What Delilah Did

Happy Queen Day!

In a rather timely coincidence, today I finished stitching my newest pattern: this rather nice crown. The coincidence being that today is the 60th anniversary of the day our lovely Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne.

I must admit I was blissfully unaware of the fact that this year was our Queen's Diamond Jubilee when I designed the pattern a while ago (its origination having more to do with the fact that I was watching an awful lot of The Tudors at the time), but it fits quite nicely so I think I will dedicate this design to her. In any event I imagine HRH would appreciate having a cross stitch design dedicated to her significantly more than the equally lovely Henry Cavill (who is the chief reason for my love of The Tudors aside from the costumes, and therefore next in line for a dedication).

I stitched it in black to begin with as usual, but it will look fabulous in gold. I also intend for it to become a cushion at some stage in the not too distant future, but if I am honest (being as I am much better at stitching than sewing) that day could be a long time coming so I didn't want to wait until then to show it to you!

I am planning to make this design available as a kit in the spring (alongside The Bee, Libellule, The Cupcake and one more new pattern I have yet to show you) and am now just working on the packaging so will let you know as soon as they are ready. If you can't wait until then though, the pattern for The Crown is now in the shop!

I hope you like it!

Delilah x

Two More (Non) Sleeps!

It is so close I can hardly bear it...only two more full days of work before my day-job becomes a half-a-day-job so that I can concentrate on my stitching - I am so excited I think I might explode before February arrives!

Aside from lots more textile-related things, I fully intend to use the newfound hours for a few little luxuries which have been absent for the last year or two such as sleep, swimming, biking, walking, baking and catching up on my reading - as you can see from the picture above the pile of books on my bedside table is reaching mountainous proportions and actually contains two Alice Hoffman books meaning she is literally writing them faster than I can read them, which is frankly rather ridiculous. And that is not to mention the pile of unread magazines just waiting to be cracked open on the other side of the bed.

Just two more days... Must hold it together...

Happy (excited) Sunday!

Delilah x

Libellule - The Dragonfly

Evening all!

The new issue of CrossStitcher Magazine went on sale today (the one with my pattern in) which means that I finally get to share it with you properly, hurrah! So for those of you that have not already seen the pattern, may I introduce Libellule - the dragonfly. I hope you will all agree with me that she sure is mighty fine! I have named her Libellule (which is French for dragonfly) because I stitched her under the shade of a tree when I was in the South of France in September and I just think it is such a pretty word.

CrossStitcher made a gold version and they did such a beautiful job, I really am thrilled with it:

         

You can see a preview of my pattern and some of the others in the issue here, and they did a lovely blog post on my work here too.

The issue is on sale now so you can stitch one for your very own - what are you waiting for?!

And if you live in some far flung exotic location and cannot get your hands on a copy, the pattern is now in the shop too.

I hope you like it. I have more to show you soon... I am stitching as fast as I can!

Toodle pip,

Delilah x

Cross Stitcher Interview

Afternoon all!

I never got to tell you about this lovely interview Harriet from Cross Stitcher magazine wrote up about me. I know a number of you have already seen/read it as you have written to tell me so, but for those of you that haven't, if you click on the photo at the bottom of this post you should just about be able to read it. And I believe you can still get hold of a copy here should you so wish (December 2011, Issue 247). It is the purple one that looks like this:

I have also designed a pattern for the February issue, which I have been keeping under wraps for what feels like forever - I cannot wait for it to go on sale at the end of this month so that I can finally share it with you! Though the eagle-eyed among you may have already noticed it in a couple of not-so-well-hidden places...

Delilah x

Milleta

I have been unsuccessfully looking for a pair of lovely slippers to warm my toes for the past three years (I am incredibly fussy) so when I saw these little Milleta beauties here I snapped them up without a second thought - they are exactly what I have been looking for the whole time and they have hardly left my feet since they arrived a few days ago, yippee!

They are so warm and sturdy layered on top of my thin cotton socks that I literally feel as though I could walk bootless across a glacier in them and not even feel a chill. I love the colours, I love the patterned cuffs, I love the fact that they are one of a kind and lovingly, immaculately made with care by an actual pair of human hands and not a machine, I love the natural hand-spun rough organic yarn, I love that they come from Moldova... I just love love LOVE them! The only problem is that now I want another pair. When I manage to save up some more pennies I might see if she can make me some more with these brilliant little arrows on:

If your feet are cold, I cannot recommend her shop highly enough - you need never fear frostbite again.

Delilah x

Photographs: Milleta

So Long 2011...

Since all of my cards have now been given I am finally able to show them to you - just before Christmas is officially over (which is on New Year's Eve in my book). I like these cards so much I am tempted to make more of them to send again next year! I don't think my obsession with deer will ever end.

I actually intended to send these instead:

I made them after seeing this tutorial earlier in the year, but although the first few were beautiful, the soft rubber of the stamp pretty much disintegrated after that so I had to think of something else as I had a lot of cards to make.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was peaceful and lovely. While 2011 has not been kind to many, for me it has been the year that I finally found my direction and as such I will be a little sad to see it go. I approached it with optimism because 11 is my lucky number, and my frame of mind seems to have worked wonders. I can't deny I am excited to see what comes next though - I have just one more month to get through before I cut my hours at work to concentrate on my stitching. Terrifying, but also a dream come true. And hopefully it means I will be able to enjoy a few little luxuries such as sleep and seeing my friends again.

And so... goodbye 2011, may 2012 be twice as wonderful.

Happy New Year!

Delilah x

Christmas Starts Here!

My orders have been posted out, the tree is up and the office has closed for the next five days - I can finally let my Christmas begin! No better feeling.

One day I shall have a real tree, but until then I have made my inherited tree look as pretty as I can and for now it will do me very nicely. However we have had to cover the lower branches with washing up liquid to try and Maggie-proof it and she has already made a start on the light cables - she is an absolute menace!

Aside from the naughty cat though it feels so beautifully calm here now that I have packed away my little factory operation for a few days. I am planning to do only lovely things for the next few days: baking, seeing friends and family, and stitching up some orders and new designs (which I suppose is technically work but I don't think it counts because right now it is a treat just to sit down!).

A massive thank you to all of you that have made this season so busy for me, I am truly exhausted but have loved every second of it. And I just can't wait to share my new things with you! Not long now...

Delilah x

How To Build A Massive Twig Tree... And Transport It In A Mini

I cannot believe it has been almost a week since Clutter City already. It was wonderful this time around! I got to meet so many of my lovely online customers in person which was a real treat. Though I was struck by just how many of these local people had to go all the way to London to find out about my work - I really must do something about that.

I spent ages on this display but I'm afraid the pictures of it aren't brilliant because when I got my camera out at the fair I realised I had left the battery charging on top of the bread bin at home...what a muppet. Thank goodness for iPhones.

Anyway, about that tree: 



I knew that I wanted to have some sort of tree in my display but after many lunchtimes spent trawling the (frankly rubbish) shops in town all I found on offer was god-awful shiny Christmas tat that I wouldn't have associated with my products in a month of Sundays. But then came the wind! Truly awful for many people in the North, but every cloud does indeed have a silver lining, and this one came in the form of entire branches broken off by the manic wind littering the ground in the park outside my house. I wrapped up warm, went scavenging for twigs in the dark and came home looking even more like a crazy witch than usual with wild hair and armfuls of wood enough to make ten broomsticks.

I then proceeded to fight my way up the stairs with them and tied them into a trunk at the bottom with about a mile of string, all the while doing a stupid sort of twirling jig to keep mad Maggie-cat from destroying the lot. After this little mini-drama I was left with a floor littered with little bits of bark and mud, various scratches on the ceiling, and a massive, beautiful twig tree. Totally worth it in my opinion. I stole a basket from the bathroom shelf and wedged my tree in with screwed up newspaper, then hung all my hoops on it sat beaming at the whole thing until silly o'clock, massively impressed with my own inventiveness/frugality! A lovely stylish centrepiece and all for the price of a reel of string. 

However, getting it to Norwich for the fair in my friend's Mini was not so much fun! We somehow managed to get it there and back with not too many snapped twigs though (and only a few tantrums on my part...). Another argument towards my growing need for a Land Rover methinks. If only my darling tree didn't make such an appealing cat toy, it could stay in the house all year round.

***

Since I got back I have been feverishly re-stocking the kits I sold out of to make sure there are enough to go around in time for Christmas, so if you see that a kit has sold out, the chances are it will be back in stock a few hours later - I am making them up as fast as my little hands will go!

Back soon,

Delilah x

Craft Fair + Earlybird Christmas Discount!

Hello there!

I am missing blogging muchly as I am being kept away by a manic kit-making spree ready for Christmas, but I just wanted to stop by with a couple of updates: 

Firstly, to let you know that I will be selling my wares at Clutter City Market again this year so please come and see me if you are in the area! Saturday 10th December at Norwich Arts Centre. There is always a lovely atmosphere and lots of lovely things to see, with music/crafts/food so it is well worth a trip.

Secondly, the world and his wife seem to delight in telling me that they have already finished all of their Christmas shopping and I am feeling hopelessly inadequate in comparison as I have hardly started! I will probably be doing most of mine online which made me realise that I had better get my act together before the pre-Christmas postal nightmare begins... So in that ilk I thought I would set up a little discount especially for you lovely people that visit my blog to help you beat the rush too:

From now until midnight on Saturday 17th December (GMT) you can get 15% off your entire order in my shop* when you enterthe code: EARLYBIRD at the checkout.

Assuming we don't have a crazy snow-related Royal Mail meltdown like last year, last order dates for Christmas delivery are as follows:

UK: Saturday 17th December

Europe/USA/Canada**: Wednesday 7th December

Rest of World**: Saturday 3rd December

I will be re-stocking the Guardian and Little Bird kits in the shop within the next few days too so if you have been waiting on these they will be available by the weekend.

Delilah x

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*Discount excludes postage charges

**Please bear in mind international orders can also be held up in Customs which is outside my control, so it is best to order earlier rather than later.

Herman the Friendship Cake

When I met up with a friend recently he came bearing gifts. Well one specific, rather random gift actually, courtesy of his mother: Herman the friendship cake (though at the time he was not a cake, just a little bowl full of bubbly yellowish slop). I freely admit that I am hopelessly out of touch with the modern world and was therefore a little baffled as I had never heard of a friendship cake, but thankfully he came with a sheet of instructions.

It is basically a bit like a chain email (which I loathe) but using cake (which I love!). Herman is a living yeast mixture that you have to feed with various ingredients over a number of days, before giving four parts of the mixture to friends to carry on the chain, and turning the fifth part into a yummy spiced apple cake. A little research told me this is not a new idea, but based on a traditional Amish sweet bread that uses a sourdough starter. I have never had much luck with yeast-based things as I can never get them to rise properly, but because this evolves so slowly it is foolproof.

I can't deny I was a little dubious at the thought of the mixture sitting around for goodness knows how long in various random people's houses, but I got over it and the resulting cake was really yummy (and I haven't died from food poisoning yet), so if the mixture reaches you and you can turn a blind eye to the health and safety quagmire, then I recommend you try it!

If you like the look of this cake but have yet to be gifted a bowl of yeasty goo, you could always start your own - I found a link to the recipe here. And if you can't be bothered with any of that never fear as Herman bears more than a passing resemblance to this apple loaf cake, so maybe give that a try instead...

Happy Sunday!

Delilah x