As an Amazon Associate and a Sulky of America Affiliate, if you click on a link I may earn from qualifying purchases. The affiliate links will be indicated with a (*) star symbol within this post. 

It is no secret that one of my favorite counted cross stitch creators is Barbara Ana Designs. I have stitched several of her anthropomorphic animals and a cute mermaid. My latest cross stitch finish is the freebie pattern offered on the Barbara Ana Designs Instagram page. She released it as a complimentary chart with the #bewellandstitch movement. I have stitched both of her Be Well complimentary designs in 2020. I decided to do a thread conversion and use Sulky 12 wt cotton Petites.*  

When I am not cross stitching, I really enjoy making all the things. I have been quilting and crafting. My favorite crafty club is the current Farmhouse Style Kit Club.* I made their first kit, which was the gorgeous felt wreath. My second kit just arrived! It is a soap making kit. I've always wanted to learn how to make soap. Seriously! In case you are interested in the club, Annie's is offering  75% off any Annie's Kit Club with the promo code SHARE75 .

Thanks so much my friends and happy stitching!
​Amanda Mae

As an Amazon Associate and a Sulky of America Affiliate, if you click on a link I may earn from qualifying purchases. The affiliate links will be indicated with a (*) star symbol within this post. 

I had so much fun creating this Alaskan themed Alphabet banner. I got the fabric panel at The Quilted Raven. I placed an online order and it shipped from Anchorage, Alaska to Maryland in three days. Amazing.  The illustrations are by Cindy Shake for Clothworks. 

Supplies: 

-1 fabric panel of Alaskan Alphabet by Cindy Shake design for Clothworks. I purchased mine at The Quilted Raven. You can find the panel here. 
-Wide bias tape in Yale blue (three 3 yard packages)
-One bobbin each of yellow and blue sewing thread. I used some vintage polyester thread from my stash, but use any type of sewing thread that you prefer.
-1 spool of Sulky Poly Star 30 weight metallic thread in gold with gold sparkle. Item 965-0905. You can find the spool here.*
-1 spool of Sulky Poly Star 30 weight metallic thread in blue. Dark Sapphire with tone on tone sparkle Item #965-0912. You can find it here.*
-Set of sewing clips
-Rotary cutter
-Iron

I had a lot of fun creating this Alaskan Alphabet Banner using Cindy Shake illustrations for Clothworks and Sulky Poly Star metallic sewing threads. I pulled out solid polyester sewing thread and Yale blue wide bias tape to create this banner. I also took a fabric stash dive and found the tan quilting cotton to use as the backing for each letter of the alphabet. Armed with a hot iron and my enthusiasm, I created this banner in just a couple of days.

This blog post contains affiliate links. All of the opinions are my own. Thank you for your support.

It is now officially autumn and I have completed two of the Annie's craft kits. While cross stitch will forever have my heart, it was really nice trying out and completing two new craft projects. The best part, the kits arrived at my doorstep and I just had to sit down and start creating!

The first kit I decided to make was the Needle Felting Pumpkin Kit from ​Annie's Creative Woman-of- the-Month Club. Thanks to a rather humorous event involving me, a stray wool fiber, and my eyeball in college, I have not needle felted in over fifteen years. Thankfully I was brave enough to embark on this crafting endeavor with the help of my youngest kid. I say "help" loosely as he was quite useful in creating many knots in the yarn balls. Oh crafting with kids. 

Apparently I was so excited to be needle felting again that I was a bit too enthusiastic with my needles. I snapped one off at the tip and successfully bent the other one. This did not detour me. I carried on and I finished all three pumpkins. The directions were easy to follow and I had enough supplies to successfully complete the project. I am happy to report that I loved the project and I look forward to more wool needle felting. 

As with any project involving hot glue, please be mindful of your finger tips when you are attaching the individual leaves. There are a lot of leaves to attach. A lot. I did the math. Wow. You will just have to get the kit and find out the exact number for yourself. You can find out more about the Farmhouse Style Club here. 

I am thrilled with how the wreath turned out. It was so nice finishing two craft projects that got me out of my cross stitch comfort zone. I look forward to completing more kits. Thanks Annie's! 

Sign up for the Farmhouse Style Kit Club and get your first month 50% off with the code: SHARE50