Free Cross Stitch Patterns

Hi everyone, I am back! I haven't been blogging much lately, but I am going to remedy that. Here are some great free cross stitching patterns. There is a site called The Cross Stitchers Club. They have lots of free cross stitch patterns. Most of them are pretty advanced, but they have daily pattern freebies and you can earn credits to get more freebies.

I have a free pattern for you from Twigs N' Sprigs. Here it is:

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Snow Stitchery

Pattern Directions

Twigs Gathering List:

1 yd Muslin

Needle

Small Black Beads

DMC Floss

#838 Very Dark Beige Brown

#902 Very Dark Garnet

#613 Very Light Drab Brown

#823 Dark Navy Blue

#310 Black

#400 Dark Mahogany

#729 Medium Old Gold

Mark B Gone Pen

Tea, Coffee or Vanilla

Deco-Art Americana Paint

Antique Gold DA9

Deep Midnight Blue DA166

Buttermilk DA3

Cranberry Wine DA112

Terra Cotta DA62

Tools

Scissors

Paint Brushes

CUTTIN'

Muslin: Cut 2 layers of muslin 16 x 10 inches. I happen to like to stitch through 2 layers of
muslin, you may wish to use Warm & Natural, or flannel or a layer of felt, to give it that
extra layer to where you don't have your stitchin showing through.

TRACIN'

Trace pattern onto top layer of muslin, using a mark b gone pen.

STITCHIN'

I use 2 strands of Dmc floss for all my stitchin'.

*NOTE: if you are going to be dry bushing your stitchery to be colored in, stitch detailed
items such as eyes, noses, plaids on dresses, stars on flags, & words on dresses after
you have painted that specific area.

Twig Arms: Backstitch with Dmc floss #838 Very Dark Beige Brown

X's on Stripes of Flag & Scarf: Backstitch scarf, x stitch flag with Dmc floss #902 Very
Dark Garnet

Snowflakes, Snowman Body, 1776 on square of Flag: Backstitch with Dmc floss #613 Very
Light Drab Brown

Words Give me Liberty or give me snow & Blue section of Flag: Backstitch Dmc floss #823
Dark Navy Blue

Eyes, Eyebrows & Mouth: Cross stitch mouth, french knot eyes with Dmc floss #310 Black

Nose: Satin stitch nose with Dmc floss #400 Dark Mahogany

Stars & Bell: Backstitch with Dmc floss #729 Medium Old Gold

Bead Eyes: Stitch Beads for eyes with matchingthread. if you decide not to do french knots.

FABRIC DYIN'

Dye fabric by using tea, coffee or vanilla. Dunk stitchery into dye & lay flat to dry.

PAINTIN'

If you choose to color in your stitchery do the following.

Using a dry-brush method as listed in Twig-Niques,

paint the following.

Star & Bell: Dry brush with Antique Gold DA9

Blue Section of Flag: Dry brush with Deep Midnight Blue DA166

Snowman: Dry brush with Buttermilk DA3

Scarf & Red stripes on Flag: Dry brush with Cranberry Wine DA112

Nose: If you choose to not satin stitch nose Dry brush with Terra Cotta DA62

Now you are ready to either sew your stitchery into a pillow, wall hanging or frame in a
picture frame.

Go to http://www.freecraftz.com/twigsnsprigs.html for this pattern.

Thanks Twigs n' Sprigs for sharing with us! Thanks to FreeCraftz.com as well.

Until next time...God Bless,

Celene

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends! I wish you a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I would love for you to share with us your Christmas plans and celebrations in the comments. It's fun to see what others are doing to celebrate. I hope you all laugh too much, eat too much, play too much this holiday season. Remember to slow down, take deep breaths and enjoy this time of year. When you start to feel stressed out, just remind yourself that it's not about the hustle and bustle or the gifts you have to buy. It's about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

God Bless,
Celene

New Shops Galore! Online mall in time for Christmas shopping season.

Well this has been a real whirl wind couple of months. I've only posted on my blogs a few times and I've really miss it. I opened my new jewelry store called Unique Boutique Jewelry and I have been spending all my spare time building Shops Galore! online shopping mall. I have been going at it frantically for weeks so it could be ready in time for the Christmas Season. I'm really excited about this project. There are all kinds of shops and boutiques in Shops Galore! Crafts, jewelry, electronics, clothing stores for baby, mommies to be, men and womens and plus size shops, as well as shoes, handbags and toys. Told you I've been busy! We are adding more stores every day. If you have a website I'd love to list it for you for free. This will not always be a free membership, but I am listing them at no charge for now. Go to Shops Galore! and click on the "add your site" button and follow the directions.

My crafting buddy Pam and I have had booths in several craft shows and fall festivals this season. We had our first Christmas craft fair last weekend and another one on Nov. 22nd. That will conclude the craft booths for 2008. Whew! I'm glad that's almost over, we're tired. It has really been hard work, but lots of fun. I will have a Christmas Open House at my shop Celene's Treasure Chest in Coffeen, Illinois on Sat. Dec. the 6th. I'm thinking about doing something to coincide with the open house on my Celene's Treasure Chest website, but don't know what yet. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd really appreciate hearing them. Head on over to my other blog to see how the shop Christmas decorating and Christmas crafting projects are coming along.

Well that's it for now. Don't forget to take a trip to Shops Galore! and if you haven't checked out Unique Boutique Jewelry yet come on by. A special thanks to Mandie at Life in the Craft Lane with Mandie for many of the buttons I am using that you see on this blog. Love ya Mandie, thanks!

Til next time....God Bless,
Celene

Jewelry Giveaway Winner

Hi y'all. We have a winner for the Unique Boutique Jewelry giveaway! The winner is, ta ta da da... Cindy at The Gathering Room. Congrats Cindy! She chose the black onyx bracelet. Don't forget to check out the bargains at Unique Boutique Jewelry where you can do lots of quick and easy Christmas shopping for all the gals in your life. Unique Boutique offers handmade and vintage jewelry at very reasonable prices and the shipping is always FREE! Most items are priced under $10.00, so what are you waiting for? Get on over there and start shopping.

I am also a winner. I won 1st prize at The Chocolista's. The contest was to name their latest chocolate dessert and they picked mine! I named it the Decadent Dunce. You have to go over and take a look at it and let me know what you think of the name.

Til next time...God Bless,
Celene

Unique Boutique Jewelry Free Giveaway

Hey, everybody, It's Giveaway time at Wood n' Whimsy! I have just opened my new website Unique Boutique Jewelry. At Unique Boutique Jewelry you will find beautifully handcrafted and vintage jewelry at very affordable prices and you'll never pay shipping! Yep, always FREE Shipping.

Here's How to Enter:

Come on over and take a look around, then come back and let me know your favorite item by leaving a comment on this post. If you are the winner, you win the item you selected. That's right, you get to choose! What other giveaway lets you pick your own prize? If you add a link back to this post and mention the giveaway in your blog or site I will give you 3 extra entries. Just email me and let me know so I can give you your additional entires. I will be announcing the winner on Oct 17th. Good luck to all and have fun with it!

God Bless,

Celene

Halloween Freebies

Hi all, don't forget to enter my jewelry giveaway in the previous post.

Thought I would give you crafty moms who make your kids Halloween costumes some ideas.

Halloween Makeup Recipes :

For Halloween, use makeup instead of a mask. Masks obstruct vision and children find it hard to breath when wearing them. Here you will find three recipes to make your own makeup.

Corn Syrup Blood

16 oz. White corn syrup 1 oz. red food coloring 1 oz. washing detergent 1 oz. water A drop of blue food coloring
Mix the ingredients together and voila - blood. Remove the washing up liquid if you want to make edible blood. Adding condensed milk makes it less transparent and more like real blood. The blood is extremely sticky and can stain skin and clothes so makes sure its washed off quickly. Use a stain remover on clothes.

Face Paint Recipe

1 tsp corn starch 1/2 tsp water 1/2 tsp cold cream 2 drops food coloring as desired
Mix ingredients and apply.

Clown Make-up
2 tsp white shortening5 tsp corn starch1 tsp white all purpose flourglycerin as directedFood coloring as desired
Mix together the shortening, corn starch and flour. Add 3 to 4 drops of glycerin to make the mixture creamier. Apply.

About the Author:Rose Smith is the owner of HalloweenHowl.com and author of several ghoulish party ebooks. Designed for "trick or treaters" of any age, we invite you to come visit. Create creepy crafts, discover interesting tips and tricks, play spooktacular games and take part in many other hauntingly fun activities.

Thanks to rubyglen.com for this article

Got Halloween costume ideas of your own? We'd love to hear them! Please leave them in a comment.

Til next time...God Bless,

Celene