A Finish! (Finally)

After six-months of very sporadic stitching, I finally finished this last night.

The Beekeeper

Designer: Plum Street Samplers

Stitched on 35 ct. Natural Northern Cross linen

Fibers:  Weeks Dye Works Over Dyed Cotton Floss

Stitched size:  6.5" x 9.25"

Normally this would not take very long to stitch but there were weeks where I did no stitching at all....so, it turned into a six–month project.  My plan is to drop this off at the frame shop next week.

I did manage to stitch this little piece a few weeks ago in between stitching on The Beekeeper.

 

Friendship Quilts

Designer:  JBW Designs, Sweet Nothings

Stitched on linen from my "stash" using DMC cotton floss

Stitched size: 3" x 3"

I modified the stitched piece.  The pattern included a sentiment around the quilt blocks which I opted to leave off.  I may finish this into a pincushion and give it to someone for Christmas.

I always get excited when I get close to finishing a design because that means I get to start something new!  I started a new stitching project last night....but more about that in my next post.

What are you stitching??

May Flowers Challenge

The May challenge over on the Tombow blog is May Flowers.  The challenge theme shouldn't be a surprise since April's challenge was 'April Showers'!

When I papercraft, I rarely throw anything away!  I have several boxes of paper scraps, stamped images that I thought I was going to use on a card but didn't, etc.  I even keep "junk mail" when I KNOW it will be a perfect decoration or embellishment for a card.  Over the past few days, I've been going through my "scraps" and have made several cards.  Here is a card that I made with 5 punched out flower images that have just been laying around waiting to be used!  I thought this would be the perfect card to enter for the Tombow May Challenge.

Card stock, stamps, flower punch, and ink are all Stampin' Up products.  

I'll be posting more "scrap cards" soon!

April Showers Challenge

Tombow has an April Showers challenge going on this month.  Last night I came up with this CAS "thinking of you" card to submit.

The umbrella and raindrops are from the Stampin' Up Rain or Shine stamp set.  The sentiment, "The sun'll come out, tomorrow", is from Kraftin' Kimmie's Little Orphan Annie stamp set.  I used my favorite Tombow adhesive (Mono Adhesive Power Bond) for assembling the card layers.

The challenge ends tomorrow (!) so better get your craft on quick if you want to submit an entry.

Sunday Night Stitchin'

Work in progress!

Plum Street Samplers "The Beekeeper" stitched on 35 ct. linen using Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss.

Love Is In The Air!

I have been making Valentines like You.Would.Not.Believe!!  Since yesterday afternoon I have made 15 Valentines.  Are you making Valentines this year?  Time is running out.  There are only 9 days left.

Need some inspiration?  I found inspiration for lots of my cards on Pinterest.  However I did come up with my own design on some of the cards.  Here is one that I just got through making.  Isn't this adorable??

Supplies:  cardstock - Bazzill Basics

background stamp - Stampin' Up En Francais

balloon strings & sentiment - Lil' Inkers Balloon Builders stamp set

balloon die cuts - Lil' Inkers Balloon Dies

balloons - Bo Bunny and stash paper

 

I used to enter card challenges on a somewhat frequent basis but have gotten out of the habit over the last year or so.  But I plan on entering this card in both the Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge #169 and the Tombow Valentine's Day challenge.  Tombow is my "go to" for adhesive.  This is my fave adhesive for paper crafting.....

I plan on posting more of the Valentines that I made in a few days.  Quick!  Go get your Valentine craft on!

The Beekeeper - Week 1

I've been working on the border this past week.  Here is my progress.....

Pattern - The Beekeeper

Designer - Plum Street Samplers

Stitched on 35 ct Natural Northern Cross linen using Weeks Dye Works floss

Starting Something New

Last night I started working on a new design by Plum Street Samplers.  I'll be posting weekly updates. So for a starting point, here is what I accomplished last night.....

Pattern:  The Beekeeper

Designer:  Plum Street Samplers

Stitched on 35 ct. Natural Northern Cross linen using Weeks Dye Works floss

Handmade......The Sequel

Earlier this month I posted photos of several handmade gifts that I had received from friends over the holidays (click here if you missed that post).  Yesterday I received a card from a teenage friend who is also an incredible artist.  She enclosed this drawing.  

What a surprise!  Thanks so much Elizabeth.

Handmade.......

Wow!  Has it really been 6-7 weeks since my last blog post?  Guess I was busy getting my Christmas craft on!  I do have a few blog posts scheduled to show some of the handmade gifts that I made.  BUT, this post is dedicated to three of my fellow crafters and the awesome handmade gifts that I received from them.

I must start out sharing all of the cute handmade things that I received from my bestest crafting buddy, Cheryl (take a look at her blog here to see how crafty she is).  Cheryl made me a "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" ornament.....out of a paint stirrer stick. The paint stirrer was cut down to about 4-5" and "distressed".  A wire hanger was added to it.  Next is a cute little wool Christmas tree - complete with a red jingle bell and a clothespin base.  And what is that next to the tree??? Why it appears to be a jar with a few Oreos in it.  I'm almost positive the jar was full of cookies when Cheryl gave it to me.  I bet those crazy cats of mine have been eating my cookies!!!!!  Cheryl painted the jar lid red and wrapped it with red and white baker's twine.  She painted the lid insert with chalkboard paint.  The "yum" handwritten sentiment is right on target!

But wait........Cheryl had even MORE handmade gifts for me.  A really cute white yarn wreath ornament and a tree made out of pages from a book.......I love it!  And to complete her gift, she made my Christmas card......a Christmas tree made from music paper!

Most people know how much I like love cookies.  Take a look at this *adorable* chocolate chip cookie keychain that my friend Keri made for me!  Nom nom nom nom.........

And last, but by NO means least, is the sterling silver squirrel charm that my friend Melita made.  The photo is not the best.  The squirrel is holding an acorn.  I will be adding this charm to my charm bracelet.  Each of the charms on my bracelet has special meaning or a story behind it.  This sweet squirrel charm not only has special meaning because Melita handmade it for me but there is also a story behind the squirrel and acorn.  I'll write more about that in a future post.   I also am including Melita's business card in the photo.  I'm sure you will agree that it takes a very crafty person to make jewelry like Melita does but take note.......she made the business card too......out of birch wood!  When I grow up, I want to be as crafty as Melita.  If you would like to see more of Melita's work, you can click here.

Did any of these handmade gifts get you thinking about making some gifts for the special people in your life?  Now is the time to start!  You have a little over 350 days left until Christmas 2015.  What are you waiting for........get your craft on NOW!