craftgirl78

WIPocalypse

2012-01-08T19:27:00.002Z

Hello and welcome to my first proper post for this year's WIPocalypse. I have started with "Elegant Geisha" which is a kit from Yiota's Xstitch. I have only put in two and a half hours' work so far, so there isn't much to see at the moment, but I really hope that I will be able to finish this one in record time so I'll have enough time to stitch that birth sampler for my sister... Here's a photo

2012 WIPocalypse

2012-01-01T15:41:00.001Z

First, I would like to wish one and all a very happy New Year. I hope your celebrations went according to plan and you had a wonderful time last night. We had a great time here, although we were all really tired and went to bed soon after midnight... Anyway. Let me introduce you to my list of WIPs to blitz this year, in honour of Measi's "WIPocalypse". If you would like to know more, or would

Inspirational stitching

2011-12-01T16:03:00.001Z

Hello dear readers. Please accept my humblest apologies for not having posted for so very long. My reasons are quite simple: I have been busy making Christmas presents (yes; since August) and I haven't really found anything to inspire me very much. Will that excuse me? I don't know. However, I do promise to post regularly next year, as I will be blogging about the WIPocalypse right here every

Yiota's Xstitch: A Kit Review

2011-08-03T13:49:00.000+01:00

I was surprised and very flattered indeed to be contacted by Yiota Christodoulou about reviewing one of her cross stitch kits. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity; I do like an adventure! I have long admired the exquisite charts and kits available from www.yiotas-xstitch.com – a small company

Bags and dolls

2011-06-10T10:15:00.000+01:00

The half-term break was a hectic one for us, with two extra people in the house; my eldest step-daughter came to stay for a week, and my step-son's girlfriend joined us for a few days. I was so busy that I didn't have time to put the computer on to do the accounts, let alone blog! So now that I have caught up with everything else, it's time to catch you up. I did indeed make the laundry bag and

Fabric For Funky Fabrications

2011-05-28T11:30:00.000+01:00

Do you like my little play on words there?! Anyway, I promised to share some photos of the delicious fabrics I have recently acquired, and here they are in order of purchase: Muslin and organza Fat quarters Cotton prints and plain cream cotton Cream floral braid I didn't really want floral braid, but there was a limited choice of cream-coloured braid and this was the prettiest so

Stitch-a-thon

2011-05-27T10:30:00.000+01:00

I finally worked out the sewing machine and finished Ollie's laundry bag (a lined drawstring barrel bag), the curtain for my craft room/office and some napkins, which I embroidered with our initials. I removed my thumb rings and now my thumb and wrist are feeling much better! Now that I have finished the pressing projects, I have lined up several more, including another lined drawstring barrel

A slight setback

2011-05-15T11:22:00.001+01:00

This has, for the most part, been a rather productive week, with the wedding card and sampler both finished and just needing to be mounted and framed respectively. However, I have developed De Quervain's Tenosynovitis, a repetitive strain injury affecting my right thumb tendon. It is every bit as painful as it sounds, and has slowed me down considerably. I now have to rest my right hand for a

A little experiment

2011-05-09T13:51:00.001+01:00

This weekend I decided to dye my own fabric for a cross stitched wedding card and sampler set that required DMC Impressions aida. As we can't really afford to splash out on specialist fabrics like these, I thought I'd have a go at a new technique that was featured in CrossStitcher magazine last year. Well, I think it was last year, but it may have been the year before. Time evaporates here, you

Obstacles

2011-05-04T09:43:00.001+01:00

I can't work my sewing machine. Does that sound daft? Well maybe, but hear me out... Last October my mother-in-law's sister, whom I have never met, gave me her old sewing machine. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just surplus to requirements since she upgraded. The only catch was that she had lost the instruction manual. "Not a problem; I'll just look it up online" I said to my

So much inspiration, so little time...

2011-05-01T12:54:00.000+01:00

1. Spitfire, 2. Owl Hanging Heart Sachet, 3. Easter Bunny Gift Bag, 4. Easter Chicks Gift Bag 4, 5. Easter Chicks Gift Bag 3, 6. Easter Chicks Gift Bag 2, 7. Easter Chicks Gift Bag 1, 8. Easter Banner 1, 9. Fat Quarters, 10. Homestyle Sewing Monster Kit fabrics, 11. Homestyle Sewing and Simply Homemade, 12. Creepy Cute and Crobots Yes, I know, months without posting, you thought I'd forgotten.

Baking and Stitching

2011-02-28T11:22:00.000Z

1. For My Husband on Valentin'es Day, 2. Heart Shaped Bourbon Biscuits, 3. Apple Crumble Muffins, 4. Get Well Soon, 5. Sorry You're Not Well, 6. Love Birds Mirror Pouch, 7. The Italian Cookery Course, 8. The Bread Bible, 9. BBC GoodFood 500 Triple Tested Recipes I didn't do very much for Valentine's Day this year because I wasn't feeling too good, but I did manage to make a card for Jay. It

Losing enthusiasm

2011-02-13T13:22:00.000Z

1. Medibot, 2. Crimbot, 3. Chef, 4. Strawberry Swirl Cupcake, 5. Blueberry Swirl Cupcake, 6. Blueberry Swirl Cupcakes, 7. Strawberry Ice Cream, 8. Peaches and Cream Cupcakes, 9. Peaches and Cream Cupcakes, 10. Peaches and Cream Cupcakes, 11. Peaches and Cream Cupcakes, 12. Chocolate Swirl Cupcakes, 13. Five Petal Flower Cupcakes 1, 14. Five Petal Flower Cupcakes 2, 15. Five Petal Flower

Windows, birthday presents and crobots of my own design

2010-12-02T16:13:00.000Z

1. Strawberry And Yoghurt Hearts, 2. Simple Biscuits, 3. Caramelised Orange Cake, 4. Kitty knitting bag, 5. Lemon Biscuits, 6. Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs, 7. In Some Kind of Trouble, 8. Creepy Cute Crochet, 9. Super Cute, 10. Harry Potter, 11. Craft drawer unit, 12. Fabulous hand creams, 13. Sheer scarf, 14. Tiered cake plate, 15. Cake socks, 16. Cupcakes 2011 calendar, 17. Cupcakes 2011

Not a lot...

2010-11-12T12:29:00.000Z

I'm afraid I haven't really been doing an awful lot this week aside from the usual household stuff; this is because I have been a bit under the weather :-( I have finished making all the crobots in Nelly Pailloux's book, so here's a crobot mosaic to keep you going: Aren't they cool? I have started making my own because I have been so inspired by (and in love with!) Nelly's little critters, but I

Crobot Madness

2010-11-05T11:59:00.001Z

1. Cosmic Bear, 2. Space Mouse, 3. Caramel Sauce, 4. Orange Creme Caramel Cheesecakes, 5. Orange Creme Caramel Cheesecakes, 6. Caramel Cupcakes, 7. Caramel Cupcakes, 8. Spooky Spider Cupcakes, 9. Hooting Halloween Owls, 10. OrangePumpkin Face Cookies, 11. Eyeball Pasta, 12. Bouncebot, 13. Alienbot, 14. Catbot, 15. Matryoshka, 16. Retrobot, 17. Sumo, 18. Geisha, 19. Girliebot, 20. Ninjabot I was

Baking and Crobots

2010-10-22T19:06:00.000+01:00

1. Digestive Biscuits, 2. Jam Tarts, 3. Maltesers Crunch Bars, 4. Millionaire's Chocolate Tart, 5. Viennese Buttons, 6. Slice of Millionaire's Chocolate Tart, 7. Chicken Casserole with Cheesy Herb Dumplings, 8. Dogbot, 9. Bopbot, 10. Zombiebot, 11. Bigbot, 12. Babybot, 13. Thinker, 14. Wheely, 15. Mechanobot, 16. Boxbot If you read my other blog, you will already know that I went a bit mad in

New new new!

2010-10-16T15:22:00.001+01:00

1. CS230 - FloralBlush - ReviewedByYou, 2. CS228 - InTheFastLane, 3. CS230 RBY prize, 4. CSG letter prize, 5. CS230 - MetallicMayhem, 6. Ingredients, 7. Maltesers Cheesecake, 8. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, 9. Ike 3, 10. Doggie 1, 11. Doggie 2, 12. Olga Cushion, 13. Olga Tidy, 14. Heart Shaped Strawberry & Yoghurt Cookies, 15. Heart Shaped Strawberry & Yoghurt Cookies, 16. Mars Bar Mousses, 17.

Is that it?

2010-09-03T14:00:00.000+01:00

1. Izzy's Amigurumi Owl, 2. Ollie's Amigurumi Owl, 3. Craftgirl's Amigurumi Owl, 4. Amigurumi Owl Family, 5. Emily's Amigurumi Owl, 6. Jay's Amigurumi Owl, 7. Lemon Cake, 8. Scrumptious Squares (aka Millionaire's Shortbread), 9. Shortbread Ok, so I haven't done a lot of crafting this week, only completing five amigurumi owls and baking a cake, some shortbread and some scrumptious squares, but I

A fairly productive week

2010-08-29T17:51:00.000+01:00

1. Tea Towel Wall Hanging Design 2 - 4, 2. Tea Towel Wall Hanging Design 2 - 3, 3. Crochet Cuff Bracelet 2, 4. Crochet Cuff Bracelet 01, 5. Tea Towel Wall Hanging Design 2-05, 6. Tea Towel Wall Hanging Design 2-06, 7. Tea Towel Wall Hanging Design 3-01, 8. Well Done Emily card, 9. Well Done Emily card I finally picked up my cross stitching needle again and managed to finish the oils design on

Tea towels and bracelets

2010-08-23T15:00:00.000+01:00

1. Tea Towel Wall Hanging Design 2 - 4, 2. Tea Towel Wall Hanging Design 2 - 3, 3. Crochet Cuff Bracelet 2, 4. Crochet Cuff Bracelet 01 I'm afraid there isn't much to report this week: as the kids are off school for the summer holidays and we have been quite busy here, I have basically been in too much pain to do very much. However, I have managed to crochet a cuff-style bracelet (from Sophie

Moving house, learning to crochet, juggling projects

2010-08-07T12:44:00.000+01:00

1. Fearne's Funky Trimmings, 2. Picnic Blanket Square 1, 3. Picnic Blanket Square 2, 4. Heart Sampler, 5. Turquoise With Pink Flowers, 6. Fairy Tale Cushion 1, 7. Fairy Tale Cushion 2, 8. Fairy Tale Cushion 3, 9. Thank You Andy Park, 10. Thank You Mr Sandu, 11. Cut Thru' Cottage 1, 12. Cut Thru' Cottage 2, 13. Cut Thru' Cottage 3, 14. Cut Thru' Cottage 4, 15. Tea Towel Wall Hanging Design 1 - 1,

Feeling Stitchy

2010-05-24T08:55:00.001+01:00

1. Magical Snowman 02, 2. Portfolio Page 1a, 3. Portfolio Page 1b, 4. Portfolio Page 1c, 5. Portfolio Page 2, 6. Portfolio Page 3, 7. Magical Snowman 4, 8. Magical Snowman 3, 9. WOXS 164 I have had quite an exciting week, and I'm sorry I'm a few days late with this post; it really has been quite hectic here! I finally started stitching Wendy Darker's Magical Snowman design that I've been

Fabric dying, portfolio making and cross stitching

2010-05-14T13:07:00.000+01:00

1. Fairy Princess17, 2. Fairy Princess Framed, 3. 20100509 - sample 1, 4. 20100509 - sample 2, 5. 20100509 - sample 3, 6. 20100509 - sample 4, 7. 20100509 - sample 5, 8. 20100509 - sample 6, 9. My Creative Space 20100510, 10. Fairy Tale, 11. My Creative Space 12/05/10, 12. 20100512 - sample 1, 13. 20100512 - sample 2, 14. 20100512 - sample 3, 15. 20100512 - sample 4, 16. 20100512 - sample 5, 17.

Mystery Birthday Project and Bella Bookmark completed!!

2010-05-07T10:05:00.000+01:00

1. Bella Bookmark, 2. Bella Close Up 1, 3. Bella Close Up 2, 4. Bella Close Up 3, 5. Bella Close Up 4, 6. Bella Close Up 5 I can only show you photos of the Bella bookmark because Wendy hasn't opened her birthday present yet. Photos should be available here on Monday. I am so pleased that I have finished Wendy's Mystery Birthday Project in time for her birthday. It took me 55 hours and 45

Busy week, but only a few photos to show for it

2010-04-30T09:14:00.001+01:00

1. To A Special Friend get well soon card, 2. To A Special Friend get well soon card - side, 3. 20100428 - Leopard Cub Fabric, 4. Mystery Birthday Project 14 Despite the lack of photographs this week, I really have been quite busy! Honest! As you can see from the photos, I finally mounted the "To A Special Friend" Forever Friends Bear in a card as a get well soon gift for Janet. I posted it on

Three months?!!

2010-04-22T10:25:00.000+01:00

1. Kokeshi Doll 1, 2. Kokeshi Doll 2, 3. Kokeshi Doll 3, 4. Floral Issy Bookmark, 5. Monkey Ollie Bookmark 1, 6. Pooh Bear, 7. World's Best Mum Keyring, 8. For My Mum, 9. Tropical Fish James 1, 10. 1939 Morgan Framed, 11. Scrolling Emily Closeup, 12. To A Special Friend, 13. Flower For You, 14. Shelly's Shoes 1, 15. Shelly's Shoes 2, 16. Shelly's Shoes Bookmark I can't believe it has been

Hats, scarves, cards and sweaters

2010-02-09T17:32:00.000Z

1. 1939 Morgan 4, 2. Wendy Peter Pan DK 385 Terracotta, 3. Sirdar Big Softie 0334 Cupcake, 4. Patons Smoothie DK 1058 Teal, 5. 1939 Morgan 5, 6. Betty Bag, 7. Blueberry Beanie 2, 8. Blueberry Beanie 1, 9. Laundry Day Peg Bag, 10. Floral Blush Orchid, 11. Louise Sweater, 12. Floral Blush Lily I really have been quite busy since my last post, and I can only apologise for the time it has taken me

Two projects finished, two projects started and more in the queue

2010-01-23T16:18:00.000Z

1. Ross' Blue Toes 1, 2. King Cole Aran 309 Dark Turquoise, 3. Fairy Mother and Child 8, 4. Fairy Mother and Child 9, 5. Fairy Mother and Child 10, 6. Fairy Mother and Child 11, 7. 1939 Morgan 1, 8. 1939 Morgan 2, 9. 1939 Morgan 3 I have been quite busy since I last posted, finishing off Ross' socks, buying wool to start knitting the "Louisa" sweater published in issue 12 of Yarn Forward

Socks, cross stitch, socks, Christmas, socks and more socks

2010-01-12T12:21:00.001Z

1. FairyMotherAndChild06.jpeg, 2. Vicky's Tale of Three Socks - 1, 3. Flutter-by Socks, 4. Scottish Flag Socks, 5. HS45MPF-HeritageClassics1939MorganKit.jpeg, 6. Issy's Toasty Toe Socks, 7. Imelda Socks, 8. Hooray For Mum, 9. FairyMotherAndChild07.jpeg I can't believe it's more than a month since I last blogged here! It's no wonder I have so much to write about! Firstly, Christmas presents

Phew!

2009-12-05T17:15:00.000Z

Phew is right! I have finished making Christmas cards (all sixty-odd of them) and they are all ready to be posted - once I get the stamps! No pictures this week, I'm afraid; there are just too many too show, and I am too tired to try to pick out my favourites! I will share one photo though, of the birthday card I made this week for a family friend: I'm quite pleased with how well this turned

Four weeks and counting

2009-11-27T15:05:00.001Z

I missed a post last week I think, probably because it was my birthday on Friday (picture I of the mosaic above shows my favourite birthday cards and some of the presents I was lucky enough to receive). My husband, whom I love so deeply, really splashed out this year, and, among other things, gave me a Maia cross stitch kit. Unfortunately, I have quite a few projects in my queue at the moment,

Testing, testing.... is this working?

2009-11-19T18:36:00.000Z

... apparently not! I'm afraid I've got a little lost somewhere along the line, and have missed a post... Well, I guess I'll just have to make up for it then, won't I?!! Right, cross stitch first: 1. Fairy Mother and Child 3, 2. Fairy Mother and Child 4, 3. Fairy Mother And Child 5, 4. Christmas Characters - Rudolph, 5. Christmas Penguin Card, 6. Cute As A Button Reindeer, 7. Cute As A

The longest week of my life (and not because I'm blogging about two weekends!)

2009-11-09T15:41:00.000Z

1. Laundry Day, 2. Love's Journey - day 2, 3. Love's Journey - day 3, 4. Love's Journey - day 4, 5. Love's Journey - day 5, 6. Love's Journey - day 6, 7. Love's Journey - day 7, 8. Love's Journey, 9. Love's Journey - back before backstitch, 10. Love's Journey - back with backstitch, 11. Lilly's First Christmas, 12. Fairy Mother and Child - fabric, 13. Fairy Mother and Child - day 1, 14.

This week: 25th to 30th October

2009-10-30T20:10:00.000Z

1. MidnightMissionDay20.jpeg, 2. MidnightMissionDay21.jpeg, 3. MidnightMissionDay22.jpeg, 4. MidnightMissionSantaSack.jpeg, 5. Jaywalker3.jpeg, 6. Jaywalker6.jpeg, 7. Flutter-by1-20091029.jpeg, 8. LovesJourneyDay01, 9. LovesJourneyDay02.jpeg I know it's a couple of days early, but I'm not going to have time to do this over the weekend... It has been a very busy week in the house of craft and

This week: 17th to 24th October

2009-10-24T16:49:00.000+01:00

Haven't I been busy?! For extra information about each individual photo, please go to my other blog and you should be able to find everything you need. I'm afraid I don't have much else to add to this; I have spent the entire week making these little decorations, as well as some others that I haven't bothered to photograph because I haven't sewn them up (not that I can't be bothered, it's just

Tuesday 13th October 2009

2009-10-13T18:48:00.000+01:00

Although I have officially moved to WordPress, I thought I would revive this blog, hence the change of appearance and addition of extras etc... I have been asked to knit some small Christmas decorations for my Mum's Soup-A-Bazaar (previously known as Soup Morning) so when we go to town tomorrow, I will have to stop in at Franklins at get some Sirdar Chunky Snowflake and some Christmas colours of

Subscribing to feed

2009-09-23T15:56:00.002+01:00

Click on the headline animator on your right to subscribe to my craftgirl78 blog feed (on WordPress) - you will receive all my posts!

Moving

2009-05-06T23:46:00.002+01:00

I have moved... my blog! You can now find me at wordpress - come and join me!