Festive Cards

Hi all! Another week has passed with me being busy and stitching away my next new Nordic cards, a theme continuation to my previous series :)  and now it's time for Hand-made Monday linking-up fun - click HERE and join the fun or to see some lovely craft creations. 

So here are my hand-made creations from this week:

2 new Scandinavian  festive cards:

The christmas tree chart on its own comes from Aurelle's blog. I added the frame, lettering and the "snowflakes" according to my own liking to fill up the stitch area. 

Another card is first attempt at being a thrifty stitcher - I tried to save a small strip of aida and I came up with this little stitch with Noel chalets :) Stitched, stamped, embossed and embellished with festive confetti :)

And the two cards side by side:

I guess I could count my home-made baked stuff as hand-made too! :)

I love experimenting in the kitchen and trying out new recipes. On Friday I made a plum crumble (one of my favourite desserts) with a hint of cinnamon and raisins. Served with custard :) Nom! nom!

Then on Saturday I had a go at my new baking toys: V.I.P - Very Important Pastries cookie cutters by Birkmann and I made these biscuits in a form of angel wings, that can be used to decorate a cup. Cute, aren't they? ;-)

Thank you for your kind comments you leave under my posts. Pleasure to read them! x x x

So what?

So what? So what it's summer now and still a few months to go to Christmas and I'm already stitching away my Christmas cards? Hot or not, I feel like making my Christmas cards right here and right now! :) And it doesn't bother me at all! :) This year I decided to be well-prepared for my Christmas, well ahead of time :) and started my cross stitch projects as early as possible. You know...a stitch in time... and everything will be ready for you to enjoy this lovely festive season :)

Recently I've been fostering my growing interest in Scandinavian crafts by stitching some sampler-style Nordic greeting cards. And here is the whole series of 6:

the cards in 3s:

and altogether :)

I really enjoyed stitching and mounting them. Simple, symmetrical, easy to stitch, folky look and festive mood. Voile! The charts come from Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine, issue 74, Oct/Nov, 2010.

I'm planning Scandinavian theme for my Christmas this year so more designs of this type are to come soon! 

Let's not forget that it is also a Hand-made Monday time. The 30th edition of this linking blog fun. Check out Wendy's place to see some lovely crafty stuff :) or simply join in! 

Due to my travel to Scotland last week, I've got some hand-made Monday posts to catch up with so I better be off now! 

To  whoever comes here : take care and thank you for your kind words :-)

For the love of sea

I love sea! I love going to the seaside, sitting on a beach, walking on sand, picking up shells and all that stuff you can do when you go there. I also love all sorts of nautical accessories for home and seaside craft projects. I've always dreamt of a room decorated in a marine style and hopefully this dream will come true one day :) 

Recently I've felt like making some nautical greeting cards so this week the first four have been made (and I still feel like making more!). I used water colours paints, drawing pen, some nautical stamps I managed to collect over time :) and some freebie digi-papers and digi-badges downloaded from White Sheep's blog (2nd, 3rd and 4th card). For the background on the 1st card I used Tim Holtz's alcohol ink - Stream to create this shad-y-stain-y effect. 3 of these cards have been machine-sewn and distressed. Oh and I like to keep my cards simple when it comes to this theme :)

For my craft stash I recently bought some lovely nautical stamps! Most are deals from ebay, like these for example:

The first free sets are Inkadinkado stamps, the last stamp set comes from Personal Impressions.

I've also bought some little ones from local craft shops:

And now the cherry on the cake: this gorgeous stamp set is my fave and it came all the way from Poland! Ordered by one of my Polish friends on my request. I adore this vintage map and compass as much as the lighthouse and other bits :)

Bored? Hope not! Cause this is not the end! :P For my future marine projects (nautical cross stitch pictures framed in some shabby chic frames) I also bought this pack of shells from a local garden centre. When I'm ready with my cross stitch designs, I'm going to decorate the frame with some real seashells :D

Obviously shopping for shells doesn't rule out picking up my own shells from the beach! These are my sea treasures from the last trip to the seaside in Prestatyn. My favourites are those with blue and white stripes! :)

And last but not least my marine glass :D As a glass painter I just couldn't miss a shop shelf stocked with such lovely votives in aquatic colours. Don't the air bubbles trapped in the glass remind you of sea water? :) Initially I thought of decorating them but then I decided to leave them be. Just like the way they are :)

quick edit: LOL I've forgotten to show off my new lovely nautical fabrics!!! :D

I don't know what exactly I am gonna make out of them yet! It may be a cross stitched beach hut doorstop with a nautical backing fabric.... I wonder :)

Sunday eve is time for Hand-made Monday at Wendy's. Tonight I'm linkin up this blog party and submitting my greeting cards. Guys, check the other places for some lovely craft stuff!

Cross stitched Sheep

Today just a little card with a cross stitched motif - a Sheepish Sheep :) She looks a bit party-ish, doesn't she?

This was a freebie kit attached to one of the recent magazines. I grabbed and stitched this card spontaneously treating it as a sort of a quick break between my bigger cross stitch projects.

Home Sweet Home. Retro Cross Stitch Hanging Decoration

My another UFO has been finished this week! It'a sort of a retro style cross stitched hanging decoration for home decor. It had been waiting for months for its moment as I couldn't somehow get round to finish it. Now, it's ready for the presentation :)

Believe it or not, it takes quite a while to stitch this 12 x 12 cm cute cushion. Simple as it may seem, this project involves frequent changing colours of the threads (flowers mostly) as well as a great deal of backstitching and outlining every single element of it. I used a checked fabric as backing and a gingham ribbon in coordinated colours. Lazy daisy stitch has been used additionally over the cross stitch to define its retro look.

This week has been an "Ufo week" for me. I spent hours finishing off my outstanding projects as I'm very keen to move onto the next fresh designs. Check my previous post to see the other UFO in a form of an ipod case that has landed at my place :) and I also couldn't resist the temptation to start stitching my Nordic cross stitch cards for Christmas. You know that well, a stitch in time... and you end up with a lovely collection of Christmas cards ready to be sent away to your family and friends.

Moreover, it's time for Handmande Monday, which I'm linking up tonight. Get clicking guys and check Wendy's blog for some other lovely crafty creations :) Well worth seeing! Take care. x x x

ps Karen Letchworth, Joanita, CarolC1 and Kecely Hayat, welcome my new followers :) 

Bohemian Rhapsody Ipod case.

If you cross stitch on a daily basis, you probably know that common problem haunting cross stitchers called UFO.  An UnFinished Object. A UfOs can be really like a bug - spread easily around and mutliply very quickly. In a short period of time you may end up with a pile of UFOs in your crafty cupboard while you are on the hunt for new designs. So its better to watch yourself before it comes to that.

This cross stitch project was one of them! my first UFO, lying around in one of my craft boxes for over a year. I'm so pleased it got finally finished! It was fractional stitches that got me discouraged plus the lack of drawn grid with a water-soluble marker (I didn't use to use one then)

So here it is! A bo-ho style ipod case cross stitched on aida, backed with a fabric and lined with some cotton inside. 

The name of the project is Bohemian Rhaposody. Ipod Case and it comes from CrossStitcher magazine, issue 223, March, 2010. I chose my own colours of the stranded cotton as well as the ribbon colour and size. This case has been my first attempt at combining a cross stitch project, fabric and aida together. It was also machine-sewn. Not ideal but not too bad, I think ;)