Wednesday 22 January 2014

Grow Your Blog










Hello my name is Ann. I live in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. I have been married to Dave for 25 years. We have 2 sons Jaspar (21) and Jordyn (19).







I love dogs and cats, but I am alergic to animals with fur. Our family pet is a red-eared slider (RES) female turtle named Frodo. They can live 30-50 years and she just turned 8 years old (December 31). We also have a tank full of fish.





I have been cross stitching for almost 20 years. My mom bought a counted cross stitch kit by Bucilla called Summer Symphony (photo below) because she liked the picture.






When she opened the kit and saw the size of the pattern, she didn't know that they enlarge the pattern so stitchers can see the symbols. She panicked and decided not to try it, so she gave the kit to me. It took me almost a year to complete the project (lots of frogging), but it was worth it. I haven't stopped stitching, it is my creative outlet and my stress release. I have given a lot of my stitching away to friends and family members for special occasions.

I also do some scrapbooking. The first one is a photo diary of all my cross stitch projects.


I record all the important information about every project I have ever stitched (Title/Who it was stitched for/fabric & stitch count/design size/frame size/designer name & chart/kit #/start date/finish date/reason for stitching the project).


Dave & I love going to see live theatre plays, so I have a scrapbook to keep my tickets/pamphlets.


I also enjoy building puzzles (1000+), and playing Animal Cross on my 3DS (video game).




I created my blog "Colourful Cross Stitches" so I could join TUSAL (click icon on left side bar), and all the other fun Stitch-Alongs with cross stitchers around the world. I love reading other stitching blogs to find new designs and finishing techniques.




I hope you enjoy your visit to my blog. If you are a new follower, please leave me a comment so I can follow your blog as well.

Happy Stitching!!
Ann


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad


35 comments:

  1. Hi Ann,

    I'm visiting from the Grow Your Blog party. You are a woman of many talents! Your Summer Symphony cross-stitch is gorgeous! I think it would have taken me two years to complete something that complicated ... LOL. I plan to look around a bit more and then be on my way to visit the others. I do hope you will stop by for a visit and enter my giveaway. Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs – Donna

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  2. Hi Ann....nice to meet you. What a huge project you undertook with that lovely house cross-stitch kit. Good luck in all you do!

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  3. Hello, fellow cross-stitcher!! I'm now following your blog and look forward to seeing what you're working on.
    Cathy
    CraftyCat

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  4. Hello! I'm visiting from the Blog Party and am a cross stitcher too. I'm your latest follower! My blog is at http://ravelldsleave.blogspot.com/

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  5. Nice to meet you, I will follow your stitching :)

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  6. Hi Ann! So nice to meet you! I love cross stitch but have given it up for other crafts that aren't so hard on the eyes :-) Looking forward to seeing what you are creating! Hugs, Terri

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  7. A pleasure to meet you through the Blog party and I look forward to seeing more of your lovely stitching.

    http://ladynero815.blogger.com

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  8. Hello, Vicki asked me to be a helper; I'm Sandra from Thistle Cove Farm. Welcome to the GYBP; thank you for participating this year!

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  9. Hi, Ann! I just signed up to do the IHSW and I am looking forward to it! I hope to finish four projeccts over the course of a few years, realisticaly. Each one willneed to be charted and customized and framed. and ONly one is for me personally, and it's really for my hubby and I. And I really need to make that other one just for him, so that is five....isd there hoe for me? I hope so!
    See you there!
    Betsy

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  10. Hey Ann,
    I love your blog! If you are ever looking for another SAL to do visit me over at randomgypsys.blogspot.com

    I look forward to following you,
    -Gypsy

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  11. Nice to meet you! Thank you for sharing your work. It is very lovely. Enjoy the hop!

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  12. Hi, Ann - hopping in from the Blog Party this evening. I so admire the cross stitchers, for the amount of patience they have, and also knowing that their eyesight is so much better than mine! :-) Happy Sunday - Tanya

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  13. I am having fun finding new bloggers to follow...love sewing and quilting. Greetings from Oklahoma, USA. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

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  14. Hello!
    Nice to meet you!
    Happy Grow Your Blog Party!
    I love cross stitch too.
    xoxoxoxoxo

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  15. Hi Ann, I'm a new follower :) I'm doing the Just Nan SAL too - I look forward to seeing what your stitching :)

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  16. Hi Ann from a new follower and a fellow stitcher.
    Donna

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  17. Hi Ann I have joined your blog of followers and I love the fact you named your turtle Frodo. Look forward to getting to know you my new friend.

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  18. Hi Ann -

    So glad I found your blog. I look forward to seeing all your stitching goodies.

    CJ

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  19. Greetings from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Very nice stitching.

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  20. Glad to meet you Ann! Fun visiting GYB party sites! looking forward to following your blog posts. best, deborah http://deborahstanleyinspirations.blogspot.com/

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  21. Thanks for sharing your blog. I can't wait to read more posts. I am an embroiderer participating in Grow Your Blog too.

    aprilsongstress.blogspot.com

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  22. Hi Ann - thank you for visiting my blog - I am a new follower of your blog - have enjoyed reading all about you and what you enjoy doing.

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  23. I love the scrapbook of your cross stitch work. Great idea! Nice to meet you through this blog hop.

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  24. Hi, Ann! I came across your blog in the GYB party. Being a cross stitcher too, I thought your scrapbook of completed stitched a brilliant idea!

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  25. I did a large cross-stitch for my first and only daughter, took me 3 years! Thanks for sharing more of your story.

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  26. Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog.=)

    I like your cross stitched house a lot too.

    A suggestion, if you're interested: You might want to consider choosing the 'large' or 'extra large' size for your photos as these tiny ones don't do your work credit.=) I'd love to see more and more clearly.=) Up to you, but it would really show off your stitching to the best advantage.=)

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  27. Thanks for visiting my blog for the party. How nice that you have a pet who will live a very very very very long time! Your scrapbook pages are great! I also put my ORTs into ornaments at the end of the year.

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  28. I can't imagine working on a project for a year. Of course, I have many UFO's laying about. I learned to cross-stitch when I was 17 and used to make big projects but now I stick with smaller patterns that I can quickly whip up. I also crochet and find that easier to carry around in my purse. Have a great day! Tammy

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  29. Hi Ann, I'm a new follower of your blog. Mine is at xstitchlibrarian.blogspot.com.au if you're interested. I look forward to watching your stitching projects grow...

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  30. Hi! Was fun to visit your blog today!! What a cute turtle!! My sister has a big one....Tuck is his name! Enjoyed very much, Sandy

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  31. Hi Ann, enjoyed reading your blog and seeing your turtle.
    Jackie

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  32. Thank you for sharing and hope you are enjoying the party. I will be a new follower in a few minutes. It was certainly not a small project to start with!

    Lija
    http://stitchingincrossesandmore.blogspot.co.uk/

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  33. We are some SALs together so will be back, I am blog racing against the deadline, visiting from GYB!

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  34. I am new follwer thru GYB. I'm just introducing myself to cross stitching and I really like some of the pieces that you have done. I'm soooo coming back to see more.

    Sicnerely,
    Tricia

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