I'd like to say a big thank you to the talented ladies at the
Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, because they have single-handedly made me interested in cross-stitching. Before I stumbled across their adorable designs last year, my interest in cross-stitching was zero. zilch. nada. But since I first laid eyes upon their illegally cute
PB&J pattern (which never fails to make me sing the
Peanut Butter Jelly Time song), I've been toying with the idea of picking up a new hobby. The final nail in the coffin was when I read Kelly's
post about these adorable macaroons and their new Dessert of the Month
club. Ten bucks for a year's worth of precious wee dessert patterns that smile back at me? Sold.
I had my fingers crossed they would email the new pattern before my lunch break today, and sure enough, the crafting gods were smiling upon me because it appeared in my inbox right before noon, so I was able to run to Joann's and pick up the necessary supplies. I was crazy excited to find my store had the metallic embroidery floss they mentioned on their site, because I love the sparkle it added to my little champagne truffle! It was a lot harder to work with than the regular floss, but well worth the effort. The only thing I was disappointed about is that I couldn't find dark aida, which the ladies at FPS recommended because many of the patterns will contain white. This Oatmeal one was the darkest I could find, and I was too lazy (with a splash of impatience mixed in) to attempt tea-dying, so I'll have to come to grips with the fact that my patterns might be a little muted.
I've never done any cross stitching in my life, so this was quite the adventure - full of google searches for tutorials and the making up of my own rules like, "and being ignorant, ye shall marketh a grid on the aida using a blue water soluble quilting pen. and it shall be done. and it was good. amen." I was going to take it slow and use it to pass the time in the break room at lunch tomorrow, but once I got started, I quickly became obsessed and finished it in one sitting while watching reruns of
Once Upon a Time (
LOVE that show!)
So yeah. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. It probably looks like crap in a handbasket to you seasoned pros, but I'm more than a little giddy about it. I have it draped over the sofa arm next to me, and I keep pausing while I type to reach over and pet it. My precious. *nuzzles against face*
I love how the crafting revolution that's going on amongst our generation is reaching all aspects of handmade items. People like Amanda & Ashleigh are out there breathing new life into other oft-neglected arts besides sewing and quilting, and I think that's pretty freaking cool.
...and speaking of cool, there's a lady at my office with a globetrotting daughter in college, and she's always bringing me fabric from all over the world to turn into things for her dorm room. Last time it was a printed panel of a scene from the Sahara, which I turned into a wall hanging. This time it was some absolutely stunning fabric from Tanzania. It's typically used as garment fabric, but she wanted me to make it into pillows for her bed. I fussy cut the blue and black print to showcase that fab medallion, and I may have snaked a few of the smaller scraps for myself
*wink* (I warned her I might the day before, just to make sure it was okay)
I forgot to take pictures at home, so they've been lovingly staged in my cubicle chair (
ooh! ahh!). My friend
Sherie snapped the photos with her iPhone and emailed them to me. She even knew to take one all-inclusive picture + close-ups of each pillow, without me having to say a word. That's true friendship, right there ;)
