Pink Typewriter Cross Stitch

I have been itching to get back to cross stitch.  The problem?!?  The totally crappy designs in kits at my local craft stores.  I mean seriously!  I think most of the designs sold there are from when I originally learned to cross stitch in the late 80s.  

The solution? I bought a pattern online and purchased the thread and cloth separately.  Cross stitching is cheap!  I had no idea how cheap.  Fulfilling too!  I am well on my way at getting this project finished in no time flat, just TV watching time.

I plan to frame this bad boy and use it as decor in my craft room.  The teal/aqua of one of the hearts is a great match to the paint color of my craft room walls.

Details:

Pattern:  Pink Typewriter from the Tiny Modernist Etsy Shop

Thread:  DMC floss in 760, 3712, 3713, White, Ecru, 445, 907, 3849, 347, 3023, 3799

Cloth:  Generic Aida 14

Rainbow Hat!

So funny story, I knit this hat twice!

I was cruising around the craft store with my friends, Holly and Dee Dee and we ran across this beautiful yarn from Lion Brand, Landscapes in Promenade.  I had to have it, I had to make something with it.  I was a woman on a mission to make myself a hat from this beautiful yarn.  

I picked out the Noro Spiral One Skein pattern from Ravelry (user name Angievcrafts) and away I went.  I quickly cast on and then after the ribbing promptly frogged it cuz that is always how I roll.  It was too small.  I started again with an increase in stitches and quickly knit the whole hat.  I made a mistake about halfway in and put a decrease in the wrong place but didn't notice until I was starting the decrease.  After knitting it all up , I came to the heartbreaking conclusion that I had decreased too early.  The hat was no where deep enough to fit on my head.  Because the hat wasn't deep enough and the mistake halfway through and the general looseness of the stitches, I ripped it all out and did it all again.  Pretty huh?

*tap, tap, tap* Anyone in there?

I admit it!  I suck at blogging.  I don't consistently craft so it is hard for me to get into a habit to put stuff on this blog.  Plus it takes time.  Time management is not one of my strong suits.  I don't think anyone is reading this stuff anyways.

That all said, I want to blog... err, I mean I want to share what I am crafting.  So here is my plan,  I am going to make this place very photo heavy.  When I start a new project, I am going to post a picture of it here with minimal details from my phone.  I will try to remember to add work-in-progress posts too.  When I finish, I will post those pictures if I remember.  If I have time or the energy, I will go back and add the details to the posts.

Are you ready? (Am I ready? Can I do this?)

December Daily 2013 Thoughts and Cover

I am doing December Daily this year.  So what is it?  It is a mini-album dedicated to everything that happens in December.  Ali Edwards was the originator of December Daily (henceforth known as DD2013) and she has a ton of resources on DD on her website.  Many people do a picture a day, some just collect 25 holiday memories.  I am using it as a way to force myself to do more celebrating/enjoying this holiday season. 

Connor is five this year and he is so into holidays.  With him being my only child, I really want to take the time to focus on the holiday and his joy of it.  I only get to experience a 5 year old at Christmas ripping into presents and being so excited once.  I feel too often that I don't take the time to enjoy those moments but also to capture them.  I hardly remember any of my childhood but what I do remember is tied to photos we have.  They help to refresh the memory and I want a ton of that for Connor.

The basis of my DD2013 supplies is the Studio Calico kit.   I really love all the bits and pieces that come with the kit and the stamps are awesome.  I am also taking the 25 Days class (no longer available) from Studio Calico so I received the bonus kit from them as well.

I have a scrapbooking shopping habit and it is bad.  Of course I had to supplement what was already a ton of supplies.  I am good like that.  I picked up Lawn Fawn's Peace Love Joy collection and other bits and trinkets from other Christmas lines including Studio Calico wood veneers and Magical journaling tags, Elle's Studio Bits and Pieces, Simple Stories die cut cards, and Hambly transparencies.

The first thing I did was to make the cover.  I started by taping off the linen portions of the album and painted the raw chipboard white.  I then proceeded to obsess about what to put on the cover.  I loved the look of the gold embossed wood veneer Ali Edwards has used on her blog.  I used an aged gold embossing powder that I picked up at my local Ben Franklins on some wood veneer that I had laying around.  I like the vintage/aged look of the embossing powder.  I always have a hard time with aligning my alphas so I used the ribbon to line it up perfectly before sticking everything down.

For the rest of the album, I used the Silver glitter ribbon to hide the rough transition from the linen to painted portion of the cover.  I used the gold embossed paper from the kit as my base and layered paper from the Peace Love Joy collection on top.  The rest of the cover used embellishments from several companies including Tim Holtz, American Crafts and Close to My Heart (rhinestone brad).

Overall, I am very pleased with my album.  I could have done a better job with the painting the album but it is perfectly imperfect.  I am going to eventually add a tag on the spine.

Are you doing December Daily?  If so, link it up in the comments!!!