Last Minute Finish

A few weeks ago, I decided on the spur of the moment to stitch a last minute present for my mom for Christmas. She loved my Tree of Stitches that I finished earlier this year, but she wanted a green tree.

So I did a green tree. I used several silks - Carrie's Creations Foxfire and HDF Primitive Barn, BeLeaved, White Chocolate, and Old Maid of the Soil - stitched on 32 ct lugana hand-dyed by me.

I had planned on stitching half a section per day (there are 14 sections/types of specialty stitches), and this meant I should be able to finish it by Christmas Eve.

Well, I got a little carried away and finished it, beads and all, last night. A week ahead of schedule!!

My mom is a fan of sparkles and bling, so I used 4 different Mill Hill petite seed beads - Emerald Green, Bay Leaf, Ice, and Purple.

I'm going to swing by Michael's today and see if I can find some matboard. I might even get it framed in time!

Crafting Trifecta

Three things to share today ...

First up, the last TUSAL post of 2012. It's incredible not only how much stitching I actually managed to get done, how many projects I put stitches into, but how full my ort jar is! Holy cow, I never thought I'd actually fill the jar. It's very cool that I can look at the different layers and recall which projects I was working on at that time.

Second item on the sharing list ... Christmas cards!  These two were specially made for two very dear friends of mine.

The white and silver card is for my friend Jordana of White Cabana. I challenge myself to make an almost all-white card for her every year. She loved this year's effort. :) Best compliment - she mentioned how much I've improved from when I first started papercrafting. That makes me feel good. Could you imagine if I had the time to papercraft more often?!?

Finally, some progress on the spur-of-the-moment Christmas present for my mom (aka her Tree of Stitches). Stitched on 32 ct hand-dyed (by me) lugana using HDF and Carrie's Creations silks.

She wanted a green tree, well, she's getting it!!

2012 UCJC - Day 13

My stitching didn't start off too well today ... but it ended on a good note. :)

Today I started the first kit in my UCJC line-up - a Mill Hill bead kit called Diamond Holiday from the Christmas Jewels Charmed Ornament line. It's stitched on perforated paper, and as I started I was rather disgruntled with it. The first stitches just looked all funky and funny and awkward. BUT I was good and kept on going even though I wanted to put it away.

I'm glad I kept at it because it's starting to come together. I'm about half done the cross stitches, then it'll be on to the beading. It should only take another evening session or two to finish it (once UCJC is done).

Disappointment, Christmas Cards, UCJC, and My Boy

I have lost my stitching bug. It's gone -- been MIA for almost a week now. I was working like mad trying to finish page 3 of HSH, and as I got to the last 5-7%, I got bogged down. Not because of confetti or anything like that, but because I HATED the colours. I was stitching pinks and purples, a wonderful change from the array of mustards, oranges, and browns I'd previously been working with. I should have been delighted, delirious, or over the moon!! But, I hate the colours. They look nothing like they should and I think it looks hideous. I was so upset that I had to stop stitching and tuck the piece away. I don't know what to do with it now. Bleh.

See what I mean? (Here's a close up.) Compare it with the pic in my sidebar. Not even remotely close. Grr.

I (of course) didn't make enough Christmas cards in the last 3 months, so I have been a little frantic trying to make a few last minute cards. I used Versamark to do a subtle holly and berries pattern on the background, but it didn't work out quite as well as I hoped. I'll try clear embossing next time, that might give it a little more oomph.

This next one is for my parents. It's simple, but I really like it. Some of the best fussy cutting I've done to date.

The trick is to use distress inks on the little white edges to cover them up (worked like a charm), then I spritzed it with shimmer mist. They look magical now!

I have been preparing for the 2012 Ultimate Crazy January Challenge. I have 30 of the 31 projects kitted up and ready to go. The only one I'm missing is Metamorphasis by Ink Circles, and I still need the chart, fabric and threads! I'm hoping my LNS comes through for me before January!

See -- my semi-organized piles! (And my treadmill put to good use.)

Lastly, I have pictures of my boy to show you. I've never done this before, but he's so freaking cute, I just couldn't resist. He's a 5-year-old Miniature Schnauzer named Toka.

He hates the rain, so sometimes I let him run inside instead.

PS -- IHSW is coming up this weekend. It's the last one of 2011. Cross your fingers that my mojo comes back in time!

Patchwork Cards

I saw a card somewhere in blogland (I'm terrible at remembering where I see inspiration - I know, I'm sorry) that used 3 patterned papers as a background and it made me think a little bit of a patchwork quilt. So, I took that idea a little further and created a Christmas card and a Halloween card.

I went to my local Fabricland the other day, and found some great lace. I've never used fabric on a card before, but I love the subtle texture it adds. I also kinda dig the "frosting" I added to the sentiment. I love heat embossing!

Retail therapy and some Christmas cards

It's been rainy and gloomy here and I have been buried in schoolwork this week. As a result, I have been rather grumpy. Naturally, I figured some retail therapy was in order! So off I went to my LSS. I picked up a new Fiskars paper cutter, some Spellbinders dies, and a 6x6 pad of paper that is loaded with butterflies (which makes it the perfect paper for cards for my mom). I have also discovered Glue Dots -- and they are AWESOME. How did I craft without them?!?!

Anyway, I decided to try out my new Christmas Spellbinder dies. LOVE 'EM!

I really like this first card, so simple but looks great.

I made two of the next card; they are similar but not identical. (I've only taken photos of one though.) I even practiced using my distress inks. I still haven't quite got the hang of them yet.

I probably should have resist embossed the snowflakes, but I was just too lazy to pull out all my heat embossing stuff. I kinda dig the swiss dots folder embossing on the snow. First time I've used that folder. (I bought it and forgot about it -- oops!)

Birthdays, Christmas and More

I told you there would be more cards coming!! I managed to get a few of the personalized cards done, as well as a few Christmas cards. The rest will have to wait until next week sometime, since I am going away for the weekend.

First up, is a card I'm strangely thrilled with. I made this for a good friend of mine who is defending her thesis proposal this week. Woohoo!

I really don't like the colour orange -- I'd even go so far as to say I hate it. But I picked up a used pad of 6x6 paper at a garage sale and I decided that this would be a good opportunity to use some of it. As the card started to come together, I started pulling different shades of orange cardstock out of my stash, then I found some orange flowers and gemstones. I have no idea how I ended up with so much orange!! But I think it really worked.

Next up is a birthday card for my brother. I don't often make masculine cards, and I (like many others) struggle when I try. What do I do with all that space when I can't put ribbons or flowers or other bling on it?!?! I think this turned out pretty well despite the lack of bling.

And finally, a few Christmas cards to add to my growing hoard. The bow on the first card was a pain to make, but it looks okay. For the second card, I struggled with the blahness of it -- then I added the snowflakes and it suddenly wasn't such a failure!

Don't you worry now -- there are still more cards on the way next week!!

Cards, cards, glorious cards!

Okay not really. I haven't had time to craft much lately, but I have been upping the bling quotient on the few cards I have made.

First, a glimmery, shimmery, clean & simple Christmas card:

And my Mom's birthday card (it'll be late because I don't want to send it in the mail and squash the butterflies, so she'll get it the weekend after her birthday) with a heap of faux pearls, some shimmery butterflies and even a little glossy accents!

Christmas is coming!!!

To be honest, I'm a bit of a humbug. (Okay, a big humbug.) But I like making (and giving) cards, and what better time of year then at Christmas? So, I have started stockpiling a variety of Christmas/holiday themed cards. It also provides a great excuse to buy more stamps and paper!

My first card was actually made because I was practicing resist techniques with distress inks.

I picked up a new snowflake embossing folder for my Cuttlebug. I just had to play with it!! Plus I like the clean and simple design. I made 3 of these; each with basic variations in paper etc.

I made 3 of these cards. I just changed the placement of paper to make each one unique.

Too many finishes means a lost stitcher

It's been a while since my last update. The tree has gone and come back from the framer's (I forgot to take a picture before I took it down to my parent's place, so a final picture will be forthcoming in early January) and it looks stunning!! I am in love with it and it will likely kill me to give it away. The butterflies are still at the framer's and a picture will be up as soon as I get it back.

Now that my two bigger projects with deadlines are done, I'm feeling a little lost. I spent a good week not really knowing what to stitch. I knew I needed to stitch a few Christmas cards but I wasn't that motivated. I did want to start a new big project, but wouldn't allow myself since I had so many little things to do. I have two stitch-a-longs to work on, plus a slew of Christmas ornaments and cards.

Just this past week I got my stitchy bug back, and I finally made a little progress. I managed to finish the stitching for three Christmas cards. The awesome sparkly fabric doesn't show on the snowflake and the smaller Christmas tree. :(

My LNS is hosting two stitch-a-longs this winter, one is a blackwork piece (pics to come in a future post) and the other is a specialty Ink Circles mandala. I chose my own colourway for it and am stitching it in Vikki Clayton silks on 25 ct antique white lugana. It's a long way from being finished, but I'm really liking how it's shaping up.