Liebster Award!

I've seen a lot of blogs recently who have been given the Liebster Award and I'm proud to say it has also been given to me.  A big thank you to Thea at Gizzimomo's Stitchy Place.

Liebster is a German word meaning favourite, dearest or beloved.  The Liebster Blog Award is awarded by bloggers to other new bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to help spread the word about their blogs and to help them gain wider recognition.

The Liebster award comes with four conditions that each receipient must satisfy when accepting.

1. Choose 5 up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.
2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog.  List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites.  Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.
4. Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

Here are the five people and blogs that I award the Liebster Blog Award to:

1. My first award goes to Clare at Cross Stitching Crazy Lady I love watching her progress on Train of Dreams as I currrently have this as a UFO so am vicariously stitching through her!
2. My second award goes to Caroline at My HUUUGE Haed Project as I am always astounded by the size of the project she has taken on and look forward to seeing her progress.
3. Thirdly I am award to Dawn at Epidotes Blog - she also runs Crafty Kitten Fabrics and I love seeing her hand made cards and stitching and also hearing about the progress of her baby boy.
4. Next is Alicia at The Crafty Princess I am so jealous as Alicia gets to stitch at work - now that sounds like a dream job to me!!
5. My last award is going to my sister Louise at Stitch One, Knit One - she hasn't blogged for a while so I am trying to encourage her to start again.  She does amazing stitching but also makes the most wonderful knitted toys which I often have to fight with my son for!

So here are five things you may not know about me (apart from my sister of course who knows everything about me!!)

1. I didn't leave home until I was 30 and my husband is the only person I have had a long term relationship with.
2. Although all I have ever wanted was to  be a mum when I finally had my little boy I had horrible postnatal depression and still struggle with being a mum sometimes.
3. I have hundreds upon hundreds of books and they are all shelved alphabetically by author and I've probably not read more than 50% of them.
4. I have always wanted a cat but never had one as I am allergic to them.
5. I don't want any more children but cannot imagine never being pregnant again.

Oh my goodness

Just noticed I've reached 100 followers.

Thank you so much to everyone for following my blog.

It means a lot that other people are interested in my hobby (probably more of a passion than a hobby actually!)

I've decided I'm going to have some sort of giveaway - don't know what it will be yet but just to thank my 100 followers!

Leave a comment on this post if you're interested!

A week of stitchy surprises (well only 2!)

This week I have been surprised twice in a stitchy way.

My first surprise was an e-mail from Yiota asking if I would review one of her kits.  I was surprised and honored to be asked and of course spent the next few hours browsing her website http://www.yiotas-xstitch.com/ trying to decide which one of her lovely kits to choose.  I finally decided on this one.

Then when I got in from work tonight I had received my copy of Cross Stitcher Magazine in the post and I have had a letter printed with a photo of the poppy brooch which I stitched for my sister.

To top it all off it was the letter of the month and I've won a bunch of flowers!

Baby Patchwork as of 14.03.12

I'm trying out this new way of rotating where you work on a project for 10 hours at a time.  My focus project at the moment is Baby Patchwork so I will work on this every alternate 10 hours.  This is my progress after this rotation.

Top half completed without backstitch.

And with backstitch.

I love how cheeky this little giraffe looks.

Here's how far I've got with the bottom half.

I have completed 1,388 stitches since my last update which brings it to 6,499 of 11,068 which is 58.72% complete!

FOR SALE - Lizzie Kate - Living with Charm

So now I have completed my Living with Charm I am looking to sell the Lizzie Kate charts I have.  They are all still in excellent condition as I work from copies.  I am looking to sell the whole set for £15 (I think they retail for about £6 each which would be £36 for the set) which will include postage in the UK but international postage will be an additional cost.  If you are interested in buying these charts please contact me at obsessivecrossstitcher@gmail.com.

WIPocalypse - 08.03.12

So here's my next WIPocalypse update with two finishes!

Secret Project 2 - Baby - Finished 22nd February 2012 - first finish for 2012!!!  Pictures to follow as soon as I can.


Living with Charm - Lizzie Kate - COMPLETED 06.03.12

Nativity - third part started - 2 parts fully complete - 9 to start.

Six Fat Men - Lizzie Kate - 3 out of 6 complete - part 4 started.

Cinnamon Cat Birth Sampler - started 21.12.11 - 5,111 of 11,068 stitches - 46.18% complete

Gerbera Daisy Cushion - Just Cross Stitch Magazine - 23,726 of 28,224 stitches - 84.06% complete - no progress since last update

Hickory Dickory Dock QS - HAED - 20,344 of 26,775 stitches - 75.98% complete as of 02.01.12 - no progress since last update

Secret Project 1 - Ink Circles - I won't be able to publish any pictures of this project but will update my stats - 11.49% complete - no progress since last update

Forbidden Doorway SK SAL - HAED - started 08.01.12 - completed 567 of 21,258 stitches which is 2.67% complete - no progress since last update.

Hanging Loose Christmas Ornaments - Cross Stitcher Magazine (November 2011) - as of 18.01.12 12.5% complete - no progress since last update.

A new project to add to the WIPocalypse is String of Hearts - not yet started but here's a picture of the finished design.

Living with Charm - HAPPY DANCE as of 6th March 2012

Today I put the last stitch in on Living with Charm by Lizzie Kate.  I started stitching this on 17th September 2011 and finished today 6th March 2012.  It is stitched on Dawn Blush 20 count hand dyed aida from Crafty Kitten.  I've really enjoyed stitching this with the different fonts for the words and the colours, at first glance I really didn't think they went together that well but having completed it I am really pleased with how it turned out.  So here are all my progress pictures for this piece ending with the finished piece of course.  I intend to get this framed soon so will hopefully be able to put those pictures up in the not too distant future.

Baby Patchwork as of 5th March 2012

I've been concentrating on Baby Patchwork as my friend's baby is due to be born in the next couple of weeks. I've done another 922 stitches since my last post which makes it 46% complete.  I'm really enjoying stitching this and planning in my mind how I will set out the baby's name and birth details.

I don't know if you've noticed but I've set up a new page which is my "Stitching Journal".  I'd seen a lot on other forums about people keeping track of their progress with a stitching journal and I thought I'd utilise my blog to start one of my own.  Basically it's just a small entry (nearly) every day detailing what I've stitched that day and anything else I want to keep a note of.  Mainly it's for me but of course you're all welcome to read along with me.  I've also spent some time going through my "must do" projects and these are now listed on my "Current & Future Projects" page.  I've grouped them by size (stitch count) and my intention is that when I finish a small project I can add a new small one and if I finish a large project and can add a new large one etc.

Anyway I'm rambling now because it's the middle of the night and I am up with my little boy who unfortunately has chicken pox.  Very tempted to do some stitching but don't know if my sleep deprived brain and tired eyes could really make much progress!

Here's a couple of pics of my poorly (yet still cheeky) little boy.

Piece finish Happy Dance for Nativity as of 29.02.12

I'm really pleased with the progress that I've made on the Nativity.  I'm  keeping up with stitching one piece a month and have now completed the largest piece.  So doing a small happy dance for a piece finish.  I have now completed 16.7% of this project.

I've mainly be concentrating on the Baby Patchwork Birth Sampler as the baby I am stitching it for is due to be born mid-March and I want to get it finished as soon as I can after he is born.  I've completed 1,232 stitches since my last update which now makes it 37.9% complete.

Updates as of 23rd February 2012

Well after my quick post last night I thought I'd update you on the progress for which I can show you pictures.

First update is of the plastic canvas nativity.  I completed the smallest piece of the set which is the baby Jesus in the manger.

I'm very close to finishing the largest piece of the set which is the background, I just need to fill in the blue and do the back stitching.

                          

I've done a little bit more on the Six Fat Men.

Finally this is a picture of what I am going to add to my rotation next.  It's called String of Hearts and was in issue 206 of Cross Stitch Collection.

First Happy Dance of 2012!

Well I've stayed up way past my normal bed time to complete my first finish for 2012.  Unfortunately it's one of my secret projects so I can't put any photos up yet but hopefully it won't be too long until I can.

Still having a little dance even though I can't share it yet.

WIPocalypse - 07.02.12

My second WIPocalypse update.  Unfortuately this month I seem to have added more to my stash than I have done work on my WIPocalypse projects.  I am under no illusion that any of my new additions will be completed this year though.


Forbidden Doorway SK SAL - HAED - started 08.01.12 - completed 567 of 21,258 stitches which is 2.67% complete.

Hanging Loose Christmas Ornaments - Cross Stitcher Magazine (November 2011) - as of 18.01.12 12.5% complete

Nativity - first part started

Secret Project 2 - Baby - I will be able to post pictures of this later this year -  two thirds of first afghan square finished

Living with Charm - Lizzie Kate - Part 10 complete as of 14.01.12

Cinnamon Cat Birth Sampler - started 21.12.11 - 2,957 of 11,068 stitches - 26.72% complete - no progress since last update

Gerbera Daisy Cushion - Just Cross Stitch Magazine - 23,726 of 28,224 stitches - 84.06% complete - no progress since last update

Hickory Dickory Dock QS - HAED - 20,344 of 26,775 stitches - 75.98% complete as of 02.01.12 - no progress since last update

Secret Project 1 - Ink Circles - I won't be able to publish any pictures of this project but will update my stats - 11.49% complete - no progress since last update

Six Fat Men - Lizzie Kate - 3 out of 6 complete - no progress since last update

Miscellaneous as of 04.02.12

I'm making good progress with my secret project and have probably done about a two thirds of the first square so far.  The fabric I am stitching it on is quite difficult to work with so it's taking me much longer than a normal project would but it's nice to stitch on something different for a change.

One of the goals I have set myself for the year is to complete the 24 Christmas ornaments on plastic canvas from the November 2011 issue of Cross Stitcher Magazine.  I am hoping to turn them into some form of advent calendar so I need to stitch at least 2 a month to reach my goal.  Up to now I have completed 3.  I am substituting the french knots with beads and some of the backstitching with metallic threads with the hope this will add a little sparkle to the ornaments.  So having completed 3 of 24 ornaments I have completed 12.5% of this project.

I've also started stitching the plastic canvas nativity which I hope to have finished for Christmas.  There are 12 pieces in total so at 1 piece a month it seems like quite an achievable goal.  Also they are quite basic designs and have large blocks of colour so I am hoping when the light gets better I may be able to stitch on them in the car going to and from work.  I've started with the biggest part of the set which is the background and here's my progress so far.  If you want to see the finished design you can find it here.

I was thrilled to see on Jill Rensel's blog that she has framed a Living with Charm piece.  It just looks stunning.  It is my goal one day to have one of my pieces framed by Jill.  Here's the link if you want to look.

I'm extremely excited to have signed up to stitch my first Chatelaine - I've chosen to stitch the Anniversay Fairy Tale Castle.  The first part is released at the beginning of April so I have until then to save up my pennies and then decide whether I am going to stitch it in the recommended silks or use the DMC conversion.  I'm thinking I will have to go with the DMC conversion but we'll see.

I've also splurged again in the HAED sale and bought the four Randall Spangler story keeps recently released.  I will also get the fifth one when it comes out as I want to stitch them all on one piece of fabric.  I'm thinking a hand dyed piece so that the fabric acts like matting in between the pictures but I'm not sure yet what colour fabric I will stitch on.

Forbidden Doorway SK as of 14.01.12

I've not made a great deal of progress on the SK SAL only completing 567 stitches which makes it 2.67% complete.  I am moving on as I have to do some work on one of my secret projects.  Here's my progress picture so far.

I've also completed the next section of Living with Charm - I now have only 2 sections left to do.

As I am working on one of my secret projects next there won't be an update for a while.  

WIPocalypse - 09.01.12

So here's my first WIPocalypse update.

Cinnamon Cat Birth Sampler - started 21.12.11 - 2,957 of 11,068 stitches - 26.72% complete

Gerbera Daisy Cushion - 23,726 of 28,224 stitches - 84.06% complete

Hickory Dickory Dock QS - 20,344 of 26,775 stitches - 75.98% complete as of 02.01.12

Living with Charm - Part 9 complete as of 03.01.12

Secret Project 1 - I won't be able to publish any pictures of this project but will update my stats - 11.49% complete

Secret Project 2 - I will be able to post pictures of this later this year -  not yet started

Six Fat Men - 3 out of 6 complete

Forbidden Doorway SK SAL - not yet started