Merry Christmas to ALL

Today is Christmas Day from where I am.

These are the wonderful gifts from Helen. She labelled each gifts with a small tag.


"A sweet taste of something British" - Milk choc log
"Scent of winter" - wax potpourri
"To keep the snuffles away" - tissue in style
"Enjoy a taste of England UK" - English BF Tea
"To keep you updated" - Peter Rabbit '07 calendar
"I bet this one has you wondering" - Xmas Doily
"Can you guess what this might be" - Angel ornament.


I love them all. Thanks Helen. Hmmmm... After this, I am going to sit back, have a nice cup of english tea and continue with my Winter Quaker Exchange work.

Cheers.

SBE Christmas Ornament Exchange 2006 Received

I received my SBE Christmas Ornament from Helen today. When I opened the package, my mouth and eyes goes ' O'!!! Inside the package are 8 small individually wrapped parcels. And each parcel has a personal note tagged on it. Notes like " I bet this one has you wondering...." ; "Enjoy a taste of England UK"; "Scents of winter"; "Can you guess what this might be?" etc..
I am overjoy to receive so many from sweet Helen.


I decided to open the ornament parcel first and leave the rest for Christmas Day. Another surprise await me as I opened it. It's almost the same theme as my stitchwork I sewn for Jo - a red and white hanging ornament. It's a very cute snowman with 2 cardinal birds flying around. And the tiny stars on the red fabric are like snowflakes falling down from the sky. It put a smile on my face whenever I look at it. I intend to hang it at my workdesk. Ho..Ho...Ho...it's 9 more days to Christmas Day ;-p. I can't wait to open all the presents !

SBE Board - Christmas Ornament Exchange 2006 Sent

This is my first attempt in making a wall hanging. The cross stitch design was from Sue Hillis Design known as Snowmen Kit. I find the design very cute as it shows all the stuff required to make a snowman. The tiny snowman shown at the right hand bottom is actually a Christmas hanging ornament. To gives the design a 3D touch, I sewn the ornament's string securely behind the lugana fabric and glued the snowman on the surface with an artwork white glue. The finishing was done using no-sew technique i.e iron-on adhesive tape.

This was specially made for Jo.

RSB - Spring/Autumn Exchange 2006

For this exchange, the stitcher need to sew a stitched piece with the theme of Spring or Autumn depending on where she lives and what season it is for her.

I choose Autumn. It's the season during which most crops are harvested and some trees lose their leaves annually. It brings to my mind colours like red, brown, yellow and green. After my good attempt with the pink butterfly coaster, I decided to sew another butterfly that is brown and yellow.

I am very pleased with the finished coaster as the colour combination and effect look so real. I also include some bikini charms and DMC varigated threads to my recipient Natty from UK. Glad to hear my package received in order ;-) .

RSB - SPRING/AUTUMN EXCHANGE - Received

I received this pin cushion for the Rotation Stitchers Board's Spring/Autumn Exchange. It was sewn by Wendy from USA. It depicts a raven perching on top of a watermelon with a greenery hoop around it. The cushion can also be hanged using the green and white ribbons. Wendy also sent me a note-pad, a watermelon pin and a cute greeting card. I understand from her greeting card that the place where she is staying, it is famous for its Muscatine melons. Yum... yum.. Already I can feel the melon's juice flowing down from my mouth after the first bite....yum..yum..

Happy Birthday To You

Recently I borrowed a stitch book titled "Butterflies and Hummers" from a friend. After browsing thru the pages, I immediately feel in love with the butterflies designs. I decided to sew one and chose a blue butterfly with pink flowers.




The full-stitch design are sewn using DMC threads on canvas. I am happy with the finished work. The colour is vibrant and the design is lively.

I shown the finished work to Cindy who also likes it very much. It was later given as a birthday gift to Cindy for her 40th birthday. (Whoa... how time flies.......another year wiser, Cindy? ) I am glad this butterfly has find its rightful owner. The coaster is currently being displayed at her work desk ;-) ........

Scissor FOB Exchange

This is the first exchange program, which I have signed up at the Rotation Stitching Forum in June. I truly enjoyed the whole process from selecting a suitable design, personalized it along with some small gifts and right up to sending the parcel at the Post Office. ;-)

For my recipient Chris, I selected the design DELFT TULIPS from the Textile Heritage Collection. I replaced the tassel with a golden ribbon as I have problem creating and sewing the tassel to the fob. Generally I am very satisfied with the work done and am pleased that Chris likes it too.



And from my sender Angi, I received this personalized scissor keep sewn using Dinky Dyes - DayDream. It has my initial L sewed in a shimmering fabric material with eyelets and Rhodes square stitches at the 2 sides. However my photo shots are not able to capture the shimmer effect. She also includes a beautiful fairy card and 2 hand-dye threads. I am very glad to receive the floss, as I always wanted to try others. The most common brand found here are DMC and Anchor.

The Card Shop Issue 47 Oriental Card

This design was from the Cross Stitch Card Shop issue 47 magazine. I have actually completed the sewing before June and has stored it in my 'UFO' box. I have make it to a Condolence Card for a colleague whose grandmother has passed away. May she rest in peace.

Mirabilia ** WORK IN PROGRESS **

Mirabilia - Waiting for Ships

I am a big fan of Mirabilia Designs and I really love the contemporary looks and timeless depiction of Nora Corbett's designs. Nora, a designer cum painter, usually uses subjects like fairies, angels, queens, mothers .... graceful and elegant women posed in various romantic settings. Designs like 'Waiting For Ships' , 'Sleeping Beauty' , 'Fairy Moon' and 'The Forest Goddess' are some of my favourites. I chose 'Waiting For Ships' to be the first to sew. This 1998 design shows a heartbroken mermaid awaiting among the rocks and sea sprays for the return of her handsome sea captain. You can vision her long chestnut hair flowing gracefully in the deep blue sea... Her emerald aqua fins and tails shimmering brightly under the sun... Her heart yearning.... yearning for her lover to return....(sob...sniff...sniff....)



OK.. now coming back to the real world... (blowing my nose with a hanky...) this stitchwork requires Kreinik metallic thread and beads by Mill Hill. It is also my first work with metallic thread and sewing petite glass beads on the fabric. I started stitching on the 32 count blue linen fabric since last April. The completed design area is to be 11"x17". Currently it is half-done. I have stop stitching it for a couple of months now as I find it tedious. I don't know why ... I just don't seem to be able to focus on this work. Dear me... it seems the mojo has worn-off???? HELP...! I need to charge-up again Bzzzz.... Bzzzz........ Bzzzz.... (5% charged) Bzzz... Bzzzz ( charging....) Bzzz..... Meanwhile I am going to spend more time with other smaller stitchworks :-p .

Biscornu ** 8-Sided Mini-Cushion**

I always thought that cushions can only be sewn in 4-sided, round, oval etc… you know the basic shaped we used to see in the shopping or furniture malls; until I was introduced to this 8-side pin cushion by Cindy. The French called it Biscornu....it's a french ornament I think.

Julie, a French blogger is kind enough to show us how it is being done with each detailed step and photo shown. However as it is in French, it is diffucult for me to understand even with the web page translation tool available. Luckily for me her photos are self-explanatory. You can view her instructions here .


I like her cross-stitch design so much that I studied and copied each crosses to a graph paper. I then sewed it on to #25 lugana pale yellow fabric using DMC colour 680. The size of the finished product is about 3 inches all round. It took me a couple of week-ends to finish it. I have not decide what I am going to do with it. Frankly I won't be doing another one in the future as I have no use for it. I don't know...some how it did not give me that 'w..h..o..o..p..y' feelings.

Cross Stitch Card Shop **Patchwork Baby Card**

My first handmade cross-stitch greeting card. (Clap... clap... clap....)

I am very pleased with the end result. When I first saw the picture of the baby pram in the Cross Stitch Card Shop issue 47 at Knotty Shop... I know I have to get it. It's the perfect personal gift I want to make for an ex-colleague. She has just given birth to a 3.42kg baby boy and the baby happen to be her first-born child. So the colour blue will be the right choice for this card.To spice up this card....(with pots and pans heehee and eyes rolling...lol) I added in some acid-free scrapbook embellishments at the front page.


I stamped the word 'CONGRATULATIONS' at the inner page using dye-ink coffee colour. This is my first attempt at stamping. You can see that the stamping is not that good especially at the ending part. I should have stamped and tested on some draft papers first before I did it on the card. Anyway I leave it as it is. Hmmmm... should I add in more wordings at this page?? What you think? Any suggestions?

Now the back page..... I was browsing at a local handicraft store and then I came across this 'Handmade by' stamp. Upon seeing it, an idea immediately came to my mind. I can stamp it at the back of the card and sign in my name as MooMoo. Then I saw a COW PUNCHER.... I thought 'Hey...I can punch out 2 paper cows and replaced it with my name!'.
HaHaHaHa.....And so this is how this back page design came about.

Well....really hope that my recipient will like it as much as I do. :-p

Moo Moo Here.....

After much "pecking" from a friend (gosh....I can still hear her click-clacking in the back of my mind ...heehee..) , I finally get the courage to create my very own blog. I was hesitating at first as I am afraid I might not have the perseverance to see it through... Well... then I tell myself...'At least I have to try'.

First I have to decide what I want to post at the blog. My finished craftwork, my on-going works, my wishlist (maybe....). Next Blog name. Getting a unique name for this blog is also a fun process for me and my friend Cindy. 'MooMoo' is used as it is the id I practically used in all the stitching forums that I have joined. We then brainstorm on the blog name..... 'MooMoo', 'MooMoo Blog', 'MooMoo Stitch' , 'MooMoo Talk' , 'MooMoo Craft'..... We laughed at all the funny names we came out with. Then I come across this word MOTIF in one of the sewing craft website. The word looks cool and perfectly depict the blog's theme. So we combined the 2 words and come out with MooMootif.

Currently I am crazy about hardanger and papercraft greeting cards. I have being buying alot of magazines and papercraft supplies lately. (oh dear..my wallet is getting lighter....). And I just subscribe to Cross-stitch Crazy. (Knock..Knock...) Really hope it is not a spur of a moment..... ;-p

I better download my pictures from the camera to the computer tonight.....