February catch-up - Valentine card and tin, birthday card , coin purse

Catch up post for the record.  I have a couple more to add after this one. I know it's July, but I haven't posted for some time.  These are my February finishes.

This sweet little Valentine card  is from the book,  "A Rainbow of Stitches" book.  Done on 36 count linen over 2 with   DMC 4210.

My brother's birthday is in February.   He's a sucker for Marie Callendar Pumpkin Pie.  I went online and discovered there was, in fact, a real Marie Callendar and there was even a picture of her as a young women.   This card is a tribute to her using a modified Sub Rosa Design,  "Pumpkin Pie".   Esther herself laughed at a pumpkin pie as big as the table.   I was sure my brother would get a kick out of it.   Frankly, he was not amused.  Ya can't win 'em all.  Stitched on Belfast summer khaki over 2.

The next one is an old freebie by Drawn Thread, "All You Need Is Love", stitched on 32 ct Belfast summer khaki.  Perfect Altoid tin top size and I hadn't made a tin top in some time.  Filled with red berry flavored lip gloss before presenting as a 'Galentine' to a friend.

 

And wrapping up the month, I used an adaptation of Snowflower Diaries "You Make Me Happy" as the basis for this little coin purse.   Found an Etsy seller, CreativeKinyobi,  with tons of charms already attached to a lobster clasp and this little mermaid charm worked perfectly.  Another piece on 32 count summer khaki Belfast.

Candy box, snowmen cards, sling bag

Catch-up post for the record from 2018.   I'll do another soon with this year's entries.

First was a cute little candy box for a hostess gift.  I used  Mary Garry's Skating Party with some color changes to blues that I'd seen on the web by other stitchers.  This is done on Edinburgh linen, 36 ct summer khaki.  Had to go blue because I had the pretty blue ribbon that was looking for a home!

This is just the cutest little snowman from an old Stoney Creek magazine.  The magazine showed it on black fabric, but my eyes don't work well with that.  So I settled on Belfast Smokey Pearl 32 ct and crossed my fingers that the black shading around the edges would look ok.  I was totally pleased with this one.  The recipient of the card loved it too.

This card was done for a friend as an inside joke.  We have had some discussions about the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.   When I saw this litte marshmallow head snowman cupcake in the "Festive Frostings" feature of the Nov., 2018 issue of "CrossStitcher",  I knew it was perfect for my friend's holiday card.  The design is by Maria Diaz.  Stitched on 36 count linen.

 

I've had the pattern for Niky's Creations "Numbers" forever.  I thought I was going to use it for a baby sampler at some point, but that never happened.  So I stitched it up and made it into a little sling bag.  The one I had been using with the peacocks finally wore out.  Stitched on 32 count MCG linen.  Cheap linen with a good heft for a bag.  I've been using it ever day since I stitched it.

So that brings us into 2019.  Stay tuned for more current work.

Holiday Stitching

Long time, no post.  So here's a wrap-up of the as yet un-documented stitching, more or less in order of completion.

The first is "Kitten Mitten", a Cricket Collection freebie you can get here.  That kitten actually looked like a bear to me.  I just did a quick finish by sewing on a backing and blanket stitching around the edge.  Not a favorite of mine now, but it got the urge to stitch it out of me.

Next we have "Happy Snowman", a freebie from Shepherd's Bush that you can get here.  It's done on Cornflower Blue 28 count Jobelan over-2.  I expected this to be made into a card, but when I completed the stitching, I realized it was a perfect size for an Altoid tin top.   So another one of those under my belt  and it does make a cute gift for this time of year.

For whatever reason,  I really wanted to stitch Blackbird Designs "Be Mine".   I suppose it had been on my list for years, but I don't know why it suddenly rose to the top.  Anyway it's done on 36 count over-2 Vikki Linen.   I  used all DMC and adjusted the colors a little bit.  Then I added the little crocheted flower for a bit of interest.   I sort of followed an old tutorial of Vonna's on the wayback machine to construct it.  Her tute showed sewing the lining on by hand, but I did it by machine.  We both left the top open and just folded the top edge down inside the stocking.  So a very rough finish and not meant to hold any treats.  Just a decorative ornament.  I'm quite taken with this finish.

I had always planned to stitch a few of the Brookes Books Advent Calendar Animals.  This Polar Bear was a clear favorite.  I was planning to make this into an ornament for a friend, but that never happened.  I did need a card at the last minute though and this little guy filled the bill.  This is  done on a pre-cut tri-fold window card.  Carol was kind enough to send me some cardmaking supplies a while back and this one really came in handy to do a quick finish.

Finally, I was going through some old magazines and discovered "Winter Walk" by The Little Stitcher from the  Feb, 2014  issue of JCS.    I took out the bottom border and omitted one tree to make this card-sized.   Finished it up this morning to replenish the stock pile!

Seasons Greetings to everyone!

Signs of Summer Tin and ABC Cubes

A couple of years ago I started stitching Bent Creek's "Signs of Summer" for an Altoid tin top and I just stopped in the middle.  My fabric was similar to the suggested one, but the colors just weren't showing up right.  I tried changing them, but I began to hate the whole thing.  Recently I discovered the half-finished piece while searching for something else, and although I didn't like it any better, I decided to try again on a piece of 28 ct cornflower blue Jobelan.   I'm much happier with the finish this time.   I glued a couple of buttons on the outer lid to hide my messy ribbon gluing job.

I actually had more fun finding applique crochet patterns to decorate the inside lid.  Thread crochet is so fiddly that I had some false starts.  But I finally settled on some patterns that worked.  I don't know if I'll keep the sea turtle in the tin, but he definitely looks cute.  The shell comes out kind of rounded by design, so one could add a little batting for a 3-d look.

If you are interested, these the are links to the free crochet patterns I used:

Tiny round fish
http://bunnymummy-jacquie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/sail-away-crochet-pattern.html

Long fish
http://mymerrymessylife.com/2012/04/crochet-goldfish-applique-free-crochet-pattern.html

Spiral seashell
http://dascrochetconnection.blogspot.com/p/sea-shell-garland.html

Sea turtle
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sea-turtle-applique-2

 

And finally, Ele's ABC SAL is complete!  Here is the final block:

I'm very proud of myself for actually doing the finishing.  This is the kind of thing that can live in a drawer for a long time until the finishing mood strikes me!  I decided to arrange them with the ABC as the top of one block and the 123 as the top of the other. Then the sides are the rest of the alphabet.  The bottoms of each are the remaining number blocks.  I stuffed them lightly with poly-fill so they are scrunchy.   My eyes are really starting to rebel in the evenings so I think I made tons of mistakes in all those seams.  I was trying to stitch by feel and that's really not a good technique.  Not sure what I'll do with these.  I think a baby could rip them apart so they aren't really toys.  I'll just admire them for now.

Sneak Peek Summer Tin #2

The great rain streak of 2016 has finally been broken here and we've had some sunny days.  Unfortunately, my photos for this post were taken when it was still pretty dreary outside so they may not show up so well.

I completed the second tin for the Trilogy Summer Sneak Peak pair.  The universe was with me on this one.  I was browsing in Joann's fabric store for something completely different when I stumbled upon this narrow ribbon with a watermelon slice print.  I could hardly believe it.  How perfect a trim can you get?  And coupled with the polka dot tan that kind of gives the flavor of the basket, I think it really enhanced the design.  This one contains the flash drive with the whole cast of Peanuts characters.
 

One of the members of the 123 Stitch Message board suffered a serious health problem recently.  Board members banded together to shower her with get-well cards.  I had stitched up this old Chessie and Me freebie some time ago and never used it.  I thought it made a nice, cheery card.  Hoping she recovers quickly.

And the mystery of Ele's ABC SAL has been revealed.  She is doing numbers on the final three squares.  This may make my placement on cubed pin cushions a bit tricky, but I'm not going to let that spoil the fun.  No changes from Ele's design on this.  Only two more to go!

Sneak Peek Summer Tin

It's been raining here for two weeks, but the sun came out briefly this afternoon to give me enough light for photos.  It was time for a couple of Altoid tin gifts for a couple of summer-loving friends.  The Trilogy Sneak Peek Summer designs are perfect for this and two fit comfortably on a tin top.  I've finished one and will make one more.  I used 36 count light blue linen using DMC.  The little butterfly on the upper right was my addition since it looked so bare on that corner.  I used a motif for the butterfly that Lynn charted and uses in many of her designs. See this example.

The inside has the cutest little Snoopy flash drive.  And they were on a clearance sale to make them especially cute!  The other one has all the peanuts characters on it. Great find at Staples.

 

I'm caught up with Ele's ABC SAL.  The alphabet part is finished, so I'm very curious to see what the final 3 blocks will be.  I didn't make any changes to the "vwx" block.  The "yz" block motif was the zinnia, but without stitching any words, I was afraid it might not be identifiable.  I went with 'yacht' for the 'y', even though one might wonder why I put a sailboat on a "yz" square.  But 'y' and 'z' don't give one a lot of good choices.   My attempt at a zig-zag failed miserably.  I didn't want 'yarn' since I was avoiding a needlework theme.  Yo-yo was too modern.  Frankly, I got tired of over-thinking it!

 

And I finished the May design for the Joyful World SAL.  Just a few color changes this month. I  made the orange flowers a little darker.  I turned the white bird into a bluebird.  There is also minuscule back-stitching on the cat faces.  I'm caught up just in time for the new June pattern.. a super-bear!

 

Tin of Postive Vibes

A FB friend of mine recently posted a link to a "Knapsack of Hope".  It showed a little gift bag filled with items that represented a positive way of looking at life. After some additional Googling, I discovered a number of variations on this theme and thought it was a cute idea.

I had started stitching a design for an Altoid tin top about that time to give as a little gift for a friend who is having health problems and will be going in for surgery in a week.  This "Knapsack of Hope" idea seemed perfect for tin contents.  I renamed it to be a "Tin of Positive Vibes" and modified the items for the box and their meanings somewhat.  I'm not sure I have all the contents exactly as they will be when I send out the gift, but I'm pretty close now.

The design for the top is by Homespun Elegance, an oldie but goodie called "Delivering Posies".  I had those two cute buttons left over from some project and they made the perfect wheels for the cart.  Then I added the teeny heart at the top left.  It's over-one on 28 count light blue Monaco, all DMC.

 
The crocheted heart in the lid comes from this free pattern.  The crocheted star is done with metallic thread... just as hard to crochet with as it is to x-stitch with!   This is another free pattern that you can get here.

Here's a list of the contents so far.  I have a little flashlight, but I hadn't put it in the box when I took the photo.  I'm sure I'll add lip gloss, because it's such a feel good item.

Tin of Positive Vibes

•    A sparkly star to remind you that you are one
•    A flashlight to help you shine
•    A quarter so you will never be broke
•    A paper clip to help you hold it all together
•    An elastic to help you stretch to your limits
•    An eraser to fix all your little mistakes
•    A band-aid for little hurts
•    *An ice cream cone because ice cream has medicinal properties
•    *A harmonica so you will have music wherever you go
•    *A telephone so you know that help is only a call away
•    A heart so you know you are loved

* Starred items are vintage charms from my childhood collection.