Friday, May 31, 2013

Zebra Beaders Exhibition pic heavy

A couple of days ago I went to Lichfield to see an Exhibition of bead work in the Heritage Centre and it was well worth the trip.







You may remember I've done something similar to the triangle bracelet


The Sphere is on my to do list


He reminds me of Scrat from the Ice Age movies



I have lots more pics but they can wait 

Saturday, May 25, 2013

More box projects

I actually finished these last week but have only just got round to posting them, it's been a busy week!

The first of 3 of 5 snowmen sat in the box waiting to be and if your thinking you've seen them before you'd be right it's Ernie although these aren't worked from a kit and the instructions are written differently but they are just the same.

They have clear scarves by request so I gave them all a coloured hat band so they had some colour in their lives :)



Saturday, May 18, 2013

Christmas tree's

Another couple of projects from the box are now finished.

This is also a design from Oak Tree Crafts but this time it's a worksheet project and they aren't listed on the website but you should be able to get them if you ask via email 


Once again a view of my hand as I hold one up so show it off a little better


Thursday, May 16, 2013

Yiota's Cross Stitch kit review

For at least the last 12 months I've seen reviews popping on various blogs for Yiota's Cross Stitch (www.yiotas-xstitch.com) and had the thought flit across my mind that it must lovely to be asked to do one and I was right it is :)

I spent a good hour or more on Sunday afternoon having a good look wander round Yiota's site and eventually narrowed it down to three.

Out of my three this is the one that was chosen for me to review.

It arrived within a couple of days of the arrangement being made in a card backed envelope, no pic of that sorry it's gone off to the great recycling god and besides you all know what they look like.


I love that's it nice and plain with no fancy artwork (other than the expected logo for Yiota) or an array of colour to take away from the lovely big clear pic of the project on the front of the kit.


Turn the pack over and you are greeted with all the thread nice and neatly displayed on bobbins with the number clearly labelled which is a huge bonus and means no sitting scratching your head wondering which colour is which and having to fight with this big hank of thread that will get knotted almost as soon as you try to sort it out!
The thread is Maderia which is one I've not used for along time but there is a DMC conversion on the key which is very useful

I did think it must be very fiddly and time consuming to line all the bobbins up in the pack because I have had kits in the past just like that but with full skeins not bobbins but when I opened it up I found them stuck to an adhesive sheet which had me a little worried cause I thought the back of the thread and bobbin would be sticky when I took them off it but they aren't at all and they came away very easily and it hasn't even made the thread go a little fuzzy


There are 2 sheets of instructions in the kit, one gives you hints and tips and the other is more the actual how to stitch which is very clear and easy to understand but it's written out and  I think that a diagram or two may be useful for complete beginners.
The chart it's self is printed across an A3 page making it nice and clear and big enough to see easily because my design is long and thin I have half the page to make notes on if I want to but has the downside of making it a little difficult to handle and it will have to be folded to make it easier


The fabric is generous, lovely to stitch on and came folded so that the centre was already there for you so all you have to do is put it on the frame, thread the needle that's waiting for you in the corner and get started.
Had the fabric come ready surged it would of been absolutely perfect but that's a minor thing really and is entirely down to my own pref to have my edges oversewn to stop fraying



Overall I think it's one of the best kit's I've ever had my hands on and I will certainly add more of them to my stash in the future.

And yes I've started it today, it is my Birthday today after all and I do treat myself to a new start every year for it :)

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

3 Sidney's all in a row

Last month at one of the beading groups I was handed a box and asked if I could finish off/ do from scratch a few projects by the same member that I did the Santa and Angel for last year. They had been sat in the box for 2 years waiting to be finished and she thought it was time they were.

This is Sidney from Oak Tree Crafts  out of the 3 I've done 2 from scratch and just finished off the other one, he was almost complete and just needed a little work on his hat and his mittens.


And one of them held up on his own so you can see him a little better.



I had the most fantastic surprise earlier this evening when Lucy and Teejay appeared on my doorstep.
It's my Birthday on Thursday and they came up to surprise me for it and they certainly did that I was speechless 

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Zoo update

I'm quite pleased with the amount I got done this weekend and have now reached the point where all the stitching is mine from now on no more figuring out what colour the odd missed stitches are so it *should* go a bit quicker now


Friday, May 10, 2013

TUSAL time

Doesn't seem like 5 minutes have passed since last month's TUSAL post and yet here we are again all sharing our orts.

This month I've added to my 'collection' with Lupins, The Zoo, Esther Sleepe, Poinsettia Place, Curly Swirl, Garden Pincushion ball and of course lots of nymo, KO etc from beading.



Find out about the TUSAL here

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Santa's village and The Zoo

I finally finished Poinsettia Place on Friday evening, it took me almost 2 months to do and I don't know why.   I'm keeping my fingers crossed the rest of the village doesn't take me so long


And my weekend progress on The Zoo, I'm almost at the point of it being my stitching which means it should go quicker as I won't be spending ages figuring out what has and hasn't been done.


Thursday, May 02, 2013

Bugle Kiss Bracelet

Another one of Mum's kit has been made up at last and it's one I'm glad to see the back of!
Every time I went to work on it there was a problem, first off Mum gave the beads and instructions but the bit she'd started then no Nymo of the right colour and lastly no clue how long I needed to make it!
So when I sat down to work on it a few days ago I fully expected something else to be wrong but it never happened and I got it done finally.
It was a bit boring and very repetitive to do but it's lovely now it's done but I won't be doing another


The beaded bead that's part of the clasp and better idea of what it looks like.


The kit came from With Love crafts

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

April progress & May Goals


For April I said
Finish Poinsettia House  Not quite I have the scroll bit at the bottom left
Start North Pole PO  No
Stitch a SOLAK square  Yes and posted it off as well
Stitch an ornament  No
Make good progress on The Zoo  Could of done more but at least it did progress

For May I'd like to
Finish Poinsettia House
Start North Pole PO
Pick a Birthday start
Stitch an ornament
Make good progress on The Zoo
Get Garden pinball started and at least half finished

I stitched for 47 hours 11 mins in April, had 2 new starts and finished both of them and I spent time with my needle every day

Current PHD Total = 32