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

Little Teddy Bookmark

 

I have a thing for bookmarks at the moment. I don't know what exactly is drawing me to them but I love using them in my books and I love stitching them. I pulled out my teddy bear pattern the other week and I stitched it up in the original brown colours. 

Then I decided that was not enough but didn't want to add a name or something so I stitched up a second one under it in purple :D 

Although depending on your perspective I may have stitched on top of it in the purple bear! I really liked the idea of having them feet to feet like this and there was no up or down. 

 To finish it I used my tutorial for finishing bookmarks which can be found here... but forgot about making sure the glue doesn't come through to the front. 

But it is already in use with it's friend the tiki bookmark that is in the tutorial. 

Don't they look pretty? I'm currently reading Shadow of the Conqueror by Shad M. Brooks and eventually when I finish it I will write a review.

This just makes me happy :D I really do love to USE my cross stitch where it is reasonable to do so. I also love seeing my stitching on display, but for small things like this it is so much FUN to use! It just makes me happy. Does anyone else find this??

 Do you make bookmarks with your stitching? I'm actually thinking of running a special Christmas SAL that includes a bookmark and an ornament with full instructions/ videos on how to make both. I think it would be a great activity.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Drawing new designs

Someone on Facebook was questioning end of year teacher gifts... yes it isn't that long until end of year in Australia! We're about to go into 4th term. And I was trying to avoid doing my exam, so I picked up my pen and did a couple of quick sketches.

I then refined them a bit on the paper and played with some colours... not necessarily the colours I'm going with but I only have a 12 pack of colours!

I like the idea of turning it into a collection of male and female characters that you can swap in and out depending on your teacher/kid but that could be a lot of work on my part! At the very least two kid options.... So many thoughts and ideas running around!

I have already imported the pictures into my digital drawing program and I've started on the top picture. A lot of refining to do with the proportions as these are just quick sketches but the idea is solid.

So question for you... what characters would you be looking for with an end of year gift? Would you want a male teacher or just female ones? I am assuming a fairly even mix of male and female kids... or even a more gender neutral one, with a simple hair style. I know my kids through primary school (too many teachers now!) had more female teachers and teacher aides.I also think the second one would work well for a teacher aide .... as I said so many ideas are currently running around in my head and I'm trying to work out what is valid and what I have to ignore because of logistics.

Any help would be appreciated :D

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Knitting break from Cross Stitch

Uni has ramped up so my cross stitch has gone away for a couple of weeks and I have been trying to work on my Close to you Shawl. I haven't done much with this but I hope to have this done in the next little while because it is a very easy repetitive pattern.The cross stitch hanger tutorial post took me 2 weeks to write as it was sitting there with photos and partial writing until I finished one of my assignments.

I should be able to work on this project easily and it will be a really nice addition to my wardrobe as we go into spring! It is already starting to get significantly warmer here and I will be pulling out all my shawls soon as I love to wrap up in them on cooler nights when I don't need larger jumpers just to survive. Yes I'm pathetic about the cold!

I hope to be back with you soon with some more updates after Friday night because my assignment is due at midnight! Saturday is going to be a day of collapsing and relaxing so hopefully something will happen then.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

New Facebook Group

I'm not sure how many of you are active in the Facebook groups or not. I know I have been moving more and more towards them. Kinda like when I first started blogging the forums were so popular but in time everyone started moving towards Facebook as it's popularity skyrocketed.

After talking to people and spending time looking around the groups I have now created my own cross stitch group. It's called Beginner Cross Stitch Designs by Naughts & Cross Stitches. I wanted a place to talk on Facebook that allowed a bit better interactions than my Facebook page.

While here I can write tutorials and I have one just released go check it out (it's about turning cross stitch into a patchwork hanger), and I have a few more planned when I have some time. I like the conversations you can start in a group that you can't start here. It will be for sharing tips and tricks of cross stitching, tutorials and my patterns. I figure that is a pretty cool combo and could help a lot of people.

So while I won't be leaving this blog anytime soon, if you are on Facebook I would love to see you in my group.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin