OhSewCrafty Blog

Month: October

Previous Balance: $28.59

Earned: $15

Spent: $20.29

Balance forward: $48.30

I ordered some beads and metallics from 1-2-3 Stitch, which I needed for Toil & Trouble and Mediterranean Mermaid.  1-2-3 Stitch has such fast shipping, it’s almost instant gratification, I love it!  I picked up some DMC at Micheals with a 25% off coupon, restocking my collection. Finally, I found this chart on Ebay, Bountiful Blossoms Bellpull.  It was only $3.47 and it’s not small (96 x 396).  It was quite a spendy month for me overall, since I bought some other crafting supplies too- knitting yarn (sweater for my son), a ceramic bisque piece (Halloween decor), and two felt applique kits (Christmas decor).

Picture this Plus had their annual “Christmas in July” on July 25th and I finally received my order in October.  I couldn’t resist- my birthday was in April and I set aside $70 for this sale.  (Actually I returned something my husband gave me- a infrared thermometer from Williams Sonoma.  It was a cool gadget, but I just didn’t see myself using it… I digress).  I spent $61.12 at the PtP sale, but I’m not counting it against my SfS budget since it was birthday money. The top row is Nocturne cashel (left) and Pewter opalescent belfast.  The bottom is Splash belfast.  Splash is not what I was expecting; it’s not “medium turquoise with pink blushes”.  It’s dark, more blue than turquoise, and I don’t see any pink blushes.  The fabric is gorgeous, but I don’t like it for Siren & Shipwreck.  However, I did a floss toss for Mermaid of the Pearls.

Bingo!  I think this fabric is perfect for her.  The pearl beads will pop against the dark fabric.

As for my current stitching, Toil and Trouble got some love with those petite glass beads… happy dancing!  I am claiming $15 for this- $14 per the stitch count plus an extra dollar for all the specialty stitches (Smyrna crosses, spider web roses, rice stitch).

My Teresa Wentzler The Castle wip got a turn on the scroll bars.  Now, most of the dragon’s tail with the various blending filaments is finished.  I love how this is turning out, it’s very vibrant.  However, progress is SLOW with copious quarter stitches. And some of the blending filament is annoying to work with (like the 009HL- high luster emerald).  

Besides cross stitch, I did quite a bit of crafting- some Halloween decor and started a knitting project for my son.  These projects are coming to fruition so expect HD post(s) soon!  

Next month, I want to work on Mediterranean Mermaid.  If I want to finish her this year, I’d better pick up the pace!  I may bring out Celtic Christmas, too.  As for shopping, I’ll probably get some fabric for the Bountiful bellpull- maybe 16 count black aida.  The model was stitched on 14 count, but I want to keep the size under control, 6″ wide is quite enough for a bellpull, I think, and the finishing hardware will be more reasonable. I’m on the fence between aida and evenweave…. I greatly prefer evenweave (and this pattern does include some fractional stitches), but I’m not sure how difficult it would be to count on black.  I feel more confident re: the aida; I recently finished a project on 18 ct navy and that wasn’t so bad.  But then I hate doing fractional stitches on Aida.  Anyone have an opinion on whether I should use 32 ct black lugana or 16 ct black aida?