Time to Stitch

Sigh... I've not been making time to stitch. I get home from work and I am tired. I don't stitch well when I am tired. Today is one of those days too. I am sure I can finish the psalm 23 bookmark in another 1 or 2 days of stitching. Then I have 2 more to go! But I may cheat and use a bookmark I already made :) Its the same one that was ordered... so if I do that, then I will be ok regarding my timeline. I'll finish bookmark 2 of 5 this weekend, and bookmark 3 of 5 next week. Bookmark 4 of 5 is complete by defaul and that completes my first order. Then bookmark 5 will be a quickie, but I think it'll be cool (Bookmark 5 is for my brother... a new Mason).

Bookmark 2 of 5

This image may look like nothing much at the moment because the threads are light colored (ecru, light tan, etc) however, once I put the outline on, it will pop. This is the 23rd Psalm, The Lord is my Shepard, with a lil lamb. I hope to finish the lamb and the outlining soon. I'll scan it again and hopefully it will seem transformed.

Bookmark 1 of 5 - Complete!

Finally I finished this bookmark. I haven't stitched in many days. I hope to start bookmark 2 of 5 tomorrow. I'll have to stitch each day to keep up with my schedule. I still need to iron and apply a little fabric stiffner to this one.

Bookmark 1 of 5 - Continued

I didn't stitch at all on Friday. I worked on this for a little bit of time on Saturday. The little water droplets around the bird were interesting to stitch. I messed that up a few times and had to cut out the threads and start all over. The butterflies were a quick and easy stitch. I will work on this some more this afternoon after Church. I hope to make a lot more progress. Maybe even finish it but I won't rush the effort.

Bookmark 1 of 5 - Work in Progress

I started on my first bookmark tonight. I worked on it for 3 collective hours (I took my walk around the neighborhood in the middle of my efforts as I am trying to get in shape). So far so good on the bookmark. I had a false start that cost me about 15 minutes, but I got over it quick. I bought a new pair of craft scissors. They are very pointy/sharp. My work has never been so neat as a result. I can cut the threads closer than before... like a good shave on a man I guess :)

Anyway, here it is so far. There's2 butterflys and a water fountain with a bird splashing it up remaining. I thought it would take me a week to do one, but I will likely finish this one over the weekend. The image isn't the best... maybe it's time for a new scanner :)

The bend marks in the bookmark are from the little hoop that I use to keep the material taut as I stitch. Once I am done I will steam press and apply a light coating of fabric stiffner to the bookmark.

Michael's Arts and Crafts

I went to Michael's after work today. Not much of what I needed was on sale unfortunately. I got the thread and bookmarks for my commissioned activities. I will begin stitching tomorrow. I'm looking forward to working it out.

The stitching I am doing requires size 26 tapestry needles. They must be the most popular tapestry needles because they are sold out at Michael's AND Joann's. I have many needles, but not many 26's. The eye of the needle can sometimes break and results in a useless needle. There are gold plated needles supposedly, but I haven't seen them in the basic craft stores. I'd purchase them if it meant the eye wouldn't break. That is a pain. I'm not being too harsh on the needles either. I try not to stitch while I am tense, emotional or ill, the end result is not pretty (results in broken needle and tense/tight stitches).

Motivation

Totally unexpected outcomes of creating this blog are requests for bookmarks! My intentions were to simply share what I love with others. I am completely honored by the requests. There's no motivation like it :) I actually have a valid reason to go to the craft store tomorrow! I have a shopping list and everything.

I've been saying for the longest time that I need to make more time for my crafts since I enjoy them so much. I'm looking forward to completing the 5 bookmarks that I have recently been commissioned to create.

I'll keep track of my progress using this blog of course :) Stay tuned!

A word about my crafts

Just so you know, the bookmarks I craft on are pre-made; the white fabric (called aida cloth) and the crocheted border (or in this case the red border) come in a package just like that ;) It saves me a lot of time. I like to crochet, but the edging on these bookmarks is created with a itty bitty needle that I have a hard time holding right. But one of these days I'll have that mastered.

The cross stitched design ON the bookmarks is hand crafted by yours truly, but the designs are from a pattern book that I have. Most times I may modify the design colors or wording. For example, for the bookmark pictured here, I designed the text using graph paper and my imagination. I used a pattern for the boat.

I have recently purchased a pattern maker which will allow me to make just about anything into a cross stitch project. A photo, a logo, something from my imagination. I'm looking forward to using it in the near future.

Previously Completed Works

I started this blog long after I've already completed lots of projects. I won't include them ALL here, but here's a few of my favorite cross stitch pieces.


I made this one for my mom. It's a floor vase with calla lillies. The vase was the toughest part of it but I got through it :) You can't really see the detailing in this image, but the vase has different shades of blue, a butterfly and flowers all over it.


This image is the first bookmark I made. It was quite challenging for my first. And I made it to give away! It was off center by one or two rows and I was mad about it because I like my crafts to be just so. In the end, I think it turned out ok. I'll make it again one day. Long story short, I KEPT this one :)

Paslm 104:31 Work In Progress

This is my current project. It looks like it would work up quickly. It took less than 1 hour to do this little bit. I like doing bookmarks. To me they are like little quick works of art. I would love to attempt a LARGE project, but because I like to see an end result quickly I haven't put forth the effort or years to work it out. Maybe one day :)

Psalm 9:1 Bookmark completed today!

I finished a bookmark that I've been working on for the past 2 weeks or so. I spend an hour here and there working up a project. I really need to try to make more time for my crafts. This weekend I didn't really get out much and was able to focus maybe 10 hours on this. It seems like a simple thing, but trust me it takes more time than it looks... well if you want it to be neat :) I do try!

Welcome to my new craft blog!

I was checking out other blogs on this system and was amazed at all the people who blog about their crafts! I figured I'd give it a shot myself. There's something wild about having a "home" on the information highway that just about anyone may read if they so desire.

My crafts are my true passion. If I could make good money doing this full time I'd be doing it. In the meantime I craft in my spare time. The list of crafts that I'll write about includes:

* Handmade cards
* Jewelry
* Cross Stitch
* Crochet
* Knitting
* Scrapbooks
* Invitations
* Quilts
* Ceramics

Happy Crafting!