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August 2020 Monthly Ornament: Oh Gnome She Betta Don't!

These puns are not even good bad puns, I apologize (I don't). This month's ornament is again super tiny! Actually, he's finished on the same size wooden chip as July's Demon Santa . I stitched this little fellow over one on white 28 count DMC Monaco fabric (it was my last piece and I'm kind of sad, I love that stuff). I used almost exclusively étoile floss from DMC - just his little nose is regular DMC 950! The base pattern is from NikkiPattern's Christmas Gnome Set , but I changed all the colours - the beard matches The Frenchman! I've made two of these gnomes now and I'll make at least two more for friends of mine, I think. One will have a blond beard and one a black beard! I'll try to get a picture all together before they go off to their respective homes. I do love finishing ornaments this way. Just wrapped around a little piece of wood or cardboard, glued at the back, and embellished with a few ribbons! Super duper easy, although I will admit th
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WIP Wednesday: Fall is Nigh!

 Fall. Is. My. FAVOURITE. Seriously. It's very basic of me but I love everything about fall. I loved school, so I loved back to school shopping, getting all my new notebooks and pens and erasers, heading out to the bus on the first day (or walking 4.5 km to school once I was in high school) and putting together my locker. I love the cooler weather, and wearing leggings and sweaters and flannels. I love the smell of backyard fires (I can't actually have one since I live in an apartment, but just wait!), the way dead leaves smell, walking the Phteven and crunching every step. I think pumpkin spice is delicious , and I love wearing hats and gloves, and burning candles - seriously. I'm obsessed with fall. Now that I've got that crazy person rant out of the way, here's my current WIP. It's Woodland Friends: Racoon by Tiny Modernist , but I don't think it's on their site, as it's in the October 2019 issue of Just Cross Stitch. I've been using all of t

Black Lives Still Matter

As protests around the world keep going, it's time to seek out Black and Indigenous voices and listen. We aren't immune to these issues in Canada; Black and Indigenous Canadians are killed in police altercations at a staggeringly high rate. We remember them . This pattern is by Stone Street Stitchworks . Quote is from Martin Luther King Jr, and it's true. Stitched over one on 28 count wheat lugana by Zweigart, with the called for flosses and a few additions. Take time to reflect today. Stay safe and stay healthy. - Cedie

Happy International Dog Day!

Today is International Dog Day! In honour, today's post is all about this big girl:   Her name is Phteven but we call her Stevie. She came home with The Frenchman and I about two and a half years ago; she's three and half years old now. At one year old, she had already been dumped at the local human society twice. They fully expected us back within a week, but there's no way either of us were giving up on a supposed problem dog - she would have no chance if they had to disclose she'd been returned three times. I won't lie and say it was an easy adjustment, because it wasn't. I've never had a dog before Phteven. She was nervous, scared by everything, peed everywhere, and was really, really jumpy. She's 40lbs and long enough to have HR called in when she touches my chest, so that caused some issues! But she truly doesn't have a bad bone in her body, she was just never given a chance to learn how to behave. We taught her that you must sit for food, it&#

Alas, Poor Yorick...

  I knew him well - given how long this piece took (at least a year), I had quite a bit of time to get to know him! I think I finished this about two years ago? I remember working on it heavily while I was writing the literature review for my graduate thesis, so probably two years ago or even longer. It was so long ago the designer changed names! This is Skull with Pixel by MENonWOOL (formerly Hallodribums). They do a lot of realistic anatomical designs, very cool stuff.  I used all of the called for greys in this patterns, but I did switch out the pink to 304 as I didn't like the salmon that was used in the pattern. There's a lot of confetti in this piece but it gives such a realistic, wonderful effect - and is balanced by the pixels, which are very easy to stitch up! I worked this on 16 count white aida fabric. The piece I chose was a bit small, so when I (finally) framed it this year I used an 8x10 inch Pres On Mounting Board . While I liked the board, I kind of messed up a

Happy World Cross Stitch Day!

 In the strange and horrible year that is 2020, we should still find time to celebrate the things we love, especially the things that give us a moment's respite from everything going on. In that vein - Happy World Cross Stitch Day 2020! These are a few of the Christmas ornaments I've stitched over the last three years! All are from various issues of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special.  This particular ornament was actually the very first pillow ornament I ever stitched! It was my first time using metallic floss as well, which is just gorgeous. I glued the pillow together at the top left, because I didn't really understand how to make it otherwise. I stitched this ornament last year, and it was also a first - my first time stitching on a 32 count linen! This one is from Picture This Plus, in Stellar (please appreciate how far back in my email I had to search to find that). I seem to remember I accidentally stitched the centre square in reverse - I think it was supposed t

WIP Wednesday: All Souls Vierlanden

 Hello hello hello! It's another day in the Werk (In Progress) Room, and I'm feeling... spooky! My featured project this WIP Wednesday is the All Souls Vierlanden by Quiltify Designs ! This is such a unique sampler, I've never seen anything quite like it! It's charted in a single colour, but I decided to work it in shades of purples, pinks, and one metallic gold for detail work like the crowns and vases throughout. When I posted it on Instagram, Ben Drew himself of Quiltify commented and messaged me to say he liked my colour choices - it was a real " notice me senpai!! " moment!  I will admit freely that the 2020 has been picked out and recharted twice - I originally started this sampler in 2018, redid the date in 2019, and am now hoping to finish it in 2020! It seems appropriate for the year we've been having, both in terms of design elements and general vibe. I've been using a variety of DMC colours, as well as some SILKS4U  threads (can highly recom