Winner of the Flamingo Guessing Competition

And the Winner is .....

Bev

Bev guessed that it was a flamingo right in the first post and had ten chances to win. I put all the names into a random name picker and hers came out. I guess she had the odds in her favour!

Here is the completed cross stitch.

Art Nouveau Flamingo is now on it's way to the editor of Embroidery and Cross Stitch Magazine where the chart will be published (just in case you are interested in stitching it yourself).

 

Bev has won herself a $20 voucher from the Stitching Post

 

Would you like another guessing competition, or some other kind of competition? Leave a comment.

Thanks so much for reading

Jennidee

 

November 2012

Hi everyone,
sorry I've been awol again. Everyone here was sick for a week. I had a sinus infection, both kids had the vomitting bug and Mike had a touch of it too.

Everyone is mostly better now.

Actually it's been more than a week since I updated anyway. I finished the Chameleon quilt and sent it off to the magazine editor. At the moment I'm working on another applique comission. this one is a bag.

The picture above is a work in progress. her teddy needs some eyes and a nose, the words will be stitched down and I have some stars and a moon as decoration around her. It should be published early next year.

By the way, if you ever see anything I've designed as an applique and you think 'Oh I'd love to stitch that in cross stitch', please let me know and I can make it happen.

I've had another publication in Embroidery and Cross Stitch Magazine

 

My Fuscia Sampler appears in ECS Vol 20 No. 4 which will be out soon if it's not already hit the news stands.

I'm a little stuck for my next idea for Embroidery and Cross Stitch which is partly why I've been doing so much applique. If anyone has something they would particularly like, please comment. Embroidery and Cross Stitch Magazine has a sophisticated style, so nothing country or cute is likely to be accepted by them. But I'm still have plans for a web site over Christmas break. So all requests will be considered.

Oh yes, and I'm delighted to tell you that I'll be the profile artist in the upcoming edition of Patchwork and Stitches Magazine.

I didn't sell any of my textile art at the art show. I'm wondering if it's even worth doing any more. But I do enjoy experimenting. The trouble is, I have to pay everytime I enter one of those things. I was going to put some works in a gallery next year, but I don't feel like forking out money for no return. And if I have nothign to do with these creations once they are done, what's the point?

I think that's about all I had to mention.
Now that I'm part time at the child care centre I have less time for my creative work. But I fit it in where I can.

Thanks for hanging in there with me
Jennidee

I Love This One

It probably doesn't get much girlier than this??? Oh well, I absolutely love this bag I made with the Rainbow Butterfly. I can't wait to get it back from the magazine so I can use it. It would look lovely teamed with a flowy summer dress.

 

I'm working on some gallery pages. So if you are relitavely new to this blog, you will be able to go to the gallery to see what projects I've made, rather than trawling through old entries. I'll le tyou knwo when they are published so you can have a look.

Jennidee

Getting There

Firstly, welcome to the two new followers, thanks for joining.

In the photo above is my progress to date on the Rainbow Butterfly. The back stitching really makes it pop.

I've had a lot of distractions ... my brother and his family were visitng from Queensland and we did a few things with them, including visiting Jenolan Caves just the other side of the Blue Mountains where I live.

 

I might have gotten to go on the bush walk they took too, if I hadn't stuck a knitting needle about a half an inch into the top of my leg when we were getting ready to go ... ouch! Who knew knitting could be so dangerous? But it's pretty much healed now and i'm walking normally again.

See you next time.

 

Jennidee

The Future of Tapestry Moon

Hi there, and sorry for being away for such a long time. I've been sorting out some things which were important for me to continue as a desinger.

I have picked up some casual work at a local after hours child care place. It's only a few hours at the moment, but there is promise of more to come and it's just what I was after really. It means that I will have some regular money coming in to keep finances comfortable, but I'll still have plenty of time to design and create new projects.

The cross stitch magazine I design for is using my designs at a terrific rate, which means I stitch regularly to keep up ... exactly what I need. But it's not enough of an income. And as cross stitching doesn't require many skills, there is no room for teaching workshops in that area.

Luckily for me, one of my other interests is applique and patchwork. I'm gaining more success selling patterns to magazines and I hope very shortly to start producing patterns for sale in shops, online and to spark interest in workshops. An online shop will also be set up for my cross stitch patterns.

The bad news was that the magazine I was producing bead patterns for has folded. I will be winding up that part of my business as a result. So if you are a following me as a beader, I appologise. Beading will only be a rare hobby for me from now on.

The last two weeks has been school holidays here in NSW, Australia, which always means lots of disruptions for me running around with the kids and their busy social schedules. My husband has also been working from home to give hime a break from travel. It's lovely to have them all home, but it does also mean I have a LOT less computer time. And of course that means less time to update blogger, less time to search for inspiration and less time to use my designing programs. But hey! I started knitting a cardigan for myself, and designers have to have holidays and outside hobbies too right. :)

I have had a few patterns come out in magazines that I havent' shared with you yet, due to the reduced computer time. But that means great piccies next entry, so don't forget to come back and check in a few days.

Thanks for all your support,
Jennidee

Circus Pony Finished

After a few weeks of on agina off again stitching on this one, the Circus Pony is done.

The fabric is called Purple Swirl (I can't imagine why) and is available from Sew it all Australia
http://www.sewitall.com.au/shop/
It's not visible on their site, you have to ask for it. I got mine at the Stitches and Craft show in Rosehill.
I have a blue one as well that I'll do somehting nice with later.

Circus Pony will be published in Embroidery and Cross Stitch Magazine, probably later this year. I'll put up a photo of the magazine photo when it comes out (they always do a fabulous job of presenting the piece).
It comes with the circus alphabet that i have used down the bottom to spell the name of my friend's little girl, Monique. It probably doesn't show up that well in this photo. Monique will get this cross stitch for Christmas. I know her mum will probably appreciate it more though :)

Now I'm working on a Country Angel. I think she's going to be very quick to stitch up. Circus pony took me just under 40 hours. I think the country angel will take maybe 15 hours.
Unfortunately I won't be able to show you a photo of that one as I'm hopin to sell it to a magazine that I havent' dealth with before. Sometimes the editors get annoyed if you show the work before it's published.

Happy Stitching everyone
Jennidee

School Holidays

Firstly a big hello to all my new followers who have come to me through Leibster awards. Thanks for joining. I think that award is a fantastic idea. It's a good way to see more blogs. I'm always surprised that there isn't a way to search for blogs in a certain theme at blogger. We all seem to find one another by following blog trails. Luckily that's fun too.

It's school holidays here in NSW Australia for two weeks. This means I have to to fight for the computer more often than not. I'm typing this at 7:40am when no one else is up .... one of the few times I can be assured of getting any computer time.

Today I'm scrapbooking with a friend who is a high school teacher. So this is one of the few times we can get together all day to indulge in our shared hobby. I don't know if any of you scrapbook as well as beading or stitching, but it takes a lot of time and money and space. So you have to organise a get together when you have plenty of all those things. This particular friend bought me a voucher for my birthday recently and I spent it yesterday on new papers.

As for my beading and stitching; I've made good progress on Viva Las Vegas, even though the Easter break meant lots of distractions. I'm so far into it now that I'm starting to think about the next design. If anyone has any suggestions or preferences, speak now!!! LOL I'm thinking of a pretty witch for Halloween ... or maybe a sexy devil. There are so many ideas to choose from.

I'm still trying to get into the UK magazine market. No luck yet. I'm having to alter my design ideas as I can't compete with Joan Eliott's fairies and lovely ladies. She is in every magazine now. Now I'm trying different themes. The last effort was a beautiful flamingo. Next I think I'll try some flowers in an art nouveau style or some exotic animals like a Lima or a red panda. I try to keep the design in my style (with a bit of a fantasy flair) as that is what I like, and that is what I'd like to be known for. Now that I think about it, I think I remember suggesting to one of my internet friends that I might try a unicorn ... but Joan Elliot has just done one fo those too.

A few weeks ago I thought I'd do a lovely butterfly with a kind of art nouveau flair. And then I picked up the latest issue of Cross Stitching and saw it had a butterfly on the front with a lace border. That's a bit too close to waht I had in mind. Damn! Beaten to the punch again.

Never mind. I'll keep working at it, and doing my fantasy ladies for the Australian mag, who seem more than happy to have them.

I have a beaded piece coming out in this months edition of Beads to Inspire (Express Publications). It's a wired candle collar. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

If you've read this far, you are a wonderful friend and I thank you for your support.
Jennidee.

More Ideas

My copy of Embroidery and Cross Stitch came in the mail a few days ago and as I sat down to look through it today, my mind was buzzing with ideas.
One of the projects is an embroidered fairy which started life as a silk print.

Now, I won't be printing on silk ... but I'd like to do some prints on cotton and calico to embellish. I can't do many stitches (back stitch, satin stitch, lazy daizies and stem stitch) but I could learn some more. I could even print on aida for cross stitchers to embelish.

I finished my school reports today, so tomorrow I'll have some time to play with these ideas ... wish me luck!

Angel Moon in Magazine

On friday I received my copy of Embroidery and Cross Stitch Vol 19 No.3, which has my design Angel Moon in it.

The phototpgrapher for the magazine presentation did a wonderful job. I'm sure it was hard to tilt the book to the right angel to make the shine of the metallic thread obvious.

I really like this design and the finished project. It has a blank notebook inside which I plan to write my prayers inside, or my wishes and dreams.

The magazine will be on sale soon.

Volume 19 No.2

My design 'Herald Angel has been published in Embroidery and Cross Stitch (Vol19, No.2)
Here are the magazine photos. It looks great, but my scan doesn't really show the quite vivid colours of the design.

I think I may take a photo of it myself tomorrow to try and show you those bright pinks and peaches in the stained glass background.

Article Published

My article for Hawkesbury Agricultural Show was published in the latest edition of Embroidery and Cross Stitch (which is actually a stump work special). The magazine arrived in my letter box today.
I had hoped that the magazine would also publish my blog address. No such luck this time, but hopefully with my next design.

Tomorrow is my last day teaching for the term. it will be a long one. The performance ends at 8pm.
Thursday I'm not teaching but I still need to attend the night time performance, so I'll travel down in the afternoon.

Then I have two weeks off. What a relief. Though in those two weeks I do my planning for the next term. But I will also have time to stitch. I aim to finish 'sun' in those two weeks. Wish me luck!

Thanks for your comments on my marathon stitching session on Saturday. I couldn't repeat it on Sunday as I went to watch my son achieve his black belt in Taekwondo. It's probably just as well - my wrists are still a little sore. :)

On My Way

Welcome to my new follower, wow, 16!!! LOL

I finished the quilt today. it looks so lovely, I can't wait to do another one.

BUT!!!

I also did number two on my little list (that tiny bit of backstitch on Shhh) and got to work on 'Sun' again. I managed an hour before this darn cold dragged me down again. Three weeks now this bloomin thing has lingered. I went to the doctor today to get some antibiotics to knock it on the head. She was STILL rectant to give me any as I didn't have a fever.

Well, tomorrow is another day and now I have done those jobs I wanted to get out of the way first. And I enjoyed the hour I did today which will spur me on tomorrow. It'll be finished before I know it.

This week I received notification that nother of my designs (Angel Moon) will be in ECS issue 19.3 which is due out in November. The priece arrived home in the post on Thursday. It's nice to have it back. It's a book cover so I'll be putting the note book to good use.

Some News

I've just found out that my 'Herald Angel' (as in Hark the Herald Angels Sing) will be in issue 19.2 of Embroidery and Cross Stitch. It's the Christmas edition I think, so I expect it will be out late August to give stitchers time to work on their items for presents or decorating their home. Luckily that means the angel will most likely be back in my home in time for Christmas.

I'll let you know when the magazine is released.

Feeling Great

I had a phone call today from Embroidery and Cross Stitch this morning saying they would like to publish the article I wrote about a local craft exhibition. It's really exciting to think that my writing is also worthy of the magazine, and it gives me another way to contribute to the magazine.

I've worked quite a lot on the WIP for my sister in law today (when not doing house work).
I did a bit more research on the lettering and thought I should show you the site that it came from.
The game is called 'Elder Scrolls'
Here's where i got them from, and you can see the entire alphabet there.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Lore-Alphabets-Fancy

As I work on the letter I am glad it is turning out a good colour. And I'm being inspired to design my own fancy alphabet to make a sampler or two.

Tomorrow I have to work on school reports so i'm not sure I'll get much stitching done ... we'll see.

But tonight I'm riding high on good news.