Back in the saddle

... at the working table, to be more exact...
There is so much reading and mail to catch up with after almost a month long absence. I will do that one step at a time, but until then, let me show you that I haven't been completely "inactive" during these weeks :o)

The giveaway winners should receive their prizes any minute now! Karen, the winner of the custom made pendant, expressed her desire for a Tiffany blue - pink - cream pendant, to wear on a very special occasion, her son's wedding. Here's what I created for her:

I loved this color combination, so I used it again:

Then I tried something different, in ways of color, anyway:

And, finally, yesterday I completed a phone pouch I had started quite some time ago:

All items, except Karen's pendant, can be found in the shop :)


Special thanks for all your patience and kind inquiries!

Have a beautiful day, Everyone!

Giveaway Winners

First of all, I would like to thank you all for all your beautiful comments and for celebrating with me! I am absolutely thrilled with so many of you participating!

And now, without further ado, here are the results of the drawing:

From a total number of 155 comments left in due time, 132 contained an e-mail address or linked back to a profile with an e-mail address or a blog. According to the rules of the giveaway, only these comments were considered for the drawing. They were numbered in the order in which they were posted, and thanks to the True Random Number Generator,

the winner of prize no.1, the pendant shown in my previous post, 

with comment no. 47 is:

Irlik

and the winner of prize no.2, a custom made pendant, 

with comment no 73 is

Karen Smith

Congratulations, Ladies!

I do wish I could reward somehow every participant... I will be announcing another giveaway really soon (it will be a bit different from this one, but shhh! it is a secret, still). 
Until then, here is a big, virtual hug to You All!


Have a happy, creative week, Everyone!

Blog Anniversary Giveaway

What better moment to write my 200th post, than to announce the 2nd Anniversary of my blog? 

Yes, it's been two years... 

Two years of stitching, of being inspired by so many talented blogging friends, an ongoing adventure of discovering and learning new ways of using my needles and threads...

I would like to thank you all for bearing with me along these years, for all your support, encouragement and friendship!

Since it is a moment of two's, and as creating pendants has become my favorite activity lately, I thought I'd better keep in style and celebrate by giving away two pendants for two lucky winners:

1. This lovely pendant with red roses in a silver finish setting, with matching organza ribbon necklace:

and

2. A pendant made especially for the winner, according to her preferences, with matching necklace.

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment containing your email address, on THIS post until midnight,
the 10th of March (CET).

I will be drawing the two winners on March 11th.

Although I would very much appreciate it, being a reader of my blog or sharing my giveaway on your blog is not a condition to enter the giveaway.

Good luck, Everyone!

Snowball Fight

This is a long overdue post, as a couple of weeks have passed since I "got hit" by the gorgeous snowball, that was made for me by my first swap partner in the Snowball Fight at CQI, Connie.

With the colors chosen by me, lilac, lavender, pink and green, Connie created this beautiful, CD sized piece of art. I plan to finish it into a journal cover, but until then I can't bring myself to put it away in a drawer, so I keep it on my nightstand so I can admire it every time I pass by :)

Photos by Connie

Thank you Connie for swapping with me!

My Humming Needles

... kept silent today. This time, the sunlit morning stitching time was put to another use: taking new photographs of all my pendants, with the help of my dear Sleeping Fairy,

Coral Roses

and list them to my brand new Etsy shop, Humming Needles.

Pastel Bouquet

I'm happy to announce that I took a deep breath and then the leap, and I am really excited about it! 

Purple Hollyhocks

So, how do you like these new pendants? Do you think that spring will get the message already?

Have a beautiful Thursday, Everyone!

Tone on Tone DYB Round Robin

Margreet's blue block:

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

More Pendants

It seems that I can't stop making them... Whether I set out to work on my pebble or on a Round Robin block, or whatever else, the one thing I can be sure of is that by the end of the day there will be another pendant made.
Here are a some of my latest ones:

Have a beautiful weekend, Everyone!

P.S. For the last few days I have been without internet connection, and things will stay this way for at least another couple of days.

Pebble Adventure

The fact that I love embroidery is a well known fact for everyone who knows the tiniest thing about me.
A lot less people are aware of another fact: I have been collecting pebbles for as long as I can remember. I have pebbles that remind me of special moments in my life, special places I visited, a play I've seen, a book I've read... And pebbles I just picked up in an ordinary moment of an ordinary day, just because they caught my attention. There's at least one in my purse right now, and if I look, I might find some in the pocket of my coat, too...  Now, this does not mean that I have tons of pebbles all over the house, my collection "only" fills a jar and a small shoebox (ok, plus my purse and pockets LOL).
So when my friend, Debbie, first blogged about the Pebble Adventure she has embarked on with another friend, Marjolein, I knew I wanted to participate!

Items to be trapped

 I had to finish something else before I could start on my pebble, but reading the discussions and seeing the photos of the participants' progress on Stitchin' Fingers, only made me to want to start sooner... And today I finally did. My beads, washer and broken jewelry parts (curtesy of my daughter) are trapped, and threads and needles are all lined up to start encrusting tomorrow.

Items trapped

Ready for embroidery

As I am still experimenting with this trapping thing, I decided to keep my pebble small, with not too many items trapped. I am really curious to see how it will work.

Now I'm off to work on a new project, about which I can't wait to tell you all when the time comes!

Have a happy Monday, Everyone!

On Wednesday

there's a costume party at my daughter's kindergarten and as she decided to go as a fish, ballerina, firefighter, ballerina, I made her a tutu:

and a corsage with satin ribbon flowers, for which she chose the colors:

It only took a couple of hours to make, requiring hardly any stitching and, most importantly, Sara absolutely loves her sweet little ballerina dress. 

Happy Monday, Everyone!

.

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"Snowball Fight" is a swap I am participating in, with CQI. The idea is to piece and embellish a small CQ block, according to the preferences of the person we are making it for.
My swap partner for February is Connie. She asked for cream-gold-bronze in ways of color, with lots of sparkle. She loves lace, silk ribbon and beading a lot and also appreciates a vintage or encrusted look.

With these instructions in mind and the desire to practice curved piecing, I pieced the CD sized block you have already seen:

Silk, satin, golden lame, golden net on cream silk and a flower motif I cut out from a golden lace were the first ingredients. Then came the silk ribbons and beads and pearls and golden braid to add more sparkle.

I was planning to add something more to the center, but the moment the block got to the stage you can see, it whispered to me "I am finished..." I can't argue with that, can I?

And one last picture, taken under direct sunlight, just because I love the way it turned out:

I hope Connie will like the snowball I am about to "throw at her"...

Wishing you all a sunny day,