Lenten Makes

I feel like I should have an intro song to this post. Adele's, "Hello.  It's Me." would be fitting!
Wow, you really wouldn't believe the amount of time you have when you don't spend it trolling on the internet!  We allocated ourselves one hour each week over Lent, and let me tell you, you don't get a lot 'done' in that time.  I tried to keep up with some of you, but given the time restrictions I certainly could not create any blog posts.  You have all done some lovely things over the last six weeks and I really enjoyed just being able to ogle for a bit.
My creative times over that period were mostly spent cross stitching.  It reminded me that it truly is my most favourite hobby.  I was able to complete a few holiday themed things, though I found the rush between St. Patrick's Day and Easter a little too quick!

'Love' by New York Dreamer and a sweet little Irish mouse by Lucie Heaton ( Issue 239 The World of Cross Stitching).   The Valentine piece is stitched on black aida:  I haven't stitched on aida in ages and it was so stiff it was hard to work on.  I still think it's great to work on when you are just getting started cross stitching, but I really prefer to work on linen or monaco cloth now.

This is from the bottom half of an Easter sampler designed by Tiny Modernist.  The pattern is from the March 2016 issue of Cross Stitch Crazy magazine.  I just love the colours:  so perfect for Easter and Spring!  I sent the photo to the magazine and they are going to print it in one of their upcoming editorial pages.  That was pretty exciting!

These next designs were all freebies from some English cross stitch magazines.
 The bird cage is so pretty:  it's supposed to be a key chain but I would never use it for that for fear of losing it or wrecking it.  The front side was in the magazine; the back side I had to join facebook to get the chart.  I was really hesitant because I have already done the whole facebook thing and didn't like it, but I really wanted the chart!  I should really get myself out of the techy dark ages I think, but it takes so much time!  (Issue 201-April 2015 Cross Stitch Crazy magazine)

Gift tags from another magazine:  I love the paper tags they came with, but I did not enjoy stitching on the stiff aida cloth again.  They will be cute on gifts though.  (Issue 239 The World of Cross Stitching magazine)

A little mouse to make me smile:  the pattern was found in the March issue of Bustle and Sew magazine.
The blue bird is from last April's Cross Stitch Crazy magazine.

I stitched these Faberge inspired eggs a few years ago and used to display them in a multi apertured,  framed matte at Easter time.  I have not done that for the past few years so decided they needed a new way to be seen.   Now they can go in the basket with the rest of my stitching and I don't have to rearrange my wall photos!

I did work on some current WIP's:  Letter 'I' from Brooke's Books Stitchers Alphabet:

This is where I am so far:

I am trying out a new stitching rotation, so hopefully my works-in-progress will see a little more progress!

And finally, a bit of crochet in the form of pretty scrubbers for my pots:

(Pattern)

...and a few Easter decorations with chalk paint,( this time inside the jar),

 ...and my new scroll saw:

Good for you if you made it this far!  I do have a few other things to show, but they are not finished- finished, so I will save that for another time.

Thank you so much for your kind words before I went MIA during Lent:  I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.  Being a newcomer to Instagram I know the convenience of the double tap to  'like' something, but a kind written word really does mean so much more.

Happy Days my friends:  I hope Spring has sprung where you are!

xo,
Jenn

March Makes

I finished off a few more works in progress the last part of March.  I still have a fair pile of WIP's mind you, but I'm happy to have something to show.

These needlebooks were a long time coming.  I have been working on these forever!  I have since added a running stitch down the side of the spine, but this picture is much better.  It also took me forever to decide which one I wanted to keep: in the end I opted for the purple and yellow one because they are my favourite colours.

Next up is a little hedgehog from Helen's Bustle and Sew newsletter.  I have been subscribing for a couple of years now, but this is the first thing I have made.  He is made from a thrifted sweater and wool sport coat that I felted.  His eyes are agate beads.

And finally I crocheted the Windowpane scarf  - a free pattern available on Ravelry - with some pretty Malabrigo yarn.  I have never crocheted with such a fine yarn so it was a bit of a challenge at first.  It wasn't so bad and now I have two more scarves in the works using lace-weight fibres.

I have done no cross stitch this year for Easter at all.  This time last year I remember I was stitching up a storm.  I think the fact that March has been so cold and Easter is early this year is the reason I have no  real excitement for the holiday.  Usually it's my favourite time of year but this year I don't even have the decorations up yet!  I did put a wreath on the door a couple of weeks ago, but it fell off and broke and since then nothing has replaced it. If Time would just slow down a little bit I would really appreciate it:)

Next week I'm celebrating a birthday:  one of those "Big ___-0" ones.  I'm excited!  Birthdays are like my New Year and I get all ambitious and eager for things to come.  Hopefully by then Spring will have decided to arrive and then there will be extra good feelings all around.

Have a wonderful Easter - I hope the Easter Bunny is good to you:)

Spring Baking

One thing I wish I could manage in my life is a little balance.  I love it when a creative urge strikes, but it usually means it consumes me for days or weeks at a time and then it disappears just as suddenly, sometimes not coming back for weeks or months.
  My latest urge has been baking, and daily I have been in the kitchen making a little something.  The counter is now piled with tupperware full of buns, bread and cookies, and only the four of us to consume it before it goes stale.  I suppose there are worse things to have happen, but really, couldn't the creative Muse just dole out it out in an even allotment every time?

I found an extraordinary amount of coconut in the pantry and made cocoa-coconut nests.  They happen to go nicely with the coconut pudding I made immediately after.

For years I have wanted to make Paska doves for Easter.  This was the year it got done!  I didn't use a specific Paska recipe (Ukrainian egg bread), but another egg bread recipe I found in my bread maker manual.  We all thought they were quite cute, lined up like little broody birds:

Plump little things aren't they?

The other half of the dough became one of those braid-y breads.

Saturday night was family movie night, which means supper in front of the TV and something special for dessert if I get motivated.  I made Peep s'mores, which I thought would be gross, but since I ate three I have to give them a thumbs up!

Sunday found My Favourite Boy with no one to play with so we made mini cupcakes.  I made a batch of  icing and gave him some Easter decorations and free reign to decorate.  I think he did a great job:

I'm not sure if I will still be baking mode in order to make my own birthday cake for Wednesday.  If not, perhaps the Baking Muse will have drifted over to Mr. Craftyworld....

Have a sweet week!

Spring Things

Today is the first day of Spring and it has come like a lamb this year.  We have been enjoying beautiful weather, which made for a very relaxing school holiday last week.  The kids played outside all day, every day, and I had a great time reading and cross stitching.

I stitched Happy Bunny Bunny Day by the Trilogy and made it into a little bag.  Truthfully it is kind of an awkward size, being quite high, so the only remedy I can think of would be to add handles to it and pretend I intended it that way.

I like the design, but didn't really enjoy stitching it because I made a lot of mistakes.  If I had stuck to the original colour palette it would have gone faster, because once you decide to get creative and make your own colour choices the process seems to go that much slower.

I also stitched up this freebie from Trail Creek Farm:

I am not sure what kind of finish I will make with it.  I think I have satisfied my cross stitching urge for the moment, so will probably take a break and do something with it later.  I have come down with a bit of a stomach bug, so nothing really seems appealing to me at the moment.  Thankfully it came after March break ended, and after a day of baking and getting ready for the week.  So for the next few days I'll just take it easy; make my birthday wish list for Mr. Crafty (two more weeks!) and putter around here.  Thankfully the weather is still absolutely gorgeous, so I can at least feel sorry for myself out on a lawn chair!

Have a great week!

March Break Things

We  have had a great start to March break already.  Yesterday we just hung out at home (My Favourite Boy is still recuperating from whatever bug he caught) doing crafts and watching movies.  My Favourite Girl and I got into the Easter spirit and made a whole egg carton's worth of mini baskets:

It's so relaxing to just cut/paint/paste/embellish.  The snow swirled outside but we were snug and happy with our thoughts of spring.

I stitched a tiny little pillow with what I think are supposed to be jelly beans; though with the over-dyed thread I used they look more like painted eggs.  The thread is from Carrie's Creations and is called 'Spring Delight'.

I wanted to finish is as a biscournou, but the corners would not line up properly and I got tired of fiddling with it.  It doesn't look too out of place when I add it to some of my other stitched decorations, so for now it will just stay a tiny pillow.

The mail carrier left some exciting things in the mailbox yesterday:

...but don't tell anyone because technically I'm not supposed to be shopping for non-essential things over Lent!  I could, however, if pressed make a pretty convincing argument that 'technical manuals' and a needleworking mystery are essential purchases - especially over Lent when there is no television to be watched!

Have a great weekend:)

Vintage Rabbit

I just had to order this chart after seeing it done by Becky on her blog.  The chart is from a French designer, Dany of Danybrod.  I did all the cross stitching last night, and couldn't wait until morning so I could finish it off.

I finished the back in a brown cotton, and it makes me think of chocolate bunnies!

You can find the chart to purchase here.  With the exchange from euros it only cost around $2.

This really put me in the mood for Easter projects.  I may just have to order off my 1-2-3Stitch wishlist:)

My Favourite Boy is home sick today, so we are having a very relaxing time just doing little things and watching movies.  I hope to get started on my next cross stitch project today; another Easter one that has so far involved two dye baths and two bleachings.  It should be the perfect colour by now!

Have a sweet day!

Spring Check-in

One of the things I am loving about restricting our "screen-time" is the fact that we have things to show for our time.  The kids and I have been doing more crafts together, which is always nice, and the pile in my project in-box is starting to get a little smaller.

We had time to make some decorations for St. Patrick's Day:

We made some spring bouquets to brighten our house:

 Tissue Paper Cherry Blossoms

Handprint Lilies

I completed a Halloween project I have had in my mind for months now:

I finished a big WIP that I started last year!

I call it my "Butterfly Meadow" quilt.  It's not bed sized, but I made it to use while snuggling on the couch.  The colors were really a treat to work with as winter seems to be lingering on and on.

I took some previously finished cross stitch and turned one into a small pillow, and for the other I tried a cube finish.  I know there are no-sew cube finishes, but for some reason I felt I needed to stitch mine together.  Next time I will do the no-sew version!

I have always wanted some kind of "tree" to hang my cross stitch ornaments on.  Once the snow melted I raided the yard for broken branches and spray painted them white.  I finished off some more previously stitched egg designs into quickie ornaments by backing them with felt, and they are now hanging on my tree with two Ellen Maurer- Stroh spring ornaments I have stitched this month

And finally, back in February I went crazy making elephants from the book Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts.  If you grew up in the 70's you may recognize some of these fabrics!  I raided my stash of colorful pillowcases and sheets to make this passel of pachyderms:

Meet Happy, Rosie, Peanut, Star, Mel and Violet.

And that, my friends, is what we have accomplished so far!  I have to say, I am lovin' our Lenten decision!

Take care!

Easter Prep

I really love Easter. I love that it comes in springtime; I love rabbits and cute little chicks and I love all the pretty colors. I think I love it too much, because I seem to feel I need to do everything. There are so many cute things to make and do that I get over-inspired I think.

Last year I decided three days before Easter Sunday that my kids needed to have a homemade stuffed toy in lieu of any bought gifts. I figured this might take any disappointment out of the fact that they didn't get any bought gifts! So for three nights solid I sewed and stuffed and dressed two fiddly-to-make geese and two little hearts to hang on their baskets.

This year they told me what they wanted, and so far I have been sewing and stuffing and dressing two, much smaller, animals. I have the rabbit done, and tonight the sheep will be done. In between sewing I have been baking and searching for new and exciting Easter treats. So far I've made two giant sugar cookies for their new baskets, and melting French chocolate for bunnies. I have been drooling over the beautiful creations by Bakerella and was inspired to make these little guys:

Bakerella's are much more professional looking, but there were no criticisms when I unveiled these to my own Crafty World family. I used Tim Horton Timbits for the chicks instead of cake and frosting mixed together. Most obviously because it was easy and cheap. I also thought the inside didn't have to be seriously sweet because the candy coating is. Mine got rave reviews, especially from Mr. Crafty World, so I will definitely make these next year - probably the bunnies. Do check Bakerella's site out; it is just outstanding.

We made sugar cookies and decorated them as a family yesterday. It was so much fun. I just love the pastel colors of the icing. These are the creations of Our Favourite Girl:


And these were made by Our Favourite Boy:

I found a recipe for chocolate covered marshmallow eggs at Roots and Wings: I was so anxious to try these out but I have run out of time. I'll have to save this one for next year. The same goes for the chocolate nests on Zen Cupcake. I bought the mini eggs, but I can't buy the extra time!

Today we went to the town's annual Easter Egg Hunt. We normally don't do things like that, but this year I decided we should. Mostly because this year you only had to find one egg, and redeem it for a loot bag; as opposed to other years where it was an egg-finding free for all. That's too stressful on a parent to watch! It was cold in the woods, and thankfully we found our two eggs in less than half an hour. The kids did a few crafts but the chilly wind outdid us. We redeemed our eggs and headed for a local diner for a late breakfast to warm up.

The kids are full of excitement for the Easter Bunny's arrival. They saw him today and gave him a hug, but knowing he's coming to the house in the wee hours makes it that much more exciting. What's not to get excited about, knowing that the next day you get to hunt for jelly beans and eat as many as you can before breakfast?

Happy Easter!