Book reviews and blog giveaways ... what else can one need?

A while ago I have attempted to start a reading blog, which was a bit of a failure ... so here is an attempt at slightly merging the two. I have put up a new tab for crafty books that I browsed through/read/used ... so if anyone interested in some to browse that will have the full list.

The three additions:

'Quilting on the go!' by Jessica Alexandrakis 2/10
I am not too into repetitive patterns of various shapes. If you are then this book will be great for you.
Interestingly it also has a bit about quilting and blogs, links, online quilt-alongs, and where to buy materials. It has all the different templates to actual size, and the layouts for assembling them.





'Little Sew & Sew' by Christine Leech 1/10
Too simple for me; most designs are in outline stitching.

   

'Vintage Craft' by Pearl Lowe 2/10
It is a very beautiful book, but most projects are not very practical. Has anyone ever got dried leaves and plants for decoration? They never keep long and become very horrible with dust. Quite a few projects in this book are only for a short term purpose too. I would personally use the book as inspiration for style, rather than specific projects. There was something that caught my eye though - an office in a wardrobe. The one in the book was of course not very practical, more for decoration, but it reflects those storage facilities that are so expensive to acquire. With enough DIY any one of us can turn an old wardrobe into a great storage/office... and even make it attractive.



For my 100 followers giveaway check out the previous post. But there are so many more out there (a sidebar with links I seen on a few blogs looks very neat I think). Will add one for the giveaways I come across, regardless of my entering them.

So to start it off...

#1 - 25 follower giveaway @ Wisdom with Needle and Thread 

Some of the gorgeous things Kim is giving away:

To enter click here.

Deadline: 1st July 2013.

#2 - 100 follower giveaway @ Cross Stitch Cottage

Meggie has reached 100 followers, just like me ... so go visit her blog too.

To enter click here.
Deadline: 30th June 2013.

Till soon (when I hopefully get around to sharing some pictures of all the gorgeous hand dyed fabric that I have).


           

100 followers giveaway ...

Dear all,

After all the debating and hunting in boxes/draws/shelves I have decided to give away the following:

ISBN:978-0-7153-2747-0

I had this book for awhile, but have never stitched from it. It is essentially new.

2 pieces of fabric - 1 stripy (not sure of count)
& yellow count 22 dyed with turmeric by my lovely mum

a chart and a kit

The bookmark chart is by Joan Elliott (left)

And bookmark kit by Kate Knight - includes 14 lengths of thread, 14-count aida, chart & key (right)

card kit for the cat &/or duck

Again, includes printed cards, threads, aida, sequins, and charts.

2 needle threaders ... for those of us who cheat on occasion

So this all will go to one random winner.

Rules:

1) Must be a follower of my blog via 'google friend connect' option (on the right)

2) Comment on this post 

3) if you do NOT want some part of the giveaway for any reason (e.g. you already have the kit) ... list what you do not want to be entered for, and if you win I will keep these parts for another giveaway at a later date

4) And as I want as many people to know about this as possible you must post about this giveaway on your own blog (sidebar/post)

Rule 3 is optional, but the rest are a must ... apologies to those of you who do not blog, but I am in a mood for fame.

Closing date [almost forgot this detail] is 31st of July 2013. 

Good luck,

A puppy done, TUSAL - post 6, and other stitch alongs ...

Dear all,

I have finished my exams a week gone, and have been busy catching up on work and all the neglected jobs/tasks that have been gradually resurfacing. My giveaway is almost ready to be posted/uploaded (just thinking of the last few touches) ... so keep your eyes peeled for my next post (I think that's the expression).

Lets now talk a little about SALs. SAL stands for stitch a-long as we all well know. And aren't they good for motivation? Or if you get someone who is very quick at stitching they end up putting you off? That's how I sometimes feel. I am in 5 SALs at this moment, and Wipocalypse 2013 (which is a stitch along for fun and has its own tab). So a total of 6! Oh dear, this is worser than I thought. 

SAL #1 - Puppy Love by Margaret Sherry

You can find it on Margaret Sherry Lovers - Blog Group.

Out of 6 puppies I only want to do 4...

... and number one is complete!

Puppy #1 complete

... and here it is again

 So 1 out of 4 done ... not bad, right?

And this is how far I got on the number two:

Puppy #2 

I feel relatively happy with the progress.

SAL #2 - TUSAL

You can find info on TUSAL 2013.

So this months report/post/update:

2013 and June

Not so many orts, but since I did have exams recently - thats how the jar should look. And now the mixture of 2013 all up to date:

January - June 2013

SAL #3 - QS Literate Dragon

This is the annual HAED stitch along. The info could be found on their bulletin board. It is a closed group, so you will have to join yuku and ask to be added to the forum. The sign up for the SAL is now closed (not the group - you can join any time), but one can see everyone's progress on the 6 designs. There were 6 designs to pick from and I chose the QS Literate Dragon, then the 4 pages would be sent one by one. At the moment I have 3 pages (and still have not completed the 1st - disaster). For every half a page you stitch you can select one of the other designs to get at the end of the year. So 2.5 pages to get all 6. Participation was free this year; but there is no info for the next year's (or whether it will occur). My progress:

Progress as of June 2013

SAL #4 - Summer Extravaganza 2012

This is less formal stitch a long that me and Snoopy over at Cross stitch mania decided to do a year ago when we picked our first ever HAEDs. I am stitching 'Christmas Candle' on count 18 (I think), and have 3 pages out of 36 done ... if I started a year ago and only managed 3 pages and there are 36 in total ... how long until I finish this? I say lets not think about that.

April 2013

SAL #5 - Snowflower Diaries

Check out 2013 SAL Blog. They pick a designer every two months or so and stitch along. They pick something on a smaller scale by lesser known designers, so this is great for beginners, as well as us addicts. June/July is Snowflower Diaries. The patterns by this generous and gifted designer are free, so a great project to join the group with. And since I wanted to stitch some of them already thats an extra added bonus. Two ladies already finished their projects, so I am a little behind. 

Nothing to show yet ... but hope not for long. I just need some perfect fabric.

So till soon, 

                  

Wipocalypse - post #5 and exciting new projects ...

Hello all,

Thank you for your good luck wishes and support. I have now completed 3 exams, and only have another 3 to go. I do feel a lot lighter, and with the sunshine outside as if summer is coming (a very rare occurrence in the North East). So for this update I have 2 new starts/projects, and this months progress report. Also, now that I am approaching 100 followers I can let you know that I will have my 1st ever blog giveaway once I hit the said number (and obviously after my exams were this event to happen before 3rd of June).

Exciting New Projects: 

I recently got the following kit 'Field of poppies' by Yiota's XStitch :

chart and pre-wound threads

Isn't it beautiful? It is based on one of the Van Gogh's paintings. It is my new addition to this year's Wipocalypse list (I'll be changing the list slightly ... after exams). You have probably saw the amazing pre-wound threads phenomenon across several bogs. I love it! I have several Anchor kits that have the threads on a card ... and the numbers are not aligned properly. I might have mentioned some maia kits of peonies/poppies I bought on sale in my local craft store which is generally limited and overpriced (those will be future living room cushions) around January. I have wanted to start them for some time ... but that would mean winding all the threads onto bobbins first. The 'Kiongozi - Dance Leader' had the same annoying unaligned threads issue that drove me insane. What is even worse is when the threads are all tied together and you have to guess which colour is which. I am not very good at that task.

I have almost finished 'Kiongozi - Dance Leader' and thought I'd use that mini box for storing bobbings. They did not fit. I hate that box! The only bobbins that ever fit there are the ones that came with it, I have forgotten this little detail - silly me the current bobbins there are all placed at an angle. But I do have 2 bigger boxes for storing threads on bobbins (3 times bigger), one that has all leftovers from kits/projects once they're done, and the second I got for the HAED I am currently working on and wound/prepared less than a fifth of those (the rest are still in wallets or loose in my draw). Shame to leave a box half empty, so this is where my new project threads went:

and now they are all in a box

You can see them all sideways fitting perfectly. I have a feeling the card they are on is a lot better quality than what I normally wind threads onto.

closeup- all wound up and numbered!

They would have been such a perfect fit into my smaller box, all separate if only the box was a little deeper. I have no idea why that company produces perfectly good big ones, and annoying little ones.

The chart in my new kit is printed on good quality thick paper. And the symbols/squares are rather large (will be great for stitching in the evenings while watching films). Four A3 pages in total.

part of chart

 And finally the fabric (slightly cut unevenly but a minor detail):

evenweave

There is an option to get either 14, 16, or 28. I requested evenweave (count 28). After all thats what cool kids stitch on ... and I am a sheep that likes to follow (well sometimes).

about to grid

I was about to grid when I realised that I have never stitched on evenweave before (you'd think I'd realise that sooner) and what if I don't like it? or I won't be any good and ruin it? So I set it aside for another smaller project (also addition to Wipocalypse list to follow), to see how I'll do with evenweave. It came just before my 2nd exam (very quick delivery) in a sturdy envelope ... that even my favourite postman with his inability to read 'please do not bend' was unable to ruin. 

Yiota's XStitch is UK based, but ship internationally and also do downloadable charts (they have several free ones on the website that one can try - I have the one of the cat). Their website is http://www.yiotas-xstitch.com and you can find the easy count guideline I use from http://www.rseasycount.com/

And now the other new project I mentioned (it is in fact not new per se as I have signed up to do this awhile back). It is for this year's Margaret Sherry's SAL I am going to take part in, for more info click:

Margaret Sherry Lovers - Group Blog

It is the SAL #4 Puppy Love.

And my progress on one of them is:

Fabric is evenweave dyed with fennel by my lovely mum (featured in previous post). This is my first attempt at using evenweave, and I am yet uncertain. It is definitely better for half stitches (if one is stitching over 2 threads); and with projects like these, one would be able to see the background and eveneweave is a lot more appealing than having massive squares. Downside: it is taking me longer to stitch on it as I am not yet accustomed to it. I am increasing speed gradually; I bet it is a pain to grid.

That was the 2 new projects/additions, and now onto the current wips' progress ...

Wipocalypse - post #5:

'Kiongozi - Dance Leader:

April 2013

May 2013

It is all stitched up, and ready for backstitching (oh how I hate the backstitching).

QS Literate Dragon:

February 2013

I can't believe how fast time flies, and that this was untouched for so long.

May 2013

closeup of the worked bit

Till soon,

TUSAL - post 5, some exciting news, and check out a giveaway ...

Well, I have promised myself to stay away from the blog world in view of my exams. But I could not resist. So this evening after writing a 3 hour Business Taxation exam I feel I can be a little bit distracted from my Law revision.

Okay 1st up is a week and a half late TUSAL post.

May in a jar ...

May 2013 with the rest of 2013 behind it ...

2013 after the may joined it

And you don't want to see my lonely jar/glass/container now that its tipped out. All empty.

Next up some exciting news.

Fabric!!!

Aren't they/it gorgeous?!?! I just couldn't wait to share them. I got some hand dyed fabrics. Every time I see hand dyed fabrics on people's blogs I get extremely jealous. Well these beauties have all came out of raided boxes of fabrics, leftovers, and stolen from kits (I am changing the count for one of the projects), and then were all hand dyed by my lovely mum (who is into dyeing at this moment - lucky me). Which in turn means I can pick one (excluding the bookmark obviously) for the Margaret Sherry SAL of puppies. Hope it is not yellow (that is the evil count 22). And attempt to catch up with all the ladies already stitching. But before then all the rest of exams, maybe a few more individual photos with better light (and I'll tell you what mum used to dye them too). One of those don't do try it at home.

Now onto more news ... my handmade bags and accessories business. Check out some popular updates from ILiNi designs: 

Work in Progress

handmade silk scarf with tulips

For ILiNi designs website click on the:

handmade bags and accessories

And to like us on Facebook (and to get all the exciting updates) click:

handmade bags and accessories updates

And finally (if you not had enough of me yet). There is an exciting giveaway:

over at  Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe

It is so nice to finish a post on a happy note (after all don't want you all to disappear without finishing reading mine first). But now you can go, do let Nancy know that I sent you.

Till soon I hope, but not too soon so that I get a little chance to revise,

Wipocalypse - post #4 and cards ...

Dear all,

It seems I frequent my little blog and those I follow less and less. I do have two excuses for this:

a) I am very busy with project, presentation, study, exam preparations, and work at the moment
b) I had no access to my computer when it went to see the computer doctors. You might remember that around February it was very slow, so I have expanded the ram. It now turns out that one of those components was faulty ... so it has taken it some time but over 2 months it has corrupted my hard drive, not allowing repair and only responding to a total wipe; to make matters worse it has then decided that during the time I was loading the backup (after the wipe) it will corrupt my external drive along with all my saved documents photos etc and obviously the backup. Almost half of this months pay went to fix it. At least the lovely man got most of my things back onto it.

On the positive note I now have been told that the thank you cards I have sent last month have reached their destinations safely.

March 2013

March 2013

Both the butterfly and bee were stitched from the Cross Stitch Card Shop issue 85. Picked out of 'All together now!' The butterfly out of 'A kaleidoscope of Butterflies' and the bee from 'A hum of Bees'.

I had the list of threads I picked instead of the suggested ones somewhere ... just not sure where. The butterfly is in Anchor: 149,147, 233, 400, 401, and 403. Bee I need to locate the little post note with the info. 

And the ladies were:

Sarah of Sarah in Stitches [who's fabulous biscornu is featured above]

Lesli of the Fabulous Frogger [who gave me a beautiful HAED chart - can't wait to start]

For more information on what I go check out my earlier post click here!!!

Wipocalypse - post #4:

'Picture of elegance':

March 2013

April 2013

'Kiongozi - Dance Leader':

February 2013

April 2013

Christmas Candle - HAED:

December 2012

April 2013

April 2013 - close up

Till soon, 

                       

TUSAL - post 4

Quick post on the TUSAL update ... the Easter holidays are almost over and it seems they were never here. But as I say being busy is better than having nothing to do.

2013 and April

2013 (including April)

Till soon with a proper update,