Down The Rabbit Hole - In Flander's Fields

I know I did talk about this when I first started designing for this magazine all the way back in 2020! Gosh that seems like a long time ago! You can see the first design I did for them here.

They are now onto issue 6 and each issue I have designed a new piece. It has been a great bonus. I finished the Aussie Animal Seasons series. They were so much fun to design. I love these little characters :D You can still get these patterns by buying magazines 1-4. I will eventually release these in my shop but I haven't gotten there yet. 

 

Once that series was done I had to come up with something else for the next summer issue... so I ended up making this cute little cricket owl :D Because cricket is such a great summer sport here. Also owls... do I need anything more?

The autumn issue is always hard. Living where I do in Australia I don't feel any connection the autumn because it seems to just disappear between summer and then suddenly it's mildly cold. But ANZAC day falls within Autumn and I found myself drawing a poppy. I had so much fun playing with pens and pencils. I love it when my drawings become designs it makes me really proud of how they turn out.

 I had this stunning red music fabric and I surrounded my piece with it and it just makes it sing.

 So this piece 'In Flander's Fields' can be found in the latest issue of Down The Rabbit Hole that has been released on the 15th of Feb.

I hope you enjoy all these pretty designs.
Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

Owl Tic Tac Toe

   

OWL TIC TAC  TOE

This one has been a while coming. Honestly I have been meaning to release this one for a long while but the last few steps to finishing the board were just taking me ages! Partially because l was getting bored with one colour and partially just because I kept putting it down. Amazing how easy it is to forget a project that is in a bag you haven't opened for weeks. Which is just what happened what little time I've had has been taken up by other projects and a whole lot of school and work.

On the board game front I designed and stitched up a nine men's morris board and you can find the info about that here.

Then I designed a checkers board to match the other game and it's available from my facebook group as well.

Now here we are. I have finally finished stitching the board and managed to get some photos of it which is often the harder part! They're even beautifully staged. Which took AGES !!! Do you know how hard it is to get a phone to focus and just take the photo? Particularly once I realised how dirty the camera was.

I love how this one has turned out. I still have a lot of stitching to do to finish the rest of the pieces but it looks so awesome!

Just letting you guys know all my patterns come in Black and White and Colour versions. So they are easy to print out but also easy to use on a phone or computer. They come in PDFs and this pattern comes with instructions on how to finish the game board and pieces. 

I hope you like this pattern and that you enjoy playing the game. 

Happy Stitching, 

Caitlin

Craft Every Day 2020 Week 1

So we are currently at the start of Day 6 and I'm back at work but I can safely say for the first 5 days of the year I have managed to craft EVERY day!

Now these are slightly out of order as I worked on Baroque by inkcircles on day 1 and you can see the photo I took of it on my instagram but I have a nicer photo I took a few days later when I worked on it again so I've included that here :D 

On Day 2 I did a few things but one of the main crafts was designing. I made a big go at this piece. and it's almost done. Needs to be tweaked and honestly I was second guessing everything so I had to walk away for a while.

On day 3 I started a stitch a long by Peppermint purple! This will be going all year and you can join at any point. But it will be maybe 1 hour of blackwork each week. I'm so excited by this one. I decided to use the African Violet on the left and DMC 535 which is a grey for the outlines. I will see if I can get ahold of more African Violet otherwise I may put some plain colours in there that match in with it as I don't think I have enough to get through the whole piece. But I am just using stash I have at home and I'm excited to use all my pretty colours.

On Day 4 I kept working on Baroque. This is the photo I took midway through the day, but I have done a bit more but of course have no photo of it yet. But I'm getting closer and closer to finishing this square! This project is my priority this year because it has been too long since I started it!

And Day 5 we went to GOMA and southbank for the day. Ending with dinner near the lagoon so the kids could go swimming. While they were enjoying that we enjoyed talking and I stitched some more on my barn owl. This piece should be finished by now but I kept putting it down to deal with other projects. But it is my current portable MUST stitch.

Is anyone else joining me in trying to stitch/craft everyday? You can join in at any point of the year. If you use the tag #crafteveryday2020 on instagram I am monitoring it and I'll come and cheer you on!

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Acrylic Owl Painting

One thing the kids beg for again and again... actually really only Lana but she does beg for this a lot, are canvases to paint. They LOVE painting and it's something I am happy to indulge and encourage.

So when I got up Sunday morning they had taken over the table and had already painted a few paintings. So instead of curling up with my cross stitch I decided to settle myself at the table as well and join them.

I had an absolute ball painting away and ended up spending longer than they did painting just one painting. I just wanted it to be special and done right. So with pencil I carefully drew an outline of my owl and then I filled in the background.

Here it is in progress ... I love the effect that I managed to get in the background. Would you believe that is only TWO colours! A blue and a lime green and then a little bit of mixing between the two of them.

Once I got all the colour on I carefully outlined with a thin brush and black paint. I am so proud of this finished piece. I have it resting at the moment against the wall but I look forward to varnishing it up and working out how to actually display it properly! What do you think?

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Inktober 2019

Maybe I'm crazy... maybe I just don't think about what I'm signing up for but I signed up to do Inktober 2019. It's 3 days in and I think I'm currently doing pretty darn well. We shall see if that attitude continues.

For those that don't know Inktober is a drawing challenge created by artist Jake Parker and it's designed to get you drawing every day of October. It's not meant to be the most amazing drawings though some people have some stunning work. (not me so don't worry) But you are given prompts each day that you can choose to follow. You can choose to do every day or ever second day or even every week depending on your other commitments. It's about committing to something and getting in the habit of doing it.

But why Ink? It started as a way just to draw. You can't erase ink so it's about just getting your ideas down on paper. Now I HAVE been drawing basic pencil outlines of my drawings as I don't feel quite confident enough but I'm trying to stick with the premise of not going over and over and over the drawings trying to fix every part.

Now you can choose to draw with a theme in mind of you can make your drawings go everywhere. I without even realising it at first chose to draw with a theme in mind. I'm following the prompt list above but also drawing OWLS... shock horror... is anyone surprised? I seem to draw owls or girls at the moment.

DAY 1

When thinking of a ring all I could think of was a wreath so I started drawing a wreath and the owls weren't even in the picture. I had finished the wreath and felt that it needed something more. I wasn't sure what but it needed something so I added the owls into the middle section.

DAY 2

So then came Day 2 and for mindless I couldn't think of anything more mindless than the way we all (me included some days) sit in front of the TV just zoning out to everything. But I didn't want to draw a person so in came the owls again.

Now a theme is established and we shall see how it continues!

DAY 3

On Day 3 I had to think a little harder and then I thought about what you use bait for. Well you bait a trap don't you? This led perfectly to this little owl trap for the unwary.

I'm using a bit of colour so not 100% black and white but it's soooo much fun :D

If there are any designs you would like me to digitise and turn into patterns post a comment below, nothing will be happening quickly as I have two exams right at the end of October/first day of November.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Owl Cross Stitch Pattern Collection

If you know me well at all you would know I have a mild owl obsession. It's not overpowering as I like other things but if there is one animal I love above all others it's owls. So a couple of months ago now I drew a page full of owls in my sketch book... and then I proceeded to turn a couple of them into digital sketches. I fell in love with this barn owl sketch the most.

I've managed to covert one of those sketches into a cross stitch pattern finally... actually I have a confession... it's been converted for about a month but I just wasn't sure if anyone would like it. I always second guess myself. If you follow my Instagram you'll actually see I released these patterns on Saturday my time but it's been a long weekend and I wasn't able to write this blog post before now.

You can find my barn owl pattern here... I am actually in the process of stitching this little cutie but I'm only just at the start of the yellow so no interesting photos to share. I'm excited for when I have more to show you. Also to make the background interesting I'm just stitching it in half crosses as I did with the background of my magician as it is quicker and gives a subtler effect. But that choice is up to you. The finished owl is 7.25cmx7.25cm on 14count aida so it's not a large design and would be perfect for so many different uses.

The second Owl designs that I have released is the Mini Owl Collection. This collection is 4 designs that can be stitched together or seperately. I've just stitched up the purple owl on the bottom right. Except in typical style I changed the purple colour to DMC333. Because it's the one I wanted to use and the first purple I put my hands on. I designed the mini owls to be easy to change colours and do what you want with, rather than always the same colours. Each owl is only about 20x20 stitches give or take a few depending which one.

Just so you know there are some fractionals involved in the mini owls to get some of that detail in such a small space. But I will be writing up a tutorial on how to handle those later in the week. They aren't scary and actually are really fun to work with.

Isn't he so cute? I am not sure yet how I will finish this one yet but I am tempted to turn it into a badge. I think it will be VERY cute worn pinned to a top.

 I also have these patterns bundled together and you can buy them both for a discount. HERE

BUT WAIT.. talking discounts I have the owl patterns on sale until the 8th of October 2019 for 10% off using the code OWL10 at checkout. So go take advantage of the discount while it lasts. 

I hope you enjoy these new patterns!

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Organising my space

So I've been living in a TINY unit for the last 8 months. Well not that tiny just not much extra room. It has been a big big big step DOWN in the craft room space. Most of my craft stuff is living at my parents house in the shelving under their house because I don't have somewhere to store it here. What craft stuff I do have here is currently living in the cupboard of the little girls room! So I don't have the largest collection of stuff here.

I've been using the kitchen table to spread out my craft stuff and more often than not I will take over the whole table. Since I've been starting to get into basic project life stuff I've been wanting somewhere to easily store the basics so that I can get to it but still not take up the whole area. It is still the kitchen table and needs to look tidy. I don't do tidy very well when I'm crafting.... can you see the awesome mess.

This is what I used to use.

Now I got these drawers from Cate over at Behind the Purple Door. She is an AVID scrapbooker and her stash of stuff is quite impressive. But because she got some new drawers and stuff she no longer needed these so she offered them to me.

They look so awesome on the table.

Yeah one drawer is missing but they will still work like I want them too. I may also be able to put my sewing threads in it too. There is a lot of room for stuff. Much more than I had!!

But I do have one problem. The drawers are too big for all my little stuff, like my stamps so I decided to make some drawer inserts.

 Using some boxes I had around the house. I cut the sides off and then used sticky tape to tape them back together.

I then covered the boxes in pretty coloured paper. Using my washi tape to make them look even prettier.

 I even added a divider to separate out my inks. They look so pretty.

My stamps look so pretty too..... anyone would think that I love owls.....

So that was my craft this afternoon after my assignment was in. I feel so good about having something organised. How do you organise your space?

Now I'm going to disappear into my cross stitching. 

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Cup of Tea?

Well it's the perfect weather to be sitting down with a wonderful cup of tea. Although the sun is starting to come out from behind the clouds this morning it was pouring down rain. I have been in a cuddle down and stitch/crochet mood this weekend.

When I wasn't winning the softball Grand Final that is!!!!!!!!!! It was an awesome way to end the softball season. We have come so close many times before but this year was our year! I was so nervous on Saturday that come Saturday night I was drained. I curled up in bed with my crochet and a book and didn't move!

Back to the reason you are all here. I assume you want to see stitching photos :D I have been powering along with afternoon tea and managed to finish the column. There is lots of black then suddenly lots of confetti.

Before

After

 It never seems like much until you count how many stitches that is. I think I've done almost 1000 stitches in that small column. I still love this piece.

I don't think I've shown you the awesome bags my mum made. Each of my big projects on the millenium frames now has a calico bag to protect them from dust and dirt. It will fit the project with or without the stretcher bars in. I love how much nice than the pillowcase it looks. And my big frame for Masquerade Pale Dawn is in one bag not two pillowcases.

Now I did say crochet as well.

You can see the start of the blue row happening here as well. I love the way the colours are going in this piece.It is great to sit down and just crochet when my head is exhausted and concentrating just
isn't going to happen, or when I really need to keep reading that Terry Pratchet!


Now I asked a question at the beginning of this post.
Does anyone want a cup of tea?

I'm enjoying my gorgeous owl mug and my Twinings Australian Afternoon Tea. I have to have milk in tea but rarely do I put sugar in. Only when I want a really strong Assam Bold. I used to be crazy about leaf teas and although I have a lot I'm usually too lazy to bother. I do have a pretty purple teapot and mug when I do make up a pot.

How do you have your tea?
Do you have a favourite mug?
Milk and sugar?

Curiosity is getting the better of me :D


Happy stitching,
Caitlin

Cute Owl

I am already thinking of Christmas and what I can make that won't take ages. I could do cross stitch ornaments but I won't have enough done in time for Christmas this year and it's always so stressful, getting them all done.

I have been looking at easy amigurami projects that won't take me ages to finish and I stumbled across this one. 

They are so cute and only take about 30minutes to make.

I did have a model to help me he wants to claim this owl as his. He also asked me to make one for his teacher. 

 I think these are a plus and they are so easy I will have a whole collection by Christmas!

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin