My Current Project (well one of them)...

So for those of you who don't know, I moved to Australia a few years ago, and have since become a citizen of this amazing country, and I really love it. Now don't get me wrong, there will always be a part of me that will remain a South African, but my whole life is now here.

Anyway, moving along with my story, the reason I brought up Australia, is because that is the theme of my current project. I am working on a cross stitch of an Aussie map.

A little while ago, I was browsing through some of the randomness of the internet and came across this picture of an Australian map, and I fell utterly, and deeply, in love with it. Here's that picture:

Isn't that just SPECTACULAR?!

Well doing a bit more digging I fund out that it is actually a counted cross stitch pattern, available for purchase and digital download from a lovely (and really cheap) website. Here's that link too: http://witchykittdesigns.com/WKD/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=216

Now I am no stranger to x stitching and nor am I unfamiliar with digital patterns. In fact there is a few lovely PDF reader apps that takes the whole printing of the pattern off the table completely, and that is awesome (I use one called ezPDF Reader, it cost a few dollars, but I have found it to be well worth it).

Getting back to digital patterns, although I am not a stranger to this way of buying o stitching charts, I was a little concerned as to how this particular product would turn out. The reason for me trepidation is mainly due to the cost o this chart. In my experience the really good charts (like the ones found on Heaven and Earth Designs) are quite a bit more expensive. In fact, quite a lot more expensive, and I have been let down before when it comes to cross stitching patterns. The biggest problem is that the poor quality is not always clearly visible until I have invested quite a bit of time and effort into the project, not to mention the cost of the material and thread etc. That being said, I was willing to give it a try and, because I liked the picture as much as I did, I gave it a try.

Boy, oh, boy, am I glad I did. So far I am loving it all. The colours. The picture. The stitched piece. All of it.

Now I am not very far into this project, and I have yet to finish a really large x stitch, but that time will also come. Here's what I have so far...

Can you see the koala starting there?

The ruler is in there, just to give you some slight indication of just how big this piece of material is. I daresay that I will be working on this for quire a while, but unfortunately, my focus is not solely on this. I have a few other things that I am also working on, and some of them cannot be pushed aside for more fun things (like my cross stitch), and until sometime in November I will be a little distracted with the course that I am attending (it's boring "real" world stuff, and has nothing to do with my crafts, unfortunately).

Either way I will keep you updated on the progress when it happens, but for tonight, I think that is it.

Until next time,

ACL.

PS  I have been using a new communications platform, and if you are interested in contacting me with questions and/ or comments, find me instantly (messages are sent to my phone) here:

https://reaches.me:8443/urlchat.html?guestid=6aa28459a91aad02692a9334f633919a

Its a fairly unique platform with a huge range of uses, but I like the chat. Alternatively, download it form the PlayStore. Search for chatWORLD or follow this link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.world.chatworld&hl=en

I'm back! (Sea themed coaster, dragons, shawl, scrapbook)

Oh my gosh! How long has it been since I took the time to share some of my projects with you? Too long I think.

Well be that as it may, I have not been idle (for the most part) in my absence, in fact, I have been rather busy with all sorts of things. Here's what's happening in Anna's World (that one's for you Des).

I made this coaster for my hubby and he uses it all the time so it can't be too much of a disaster:

The coaster is supposed to have an ocean theme, and so it includes some fishes and shells etc. Once I had the clay bits glued in place I covered it all with some clear epoxy resin. After the final pour, I lay a thin sheet of plastic over the top and in doing so created the rippling water effect that you can see on the top of the "water."

 

 I also worked on some little dragons for my Bean. I got the clay from my mom and it was a brand that I had not used much of before and so I wanted to just make a little something to see what it would look like and how I liked it.
I'm still not entirely sure. I think it would be fine for smaller projects, like this one, but for something with more - or finer - details, I will stick with Sculpey and Kato for the moment.

 They are only between 4 and 6 cm tall, so really small... But I like them, I think that they are so cute.

And then I also FINISHED something that I have been working on for a long time. The shawl that I blogged about ages and ages ago has now also been completed... However before taking any proper photos of it, I managed to take it to Sydney for a visit and left it there... SMH... What I do have are a few WIP pics (Work In Progress).

 You can find the pattern for this shawl on Ravelry. Here is the link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-midsummer-nights-dream-lace-shawl 
I was a little weary of paying that much for just a pattern, but after drooling over all of the photos of it and eventually literally dreaming about it, I gave in and bought it, and to tell you the truth, I'm really glad that I did. I loved making it and I love wearing it. In fact I have now made 2 of them.

I love a challenge and find that if I am not entirely engaged in something I am more likely to abandon it or something.
My favorite part of it has to be the beads, and that was possibly also the most challenging. Here's how I did it:

And then I made also made a wedding scrapbook as a gift. (Ask Mom for all the details)

The idea is that they add the photos themselves as the years pass, starting with some of the memories from their wedding day and then followed by the same thing for each of their anniversaries. I quite like the idea, but I think that if you don't start it by at least your 1st anniversary, it gets really hard to remember all of the subtle details. Here's a photo of each of the pages:

 

But WAIT! THAT'S NOT ALL! (Hehe)

I am also working on a cross stitch, but maybe that is a story for another day, so for now...

Until next time,
ACL

PS If there are any projects that you want me to go into in greater details, just let me know, and I'm sure I can oblige. xo

PPS  I have been using a new communications platform, and if you are interested in contacting me with questions and/ or comments, find me instantly (messages are sent to my phone) here:

https://reaches.me:8443/urlchat.html?guestid=6aa28459a91aad02692a9334f633919a

Its a fairly unique platform with a huge range of uses, but I like the chat. Alternatively, download it form the PlayStore. Search for chatWORLD or follow this link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.world.chatworld&hl=en