...Back to blog...

I’m back to blog after a series of long week end:

• Easter week end: 3 days;
• 25^th April (National Liberation Day) week end: 4 days
• 1^st May (Labour Day) week end: 3 days

It’s wonderful to have so many holidays so close but the work days among this week end are very hard and very busy….well stop complaining!!!

We spent the last two week end in Pinarella (a seaside resort on the Adriatic) we have a caravan up here from May to September….well on Saturday we went to see the 26^th International kite show at Cervia (near Pinarella)…it was an incredible sight!!!

We bought a little Winnie Pooh kite for Alice DD….she had a great time with it!!!...also my DH had a great time!!

I bought also a silk purple scarf and a little bag for my cross stitch work….I like very much the picture on it!!

In this week I work on my Melanie Exchange piece…so no photo for it….no other substantial stitching progress for me…I’m not much productive in this period :o(

Thank you to vEr0n!c@ for her helpfulness…my RR cloth is on the way of Malaysia so that she can complete it!!

Thank you to Coral and Jenn for your Happy Birthday wishes…

Thank you for all your comment on my Archie….

For Isabelle at last we eat all those boiled eggs….my mum make a big mixed salad with it :o)

...That's why I write in English…

After several comments on my choice of writing my blog in English I would like to explain why I do so…there is a very simple answer when I started blogging all Cross Stitch blogs were in English so I decided to write mine in this language and now I have quite a lot non Italian blogger friends who read my English blog so I won’t change my choice maybe I’ll create a twin Italian blog…what do you think?

Dopo parecchi commenti sulla mia scelta di scrivere in inglese ho deciso di spiegare il perchè...la risposta è molto semplice quando ho iniziato tutti i blog sul punto croce erano in inglese così ho deciso di scrivere il mio in questa lingua, adesso i blog di crocette italiani sono aumentati notevolmente ma ci sono parecchie amiche crocettose non italiane che leggono il mio blog quindi credo che non cambierò la lingua stavo pensando se creare un blog gemello in italiano come fanno tante ragazze francesi che ne dite? Dite la vostra sul mini poll che ho creato....Grazie :o)

...Easter happy dance...

Yesterday we spend an enjoyable Easter in Secchio a little village of Reggio Emilia’s mountain where my father was born….the weather was fantastic... a wonderful spring day!!!

After Easter Mass all people get together to play “COCCINO” this is an Easter tradition... here how it works:

• every people put a coloured hard –boiled egg into a line

• all people form a circle
• the game leader distributes one egg each
• the first people knock with his egg on rival egg….

• the winner is the egg undamaged …
• the winner wins the broken egg and carry on his work with an other rival egg….

Yesterday was my lucky day :o) …I get a good haul…

now we have to eat all that eggs….the problem is I hate hard-boiled eggs :o(

An Easter Happy Dance for me….I stitch the MS Archie free kit from Cross Stitcher April issue for a friend birthday …..

she likes the box with Archie I made for her…

and I like to stitch Archie it’s very pleasant I prefer Archie rather than Tatty teddy….stitching the first one is easier!!

Thanks for all your kind comments on my RR...It will be a perfect picture for my bathroom...

For vEr0n!c@ it's wonderful when an RR came home and an empty square is very bad...I’m very happy if you want to stitch Archie bear on my RR cloth…let me know if you are still interested….mail me at this address chiarasloft@gmail.com

...RR&Easter&April flip it...

Yesterday my RR NOSTRO cloth is come home!!! And it’s really wonderful!!! I have to thank all my RR partners they made my cloth marvellous…..now I have to stitch an other BATHTIME design to complete the cloth ( a girl left the RR) …

I have chosen MS’s Hello Archie of Cross Stitcher November issue…. I hope to start it soon…

A little Happy Dance for me…I complete my April Flip it I like very much the colour of this stamp….but the next time I’ll stitch a Lizzie Kate pattern I’ll use the special threads instead of DMC threads I think the end results would be better…

The first row of my cloth is completed….take part in a SAL is very useful to complete all the pattern…if I stitch it to myself I have left it some month ago…

I would like to make some Eggies like those of San, unfortunately I have only felt colours unsuitable with the Eggies colours (we can sew only alien chick!! :o)) so Alice DD suggest to sew some Easter Egg…and this is the results:

The orange one is our first creation…it’s quite rickety …the violet one is better :o)

Thank you for all the kind comment on my exchange piece…yesterday I received a lovely Easter card from Danielle with a letter to complete her exchange box…She is very kind a perfect exchange partner!!!

...SBEBB Spring exchange...

Danielle has received the Spring exchange piece I have made for her…. I stitch for her and she stitch for me.... it’s very strange but very amusing!!! I send her Spring Grass floss by Gentle art… and she sends me Spring Grass floss by Gentle art :o) lol!!!

Well I stitch for her a Bent Creek design “Spring Soapbox”…

I change the disposal of the box to adapt the design to the photo album cover…and I add the word THINK SPRING to the original design….I make a photo album cover using a spring blue pattern as the linen I used for the stitching....I’m happy because Danielle loves my work and the goodies I send her…

At the end my first SBEBB exchange is a wonderful experience …so I think I will take part in a lot other exchanges!!!

I would like to show you what a wonderful blanket Levistrix and her friens have made with all the clown design we made for CLOWN CHARITY PROJECT…I think the children that will receive it will love it very much!!!

Have a good week end!!!

…Sring Exchange&March Flip it&SBQ…

Today I find a wonderful surprise in my mail box…my Spring Exchange piece from Danielle….I open the box and WOW …It’s full of beautiful goodies:

First of all two wonderful Spring ornaments really creative and well finished I love it very much…then a lot of gift some chocolate eggs, 3 Gentle Art Sampler Threads (the colours are those of Italian flag), Two Self Stick Notes in Spring Colours nice and useful and a fantastic Lizzie&Kate chart “Spring Things” with an embellishment pack…..I love all!!! Thank you very much Danielle you spoil me!!!…this the first exchange piece I have received and I’m as happy as a lark!!!

Yesterday evening I finished my March Flip-it….now I'm ready for April!!!

Today's SBQ is:

Do you stitch "on the go?" (On the commute to and from work, during your lunch break, waiting for the kids, etc.) If so, do you have a specific "travel" project or do you just grab whatever you happen to be working on and take it with you?

No I don’t stitch "on the go"…I have no opportunity to do so... I go to work with car, and I have a lunch time very short so no chance…but if I can do it I think I’ll take with me a little project with few floss…

...still alive...

Hi to everyone :o) as usual I’m not very diligent with my post…but this is a chaotic

period…and the future wouldn’t be better :o( I have to take my state exam to became an engineer at the end of may so I have to study… what a drag!!

After all my complaint about the weather… Spring finally arrived!! And it’s wonderful!!! The temperature is perfect!!! The trees are full of pink and white flowers WOW!!! I like this season…we can spend a lot of time out in the garden …thanks to this wonderful days Alice learns to ride a bicycle (this is the bicycle of my DH when he was a child and it works perfectly!!)….she is pleased with herself :o) good for her!!

Today a dear friend has took her degree so last week I decide to stitch a Tatty Teddy card for her (she likes Tatty Teddy very much) as chance would have it I start stitching very late so this morning I got up at an ungodly hour to finish the backstitching of the teddy (it’s a very hard work!!)….I finish it just on time to go work….it was really worth it!!! My friend loves the card very much!!! This is my first Tatty Teddy I like the end result but how many grey!! :o) at the end I couldn’t discern different grey shade….

Last week I read Howl’s Moving Castle book by Diana Wynne Jones….it’s marvellous!!! It’s even better of the movie….I read it in one go!!! I advise it!!!

Last week I received my April Cross Stitcher….my to do list:

• Relax with Archie (by Margaret Sherry)….for me
• Exclusive: Yo Yo Baby bliss….for a new baby (when HE/SHE will arrive :o)

Thank you very much for all your comment on my envelope….

For Kris I closed my envelope with two button as you can see in the second photo, Blinne’s envelope instead is closed with press-stud. My envelope’s original measure were 15x15 centimeters but I’m not very clever with the sewing machine so they changed a little bit :o) You can find some instruction here made by Bea

Per Kris : per chiudere la mia busta ho usato due bottoni come puoi vedere dalla foto, Blinde invece ha usato dei bottoncini automatici invisibili sul davanti. Le misure originali della mia busta dovevano essere 15x15 cm…purtroppo non sono un mago alla macchina da cucire così le misure sono leggermente cambiate :o)Puoi trovare alcune istruzioni quisul sito di Bea

For Carol and Malaika maybe I could try a “mystery”…if the designer is one of my favourite…a question: where I can find a "mystery" ?

...SBQ and comments....

Today's SBQ was suggested by Carol and is:

Have you ever participated in a needlework mystery (i.e., a design that you started before knowing how it will look in the end and by which you receive parts of the design via the internet, magazines, or leaflets at spaced intervals)? If so, why did you decide to do the mystery? What appealed to you about it? Did you enjoy it? If you have not done a mystery, would you ever do one?

No I have never participate in a needlework mystery and I think I won’t ever do one…I would like to know what I’m going to stitch before start stitching…I would be very disappointed if I have spent a lot of time stitching a design that at the end I don’t like !!!

Thank you for all your kind comment on my envelope…and my flip it I hope to finish it soon…:o)

for Carol and Von… I’m Italian :o) and I live in Reggio Emilia :o) a little city in the north of Italy…now in Italy it is Spring but the temps feel like Autumn!!! The sky is grey and it is still cold :o(

for Zohrah…the MS mugs are one for each person of my family…Alice (DD) has chosen the pig my DH uses the first he find in the cupboard…so I use the remaining!! (I like all of them so It’s not a problem!!!)

...Mail art and SBQ...

First day of Spring….not here!!! Here is autumn :o( !!!

It’s a long time since I post last time but the time is always little (the question is to stitch or to post…and I have chosen to stitch several time!!:o) and last week I was ill again…this year is a tragedy!!! I’m always sickly :o( I hope that hot days arrive soon!!!

This week I work on my SBEBB Spring Exchange…and it’s almost finished!!!

As Bea,my secret partner in EMS Italian Mail art exchange, has received the envelope I stitch for her I can share the photo of my work (this is my first envelope and working on it was quite hard): the theme was Saint Valentine or Spring so I choose a Lizzie&Kate some pattern from “Sunshine Crossing” I enclose some gift for Bea a Gentle art floss and a piece of an heart pattern for her quilt:


Some progress for the March Flip It…I like this Irish design!!!

Today(Last week)'s SBQ is:

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

No I have never stitched over one….aida 18 is quite hard enough for me and my eyes!!!

...where is spring?...

This is the view of our garden this morning, by now we have five centimeters of snow:

Where is Spring? …I love snow but not in march!!! :o)

For Nela: The envelope with the stitching was sent within a normal envelope and the stamp is only a simulation…
About the MS cup…I think that the shop where I bought them doesn’t sell it on the Web, unfortunately there aren’t cup with cats...

…EMS Italian mail art exchange…

Last Thursday I received my envelope from my partner of EMS Italian mail art exchange. This wonderful mail is made by Blinne…It is really gorgeous, isn’t it? I like it very much…congrats Blinne you made a great job and you have chosen a perfect subject, I worship this design!!! Thank you very much Blinne!!	Giovedì scorso ho ricevuto una stupenda busta dap arte di Blinne per lo scambio di arte postale del forum EMS….è letteralmente favolosa!!! E il disegno che Blinde ha scelto è uno dei miei preferiti!! Grazie mille Blinne!!
And that’s not all!!The envelope was full of gift: Two DMC metallic floss and a stitchable key ring for me…I’m itching to use them :o) A pink necklace and some red heart button for Alice from Blinne’s DD…She likes them very much, she wears the necklace all the day!!! Thanks to both of you!!! You are very Kind!!	E non è tutto!! La busta era piena di regali: Due filati metallici della DMC e un portachiavi ricamabile per me; una collana rosa e dei bottoni a forma di cuore per Alice…le piacciono un sacco !!!la indossa tutti i giorni…:o) Grazie mille siete state gentilissime!!!

This is the mug week!!! Yesterday I went to Bologna for a marketing class, on my way home I stopped at Co-import (thank you Gaya for the tip!!!)and I bought this wonderful cups. What does they suggest to you? I like it very much :o)

...Morning Cup...

I saw on Angelsan blog Kim’s challenge, so I decide to show you my morning cup:

These are my favourite morning cup, they are quite chipped [I’m really inadvertent :o)] but I like them so much that I use them anyway, every day I drink my milky coffee only in this kind of cups…

...SBQ&Cross Stitcher...

Today's SBQ is:

Do you have an organizational system for your patterns? If so, how do you organize them? If not, have you considered organizing them?

Yes I have an organizational system for my pattern :

• A big ring binder for all free pattern and leaflets sorted by designer.
• A ring binder for Lizzie Kate pattern.
• A transparent folder binder for Margaret Sherry pattern.
• A folder for Disney magazines.
• A big red folder for Jeremiah Junction magazines and leaflet.
• A big red folder for Italian magazine.
• Two open folder for the UK magazine.
• A metallic box for the kit.

Finally I received my Cross Stitcher march issue…luckily in Italy mother day is the second Sunday of may so I can stitch the Tina Wenke card for my mum …

WILL STITCH LIST of this issue:

• Tina Wenke free kit
• Tatty Teddy
• The Oriental ideogram
• Archie bear

Some progress for the march flip it….I would like to finish it on time for saint Patrick day…

For Heather the fabric is an AIDA 14 count by DMC I don’t know the name of the colour maybe ochre or cream…

…spring is arriving….

..today first day of spring in Reggio Emilia (for me)…no fog, only sun, blue sky and white cloud a perfect march spring day…and the temperature is rising hurrah!!!…

..I’m still alive…but last week was a very busy week at work so no time to stitch (I arrive at home too late and to tired)…and no time to post…:o(

Happily this week end I make up for lost time…

I finished my envelope for ENS Italian mail art exchange…I’m quite satisfied but not totally…this was my first envelope and I pay for my inexperience with the sewing machine…I leave a border of linen too little so when I sewed on the envelope become very small…I hope my partner will love it instead of its measure!! :o)

I work on my SBEB spring exchange ..I have started the stitching part and I‘ve decided how to finish it….I hope to finish it soon and well…

Then I make same little progress on my PIG…

And I start the March flip it…




















No more stitching for the week end…I spend all the rest of my spare time playing parlour game with Alice and our friend….we have unearth some old parlour game (Hotel, Risiko…) and we have a lot of fun!!!…a different enjoyable week end…
Now SBQ…(quite late but still on time)
SBQ was suggested by Cheryl and is:

What cross-stitch magazines or other publications (as opposed to blogs) do you read on a regular basis? What do you like about them? What do you not like? What would your perfect publication include?

I have a subscription to Cross Stitcher (by the way I’m still waiting for my march issue :o( ) and sometimes I buy on e-bay The World of cross stitching, Q&E or Cross stitch crazy if there is something interesting. In the magazine I like especially the chart (those of MS, tatty teddy, Newton law…) the free gift (if present), the stitching advice, the wise word…and the photo of reader work.

The perfect magazine:

• On time
• Cheap
• Full of MS design
• With a cute free gift…I ask for nothing else :o)