Hiding stitching on braids (and a dragon cross stitch)

I have a project that just needed a bit of gold braid sewn on in order to finish it off.  So I stitched it on and sat back to admire THOSE BIG WHITE STITCHES STICKING OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB!

Well OK, it's not that big but it was noticeable.  And there was already a dodgy area where a thread pulled when I sewed it up so I was feeling a bit miffed.  Then it struck me... I just need gold.  Not thread- metallics are often temperamental anyway and besides, I was feeling a little lazy....

So I broke out the gold pens and found the nearest match.  A careful daub on the thread later and...

I mean it is still there if you know where to look, but it is far less in your face.  As a bonus, I also added it to the end of the braid where the white core was showing:

It isn't a perfect match, but it is far less eye catching (and yes, I did go and do the other end after taking this photo!).  A word of warning though- I would be cautious if the object needs to be laundered regularly, you might need to keep the pen handy for touch ups
All that in order to make the final touches of this:
Teresa Wentzler's Delightful Dragon Fob

Those lines in the background are 1cm apart for scale.

 The main change I did with this pattern was to bring out the glow-in-the-dark thread to replace the ecru for the decorative stitches on the back (with the initials) and the background stitching on the dragon.  It is a very subtle effect- I find that the DMC glow in the dark thread is very faint, even when looking at it on the thread bobbin.  But it does glow and I know it glows, which is the main thing as it is stuck as mine now unless I ever met anybody who liked them and who had my initials!

Playing with stamps and glossy card

Guess what!  I've had a chance to finish some craft projects so you get two posts this month.

First up, a beading project that I have had in the queue for some time.  When I finished another project (topic of a future post) I wanted a quick job so I got the beads out.  This is a cute little kit from The Bead Shack, and not a bad price (particularly if you get it when the shop had a sale, as I did).

It comes in a few different colour options and is simple enough that if you wanted to give beading a try and like the look, this would be a good project to go for.

The other thing I've been doing is playing with some stamps that I got from my local Craft Alive, a region craft fair that is in various cities around Australia's eastern states (and SA- I'm never sure if you guys are counted as an eastern state or not!).  I can't speak for all of them, but they are a nice change when the only craft places you can visit locally are Spotlight and Lincraft. While there, I saw the amazing examples at the Eclectic Images stall and did more than a little bit of shopping...

I needed to make something for an exchange with some fellow Discworld fans.  After sifting through about 5 different ideas, I settled on a postcard from XXXX since it let me play with my new stamps and inking onto glossy card to decorate them.  While the top left is dreadful (it was my first and I learnt a lot of what NOT to do with it) I'm fairly pleased with the other three I have ready to go.

The skys are a bit to blobby, but I think that was in part because I was trying to improvise with whatever tools I could scrounge up.  Now I have an idea of what is needed, I can go and get some brushes that will work the way I need to.  I've still got a few more to make before I can post my cards, so I'll show a few more in the next week or so, I hope.  I may also add  something more to the front, so they may appear again.

(note- all the links are just so you can check out the pages if you are interested.  Sadly I am not a big time blogger and the only payment I get is the odd comment that people make- the nice ones, not the spam, mind you!)

Happy official birthday, Liz- cheers for the day off!

Hello Blog readers!

It is the Queen's Birthday holiday and that means I have been able to get a bit done this weekend.  Hooray!

I've lots of projects in progress at the moment but I've finished a few things recently.  My first is a mohair knitted scarf.  It was made using a fine 2ply-ish wool, knit double with two different colours, one cream, one a more brown colour.  Looks lovely after blocking and you can hardly tell where I had to go and fix where a thread was accidentally cut (argh!).

The scarf- pay no attention to the pile of marking on the table...

I've also succumed to the dark side- I've started to buy supplies to get into card making...
Here is my first attempt, using an old shadow embroidery piece that I made years ago.

The only down side is that I was a bit of an idiot and tried cutting some of the circles out AFTER mounting the embroidery.  It wouldn't have mattered except the whole pesky fact I had some glass beads on the piece.  Had being the operative word for several.

After this card I was on a roll.  I went to go on and play with some of the embossing folders and dies that I had acquired.  Then there was a little problem.  The die cutting machine that I had (a hand me down from my very much card-making mother) decided that it was done in a rather rash way- the gears inside shattered (plastic gears it turned out) and was so locked up that it took the embossing folder I had tried to run through it at the same time.  Sigh.

Since I had already now purchased many dies and embossing folders it has meant that I bought a new toy- a new die cut machine- to replace it.  The upshot is, expect to see some more cards in the future.  Well unless they are intended for my Mum who reads this blog, anyway!