Free hama bead Bunny pattern

Meet Mr Bunny your new hama bead buddy....

 

Make him into a brooch or necklace or add him to a wrapped Easter egg.....cute!...

 

 

....or cross stitch him onto a hama bead pendant. If you missed my post on how to make a hama board to stitch on on click here.

 

Download the FREE hama bead Bunny pattern HERE. Once you have the pdf open hover at the bottom of the pattern and the print icon will appear.

 

 

 You never know when inspiration is going to strike. This adorable bunny egg cup that I bought for $4 at a market has certainly got my Easter ideas flowing.

 

This cute bunny also appears in my new Easter cross stitch pattern....

 

...."3 Little Bunnies", which is now listed in my Etsy store.

 

Stay tuned to see what I do with the bunny egg cup...another Easter tutorial coming soon.

Free Babushka cross stitch pattern......download glitch fixed!

About a year ago a I posted an update on my Babushka Sampler pattern and included this freebie cross stitch pattern......

The place I was hosting the file is now asking $5 to download it......EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

So after much googling ang playing around I have found Issuu which will host my pdfs for free - how fabulous.

So here is the new link to the definitely free pattern. I have also fixed the link on the original post.
When you open the document just hover near the bottom until the print icon pops up and then you can print it out!

This pattern is free for you to use on your own projects and you can even sell the stitched design if you fancy - but it would be great if you could include a link to my blog!

I know you wouldn't but I have to say it...please don't sell the pattern. Freebies are so nice it would be a shame to abuse the privilege. Thank you!

P.S I would love to see a photo your finished pieces using my pattern...pretty please.

New Pattern: Easter Bunny Matryoshka! (and a giveaway)

A new cross stitch/needlepoint pattern from Cupcake Cutie to get you in the mood for Easter.......

 

....introducing Easter Matryoshka and her collection of eggs! I have just listed her in my Etsy store.

 

I love all the pastel colours of Easter and can't wait to get stuck into more Easter crafting.

What are you crafting for Easter?

 

P.S Be the first to comment on this post and leave your email address and I will send you the pattern for free!

 

 

 

I love Ondori books!

About a year ago I stumbled upon my first vintage Ondori Japanese craft book and it has been a full on love affair ever since.

I especially love the cross stitch and embroidery books from the 70s and 80s, I am always searching high and low at op shops, garage sales and online to find one.

Here are a few of my recent finds.....

featuring these adorable designs....

.....they will make great hama bead patterns.

And this embroidery book which I haven't seen before....

........everything in it is so inspiring and cute and kitschy!

 

And another embroidery one.....

 

.......with lots quirky figures and plenty of mushrooms!



Then I found these two Doll making Ondori books which have the most adorable dolls in them...

 

 I love their facial expressions.....

 

......they are just all too cute!

But because I have far too many other projects (and perhaps not enough patience!) I have listed the Doll making books in my Retro Crafty Girl Etsy store so that a very clever and patient crafter can have fun making them.

The first three books I am keeping all to myself!

Stitching on Hama beads

If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know that I am obsessed with hama beads and cross stitch...I just love designing patterns pixel by pixel and bringing them to life with either bead or thread.

So I have been playing around combining my two favourite things....

I had this brilliant idea to make a square of hama beads and try and stitch on it.
I decided to use my Mr Fox hama bead brooch pattern to start with. I just love the contrast of the threads on the bright background beads. Stick a bit of felt to the back and you have a coaster!
photo

Next I thought about making smaller shapes to stitch on to make into brooches/pins and pendants or just decorations.  Now the trick is not to melt the beads too much otherwise your needle won't fit through the holes!

 

So four beads will make one cross stitch...you just go up and down through the centre of the beads like you do with the holes in aida cloth.

If you want to try this yourself here is a BIG TIP.........if you create your shape with your square board placed on an angle you can then use the spaces between the fused beads as extra stitch holes and therefore get bigger designs onto a smaller area....did I explain that very well?!

So I got very excited and started making lots of shapes and stitching lots of woodland creatures....

 

 

 

You can see that both the deer and owl have been stitched on 'angled' shapes while if you go back to the top and look at the fox he is stitched on a 'straight' board.

 

OK so I am never going to be asked to write technical manuals with this kind of explanation but I hope you get the idea. Please feel free to ask questions!

 

Have a go...it is so much fun!

 

I am working on a cute Easter one which will be revealed soon.

Op Shop find of the week

I am always on the look out for old New Zealand glass milk bottles but I refuse to pay $10 each for them which seems to be the going rate now that they are getting rare.

 

Lucky for me I found these two buried in a random box of pot lids and plastic containers at the local recycle centre which is attached to the dump/tip.

 

I paid $2 for both so I am very happy.

Now they are proudly displaying these lovely bright Hydrangeas cut fresh from my garden.



2013...another year of crafty blogging

Happy New Year!

I hope you have all had a fun and festive holiday season.

We spent a week in the very sunny Sunshine Coast of Australia over Christmas and a another week at home recovering.

 

Here is a pic of me and the kids.....hubby took the photo.

It was very hot and humid there (as you can tell by my shiny face!) and the kids were a bit sick and cranky most of the time but other than that we had a lovely time!

Here is Missy Moo with her Xmas hat on...

But now seriously it is time to consider 2013...
... my aim for the year is to get a little more organised with my crafting and blogging.

I bought myself this super sweet Owl diary...as I figured something this cute must be conducive to organisation!

I want to be more consistent with my blogging (fingers crossed!) with a few regular posts including 'What I am stitching now', 'Op Shop finds' and of course tutorials.

I hope to share with you more of the creative projects I am doing around the house....decorating my son's bedroom, making over the cubby house, painting the outside of the house, gardening projects and just little bits of day-to-day creative stuff that I hope you will find useful or inspiring.

This year I want to dabble in some giant cross stitch and keep plaiyng with Hama beads and I have lots of Easter ideas that I will start blogging about soon.

I love your comments and feedback so if there is anything you would like to see a blog post about or tutorial ideas please let me know.

Let the blogging begin!