Birthday party after birtday party

It is amazing how many birthday party a girl has to go through in her life. It keeps you busy and at the same time you try to think what you could make to be taken as a gift. Personalized gifts are always loved and cherished. A little bit of inspiration & time and you are ready to do your magic again. Which -in practical- means turning your storage boxes upside down until you find what you are seeking. And you know what you are seeking only then when you find it. Oh, I didn't know I had this, this is great!!! :)

This keyring got idea from old Cross Stitcher magazine (January 2006, pages 39-41). I didn't have Framecraft luggage tag for which the designs were made for. I had only rectangular Framecraft keyring which design size was 34x44mm. Instead of 14 count aida I uses 16 count aida. Still the designs of luggage tags were too big to fit into the keyring so I decided use half of the bigger design which ended up to fit pefectly to this small project. Again, all the materials are left overs and loose ends. It just needed -as usual- a bit work to sort it all out before starting. :)

This tablecloth is actually a towel for a violist who can wipe with it the violing after playing. The design is from Donna Kooler's Cross Stitch Designs (333 Patterns for Ready-to-Stitch Projects) book, the page 52. I  used loose end threads but still it looks fine. The design was made for a hand towel but works fine with other ideas too. The towel is napkin size so it doesn't need a lot of fabric and lace.

This book of Donna Kooler is interesting and has many different kind of designs for many kind of occasion -from babies to Christmas. I can recommend this book for you to borrow it from a library or to buy it for yourself. With this book time and money is not watsed.  Multi-useable book which I have bought years ago and am still using. The designs of the book are mostly small so they are fine with a busy stitcher and low budget gifts.

PS. It was great to have a message "Thank you, the woollens socks were something I needed!"

Socks and bookmarks

I just finished my own design woollen socks. Using loose end threads is good idea in knitting. But be ready for the bigger work in finishing. These socks didn't turn out exactly in the way I wanted because the black thread run out too early. (Or should I have knit smaller socks?) But that's ok. It's like that with creative craft making and working with left over material. At the end these socks are good for it what for they were knit -to warm up someone's feet. :)

I planned to knit the socks all black at the end but suddenly noticed I was running out of the thread. For a moment I was considering buying a new ball of thread. You can always use black colour with the others. But I decided no. At the end the idea is using all the materials I have in storage, so I went through my wool baskets and decided to include one more colour -green. This finished pair of socks weights 111g and the size is for an adult man. If you are smarter than I was and weight the threads you plan to use beforehand you can plan your project better. ;)

If you are going to make warm woollen socks for the real use the best thread includes approximately 75% sheep wool and 25% polyamide. There has to be other than natural fibres to make it to be strong and lasting. You can combine different trademarks as long as the features of the thread are similar (ingredients, washing instructions etc.).

This year seems to start with bookmark projects what comes to stitching. Again I stitched one bookmark. It is a gift for a reader. This gift has to be sent via mail. Bookmarks and other small projects are excellent gifts to be mailed. They fit in envelopes and don't weight much so the sending costs are tiny. Also project costs are resonable -you can use loose end threads and left over materials.

This bookmark was inspired by the book Made in France from Agnes Delage-Calvet, Anne Sohier-Fournel, Muriel Brunet and Francoise Ritz. There's no bookmark design in this book but nothing stops you to use the ideas and charts creatively. This bookmark is a bit shorther than the described design because the left over piece of the fabric I used was just too small to include the top arc of the design. If you don't know it you don't miss it.

Made in France's outfit (pictures of the projects) really doesn't give the honour for the book it earns. It's also a bit difficult to use. It's thick and the pages want to turn away all the time while stitching. But I still can recommend to borrow that book from a library and get familiar to its great designs. It has plenty of useable charts.Also, if you a seeking a gift to be bought for a stitcher, this book is a good choise.

Am I tied up or not

The woolen socks has been started. They seem not to get finished so fast but I am trying to remember I am knitting them both at the same time. Messing aroung with two socks which are fasten to the ball of wool's different thread ends can be confusing sometimes. But as long as you are not tied up in the middle of it all you are doing fine. :)

Ideas for card making

For years I have been making cards by myself. Cards can be very expecive or you may find them at a reasonable price.  Nowadays card making has been strongly commercialized. You need this and that to get succed. You need stamps, paper flowers, scrapbooking papers, buttons etc. My opinion to card making is that at the end you need open eyes, imagination and scissors. Everything else is just extra. So much free stuff end up to your home that it is not necessary to buy it all from a craft shop. Many things on planet earth are still re-useable even though we are living in the middle of the disposable culture.

This card is made from XZ Manga shampoo & conditioner gift box! Supplies for card making are all over you. You just have to open your eyes and see them. Card making can't get easier than this. It is good to cut pictures off a bit bigger than the print itself is and decide later how much space you need around or will you end up to use only a part of the picture.

So, now -in a hurry- when we realized we are missing a birthday card for a girl I went to see what I have at the storage and found this. I used small scissors for cutting. Then I made a hole at the top and hang a red ribbon so that the card can decorate girl's room later and remind her about the special day. (I must add that the red ribbon is from a chocolate gift box.)

Frogs and grasshopper

Again I have stitched one bookmark from the left over fabric and loose end threads. It is a birthday gift for a child who likes to read a lot and is very skillful in it. I didn't find the excat design for the idea I had in my mind so I went through my old collection of the charts and I found the sollution. This bookmark demaned more working hours than the other ones described before but the result is funny and includes a story too.

The bookmark is combination of three different charts (3 separate designs) I downloaded from the free website at Dawn's Cross Stitch already almost 7 years ago! Actually there's the date 14.2.2004 on the print out paper. Unfortunately I can not track anymore the exact site to link it here for you. :(

(Now I have to pick up a knitting project which is going to be warm woollen socks. I will kit them from the loose end thread. I am going to use different colours. I will knit both socks at the same time. I need 2 sets of knitting needles which makes actually 10 knitting needles. It's a good method to knit socks or mittens if you use loose end threads. You see them both getting ready at the same time and can control better how much thread is left and how much more you can use it to make the both socks similar without need to undo it again and again.)

Library

Library is such a perfect place to seek something special or just an inspiration. In this modern society we often forget the treasures the old fashion library hides. At my last visit to library I foud an excellent stitching book which I'd like to share with you. It's Made in France by Agnes Delage-Calvet, Anne Sohier-Fournel, Muriel Brunet and Francoise Ritz. It includes many, a lot actually, designs you can stitch only by one colour. This book includes delicious charts which you can stitch by a thread in which the shades vary from dark to light. You really can get inspired by this book!

Valentine's Day

In my country Valentine's Day celebration is more up to friendship than lovers. I wanted to remember my childhood friend with a special gift. She likes reading too and it's a too long time since I stitched anything for her. I was going through my old craft books and ended up to a traditional design which hopefully reminds her about her roots far away and Northern Star, sparkling blue winter days, blink of the sun light somewhere behind the horizon and not to forget how fun and innocent we had on those days skating around, skiing and playing in the snow. And at the end we always had beautiful red cheeks like a Christmas apple which you desire to bite a bit!

The idea for this bookmark I got from Mary Olki's handicraft book Mary Oljen Kauneimmat Käsityöt. The stars are from the book, pages 224-225. Mary Olki has described a traditional table cloth design. The stars fit perfectly to a bookmark too. I added touch of glamour with beads and different colours which cause perhaps a tiny wind blow of Native American spirit.

For this project I used only left over materials and loose end threads. If you don't have any threads at all and need to make a small budget project, try out the thread that includes many shades of colours (I used such a thread in the yellow cross stitch framing around the bookmark). Pick up easy and clear design that is ok to stitch with one shade. You get beautiful out fit by using the thread in which the shades vary from light to dark. And you need to afford only one skein. ;)