Kitty Litter update

I think the lesson I need to learn from Dimensions Gold kits is that I need to do them in one sustained effort. When I did Teddy Bear Gathering, for example, it was my only project and I did not run out of threads. Kitty Litter had a start back in 2011 and then was neglected for some years and I'm having all sorts of trouble with thread shortage.

This is where I am up to, having just completed the second of three pages:

The half stitched background is where I have started running out of threads, here:

And here:

Half stitch background is very mind numbing and time consuming, but at the same time perfect for a television show that demands more concentration than I can usually give it. I find the half stitched background below the basket was more difficult to do because it demanded four or five strands (blended/tweeded of course) and it was tough work pulling it in and out of the 18 count aida.

I'm onto the third page now and hopefully it should all be done by the end of the year. I am going to wait until I'm up to the backstitch stage before I do an audit and write to Dimensions again and beg for more thread.

New stash - Birdcage and Alien

Okay so let's just forget my vow not to purchase stash until November. It was obviously a lie. Collecting stash is more instant and in some ways more satisfying than a new start or a completed project. A life without collecting stash is a life I can't bear to live.

So, keeping true to my hit list, I purchased one of the products that has stopped being sold on a lot of websites, leading me to believe that it was out of print: The Birdcage by Design Works. My fear of missing out on this one grew to the point that I had to hunt it down for once and for all.

The price was reasonable ($36 AUD inc shipping from USA to Aus) and the time was right (I got paid on Thursday). So I am really looking forward to throwing this pretty lady in amongst my stash.

Next up, I also purchased a subversive style cross stitch kit from Etsy. This is for my husband's 30th birthday present and it is based on one of his favourite movies of all time, Alien, which features a female protagonist kicking butt, so it gets my approval.

Here is the design I am going to start soon (if I can wrench myself away from Kitty Litter, I am loving Kitty Litter!).

Oops I did it again!

I purchased new stash this last week despite my vow not to purchase anything until November. My bad.

First was an out of print pattern by Helene Tran that I LOVE and could only find in kit form as a cheap knock off from Hong Kong. Luckily, a member of a facebook group had a copy of the pattern and was willing to sell it to me for $5. What a bargain.



Second was a kit from my Hit List! Midnight Dance by Dimensions Gold, available on eBay for $34 with free shipping from Australia. I do want to support Australian business if it can compete with overseas prices, so I felt it was my patriotic duty to purchase the kit!

Okay I should also be honest and say that I am probably going to purchase new stash soon for my husband's 30th birthday. I forgot that he had requested some more subversive style stitches for his birthday - I've been having a lot of fun perusing Etsy the last few days!

Lady Alexandra - complete!

So my beads and a custom made frame arrived late last week, meaning that this weekend I was able to finish off third piece for 2014!

I present to you, Lady Alexander in red...

Frames cheap frames

My mum told me about an op shop out her way that was stocked with old frames. Being frugal, she always seems shocked by how much I spend or am willing to spend on custom framing. 

As for me, I'm a little bit sick of spending so much money on framing. So today I popped in to the op shop, armed with a list of measurements from my stash (most of them not even WIPs yet) and I was not disappointed!

I purchased this one for Love Blossoms:

And this one for Savannah Birth Record:

This one for Paris Market:

And this one for Frederick the Literate:

Total price - $20 for the four of them.

Okay so they aren't the most beautiful frames, and I probably need to be fussier and willing to spend more time going to op shops, but I'm happy with their quality AND thanks to this purchase I have now saved about $225 on frames alone (not including matting, foam core, and other framing materials). I quite like the shabby chic look!

Kitty Litter update

I had a week off work last week and decided I just had to make some progress on Kitty Litter.

Here was my WIP when I left it a few years ago:

And here it is now:

- extra kitty head and yellow wool

- basket 

- butterfly

The 2 over 1 18 count Aida is a bit of a challenge - I find that my neck and hands get more sore after a long stint, and the thread is more likely to tangle. However, I love the coverage and the blending looks so good that I don't mind the extra effort required!

I will do another week or so on this and then switch to some cross stitches for my husband's 30th birthday. Yes believe it or not he requested some patterns! They are pretty simple but one of them will be my first ever designed pattern! Can't wait to show you!

New stash - Maggie meet Frederick

So same stash arrived just recently which I purchased a few weeks back (before I vowed not to buy any more stash - I swear)

I am really excited at the idea of hanging some more cats on the wall. The husband has declared these cross stitch kits to be "horrifying". Horrifingly fabulous I think!!

Here's Maggie the Messmaker:

Which is going to be friends with an old member of my stash, Frederick the Literate:

The two of them are based on paintings by the talented Charles Wysocki. I pledge here and now not to frame any of them until both are completed.

I purchased Frederick on sale at a crafts fair in Melbourne back in 2011. Maggie was purchased from 123stitch.com. Sadly not on sale at the time.

I'm also looking for Max in the Adirondacks but it appears that it is now out of print.

Rotation needed

Dimensions are having a 25% off sale for 4 July - I immediately racked up over $200 worth of kits in my online shopping cart, stared sadly at the screen for a few seconds before exiting the browser. Will power!!!

Speaking of, or lack of, will power, I pulled out kitty litter last night and took an inventory of thread and emailed EK Success Brands with what I needed. They emailed back almost immediately and said the floss was on it's way, and then lo and behold this morning I got up and found myself working on kitty litter instead of summer flowers. Oops.

It was so nice going back to a cross stitch without confetti. Ah. I will return to summer flowers of course but I need to figure out some sort of system or routine so that I can do a bit of both - otherwise my stitching just feels like a chore!