I am crafting too :)

This year I have not been blogging much and when I see my old posts, I haven't been showing much either . I guess I am becoming lazy to show my progress pictures and I wait until I am done with my WIP . Anyways , just wanted to let you know that I am not just shopping but crafting too :)

Here is something I made a little while ago .

These bracelet kind of things are called Rakhis. We have this brother-sister festival named Rakshabandhan where a sister ties a Rakhi on her brother's wrist and asks for lot of gifts in return....just kidding ;) The brothers are supposed to be taking care of their sister's safety in return for this bonding . It is related to a historical story where a Hindu Queen sends a bracelet to a Muslim ruler to save her from another Muslim ruler who was planning to invade her kingdom . Touched by the gesture , he sent his army to save her . There are other stories too. Since then it is celebrated as a brother-sister bonding festival . We sure do get gifts from brothers on this day .

Most of these I send to my brothers and Anshita's too through post so they need to be light weight . I made crocheted ones this time . Anshita made the doodle drawings on the back side of printed card stocks . I folded them half and tied these Rakhis inside making holes for the ends .

Can you see the holes ? I made those with a hand shaped puncher . Anyways , my brothers don't have observant eyes to notice , I just enjoyed the process of making :) 

I also made this drawer hanging for the small temple corner at home . For some reasons, the top drawer would not stay close even after repairing and would slide open . This hanging acts as a stopper between the two drawers . The back side , which is inside the drawer , is a plain thick crochet band .

On the stitching front , I have been stitching only on one piece for past few busy weeks and I am glad that I made substantial progress . I completed the Tiger and some green on the left . That must be few thousand stitches . Last I had shown you was the Koala on the top. I have not done the back stitching yet so the Tiger is having pink cheeks but is on the wait for his grand mustaches :) This is a design - 'Height chart ' - by Durene Jones from the magazine, Cross Stitch Gold, February 2013 issue .

Some Zinnia flowers in my garden, they are doing great !! :)

This one is still growing layers

We had a religious festival 'Ganesh Chaturthi' starting on Thursday and for many people it continues for 10 days . But we observe it for 5 days and everyday we need to cook something sweet to offer to God . Anshita's 1st term exams also started from today . Busy times again but I am glad that I am able to find some time for crafting in between :) 

Have a great weekend!!

Preeti :)

Shopping and Margaret Sherry exchange !! :)

Hello all,
Hope you are having a crafty time . I was away from the blogland for a while attending six guests at home and cooking and cleaning and the day after they left, Raj went to U.S. for a week . So I was busy working at home alone and was very tired to read and write any posts . Hopefully, I will catch up soon with your posts as many as I can :)

Few weeks ago, I had ordered some items for me and Anshita from JoAnn's and 123stitch at a family friend's address in U.S.  I got those today when Raj came back . I have taken pics for only my items .

Specialty yarns. Does anyone know how to use glitterspun yarn (on the card bobbin) ?

Novelty fabrics and felt sheets

DMC Impressions printed fabric for cross stitch. 

Just need to find the right designs to stitch . Suggestions are welcome :)

Craft glove because I feel pain while crocheting . 

I will share the feedback once I start using it.

Mill Hill beads and Kreinik threads for Cross Stitch Joan Elliot fairies that I am stitching.

I also ordered few crafty items from itsybitsy store in India

Glass straw pipes and silk covered beads 

Chenille yarn and quilling items

Buttons !!:) - Shoes, birds, barn animals, dinos, owls...... I love buttons !!

I also received my Margaret Sherry 'Send a smile' exchange  parcel from Olimpia in Mexico and I was delighted to see the items she sent for me :)

She made this lovely coaster for me with my name on it and I loved the letter she wrote to me :) You can see my detailed post on the group blog here .

I guess I have collected lot of stash and I have already reduced the frequency of purchases . I am waiting for the holiday season when the prices of digital cross stitch magazines(back issues) are reduced to the lowest . I had earlier purchased new issues or at 50% discount rates but I found that I don't start stitching immediately. Then why not make maximum saving buying at the lowest rates :)

Have a crafty week ahead !!

Preeti :)

Crochet and a giveaway gift !!! :))

Thanks for your support and kind words on my ramblings in the last post !! The internet is working fine and life is back on track but still busy as we all do have same , daily.

I have few more crochet items to show .....

I made this basket from a T-shirt yarn I bought from Pony Craft Stores, India. I did not follow any pattern . I just created a circle base and then went on with rounds of SCs and DCs until I was done with the yarn ball .

I used 8 mm crochet hook . For the lace/edging , I used Laura knitting cotton and 4 mm hook and added some beads .

I received  this Dimensions Dolphin kit from my lovely and generous friend, Rosey from Ishkabibble :) Thank you Rosey!! I love reading Rosey's posts , they are fun !! She likes to crochet , cross stitch and also tatting . Gardening is her gym and she has got world's biggest snow ice-cream factory :) She also sent me a card with picturesque Hawaii island where she found her most-wanted Souvenier , her husband :) I am looking forward to stitching on this chart soon but as you know moods and weather in a stitcher's life keep on changing very fast but I will try my best since this is a kit and I just need to start stitching .

I made these potholders from left-overs of Lily Sugar n Cream yarn.

Pretty Primrose

3D Pastel Diamonds

Both the patterns are from the book , '100 colorful granny squares to crochet,' by Leonie Morgan .

We had a busy weekend as Anshita had participated in an inter-school handball tournament in the city which was held from 21st to 23rd. Her school won the third place :)) There were four places and eight trophies , four each for girls and boys teams . The sports stadium was quite far from our place.

I have even more busy times next two weeks as Raj's eldest sister is visiting with her extended family in the 1st week of September . So lot of cleaning, shopping for grocery is on the task-list . Moreover, Raj will be travelling to US in 2nd week of September so I am not going to be in the right mood .

Hope you liked my pieces :)
Have a great day!
Preeti

Days of grumblings and ramblings......

Thanks for your comments on my first needle book :) I will definitely share the steps to make those by...umm...maybe 2020 :)

As the title suggests, I have a lot to share and I hope by the end of this post, I will feel much better. Don't worry, in between I will flash some crafty things to keep you entertained.

Last week I was making a long vacation plan for October and I was hooked on to internet so much that I was just a few steps away from becoming a travel agent. So, no crafting :( I also played 'frustration unlimited' in between to make things worse.

So much did I use the internet that it caused a breakdown of wi-fi router by Friday evening and I was cut off from the blog land.

I made these stars in February this year which were waiting for a dazzling photo shoot but I ended up taking simple pics when the internet was not working.

I saw the pattern on internet and it is made with a silky pearl thread that we get in cones and 1.5 mm hook size.

There was an urgent need of wooden work in the bedroom balcony which started on Saturday and since the guys were cutting the plys in the corridor we were supposed to keep the front doors open. Above all, the society's corridor painting work was going on for which the workers were scraping the walls. Wood and paint dust made the house look like it was hit by a dust storm even though it was raining outside. Those guys were moving in and out frequently, so we could not watch TV and since the entire house was exposed to dust, I did not do any stitching as well .

Sunday went into cleaning. The internet guys could not resolve the issue so they took away the router and fixed a temporary one.  Since those guys were coming on Monday again and knowing that I will crack a whip and make the technicians run for their life, Raj decided to work from home and take things under his control. Good that he understands me in all these years. Also the wood work and painting continued on Monday as well. So more dust storms.

No TV, no internet, no stitching, dust and so much work everywhere  made me irritated  and for few days I was inspired by this.

Source:internet

But the good part was that Anshita had a day off on Monday due to a local festival and I spent most of my time playing board games with her.

While searching for a yarn, I took out one of my old projects which I had given up long back owing to the wrong gauge. Raj liked it very much and then I just finished whatever size it was in. I had plans to make it bigger.

I don't remember the hook size I used but I wanted to use the eyelash yarn. It was supposed to be made into a rug for Anshita's room.

On gardening front, the overall picture is gloomy. There are many plants waiting for transplanting.  I am celebrating those tiny flowers on Impatiens as if I am growing Orchids :)

However, I harvested fresh spinach from my garden.

I hope to recover and revitalize this week and will show you few more small crochet things I made and some stitchy progress too :))

Thanks for being there for me !!

Preeti

Margaret Sherry exchange and Gifted gorgeousness SAL :))

Thank you for your lovely comments on my Japanese dolls Cross stitch project in the last post :)

Last week my partner Valerie from France received a gift from me as part of Margaret Sherry 'Send a Smile' exchange hosted by Nia on the Margaret Sherry group blog. You can read more about the exchange here and see Valerie's post here . This also gave me an opportunity to post for Jo's Gifted Gorgeousness SAL where we stitch a gift for someone or stitch while using some stash received as gift . You can read about the SAL and July link-ups here .

I made my very first needle book for Valerie :))

I added a small scissor charm on the cover and the purple crochet edging as that is her favorite color. This design is a part of Margaret Sherry design ' Play time ' from the magazine, Cross Stitcher, January 2011 issue #234 .

This is the back side of the needle book. A light beige colored sewing theme fabric that I had once got from JoAnn's online store .

I also made a crochet door knob hanger for her and this is now one of my favorite crochet creations :) You can find the free pattern here .

Let me show you what's inside the needle book . It is made of baby blue felt fabric with four purple felt pages , all embroidered .

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

These are other gifts that I had sent her along with the needle book and the crochet hanger .

Satin lace, floss,bling stickers, a small box

mirror work items - pen, box, key ring and a fabric embroidered pouch

Cotton silk weaved fabric, one with border and one without it . These are usually used for Indian tops.

Colored eye tapestry needle set and buttons .

All together :)

I was glad that it reached safely and within three working days from India to France !! And Valerie loved those things very much :) I have taken few snaps while making needle book so may be I can show how I made it although it wasn't so easy for me but I learnt a lot about needle book making .

I hope you liked my creations :)

Have a great day!
Preeti

To all of you, my dear friends .......:)))

Side by Side or miles apart, friends are always close at heart

Isn't it a wonderful saying ? I just completed another cute cross stitch that was on my list of goals for 2015.

Titled as 'Best Friend,' it is designed  by Joan Elliott and is from the magazine - The World of Cross Stitching, March 2013 issue . I love these cute Japanese dolls :))

There were some golden stitches for which I used this golden sewing thread which I found easy to work with . I don't know the brand for this , I just got it from the nearest supermarket . It came with a set of six metallic threads .

I stitched the design on 14 count aida fabric and what I noticed is that when lot of black hairs are to be stitcched, then it is better to use three strands instead of two. The whiteness of fabric will be covered fully.

There were way too many french knots and if you know from my earlier posts that I have a Frenchknotophobia . The beads were looking heavy and cluttered . So I stitched tiny chain stitches and I am satisfied with that . See the above pic , I guess it looks fine .

This is going to be framed and hanged into Anshita's room as she liked it very much :) This is not the actual frame , just added one in picmonkey .

I also completed and made into a lovely finish another cross stitch but that one is for Margaret Sherry exchange that I signed up for. I cannot show you as it is a gift.

We are again at loss of rainfall for the past 15 days and the temperatures are going high again . Hopefully, end of the month or next month we will get returning monsoon rains again after they come back hitting the Himalayas in the north to the down south. Not much is left by the time it is done rinsing the entire country.

Anyways, the good news is that the City girl , Sania Mirza , became the first Indian woman Tennis player to win a Wimbledon Title in doubles pairing up with Martina Hingis :) Not often, Indian sports personalities, other than Cricketers , make to the world titles . So this is a big achievement . Indians are more good at academics . The 2014 world badminton champion , Saina Nehwal , is also from this City of Hyderabad where I am lucky to live :)

Hope you enjoyed your weekend.
I am starting to feel that I am going to get a week long cough and cold.

Have a great week!!
Preeti