Christmas Stitchery

Hi blogging friends - and welcome to my newest followers who have joined me in the past month or so - thanks for following me

One of my other passions is embroidery and stitcheries so I thought I would share a little Christmas project that I finished a while ago:

I bought this little kit when I went to a Craft Show (and them promptly forgot about it.....!) so it has sat in my stitchery box for goodness knows how long!!  The original designer was Melissa Grant of Giggle Buttons.  Giggle Buttons has since been sold to another lady and the Giggle Buttons trading name no longer exists and is now called CheraBella Buttons.   Please note I have never bought from CheraBella Buttons so I am not recommending them - I am simply passing on the information in case you are interested. 

The Christmas Tree is a ceramic button which came with the kit and if you peer closely at the top, bottom, left and right sides of the burgundy diamond, you will see that I stitched on some tiny little gold and burgundy beads. 

I blanket-stitched around the burgundy hearts and the words were embroidered in burgundy stranded cotton using backstitch with a french knot at either end of the words.

The only things that didn't come with the kit were:  the border fabric, the fabric backing (I just used calico - from Spotlight), the batting (inbetween the top and bottom layers of fabric - from Spotlight), the wire hanger (from EBay), sewing threads for sewing the various pieces of material together (from Spotlight), and the mini green clothes pegs (from Riot Art and Craft - about $2 for an assorted pack of colours).

Finished size is 5-1/4" square or 13.2 centimetres/132 millimetres if you are metric.

Thanks for stopping by

Jocelyn

Miss Molly Bear Stitchery - Artsmart Craft Cottage

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-)  This is another scheduled post whilst I can't access my computer for 2 weeks.

Today's post is another stitchery I made for my DD.  One of my other loves is embroidery and decorative (tole or folkart) painting, and I love projects which incorporate both these crafts.  I also LOVE the old-fashioned floral materials that you can get nowadays which I used on this stitchery.

This particular design is by Australian designer:  Libby Richardson from Artsmart Craft Cottage and comes as a printed panel on calico, full instructions and you get that gorgeous ceramic handbag that the Molly is holding plus the pearls around Molly's neck, but you supply all the embroidery threads, paints, materials for the panels, and hanger.  The bear was painted with acrylic paints and textile medium, then you simply embroider the bear using simple stitches like straight stitch and french knots - can you see the gold embroidery for ribbon on the hat?  You can always click on the photo for a bigger LOOK!     Lastly, I sewed on the panels and attached the wire hanger.   The finished size is around 22 cm x 28 cm (which is 8" x 11").

I've made 3 of them so far and given 2 away as gifts and the 3rd is on my DD's bedroom wall.

Hope you like it :-)  Thanks again for visiting!  Back soon with another post!

Jocelyn

Recipe:

Artsmart Craft Cottage pre-printed stitchery design 'Miss Molly', Jo Sonja acrylic paints, paint brushes, Jo Sonja Textile medium, Anchor stranded cotton in various colours including gold, embroidery needles, materials scraps for panels, wire hanger

Rose Topiary Stitchery

Hi and thanks for visiting my little Blog :-)

I thought I would show you one of my Stitcheries that I finished a little while ago.  The stitchery combines my "other two loves" which are decorative painting and embroidery.  

It comes as a kit designed by Libby Richardson from ArtSmart Craft Cottage (Australian company but there are stockists all over the world if you look at their website) and is called "Standard Rose Stitchery" - the design is printed on calico and you also receive the 3 ceramic rose buttons (for the topiary), but you supply the paints, stranded cotton embroidery threads, needles, hanger (I bought my hanger from EBay) and fabric and it comes with instructions on how to do the panels/borders. 

The images are painted with a mix of JoSonja acrylic paints and JoSonja Textile medium and is simple enough for a painter with limited experience to do, then you simply add the embroidery. The best thing about the embroidery is that it uses simple stitches like backstitch, french knots and lazy daisy so it is something you can do and watch TV at the same time and not mess it up!  I added a gold bee charm which didn't come with the kit - just needed a "little something" to finish it off.  I have no connection to ArtSmart Craft Cottage - but have been a regular customer over the years and did a fabulous workshop with Libby a long time ago at a Craft Show.

Hope you like it!  Don't forget you can click on the picture for a closer look.  See you again soon.....

Jocelyn

Stitchery Recipe:

Kit:  Standard Rose Stitchery by ArtSmart Craft Cottage

Your own supplies:  Anchor stranded cotton, embroidery needles, JoSonja Acrylic paints, JoSonja Textile medium, sewing thread, sewing machine, assorted co-ordinating material scraps, rotary cutter and cutting board (optional but it's easier than hand-cutting!), bee charm (optional), wire hanger

Artsmart Craft Cottage: Rosie Bear Stitchery

Apart from cardmaking, I LOVE do Stitcheries and decorative painting.  Before I started cardmaking, I did decorative painting (ie: tole painting) for many years and had weekly lessons at my local Community Centre.   I made this Stitchery for my DD's bedroom a while ago and thought I would share it with you.  The Stitchery is called "Rosie Bear" by Australian designer - Libby Richardson from Artsmart Craft Cottage.   I have no connection to Artsmart Craft Cottage but have bought most of Libby's designs over the years - they are so adorable and I enjoy combining my love of painting with simple embroidery.    Plus I'm nuts about Teddy Bears!!   

The Rosie Bear kit came as a pre-printed panel on calico ready to paint plus you get the pattern for the roses and leaves and the instructions for painting, embroidery and how to attach the panels, but you use your own materials, embroidery threads and paints etc. to make up the kit.  Not sure if you can see in the photo, but there is a gorgeous ceramic rose button on the hat which came with the kit.

I painted the bear with JoSonja Acrylic Paints mixed with JoSonja Textile Medium and then embroidered around the outlines with stranded cotton.  I sewed on the various panels using my sewing machine then ironed on the roses and leaves using iron-on (fusible) applique, then embroidered the roses and leaves.  Once that was done, I added pellon to the back plus a calico backing, then machine-stitched around the panels and roses/leaves (much like quilting). 

I bought a nice frame from Target and removed the glass, then popped in the Stitchery - took a bit of fiddling to get it all straight - but it all worked out in the end.  Of course, you don't have to frame it - you can sew on a border (like you do with a quilt) and use a wire hanger instead.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you like my Rosie Bear!

P.S. If you want a close-up, click on the photo.

Jocelyn