Vow - no more stash until November

I vow here and now not to buy any more stash or supplies until November (I live in hope that my favourite online stores might have a Black Friday sale).

Yesterday I made my last cross stitch related purchase for at least four months.

- beads to finish off Lady Alexandra

- a Pako floss organiser (so I can use it for my Summer Flowers WIP and use the needle organiser for Balloon Glow and then have both projects on the go to prevent stitching boredom)

- threads for Summer Flowers

- thread heaven for when I begin Love Blossoms

- 48 needles (so I can fill up my new Pako)

And now let the savings begin!

Buy this - Tacky Bob

I first discovered tacky bob when I did the beading on Lady Alexandra. It's a very clever little contraption that I purchased from 123stitch.com:

I love it because it holds the beads in one place, I don't spill them all over the shop and it stays sticky for a long time. 

This is going to save you a lot of time. For about $8 it is minimal outlay for maximum efficiency. Two thumbs up!

New Dimensions Gold kit

Hoorah! I found a new Gold Collection kit over at EK Success Brands (the company that owns Dimensions).

The work is by artist Sung Kim. Dimensions earlier released a paint-by-numbers kit of the same image. 

The cross stitch kit includes 16 count blue Aida and contains metallic threads.

I imagine this is one where the photo does not do the cross stitch justice. While I won't be putting it on my purchase list immediately, I'll be interested to see some pics of a finished product by another keen stitcher.

Disappointing craft expo

I was really looking forward to the Craft and Quilt Expo in Melbourne this weekend. I even managed to find a crochet friend willing to buy an $18 ticket to accompany me for the wild ride.

The best part of the show was seeing the beautiful cross stitches displayed and getting ideas for what I would like to stitch:

I could have stared at them all day. Three years ago after I attended the expo I told my husband that I wanted to fill my whole house with cross stitches (his face filled with fear). I felt the same burst of enthusiasm looking at the works today.

The way they were displayed - without glass - was very effective.

Overall, however, the expo was a disappointment.

First, the lack of range. Okay, so it wasn't a cross stitching expo, but the very few dedicated stalls were packed with people, so I wasn't alone in wanting to see more cross stitch.

I went with the purpose of purchasing some DMC threads, Mill Hill beads and a Pako needle organiser. Nowhere to be found. I was told at one stall that I should try Spotlight. Derp. 

The second disappointing thing was the prices for kits. There were heaps of Design Works and Dimensions Gold kits that were on my wish list. But the prices on them were unrealistic - $20 to $30 more expensive than what I could pay for them on 123stitch.com. 

Three years ago when I attended the expo, the same kits were cheaper. For example, back then I purchased Frederick the Literate for $35. This year he was marked at $45. How a standard Dimensions kit has managed to go up in price three years on, I don't understand.

So due to the lack of range and the disappointing prices, the $100 I budgeted for didn't get spent - except for one thing. This magnifying lamp for $25, which takes batteries (necessary in my apartment, since my cats like to chew through thin electrical cords):

New stash - Paris Market and European Bistro

I think these are going to look great on our living room wall. Even the husband says they are "nice for cross stitches".

Paris Market:

And European Bistro:

Both are Dimensions Gold kits. They were on my wishlist for a long time. One morning I awoke and decided I had to have them. I should be more disciplined and wait for a sales next time I acquire stash. Purchased from 123stitch.com.

Slowly

This picture represents about 20 hours of work over the last four days (no frogging).

It's so frustrating how slowly this project is progressing. I like to see results quicker than this! 

Large online retailers versus eBay

Back in 2010, when I started cross stitching again after a long hiatus, I bought my first Dimensions Gold kit from a website called The Fox Collection. The kit cost $80. It now hangs in our bedroom, like so:

About three months after I purchased Teddy Bear Gathering, I learned to shop around online and was pretty disheartened to see the kit selling at a significantly lower price.

So let's use a recent example - Love Blossoms by Bothy Threads

Currently for sale at the following websites (Australian currency):
The Fox Collection: $67.85
Bothy Threads: $63.26
Arts and Designs: $44.42
Ebay (cheapest vendor): $43.89

123stitch - does not stock (why 123stitch.com does not stock Bothy Threads I don't understand, I have emailed them about this, no reply.)

The prices above are inclusive of shipping costs. It's always important to take into account shipping costs because they make up the price of the transaction.

Interestingly, Bothy Threads seems to be doing itself out of some thriving Australian trade, coming in second most expensive to the Fox Collection.

So, lesson learned: always shop around for your next bit of stash. You may find yourself saving $20 or $30, sometimes even more!

Next project - flowers WIP

Ugh so frustrating this evening, was about one hour off finishing Lady Alexandra and I ran out of beads.

What's a stitcher to do in this situation, other than turn to the next project on the pile?

My next piece was started in 2011. It's my oldest WIP and my mum chose it and bought the materials for it. Once it's finished I'm going to frame it and give it to her as a gift. It's an Artecy pattern which means lots of colours (54), lots of confetti stitches and a photograph quality finish. No blended colours, backstitching or fractitional stitches, which is good. Nevertheless, it's a big beast and progress has been slow.

Never again will I attempt another cross stitch that insists on a completely stitched background. One benefit of the background in this instance, however, is that it hides the awful hoop marks that my old hoop left behind, which you can sort of see here.

I also sewed guidance lines into half of the Aida cloth to avoid frogging and it has helped a lot. I will have to do the other half of the cloth when I get there.

My Pako needle organiser is going to make my progress quicker. I'm committing to three months of stitching before I can start something new. Hopefully I'll have more to show by then!

Beading in progress

Here's a sneak peak of Lady Alexandra. Aiming to have her completed by the weekend.

Wedding Sampler - framed

Finally hung this one up in the bedroom. I got a quote from a framing store and it turned out they made a mistake and it was too cheap. But luckily, since they had put the quote in writing, they decided to honour it. 

That's a bit blurry. Here's some up close images (pre-framed)