January pillow, new mini cat patterns and diamond painting

Hi everyone, I managed to complete the January pillow before the month end.

I was so pleased to find this fabric in my stash, I thought it was a perfect fit for the colours in the design. I have also stitched November and December and hope to have the pillows finished for my next post, I got a little delayed in the finishing but they are quick to do when I finally get around to it, I only have two more patterns to arrive and then I will have stitched all twelve months. Yay!!!

Stitching news 

I have been catching up on my Twelve Days of Christmas Sue Hillis monthly patterns and they are coming along nicely, I will show another picture of those soon.

Something new and exciting landed in my post box last week, I can't believe I have never found these before - Diamond Painting! Oh wow I love these! If you have not heard of them they follow the theme of cross stitch but you use beads instead to stick onto the symbol and they are very quick to make.

I purchased this kit from Aliexpress, a site on the internet in China, you can also purchase them from Amazon but they are much cheaper from the China site, you may have to wait a while, some do ship much quicker than others.

When the kit arrives you will find beads made from the DMC cross stitch colours and symbols on the sticky mat, a little pen with a hollow bottom will be provided and a small piece of wax, you put a small piece of wax in the end of the pen and this allows you to easily pick up the beads.

To start you just peel back the cellophane whilst you work on a small area and then you recover it to protect the adhesive until you have completed the design.

It is very shiny and twinkly which is ideal for Christmas but if the light does not catch they are matt looking when finished.

A few tips to note about these kits, the larger the design the better the detail in the image, some of the small designs can look pixelated therefore the image will not be as good, this one is a small 20cm x 25cm and is quite a good image.This is a design using round flat beads but you can purchase square beads, apparently some people prefer square to round and some prefer  round to square, I am going to experiment with a square design to compare the two.

You can see the completed  design below.

This kit was only £3.50 including shipping but be warned, it is addictive!

More than half way

Finished!

New cross stitch designs

The March Mini Cat pattern will be out soon, I will be designing that over the next few days.

Available now on my blog 

Etsy shop update

I have been adding new items to my Etsy shop, here are some new tins that are perfect for pins and needles or knitting and crochet stitch markers. I have also added more paper patterns and I am excited to say over the next few weeks I will be adding Mirabilia Patterns and embellishment kits together with lots more patterns from your favourite designers.  

Please let me know who your personal favourite designers are and maybe I can add those too.

Thankyou to everyone who has supported my Etsy shop over the last year, it is very much appreciated, I am delighted to say  it will be expanding with more stitching goodies soon!   

Pretty little ruler, perfect for notions or project bags 

Until next time, happy stitching!