What Delilah Did

The One With The Very Belated Christmas Present...

Being busy with work is wonderful but it does have its downside - namely that I never get time to do anything else! Which is why I only recently finished making this embarassingly late Christmas CD for a friend.

In my defense I did actually make the CD itself before Christmas but stitching the case and designing the insert took somewhat longer... The patterns for the initials on the front of the case are from the birthday issue of CrossStitcher - aren't they just lovely? They look so elegant in cream against the brown linen I think.

And on the back of the case I stitched a little stag in a really pale greyish-blueish-greenish thread, because I never tire of stags and they are not too girly for a boy I think. I spent far too long on the insert, but the finished result was worth every second I think. I quite wanted to keep it for myself actually! I listed all of the songs and the reasons for choosing them, and then added a few of the beautiful images from this wonderful website to illustrate it. I was informed by my friend that it was well and truly worth the wait.

The most awful thing though is that this is not the last belated Christmas present that I had left to give - my sister and brother-in-law are still awaiting gigantic circus letters for their wall, though to be honest at this rate I will be surprised if they are finished by Christmas 2012! They did have to request the most time consuming patterns I have ever made... I don't suppose any of you know how to make my Time Turner work yet do you?

Delilah x

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

Pop-up Shop

As promised, the obligatory photo roundup from the craft fair - well, technically these photos were taken in my little house since I am always running too late to do them when I get to the fair, but you get the idea!

I kept a similar layout to the stall at Christmas but added the new kits, a couple of other new things and changed the tablecloth and some other little bits. I have to say I really love it - it makes me want to open my own little bricks and mortar shop more than ever! Though alas I don't think that will be happening any time soon.

Since I have rather more stock now I really struggled to fit everything in, so I decided to head upwards and hang my little swarm of winged beasts from a rail, where they proceeded to flutter sweetly in the breeze.

I stitched these new miniature hoops for the fair and displayed them on sticks like lollipops (I have found there really is no end to the uses for cocktail sticks!). I used giant cross stitches and close up they have a lovely plump lattice effect - I will show you better pictures of them soon so that you can see what I mean.

     

    

And lastly I made these lovely lace-edged bookmarks since I never seem to be able to find a proper bookmark when I need one and am generally forced to use old receipts and messy scraps of paper in their stead - I liked them so much I didn't actually want to sell them but it seems I was not alone in my fondness for them since they all but disappeared. I suppose I shall just have to make some more to keep for myself since I am back to square one with no bookmarks! Another thing to add to the list... 

Delilah x

Clutter City Summer Fete

Just a quick hello in the midst of this hectic week to let you know that I will be selling my wares at the lovely Clutter City market in Norwich this coming Saturday 2nd July. If you happen to be in the area it would be wonderful to see you there! I will be selling the new kits and have a couple of other little trifles to preview too.

If you can't make it (and I know that many of you are in fact across oceans so it would be quite a major detour for you to pop into Norwich for the day!) then never fear as I will try and get pictures as I did at Christmas.

Until then,

Delilah x

Clutter City!

 

All is a whirlwind of activity here at Delilah HQ while I work frantically to get ready for my first ever craft fair, Clutter City in Norwich on the 4th December!

I absolutely cannot wait and am making lots of new things (including hopefully some cross-stitch kits), so please do come along and say hello.

Until then things may be a bit quiet around here, but I promise to show you what I have been up to as soon as I can.

Oh, and the butterfly patterns are on their way for those that are waiting...

Delilah x

Magnets!

 

A little something new: super strong, super cute little magnets...I am very irritated by magnets that won't hold anything to the fridge so I made sure these will hold lots and lots.

   

They make really good presents I think - I initially made a pair for a friend's birthday and liked them so much I made a few more, all of which I have inadvertantly given away already! I will be making more soon to put in the shop - I shall let you know when they are ready.

On an entirely unrelated note I have just rediscovered my Sam Cooke CD in a box and I cannot believe how long I have been living without him in my life. As I write this Maggie is sleeping on my lap, the sun is shining and I have a batch of biscuits baking in the oven while Sam serenades me...perfection.

Happy Sunday indeed.

Delilah x

Brrrrrr

The snow may be melting here but it is still mighty cold outside. At home I am constantly surrounded by three hot water bottles to keep warm and snug but I fear it would look rather odd to strap them to myself outside of the house. And so I knitted myself a super-scarf.

 

 

 

It is the warmest, longest, cuddliest scarf I have ever encountered and it is the perfect thing to act as a buffer against the vicious winter winds that attack me each and every time I step outside. Don't get me wrong, I love winter, but in my opinion one of the very best things about the season is the snuggling opportunities it brings, and my super-scarf is the perfect snuggling-companion for when I am out, and indeed, about.

 

 

 

Whilst I am rather proud of this scarf it would be wrong of me to imply that I am some sort of knitting genius...I can in fact only knit things that are flat, rectangular and of a single colour. I deeply admire people that can knit more taxing things but I simply don't have the patience or the inclination to do them justice. But merrily knitting a long, long, long chunky scarf is one of the most satisfying things in the world.

 

 

It is actually far longer than I intended because I just didn't want to stop knitting. And talking about it is making me want to make another one immediately! But I must get on with my stitching...I will soon have something new to show you.

Happy Thursday!

Delilah x

Mwahahahaha!

It has fallen to me to provide the party bags for this evening's Halloween gathering...

 

Therein lies nothing but trouble...BEWARE!!!

 
 
May you all have a most ghoulish and gruesome evening. 

Delilah x