Christmas in July

Christmas is such a special time of year that I love to make Christmas craft items all year round. At Christmas there is too little time so I prefer to make them at my leisure throughout the year. My latest finish is this gingerbread man ornie from Isabelle Haccourt-Vautier's gorgeous book. With 70 beautiful charts it is difficult to decide what to work next.

Here are some Cross stitch Christmas cards I have stitched, I like to make enough cards each year without having to buy any and finally a mini book/Christmas card containing my favourite photos of "the boys". I made two of these - one for ourselves and one for my mother-in-law.

Another Cath Kidston Bag

Here is my latest finish, a bag that came with Cath Kidson's Book "Sew". I got this book a couple of Christmases ago so that is another item crossed off my to do list. The dog template, along with many others, is included in the book and I made it in felt and attached a silver heart charm to the collar. CK has a new book coming out on 1st October, "Stitch" containing cross stitch and needlework patterns together with a kit to make a cross stitch purse. I have already added that to my Amazon wish list.

I made this large tote bag with some Airedale Terrier fabric I bought on ebay. I put a few pockets in the lining so it carries a lot which is useful to me as I always seem to carry half my house around with me! I cut out some of the dog heads and appliqued them onto a t-shirt and on to the bandana Sid is modelling below. He entered the honorary Airdale class at our dog club but when I took this picture yesterday he just wanted me to leave him alone so he could get back to sleep. Sid certainly loves his sleep.

Here are some cross stitch cards I have made in the last few months. The last one, the Tottenham Hotspur football club badge is for my brother-in-law's birthday which is today. I hope he likes it.

Cath Kidston Bag and other sewing

I have had my sewing machine out this week to make this Cath Kidston bag. The kit came with her book, Sew, which I got for Christmas so thought it was time I got on with it. It did not include lining but I didn't fancy a bag without one so used a pale blue cotton blend.

I also made up my Jan Constantine stitching into a cushion:-

As the plastic cover that came with my sewing machine was torn and shabby I ran up this cover from a remnant of pink gingham that was given to me. I made the felt flower brooch a while ago and have pinned it to the front so I know which way round the cover goes.

I am still working on my de-stashing project, 'Country Lane' by Heritage which is coming along slowly but surely:-

The weather was glorious over the weekend so we finally unpacked this remote controlled metal detector car that I bought John for Christmas a few years ago. We didn't find any hidden treasure but "the boys" enjoyed barking at it, chasing it and trying to pick it up.

Archie Barker

Many of my craft projects are inspired by my dogs. This is my favourite photograph of Archie and I have used it to make a scrapbook page. Yes, he is a boy but lilac is one of my favourite colours and I just loved these flowers and the scrap of lace so had to use them.

To decorate a t-shirt I also printed the same photo on to transfer paper, ironed it onto white cotton and used fabric scraps, paw print rubber stamp and embellishments to decorate. The tiny picture of the Airedales I found online and printed it straight onto a scrap of fabric. I attached the whole panel to my t-shirt with velcro so that I can take it off for laundering. I have worn it a few times to doggy events and many people have asked me where it came from.

On the cross stitch front I have just started this circles design from Heritage. As it was bought for me for my birthday about 15 years ago and I am making 2010 my destashing year, I thought I should make a start!