ocean themed crafting

It might be because of this never ending summer, with temperatures still around 30°C during the daytime . . . but I’ve been having something of an ocean themed crafting spurt.

First up . . . Carole, very kindly sent me an unbirthday gift a few months ago.  A little mermaid cross stitch kit.  Well, that gave me some light relief from all the dull browns & beiges I’ve been working on with the SAL project, and she turned out beautifully.

I deliberately didn’t give her a mouth as I think she actually looks prettier without.  And I’m not sure if I’ll be finishing her off as a bookmark, to slip insde the printed card that came with the kit, or coming up with a different kind of finish.  Whatever, she was a real joy to stitch.  The kit was a freebie from a back issue of Cross Stitch Crazy magazine.  I had been dithering about whether or not to renew subs to a UK crafting magazine, and this gift from Carole spurred me on.  I signed up for a 12 month subs to Cross Stitch Crazy, so now have several other pretty freebie kits in my stash.  Perfect for those little projects when you want a quick finish!

Other crafting . . . if you saw my ScrapHappy post on 15th, you’ll have seen the stuffed fish I made, with its upper fin sewn on back to front.  Now, although Viking Parents said Baby Viking would love it (it’s also got a rattle inside so makes a lovely noise) I still wanted to make one that looked right.  So I rifled through scrap bags again and made another one.

Much more successful than the previous one, and with some lovely scraps.  This fishy has white felt circles appliqued on for eyes and a cross-stitched navy pupil.  He/she also has a “squeaker” inside, just below the upper fin. 

Here are the three fish together, all following the pattern by Lauri.

What I love about patchwork, and scraps . . . you get to use up every last bit of fabric, and each of these fishes is a reminder of past patchwork projects.  The one with spotty body was my first fish, made in March.  He’ll be staying here, as a photo prop for my reborn dolls, since he has buttons for eyes, therefore is not 100% baby friendly.  The other two will be swimming their way to Baby Viking.

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SAL update – almost there

For those of you hoping to see a happy dance this update – sorry to disappoint.  My crafting agenda has been quite full of crafting, but concentrating more on patchwork & crochet than my SAL project, because of the birth of Baby Viking.

Which means that the last progress photo of “Getting Ready” which looked like this

Now looks like this

The flower tub is finished, and I’ve been adding some more backstitch . . . but you’ll have to wait until next time to join me in my happy dance.

In the meantime, let’s hop over and see what other SAL members have been up to.

Avis, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie

And I’ll see you back here on 30th September.

SAL “Getting Ready”

Well I can definitely say that I’m getting there!

Photo from last time

And photo for this time

Waiters now have both feet firmly on the ground!  There’s a teensy bit of backstitch to add to this section, but I’m going to finish off the flowers and tub for next time and worry about backstitch then.  This design is from original artwork by Ronald West, and a kit by Design Works called “Getting Ready”.

Time for some blog hopping, to see what other SAL members have been up to.

Avis, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Catherine, Deborah, Connie

And back on 9th September with the next update.

“Getting Ready” SAL update

This is the before photo

that I showed last time, for the SAL.  Design is from the original artwork of Ronald West, and a kit by Design Works, called “Getting Ready”.

And this is progress in the last 3 weeks.

I have finally filled in another corner and been doing some more backstitch along the way.  For next time I’ll be making sure those waiters have their feet firmly on the ground.

Don’t forget to pop along and see what other SAL members have been up to.  The group has grown again as we say a big warm welcome to Deborah.  Complete list of members follows:

Avis,  Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina,

Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Mary Margaret,

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Timothy, Catherine, Deborah

Next update on 19th August.

SAL update : “Getting Ready” #14

I’ve been lazing around, with my feet up, and stitching in the evening, making quite good progress on “Getting Ready”, a kit by Design Works from artwork by Ronald West.

Last time I was here

And this time, I’m here.

I’ve been concentrating on this area

also adding some backstitch a little bit here and there.  There’s still a fair bit of fabric to cover in order to fill in that bottom left hand corner, but that’s where I’ll be concentrating on for next time.

Now I’m off to see what progress other SAL members have made since 17th June.  We welcome Catherine back to the group after a short absence.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina,

Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Mary Margaret,

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Timothy, Catherine

Our next update will be on 29th July. 

a bit of this & that

Summer officially arrived on 21st June, but we’ve already been enjoying fine weather for a while.  Our spa has been set up in the back garden

Here it was being filled, but since then, I’ve been enjoying refreshing bubbles late afternoon every day.  I’ve also been doing a bit more cross stitch, with my feet up,  and lots of secret sewing.  Sadly, because of the latter, I realise I don’t have time to make un-birthday gifts this month but hope to have some made for July.

While I won’t be sending any gifts out, I was lucky and received some surprise mail in the post though.  A lovely hand-stitched card from Cathy

and a little cross stitch kit, plus hand-made card from Carole.

This kit was a free gift with Cross Stitch Crazy, and Carole thought I might like to stitch it (which I do! ).  Seeing that lovely design, spurred me into going on the internet and checking out subscription costs for UK xstitch magazines.  I let my subs run out several years ago because I was stock-piling magazines and not really having time to make the most of all the lovely designs.  However, I did miss the delight of receiving a magazine through the post . . . so I’ve just signed up for a 12 months subscription for Cross Stitch Crazy (so thanks for giving me the idea, Carole). 

Most of my stitching time, of late, has been spent trying to make progress on “Getting Ready” for the SAL.  But I did also finish up a small design.

A very cute little robot, kit by Permin.  Three shades of grey, black and a bright green.  I’m thinking I might stitch the design a second time but using three shades of a different colour.  Maybe blue, or pink, or green.  In the meantime, I need to get my thinking cap on and decide how to finish this little fellow.  The Permin kit came with enough aida plus a lining fabric and instructions to make a pouch for mobile phone but I’m not too keen on that idea. 

SAL “Getting Ready” #13

My SAL stitching on “Getting Ready” has been rather eratic these past few weeks.  Rather like my other crafting where I seem to have been moving rapidly from one project to another (all will be revealed very soon!).

Last time, in May, I showed you this photo

I really should have done some backstitch to give the waiter on the left a face, but instead, I just kept threading up my needle with different colours, and stitching a bit here & there.  The result of which looks like this

Not too shabby but still quite a lot to do.

Let’s do some blog-hopping now and see what other SAL members have been up to.

Avis, Gun, Carole, LucyAnn, Kate, Jess, Sue, Constanze, Debbierose, Christina,

Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Steph, Linda, Mary Margaret,

Heidi,  Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Tony, Megan, Timothy

And our next update will be on Sunday 8th July.