Blackwork Spring Garden SAL & Other News

ES Blackwork Spring Garden SAL

For quite some time, my good friend Aurelia over at Eglantine Stitchery has been desperate to host a SAL (Stitch Along). We had discussed the idea a couple of years back with a mutual friend, but with one thing and another it never got off the ground. Over a month ago, Aurelia broached the subject again with me and Karen (of Karen’s ColourfulCreations), which we both expressed interest in. Having been given the green light so to speak, Aurelia came up with an idea for a design.

As the advertisement below states, the SAL will run from Monday 20^th May to Thursday 20^th June. If you would like to participate, you will need to let Aurelia know so that she can e-mail the chart (PDF) to you. You can read about the SAL in more detail here.

In addition to providing a colour chart for the image that appears in the SAL advertisement, Aurelia has kindly taken the time to include a black and white chart, and a custom colour version. The PDF is extremely well-presented and user-friendly, and includes a step-by-step speciality stitch guide.

Delphiniums Update

Thanks to my mother who was issued with strict instructions to take some photographs during a recent visit to see my gran, I am now (after all these months) finally able to show off Delphiniums.

Delphiniums by Derwentwater Designs

Delphiniums by Derwentwater Designs

Originally, there was a mount, and the frame was larger too; sadly too large for the area where my gran wanted to hang it. An aunty took it to a framers to ask if it was possible to have the mount removed and the size of the frame reduced. She was told it would be possible if the frame had been well-made, but would most likely break if it had been poorly-made. As the quality of the frame’s construction got the thumbs up, it just goes to prove that Mark at Betty Stitchkit is an extremely skilled craftsman (not that I had ever doubted his abilities). It’s a good set up they have at Betty Stitchkit. Sharon (Mark’s wife) stitches the cross-stitch kits sold in the shop, which Mark frames and displays. Customers see the stitched pictures, buy the kits, and then go back to have them framed. Therefore, it’s in Mark’s interest to do a sterling job with the framing, in order to keep the customers coming back.

More Card-Making Goodies

During recent weeks I have spoilt myself rotten with card-making treats. For years I had been after a paper trimmer/guillotine, as I had been using a DIY craft knife, metal ruler and cutting mat to trim paper and card, which often proved to be a chore. After looking on the Ryman website, I spotted this; a Texet A4 laminator and trimmer, with 50 laminating pouches (A4, A5, A6, and credit card size) for £25.99. I had also wanted a laminator, although it had been less of a priority. £25.99 struck me as a reasonable price, so I ordered the set, which has already had a lot of use.

The trimmer has three blades; straight cut, wave cut, and crease cut. Having experimented with all three, I can’t realistically envisage a need for me to use the crease cut blade. The laminator has been used to laminate my pricking charts, which means that if I stitch a design more than once I can re-use the pricking chart, as opposed to printing off a new copy.

There is a garden centre (Webbs ofWychbold) that has been deemed The Midlands’ premier garden centre, which incorporates a Hobbycraft store, and my mother had asked me if I’d like to check it out. Approximately three weeks ago, I had my very first outing to Webbs ofWychbold to visit the Hobbycraft store. It’s a vast place, with a seriously impressive array of items, covering just about everything related to arts and crafts. My mother hadn’t expected me to buy anything, but to simply browse and find inspiration for future card-making projects. As we walked around the store I knew damn well that I wasn’t going to leave empty-handed, given that I was surrounded by so many wonderful goodies. It was as though every item that caught my eye was crying out, “Buy me! Buy me!” By the time we had walked around the entire store, the individual pleas had turned into a deafening chorus, and I don’t mind admitting that I felt completely overwhelmed. Goodness knows how, but I managed to reign myself in, and just bought a few items for a project I wanted to get started on.

That evening, I had e-mailed my mother to thank her for taking me, and had said I would really like to go back to have another look at the seed beads and bugle beads. Knowing how busy my mother’s schedule can be, I had been thinking some time within the next few weeks. To my surprise, she e-mailed back asking if I wanted to go the following day! My feet were still recovering from walking up and down so many aisles (some more than once), and I wanted time to have a good think about exactly what I wanted to get, so I suggested leaving it until the following week.

During my return visit to Hobbycraft at Webbs of Wychbold, I was drawn to some glittery felt squares. I didn’t buy any, as at the time I couldn’t think of what I could use them for, but I commented to my mother that I wanted to decorate my walls, ceilings, and upholstery with them! It really was like love at first sight, as I stood rooted to the spot admiring the glittery gorgeousness of the felt squares. For hours afterwards, I kept thinking about them, how badly I wanted them, and how I could find a use for them. Suddenly, the light bulb in my head turned on, and in the words of the Blackadder character Baldric, I had a cunning plan. Well, not so much cunning, but certainly a plan. The wonderfully sparkly felt squares would be the perfect backing for bookmarks given as Christmas presents. Goodness knows why I hadn’t thought of it earlier!

Since deciding to try my hand at stitching directly on to card, I’ve built up a rather lovely collection of seed beads and bugle beads. Initially, I had been following the advice on the StitchingCards website to the letter, and had been scouring the internet to find size 10 silver-lined seed beads in the colours I wanted. I had managed to order some silver-lined red seed beads and emerald seed beads by Peak Dale from Fred Aldous, and whilst they really do look lovely, their depth varies greatly. This can be rather noticeable if working on a heavily-beaded design like the one below.

Bead Medallion Regal - Design Copyright © www.stitchingcards.com

Wedding Acceptance Card

Several weeks ago, I received the official wedding invitation from my friends who are getting married this summer. Initially, I had planned to send a letter confirming my attendance, but because I considered the invitation to be absolutely gorgeous, I felt I needed to make more of an effort. I had searched online for wedding acceptance cards, but saw nothing that appealed. It then seemed logical for me to make one, and to make it more personal by basing it on the colour theme of the wedding stationery.

Wedding Invitation by Donna Blundell

While I was forming ideas in my head as to how I wanted my wedding acceptance to look, my friend had commented in an e-mail that the modern way to respond to wedding invitations is by e-mail or text message. I could not believe my eyes and was completely aghast. The cost of wedding stationery isn’t cheap, especially when one then adds on the cost of postage stamps. Irrespective of whether a couple choose to make their own wedding stationery, or have it made for them, there is a considerable amount of time and effort that’s involved. With that in mind, responding by e-mail or text message seems an incredibly lazy thing to do, and suggests the person responding can’t be bothered to make an effort. It is my belief that the tradition of responding in writing needs to be kept very much alive!

During my first visit to Hobbycraft, I had purchased a pack of cream-coloured double-fold cards, with the intention of using one for my wedding acceptance card. I had also purchased two packs of gem stones. Whilst visiting the Stitching Cards website, I saw a design for an oval. Perfect! I could stitch the oval with green thread, and then stitch the words, ‘Wedding Acceptance’ inside it with a different colour of thread. However, I really wanted the border to stand out. I had toyed with the idea of stem-stitching one oval inside another, before deciding to ‘couch’ the border. I had been curious to find out if ‘couching’ could be done on card, so this gave me the perfect opportunity to find out.

The first thing I had to do was reduce the size of the pricking chart for the oval, as it was too large for the size of card I wanted to stitch on. Having done this, I saved the file. I then reduced the size of the oval further, copied and pasted into the larger oval (that I had saved), and then printed off.

I opted to use Kreinik Cord shade 086C for the couching and tacking stitches. There was no having to work out where to place the tacking stitches, as I was able to use the pricking holes. The next task was to decide where to start and finish the ‘couching’, and not knowing how it would turn out, I felt it would be best towards the bottom-centre of the card. I found the ‘couching’ incredibly straightforward, and much more enjoyable than when I had previously used the technique with Starburst and Rosa. After completing the ‘couching’, I felt the oval needed something extra in order to stand out, and so I stem-stitched around the outer and inner oval with gold thread (Kreinik Cord shade 002C.

For the text, I used a stitching font that I’d purchased from Stitching Cards, and printed off two pricking designs (one for each word). Initially, I had added the text to the pricking design for the oval, but had experienced difficulty aligning the text. When it came to stitching the text, I felt a dark-coloured thread would be best. Black seemed too harsh, so I opted for ‘Antique Gold’ (Kreinik Cord shade 205C), which I think works rather well with the gem stones.

Wedding Acceptance Card

Better Late Than Never!

Back in March 2011, I had published a post about a visit I had made to the International Craft and Hobby Fair at the NEC in Birmingham (UK). I had included images of some kits I had purchased, but there was one I had purposely omitted; a Michael Powell miniature cross-stitch kit that I had intended to stitch for my mother’s birthday a few months later.

Everything had been going well until it came to the backstitching, which I found tricky. This resulted in a complete mental block and I regrettably abandoned the project. Earlier this year, I thought I’d attempt to get the backstitching finished with fresh eyes, so to speak. There wasn’t actually that much to do because I’d completed the majority of it before my stitching hiatus.

When my mother had taken me to Betty Stitchkit a few weeks ago, to get one of the wedding samplers framed, I was extremely relieved that she had opted to wait in the car, as I’d also got Mini Venice Street with me. The following week the framed pictures were ready to collect, and again to my relief, my mother remained in the car. After I had returned to the car, my mother insisted upon holding the pictures while I fastened my seat belt, and asked if she could look at them (through the bubble wrap they had been wrapped in). With the speed of lightning, I flipped Mini Venice Street over so that the back of it was facing upwards, and told my mother that we would have to go back to her house if she wanted to look at that picture.

After a much-needed coffee, my mother said, “So can I have a look at your pictures now?” I responded by saying something like, “Well, one of them isn’t mine, because this one’s for YOU!” If only I’d had a video camera to capture the expression on her face when she removed the bubble wrap!

You see, prior to my visit to the ICHF, my mother had seen the Michael Powell Venice Palazzo Triptych displayed at Betty Stitchkit, which she fell in love with. So, when I’d spotted Mini Venice Street at the Michael Powell stand at the ICHF, I just knew I had to buy it (from the great man himself) and stitch it for my mother.

Card-making Treats for Myself

In my March 2013 Catch-up post, I mentioned that I had used a glass-headed pin to perforate the wedding card I made, and had, “managed perfectly well”. I’d like to place emphasis on the word ‘managed’. Since making that card, I’ve realised that the use of a glass-headed pin as an improvised perforating tool is fine short-term, but not when one intends to make several cards. Therefore, I followed the suggestion on the Stitching Cards website and treated myself to a Pergamano single needle perforating tool (Product-ID: 10241), plus Pergamano extra-large perforating pad (Product-ID: 31417).

Pergamano single needle perforating tool

Pergamano perforating pad

 I am utterly delighted with both items, as they have made such a positive difference to the perforating process. The perforating tool is similar to a soft-grip pen, which is ideal for designs that consist of many perforations. The needle is finer and sharper than that of a glass-headed pin (almost like a hypodermic needle), meaning that the perforations are smaller.

Pergamano single needle perforating tool

The left leaf shape in the image below was perforated with a glass-headed pin, whilst the one on the right was perforated with the Pergamano single needle perforating tool.

Perforation comparison

The Pergamano perforating pad I purchased measures 23.5 x 33.5 cm, with a depth of 0.8 cm. It is made from sturdy foam, which means that when it’s in use, it not only offers cushioning, but stability too. My only criticism is that it attracts the slightest speck of dust (and whatever else) like a magnet.

Finally, the third item I treated myself to was an Extra Strong Permanent Glue Tape Pen by Crafter’s Companion, which is, “acid-free and archival safe”. I bought it because I’d run out of the double-sided finger-lift tape I normally use.

Crafter's Companion Extra-Strong Permanent Glue Tape Pen

The appearance of the dispenser (I mean ‘pen’) gives the impression that it’s refillable; it’s not, but at a cost of £2.99 for 22m (72 feet) of glue, it’s an absolute bargain! Unlike double-sided finger-lift tape, there’s no having to search for scissors, or make endless trips to the bin to dispose of strips of wax-like backing paper because there is none. With the double-fold cards I use, the Crafter’s Companion glue pen seems to do a considerably better job of sticking the two sides of card together. What I’ve yet to establish is how well it works with Aida fabric.

Prick and Stitch Mother's Day Card 2013

In my previous post, I mentioned that I’d tried my hand at stitching a card using the prick and stitch technique. Because I wasn’t sure if it was something I would take to and be any good at, I’d only purchased the supplies I required to stitch the Stitching Cards design I had chosen for the wedding card.

Well, as soon as I’d finished the card, I wasted no time in re-visiting Stitching Cards to purchase several more designs, along with a design from Form-A-Lines, and the supplies I needed to stitch them (an ongoing process).

From Craft Creations, I ordered a quantity of Hammer White double-fold cards, measuring 104mm X 152mm (DF03U), and white Centura Pearl envelopes (CNTE2) to fit, which look more of a pale-silver colour. All the designs require Kreinik Cord thread (part of the Kreinik Metallics range), and I was able to purchase the colours I needed from Sew and So.

Some of the designs I purchased require seed beads, bugle beads, or both. Within the Tutorials section of the Stitching Cards website, it states that their designs are based on 2mm (size 10/0) seed beads, and 7mm (Czech size 3) bugle beads. From The Bead Shop I ordered a pack of silver-lined medium-gold seed beads (which look great), a pack of transparent green seed beads, and a pack of transparent blue seed beads (which don’t look so great). The conclusion I have come to is that silver-lined beads are a must, but trying to find stockists of 2mm (size 10/0) seed beads is a complete nightmare. There were several other colours of seed beads I was after, but was unable to find. In addition, I bought a pack of Gütermann silver-lined green (8320), red (4580), and gold (1870) bugle beads.

Anyway, it occurred to me that one of the designs I’d purchased would be ideal for a Mother’s Day card (10th March in the UK). The same could be said for quite a few of the other designs I had purchased, just that the one I opted to stitch really appealed to me and immediately made me think of my mother. For the benefit of those of you who may not know, Mothering Sunday in the UK is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent; three weeks before Easter Sunday.

Unlike the other prick and stitch cards I’ve made, I can actually include an image of this one, which I really do feel immensely proud of.

Design Copyright © www.stitchingcards.com

Now, I must admit that when it comes to colours, I’ve never been a fan of pale pink, purple, or the shade of green thread that was used to stitch the design. However, for the first day or so after finishing the stitching, I found myself unable to stop smiling when I looked at the card, and feeling overjoyed at how good the colours looked together.

Out of everything, I thought the addition of the seed beads would be the tricky part, given the fact that they are so small. In actual fact, it was the basket that proved to be the real challenge. The basket base was what I had started working on first, and after the end of the thread had been sealed down on the reverse of the card, it had worked its way loose. The only way I could get to it was by unpicking the basket base and rim and starting again.

I could have stitched the words ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ on the card, using one of the stitching fonts I’d downloaded from Stitching Cards. I decided against it though, thinking that if my mother wanted to frame the card, the design would look better as it was.

The Tutorials section on the Stitching Cards website suggests the use of a No.10 embroidery needle for stitching, and a size 10 beading needle. I’m not actually sure what size beading needle I used to add the gold beads, just that it was from a pack of John James size 10/13 beading needles. For the stitching, I used a John James size 28 cross-stitch/tapestry needle.

When I have previously used beading needles to add beads to cross-stitch and blackwork projects, it hasn’t always been easy to get the needle to come up through the right place on the Aida. This is not a problem when stitching directly on to card.

If you study the Flower Basket image, you will see there are five seed beads at the centres of the flowers with five petals. For each section, I passed the needle through the first four beads twice, and three times for the fifth bead, just to ensure the beads would be secure.

I did read in the Tutorials section that the pricked holes can be made less noticeable by placing the card face down on a hard surface, and rubbing gently across the stitched work with the back of a teaspoon. However, this is not recommended for cards with beads. Personally, I think the appearance of the pricked holes adds to the overall charm.

There’s a fascinating article on the StitchingCards website that provides a brief history about the progression of string art to stitching cards. It includes a link to the website String Art Fun, which is part of the Stitching Cards family and well worth a visit.

Anyway, the card was greatly appreciated by my mother, who informed me that if it is viewed upside down, it looks like a hat, so let’s test this out.

When an aunt visited my mother and saw the Mother’s Day card, she asked if I’d ever considered selling my cards on eBay. I’ve received wonderful comments from the recipients of stitched greeting cards I’ve made in the past, and although I’ve often thought about selling them, I’ve never put the wheels in motion. My aunt’s comment spurred me into rectifying that, and I’ve since set up an Etsy shop. It’s not open for business yet because I need to build up a collection of stock to sell, but watch this space, as they say.

March 2013 Catch-up

After more than six months of procrastinating and allowing Delphiniums to gather dust, and feeling guilty that progress had ground to a halt, my motivation thankfully returned. This was around the end of September, I think.

 

I’d set the beginning of December as my deadline, and stitched like crazy. After a fortnight, I realised Delphiniums would be finished well ahead of my self-imposed deadline, providing I continued to devote as much time as possible to stitching. The one thing that helped to keep me going was that the sooner Delphiniums was finished, the sooner I could get to work on a project that I actually wanted to do.

 

Somewhat frustratingly, as Delphiniums was nearing completion, I ran out of a handful of threads. Having contacted Derwentwater Designs, I was then in a state of limbo whilst I waited for the threads to be posted to me. I really wanted to be stitching, but the issue was that I’d been using my No-Sew Table/Lap Stand for Delphiniums, and wanted to use it for my next project as my other No-Sew roller frames weren’t wide enough. In addition, I couldn’t find my masking tape.

 After a couple of days of being stuck in limbo, I found my masking tape, which made me feel deliriously happy. Delphiniums was promptly removed from the table/lap stand, and replaced with the Aida for my next project; Wedding Couple by Design Works. Two days after that, I received the threads for Delphiniums, which I completed on November 12th.

 

As yet, I don’t have any images of Delphiniums. It was far too large too scan, and after it had been washed and pressed, it was promptly taken to Betty Stitchkit to be framed. This proved to be an interesting experience for me, as I had naively believed it would be as simple as choosing a frame and that would be that. How wrong I was! It was felt that Delphiniums would look better with a frame mount, and what a vast selection there was to choose from. After that, we (me and my mother) got to choose the frame, and were then asked what type of glass we wanted! Although the cost didn’t come as a surprise to my mother, I almost had a heart attack. There was no opportunity to take any photographs of Delphiniums after it had been framed, due to several layers of bubble wrap that had been bound around it, which I didn’t want to disturb.

 The good news is that my gran absolutely loves Delphiniums, which now has pride of place in her room at the care home. Apparently, it’s sparked a lot of interest from staff and visitors. Of course, things like that are always lovely to hear.

 After Delphiniums was completed, I had Wedding Couple straight back on my frame. Much to my amazement it took me just over a week to stitch, and was completed on November 20^th.

 Immediately after Wedding Couple was removed from the frame, I made a start on Wedding Arch by Bothy Threads. The kit included Madeira threads, which I must admit was lovely to stitch with. It felt lovely and soft, and just seemed to glide effortlessly though the Aida. There was a small section of the design (I won’t say what) that was stitched with ‘glitter thread’. It was rather like Kreinik blending filament, which I’ve never been a fan of. I did consider substituting the ‘glitter thread’ with DMC metallic thread, but quickly dismissed the idea because the effect just wouldn’t have been right.

 

It had always been my intention that in addition to the wedding samplers, I would stitch a wedding card. After months of looking at cross-stitch charts, blackwork charts, and card kits, I had all but given up hope of finding anything that appealed. Then, one day, I just happened to spot Stitching Cards; a website packed with e-charts. Instead of stitching on Aida, one stitches directly on to card using a prick and stitch card-making technique. There is an excellent step-by-step tutorial (with images) on the website, and all the charts have an ease of use rating.

The design I opted for required Kreinik metallic cord, which I’ve never worked with before. It is a fine single-strand thread, but very strong, and looks divine. I had truly believed I would find the card challenging to stitch, but it proved to be incredibly easy, and immensely enjoyable. The most time-consuming aspect was pricking the holes, which resulted in an unpleasant burning cramp in my left upper-arm. There are pricking tools and foam pricking mats one can purchase, but I managed perfectly well with a glass-headed pin and a (clean) tea towel.

 Whilst I don’t think the intended recipients of the wedding samplers and card visit my blog, I’d rather err on the side of caution and delay posting images until after their wedding (August).

Summer 2012 Catch-up

After much thought, I have concluded that my friend’s band (The Dale Von Minaker Band) deserve their own page on my blog. Because my blog is primarily intended to be a stitching-themed blog, it just didn’t seem right to have posts relating to the band appearing on the same page as stitching-themed posts.

Unfortunately, I have nothing to report stitching-wise. For the past few months, Delphiniums (by Derwentwater Designs) has been gathering dust. I really do need to pull my finger out, but just cannot seem to get myself into the right frame of mind to stitch. Because it’s for my gran, I had initially thought that would be enough to motivate me and spur me on. The crux of problem is that the design just doesn’t appeal to me. In addition, the chart has been printed on four sheets of A5-sized paper, which I find somewhat overwhelming.

On a positive note, a close friend of mine is getting married next year. As soon as I found out, I was on the internet looking at wedding samplers, but couldn’t really find anything that seemed quite right. What I’d wanted was a wedding sampler with space for the bride and groom’s names, the date, and the name of the church. In addition, I wanted there to be an image of a church, along with a bride and groom. My friend and her fiancé are fun-loving people, so I wanted a design that reflected this, as opposed to sickly-sweet. I don’t ask for much, do I?

Trying to find the perfect wedding sampler, which ticked all the boxes, was impossible. Eventually, I didn’t purchase one wedding sampler, but two – a spur-of-the-moment decision.  I happened to be out one day, and saw a wedding sampler kit by Design Works called Wedding Couple. It wasn’t the design itself that grabbed my attention, but the font (as bizarre as this may seem).

Wedding Couple by Design Works

The second kit was more along the lines of what I had been looking for; Wedding Arch by Bothy Threads. The kit includes glitter thread and beads, and the option to personalise the hair and eye colour of the bride and groom.

Wedding Arch by Bothy Threads

Initially, I had thought of stitching the smaller kit as a large greeting card, but have since dismissed that idea. When the time comes, my friend can choose if she wishes to display both samplers in different rooms, or just display one of them, and replace it with the other when she fancies a change.