The Crafty (Magazine) Review Thread!

*Louise*

flowerofscotland wrote: »

I think they would make lovely coaster cards - copyright Louise

:j:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

flowerofscotland wrote: »

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS TREE – Helen Brindley
One each of the ’12 days’ items displayed on a metallic gold backstitched tree. This is different, and very effective looking. It doesn’t look like it would take too long to stitch either.

I usually like this style of design but I don't think the presents match the tree They are too prominent and mask instead of enhance the tree. And it's metallic thread

I was having another think about this (I don't like metallic backstitching either) and I reckon if it was stitched on sparkly white evenweave with red (DMC 347) backstitch then the gifts may tie in better? I would still use gold for the beading and stars though.

flowerofscotland

*Louise* wrote: »

:j:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:




I was having another think about this (I don't like metallic backstitching either) and I reckon if it was stitched on sparkly white evenweave with red (DMC 347) backstitch then the gifts may tie in better? I would still use gold for the beading and stars though.

Yes that would work
You should go into design

*Louise*

CROSS STITCH CRAZY Issue 184 - December 2013 £4.99

FREE GIFT - Margaret Sherry Christmas Cuties and Silver Metallic Thread.
8 Card designs, which are adorable - cats, hedgehogs, mice etc . I do like Margaret Sherry's designs but I never stitch them because of the backstitch being between holes. Mind you, the size of my list, that is probably a good thing

HEDGEHOG FRIENDS (Country Companions)
Two hedgehogs walking in the snow, one carrying a lantern, the other dragging a sledge of presents. Lovely design, but I'm not sure I would enjoy stitching all that white background

CROSS STITCH QUICKIE - December
My next Monkey which will be waiting to be stitched - Monkey is hanging from a vine, holding a stocking and there are presents hanging from the vine.

CELEB STITCH - Andre Rieu
Um....just...no.

50 METALLIC THREAD GIFT IDEAS (Rhona Norrie)
Lots of Christmas themed ideas for cards or tags.

'MUST HAVES'
Lots of Christmassy things, and also the cutest idea - it's a tiny embroidery hoop necklace that you can actually put stitching in. Bit on the expensive side though - £7 or £11 each

SANTAS HELPER SET (Diane Machin)
Picture of Santa with a tree/snowflake border and the words 'Santa's little helper'. There are smaller designs for baby clothes - and elf for a hat and a mini version of the border for a vest. I like the border best tbh, not keen on the Santa

CRAFT EXTRA
Christmas trees....sorry, but I don't think these are nice at all.


CRAZY FOR...CAROL SINGERS
Various characters singing - Penguins, Children, Snowmen, Altar boys etc. Can't see me stitching any of these.

ANGEL ABC (Maria Diaz)
Very pretty, delicate looking angel designs. I like them, but would probably backstitch a shade darker to make them stand out a little more. I can see me making a few of these.

SNOW GLOBES (Lesley Teare)
4 globes - ice skater, reindeer, bird/church and sleigh. Nice enough Christmas designs but they don't grab me enough to stitch them.

MITTENS AND STOCKINGS (Becky Tufnell)
Scandinavian style (I commented last month this was popular) these are designed to be pegged up on a cord like cards for decoration. I'm not keen on them tbh but others may like them.

SANTAS WORKSHOP (Lucie Heaton)
Little elves making and wrapping toys on Christmas Eve. This is so cute, but then I always like Lucie Heaton designs. It doesn't look like it would take too long to stitch, it does recommend 50-60 hrs but there are a lot of blocks of colour.

SANTA AND MRS CLAUS (Lisa Reakes)
These are designs on plastic canvas which make a frame for photos. Not keen on them.

CUT OUT AND KEEP CARDS (Jane Henderson)
Various snowmen designs for granddad/Granny/ Dad/ Sister etc.

CHALLENGE LUCIE
Designs requested include: Coat stand, Torches, Bouncy castle, Ausralia, Giant Snail and Two brides designed for a civil partnership which I think is a great idea and not something I have seen in stitch before


SUMMARY/ NEXT MONTH
Overall there isn't much I ill stitch from this month but I will save a few of the chart. The elf workshop might be on the cards for next year. Next month has a big Margaret Sherry animals stitch, Winter animal ABC, New Year cards, kitchen sampler and Humphrey.

Flat_Eric

*Louise* wrote: »

CROSS STITCH CRAZY Issue 184 - December 2013 £4.99

FREE GIFT - Margaret Sherry Christmas Cuties and Silver Metallic Thread.
8 Card designs, which are adorable - cats, hedgehogs, mice etc . I do like Margaret Sherry's designs but I never stitch them because of the backstitch being between holes. Mind you, the size of my list, that is probably a good thing

HEDGEHOG FRIENDS (Country Companions)
Two hedgehogs walking in the snow, one carrying a lantern, the other dragging a sledge of presents. Lovely design, but I'm not sure I would enjoy stitching all that white background

CROSS STITCH QUICKIE - December
My next Monkey which will be waiting to be stitched - Monkey is hanging from a vine, holding a stocking and there are presents hanging from the vine.

CELEB STITCH - Andre Rieu
Um....just...no.

50 METALLIC THREAD GIFT IDEAS (Rhona Norrie)
Lots of Christmas themed ideas for cards or tags.

'MUST HAVES'
Lots of Christmassy things, and also the cutest idea - it's a tiny embroidery hoop necklace that you can actually put stitching in. Bit on the expensive side though - £7 or £11 each

SANTAS HELPER SET (Diane Machin)
Picture of Santa with a tree/snowflake border and the words 'Santa's little helper'. There are smaller designs for baby clothes - and elf for a hat and a mini version of the border for a vest. I like the border best tbh, not keen on the Santa

CRAFT EXTRA
Christmas trees....sorry, but I don't think these are nice at all.


CRAZY FOR...CAROL SINGERS
Various characters singing - Penguins, Children, Snowmen, Altar boys etc. Can't see me stitching any of these.

ANGEL ABC (Maria Diaz)
Very pretty, delicate looking angel designs. I like them, but would probably backstitch a shade darker to make them stand out a little more. I can see me making a few of these.

SNOW GLOBES (Lesley Teare)
4 globes - ice skater, reindeer, bird/church and sleigh. Nice enough Christmas designs but they don't grab me enough to stitch them.

MITTENS AND STOCKINGS (Becky Tufnell)
Scandinavian style (I commented last month this was popular) these are designed to be pegged up on a cord like cards for decoration. I'm not keen on them tbh but others may like them.

SANTAS WORKSHOP (Lucie Heaton)
Little elves making and wrapping toys on Christmas Eve. This is so cute, but then I always like Lucie Heaton designs. It doesn't look like it would take too long to stitch, it does recommend 50-60 hrs but there are a lot of blocks of colour.

SANTA AND MRS CLAUS (Lisa Reakes)
These are designs on plastic canvas which make a frame for photos. Not keen on them.

CUT OUT AND KEEP CARDS (Jane Henderson)
Various snowmen designs for granddad/Granny/ Dad/ Sister etc.

CHALLENGE LUCIE
Designs requested include: Coat stand, Torches, Bouncy castle, Ausralia, Giant Snail and Two brides designed for a civil partnership which I think is a great idea and not something I have seen in stitch before


SUMMARY/ NEXT MONTH
Overall there isn't much I ill stitch from this month but I will save a few of the chart. The elf workshop might be on the cards for next year. Next month has a big Margaret Sherry animals stitch, Winter animal ABC, New Year cards, kitchen sampler and Humphrey.

I cancelled my subscription to Cross Stitch Crazy as month after month there was nothing I wanted to stitch. Typically when I received my last issue I saw that the next issue which I wouldn't be getting had free Margaret Sherry charts :mad:

Its interested to see there isn't much from this issue you want to stitch as the mag looked very inviting to me when I saw the preview. Is it worth paying £5 for ?

*Louise*

I'm happy because there still a few things I will stitch. I would probably say only fork out £5 if you don't have a massive To Do list and you need something christmassy

Flat_Eric

*Louise* wrote: »

I'm happy because there still a few things I will stitch. I would probably say only fork out £5 if you don't have a massive To Do list and you need something christmassy

I *know* I will end up buying it - I'm just :mad: I've got to wait till Thursday!

The_Cre8tor

What a GREAT thread this is!!! Big THANK YOU to Flat Eric for starting it, (I promise I will contribute).

flowerofscotland

My comments in blue

Thank you to Louise for doing the hard work of setting up the thread with the designs listed

*Louise* wrote: »

CROSS STITCH CRAZY Issue 184 - December 2013 £4.99

FREE GIFT - Margaret Sherry Christmas Cuties and Silver Metallic Thread.
8 Card designs, which are adorable - cats, hedgehogs, mice etc . I do like Margaret Sherry's designs but I never stitch them because of the backstitch being between holes. Mind you, the size of my list, that is probably a good thing

Cute but I would only stitch these if they were a present for someone. Not a fan of metallic thread

HEDGEHOG FRIENDS (Country Companions)
Two hedgehogs walking in the snow, one carrying a lantern, the other dragging a sledge of presents. Lovely design, but I'm not sure I would enjoy stitching all that white background

I like Country Companions and I've stitched a few but not recently and this won't make it to my current to do list

CROSS STITCH QUICKIE - December
My next Monkey which will be waiting to be stitched - Monkey is hanging from a vine, holding a stocking and there are presents hanging from the vine.
Cute

CELEB STITCH - Andre Rieu
Um....just...no.
Not interested

50 METALLIC THREAD GIFT IDEAS (Rhona Norrie)
Lots of Christmas themed ideas for cards or tags.
Some quite nice designs but I have seen others I like more

'MUST HAVES'
Lots of Christmassy things, and also the cutest idea - it's a tiny embroidery hoop necklace that you can actually put stitching in. Bit on the expensive side though - £7 or £11 each
I liked these as well. I think the reason they are expensive is that they come from Australia and the AUSD is a very strong currency

SANTAS HELPER SET (Diane Machin)
Picture of Santa with a tree/snowflake border and the words 'Santa's little helper'. There are smaller designs for baby clothes - and elf for a hat and a mini version of the border for a vest. I like the border best tbh, not keen on the Santa
Not keen

CRAFT EXTRA
Christmas trees....sorry, but I don't think these are nice at all.
I quite liked these but again have seen ones I prefer


CRAZY FOR...CAROL SINGERS
Various characters singing - Penguins, Children, Snowmen, Altar boys etc. Can't see me stitching any of these.
Don't like these at all - I thought the faces were odd

ANGEL ABC (Maria Diaz)
Very pretty, delicate looking angel designs. I like them, but would probably backstitch a shade darker to make them stand out a little more. I can see me making a few of these.
Good idea but not sure how I would use them

SNOW GLOBES (Lesley Teare)
4 globes - ice skater, reindeer, bird/church and sleigh. Nice enough Christmas designs but they don't grab me enough to stitch them.
Prefer the Lucie Heaton version of snow globes

MITTENS AND STOCKINGS (Becky Tufnell)
Scandinavian style (I commented last month this was popular) these are designed to be pegged up on a cord like cards for decoration. I'm not keen on them tbh but others may like them.
I like these and I think they would look lovely in between cards Perhaps one day I will have enough time to stitch something like this

SANTAS WORKSHOP (Lucie Heaton)
Little elves making and wrapping toys on Christmas Eve. This is so cute, but then I always like Lucie Heaton designs. It doesn't look like it would take too long to stitch, it does recommend 50-60 hrs but there are a lot of blocks of colour.
OK

SANTA AND MRS CLAUS (Lisa Reakes)
These are designs on plastic canvas which make a frame for photos. Not keen on them.
Not for me

CUT OUT AND KEEP CARDS (Jane Henderson)
Various snowmen designs for granddad/Granny/ Dad/ Sister etc.
Quite like these but I don't make a lot of cards

CHALLENGE LUCIE
Designs requested include: Coat stand, Torches, Bouncy castle, Ausralia, Giant Snail and Two brides designed for a civil partnership which I think is a great idea and not something I have seen in stitch before
Interesting mix of designs but nothing I need at the moment


SUMMARY/ NEXT MONTH
Overall there isn't much I ill stitch from this month but I will save a few of the chart. The elf workshop might be on the cards for next year. Next month has a big Margaret Sherry animals stitch, Winter animal ABC, New Year cards, kitchen sampler and Humphrey.

My summary - nothing in this issue has made it to my to do list EXCEPT on the back page there is an ad for Country Designs and I really like the design with the 2 swans. There is currently an offer of 25% off kits on the site and I am very tempted.....

flowerofscotland

As requested by Louise here is my review of the current issue of Cross Stitch Collection

CSC isn't as widely available as other xs mags. It doesn't have free gifts nor as many pages. It specialises in larger more detailed designs though ech issue includes a few smaller designs as well

Winter Robin4th in a series of 4 seasonal birds surrounded by seasonal flowers By Lesley Teare. Nice design but not something I want to stitch at the moment

Jane's A to Z of cross stitch. This month the subject is ironing (cross stitch)

Edwardian Christmas. Part 2 of 3 of a stunning design of a Christmas street scene set in the Edwardian period. Very detailed and a real labour of love

Retro Charm. Appliqu! style flower cushion in country shades of blue and red Stitched on linen. I really like this and it wouldn't take too long. Perhaps one for next year

Colour Up interesting article about hand dyed fabric (one of my passions). Made me want to add to my stash :eek:

angel of joy by Joan Elliott. A lovely Christmas angel in shades of soft blues and violets with a garland of White Christmas roses Beautiful as Joan's designs always are an I love these colours

Reindeer Games 4 small designs by Lucie Heaton of a cartoon style Rudolph Cute but I don't care for the way the back stitch is done

Christmas Heirlooms. Article about making cushions tablecloths and tree decorations. Interesting.

Fun tags. Very small designs for Christmas gift tags. Not something I would ever stitch

the snowman and the snowdog very cute and lovely for a child's room at Christmas

So with 2 designs I would love to stitch and 2 more that I really like I think to a is good value.

nmm

flowerofscotland wrote: »

the snowman and the snowdog very cute and lovely for a child's room at Christmas

I think the snowdog is super cute too, and i'm an adult :rotfl: