still the cats, well the blanket for them at least and quite a bit of purple.
The way the material is angled in this picture the cat has a different expression on its face!
I also managed some of the dragons.
As the knot work is all done its just all shades of blue now , well till the backstitch at least.
The camera angle here is distorting the shape and sizes on the knot work.
the red linen project.
I was drawn to the light effect when I saw the pattern in the WOX. Mind I did not have all of the colours or the red material and there was a little pause whilst I rectified that.
Most of the cross stitch is three over two, it looks quite effective even without the backstitching.
The backstitch brings it into focus.
to my BFF, we almost had a before Christmas 2025 this year. We still might manage to have Chriatmas 2025 in 2025, fingers crossed.
one of those mad ideas that insist on being completed . Turning a cross stitch I modified from a Durene Jones design into a 3D felt sculpture.
Click here to see the cross stitch.
It was a plan for a long time. First I ordered felting wool in red and blue and greens ext. Then I wondered about how to do clothing on a character. I had only done a Bunny and a Cat before.
I even ordered a kit with the character wearing clothes thinking the instructions might help. Sadly it was a cheaper kit and the instructions were simply make as per picture. I have yet to make it!
I finally made a start during a BFF RAL.
I shared those initial pictures but once the image might have been more identifiable I stopped sharing. Including how I tacked the waistcoat.
Mind the first stage it looked more like the farmer from Shaun the Sheep.
That changed when I added the hair.
I had some fights with the right hand, it kept getting bigger and looser rather than tighter, the hand shown here ended up not being used I cut it off and started again.
Then I added the hat, including a tassel (a bought one this time)
The sizes of the cats perhaps not quite reflective of the cross stitch. And the smaller cat got bigger and erm bigger.
I am not great at cat features.
I had bought a dome a long time ago, it was just say big enough (that tall hat and bigger cat).
After what was many months of thinking about and intention I finished it the day before it was gifted.
That works well as it stops me messing with it.
Gifted to my brother, he recognised The Hat that lead to the cross stitch that lead to this. My sister in law said we should get you a brown waistcoat and agreed the cats looked like specific cats amongst those they have.
I was pleased at that. My sister in law has taken up felting since I made the Bunny, but her animals have progressed to realistic whilst mine have not.
However, that does mean if I fall out of love with felting now this project is completed, if the kits from various sources once I try them do not equal the joy of Bunny I will have a recipient for any left over stuff.
I have a tendency to accumulate stuff in relation to a new hobby attempt.
I might stitch them again and try one of the other options as I have used up all of the label blanks from the kit.
the hard part with Christmas Cards is getting the words on the inside, the message just right.
in this instance I am doing so (I hope) with white pen on the green paper. I hope the ones I posted get there on time. There were life issues so I did not get them sent on the day I initially planned to.
I added green inner pages to each card
with a peel off Merry Christmas inside
making the cards, that is the easy part.
it was fun making the cards up.
as each mouse was different it felt right that each card was different. It also stopped me from getting bored with repetition.
and still for me that's the dragons.
well to be clear it is the knot work around the dragons as I can manage that and chat.
This time of year things can get peopley and busy. Most of my planned busy has been cancelled for one reason or another, some stemming from my fathers health, my health or my BFF's or a combination thereof.
Its nice the BFF meeting has not thus far succumbed.
This session I started that last section of knot work.
This is the scary part, waiting to see if the circle connects? Oh it is mostly a circle, the picture distorts it a bit.
Pop over to my BFF's blog, click here to see how her RAL is going.
The little stars, and dots are from peel off sheets. Also a charity shop purchase.
I have some fond memories of skating, I am not at all good at it mind and don't think my knees or ankles would cooperate should I try it now.
The cards, simple brown cards are a charity shop purchase and came with envelopes.
So whilst theses are not charity produced cards as such they have still contributed to a charity.
I have more card marking stuff than the amount of card making I do merits, some I bought and some was gifted.
It is always nice to use some of it up.
This one has parcel ribbon on the card.
because I had this fabric, a random purchase of four pieces of material.
Four rose panels in different colours.
Oh, I have a thought and the sewing machine was out for a bit of clothing alteration so
Made a little start, but there are still contemplations before it goes any further.
The ribbons on all but one of the card "parcels" are from rolls of stick on edges. They were given to me in a bag of card making stuff.
I used some lengths of wool from the gifted box (the rest of the wool is going to a charity shop, I won't use it, the pre-cut bits I kept as they won't do for a charity shop) in a colour coordinating with the gift label.
it feels nice using up little bits of oddments from my stash.
This is the last of the red label cards.
There were low expectations for this online get together as my BFF expected to be dealing with some work travel and might be a bit worn out or the transport might have been delayed.
Things did not pan out quite as expected but we did manage to fit in the get together.
I had a Christmas stitch I thought to use to RAL but I have put it down in a safe place?
So instead Celtic knot work on the dragon project from The World of Cross Stitching
It has moved on since last share.
each card is different, either in the ribbon
this is the first of the mouse cross stitches. The kit was for gift tags, I have put them onto cards decorated to look like parcels.
They are removable so the recipient can reuse them, either as gift tags or as tree decorations.
inspired Christmas themed landscape. Brr chilly but fun.
This week I managed to get set up and using the TV's speakers quicker. we had reduced expectations for being able to hear the music.
Some speakers were easier to hear than other. There was a little less of an echo but it was still there. Hopefully there will be further progress.
Conveniently BBC1 scheduled Songs of Praise earlier this week, so it started just after Sacrament Meeting ended, so we had our fix of hymn singing.
with metallic water colour paints on black.
 |
| Christmas trees |
with the back stitch done
all becomes clear .
I did make a small ohps but I don't think it too obvious or distracting from the feel of the pattern.
This is a cover kit from WOX.
so for me this time that equalled felting.
Stabby stabby
Through a template this time, something I saw on a Facebook video.
I think it is working, but I don't expect to be sharing the result for awhile.
I rather enjoyed seeing the progress Roni was making on her RAL this evening.
well a frame. It has been waiting a long time to get a frame. I finished this 13 years ago and like my dragon from my friend it has waited such a long time (and yes it is still the same carpet on the stair, been the best carpet ever)
So at last E.T the Snowman will go on display for Christmas this year, having benefited from the little framing splurge my BFF instigated.
I saw a little kit in the charity shop for 50p. Ah I am a sucker for 50p items.
I started putting it together but I had issues with the glue, it would not stick so well and then a bit went an odd shade.
So I put it away, waiting on me remembering to get glue that was strong enough.
And then there was glue, and a few little pearls added from my stash to cover up the yellowed spots and
ta da !
He does have a slightly gloomy look about him. Perhaps that's just me .
Nice for 50p, well plus glue, which was also bought for sticking other things.
This is how the kit looked when I bought it.,
I have had letters to the WOX published in the past, A wedding sampler ,A dog a lady in dress and cone figures
After completing the snow man and the reindeer, I had another cone kit arrive with the WOX .
I added pearl beads and a bow to this one.
took a picture of the whole group together
And sent it off to the WOX and to my surprised delight it was published as Star Letter. I am currently subscribing so no rush to the shops or e-bay to get a copy this time.
I have waited to post about this for the prize to arrive.
I will admit that the delight over the Star Letter has been somewhat tempered by my father being unwell at the moment, receiving the three kits perked me up just a little. I have other project that I am working on to keep my sanity, so nice as these kits are I don't expect to be starting them immediately.
Perhaps for next year.
