Martha Stewart Cross Stitch

Say what you like about Martha Stewart, but her website has some good tutorials and very pretty, inspiring pictures.
I stumbled upon this collection of simple, cute cross stitch patterns on her website - just my style! I love the solid color designs, especially the yellow cat and red mouse. They remind me of my yellow tree - adorable and unrealistic.
After I showed Adam the yellow tree, he said I need to step it up and work on larger projects. I am working on one now that will probably be finished tonight (making it a two-day project, which isn't very long - his "love drug" piece took way longer). But I definitely gravitate toward these sweet, simple designs. They're just so cute!

A "Kiss" and a "Tree"

The cross-stitch obsession continues. Yesterday I made two little projects - a tiny kiss to go inside a little "love" frame, and a tree made out of variegated yellow-to-orange thread.
The little kiss is framed in a 2.5 by 3 frame, so it's quite tiny. It was tricky to sew because I couldn't use an embroidery hoop. My hands cramped up a bit holding the fabric taut. But it whipped up fast.
You can find the design at Andwasisabi's etsy shop. I looove her shop, it's full of cute contemporary designs. I actually ordered a custom design from her - it's going to a birthday present for someone special. Her prices are very reasonable, even for a custom piece.
The tree is also an Andwasisabi design. I did it in a variegated thread on blue Aida to give it a little more texture and realism (although it's yellow, so realism is really out of the picture). Now that I've made it, I'm not entirely sure what to do with it. I made it on a 5x7 piece of cloth, but it looks lost in a 5x7 frame. And it even looks odd in a 4x6 frame. It looks cutest in a 4 inch embroidery hoop, so I think that's my best bet. I'm currently saving the three 4 inch hoops that I have for other projects, so this tree may get shelved for awhile. It's not like I can decorate where I am anyway. And the making is most of the fun!
Next up? I'm thinking some text: Maybe "it will all be okay"? That is my motto, after all. It would be practically a sin not to cross-stitch it up!

I'm back! For reals this time!

It's been, well, ages. Years. But I'm back. I'm living in Missouri again, but with a new husband (!!) and a whole new life. I'm going to be attending graduate school soon, but for now, my life is full of crafting. However, I don't have my sewing machine (it's in storage - long story, I'll get it back at the beginning of July), so I have to be extra creative and try new things.
I've become totally obsessed with cross-stitch, thanks to a couple of kits kindly given to me. At first, I was totally turned-off by the whole idea of cross-stitch - it seemed weirdly hard. But that was because the first kit I tried had 18 count black Aida (the fabric you cross-stitch on), and that was way too difficult to see. 14 count Aida, which has bigger squares, has become my dear friend.
The cross-stitch above is my first completed project, made for my beloved husband. It's a quote from a Ke$sha song, if you didn't know. Not bad for a beginner, right? It's not perfect - the whole text should be shifted to the right one square, and one heart is missing decoration, but Adam won't let me fix it. He says he likes seeing the progression of my work. Wait until he sees what he's getting for his birthday in September! Keeping this project a secret wasn't very hard - I just worked on it while he was at work, and hid it while he was home. I got the pattern for $3.00 from Bellastitchery. So worth it. The project filled three 8-hour days (I didn't work continuously, though, so the project didn't actually take that long). I initially wanted it on pink fabric, but the project instructions were misleading and I ended up running out of pink fabric on a first draft before I realized that the pattern was too big for the fabric I'd cut. So that was sad. But maybe it's a touch more manly this way?
I've also been working on some top-secret presents for a bunch of dear people in my life, so sadly I can't post about those, lest they read this and spoil the surprise! But I have lots more cross-stitch patterns, including one that is guaranteed to make you smile, so there will be work to post soon!