Thursday, August 27, 2009

Its School Holiday...


No progress at all on any of my WIP project... ALAMAK.

Its a school holiday week in Malaysia... so its really really difficult to find time to stitch but I did a mini one for my Nicole's teacher yesterday night... Home Sweet Home.


Actually its her first attempt to stitch but end up me finishing it off for her lor.

My second girl, Mandy(7) started stitching at 4 1/2 years old. Now she is really really good. Doing stitches on 14ct Aida & attempting designs with backstitches but she is not ready for 1/2 stitch or 3/4 stitch yet.

That's a pic of my girls stitching... Nicole (4) now understand the pulling of needle with thread the correct way by "up & down... up & down". I realise a lot of young children start stitching by going down & down & down with the needle... and ended up circling & tying the cloth.
The recommended age to start stitching is 5 years old and the best first neeedlecraft to start them with is Cross Stitch... with structure block aida cloth, easy-to-read chart & most importantly blunt needle, its easier for a young kid as compare to embroidery, knitting and etc etc etc.


Saturday, August 22, 2009

Cant find time to stitch...

Hi... Posted everything within a day... Congrats to myself. Really wanted to start a blog on my Cross Stitch projects long long time ago... but I was pretty tight down with my Shop.

A brief recap... I started a Cross Stitch shop in mid 2007 in Kajang but decided to close it in May 2009. I cant cope after my Kakak left in April 2009. Actually I was struggling in mid 2008 when my mum was diagnose with cancer. My mum was the one backing me up taking care of my kids when I was working. (...thanks mum).

So with 3 young girls age 11, 7 & 4, a 2 1/2 storey semi-d and no backup system... its really tough having a full time business... really really not easy. So I decided to work from home. Beside taking care of my family & home... I get to work on my business too. Prefect plan but not materialising yet... still working on my website. Hope to get it up ASAP.

Once my website is up... hope I can sit back and relax a bit... and do some serious stitching. Really need to work on my WIP leh...

Some of my WIP

Here are some of my WIP (Work in Progress).

Target to complete ALL before Jan 1, 2010 cos I got a pretty long wish list... try really hard not to start another project before finishing ALL these...

Lanarte Kit ... Its my first Embelished Cross Stitch... and also my first project stitch using a tapestry frame. The kit comes with zweigart aida fabric with silk screen background... its really nice.

Everyone LOVE "Lickle Bear". The kit comes with a 16ct Aida Fabric and I completed it in Dec 2008 and gave it to my Hubby as a Christmas gift exchange present.

Now I am working on this design the second time using 11ct Aida. I wanted it to be bigger and plan to frame it for my girls room.

I am working on the half-stitch background & later will work on the back-stitch outline. The background its pretty drag, almost the same colors and lots of it.
Tis should be my second target to complete from my WIP list... first target should be the ALL OUR YESTERDAYS project below.

DIMEMSION GOLD - GEISHA... Beautiful design. Love it... the color is turning out really nice... so why cant i finish this le... This is my first 18ct Aida.
After stitching for hours, I only manage a small section... really cant see the progress... its really slow... but I promise to get back to this and complete it before I start another NEW project... promise promise..

All Our Yesterdays (DMC Kit)
One of my recent project and my first target to complete from my WIP list. Only the clouds are missing... I even finish all the back-stitch.





"100 shou" ... 100 blessing for my grandma... turning 90 this Oct. Really need to complete it & frame it nicely ASAP.
Another mega project... its a big piece but actually its easy. I use water erasable pen to mark all the "shou" characters first... that will make sure all "shou" will be in-line & I dont need to look at the chart & count while stitching.

My Photo-to-Cross Stitch Projects


Two of my proudest project so far.
I use a photo-to-Cross Stitch software online to convert these photos of my girls & Siti.
I complete "MY GIRLS" in 2006... thats 2 1/2 years ago. They look different now. Guess I should stitch another one but this time I plan to have me & my hubby in it too... "THE WHOLE FAMILY"... another mega project in my wish list.
I complete SITI in mid 2007... lots of people ask me why I stitched SITI... its actually for my shop display. I manage to complete it within a month. Its really not easy cos to make it really nice & real, I stitch it using 50 colors... lots of changing of colors. I use to bring SITI for exhibition and from a far many people didnt realise its Cross-Stitched... so I put up a sign... really proud le...


Kuan Yin (DMC) ... complete but not frame yet


One of my mega project... Kuan Yin (DMC Chart)

I finish 80% of this design within 1 month... till the part where I need to stitch the white stitches. Really hard cos I keep missing a few stitches here & there and I need to go back to stitch it. So I chuck it aside till early 2009..Finally its finished.
Hope to frame it soon... I am working on the "100 shou" (PINN Chart) for my grandma 90th birthday in Oct 09 so wanna frame it together lor.... hoping for discount.

PINN kits

PINN Kits... both completed early 2009.

Its really nice. Looks so much better than the packaging photos. Plan to stitch the "Prosperity Cat" again for my sister.

The "God of Wealth" (below) actually comes in 4 design... also plan to stitch the remaining 3 designs... alamak must find more time to stitch lor...

For My Girls


I stitch these 3 design and frame it with a nice IKEA frame for my Mandy (7) & Nicole (4).
My eldest girl Emily (11) prefer more dramatic and less sweet design... so I stitch the ... Fashion Gal & Glamour Gal (below) for her.





Nine Koi Fish


This is one of my old project. Complete in mid 2002.
Actually this project took me 3 years to complete. Really long leh... I was working in a pretty demanding accounting firm then. I only get to stitch 1 hour each night 2-3 times a week.
I make a point to finish it during my post-pregnancy confinement of my second girl. Wah...Lah... its a really nice DMC design.

My really old Cross Stitch Project

Hi... that's me with some of my really really old projects. Stitched during my SRP, SPM & STPM holidays... yup over 20+ years ago.

Sorry... no close-up cos its not really that good up close.