Friday Finishes #34: Artiste’s Snail

Artiste's Snail

Today’s Finish!

Today’s Friday Finish is an adorable snail I just had to stitch, plus it’s one of my first projects where the entire background on the piece is stitched. Join me to learn more about Artiste’s Snail!

Name of Piece: Snail

Designed by: No designer listed

Chart or Kit?: Mini Kit

Distributed as a kit by Artiste under their “Mini Cross-Stitch Kit” series

Kit Contains: Floss (colors listed), 18 ct aida fabric, needle, pattern, instructions, and frame

Finished Size: 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches

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Progress Report: I Luvdisc You, Start to Finish

Progress Report: I Luvdisc You

Today’s Progress Report is one very close to my heart: a Pokemon cross stitch! A romantic Pokemon cross stitch, at that! While I love Pokemon, this was only my second time stitching a Pokemon-related piece. You can read about the first piece here: Friday Finishes #9: Wooper Love. This piece was also stitched for my boyfriend. I started it as a birthday gift but ended up finishing just in time for Christmas!

The chart is I Luvdisc You designed by Birdie Stitching. (I made some alterations to the lettering to fit my piece.) You can get the chart yourself here: Pokemon – I Luvdisc You.

If you can, go and give Birdie Stitching some love; she is an awesome designer of video game and pixel art-related charts and all of her charts are FREE.

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Friday Finishes #33: Little Princess

Today’s Finish!

Today’s Friday Finish is a cute Little Princess piece that I stitched up because I wanted to work on a mini kit. I think I wanted to give it to one of my younger cousins and decided to keep it for myself… I’m a princess too, after all!

Name of Piece: #021-1389 Little Princess

Designed by: There is no designer listed for this piece.

Chart Or Kit?: Mini Kit

Distributed as a kit by Janlynn Corporation under their “Designs for the Needle” series.

Kit Contains: 18 ct cotton aida fabric, 6-strand cotton floss, metallic thread,frame, self-adhesive mounting board, needle, graph, and instructions

Finished Size: 2.75 inches x 2.75 inches oval (5.7 x 7 cm)

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Progress Report: Wooden Owl Necklace, Start to Finish

Progress Report: Owl Necklace

It has been ages since I’ve done a Progress Report! And boy do I have a lot of progress I need to catch up on. Today’s Progress Report is an owl necklace that I made for my sister’s birthday last year. It ticked all the boxes. Owls are one of her favorite animals, and this was my first venture into the growing cross-stitch jewelry market. I was excited to work on it!

This kit is Small Square Owl Cross Stitch Necklace by Dimensions, and I bought it from Hobby Lobby a few weeks before I stitched the piece.

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Friday Finishes #32: Families Are Forever

Friday Finish: Families Are Forever

Today’s Finish!

Today’s Friday Finish is a photo album cover I made for Christmas several years ago now. With this project I attempted to do something unique with the finishing for the first time. I can be very generic and prefer to keep projects in hoops or frame them, but this piece I carefully measured and stitched to fit in the hole where a cover photo would normally go!

Name of Piece: Families Are Forever

Designed by: DailyCrossStitch.com

You can find this chart for yourself here: Families Are Forever Cross Stitch Chart

Finished Size:  5 inches x 5 inches (71 x 72 stitches)

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A Stitcher’s Dictionary: Table of Contents

A Stitcher's Dictionary: Table of Contents

A Stitcher’s Dictionary: Table of Contents

Each week on Little Thread Crafts I do a Term of the Week dictionary article, where I pick a common word or phrase among cross-stitchers and explain its meaning. Here they are, all collected, as a Stitcher’s Dictionary!

Below you will find an alphabetized list of every term I’ve done so far. Think of it like a cross-stitcher’s dictionary, and this is the table of contents.

Click the word to read the article. Happy Stitching!

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Friday Finishes #31: Sweet Baby

Friday Finishes 31: Sweet Baby

Today’s Finish!

Today’s Friday Finish is actually a Christmas gift from last year! It’s been a long time coming. Sweet Baby was a fun piece to stitch and is a great, quick stitch for any baby gift, if you can find the chart!

Name of Piece: #021-1389 Sweet Baby

Designed by: As usual, the kit does not list a designer.

Distributed as a kit by Janlynn Company under their “Designs For The Needle” series.

Kit Contains: 18 ct. Aida fabric, 6-strand cotton floss, frame, self-adhesive mounting board, needle, graph, instructions

Finished Size:  2.5 inches round (6.4 cm)

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Term of the Week: PMS

Term of the Week: PMS

Term of the Week: PMS

This week’s Term of the Week is another acronym where stitchers have taken a word and claimed it as their own!

So, what does PMS mean? It’s fairly simple: PMS means Protecting My Stash. Actual PMS is known for its moodiness and irritability, which is what happens to stitchers whenever someone tries to threaten our stash! A common phrase to hear is, “Someone wants to clean out my craft room and I’m PMSing!”

As all stitchers know, we are very protective of our stash… so if someone tries to come between us and our stash – whether to say we have too much or wanting us to give or even – gasp! – throw some of it away, stitchers can get very aggressive and snappy!

Whenever I see the word used by stitchers, I picture a dragon hoarding and protecting its cave full of stashed stitching stuff. It’s definitely a useful term when you think about it!

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“Term of the Week” is a weekly blog post highlighting a new word or phrase commonly used among cross-stitchers but not found in an ordinary dictionary. These posts are to help explain the words’ meanings in context and provide a resource for anyone wondering what a term like “frogging” means. Check back every Thursday!

New Year’s Stitching Resolutions, Year 4, 2016

New Year's Stitching Resolutions, Year 4, 2016

Here we are, about to ring in the New Year once again! Which means it’s time for my annual New Year’s stitching resolutions article. It’s the time of year to review my stitching goals from last year, and create my new list to move forward with in 2016.

If you would like to read last year’s article in its entirety, you can check it out here:

New Year’s Stitchy Resolutions, Year 3, 2015

Last Year’s Goals:

  1. Stitch More
  2. Finish 10 or more projects
  3. Complete a Rotation

Last Year’s Goals in Review

Last January I went for only three goals because 2014 was NOT my stitching year. I think I failed all but one of my goals from 2014. So I tried to go for small, manageable goals that I thought would be easy to complete in 2015. How did I do?

Well, I definitely stitched more – a lot more! Which I’m happy about. I still had a very long dry spell over the summer and fall, which was when I was working full time, but even with that I was still able to stitch on a lot of projects and even finished a bunch!

Which leads directly into the second goal – finish 10 or more projects. The last project I finished in 2014 was my Families Are Forever Photo Album (which I still need to do a Friday Finishes article on), so counting all my finishes from after that point, I finished… exactly 10 projects in 2015. This includes the 5 projects I stitched specifically for Christmas, so I just barely scraped by on that goal. But hey, I only finished 4 projects in all of 2014, so 10 is a big step up!

As for my rotation? Totally failed! I got about two months into my rotation projects (which you can see the first video of here: Mini Kit Rotation Series) before I lost pace and never went back to them. Rotations are apparently just not my thing. I’ve had a rotation goal on every single one of my stitching resolutions lists since I started making them in 2013, and I have failed that goal every year since. I think I’ve learned my lesson – no more rotation goals for me!

This Year’s Goals:

Finish 15 Projects

10 projects a year seems about my average for finished pieces. I did 10 in 2012, 10 in 2013, 4 in 2014 (let’s pretend that year didn’t happen), and now, 10 in 2015. I can definitely step it up more than that. As both an incentive to keep up my ‘stitching more’ progress and to boost my overall number of finished pieces, I want to finish at least 15 projects in 2016. No more, no less! I mean, more would be great, but I’m not going to push my luck.

Finish 3 or More UFOs

At this point in my stash-accumulating life, I have so many projects I’ve started and stopped. I’ve also taken in projects started by others so they wouldn’t end up in the trash, so my WIP/UFO box is almost full! To the point where I’ve had to separate out projects I’m actively stitching on from projects that are kitted up or started or half-finished, or else there would be no room. I want to turn some of those UFOs into FFOs! That way, I can make way for more stash. (I am shameless, give me the stash!)

Start A Large Project

This one is moving outside my comfort zone, but if I don’t go outside it, I will never learn or grow! Everyone who knows me knows I hate large projects. Anything over 5×7 is almost unmanageable for me. In 2016 that is going to change! I am going to start one of the many large projects I have in my stash. I won’t finish – so I’m not going to make that the goal – but gathering the courage and plunging into a project that would otherwise seem overwhelming to me is a great way to push my boundaries in 2016.

Finish The Owl Pillowcases!

This piece has frustrated me for too many years and I’m sick of it! I started these Stamped Owl Pillowcases for my sister several years ago… now so long I’ve forgotten the exact year. This year, I attempted to finish them for Christmas. And I completed failed, to the point where I took them off the gift list. These pillowcases drive me nuts, but I’m not going to give up and toss them, I’m going to finish these suckers so I can finally be rid of them! Wish me luck, because I’ll need it.

Four stitching goals this year! One more than last year, and slightly more ambitious. Now that I know I can push through the lack of motivation and get stitching done, I want to up my game and see what I can complete in 2016. 2015 was a good year – let’s see if 2016 will be better!

What are you looking to accomplish with your stitching in 2016?

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“Random Corner” is a place for all articles related to all manners of cross-stitchery and the cross-stitch community that don’t fall into the topics covered in the regular segments. There is no set schedule for Random Corner articles, they’re just random!

By the way – to keep up on Little Thread Crafts stitching news and get pictures, updates, and more that don’t appear on the blog until much later, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! I would greatly appreciate it!

Friday Finishes #30: Little Miss Crafty

Today's Finish!

Today’s Finish!

Today’s Friday Finishes was a really fun little piece to stitch! When I saw the kit I immediately had to buy it. It’s really simple, so it was a fast stitch, and of course I love the subject matter!

Name of Piece: HD45739 “Little Miss Crafty”

Designed by: The kit doesn’t list a designer.

Distributed as a kit by Plaid Bucilla.

Kit Contains: 3 in. by 3 in. frame, 14 ct. 100% cotton white Aida cloth, floss, needle, chart

Finished Size: 3 inches square

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