Postcard Sampler 3 Finish, 4 Finish and 5 in progress...

I'm loving these stitch samplers right now. I think the postcard size is perfect for me as it is small enough to finish quickly but big enough for me to admire 'properly' :)

Heres 3 finished but not framed...

Added since last time is Butterfly stitch in DMC 3805 and again but with the central thread I used a turquoise wool.

I then started number 4 on the same fabric as Postcard 2, I used lots of yarns from a variety bag from Textere Yarns.
The stitches in this sampler:

Chain in DMC 257

Couched turquise wool with Chain in blue sewing cotton

Couched blue ribbon with DMC 1076 leading to:

Ceylon in various yarns including texere, Madeira Metallic 365 and turquoise wool

tacked at bottom with the turquoise wool

Cross in a thick texere yarn

Detached Chain Flowers in DMC 518

Couching in texere yarns

Chain in DMC 703 and DMC

Pale blue ribbon attached with Running Stitch in DMC 703

Detached Chain and Straight in a metallic yarn from texere pack

Threaded Double Backstitch in DMC 518 and orange ribbon

Cable Chain in a texere yarn

Magic Chain in DMC 185 and DMC 518

Couched green ribbon with DMC 257 leading to:

Buttonhole Filling stitch - Open in various yarns from the texere pack

tacked at the bottom with DMC 518 which also couched a fringe texere yarn.

Since I'm enjoying the embroidery samplers so much I thought I'd try to follow Sharon B's 'Take a Stitch Tuesday' (TAST) challenge from 2008. Its obviously a year out of date, so I can't join the flickr group or work on the same stitches as other stitchers around the world, but I can enjoy the exploration none the less...!

So Week 1 (from January last year...)!

Herringbone.

So I started with Herringbone in DMC 257

Herringbone Ladder (not technically Herringbone but looks similar so I threw it in!) with DMC 75 and DMC 3805.

Herringbone - Closed in DMC 125 (variegated green)

Postcard Samplers 2 and 3 in progress

Postcard sampler number 2 is a split stitched flower with satin stitch, cross stitch, running stitch, interlaced running stitch, and french knots (with the centre being clustered french knots) all in DMC 3805. It was stitched on the fabric from some fabric placemats I bought at a charity shop :)
And heres postcard number 3 in progress - I started this at DB's parent's house and DB's mum lent me some great books, one of which is 'The Batsford Encyclopaedia of Embroidery Stitches' and I LOVE it! I'm not going to be able to return it until I've either stitched or photocopied each and every one!

So this is on a plain green cotton with a patch of patchwork cotton handstitched on.

Stitches are:

Herringbone in DMC 157

Stem in DMC 125

Single Feather in DMC 157

Feather in DMC 103

Flowers L-R in DMC 3805 are:

Spider's Web

Whipped

Threaded/Interlaced

Woven

Raised

Flowers have Stem or Straight stitch stalks with various leaves including a padded satin stitch and a detached chain stitch all in DMC 257.

Beneath the flowers are:

Chain in DMC 257

Back Stitched Chain in DMC 103 with back stitches in DMC 157

Twisted Chain in DMC 157

Opposite Twisted Chain in DMC 157

Coral Knot in one strand DMC 741 and one strand DMC 3805

Raised Band Buttonhole in DMC 1076

:)

Completed sampler and last of the favourite pics from Cornwall

This sampler was finished with ribbon in different styles of couching, whipped backstitch, interlaced back stitch, and two experiments with interlaced double running stitch (I much prefer the lower one!)

More Cornwall photos!

I love the texture and shape of these...

Tadpoles coming to say hello!
Aren't these colours beautiful?!

Cornwall holiday photos continued

All these photos, and a few more to come, were taken either at Helebarton Farm, nr Bude where we stayed in a lovely lovely cottage, the Eden project, or the lost gardens of heligan.

Have been away to Cornwall..

And now I've really started to get my teeth into organising my life, with more focus on crafts and enjoying life in general!

I've just finished a rather boring Open University course (God knows why I chose a short course in 'personal finance' - never again)! And have signed up to do a diploma in Interior Design with the National Design Academy (you can get it for as little as £59 with Govt funding rather than the less friendly £450)! So I'll be indulging in dreaming, cutting and glueing in scrapbook and sketchbook style hopefully :)

I've been working on the postcard sized samplers, but am spacing photos out between days as there are quite a few photos I love from the Cornwall holiday DB and I have just returned from...