 Brand new DMC counted cross stitch kits for January. (Rubbish health = delays) Gorgeous full sized Me To You & Tatty Teddy kits, with improved charts. I want to stitch them all myself but keep reminding myself they aren't for me! Find them here! Miss Red x
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No, not playing with anyone's heart ;)
I did my usual clever trick of being quite busy with all the sewing & crafting tasks that I needed a break. What do craftaholics do when they want a break? Start a new craft of course! I've been admiring other people's paper cuts on craft pages online for a while & it's been on my list of things to have a go at some time. Having watched some tutorials I decided rather than jumping in feet first (as is my usual approach with these things) I'd get myself a starter pack to ease myself in gently. I chose the Introduction to Paper Cutting DIY Pack from Paper Panda, which I ordered last week & received 2 days later (pretty close to a Bank Holiday weekend too.)
As an aside, the cute sticker reminds me I need to get some return address/logo stickers for my own parcels, if you do these or know someone who does please do shout up via the comments below ;)
Back to paper cutting...
Last but not least, the Paper Panda Trainee badge, allegedly a very important piece of kit which appears to aid in general awesomeness ;)
I've only spent an hour or so on it so far but I can tell it's full of fantastic quality materials & easy to follow instructions with the Paper Panda sense of humour shining through. I'm loving getting to grips with the movement of the blade & how to approach different shapes. It's certainly not as easy as some make it look but it's really satisfying when you cut a whole piece accurately & flip it over to find it looks even more gorgeous than you thought.
I'd thoroughly recommend this pack for anyone who fancies dabbling in paper cutting as a new craft, you can also get it gift wrapped to send to a crafty friend.
Thank you Paper Panda, I'm sure I'll lose many an hour perfecting my technique & maybe even working my way up to designing some of my own pieces, I love it! 
Look, I didn't chop off his teeny tiny little legs!
Miss Red x
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Who wants to decide between Halloween & Christmas creations? Not me! Work in progress for this week consists of getting stuck into another of Heidi's fabulous Christmas designs... ...as well as some cool Halloween trick or treat bags for carrying all your goodies! :)
Miss Red xCoo, getting back into the swing of things after a couple of days stuck in bed is always difficult & that was a really horrible few days. Changing pain meds is not the ideal thing to be doing whilst trying to run a business! I shall mostly be working in zombie mode today so forgive me if I seem a bit out of it. Anyway, more importantly, free stuff! If you've been reading my newsletters you'll know that I'm about to stop making them automatically post to Facebook & Twitter so that subscribers get that little bit extra. This month I'll be doing my first newsletter prize draw, anyone who subscribes to the newsletter AND opens the email will be automatically entered into the draw each month with various different prizes on offer, from cross stitch kits to supplies, embroidered items, clothing and, well, whatever I can think of really! The newsletters will also include subscriber only discounts and pre-sales, so if you've not signed up already, what are you waiting for? Sign up now! 
Just because I'm feeling extra generous today, I'll let you in on the secret, the prize for the September draw will be this cross stitch kit, a fab Christmassy kit featuring the artwork of Heidi. I really enjoyed stitching it & I'm sure you will too :) So, join my mailing list! Miss Red xIt's been a while since I've done one of these, and being poorly again this one is going to be short & sweet. Firstly, for anyone who might have missed it, the first collaborative cross stitch piece has been completed. You can now buy Happy Holidays Hedgehogs from myself or from Heidi Made This! in PDF pattern or kit form.  What else have I been up to? Well, it's Avon week for me so this:  And in between sleeping & fainting (stupid body) I've been packing up aida, cross stitch kits, DMC threads, embroidery hoops & bobbins. Tomorrow I'm hoping I'll be up to a post office trip before the pile of goodies gets too big to carry.  Last but not least I've made a good start on the next Heidi Made This! piece :) Miss Red xDo you keep to-do lists? I do. Trouble is I tend to keep adding to my list all day more than crossing things off so by the end of the day I have a longer list! Well, today my list got shorter...and I did some awesome plotting that wasn't on the list too :D In good news my website & Ebay listings are all now up to date & the majority of what I have to sell is now also on Pinterest. I have a draft ready to go for the next newsletter (I'm just deciding what I can do to thank my lovely subscribers for adding themselves to my mailing list), if you've not already added yourself you can do that here. I've made up a bunch of cross stitch kits so they're ready to post & have all orders parcelled up & ready to go - organised eh? 
Embroidered shirt - ready to post
Today I've also been talking to another awesome artist who I'm really excited about working with but it's hush hush until things are all finalised. I might even tell my newsletter subscribers first ;) There are also plans afoot to get more Miss Red goodies out there in real shops. Did you know that as well as using the internet you can go outside to shops that are actual buildings? I know, weird eh? :p Unfortunately for this blog post my productive day doesn't have a whole lot of pictures I can show for it. Here's stuff I finished earlier this week: 
Short shorts
Millionaire's Squares - birthday tastiness for the bestie (and me)
Great British Bake Off ain't got nothin' on me! ;) Right, I'm off to eat some of that...now I've seen it my tummy wants some! Byeeeee Miss Red xP.S: I'm only 7 likes off of 400 on Facebook, I'd love a little share to push me over the milestone if you don't mind ;)
Cor, it's a bit warm isn't it? I've been pretty broken by the weather so lots of bits & bobs going on depending on what I can manage & which room is cooler at the time. Couple of his & hers lilac pillowcases up first. These will be being listed at £10 per pair initially but there is the option to personalise further & choose different colours.
Bit more progress on the "Tied up" cross stitch. 
And a new one started... 
...and a bit of bunting on the go for my stall :) 
Phew! Time for a drink of something with ice cubes in I reckon ;) Miss Red xStarted a new cross stitch this week - can you guess what it is? 
Technically these ones aren't in progress any more as they're complete but I'm having a week of taking it easy & focusing on getting my health sorted so work progress is limited. This one's just a quickie & already on sale here. 
Miss Red xM.E has pretty much stopped me in my tracks this week but there has been a little bit of progress so here goes. Firstly it's Avon week so I've been packing up goodies & getting books & posters out. 
 I decided to read a bit more of the instruction book for my embroidery machine & have a stab at machine appliqué. As a result I learned that it's best to not start with tiny fiddly things & that it's best to stick down your appliqué rather than rely on it sitting still on the sewing machine. Despite that I don't think my first attempt came out too bad at all & I shall be having a few more practice runs but then getting stuck into some of the ideas I've got for it.  Good old Cthulu, slowly getting there with this. Loving how it's looking, hopefully next week this will be a completed Cthulu!
I have to give credit to the lovely Victoria for this idea as she suggested it to me a little while ago & it's turned out fab! I'd love to hear your cross stitch suggestions, what would you love to see me create a pattern of? Please do send me your suggestions, either in writing or if you're an arty type send me a drawing & I'll turn it into across stitch! I've been trying to get a new stock item every time I re-order & this time I opted for the no-sew roller frame pack from Siesta.  This is a mini frame for projects up to 9" wide, for larger projects see my split roller frames & hoops.
The instructions are easy to follow & assembling the frame is quick & simple. Various sizes of frame can be created using the 6" or 9" rollers & positioning them 3, 4 or 5 inches apart with the 4 holes in the side bars. The fabric is taped onto the rollers using masking tape - a bit fiddly at first but you soon get the hang of it. This lightweight frame is easy to stitch with & has the advantage over using embroidery hoops of being able to get to the whole width of the fabric & roll up/down the length with minimum effort, as well as not having that horrid dilemma of whether to fasten a hoop over sewn stitches. (We've all been there, worrying whether the stitches will end up smooshed beyond repair, eep!) Also it's worth keeping in mind this would replace anything from a 3" up to a 9" hoop due to it's versatility.  Over all this is a handy little frame pack that's simple to set up and comfortable to use. What more could you want really? And the price? This pack will be selling on my website for £8.45 here (& as usual just slightly more on Ebay) Obviously you may well assume I'm biased since I'm selling these packs but hey, don't take my word for it, give it a try yourself ;) Miss Red x |
Miss RedSeamstress and craft addict with too many ideas, too little time and not enough spoons! Blog subscriptionArchives
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