Christmas Sale!

Hi friends! Just a little note to let you know that I have launched a Christmas sale over at the home♥stitch♥ness Etsy shop - receive 25% off ALL patterns (which includes free shipping) until Sunday, 8th December (US time). 

The perfect gift idea for a friend/relative who loves to cross stitch, or a new project for you to work on over your Christmas holiday...

As always, happy stitching :o)
Jenny x

A Kiwi Christmas Decoration Freebie...

It is already the 1st of November in New Zealand and the countdown to Christmas has definitely begun! Today is the day I've been planning to release my 2013 Kiwi Christmas decoration design and - in the spirit of Christmas - I am sharing the pattern with you all as a GIFT :o) 

'joy' Christmas Ornament
by home♥stitch♥ness

'joy' Christmas Ornament by home♥stitch♥ness 

Here it is photographed on our blue spruce tree - if you follow home♥stitch♥ness on Facebook you may remember that just over a week ago, this little tree was covered in SNOW! Thankfully it all melted away pretty quickly so I was able to hang the ornament on a branch for my husband to take some pics last weekend :o)

JOY is one of my most favourite words ever and describes everything that Christmas means to me and my family. To give this design a uniquely NZ flavour, it features a bright red pohutukawa flower in full bloom. I couldn't decide which shade of green I liked better for the lettering, so in the end decided to go with both :o)

It was a really quick and easy design to stitch and finish into a little ornament and is perfect for both beginners and experienced stitchers alike. All you'll need is a small piece of aida or linen, a few skeins of floss and you're ready to go! The beads are optional but if you can find them in your local craft store, they definitely add some sparkle and a festive look to the pohutukawa flower! 

Deciding how to finish the ornament...

In my stash I found some pohutukawa fabric that I'd had for AGES (the colours matched perfectly!) and some pretty red ribbon to use. My finishing skills are not as fancy as some of my stitching friends, but I hand sewed it into a little pillow that hangs on the tree by a bow. I was pleased with how it turned out - I even popped a couple of little jingle bells into the stuffing to make it extra 'Christmassy' :o) If that sounds too complicated, you could always display it in a small embroidery hoop or a 4 x 6 frame.

x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x  x

Whether you are participating in an ornament swap this year, wanting to stitch something for your own tree or make a gift for a loved one, I hope this free pattern will encourage you to spend some quiet time being creative amidst the busy pre-Christmas rush! You are welcome to share this link as much as you like and most importantly - ENJOY :o)

Jenny x

{Almost} Four Seasons in One Day...

Four Seaons in New Zealand

As I type this, it is snowing outside. In over a decade of living here in the States, I don't believe I have ever seen it snow like this in October before - I think I would remember if I had! I love the snow, and usually find the first snowfall of the year quite exciting... but this definitely feels a wee bit too early!

While my little girl is at preschool and my little boy naps, I am stitching. Surrounded by autumnal decorations on display in our lounge, while snowflakes quietly float to the ground outside, I am busy finishing my summery Christmas decoration design that I'm getting ready to release. Hmm, no wonder I'm feeling a bit confused by the seasons at the moment!

Have you started thinking about Christmas yet? What craft projects are you working on at the moment?

Jenny x

A Free Gift: Decorative Cross Stitch Tile Pattern

I am excited to share this project with you as it is something I have been wanting to recreate for a long time now and the story behind it has special meaning for our family...

Decorative cross stitch tile pattern

My husband is Belgian by name and by ancestry, so I like to say that "I am Belgian by marriage" :o) Both grandparents on his father's side came to America when they were young, then met and married over here. Several years ago, we had the privilege of visiting Belgium and staying with a cousin and her family. We fell in love with the country and the experience made me rather proud of my inherited Belgian heritage.

A gift I designed and stitched for my husband's very first Father's Day

During our time in Belgium, we were taken to the site of my husband's grandmother's family home where she lived before moving to America. Sadly, the house had not long been demolished for the purpose of new development and all that remained was a pile of rubble. However, out of the ruins, his cousin had salvaged a number of broken pieces of patterned 'tile' as you can see in the photo below, which I believe originally decorated the kitchen.

Our little piece of decorative tile from Belgium

We were given this piece of tile along with a photograph of the cottage to take home with us and the tile has been an ornament in our garden ever since. It is starting to look a little weathered and worn, now, and since I have always liked the pattern, I have been wanting to stitch up a replica to 'preserve' the design and create another keepsake. I finally got around to charting the pattern a few weeks ago and funnily enough, I realised the colours in the tile are exactly the same colours we used to decorate our daughter's bedroom when she was a baby - I had never noticed before! It will be a nice little piece of family history to hang on her wall. 

Stitched Belgian tile hoop art

I want to include the pattern here as a little gift of thanks to you all for your interest in home♥stitch♥ness. I am not sure how to make it available as a PDF to download straight from the blog, so instead I'm going to post the pattern below and you can click on it to enlarge it, then right click and save it onto your computer and print it out that way... 

Decorative Cross Stitch Tile Pattern

Symbol       DMC         Description

o                  368            Mint Green
+                  725            Sunflower Yellow

♥                  760            Rose Pink
 I                  3865          Snow

optional       3032          Clay

It is a repeating pattern, so you can stitch as much or as little of it as you wish. I chose to work on Wichelt's 28 count Clay linen as the colouring of it is very similar to the clay coloured background of the actual tile. It has saved me a LOT of work not having to stitch in between the decorative motifs, but I have suggested a comparable thread colour for stitching in the 'gaps' if you wish. For my project, I wanted to stay true to the original colours of the tile, but there would be so many other gorgeous combinations you could try - for a bolder look I think Navy, Red, Mustard and Cream would look amazing! 

Obviously, the design is not my own, I have simply charted it so I can recreate the pattern with needle and thread. You are most welcome to use the pattern for your own project and share it with your friends :o) I would love to see what you make with it! 

Happy stitching :o)

Jenny x

Giveaway WINNERS:

Firstly, I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who entered the first ever home♥stitch♥ness giveaway! Some of you I know personally, some of you I am familiar with your lovely blogs and others were completely new names and faces to me! I have been to check out your creative spaces and I look forward to getting to know you better! :o) It was also really good to get a bit of an overview as to what your favourite home♥stitch♥ness designs are. I am considering offering them for sale as kits as well as individual patterns in my Etsy Shop, so I will keep you posted about that...

Alrighty, without any further ado...

FIRST PRIZE for the closest guess goes to Tracey ('Borgessa') who guessed 743 buttons! Congratulations, Tracey! I will be in touch with you by email to see if you would prefer aida or linen for your Four Seasons in New Zealand kit :o)

The actual number of buttons in my order was:

- 771 - 

I know - can you believe that? When they arrived in the mail I took one look at them all packaged in a little ziplock bag and thought "Oh, there can't possibly be over 700 buttons in there..." 

SECOND PRIZE goes to Trish Isaac who shared the giveaway on her Facebook page! Congratulations, Trish! I will be in touch with you by email so I can send you your new pattern :o)

Special thanks to those of you who did share the giveaway on their blog or Facebook page! A couple of you even shared it on Twitter too, so I included you in the draw for going the extra mile :o)

My little helper was on hand to help draw the second prize winner!

I will be back soon to share the little project I've been working on (I published a sneak peek of it here if you haven't seen it already) and will be publishing the pattern for you all as a little gift of appreciation for your interest in home♥stitch♥ness.

Jenny x

A GIVEAWAY!

~ This giveaway is now closed and winners have been announced ~

Hello! It's September already! And time for the first ever home♥stitch♥ness giveaway!

First Prize: 
This will be a pattern of the winner's choice AND I will even kit it up for you with all the threads you'll need, plus either the linen (same as the model was stitched on) or a comparable colour of aida, if you prefer to stitch on aida.

Second Prize: 
This will be a pattern of the second prize winner's choice.

I am interested to know which design is your favourite! If you haven't already, you can view the home♥stitch♥ness pattern range here or pop on over to my Etsy Shop to read more about the actual charts.

Red Star Buttons!

Four Seasons in New Zealand

This time last year, I was busily working towards getting everything ready for the home♥stitch♥ness launch in March/April 2013. As the models were being photographed and I was proofing the patterns before printing, I was searching the internet for a bulk supplier of tiny, red star buttons to include with the Four Seasons in New Zealand chart. On this design, I had originally stitched four red star buttons onto the NZ flag and they added such character to the overall look of the design that I just HAD to include some with the chart. I was one very happy girl the day my button order arrived in the mail and I relished the task of counting every last one of them. Yes, I did - twice, even!



How to Enter:
All you need to do to be in to win the first prize is to take a guess as to how many red star buttons were in my order. The person who makes the closest guess will win first prize. If, in the unlikely event of more than one person guessing the exact number, the correct guesses will be put into a basket and a winner drawn. 

Second prize will be drawn from the names of everyone who shares this giveaway on either their blog or facebook page - one entry per share, so that's up to two extra entries (just in case you're not confident in your guessing ability :o)

Guess how many red star buttons there are?

The Rules:
To enter this giveaway, you must be a follower of the home♥stitch♥ness blog via bloglovin' and/or follow home♥stitch♥ness on facebook. To register your entry, you need to leave a comment on this post with your guess as to how many star buttons came in my order - only one guess allowed per person! Also in your comment, please indicate which pattern you would love to win and make sure you include an email address for me to contact you, should you win one of the prizes! Come back after you've shared this giveaway and leave a separate comment for each share on your blog and/or facebook page. Of course, because I live overseas myself, this giveaway is most definitely open to international entries :o)

The giveaway will finish on Wednesday, 25th September (NZ time) Good luck with your guess and thanks in advance for helping to spread the word about the new home♥stitch♥ness cross stitch pattern range!

Jenny x

A few updates...

Hello! And if you are visiting for the first time - welcome! :o)

What with one thing and another happening in life - as it does - I haven't been nearly as present in this little space as I would like to be! So, it is definitely about time things got a little more exciting around here...

I am very pleased to say that home♥stitch♥ness now has it's very own Etsy shop where you can buy patterns direct and they will be mailed to you free of charge, no matter where in the world you live! While I am a huge advocate of supporting your local needlework store, if you are not close by to any of the retail shops carrying the home♥stitch♥ness pattern range, being able to buy online will be a good option for you!

I am also happy to announce that home♥stitch♥ness now has it's very own Facebook page as well, so I'd love it if you'd take the time to check it out. There are some events coming up soon, such as a giveaway here on the blog, and since home♥stitch♥ness is such a new venture I'll be needing your help to spread the word (which means there'll be lots of opportunities to get yourself multiple entries into the draw!)

I hope you'll join me as things start to get underway! As always, thank you so much for your interest in home♥stitch♥ness!

Jenny x