MYS 2006 Exchange final round - part 2

I received a sewing pouch for this round! Lovely stitched by Margaret. Ladybugs and Bumblebees by Country Cottage Needleworks - my favourite design.

Thank you Margaret for the pouch and the needle card. An adorable piece of lace on the pink felt caught my eyes. It is a crochet-like cotton lace.

MYS 2006 Exchange final round - part 1

For the final round, I have to stitch a sewing pouch. Ooopss! You might not knowing of what I'm talking about. Click here

I stitched a sewing pouch for Angie. It was my first time of such finishing and I struggled a bit to finish it off.


Bonnet & Tulips in Pots by Mosey 'N Me Design is stitched on pale yellow 14ct aida using DMC and Anchor variegates flosses. Sunbonnet Sue is one of my needlecraft favourites. The size of this sewing pouch is approx 7.5" X 5.5". I used black velcro for the flip-styled closure and inserted 2 pieces of matting board to give the sewing pouch a firmer 'body'.

Winter Mail Art from Zarina

It has been quite sometime, no update here. I was preoccupied with activities besides stitching. Family & relatives visits, weddings to attend and outing with friends (and stitching friends too!) etc. Personally I have to say, being back in the big city made my life busier yet enjoyable. Hubby & I did a lot of catching-ups with families and friends. And the kids enjoyed it too.

Here I would like to share some pics of Winter MA I've received earlier this month.


Snowman from Lizzie*Kate Stamp-It January 2005 stitched on 28ct lugana. I simply love the matching fabric - snowflakes print and the batik post stamps. It made this Winter MA much more adorable !

Thank you Zarina for such a lovely Mail Art as well as the silk flosses that you put in the MA.

Winter Mail Art - personal swap

Yesterday, the Winter Mail Art (MA) has safely reached Zarina, my stitching friend in Penang. I felt a great relief! Congrats to Pos Malaysia. It is a rather quick mail delivery service, I thought it wouldn't be any earlier than Wednesday.


Stitched on 28ct Lugana colonial blue using some leftover overdyeds and DMC. Pattern by Little House Needleworks (LHN) - I did some adjustments to the pattern. I love LHN charts as well as Country Cottage Needleworks charts. Stitching on darker fabrics is tricky when it comes to backstitch. Normally, mail artists will backstitch the addresses, but I had to stitch them over one thread. Trust me, stitching the addresses took me longer time than stitching the house & snowman.

If you happened to wonder why both of us (Zarina & I) decided to stitch a winter-themed MA while in the contrary, we live in the part of the world where snow never fall. The answer is simply because we have lots winter patterns from the magazines and hardly stitch any. It was fun for me actually, I enjoy stitching the snowflakes.


The MA is lined with flannel. I couldn't find a matching cotton fabric. There is no winter-themed buttons in my collection, simply stitched a snapper as the closure and embellished with heart-shaped bead. I really enjoy stitching the Winter MA and really satisfied with the outcome.

Time flies & Mail Art incident

Yesterday was baby Alya's 1st birthday. She began toddling already (most of the time cruising though) and tried to leap once. Like her sisters during their toddling time, Alya doesn't seem to have problems with climbing the bed & the couch, and able to get back down on her own. You don't have to guess, Alya's toddling time is a nerve-wracking time for me *LOL*. This is not my first time. All my darling princesses do. When they grew bigger, I can laugh at memories of the hard times they gave me. The sweetness of parenthood is what they called it.

Alya loves to mimic us talking on the phone, she will grab the remote control and say "ho oo". And when sees us eating, she will say "nyum nyum". She loves music too. Will stand up on her feet and wiggle her body to the music. How time flies quickly. Last year, she was just a frail tiny baby.

And also yesterday was my 1st time visiting the Post Office , about 150 metres away from home. Our neighbour's daughter is the who help me with the mailings before. I wanted to mail out the Winter Mail Art. Finished it almost 2 weeks ago but my friend and I agreed to month-end mailout (it is a personal swap). FYI, there are some complaints & incidents, mail artists experience when to mail their finishes to the recipients . e.g.last time in Miri, they declined to process the mail art when my hubby took it to the small PO in the neighbourhood.

This time, I was armed with a mail art I received in my bag . The air-conditioned PO with glass door & panels greeting the visitors is rather small yet convenience. There are 3 counters and a lady officer was behind the counter when I took out the Winter mail art. She refused to process it. Oh no! Be cool.." I told myself. Then I showed her the mail art received from Wendy. She called the p-o-s-t-m-i-s-t-r-e-s-s (read POSTMISTRESS) and discussed the situation. "Oh please! please please" I was practically begging them *LOL*. Well, they were admiring the mail arts actually and after moments of thinking, Mrs Postmistress finally said "YES!". I was brimming with joy & relief at the same time. And now I hope in the next few days, the mail art will be in the hands of my friend safe and sound.

Good Luck To Farah

A simple stitched card for my niece. It is actually a not-so-new finish, almost 2 weeks ago, I just forgot to share the photo here.

Stitched on 28ct linen over 2 threads using Six Strands Sweet (colour : Berry Medley) and DMC for backstitch. The chinese character is 'yun' means 'luck'. The card blank is from the collection I gathered for the last 2 years from purchases and gifts. It's exclusively made by Nik. The chart is from Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine issue 46 complete with flower and border, I only stitched the character/calligraphy though.

Some pics uploaded ....

Hi!

Some of my stitching friends had requested for step-by-step pics of a pincushion I made earlier this month. I made another one and 've just uploaded the pics into my Craft Tutorial album.

I forgot the measurement. Will update later. Pretty busy with some finishings.

Stitching Bloggers' Questions

How many different brands of “complete” embroidery floss sets do you own? How do you keep track of it? (i.e., spread sheet program, index cards, palm pilot, etc.)

None of them are complete. I only have almost complete DMC set. My Anchor collection consists not more than 50. And overdyeds collection is variety - handful of Six Strands Sweet, several GAST, WDW, NN, Crescent Colours & some silks.

I printed out several copies of a DMC embroidery flosses list (from DMC official website). One copy I used as my shopping list and the rest I sticked unto the flosses boxes for easy reference.

Since my Anchor flosses are used for stitching certain charts only e.g. Forever Friends bear, Newton's and Wordsworth; I usually kit them up together with other stitching stuff (fabric, needle & chart). And I have only one flosses box to store them after I finish stitching. The same goes to my overdyeds collection.



How did you decide on the title of your stitching blog? Was it random, or does it have a special meaning to you or about you?

Lil' Honey Collection is decided way before I jumped on the blogging bandwagon. I started needlecrafting in January 2002 and not long after that, I was pregnant with Hanie (my eldest darling princess) developed more & more interests in needlecraft. Since then I've been actively sewing & stitching during my leisure time. Hanie, her name is pronounced as 'honey'. I love to call my finishes , the 'Lil' Honey Collection' as my earlier needlecraft projects were always been inspired by her.

When I wanted to start blogging, I simply put 'Lil' Honey Collection' as the title of my blog. And I always get a pat on the back from Hanie every time she sees my finishes. She would say something like "It's beautiful, mom", "I like it!", "Wow!", "Good job, mom" etc

Pay it forward

I saw this on Judith's blog and thought it would be a fun "Pay it forward" kind of treat...

The first five people to respond to this post (via the comments section) will get some form of "art" made by me. Be sure that I can email you to get your snail mail address. Think of it as something to look forward to getting in the mail. It will be original, made by me (sorry), but it may not be immediate, as I haven't made them yet. I am about sure what it will be.

There is a catch, of course, the way this works is that if you sign up, you have to blog this as well and continue sharing.

Stashing, Enabling & Fish Tale

For the past few months, I didn't have much time to spend for stitching & sewing. There are some projects have been postponed for quite some time. Nevertheless, stashing is a different story. It is a never-ending story actually. I did some stash-shopping in Miri & Kuala Lumpur. Not much cross stitch stuff anyway, more on patchwork & quilting and some crocheting stuff.

I took my sister, Sabrina, to meet my stitching friends in Kuala Lumpur. We went for a short trip to a LNS. And guess what....my sister wanted to learn to cross stitch ! I bought her a simple kit for a start.

A visit to Miri's newest cotton shop was rather exciting. The owner is sharing a show house with her teakwood furniture dealer husband. It is a bungalow house to be specific. I must admit that patchwork wallhangings & tablerunners look really gorgeous displayed together with the teakwood furniture. Anyway, her cotton collection was what I craze about. I bought abundance of half yards, fat quarters and fat eighths of cotton. The colours are vibrant and the prints are my favourite themes e.g. teacups, polka dots, weave, oriental & vines. I bought some batik prints fat eighths as well. And the best part is, a friend of mine (dear Lim) who drove me to the shop developed some interests to pick up patchwork. Me & Lina (the shop owner) were like further fanning her sparks of interest. Lim is planning to take patchwork lessons during her long holiday end of the year.

I found some golf prints from another cotton shop in Kuala Lumpur. There some projects (for my DH) in mind.I also stocked up some crochet yarns & hooks since I've been crocheting quite actively these days. Our friend's daughters (Athira & Alia) regularly spend their time with the 3 darling princesses. Athira saw 2 crocheted hats I did for baby Alya and she asked me to teach her to crochet. I promised to teach her during the long school holiday at the end of the year. And she is already bought the hook & yarn!

Enabling is as much fun as stashing. I'm excited to see my sister, my friend and our friend's daughter are their way to be part of the needlecraft world.


And lastly but not least, the latest addition to our family, small tropical pet fishes! We really enjoy their company since July. Currently we have 16 of them.

"Welcome! I live on the 2nd floor"...

After 3 years in Miri, we had finally left the Seahorse city of Sarawak for good. We were actually not there since May, only came back to pack things up in July. Luckily , we had movers to do most of the job.

Once again, new house and new neighbours - thanks to the nature of my dear hubby's job. We are now staying not so far from our families. Glad to be back with them after years of being away (far away) from them.

There are still boxes & bundles to unpack in our hobby room. We are practically surfing the net amongst those boxes & bundles. Hope that by the end of the year, everything will be in their right places. We purposely postponed getting a phone line, thinking of the boxes & bundles were occupying our house in first 2 months here. Applied for the phone line & broadband in the 3rd week of September. Well, thing didn't work as fast as we expected. Back online barely 2 days ago (a week before, the phone line was finally installed).

I was actually delighted when our new neighbours greeted us on 1st day here. Not all urbanites are snobbish afterall. Furthermore, the place where we live is truly Malaysia - Malays, Chineses, Indians & Sikhs (major ethnics) live harmoniously in spite of the hectic,bustling urban lifestyle. And what I love most to be back in the city is the amenities & services that I need are plentiful and more accessible.

I will write more on my needlecraft activities for the past few months in next posting. Thank you for your emails & comments. To Gina & Isabelle - I will email you back. And to Ann Lee - hope to hear from you soon. To all crafting bloggers, it is envious to see the pics of your great finishes in your blogs.

Not doily, but ......

... a crocheted edging turned jewellery set.


Last year, I learned to crochet from my sis-in-law, my 1st project WAS a doily but I've tossed it away. It was about 2.5" in diameter already but I didn't like the way it looks. I didn't try to crochet again. Recently, after sending a dozen of cross stitched pieces to the framer, I decided to take a break from stitching. Then started a simple crochet project, scallop edging, merely for learning process. I like it very much coz it is easy for a beginner like me. I had nothing in mind for finishing-off ideas, then suddenly ... jewellery set !

This ring & bracelet set will go to Angely, our neighbour's 9-year old daughter. We are neighbours twice. First time was years ago when DH & I were newly-weds. Angely sometimes came to our house and chatted with me. She is such a sweet lil' gal. Few years later, DH & I came to Miri. And last November, Angely's family moved back here, their house is 2 rows away (rows of houses).

I started another crochet project - brim hat. But ...


I miscalculated some stitches, it was way too small for a brim hat even for baby Alya, who is now 5-month old. Initially, I wanted to make it into a small sling bag and suddenly a 'basket' idea came out. Was meant to use it for flower arrangement but darling Hanie loves it very much. She is now the proud owner of this little basket.

Progress report on other projects :
I've not been stitching for quite some time now. Anyway, I have finished my ED's For a Friend project about 2 weeks ago. Will upload a pic later.

It's Time for Tea - finished!

A completed project at last! Happy Dance !


Pattern by Alma Lynne. Stitched on 28ct Graziano Riviera linen using DMC & Anchor flosses. Some colour changes - obviously one of the colour change is the border. It was supposed to be a checkered-like border (with 3 to 4 flosses of pink colour scheme). Since the pattern was stitched on checks linen, I changed the border to pink variegated floss. This is definitely one of my fav piece. Already sent to the framer with another 5 pieces (previously stitched, some are from last year).

Progress report on other WIPs:
baby quillow - another 5% done, made up 50% completed
ED's For a Dear Friend - another 10%, now is 60% completed
Stitcher's Alphabet (Brookes Publishing) - stagnant (10% completed so far)
MS Hello Archie! - stagnant (10% completed so far)

Newly started project : Needlecase - materials are ready. Target to finish by mid May.

Designer Mail Art Exchange - part 2

Early this week, the Mail Art that I stitched had finally reached the recipient, Aida.


Plum Berry Sampler by Bent Creek. Stitched on 18ct aida using DMC, lined with leaf print cotton. Handsewn all the way!
I actually had to re-route the MA b'coz the lady at the Post Office branch nearby didn't want to process it. Luckily, Margaret, a stitching friend offered a lending hand. She mailed it out on behalf of me from her place. Initially, it was kind of frustrating situation for me. Then thinking of such problem is one of common problems faced by mail artists (participants), one PO branch refused to process a mail art is not a big deal anymore.

Ironically, as per explanation in TheFreeDictionary.com Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. Click HERE to read more on Mail Arts.

MYS Exchange 2006 round 2 - part II

On Tuesday, I received a pleasant surprise from Wendy. A lovely cheery bookmark.


She stitched on 28ct lugana using vibrant colours of flosses. I love it very much and asked a framer to frame it.

This is what I love about MYS Exchange 2006; the element of surprise. For round 2, I stitched a bookmark for Angie and I'm surprised by 3 lovely items (needlebook, tuck/flanged pillow & bookmark) received from other participants.

Designer Mail Art Exchange - part 1

Again, April 1st is the mailout date for another exchange - Designer Mail Art Exchange organised in Mail Art Friends Yahoo Group (Mail Art by thread & needle). The participants were asked to stitch either Lizzie*Kate or Bent Creek pattern according to their recipients' preference. Anyway, many of us didn't want to pick a fav, we let our exchange partner decided on the patterns.

Last week, I received a lovely MailArt from Wendy. Even Mr Postman was smitten with admiration, he had a big smile on his face when he delivered the MA to me.

It is a Lizzie*Kate pattern stitched on linen. OOOhhh ! I just love the colours, so vibrant and cheery. Wendy is fondly nicknamed as the 'Queen of Mail Arts' in another Yahoo Group b'coz she had made & sent out many beautiful Mail Arts, be it for exchanges or personal swaps, even kindly sending them out to her families.

My recipient is yet to receive a MailArt from me. Will upload a pic, once it is safe in the hand of the recipient.

MYS Exchange 2006 round 2

April 1st was the mailout date for Round 2 of MYS Exchange 2006

For this round, I sent a bookmark to Angie :


It is one of Joan Elliott charts in last year World of Cross Stitching magazine. However, due to some miscalculation, inavailabilty of some flosses & a matter of preference, there are some adjustments made to the chart. I stitched on silver perforated paper using DMC & overdyed flosses.

In this round I received a pleasant surprise - a needlebook from Angie


The pic doesn't do justice to her stitching which is very neat in real life. She stitched on 18ct beige damask aida. Wow! I have to say, it is rather impressive! I had some difficulties when I tried stitching on black damask aida last time. I love the shiny effect that the fabric have though.

And today, I received a beautiful flanged pillow from Roz.


I simply love the colour combination & pattern. YES, it is very TRUE, Simple Pleasures Are Best. Thanks Roz, you really brightened up my day.

Fabric Paperweight - Tutorial

Hi !

I've uploaded some pics & instructions on 'How to sew a pyramid-shaped paperweight' to my Tutorial Album. Please click HERE for the link.

Happy Crafting and have a nice weekend.

This & that - April

Last week, I was too lazy to pick up a needle. I did some browsing, then decided to change the look of my blog. My hubby said it looks neater than the previous one. I'm happy with the way the blog header turned out though the blog wrapper is not the exact colour that I wanted.

Much later of the week, I continued sewing the baby quillow but somehow put off by the applique' blocks. It is my first time of sewing the turned edge applique' and yet to get the hang of it. Before, I've done the blanket stitch edge applique', I feel that it is much more easier and faster to sew. Certainly I need another to finish sewing the baby quillow since it is a handsewn & handquilted project. Wish me luck

Itching to see a finished item, I sewed up a small stitched piece (previously done in January) into a mini pyramid-shaped cushion. Since I filled it up with some poly-pellets, it can be used as a paperweight. Poly-pellets are the bead-like stuffing that we used in making softie/plush toys. I just found a packet of poly-pellets which I bought few years ago.There were 2 packets, I used one of them in flower arrangement, I filled up the flower vase with poly-pellets after I put the imitation flowers in the vase.


And then, I resumed stitching one of my WIPs - It's time for Tea by Alma Lynne. Surprisingly, I managed to stitch about 40% more with a faster stitching pace if I had to compare with the last time I was on this particular project. Another 30% to go, hopefully by end of this week I will be able to finish it.


And I also started a NEW project, a quick to finish 'cute hedgehog' from a magazine. Stitched on 14ct lilac aida using DMC flosses. It requires wholestitch only hence it's soooo cute, I barely took one morning (not the whole morning but few hours) to finish it


It seems, a stick-in-the-mud start for last week but happily ended with smile on my face

Blog Facelift in Progress

I'm in the middle of adding new look to my blog. With 3 darling princesses in the house, I will certainly need a longer period to complete the task. At least another couple of days

Mode : Stitching Slump

Goshhh ! I haven't been cross stitching for more than a week !

My 2 kids (Hanie & Shasha) and I were down with fever last week. Recovered but still coughing a bit. Luckily, my hubby and baby Alya are in good health. I hate when it's time to take up medicine. Nooooo, it's not me who hates medicine, our 2 darling princesses will quickly think of something to distract us from giving them medicine. Cheeky gals...!

By mid of last week, 3 of us have recovered from fever despite the 'syrupy thug-of-wars'. Thank goodness, I managed to finish one of the exchanges (no XS, just finishing) coz later that week, I was distracted from stitching by watching the Commonwealth Games on TV. Hardly pick a needle except for finishing a MailArt which is barely finished yesterday. No mood for XS but itching to sewing. I've started the baby quillow project - I'm doing some applique' blocks at the moment. I'm thinking to resume stitching my WIPs only after I've finished the quillow *wink*



Oooopsy ! I forgot to show you my latest craze - softie.... I made one for the kids (merely one as Hanie doesn't really play with softies & dolls). Shasha seems to love Kittie very much inspite of the odd-looking ears. Here is a pix of Kittie behind the wheel

It's Time for Tea (work-in-progress update I)

I've started this project last week (on Wednesday evening) concurently with the MYS Work-In-Progress Nite. It is one of my WIPs, currently I have 4 WIPs including 2 exchanges to be mailed out on 1st April. The chart is designed by Alma Lynne. Fabric - 28ct graziano riviera linen, flosses - DMC. It's still a lot to stitch, about 70% more

My Morning Cup

I saw this morning cup challenge in San's and Lillie's few days ago but haven't got the chance to snap some photos. My favourite morning cup WAS the mug that I bought in Genting Highlands (Theme Park) several years ago. I bought it b'coz of Tabby (the cat that holding the alphabet T). Tabby The Cat is one of the theme park's mascots. I simply love teddie bears and tabby cats. Unfortunately, I recently broke the handle Anyway I have the Famous Amos Cookies cup to replace with. I love this cup for two reasons : one - b'coz it is just perfect for one sachet of my favourite cereal drink and second - bear bear bear

There is another mug that my hubby and I really treasure. We bought this mug few years before we came to Sarawak. It is an oversize mug, I use it if I would like to take 2 sachets of cereal drink in the morning.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

Do you stitch “over one?” If so, describe your experiences. If not, have you considered it?

I've done"over one" in 28ct linen. Initially, it was tricky to count the thread. Once I got the hang of it, it was quite fun actually and was eager to see it finished. I also have made few "over one" projects on 22ct hardanger cloth. If I had to compare, I prefer to stitch "over one" on linen as I think that it is much more neater.

What I did in February - part II

I managed to stitch several small pieces in February. All of them are the charts from magazines. The bikini was actually a January WIP. Tigger and flower bouquet are mag freebies. The sunflower and pincushion patterns are adapted from bigger charts and already finished as needlecases as you can see in my PictureTrail album. The pincushion is from Joan Elliot's.

And I'm tempted to stitch 'Stitcher's Alphabet' by Brooks Publishing . As the newsletter is bimonthly, I definitely have to wait until end of the year to complete stitching the alphabet. Here is what I've stitched so far :