stitched saturday

due to my hiatus from blogging, it seems I have an awful lot of projects to share with you!

a little Margaret sherry rabbit from cross stitch crazy...

madeleine Floyd seashore sampler from world of cross stitching...

bustle and sew curiouser and curiouser hoop...

bustle and sew our home hoop for my mum...

mollie makes deer hoop...

 bee happy hoop from cross stitch crazy...

follow the white bunny sleeping fox and some woodland inspired hexagons, not yet finished...

virgo constellation hoop for my sweet sister's 16th...and last but not least, my hoop art gallery wall coming along nicely! have a lovely weekend all :)

well, i'm back

phew! what a stressful couple of months it's been for me!
but now, I am back and more eager to blog and share and make things than I was before. I've just spent a week with bill, after six weeks apart. now row and joe are here and all us siblings have been reunited. this only happens twice a year or so that all four of us are together, and it's like we've never been apart when we do eventually all get together.
today it's pouring with rain, and it's world cross stitch day, so guess what I'll be doing! in the meantime, here are some photos from the last few weeks...

 

new crystals to add to my slowly growing collection...

 

a morning spent in bed at bill's reading this beautiful magazine...

http://www.ernestjournal.co.uk/

 

one lunch and one dinner at Nation of Shopkeepers in Leeds with bill...

 

the abandoned butterfly/greenhouse in the Bagshaw gardens...

 

beautiful metallic jewel colours on an Egyptian sarcophagus at the Bagshaw museum...

 

punch and judy and bill...

 

sweet dreamy pink roses...

 

exquisite mushroom models and dried coral...

 

and last but not least, monty the cat...

 

I'll be back soon with some of my newest projects and some inspirations

 

growing

 

"something will grow from all you are going through, and it will be you"

 

I will be 22 on Monday

 

 

 

 

I found this quote on pinterest and must try to remember it. things will be quiet here for a few weeks (sorry-I've only just got started!) but after that I'll be all yours :p

 

 

 

mum's birthday

today is my mum's birthday, since I couldn't get home to her (just yet-one week on Tuesday and I'll be home with her, Row and Joe!) I stitched and made this card for her.
The motif is from Susan Bates' gorgeous book; Hearts, Birds and Flowers (http://www.susanbates.co.uk/hearts-birds-flowers/4585360972) She is one of my favourite cross stitch designers and my mum loves her work too, so I thought this little bouquet would make a lovely birthday card. I changed a few colours and added the backstitch wording.
Mum loved her card and I can't wait to give her her presents on Tuesday-most of which are handmade so I will be posting photos here very soon.

little fox embroidery

this is my very latest Bustle and Sew finish; a little leaping fox surrounded by a flower wreath. the fox himself is appliqued and the rest is embroidered onto cream cotton then framed in a 6 inch wooden embroidery hoop. the first photo shows it in progress, the second shows it completed and framed.

I do like framing my pieces in hoops, I find I do this more and more as they are easy to move about and rearrange. what's your favourite way to display your stitching?

I loved making this piece, although I had a few issues with the colours I had chosen; colour isn't my strong point. Clothing wise I tend to stick to classic, natural colours like white, cream, green, brown and grey. It's not that I don't like colour (I love it!) I'm just not very good at deciding which colours go well together. For this one, I decided on pastel shades with the two bright flowers on either side.

To help with my colour choices, I've been pinning all sorts of lovely palettes onto my pinterest board;  https://www.pinterest.com/hollyannlouise/quelle-colour/

I absolutely love pinterest; please do give me a follow and let me know your pinterest accounts so I can have a look-see :)

https://www.pinterest.com/hollyannlouise/

hello hydrangea

my mum bought me this beautiful potted hydrangea when she came to stay in May, but I'm sorry to say it's looking a little worse for wear, probably because it hasn't been in the sun enough. so with the drooping flower heads I couldn't resist 'faffing' around with them!

hydrangeas are a flower I used to hate as child; I thought they were so old fashioned and boring; now of course I see that they have a simple, innocent beauty.

I hope my little plant recovers-it'll be so lovely to be able to take it to me and bill's new home later this year.

any advice on how to keep it going strong?

stitched up saturday

 

I have always loved making things. from creating fairy banquets and furniture to books about days out, I've tried my hand at almost every creative activity. not all of them have come to anything, but I can safely say that stitching has been my one true love.

I've been cross stitching for about six years now, and dabbled in other embroidery during that time. recently though, since coming across the lovely Bustle and Sew (http://bustleandsew.com/) I've started embroidering earnestly.

for my blog I'm going to do a feature post each Saturday where I show my finished projects for that week :) I'd love to see yours too!

 

so, here are my newest finishes;

 

this embroidery is from Bustle and Sew (http://bustleandsew.com/) I've changed the colours and added a bumblebee in the centre (there is a monogram on the original pattern) I adore bees, and my family call me 'holly bee', so I thought adding a little bee would be sweet.

I'm not entirely sure what i'll make this up into however...any ideas?

 

 

this cross stitch pattern from April Rose Illustration (http://aprilroseillustration.com/)  was in an issue of Cross Stitch Crazy a few months ago. I love wildflowers and old seed packets, so this was a must-stitch for me. I altered some colours, half stitched the background instead of whole stitches, and added seed beads.

 

This wooden brooch kit came free with a recent issue of Cross Stitcher magazine, it was lovely to stitch some small and (relatively) quick. Now just to add a backing and the brooch pin!

so that's my finishes for the week, no doubt there'll be some more soon!