MooMootif

Holly & Ivy ScissorKeep

2010-04-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

For the LHN/CNN Exchange, I finished the Holly & Ivy Sampler from Country Cottage Needleworks into a scissor keep for Suzanna. The scissor shield is glued to the interior to prevent the scissor from poking thru the stitched piece.

While you are here... check out the Blog of Shame.

Holiday Exchange - Easter

2010-03-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

You don't find this design any where... I decided to create my own stitch pattern for this exchange. After plouging thru my stack of stitching magazines, craft books for inspirations...... and this design is born. It's stitched one-over one on a 28 count evenweave. I finishes it with magnetic squares to house the needle threader and needles; and handmade the tassle. Hope you like it Barbara :).
Hmmm... I should have use a digital cam rather than my phone. The pictures did not turn out well here.

HOE2 - LHN/CNN Exchange Received

2010-03-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Received this beautiful work from Jayne. :) The stitch pattern is part of 'Morning Berries' by LHN and Jayne finishes it as a needlecase and a thread tag.... Included are stitching needles, milk chocolate ( yum yum... eating right now... heehee) . Thank you so much Jayne for the wonderful exchange.

Cross Stitch Freebies by Ria Lanser

2010-01-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

A collecton of free monochrome samplers designed by Ria Lanser.

http://stof-nest.blogspot.com/

Free Charts by WindyWillows

2010-01-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

Free cross-stitch charts from Ayoka. Japanese site

http://windywillows.web.fc2.com/wwindex.htm

HOE Xmas Ornament Exchange 2009

2010-01-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

Yeah!!! I finally managed to find this photo from my junk folder. I know I have taken a snap shot of it but can't recall where I saved it to..... blur me lol . These 2 cute ornaments were stitched for my exchange partner, Mary Jo, in the recent HOE Xmas Exchange. Cindy jokingly ask me .... "Where is the S-size ornament?" lol...

HOE Christmas Ornament 2009

2009-12-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

I received this christmas ornament from Jean yesterday. It's a cute snowmen peeping out of the christmas wreath. Red buttons and red ribbon dress-up the ornament nicely.
Thanks Jean for this special ornament.

HOE Summer House Exchange Sent

2009-07-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Jayne has received my stitchwork. That was fast. I stitched this LHN Wool Needlebook for her. To personalize and fit the Summer House theme, I changed the colour of the house and add a pathway with bright flowers at the sides. I also include Jayne's initials. This is one of my favourite design from LHN. Would love to stitch one for myself some day.

HOE Summer House Exchange Received

2009-07-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

I received this beautiful work from Jeanie. I love how she personalize the design by placing our nation flag beside the house. :) Yes, we will be celebrating our nation 44th birthday... how appropriate.
This is Jeanie's first attempt with the finishing and she did it so well. Thanks Jeanie... those melons really make my mouth water in this hot summer day.

No news is bad news?

2009-06-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

I have mailed my Woodland Exchange out on the 20 April 2009, till now I don't hear a word from my partner whether she has received it. Mine was sent via registered mail and the log shows that the item was received on the 29th.... Her blog was not updated since 19th May.... ??

I am glad that I sent it via registered mail. At least I know the item has reached the destination and is not lost. Hope everything is fine with her.

Any way, this is what I have stitched for her :) . A beautiful work to part with. A joy to stitch.

HOE - Woodland Exchange Received

2009-05-15T22:22:00.001-07:00

My woodland exchange has arrived and it's from Cari again. She stitched a beautiful 'Yellow Lemon Tree Fob' that was done one-0ver-one. You may also notice a few ripe lemons on the ground lol. The floss colour she chose are so matching. Look at the back of the fob. From afar, it looks like stamp printed on the fabric. Cari includes some extras.... GAST floss, a belfast linen fabric... they are way beyond my expectation. Once again a big THANK YOU to Cari. From where I am, these are not easily available here.

While you are here... take a look at the blue pinkeep she did for me in year 2007. Woooh... how time files...

Mystery Work

2009-05-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

Update on my mystery project. Glad to finish a big portion of the stitching during the holiday.

Woodland Stitching

2009-04-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Finally get to mail my woodland exchange out. I can now continue with my mystery stitch.

Morning Sunlight

2009-03-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

This photo was shot at around 7 am in the morning from my bedroom's window. :) Love the light contrast shown on the fabric. Thanks Lesley, for sharing the tip on natural daylight photo.

I have also sign-up for an exciting HoE exchange organized by Edgar. It's the Woodland Exchange. For this exchange, we should think foresty... woodsy... jungly... rainforest... small creatures... Can't wait to see what we stitchers can come out with. :)

My Second Angel

2009-03-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

Managed to finish a second angel this week. :) It's a cute angel sitting on the floor stitching.

Hmmm... still can't capture the right shade of the fabric.

Sh... !!! Angel stitching

2009-03-01T06:48:00.000-08:00

Not much work done this weekend. Spending my time trying to recover my crash system.
My angel now has a seat. The letters are stitched using Vicki Hibiscus.
I am experimenting with using macro to take closed-up pictures... some how the colour of the fabric changes. Is it because of my lighting condition?

Mystery Project

2009-02-20T21:50:00.000-08:00

Unable to sleep well lately, many stitching thoughts and plans comes to mind in the nights. So at the end, I decided to start a mystery project on my own. I will show you the many stages of my stitching as times goes by. Two very contrasting colour Nile Blue and Hibiscus (both silk floss from Vickki Clayton) will be used. It will be a 1-over-1 stitch on 28 ct silkweaver fabric.

Here is the first stage after 3 nites of stitching. (The purple lines are my dividing or guiding lines. :) )

SBEBB Frosty Friends Exchange - Received

2009-02-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

I received my exchange package from Laurie yesterday. She stitched a cute design from Helga Mandl titled "Peppermint Paul" on her own hand-dyed fabric. Isn't the snowman cute? :) Pop-ing candies and walking merrily at the same time. Helga Mandl Designs is new to me. A search in the internet ... HMD is a Croatian Cross Stitch design company that specializes in easy, quick to stitch, funny and colourful designs. Will take a look at what design pattern they have later.

Laurie also includes extras: a round white doily ( she crochet it herself... :) ... a woman of many talents ....), chocolate bar, varigated floss and altoid tins that are listed in my wishlist. I have been lemme for altoid tins for some time ever since I bought the tin topper chart. It will be great to house my stitching needles in the 'stitched' tin. Thanks Laurie.

Below is the closed-up of the snowman. Love her stitch work. So neat and tidy. And those are red and white beads.

SBEBB Frosty Friend Exchange 2008 sent

2009-02-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

Now that Gaby has received my package, I can show you what I have make for her. It is a design by Prairie Schooler titled 'Let it snow'. I finished it as a hanging pin keep. This design is also one of her 'wish to stitch' christmas ornament collection. :) . Glad to know that she likes it.

I have not being very active with stitching since January. Firstly due to 'lazy bones' and with the current economy recession.... my battery mood being pretty low. With the company globalizing, meaning more working hours, less stitching time. And with each hot awful nights, sleep has not come easy too. Is age catching up? I wonder. :(

SBEBB Christmas Ornament Exchange

2008-12-25T20:33:00.000-08:00

I received this lovely ornament from Su last week and manage to upload it to my blog today. Being pretty busy for the last few weeks due to work. Su stitched a design from Blackbird Design titled 'Holly Hill" on a white sparkling fabric. I love the way she finishes it with small bom bom at the bottom and buttons at the top. The pom pom makes me think of snow flakes :) . Su also includes extra goodies and some are useful for my future exchanges. Thanks Su. It's a great exchange.

SBEBB Christmas Ornament 2008 - sent

2008-12-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

Glad to know that Alison has received my package. I stitched these 2 ornaments using Vikki Clayton floss on a 30 ct sheeps straw linen from R&R Reproduction. The floss on the left is "moon called sea" and the right is "bane berry bright". Love the two varigated colours and texture of the silk floss. I also trimmed it with shiny coloured beads and golden ribbon. The designs are actually taken from a scissor fob given to me by Hazel last year in the SBEBB Redwork Exchange.

The next coming Frosty Friend Exchange will be my last exchange with SBEBB as it will be closed next year. A big thanks to Becky for rekindle my love for cross-stitching and making new friends along the way.

And thanks to Carol's invitation, I am now a new member of HookedOnExchangeToo (HoE)!! Hurray...! It will be another exciting year.

SBEBB Biscornu Exchange Sent 2008

2008-11-06T05:20:00.000-08:00

Yeah!! Glad to know that my biscornu has finally reached my partner. :) It's sure is a long, long journey to reach Maria. I think my neck is getting longer with each passing days.... (lol)

I chose this freebie pattern from Indigo Rose known as 'Wildflower Heart'. I stitched it on a 28 ct lugana lavender fabric from silkweaver and uses 2 different colour - DMC 310 for the top and DMC 606 the bottom. I then matched it with a contrasting button colour. Over all I find that the size of my biscornu is super-big. (5" or 6" I can't remember heehee) I hope Maria likes it. :-p

The chart can be found here http://www.caron-net.com/dec00files/dec00des.html

My next exchange is the Christmas Ornament Exchange and the due date is end of this month. I need to step up my gas!! lol .. I need to stay focus and finish stitching my JAT workstation too. I am also keen on these upcoming exchanges... the Frosty Friend Exchange, Valentine's Day Exchange, Quaker Exchange. ho ho ho .. it's gonna be fun fun fun.

Bump..Bump..Bump

2008-10-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have sent out my SBEBB Biscornu exchange on the 19th August and till date no news was heard from her. Her blog was not updated too. Hmmm.... is the postage system at Venezuela really that bad?? or ....??

Redwork Exchange 2008 - received

2008-08-27T07:02:00.001-07:00

My long awaited parcel has finally arrived today. It's a gorgeous red box from my exchange partner Goldie.

The stitched design is an old cartouche freebie chart from Workbasket. Goldie personalize the box with my initial and embellished it with red wavy velvet ribbons. The interior is red and padded at the base. The finishing is so superb. I love it. Goldie also includes extra goodies and they are reds!

See the box from another angle. I am glad it is not lost during the 27 days transit. :)

SBEBB Needlework Smalls Exchange - Received

2008-08-21T07:56:00.001-07:00

Today I received this cute frog biscornu from Suzanne. This freebie design is by Casey Buonaugurio titled 'Frog Biscornu Freebie'.

The sides are embellished with bright green beads. On closer look, one can see the 3d effect on the bees' eyes and the froggies' legs. Very charming indeed. :-)

Suzanne also includes extra goodies along with it. DMC floss which I use very often, a magnet map of Canada, a greeting card and a memo notebook that comes with a pen... which I currently in need of.

And take a look at the back. A big floral centre piece and the stitches are so well done.

I am back!

2008-08-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

I am back from overseas. Hmmm... I better call the Post Office tomorrow to check. My redwork exchange package is AWOL!!

SBEBB Redwork Exchange 2008 - Sent

2008-08-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

For this redwork exchange, I chose 2 different french designs for Edgar, and make it into a pin mattress. The first design with Edgar's personalized name is from a french book titled "Amities Croisees". This cross-stitch book contains a collection of beautiful monochrome designs by Isabella Vautier and Renato Parolin. I bought this book from Leena, at Violarium. You should get this book if you loves single colour designs.

The back design is a beautiful pattern from a talented french lady name Dany. I happen to stumble upon her site one day and found many beautiful stitchwork at her blog. So I wrote to her and request for this free chart titled "Jardin Enchanteur". Thank you Dany, you are my special angel.

Out Of Country

2008-08-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Redwork Exchange Partner,
I am travelling and have limited access to the internet for 1 week. So please do not be alarmed if you do not hear from me. :-) I will update once I reached home.

Happy Stitching!!

Strange mind

2008-05-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

I think I lost my mind ... lol . I can't control myself. I sign-up for two SBE exchanges. Luckily the mailing dateline for both exchanges are 19 days apart. So I have adequate time for both.

How time can change one's interest... I recall 2 years back, I don't seem to have a thing for biscornu at all. I did however make one mini-biscornu at that time.... just for curiousity sake. But now (strangely), I feel in love with it after looking at all the beautiful designs others have come out with. After going through my stash, I already have a beautiful design in mind for my secret recipient... even though I have yet know who you are :-)

Have a nice stitching day to all.

If I can ...

2008-04-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Aren't these lovely... especially the last one by Cherished Stitches - "A Virtuous Huswif".

My Treasure Workstation

2008-04-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

Not much stitch work was done for SBEBB lately as I am waiting for the Redwork Exchange to be open. I don’t want to commit myself with too many exchanges and end up doing a rush-job.

I am currently working on 2 projects - Feed My Soul Stitches by The Cat’s Whiskers and My Treasures Workstation by JAT. I will show the finished work of my first project once I have completed the finishing. Meanwhile I have finished stitching the first part of the JAT workstation. I retained the border of the original chart and replaced the center portion with a design of my own. I took some bits and pieces of design from stitch books and magazine and then match them to my likes. I also get to choose my own floss colour too. By the way, it’s a one-over-one stitch. Really love this... my very own.

Alyssum Scissor Pocket

2008-02-28T05:33:00.000-08:00

A 2007 limited edition design by The Cat's Whisker Design. The Alyssum scissor pocket can fit in a pair of 4" embroidery scissor. The pack contains the design chart, 1 skein of Dinky Dye silk (coolibah) and comes with a comprehensive stitching and finishing instructions. I replaced the little loop on the edge of the pocket flap with a floral charm.and add-in some of my LOVE.

Woo... It's LOVE at first sight...

2008-01-17T01:16:00.000-08:00

Don't you wish you could own it? I do!!!

Visit StitchingBitsAndBobs to find out more .

SBEBB Frosty Friends Exchange Received

2008-01-15T22:42:00.000-08:00

Marie, my Frosty Friends Exchange partner from Connecticut USA, sent me this beautiful needleroll. I am elated to receive this as I have never seen or own a needleroll before. I spent many hours admiring it last night.... lol.

It is a cute snowmen design from Heart in Hand titled 'Winter Fobs'. She stitched it on 32 ct linen using Weeks Dye Works and DMC floss.

The finishing of her work is superb and the stuffing is just right for this cute needleroll.
She also includes a handmade tissue holder (see the happy snowman print...) and extra goodies for me. Marie has provides a link at her blog for the tissue holder instructions. Visit her blog if you are interested.

SBEBB Frosty Friends Exchange Sent

2008-01-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

For this Frosty Friends Exchange, our design must have at least one snowman in it.

I decided to try something new for Valerie. I chose these two cute designs from Prairie Schooler. The red ornament is from the Christmas Day chart while the green ornament is from the Button Up chart. Poly pellets are then used for the stuffing and handmade cordings are then sewn round it.

This is my first attempt creating my own cordings. I am pretty please with the turn-out.. however I think I can still do better lol... Oh yes.. and I have a chuck of un-successful messy cording laying inside my cupboard. Hmmm... what should I do with it..

SBEBB Christmas Ornament Exchange 2007

2007-12-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

I received this beautiful ornament from Yuko in Japan. It's a design by Sharon Cohen of The Nostalgic Needle titled "Tudor Rose Ornament" from Just Cross Stitch 1999 Special Christmas Issue.

Yuko also sent me some fabrics, floss and a cute apple pin-cushion which are useful for me. Thanks Yuko for such a great exchange. I love them all. I am hanging this ornament at my work desk now.

Took a close up look of her ornament.The stitches and finishing of her ornament were superb. And see the cute apple. It even comes with a stalk.

SBEBB Stitcher's Christmas Ornament Exchange

2007-12-08T21:05:00.000-08:00

This is what I stitched for Carol. It is a complimentary design by Jean Farish Heart And Home, titled '3D Holly Band Ornament'. This is my first attempt with a 3D project and I am happy with the end result. I sewn the pattern on a 28 ct Jobelan bone with DMC floss. I did not follow the finishing method as indicated but instead I used the pinkeep mattress style finishing technique. I then tied 8 different coloured bells onto DMC metallic red and green floss and sewn it to the bottom of the ornament.

SBEBB Stitcher's Pocket Exchange Sent

2007-10-17T01:29:00.000-07:00

I received words from Marika that she has received my package. So I can now show you the pocket that I have made for her. Frankly.. I have never made a pocket before and out of a sudden impulse I joined the Stitcher's Pocket Exchange :p.... And when I received my partner's name, reality strikes home. Can I? Will I? Luckily with a pattern in mind and guidance from Cindy on the finishing technique, I managed to pull it through.

This is my 2nd project that uses one of the chart from this french book 'Petits points & Toile de lin' by Marjorie Massey. (The 1st project was a lovely butterfly pinkeep mattress I made for Vonne. ) I love most of her charts in this book. I slightly modified one of her chart and re-arranged the pattern/layout deemed suitable and pleasing for the eye. I used DMC 3041 and sewn it one-over-one onto a 28 count jobelan light-blue fabric. I also personalized the pocket with her initial 'M' at the centre. The pocket is secured by looping the pvc cord around it and ended at the big brown button.

SBEBB Stitcher's Pocket Exchange Received

2007-10-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to receive this beautiful English Garden Pocket and a purple fabric from Judith yesterday. I did not expect to receive the package so early. It's truly is a big surprise as I have just sent out mine on the very same day. My partner will probably receive the package within 5 days. I hope...:D (fingers crossed lol).

This is the first time I see different type of stitches sewn other than crosses. It even has small tiny beads on to it. And take a closer look at the pink and white flowers. (Click on the pic.) See how delicately she sewn it to perfection.

Thank you Judith. I will treasure it always. It makes me wanna find out more about this designer 'The Drawn Thread'. So it's google time ;D....

SBEBB Redwork Exchange 2007

2007-10-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

For this redwork exchange, I selected one of the design from the Ronde des 4 saisons chart for my exchange partner Vicki. I stitched one-over-one on a 28 ct lugana fabric using DMC 815 and finished it into a pin mattress.

Vicki has a broken left wrist and with a cast on for quite sometime now. Hope my stitchwork did cheer her up some how.

Get well soon Vicki and take care. .... :-)

By the way,Cindy is having a give-away pouch for a lucky reader. Visit her blog to find out more.
Below shows the back and the side views of the pin mattress.

Novel Book Cover

2007-10-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

It usually takes me about an hour to reach my office. So reading novel is one of my past-time when I am travelling in the train. This time round I attempted to finish a stitched piece into a novel book cover. I am quite please with the end result; however there are still rooms for improvement. For this finishing, I make use of sewing machine and some invisible threads for the side folds. The right fold of the book cover can be adjusted to fit the thickness of any novel book.

The blackwork pattern was from a japanese cross-stitch magazine I bought last year. I use DMC floss (black and brown) on a 28 ct cashel linen fabric.

SBEBB Redwork Exchange 2007 Received

2007-10-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

I received this beautiful needlecase with my initial personalized from Hazel. She also includes some extra ribbons, buttons and fabric that I can use for my future exchange projects. Thank you Hazel for this lovely exchange.

I always wanted to make a needlecase for myself but at the end I always push-off the idea as I am a failure with sewing machine. My sewing machine has been giving me tension problems for the last one year. Adjusting the tension knobs could not help. So I have sent it to the serviceman 2 weeks back. And guess what...! He said the fault lies on me not the machine. It seems that I have not done a proper job with the threading. He demostrated to me the right way and ask me to repeat what he did. Oh gosh... all this while I have been doing it the wrong way and I even have to pay the serviceman for my mistake. {sob.. sob...} My next exchange is the stitcher pocket exchange. Hopefully I can do a good work out of it.
Ok more photos of Hazel's work ( back and with needlecase open) posted here. By the way, I just bought a new pair of scissor. The scissor fob arrived just in time :-) .....

Update: Wow.. Hazel told me the needle case is hand-sewn. No sewing machine is used at all. Great work Hazel.

Card holder

2007-10-01T00:06:00.001-07:00

While browsing thru the Just CrossStitch 2007 Special Christmas issue which I borrowed from Cindy, I noticed a small envelope slotted within the pages. And written on it is my name. I opened up the seal and found out that Cindy has sewn me a cute card holder for my MRT card.

Yipeee... She has specially stitched this design for me as I am born in the year of rabbit. Oh how thoughtful of her :-)

A Special pin-mattress for a Stitcher Friend.

2007-07-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

It's been some time since I last post any updates on my stitchwork as I was busy with wedding plannings and creating wedding montage for a relative. Now that the wedding event is over, I can now get to continue with my KIV stitch work.

This special pin mattress is specially make for Cindy, a good friend and a zealous stitcher. I chose a light blue lugana fabric and DMC 930 floss for this one-over-one stitchwork.

The front design is a freebie chart from a french website. It's a design of an angel holding a basket of flowers. You can find a vast collection of free and beautiful charts from this site ECHEVETTE.

For the back, I chose a portion of the chart of a small needlebook from Accessoires Quaker AMAP. The full design can be viewed at A Mon Ami Pierre. A long and thin white ribbon with blue spots was then sewn and wrapped around the sides of the mattress. I used a long ribbon so that the pin mattress can be hang for display. Round blue pins are then placed around the sides of the mattress. And I finished it off with a sheer golden ribbon at the top of the pin mattress.

A big thank you to Cindy for these photos. :-)

SBEBB - ABC EXCHANGE 2007 Received

2007-05-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

I received this beautiful pinkeep ornament from Paula. The design she selected is by Carriage House Samplings published in Just Cross Stitch magazine June 2005 issue.

The finishing of the pinkeep ornament is exquisite and the design has a very 'spring' look. Paula also included some fabric and alphabet beads for me. Currently I have hang this beautiful piece in my workplace. Thank you Paula, you make my day. ;-p

SBEBB - ABC EXCHANGE 2007 SENT

2007-05-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

For this ABC Exchange, we are free to use any fabric and floss. However we have to include alphabet inside the design.

As I received a beautiful pin cushion from Cari for the Winter Quaker Exchange, I decided to make my first pin cushion for my exchange partner Vonne too.

I chose this beautiful design by Majorie Massey from the book "Petits Points & Toile Delin". It's a french cross-stitch book with many wonderful designs. I used DMC 815 and sewn it one-over-one onto a 28 count jubilee light-blue fabric.

And this is the back design with her name sewn and three flowers on top of the letter V which like a vase :-). The width of the pin cushion is about 1 cm . The three pieces are then joined together and then stuffed with 6 layers of quilt cotton battings.

I am pretty amazed that I have did such a beautiful piece of work. Thanks to those kind stitchers out there who provide us the wonderful tutorials.

Amazon France

2007-03-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ordering these great french cross-stitch books from Amazon France is a breeze. There is a 'Help In English' at the left hand column when you click on AIDE at the top of the first page. From there you will get to know how to order your stuff and what are the shipping costs and payment type etc... However you need to have a Amazon account first before you can order any books. So go to Amazon.com to create a new account if you have none. Once it is created, logon with your new account. Click on 'Your Account' at the top of the page. Set 1-CLICK Ordering settings to ON. This will allow you to place orders in Amazon.Fr site. Close the window session and proceed to Amazon.Fr and order your books. You will then received a confirmation order via email.... but then it is in french. Just cut and paste some of the words and use a language tranlator such as Babel Fish Translator to translate it from french to english. Ta-da .... you are done. Well.... hope the above information helps you in your quest to acquire your favourite french books...lol

Do drop over at Cindy's blog to have a look at her short reviews of these 3 books.

Happy Shopping at Violarium

2007-03-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

Hurray!! My package from Violarium has arrived last night. I was very surprised as I had just placed the order on the 28th Feb and did not expect to receive them so early. I immediately called up Cindy about the good news. Cindy has also placed an order for the same french cross-stitch magazine "De Fil En Aiguille " thru my account. She was thrilled about it too. After the call, she sent me this sms message "Great. Can't wait to see them. Wish I could fly to your place now and take a look. LOL...." What a fun and jovial friend to have... :-)

Lately I have been crazy about redwork and quaker designs. As Violarium was having a one-day special - 20% discount on all orders + free shipping anywhere in the world.. for her 1st anniverary on the 28th Feb, I took the golden opportunity to ordered two of Isabella Vautier's charts ["All I Need Is Love Quaker" and "Dans La Jungle" ] and the french cross-stitch magazine titled " De Fil En Aiguille Special Issues - Samplers". Even though both of us don't speak or understand french, the diagrams of the magazine are clearly charted. We loved most of the designs from this special issue. There are a total of 17 designs (big and small samplers) within the 60 over pages. Leena who is the shop owner of Volarium and a SBEBB member ; even enclosed a 2-page French -> English cross-stitch dictionary and 2 free charts for us. We can't wait for the special issue "Tout Rouge" to be in-stock at Violarium .

SBEBB- Winter Quaker Exchange 2006 Received

2007-01-25T04:30:00.000-08:00

I received this package from Cari USA. The pinkeep is stitched one over one and personalized with our initials at the back. Cari also sent me a chart kit "Country Day" designed by Nan Tyson Euler and some stickers. Thanks Cari for this wonderful exchange.

SBEBB - Winter Quaker Exchange 2006 Sent

2007-01-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

The quaker's exchange theme is WINTER for this go round and we will be using a combination of Blue and White for our designs. The Quaker design doesn't have to relate to Winter, but we must use the Winter colors of Blue and White.

The design I stitched is a small portion taken from Danielle Gouriou Curie design titled 'THE TREE WITH THE BIRDS'. It is stitched one over one on a jobelan 28 count denium blue fabric. I personalized this pinkeep by sewing Renee's initial and the year she received this pinkeep. Multiple coloured pins are used as I am not able to find blue ones.
As usual I forgotten to snap a photo of it before I sent it out. Renee is so kind to send me her photo shot when I asked her for one ;-P.

Merry Christmas to ALL

2006-12-24T20:16:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-16T00:50:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-16T00:14:00.000-08:00

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

2006-10-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-28T01:03:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-25T00:28:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-18T01:10:00.000-07:00

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.....

2006-05-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

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.....