Hogwarts Crest Cross Stitch Update.

I have still been going strong with the Harry Potter themed cross stitch! Although I had been enjoying doing the outlines becuase it has helped me see more of what the finished product is going to look like. However i've started adding a bit of colour now too which is making it look awesome - If I do say so myself!

We almost have a Gryffindor Lion.

Starting to add a bit of emerald green to Slytherin.

Adding a bit of Ravenclaw Blue.

It looks so much better with colour.

Hogwarts Crest Cross Stich Update.

I have been looking at my partially finished Hogwarts Crest for several months now without giving it a second thought, but over the Christmas holiday I decided to pick it back up again and I feel like I haven't stopped since. To be fair it is getting harder again now I'm back at work, but still, my evenings are currently filled with cross stich and Netflix. Here is my latest progress;

Finished the outline of the Ravenclaw section.

Finished the Ravenclaw Eagle.

Starting on the Snake.

Slytherin is quite tricky with lots of counting involved.

Finished the Slytherin Snake

Just starting on the Gryffindor Lion.

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween! Seriously, it is one of my favourite holidays. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a pro pumpkin carver and know that I might go a little bit overboard when it comes to pumpkins!

Unfortunately this year we didn't manage to grow our own, but somehow we still ended up with ten pumpkins sat on the doorstep waiting to be carved at one point! So here is my selection of pumpkins 2015.



Scary Skull.



Pumpkin Witch.

Spooky face.

Gargoyle.



Dracula.



Haunted House.

Flying Witch.

Bat.

Happy Halloween!



Decopatch jars.

I recently pulled out all of my Decopatch papers and glue and started looking for ideas of what to make. I saw some photos of jars covered with Decopatch and then used as a candle holder. I loved the idea and set about making some of my own. I raided our shed and my Gran's garage for jars (I'm not a jar expert but I think the bigger the jar the better. I would guess smaller jam jars wouldn't react well with the heat from the candles and might smash or crack eventually.)

Rather than just using one solid colour or pattern. I like to be more creative and use a variety of papers and make more complicated patterns (because I just like to make it hard for myself!) My first ideas were of a very Christmassy nature. I thought these would look perfect on our doorstep with the dark nights drawing in, or even just dotted about our house when we start to put up decorations. With Halloween just around the corner I also made a pumpkin jack-o-lantern jar, to put next to our real carved pumpkin.

Christmas Decopatch tea light holders.

Halloween Decopatch candle jar.

Decopatch tips.

I am loving Decopatch at the moment! If you were wondering decopage is actually the craft, but Decopatch is a brand that sells specialist papers, glues and varnishes, and objects that you can decorate, such as boxes, letters and shapes. It is pretty much cutting and sticking, and covering objects to decorate them and make them bright and new!

My tips for Decopatch;

1. Make sure you put glue on your object first - Brush your glue on the surface of your project, make sure it is a bigger area than the piece of paper you are using, then just use a little more to smooth it down on the top.
2. Cut lots of pieces before your start - Unless I am creating a particular shape (eg. the cirlces for the snowman on my candle jar) I generally tend to just cut a lot of little squares that are about 1 or 2cm big and have a pile of these ready for me to use. This allows me to keep going with the project, rather than just stopping and cutting new pieces out all the time.
3. Use your colours - If, like me, you have a huge collection of papers with different colours or patterns, use them! For example, I wanted oranges for my pumpkin jar but I found serveral different papers with orange, and used a combination of all of these to use different patterns and different shades, but still stay orange.
4. Be creative - Do look for inspiration (I like http://thedecopatchplace.co.uk/ ) but don't necessarily just use the objects, animals and letters that you can buy. Decorate anything! Some things I have done before include jars, shelves, bins and drawers.

Hogwarts Crest Cross Stitch.

I'm not a professional cross stitcher by any means, and this is by far the most ambitious project that I have done, but I just fell in love with it and I couldn't resist!

I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and I came across this Hogwarts crest cross stich when I was randomly Googling Harry Potter crafts (as you do). I managed to find several photos of completed and half completed versions of the Hogwarts crest on DevantArt and Pinterest, but nobody had a copy of the pattern. A few people linked to the Leaky Cauldron website and showed links of the original cross stich patterns that were created by Little Mojo, but none of the links were working anymore. However after more determined searching somebody on Pinterest (thank you wonderful person!) posted the correct link, and I managed to find it!

Plus, because I have a slight idea of how website links work, I managed to alter the links and also get the patterns for all four of the Hogwarts house crests! All of these patterns are by Little Mojo, so all credit goes to her, but if you want to have a go yourself I will put the links at the bottom of this post. :)

I am not very fast or precise at cross stich, the back is full of lumps and knots, and I have already unpicked whole rows of my project, so I will just update my progress as I go along, and will show you the final piece when (if!) it ever gets completed! I have no plan of doing certain sections in certain orders, or only doing certain sections of colours at once. I just do whatever I feel like at the time, but the H in the middle seemed like the best place to start.

Start in the middle of the Hogwarts H.

Next I decided to do the outline of the Hufflepuff section.

Hufflepuff badger is coming along nicely.

Finished badger and moving on to Ravenclaw.

Adding a bit of colour.

Half the Ravenclaw eagle and a bit more colour.

Also, just a note to say that I haven't used the exact colours on the patterns. I have quite a big selection of threads, so I just chose the combination of colours I needed approximately. The pattern also shows the colour of the Hufflepuff section as dark blue, and the Ravenclaw section as pale blue. But if you are as big  a Harry Potter fan as me, you will not be able to follow these colours! I just found a bright yellow for Hufflepuff and I will use a darker blue for Ravenclaw. But hey, whatever floats your boat, go neon for all care!

Hogwarts Crest - http://s3.amazonaws.com/theleakycauldron/snuffles/craftfiles/needlework_hog4houses_hogcrest3_chart_littlemojo.pdf

Gryffindor Crest - http://s3.amazonaws.com/theleakycauldron/snuffles/craftfiles/needlework_hog4houses_gryffcrest6_chart_littlemojo.pdf
Slytherin Crest - http://s3.amazonaws.com/theleakycauldron/snuffles/craftfiles/needlework_hog4houses_slythcrest5_chart_littlemojo.pdf
Hufflepuff Crest - http://s3.amazonaws.com/theleakycauldron/snuffles/craftfiles/needlework_hog4houses_Huffcrest5_chart_littlemojo.pdf
Ravenclaw Crest - http://s3.amazonaws.com/theleakycauldron/snuffles/craftfiles/needlework_hog4houses_ravcrest5_chart_littlemojo.pdf

Hello to you.

I write letters, do crafts and generally make a mess where ever I go. So I just wanted to share a few pictures of what I like to do, and hope that they will give you inspiration too!

I love having a go at anything creative, but particularly love sewing, patchwork, cross stich, wood carving, pyrography, card making and Decopatch/decopage at the moment, but my list changes regularly!

Enjoy and be inspired! :)