once wounded twice shy

This is a cross-stitch from the Ed Hardy pattern book. Shoddy camerawork I know and yes, it could do with an iron- but who has time to iron?
It was sort of nice to just switch off and follow a pattern instead of working up my own creation but boy was stitching that heart boring- one big block of red. It will make a nice cushion though I think with some pompom trim around the outside.
Am working on another cross-stitch cushion now, an Emily Peacock design, will post some photos when I'm done.

magpie

one for sorrow, two for joy

Magpies are my favourite bird, superstition says that singular magpies are unlucky and should be greeted with a salute and 'good morning Mr Magpie, How's your wife and children?' but I just give them a big grin and they seem happy enough with that. This fella is blackwork and is my own design - there will definitely be more magpies to come.

oooops I did it again

Well its been a while since I've been spotted round these parts. The reason for my prolonged absence was due to feeling ill ill ill whilst pregnant with baby no 2 who was born in June. There ain't been much stitch happening round here lately. Now the dust has settled I'm starting to craft again and look forward to sharing my new projects with you.

Lets start with this little lady;

oh how I love me a bit of geisha tattoo flash xxx

embroidery of Inuit stone cut (Tudlik)

Stitched in wool on linen- the design is a beautiful print by Tudlik, see here. It's all split stitch except for the 'v's I used on the bird. Sorry for the rubbish photos, I haven't ironed it yet so it's a bit crumpled.

I love this and think I'll do a few more based on Inuit prints- because it's wool it was very quick to do, less than 2 evenings and I think the medium suits the image. The combination of the abstract image, orangey wool and brown linen is nicely retro.

Oh and the title of the original print is 'Bird Dream Forewarning Blizzards' I like that, I can imagine some surreal dream about being chased by a huge bird

I love leigh

I have long admired the late Leigh Bowery. This cross stitched portrait has been a WIP for ages (ahem, 3 years or so) and is finally complete. The reason it took so long was all that black- yes I could have stitched on black aida but I like the way it is completely stitched, it's like a tapestry.

It is based on this image, I first got into Leigh Bowery when I was at art school making soft sculpture masks. I was told to look at him by a tutor and was captivated by his fantastic costumes. Now many years down the line it was fun to make a more obvious tribute to my favourite artist/performer/club kid!

mexican style skull

Oh how I love skulls, especially floral mexican(ish) day of the dead style skulls.

I'm trying to do a bit more embroidery based on my own designs rather than using found imagery. I drew this little skull and decided to stitch it up on some bright cotton. It was nice to do something in my usual style as a break from a few weighty WIPs that I've been working on. I used one of those spidersweb-like stitches for the yellow flower and was really pleased with how it looked so will making use of them again in the future.

Now must get back to stitching that teeny tiny banner...

(squints)

...

(pours large mug of builders tea)

...

(picks up needle)

...

:D

kick ass-isi!

Its tiny, so very tiny. This is the start of a border for a banner for this blog. Assisi work skulls of my own design, if you aren't familiar with assisi work check this

If anyone wants the pattern I can chart it for you

Working on such a small scale is ridiculous- I'm gonna end up cross-eyed