quick blog to share my two current stitchy projects. I managed to get a really good go on queen of hearts whilst watching the formula one last week so here is my latest pic of it and the one from gifted gorgeousness for comparison 

Not the best picture, I took it just as I put it away for the evening. I've started the swirly leaf bit on the right too. I've been stitching it on the bus so adding about 15-20 mins a day to it. I've about a dozen stitches still to do on the left too. 

I did start a new project last night for a birthday present. I'm stitching it over 1 on 28 ct hand dyed from Steph. I won't tell you any more about it but you should see a finish at the beginning of November. 

I'm spending the day at mums with the children and I've brought it with me to do a bit on. It helps if you bring the threads though! 

I'm all finished making for the travelling Christmas box, it'll be on its way next week so I can share all my makes next weekend. We've finished the granny square swap too, so I'll write a post about that too. 

Have a great weekend 

Gifted gorgeousness September

Hello,

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and I'm way late for gifted gorgeousness hosted by Jo as serendipitous stitching.

I've not a lot to share as I've been crafting for Christmas! Some of the travelling box ladies and I are having a Christmas edition of the box so I'm making for that so I can send on its way at the end of the month. I've already made 9 things, I just need to get some pom-pom trim and wait for some beads to come to finish the last two. It's been great fun crafting for this one. I designed two of the pieces myself. Here is one before I made it up. I will share them next time. 

I did do a bit on the Scandi heart, although I ended up frogging so much as I was a line out. My progress pic now shows less than last time! I've a deadline on it too. 

I've done a bit on my quilt too although there's not a lot to show as I ran out of hexagon papers, so I couldn't make a lot of hexagons ready to sew in. It's been good fun to have it out again as it had been over a year. 

The granny square swap is on its last round now so I've just got to finish my last one and send it off. I received a lovely parcel of goodies from Joan which I'll share in my next post and show all of the squares together. 

Not the most exciting post today but next month will be full of finishes and progress reports. I'll be stitching for Steph's birthday too and I found two brilliant track so I think she'll love. 

So enjoy the rest of your weekend by for now. 

Travelling box

Hello,

The travelling box has been again and as always it was full of beautifully made things. Here are the things we chose from the

Joan made the wrist warmers and bag of juggling balls. Rae stitched the lovely coaster. Debby made the hair slides. The butterfly bag charm was made by Steph O and Laura made the Hama bead butterfly, notebook, blackwork biscornu and ami piggy. 

The travelling box really is a family affair and the first two makes were made by my hubby (dragonfly) and the heart by the children.

I made two biscornu, both designs came from recent issues of WOXS

The left one is a friendship one, I changed the colours a bit to be a bit brighter and stitched on sparkly aida. The second is blackwork stitched on a dmc pre printed fabric. The fact they have the same buttons is a happy coincidence.

I made some jewellery too. Over the summer hols we've been up to the countryside centre where they've had various workshops. We did the bead one and I made a necklace and earrings for the box. I also crocheted a flower bracelet with teal beads and copper foiled some sea glass. 

I stitched the cover for this little album and made a lavender sachet filled with dried lavender from my garden. 

Now that I've had a good catch up we're back to all the half started stuff for presents. Hopefully I'll have a progress report soon. I'm off to the theatre this afternoon to see The Bodyguard. I'm looking forward to it. 

August Gifted Gorgeousness

Hello, 

It's a lovely sunny afternoon here and we're having a lazy day. I have to do some planning work to do in a bit for church but hopefully it should just be typing up so won't take me long and I can enjoy a bit of crafting this afternoon. 

So on to gifted gorgeousness, Jo at Serendipitous Stitching runs a monthly SAL that I'm hopeless at keeping up with to share things that are made for gifts or using stuff gifted to us. I've three things to show you this time as I shall save my travelling box makes for my next  couple of posts. First are two you have seen and we're both birthday presents

A spot of tea by dragon dreams, stitched for Laura at Strawberry Mouse Crafts

So this ticks a lot of boxes as it was a kit that was gifted, I swapped out the plain white aida for some hand dyed linen from Steph at Show and Tell and given as a gift to my friend Amanda. 

The next one is new! I'm stitching this for my friend Caroline's birthday. The design is from an old cross stitcher. I call Caroline 'queen of hearts' as she is always sewing hearts, so I searched on Pinterest and found this design called queen of hearts. I had the issue deep in my magazine pile so here is my progress so far. I'm loving the design and I'm stitching it in a dinky dyes thread called Aussie Jewels. I'm hoping I have enough thread as I can't find a supplier in the UK of dinky dyes. 

And a bit of a close up

So that's the news, travelling box posts to come! 

Happy Sunday! 

Glorious grannies!

Hello, 

This post is a bit of a crochet fest so bear with if you're not a yarn-a-holic! 

First is the blanket I made for my friends new baby Alice. I knew they were having a girl but I couldn't find a girly wool that I really loved as I wanted a variegated one. Style craft yarns were recommended to me and I found this amazing one called merry-go-round. I did it all in the join as you go method for the squares and scalloped the outer edge. I added a little white flower for detail in the centre. 

Next are some of the lovely granny squares I've been sent as part of the granny square swap I'm doing with some of the travelling box ladies. Joan had the good idea of making the same square as the one you send each month to make the blanket bigger. I'm a little behind with making mine as the internship has been frantic and the travelling box is here too!! (Bet you can't guess what my next two posts will be about!) 

This pic has all the squares I've received so far as we still have 2 rounds to go. I've also had some lovely buttons, threads, ribbon, chocolates and sweets. (A whole pot of jelly beans. Yum!!!)

Rachel also sent me a cute sheep and Steph sent a little ray of sunshine too. 

These are the 4 squares I've sent so far. They all went with a bag of bits and some sweets or chocolate too. 

I've just brought the wool for my August square so I'll be starting that over the next couple of days. I've got a half done blanket that I'm determined to crack on with too, I think that'll be a September project as the evenings draw in. 

Thanks for reading, next up is the travelling box!