I Promise I Have Been Stitching

The last little while has been a crazy time for me and Justin. I have not posted anything for a while, but that does not mean I have not been stitching. (I admit though I have not been stitching as much).

The reason we have been so busy is because I got pregnant in March thanks to modern medicine and IVF. I was a pretty big mess all around so I did not do much for a while. Starting at the end of June I was in and out of the hospital quite frequently because of all different sort of things. And then finally on September 8th I had two precious little ones come into the world. (You can read all about it on my other blog if you feel so inclined http://infertilityandivf.blogspot.com/)

They were 3 months early, but they are doing fantastic. Baby boy is Wilson Floyd. He was 2.7 lbs and was born at 2:32am, and Baby girl is Stella Grace. She was 2.4 lbs, and was born at 2:34am.

I am working on projects for them, and when those are all done I will post about those. I also did a project for Justin's dad, but it has not been framed either, so I will wait to show that until it is complete.

The only other projects that I have finished are ATC's since they are super fast, and I run one of the groups on Facebook, so I am always participating each moths. I thought I would show some of those off. my favorite one is probably the frog prince.

Still Swapping

I've been wanting to share the latest swaps that I have done. It took all my control to wait this long. I love love love the way all these projects turned out.

First up is my best biscornu ever! I always have the worst time sewing these together. I don't ever count right and get it lined up bad, but this one was a breeze, it came together so beautifully.

 I'm really excited about the one that I received as well. Its so pretty. I guess I'm going to have to go buy me some more pins to put in it.

Second is an awesome bookmark. Have I mentioned that I love black work? Yes, I know that I have. Its so much fun. I wish I would of taken a picture of the back, It's backed with some cute black and white material.

.  The bookmark that I received is tucked away in a good book.

Last up is an ornament that is suppose to be animal themed. I got kind of tired stitching this one, It took too long for my liking. But I came so close to keeping it for myself because I love the way it looks. So I might just have to make me a version of it sometime.

I used 11 count aida. Side note, I discovered that Walmart sells aida, and its so cheap. I will forever now buy my white aida from there. I got the turtle shape from issue 235 of Cross Stitcher Magazine. So I traced the shell shape onto the white aida and went from there. I made up the actual stitching pattern myself. Not that big of a deal as you can see. Its a super simple repetitive pattern. I then used felt for the head, feet and tail. And I got to use my sewing machine!

I actually haven't mailed my turtle yet, but I have received this super cute birdie ornament.

Artistic Trading Cards

I have discovered the joy of Artistic Trading Cards (ATC's) thanks to, yes you guessed it, Facebook. The first one that I did was in September 2011, so a little over a year and a half now. I of course take pictures of everything I stitch (with rare exception, and its usually due to my laziness) So this montage of ATC's is almost all the ones that I have made up. I can think of 2 that are not pictured.

They are all made up on 2.5 by 3.5 inch cards and I have had so much fun with them. I love being able to stitch something real cute and small and then sending it off. I think it makes me feel productive by getting projects done, even if they are super small and easy.

What In The World Have Your Been Stitching!

I haven't blogged for a little while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been stitching!
My husband may say that I stitch too much...but that's okay.  I have been doing a lot of swaps.  I love that I can do cute little projects, and send them away to someone who will appreciate them.  I hope you enjoy the many pictures to follow.

This was a needle keep that I made. I think I turned out sooooooo cute. I want to make me one, but I always have a hard time stitching something twice, so in the end I probably wont. 

 front cover

 inside

back

 This is what I received, I love the cute needle keep, it has lots of pages for needles and the cute pin cushion too!

I also just finished stitching this humbug. I love the pattern. I used a tiny portion of a larger pattern for this. I really want to stitch the larger pattern, I might actually do that one day. I love black work.
I have not received my humbug yet, I should get it any day now!

I designed this Valentines day pattern, I think it turned out OK. Did I mention I looooove black work. ( does anyone know how to flip a picture in blogger? For the life of me I can't figure it out.)

I'm a lucky girl. I got such a cute Valentine! and stickers too.

The cartoon swap was one of my favorites. I'll admit I'm not a huge Looney Tunes fan, there are some shorts that I absolutely love and wish I had, but for the most part there just Ok, but I love the way this towel turned out. I hope that she liked it over in the UK.

 I got the cutest little bag in return, I put it too good use holding my candy. 

I'm almost done I promise. The last one has the funniest story. We were assigned to do a county of origin swap in the form of a post card. I stitched this pattern up from one of my really old magazines, and sent it off thinking I was being so prompt and awesome. No joke, like two days later she sends me an email saying that she has moved! We were thinking that she would still be able to get it though, so hopefully no worries. Well as time went on turns out she couldn't, so I stitched up a bit simpler version of the first one. NO JOKE, like two days later the first one I sent came back to me in the mail! So now I get one too!

 Front of #1

 Back of #1

#2

I got a lot of awesome goodies on this swap as well.

I Wish I Could Of Kept It

I agreed to stitch a replacement bookmark in the Cross Stitch Swap group that I'm in, and It turned out to be the best bookmark I've ever done! I enjoyed the latest holiday on Monday and Stitched non stop! Then I did the finishing touches Tuesday night. The finishing just about drove me insane, but it was worth it.

SWAP! Part 2

 I have still been having fun doing swaps, so I thought I would share the last two swaps that I have done.

First one was a biscornu exchange. A biscornu is an eight sided pincushion. They look hard to sew together, but actually really easy.



So I sent the one I made to Pennsylvania.
It turned out very bright! But still cute.

The biscornu I received was AMAZING! The picture says it all! MARIO!!

 The other swap was a Halloween magnet. I had fun with this one, cause I love Halloween. And I loved the design that I stitched, I really want to make me one now.  I even got to send it to Bulgaria.

The magnet I got was very cute! It will probably be on my fridge all year round.

SWAP!

Facebook is a wonderful thing. One of the best things it has done is connect me with a bunch of other cross stitchers from all around the world. In the last few months I have been participating in swaps. Basically, I stitch something for someone, and someone stitches something for me. I just finished my third swap, so I thought I would share the outcome of the first two swaps.

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT EXCHANGE!

The person I stitched for was Pam and she lives in Connecticut. I found the design in a special Christmas ornament magazine, but the ornament was pink, purple, green, and all sorts of colors. So I changed it to a more traditional look. I think it turned out pretty cute. I kind of want to make me one now.

The person that stitched for me was Elena from Bulgaria! How cool is that. I have a Christmas ornament, made specially for me all the way from Bulgaria! The ornament is a Margaret Sherry design! One of my very favorites.

BOOKMARK EXCHANGE!

Rebecca is the second person I stitched for, and she lived in Mississippi. It's kind of hard to know what to stitch for someone that you don't know. I chose an oriental design because of the recent trip to China that Justin and I took. The symbol is luck.

The person that stitched for me was was Jenny from Australia. I was super excited when it came in the mail, and Jenny did not disappoint. I absolutely love what she made. Jenny also included some other stuff in the package like a cute key chain that I immediately put on my keys, and some cool postcards from some areas that she lives by.