Simply Tree-mendous :)

Half term break is drawing to an end now. For the last week I have managed to finish off and frame my cross stitched Scandinavian Tree.

The project has been stitched on a white Quaker canvas from Zweigart using only one colour of DMC thread (321). The pattern I used comes from Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 244, Christmas 2011.

Some details:

... and outdoors in the grass :) (sadly, no snow yet so the green will have to do this time)

In the meantime I've been also stitching some letters on linen. This is going to be a festive bunting with the words: LOVE CHRISTMAS on it.

So far I have stitched L O V E  C H R I S T M A S

Oh, Actually I finished the "H" yesterday :P I should have really updated the photo :) I really enjoy stitching this alphabet although sometimes it can be a bit of a fiddly job.

Also, a new big project has turned up on the horizon - a cushion with a cross stitched pattern on it. A Nordic one, of course ;) Not much to show at the moment but I am working on it in the evenings :)

It's Hand-made Monday time tonight. Join in to see what other creative people have been up to :)

Fa la la la la la la!

My stitching marathon continues. This week I managed to finish off my cross stitched NOEL decoration by sewing on some red berry-resembling seed beads :)

Pin It

and this is what it looks like when all the pieces are strung together on a cord:

The decoration will prolly end up as a part of mantlepiece decoration. So happy to see it finished. Ticked off on my list and now time to move on to another project. Some work has been done on this one this week, yet a lot to go :)

This is going to be a Scandinavian christmas tree with sampler features, monochromatic, made into a framed picture. Another thing to live on the mantlepiece :) (Gosh, I do need a huuuge mantlepiece this year!!) Hoping to see it finished soon!

In the meantime a new project has started :)

 A freebie from CrossStitcher magazine :) Fell in love instantly with those adorable cross stitched houses :) Had to have them!

Baking -wise, I had a quick play with ready-made puff pastry sometime during the week and made some lattice pastries with Bramley apple sauce and cinnamon and with spiced plum jam :) Perfect for the autumn evenings, aren't they?

They didn't stay very long though! I love spiced food far too much to let it go stale :P

Sorry, no lattices left now so I'm inviting you to a treat - some proper good British tea in a British mug from a British teapot and some British toffee apple cake :D How much I love all that fuss about tea drinking! :) Do you not? The Keep Calm and Carry On mug has been a spontaneous gift from my boyfriend. He knows too well I like the Best of British ;) even though I'm not the one ;)

Matrioshkas were a gift from him too! I love this folky charm!

Sunday night is a perfect time to join in the blog hopping. Hand-made Monday at Wendy's. Check this out guys and see what others have been up to.

Take care and thanks for the comments. x x x

Noel, Noel...

Hi all! It's another Hand-made Monday time and tonight I'm joining in that blog hop. There is plenty to show! You can join too!

As you can see, my fascination with the Scandinavian craft continues. Here, look what I have finally finished!!! - a series of 5 Scandinavian cross stitched cards. The pattern of this Scandinavian christmas tree comes from the book by Joan Elliott "Cross stitich greeting cards. 70 stunning designs". I loved it so much so that I decided to stitch it 5 x, each time in a different colour :)

Red and white are typical Scandinavian christmas colours:

as so are the blue colours...

Icy blue card? Why not!

...or a white one in late night wintery surroundings? :)

I also couldn't resist stitching a card in christmas green! :)

And this is what the cards look like all together

Please, don't ask me how much time I spent on these. I don't know myself but for sure - a lot! :) It took me at least a couple of months or perhaps even more as I always have some other stitching projects running at the same time :) Sampler projects are always time-consuming and painstaking. This stitching marathon was a real test of patience for me as I never ever stitch the same thing twice, not to mention 5 times! :) But I loved this design sooo much so I had to and I did.

This series of cards has been closed and now I'm moving on to my next Nordic projects. 

A little progress with my Christmas lettering. They have been ironed and stuffed, now just stitching up and sewing on the beads. I'm hoping to do so this week and they should be ready by next Sunday :)

In the meantime a new stitch has begun its life ;)

For my home-made kitchen maneouvres I bought these: (Adaliza, watch this! this is specially for you ;P) 

reindeer cookie cutters! this one is quite large and  now I can't wait Christmas to make my cookies and decorate them :)

Looks like Birkmann company is becoming my favourite :) Remember these?

Well, I couldn't resist buying this set:

Loved the snowflakes too!

and for my home-made food I have two new things:

a mild sweet-tasting layered salad of several ingredients, one of my faves for years (if anyone interested I'll share the recipe, just let me know)

and my first home made shallot pickles. Made on a special request from my boyfriend, who loves them :) but I'm not a big fan of these ;)

To finish off, just one more thing to brag about :) - my lovely red-white polka dot teapot from London Pottery. So cheerful, so optimistic. I had always wanted to have something like this at home! A real treat to tea lovers :)

Thank you very much for your comments under the previous post. Pleasure to read them! Handbags by Hellen, welcome, my new follower. 

Now I'm off to do some blog hopping. Quite a lot to catch up with.

Lattice Cookies

What a busy week I had! Mad mad mad days went by so quickly and I spent half of my weekend shifting around some furniture preparing one of the rooms for skirtboarding. Not much progress in stitches tho, neither project has been finished yet but I'm hoping to do it soon! But in the meantime I managed to bake these: 

Cinnamon lattice shortcrust pastry cookies :) I experimented with the hand cut lattice and the whole cookie arrangement. It's my home-made and hand-made creation for Hand-made Monday at Wendy's blog :) I love trying out new recipes and baking is such fun! Each time you make a little miracle out of flour, shortening and sugar. Then the over heat transforms it into something tasty and aromatic :) Isn't it great? I used the instructions for the lattice layout from HERE.

Each desperate or not desperate housewife needs sometimes to treat herself to some nice kitchen gadgets so for my home-made food creations I recently bought these:

cookie cutters!! I could have all possible shape and size in the world!!! Don't you?

I found these hand-shaped moulds incredibly cute!

Star-shaped cookie cutter is already classic and is what each of us has got at home. I am already building up my cooking gadget collection! 

This lattice cutter caught my eye in the shop straight away! No wonder, I already imagine a tray with hot steaming fruit lattice pies in my kitchen!!!

Some update on ceramic buys :) How could I resist such a lovely red-white spotted dish?!

I've been soooo much into dots recently, add to this that trendy retro charm and folky rustic style! The cup is sorta Scandinavian-looking so will blend in well into my Nordic decor at Christmas, I think :) 

Another recenty spotty-dotty buy for the kitchen:

and a storage box for my sewing fabrics :)

I must have contracted a dotty virus, as you can see :)

Get clicking guys, it's time for linking fun  - Hand-made Monday :) I'm linking up there tonight.