Becca’s Cross Stitch

I have been very busy with moving house lately, so unfortunately not much time for stitching.  I am now settled in my new flat and waiting for my boyfriend to come and join me next week, it’s a bit lonely here on my own.

Page 4 of The Awakening is now complete!  After this there is only one more half (ish) page until the end of the first row so it’s very exciting!  I can’t wait to get onto the next row, unfortunately this next page is all trees so not too interesting.

As you can see i’m getting near to the end of this page on The Awakening, my Heaven and Earth Designs project.  I just have some more of that darker coloured tree to do, and a few odd spots here and there.  Then there’s just one more half (ish) page until the end of the row, which is very exciting!  Although the next page is all tree which means it’s probably going to take a long time as there are so many different colours in the trees.

I’m really glad i decided to start this cross stitch blog, it helps to motivate me and i really appreciate all the lovely comments.

Well here is my progress so far on my first attempt at crewel.  I say attempt because it’s very different to cross stitch and i’m finding it a lot more difficult.  I think this is something that will certainly need a lot of practice before i get it looking good enough to be happy with.  It is difficult because although the lines of the design are printed on the fabric as a guide it is very hard to keep the stitches on the lines, and to get the stitches facing in the right direction.  I also managed to mess it up by not reading the instructions properly and used 1 strand instead of 3, but i couldn’t be bothered to start again and i think it looks ok.  I just wish i could do it more neatly.

I got given a crewel butterflies kit for Christmas, and managed to lose it for 6 months and have only just found it!  So as i’ve finally found it again i’m going to start it now.  I thought it would be good to try because it’s different to cross stitch, but potentially it would be easier to make my own desings in crewel.

Here are some pictures of what it’s going to look like when it’s finished (hopefully) and the fabric and threads.  The design is printed onto the fabric and there is a pattern that goes with it to tell you which bits are which colour.  The kit is made by Dimensions.

Sorry it’s been so long since my last update, things have been very hectic, but i have finally finished my teacher training course (as of this Friday anyway) and so i should have lots more time to work on my stitching.  I have also managed to get my first teaching job and i start in September.

So, as far as the stitching goes, I’m working on the trees on the right hand side now and am almost all the way across the first row.  There is just one more part page after i finish this one.  Here’s a picture for you (sorry about the creases):

On my forum, Crafts ‘n’ Creatures we are holding anothe competition.  The theme for this one is myths and legends and you can enter any type of art or craft (yep that includes cross stitch).  The winner will receive a £20 gift voucher for an online store of their choice.  The deadline for entries is the 28th June 2009.

For more information, rules and how to enter, just click here.

I’ve done quite a lot of cross stitching this weekend and made some progress on the tree branches at the top of page 4.  Most of this page is tree branches and sky, with the other half of the sphere as well.

Page 3 of my HAED, The Awakening by Jonathan Earl Bowser is finally complete.  After lots of sky and lots of arch, and then way too much confetti stitching on the half of the second sphere which i did this weekend, that’s 3 pages done.  I’m really pleased with how it’s looking so far, and i’m excited about the next page because it has lots of tree on it which will make a nice change.  I also managed to spill some of my water on it just now, and was extremely glad that i don’t drink anything else!

I hadn’t had time to do any cross stitching for ages, in fact i went a whole two and a half weeks without doing a single stitch which was very depressing.  However i managed to find some time this weekend and have finished both the arch and sky on page 3.  All that is left on page 3 now is half of the second sphere thing.

I am a little worried that my plastic snap frame is ruining some of the stitches, as the ones around where the frame has been seem a bit scruffy and you can see the difference (possibly not in this photo).  I already put a piece of fabric in between the stitches and the frame so i’m not sure what else i can do, any ideas?

On my forum, Crafts ‘n’ Creatures, we will be holding an Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday 12th April starting at 8:00pm, UK time.  This will involve being given clues to find the eggs which will be hidden around the forum.  The first person to find each egg will win a prize to do with our Creatures game, including creatures which are unavaible to buy in the shop.  Click here for more details.

For those who don’t know what the Creatures game is, here’s a little explanation.  All members of the forum (which is completely free to join and open to everyone) earns points for every post they make on the forum.  These points can then be used to buy cute little creatures and items.  The aim is to collect as many creatures as you can, and you will soon be able to race them against other peoples’ creatures.  Points can also be won from our many competitions that we hold on the forum.

We are currently holding an art and craft competition with an Easter theme.  The deadline for entries is the 11th April, so not long left now.  For more information on the competition, click here.