Apologies…..

First things first…. I must apologise for not blogging for ages! And it really has been ages 😦

The reason for this is not because I haven’t been crafting, its because life has got in the way a lot. We are currently in the process of packing all our belongings up ready for the move to our very first house next friday. Very excited about owning our own home but equally stressed out about it – just wish I could click my fingers and it would all be moved over – somehow do not think that will happen 😦

Still yet to pack away the craft supplies – I’m determined to leave it to the last minute (because you never know when you might get a few spare minutes to do a bit more crocheting etc!) 🙂

As well as putting our lives into boxes, we have also been busy with wedding plans. Which are coming along nicely now (was not particularly organised to start with!) Invites have now been sent out – just waiting on RSVP’s so that we can organise the seating plan – which I already know will not be an easy task.

The above picture shows a cross stitch card that I did for my Nan’s birthday – stitched it up at pretty much the last minute (good job I have kept a lot of the free kits that I got with magazines!!). It is a Kate Knight design which I am pretty sure it came free with a Cross Stitch Crazy magazine.

I have also been crocheting (still massively addicted to it :)). However, I forgot to take photos of a couple of things I hooked up before I gave them away – one being a three eyed alien toy and the other being a bunny rabbit complete with a pompom tail (first time I have ever made a pompom – took a while but turned out much better than I expected).

I did, however, remember to take a photo of one of the things I crocheted up which is for a new baby that is due to arrive soon……

I used a pattern that ‘HodgePodge Crochet’ posted a while back – it is called Baby’s First Bunny and you can find the post here. I bookmarked it ages ago because I thought it was so cute but did not have a reason to crochet it…..until now! It was so very easy and quick to crochet – the instructions are very easy to follow, will definitely be making more when the time comes 🙂

I am hoping to blog again before the big move happens (and also before the internet gets turned off – will be a few weeks without it 😦 how will I survive not being able to look at my favourite crochet blogs – oh yeah, I know, I have the wordpress app on my iPhone, no excuse to be moody then 🙂 🙂

Ta Ta For Now…..

Miss C xx

My Birthday – 19th March

Above is a picture of the crochet/embroidery books I received for my birthday! Aren’t I a lucky girl?! So many things I want to make but I just don’t know where to begin! PR brought me the super cute crochet book as he knows I love to make little crocheted animals etc (think he wants me to make him something out of it though 🙂 ). Was very spoilt for my birthday by PR as he also brought me a Kindle and a voucher to buy some books for it – I was allowed to open this present early as he knew I would want it for our little trip away (see below), so I actually got to open it 3 days before my birthday – how naughty! 🙂

Also for my birthday, PR and I went to Edinburgh for a couple of nights. I absolutely love Edinburgh – there’s just something about the place, I can’t quite put my finger on it though! Our hotel was lovely if a little far out of the centre for my liking though (still struggle to walk long distances due to my rubbish knee at the moment), but certainly could not fault the service we had. We went to Edinburgh Castle, did an underground tour called The Real Mary Kings Close – where you get to walk the hidden streets underneath the Royal Mile and see where people used to live back in the 17th century.

We also had two lovely meals out, sampled some traditional Scottish Haggis and had a little whisky each (whisky certainly is not our drink of choice but hey we were in Scotland so we had to have some 🙂 ). I am a huge Ian Rankin fan and so had to frequent the pub in which his character, Inspector Rebus, spends many of his evenings drinking – The Oxford Bar. The night of my birthday we spent in a Whisky Bar listening to some live traditional Scottish music – The Whiski Bar – really was a great atmosphere.

Scott Monument is the largest monument to a writer in the world. It commemorates Sir Walter Scott.

The Oxford Bar - both Ian Rankin's and his fictional character Inspector Rebus' watering hole 🙂

So, you can probably guess that I have had a wonderful birthday with some lovely gifts. Cannot wait to sit down later and look at all the beautiful projects in my new books. Will definitely upload some photos soon of projects that I think you may like to see.

Miss C xx

A Scrap Yarn Project

 

After realising I have some yarn scraps to use up, and the recent purchase of a Sat Nav, I thought – why spend lots of money buying a case to hold my gadget and to keep away the scratches, when I can make one! Yay! Project!

I had made a small version of the blooming flower featured on Attic 24’s cushion project yesterday morning and so I knew I definitely wanted to incorporate this on my little gadget cozy!

So I began by measuring the width and height of my gadget and then chaining to roughly the same size as the width (think I actually added an extra chain just so that it was not too snug) and then joined to form a ring. Using double crochet only, I crocheted the corresponding height measurement but adding a couple extra rounds to fit nicely. To form the bottom of the cozy, I worked double crochet out of the front loops only for the first round (to form a defined edge) and then continued normal double crochet for two more rounds with some decreasing in the corner stitches – finally slip stitching the two parts of the bottom together to form a nice flat seam.

I then joined my yarn back to the top as I realised I wanted a tab top so that the gadget would be nice and secure. Again, double crocheting only along one edge of my cozy for two rows and then decreasing two stitches at either end to form a graduated tab. To make the buttonhole, all I did was chain 3 and miss out 3 stitches and then continuing the double crochet row. Here is the front side:

Obviously had to add a lovely purple button to it – I just love rooting around in my buttons jar, I always forget that I do have some lovely buttons that I brought in a little vintage shop in Dinan, France. Ooohh, reminiscing about the beautiful lace trims, ribbons, and buttons this lovely shop had – will definitely have to venture back to the lovely medievel town, Dinan – especially seeing as that was where PR proposed last year 🙂

Anyway back to the project……. where is the blooming flower you might ask?

Here it is! On the back of the cozy 🙂

I’m pleased with this useful and cheap little cozy – I love it when you make something so very useful yet it cost you pretty much nothing (used up small amount of yarn and only a small amount of my time – not that time bothers me as I enjoyed making up my own little pattern for it!)

Hope you like it, and I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Happy Mother’s Day to you mummy’s out there in the blog world – hope you get spoilt.:) I shall be spoiling my Mum tomorrow but then equally I shall be getting spoilt myself as it is my birthday on the 19th and I will only get to see my parents tomorrow. I’m heading nearer and nearer to 30 years old! Eeek 🙂

Miss C xx

 

Finished Design For Mum

 

This is the finished design for my mum’s Mother’s Day Card. Think she will really like it as it is quite simple but still has her favourite things – butterflies and flowers. I’ve attached some plain white paper to the back of the stitched design so that no stitching can be seen through the aida but also because I’m mounting it on some backing paper and do not want that to show through either. I love double sided sticky tape – much less mess than glue – although I do sometimes have trouble getting the backing off, that’s the trouble having no nails 😦

This is the backing paper I have used. Got quite a large pack of these for only 99p in a local craft shop – wish I had brought some other designs as well but we are on a tight budget (what with buying a house, getting married, honeymoon etc 🙂 ). I’ve again used double sided tape to stick the paper to the front side of the card. Looks pretty doesn’t it?!

And here’s the finished card! I was going to have a look through my ribbon stash but I have now decided that it does not need any embellishments etc. Think it would look too busy. It looks great for the upcoming spring time don’t you think? I’ve decided I might do the heart design as well – either as an actual heart hanging or maybe just a card for Mum’s Birthday in June – not sure yet.

Oh and during my crafty time, Lillie decided to sit on some of my stuff (good job it wasn’t on any stitched work!). Bless her, she likes to lie down on random pieces of paper, even if the whole table is free from stuff she will still sit on something! She can sit on our gas bill any day of the week 🙂

Having a lazy Sunday today which is perfect – will do so more crochet later – have a mini project on the go at the moment then it is on to a bigger project soon. Seriously need to use up some of my wool – PR isn’t too impressed that it’s overtaken the living room – however the cats love it. Yet again Lillie picked up some of my wool and trailed it all the way through the house – can’t help but laugh at her xxxxxx

Hope you are all having a lovely lazy Sunday too

Miss C xx

Valentines Day!

I know I am a bit late in saying this but… Happy Valentines Day! Above are the roses my fiancé brought and had delivered today – I love the pot they have come in. The roses are a lovely cerise colour – and hopefully they should last quite a bit longer than normal flowers (just need to not be my usual self with flowers and totally neglect them!).

And here are the designs I cross stitched for his Valentines card – not typical Valentines designs but he is a huge Marvel fan and so thought he would appreciate something more ‘him’. So, photo on the left is my Ironman cross stitch which is actually half the size of the original design – stitched on 28-count evenweave and I have actually only done the whole design in half cross stitches – realised it would take much longer than I had planned if I did full cross stitches. I think, because of the small design and the bold colours, it works quite well in only half stitches.

The photo on the left is my own version of Red Letter Paper Company’s Valentines day card – get original here. I put this design on the inside of the card and Ironman on the front.

 

 

And finally this little fellow is what I crocheted the other day. It’s my little Love Dude for PR. Took me about an afternoon to hook this up as it is quite small and is made up in sections. I think its really cute – reminds me of the Orange Mobile advert ages ago with those white wind up toys in it :

So that’s Valentines Day over for another year – had a lovely meal this evening. I have been thoroughly spoilt by my wonderful husband-to-be! Hopefully I will be able to give him a lovely birthday this weekend 🙂

Miss C xx

Cushion Progress – Second Side

Here is the progress of the second side of my crochet hippy cushion. Have not managed to do as much as I had wanted to but I do try and do a bit each day. Each round is just treble crochet stitches with some increasing in certain areas. Have managed to find a decent round cushion pad for it – think I may put it on our bed when finished.

Have just received some beautiful roses from my wonderful fiancé! They are in a lovely oval pot with butterflies sketched on the side – will upload a photo later.

After finishing my hippy cushion, I shall be making a start on a Mothers Day design for a card for my Mum; have also found a cool Formula One design from The World Of Cross Stitching magazine for my Dad. Is nice to see some designs for men as it is very hard to find decent ones that my Dad would like and he always takes an interest in my stitched designs. Have also had another order for the red Poppy cushion I made for my Nan – she wants another one to go on her other chair in her lounge – think they will look lovely as a pair.

This is the Poppy Cushion that I need to duplicate for my Nan.

Oh and my little 2 year old nephew loved his Thomas the Tank Engine cross stitch card – and the Fireman Sam top we brought him! He gets so excited at the sight of Thomas and Sam 🙂

Miss C xx

 

Choo Choo Thomas Cross Stitch

Managed to finish one of these Thomas birthday cards today. Just need to iron the design and then tape inside the card. Part of me thinks the card is a bit too plain around the outside of the design but then I don’t want to add too much to take focus away from Thomas! 🙂 Seeing as he is the most important character in the two little boys lives at the moment.

Photos do not do the sparkly aida  justice – it definitely adds a little special extra to the design and card 🙂

So one down, one more to go!

Miss C xx

‘Cinders and Ashes, Thomas 🙂 ‘

Thomas Cross Stitch Progress

This is what I have done so far. Was up quite late last night stitching and doing more today too. Its not a very big design – measures 6.5 x 8cm, so should be fairly quick to produce two in time for the birthdays. Think I might do Thomas’ mouth a bit different – not too keen on how it looks in the design.

Have you noticed the sparkly aida? I love it – have some of this one which is pale blue but also have pale green with sparkles – perfect for adding that little bit extra to a design. 🙂

I think Thomas is coming along nicely don’t you think?

Miss C xx

Thomas Cross Stitch

Been looking through this lovely Thomas the Tank Engine Cross Stitch book today. It’s quite an old book but picked it up off eBay quite cheaply. Seeing as both me and PR have each a nephew that love Thomas, I just couldn’t resist this book.

Both nephews will be 2 next month so have been looking through this book for inspiration. They both already have quite a lot of Thomas related things, so I have decided on a smallish design that I shall cross stitch and probably make into a birthday card.

There are lots of designs for each character but I just had to choose a Thomas one! Obviously 🙂

Might find a nice alphabet design so that I can cross stitch their names etc on the design too.

Started cross stitching one last night. Will post photos soon 🙂

Choo Choo Thomas!

Miss C xx