Advent Calendar time

I filled again old Advent Calendars. This year they include only chocolate, so if you are addicted to, don't look. And if you have not noticed to look at my link list take a look at it now. There's a link to DROPS Advent Calendar for the year 2013. Notice that you can change the language of the instructions.

Merry December to everybody!

 I would not mind to have one... or them all.This is over 15 years old project still used every year. It is designed by Maria Wavryn. It is from Marks&Kattens collection (Tavla 55689 "Tomtefar"). It is designed to be a wall decoration but I made it to be Advent Calendar.

It is time to enjoy about Advent Calendar treasures. This one is my own design. Not at all easy to stitch but for sure worth of it.

I added also a picture I made for a friend as a birthday gift. It is my own design but very useful idea, so be my guest and make yours. It is a craft bag. It is sized according to a yarn ball so that she can easily bring for example yarn and unfinished knit of mittens with her where ever she goes to. Carrying a craft with you is a good way to waste time when you need to wait for something somewhere. It makes the time to fly by so much faster. In this kind of design I like about the very usable idea. You can use the left over materials you have. You don't need to go shop to buy anything -no buttons, no zippers, just yarn and imagination. :)

New outfit

Christmas season is full of crafty secrets. I can't add pictures of things I've been doing. But as you can see now the blog is wearing a winter outfit. It is still under the work but it all should be done in few days. Actually my daughter is doing this for me so I can be proud of her because she is not so old yet.

Crocheting, knitting and stitching are the main things I have been doing. I also found this old picture of a pillow I've done years ago.

This pillow is made by the inspiration of Cross Stitcher's 2006 Calendar which is sponsored by Coats Craft UK & Anchor. The design is The Big Hug from Sarah's Garden design collection by Tina Wenke.

BabyBlanketNo1

This is my own design for a special baby girl. It is BabyBlanketNo1 and I gave it away as a gift. I used knitting and crocheting in it. It took some time to finish it. But for sure Little Miss will stay warm during the cold winter days. It is not a quilt but it is made with the same lovely idea. I used special yarns from my collection / storage. Each yarn I used have a story to tell. Each shade and stitch could lead you to the journey. That's the idea of a quilt work on basics. It is a heritage that runs in the female family -from a generation to another. 

If you want to use different kind of materials in your project it is possible when you remember the gentle hand wash with mild water when you need to clean it.

I have also been wrapping Christmas gifts. I know it is early. But if you send some away, it is good to start it early to make sure they all reach the friend away in time. This includes also counting postages and solving out how many stamps you need. It is unbeliveable how much the delivery costs can vary depending on in which form you have packed up the stuff. It is complicated but for sure cost effective to check it all out.

New blog

If you look at  my Link List you can notice I have started a new blog Taija Sillanpää. It is Finnish and in it I write only about my  cross stitch projects. There is and will be more pictures about my cross stitch designs and art with it. So -despite you would not understand the language- take a look. The pictures can tell a lot without words. :)

Updated note 14.10.2017: I am slowly taking down my Finnish Blog and moving stuff to this Ommel blog where I have more readers and posts.

Lost and found

Yes, today we made some photos. I included updated framed pictures of that sad polar bear baby.

This is also my own design.  The work includes metallic threads and glitter in the fabric. There's also blue and golden glass seed beads. It's a lonely and sad polar bear baby who has got apart from the mother. Now there's three polar bears in the collection. We'll see will the family get more members. :)

I also sorted out my finished framed cross stitch pictures. It's result was that some got up to the walls and some had to go storaged. I also realized that I have lost one chart. Meaning both the paper and electric version. It is a disaster because it is my own design and none has a copy of it!  Outs! And it is impossible to track the chart from the finished project because it includes many shades which are too close to each others. Poor me. It is about reideers, fells, northern lights and traditional living around there.

Later on I found the chart! It was at the end in a totally wrong place! Yeppee!!!

My top secrect project is going on well and I am now used back to normal Aida 14 count. Tomorrow I'll stitch it more.