A new attempt !!! :)

Thank you for your comments on my last post !! :)

I am still on to attempting new things and this time I made this crocheted hand purse with clasp and Chenille yarn . Both the yarn and the clasp were purchased long back . I got the purse handle with sew-in holes from JoAnn's and the variegated Jumbo chenille yarn is from itsybitsy craft store in India . I used 12mm hook size for this yarn .

 There are many ways to attach the clasp and most conventional way is to make the purse and then attach it . I did the reverse way - cast the stitches first and then crochet .

I was fine with the stitches showing up on the clasp .  I made a rectangular crochet band with Anchor knitting cotton and 2.5 mm hook . I made the chenile yarn bottom separately and and then I sewed it onto that rectangular band . It wasn't a quick and easy thing to sew with half open clasp :(  There isn't much space in it , just enough for my phone and some currency notes .

Anshita got all A1s again in grade VIII making us feel proud :) and has moved to grade IX now .

I could not do much stitching last week , hopefully this week I will have some more done .

Have a crafty day!
Preeti :)

Aren't we cute ? :)

I am sure this mom & baby image of cute owls will bring a smile on your face :) 

 

This is made with craft felt which I have been stashing for a long time . I saw it on pinterest and made a free hand drawing on paper . Lesson learnt for next time -  make a proper template for each part . Anyways , with trial and error , I successfully completed on weekend .

I started working on Julia blackwork . I wanted to make it larger size and also since I was new to blackwork I decided it will be easier to work on bigger count and I was already done with failed attempts on 18, 16 and 14 counts :(

This is what it will look when completed .

Blackwork can be done with both backstitching and Holbein stitch . Ideally it is done with Holbein stitch when the pattern is reversible . The chart mentioned the use of Holbein stitch but I could not track the stitching back at many points, I think partially because the design is not an easy fill . So rather than getting frustrated, I am stitching with a combination of both stitches because I don't need it to be reversible . The only thing I need to take care is not to jump long stitches from the back side . So far it is looking fine , not great . Have you done blackwork before and are you good at Holbein stitch?

Yesterday , I wore my fitbit for the first time and I completed 10,104 steps but the major chunk came from my morning walk . So the days I am going on walk, it is not difficult to hit the minimum count. Other days, I try to burn the equivalent amount of calories even if the steps are less . To reduce weight , I think I need 30k-40k steps everyday :) But I have learned a hard lesson from my previous ways of reducing weight that slow and steady lasts longer, and I am making a reasonable progress there :)

Have a crafty week ahead!
Preeti :)

Recycle Rush !! :D

There isn't any 'Gold Rush' happening and as an avid crazy crafter I will always prefer a 'Recycle Rush' turning 'just unwanted things' into 'beautiful unwanted things' :D

Well, I woke up to a hard realization that my home isn't going to get any cleaner or clutter free just by pinning homemaking tips on Pinterest . That's what I (we, considering he did his part) was doing last two weeks - clothes and kitchen . I gave away items in good condition and now I know what's there in the loft too . I no longer throw 'don't know' looks at Raj when I ask him to pull something from the loft. Always, the entire content of loft is brought down whenever I need one small thing which I strongly anticipate that it is hiding in one of the corners of the loft . Sadly, that doesn't happen and we have three such big lofts .

I had plans to recycle these boxes of multi-flavored cheese wedges into something crafty as they are good to make decorative button shape boxes . Anshita likes flavored cheese wedges and we usually get very often for her snacks . But I kept only two to recycle .

I have tried to take good pictures as they do in many DIY sites to make the easy-peasy craft look exotic ;)

Box before

Painted as a large button and added a lace on the edge .

My first quilling attempt , I deliberately let it roll in any direction inside not following the quilling concepts.

I also made good progress on my height chart : completed flower, monkey face and started the giraffe on the top .

I have been collecting many items for recycling purpose and I think it is time to declutter that as well.

Thank you for your comments on my last post, I will be closing the Messy to Classy link party tab . I need to update my cross stitch finishes on the blog . So far , I have been updating on the right side bar for easy access to someone who is new to my blog but now I am thinking to add tab for finishes, both crochet and cross stitch . However, in mobile version both the tabs and sidebar aren't visible . How do you prefer to display?

Anshita's annual exams will be over this Friday and then I will have a leisure weekend to design and write some crochet patterns for my website . I haven't done much after I first released it .

Have a crafty day !
Preeti :)

A little something for my blogger friend:))

Remember , I mentioned about a secret gift for someone that I was making in the last few posts ? Well , I am glad that it reached its destination and the person who received the surprise was one of my blogger friends , Daniela in Slovakia :)

She was surprised to receive it and it took a long time to reach her but I was glad it wasn't lost anywhere . I also sent few little things but forgot to take pics . You can see on her blogpost . I secretly got her address from our common blogger friend Nurdan . She doesn't blog anymore . Thanks for keeping the secret , Nurdan :)

This gift was for participating in my Messy to Classy link party . I had promised that I will give handmade gift to two persons but since there were less people who participated , I decided to give to only one person . She posted without fail each month . Although her posts went beyond just craft organization she ensured that it was related to decor . More than that , I was touched by her simplicity to stick with me and stand for me even when I wasn't posting :)  Thank you so much , Daniela !!:)) Thank you to others as well who participated and even if it was once, it meant a lot to me :) But I hope you won't mind my decision to give to the person who deserved more than just selecting through a draw as stated earlier .

The pattern for these doilies is from the book  99 little doilies by Patricia Kristoffersen. I made with Anchor knitting cotton and 2 .75 mm hook .

Thanks to all, for your comments !! I started replying but then again I am back to my usual laziness .

Anshita's annual exams have started and I have been busy a bit in other things too. I will have some progress to show next week .

Have a great day!

Preeti :)

40.... and still a good girl !! :)

Thank you so much for your wishes on my Birthday !!:) I have replied through email to whoever I had access to and the rest I did on my post . Thanks for being there for me always and making my Birthday special !!!:)

Although I was pampered but I still maintained to be a good girl and did my crafty homework too . I will share my goodies but here is my cross stitch progress on ladybird fairy.

Completed hair

My Bday was on 13th but since Anshita was having a competitive exam on 14th so we went for the party on 14th after her exam. But I got the gifts on 13th :) 

This is an elegant watch which my mother gave me when she was here in January, we all went to shopping for this . It is a Titan Raga collection watch, a famous Indian brand for its artistic designs.

Every year Anshita makes a card for me, this year she made two different things . A bling pouch, I wanted one. She got a blue plain pouch and then decorated it with bling stickers. It is very cute :)) The one in the background is store bought jewelry box (also a bday gift).

Another innovative thing was this coupon booklet, where she and Raj both added their services which I can make use of on any particular day of my choice . The day I use a service coupon, they will work without any excuses :) The one with peace sign is Anshita's company and the one with moustache sign is Raj's company . Here are few coupons !!

Some more goodies........

Jewelry, I love earrings. No diamonds and gold but I like stones and crystals. There is a sewing machine pendant too.

Crafty things : Buttons, cards, fancy sticky notes, a fence, and the pencil crayon colors. These colors are expensive and I have no idea how to use them.

Lots of books and a diary which says, 'I am going to make the rest of my life the best of my life '

and two letter pads with printed pages inside similar to cover images

These are the needlework books I asked for

\

Some more gifts: the smiley one is a magnetic whiteboard duster . The one in candy shape box has soap paper bits . The owl ones are magnetic clips . Seeing me move with my iPad cable from one room to another , he got one more extra pair for me . But as a good wife , I saved it for later :)

Ever since I saw blackwork on Mii's blog , I developed interest in blackwork and asked Raj to get this lovely design 'Julia' from Ajisai Press . I also purchased the cross stitch magazine having the ladybug design as on Mii's blog.

Other than these, Raj gave me one more cross stitch software, 'Cross Stitch professional platinum plus' from DPsoftware . I am waiting for two more books and a fitbit that he has ordered .

So that was definitely a mega 40 for me !!! :) We also had our anniversary on 17th and we completed 14 years together . Looking forward to my next milestone, turning 50. Hopefully, I will make it there healthy and wise :) 

Have a crafty week ahead!

Preeti :)

Happy Birthday to me :))

Today is my Birthday and I have turned 40 !!!:)

It is a job free day today and I am enjoying . 

Nothing crafty to share today, I will share some pictures as I wasted spent a carefree time on Pinterest yesterday evening .

Just for fun . 

Want to see more? Click here and here .

Sewing box cake 

Buttons muffins. 

Want to see more? Click  here .

Miniature crochet granny square

Miniature sewing box . 

Want to see more? Click here 

My basket is still filling up . I will share my gifts next week :)

Thank you for reading the long post and being there for me . Makes my Bday more special:)

Have a nice weekend!!

Preeti :)

Just to say hi, a bit long one !! :)

Thanks for your lovely comments on my doily in the last post !! I enjoyed making it :)
This is a loooooooooong post . Make sure you have enough time and not going to bed . Don't worry, you aren't going to get anything out of it, so if you want to miss, just miss it :) I forgot to write about my Birthday plans and last post was a bit of quick one so I will share it in the end of this post . Nothing much, just random chat:)

I did not make much progress on stitching but I am done with my secret crochet gift and it has been posted too ! I hope the recipient will be happy :)  I cannot show you until she receives .

This is where I have reached as far as stitching is concerned, did some more coloring in the flower . It is big (around 4 inches) so it is taking time .

I was bored with only animal stitching so I took my Lady Bird fairy yesterday and could manage only few stitches - the yellow ones in the bottom .

I have also opened a new Ravelry account for my new crochet pattern website . So those who are on Ravelry can reach me here .  And one facebook page too . I am a very lazy facebook user, I don't use even the personal one for weeks . I just call my best school friends on their Bdays . And most of my cousins call me on my Bday if they are in India. Those in the US, depends on their mood and time else I am as happy to receive a personal email too. So those who have a facebook page for their crafty things, reach me here and I will be glad to reach you :)


Now about the Bday plan. Well, it started with what I want or what I want Raj & my mom to give me  :) . My mom doesn't take the risk of trying on her own for the fact that I wanted a big gift for my 40th and given the fact that I don't like Gold and Diamonds, it was difficult to find gifts . Anyways, I have told them that I will be happy to receive more number of small gifts than one huge gift .
So a budget was fixed because there were some known gifts I wanted to buy, nothing special, they could have been classified against my normal expenses/splurges as well. But when you say a Bday gift, you do it without guilt, isn't it ? :D

Hmmm....have you reached until here? I haven't even started :D
My planned gifts were definitely some books and crafty things, so I searched for lot of patterns and charts and spent many hours on the internet and then gave up :( I was surprised but each time I felt I wasn't convinced to buy anything . And at the end of each surfing session, it was like I have lots, I don't need anything . Then I decided that I will splurge half the amount and remaining half I will donate . But few days after I could not come up with even for half the budget. No, no, don't think the budget is huge . It is decent for a 40th B'day and is in Indian currency so no need to get jealous ;)

And since the budget was supposed to be inclusive of what Raj and Anshita want to give, I could not have been mean to spend all and go over budget to accommodate their gifts . But still being a little selfish, I wanted to have what I want and not just what I was being gifted. So I again turned greedy :) Finally, I decided to have what I want within the limit and leaving them some part of budget to use . Do you think why I am talking about budget for Bday gifts? That's because few years back we used to spend a lot on Bday gifts and then we thought it is not needed so just keep it simple every year unless it is a milestone Bday.

I have kept a basket and I am adding the known gifts as and when I am receiving those . When Anshita and Raj saw that, they started to put their gifts, one per day in the basket .  The next day, that gift is replaced with another :) Those are the teasers and I am not suppose to open until my Birthday. They didn't had any plans to put in basket though, basket was my girly way of enjoying but I guess he is doing that because Anshita is still not capable of keeping secrets smartly :)

You made it until here? You are the real friend ;) A friend who reads is a friend indeed :D

But do you think I forgot about the donating part I mentioned ? Nope, after all these tantrums, I decided that I will donate the equivalent amount of total gifts from my account . I know my expenses and it is upto Raj to tell me how much he want to add his. If he wants me to donate more, he have the option of inflating his budget :) In this way, I will keep track of not spending too much. Gift or donation, whatever, we will end up with double expense on family . My Birthday is on 13th, so we usually don't have any gifts left until Valentine day .

Yes, I am done now, tired, I need food :)

Have a nice day!
Preeti