Cute bunny exchange

The World of Cross Stitching magazine had Bebunni calendar last autumn. We had a cross stitch meeting and this calendar caused a sudden EEK!BUNNIES!CUTE! screams in several people. And I also had to get it. :) Outi and I then decided to have a private cute bunny exchange.

I stitched this bicycle riding bunny Outi chose. I attached it to this case which has a glass on its door. She can use it to store jewelry, letters or other treasures.

Hidden in the case: bunny poop and bunny tails (aka chocolate raisins and marshmallows) and other surprises. :)

I also sew her a reversible bunny appliquéd bag.

I got this awesome appron from Outi! I absolutely love it! The bunny I chose is stitched on the pocket. There was also a japanese bunny tablecloth, yarn, cute bunny buttons and a muffin tin.

Autumn exchange from Kaisa

I got this amazing exchange from Kaisa. Exchange theme was changing seasons and this was the fourth and the last part. I love that box, the colours and the pattern. In the box was some pumpkin cat fabric, very pretty Autumn-ribbon, small autumn embellishments and a candle which suits spot on to my decor at home. It's like Kaisa has seen my home! :)

Birthday exchange and some more hats

I am taking part in the Birthday Exchange in a Yahoo mailart group and I got this beautiful, amazing mailart from Marja! I love it!

I have also been knitting. More hats for tiny tiny babies. I and some of my kolleagues at work have been knitting hats to our local hospital. They will give these to all those cute little new born babies.

Changing seasons exchange to Maija

I took part in the Changing Seasons exchange. I stitched for Maija.

Last part was Autumn so I stitched some pumpkins and finished them as a notebook cover.
The patterin is called Pumpkin Patch Bookmark and it's from The Cross Stitcher magazine, issue October 2008. 

I was really in rush to get the summer part in mail and didn't have time to take photos. And then it went missing in mail. :( Maija never got it and I had no time to stitch a new one. Luckily we had some angel stitchers and they sent Maija her summer exchange. I made her another bag, a project bag, with Gorjuss pattern "On top of the world" stitched on it. I am so sad it never got to Maija. :(

For Spring I stitched this Atalie biscornu. I forgot to take photos so these pics are from Maija's blog.

 (Photos from Maija's blog)

For Winter I stitcher her a part of one Gorjuss pattern (without the polarbear) and finished it as a bag.

My blog's summer holiday

Like the header says I think my blog has been having a loooong summer holiday! :) I have done some stitching but I haven't got around to posting something here. But now that will change as the autumn is coming and when it rains I won't be out and about so much.

I took part in Yahoo groups Mailart exchange. Theme was monochrome, one colour. I stitched the mailart for Marja and used red thread. I stitched with one thread over one. I put some red things inside the mailart.

The front of the mailart:

The back:

I received this lovely rasberry coloured mailart from Paulie. I love it. :)

I also took part in a Bling bling exchange. :) Pirjo is not a big fan of bling bling so I wanted to stitch something practical and stylish. I stitched P as Pirjo on a sparkling fabric with sparkling thread and covered a USB drive with it. On the USB drive I saved a bunch of freebie charts that I have gathered.

I got some beautiful Bling bling from Outi! Se had made this cute box and inside was a tiniest and prettiest little broach. Thank you Outi! :)

Our cross stitch friend Kirsi has had some serious back problems and we wanted to cheer her up. We stitched owls and  Ressu sewed them as a blanket. I stitched this little creature with googly eyes. :) It's a freebie but I can't remember where I got the chart from.

 I just finished my summer vacation and I've been back at work since Monday. It has been a little bit hard to get up in the morning but I guess next week it will be easier. :) I wasn't at home much on my vacation. Mostly I was in Oulu and that brings us to one reason why I have had less time here and with my stitching: I met a man about three months ago. :) He lives about 260km away so I have traveled there and back and he has been here at my home too. All my friends who live in Oulu (he lives there too) have been saying that I should find a man there and move to Oulu. :D Well now I've met the man! You never know what the future brings and where you live some day. ;)

"E" as Eija and "Baa" as a sheep

I took part in a freebie exchange at Finnish exchange blog Lennun ristipistovaihdot. The theme was to stitch and finish something with a freebie chart. I made this little sewing box for Eija. The chart for the "E" in the cover is from Filanthrope Broderies Floral Alphabet chart, I stitched using blue as it's one of Eija's favourite colours. I finished this by covering the box with fabric that has blue tones and also made a padding inside so the scissors and other stuff wouldn't rattle inside it. :) And as I always forget something, this time I forgot to take a photo of the inside, you can see it here.

I got this gorgeous and very neatly finished bag from Anni. She told me that the chart is from gigir.canalblog.com blogi and I just love those sheep! One of my favourite colours is green and this has just the perfect tones of green. Thank you Anni!

The spring should be here by now but we still have minus degrees here in Finland. But the sun is shining and the birds are singing so I think the spring is just around the corner. It really is, look! :D

Button exchange from me to Neili

I got to stitch the Button exchange to Neili. As soon as I heard that there was going to be an exchange with buttons theme I remembered this chart. I have wanted to stitch this to myself since it appeared in the magazine loooong time ago... and I will some day! :D
I cut a circle of from the lid to mount the stitching to it. I attached the buttons to cardboard pieces, there are four different themes with the buttons: Nature's Creatures, Flower Power, Traditional and Fairytale.

Malli: Stylish Stash from the CrossStitcher magazine issue 214/june 2009

Fabric: 25ct Floba

Stitched with on thread over one

Pistelty yhdellä säikeellä yhden langan yli

Button exchange from Marelo

In Pretty Exchanges-blogs button exchange I got a package from Marelo. She stitched me a cute little button box and inside was many cute little buttons. :) I really like those owls and mushrooms. Thanks Marelo!
I will show you pictures of the exchange that I stitched as soon as I've had confirmation that it has reached it's destination. :)

Christmas exchange packages

I took part in a Finnish Christmas exchange. 
Marja sent me this gorgeous gift! I am so over the moon with this! :) First I saw this wonderful bag that she had sewn from a cutest sheep fabric ever. Then inside the bag was a box that was stitched and finished so beautifully. I love that Tralala pattern. AND inside the box was the card and cute mouse Christmas ornament. I feel so happy, I love this exchange! :) Thank you Marja!

I sent a gift to Ulla. I know she likes American style Santas so I stitched two Santas and finished them as a Christmas card pocket that can be hanged on the wall. The buttons are from my Grandma's endless suply of buttons, real vintage. :) I also sewed Santa's sac for her. I found the fabric picture last year at the Crafts fair and sewed it on the sac.

A birthday exchange for Kirsi and A Wonderful Summer for Leena

These have arrived at their destinations so here are some pics and stories. :)

First one I stitched for a "Wonderful Summer" exchange for Leena. The pattern is one of the two pattersn from "Floralie No1" from Taralala. I stitched it with Atalie threads, one over on on Floba. I really like this pattern and I think I'll stitch the other one for myself. :) I finished this as a pinkee. The fabric on the back is from Moda Fabrics, from a layer cake called "Blush".

Number two today is a birthday exchanged to Kirsi. I stitched her the "L'Heure du Thé - Tea Time" from Tralala and finished it also as a pinkeep. Also stitched on Floba with Atalie one over one. And the back is also from "Blush". I think it fitted this one perfectly.
 

And for once I rememberd to take a photo of the whole birthday package. :) I put in a Tralala pattern called "ABC poule" and Atalie threads for it and also a small cute purse (which is now used by Kirsi's daughter I heard :)).

"A wonderful summer" -exchange from Leena

I got this beautifiul sachet from Leena. The theme for the exchange was "A wonderful summer".Thank you Leena so much, I love it! Now I am thinking what kind of treasures will I keep on it. :) There was also a lovely card with birdhouses so the package had my favourite things. :)

Biscornu exchange

I took part in spring-summer biscornu exchange in Finnish exchange blog. My hands made it hard to finish in time and it was on its way two days late but finally arrived to Pike. I stitched a biscornu that has spring coloured flowers on other side and summer greens and browns on the other side. The chart is from Kissy Cross, you can find it here. The summer sides threads are from our local fabric store and it only says "R" on the band. The spring side is stitched with DMC's Color variations number 4060 and Atalie's "Aster". I happened to have just the right coloured flower button and bead in my stash.

I received this lovely summery biscornu from Minna. Funny thing is that it is also stitched by Kissy Cross' chart. :) Isn't it the cutest! The fabric has some glitter but it doesn't show in the photos. This chart has a fun fence that goes around from one piece to another. Thank you Minna!

My hands have gotten much better during the sick leave. My doctor decided that we wont try again and risk ruining my hands complitely and she wrote me a slip that says I am not fit for the job. I took it to my employer and he was a bit bummed out since he had hoped I would work for them for a long time. So from Tuesday on I will be unemployed again. Finding the bright side: now I have time to dig in my garden as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer. And I am sure I will find a job that fits me sooner rather than later.

wXSw group's Christmas exhange

I took part in a Christmast ornament exchange on Yahoo group Wonderful XS World. I got to stitch to Annalee from USA and I stitched her a round double sided ornament. She has received it so here are some pictures. On one side I stitched a snowflake, it's a freebie from the blog Bonheur de Broduses, on the other side I stitched white Christmas trees, the chart is designed by Dora and the freebie can be found from Borduurblog. A couple of extra freebies for today's Advent Calendar. :) I used Wichelt-Permin's 28ct Ruby Red linen and DMC's white thread, stitched two over two threads. For the finishing I used white ribbon. The width of the ornament is about 8cm.


Here are some "making of" pictures. :)
After I stitched the charts I cut two round parts of red felt so the padding doesn't show through the linen, two round parts from a sheet of padding and two round pieces of cardboard. I marked the center on each piece.


I put a needle through all the marks so I got the stitching centered.


Then I hot glued the stitched fabric to the cardboard with the padding and the felt between them. I would have sewn but I didn't leave enough fabric around the stitching... But the hot glue worked fine too.

Here are the two sides. I hot glued them together and then hot glued the ribbon around the edge.