Animal Crossing - Project Design Size

I’m slowly still filling in the blue controller. I just started my 2nd skein of DMC 3766 blue floss.

Jo from Serendipitous Stitching was asking how large this project is, so I’m posting measurements in case anyone else is curious.

I’m stitching on 28ct evenweave (over 2). Stitch count is 309 stitches wide by 194 stitches high.  

Stewart’s original design which is just the island and logo attached in the centre at the top is 160 stitches wide by 150 stitches high.

Each joy con is 55 stitches wide by 194 stitches high. 

This is why I have used 3 skeins of DMC 954 floss so far on this full coverage controller.

I think I have used 3 skeins of black floss. It doesn’t look like a lot of black, but the top and bottom rows have 4 full rows of black and down the 2 sides it is 8 full columns of black, plus all of the black buttons.

I forgot to show everyone the birthday card I made for my husband Dave. His birthday was last Wednesday (24th). I found a garden colouring page online and used alcohol markers.

More birthday cards

 I forgot to show these 2 cards I made for family birthdays in August.

The first one (August 16) for my brother-in-law (Dave's sister Diane's husband Greg) who loves to fish.  I created a fishing vest.  I looked at images on line and then made my own.  I used several die cut shapes to make all of the items ... 

• "S" for worms
• "J" for fish hooks
• circles cut in half for bobbins, then add 2 smaller circles to top and bottom to match each end
• 2 long stems glued together to make a fishing rod
• added a string of Christmas lights for the hooks on fishing rod
• glued white sewing thread to look like the fishing line goes through the hooks.

Fishing Vest card closed

Inside the card I used a goldfish stamp & die set.  I thought it was funny because he would never go fishing for goldfish.

Outside cover.

The second one (August 24) for my sister-in-law (Dave's brother Bob's wife Olivette) who loves the beach and cruises to warm locations. 

This one was fun because I got to colour with pencil crayons.  I printed 2 different beach colouring pages on white card stock.  I coloured the main scene, then added the palm tree, ship and sun from the other page that I coloured.  I framed the beach scene with seashell paper left over from my sister's mermaid card.  Found a fun Happy Birthday to colour, then framed around with green cardstock which was also used inside the card. 

Sunday, October 25 is Mother-in-law day.  I need to make a card for Dave's mom.

I usually make about 20 different Christmas cards each year.  I like to have choices when I mail them out.  

I also have one more birthday card to make at the end of the year.  My close friend Lisa turns 60 on December 30th.  

I also will need 3 birthday cards in the beginning of January (3, 10 and 19), so I need to get them done early.  I won't feel like making more cards after I do so many for Christmas.

Birthday card - blue

Today is my future daughter-in-law Sarah's 25th birthday.  Here is the card I made for her.  Can you tell her favourite colour is blue?

Animal Crossing New Horizons Birthday card

Today my youngest son Jordyn turns 26.  We haven’t seen him since March (for Dave’s birthday), but I talk too him when we play Animal Crossing New Horizons.  I find it hard to choose topics for my sons birthday cards.  

This year I made him a card that looks like an island from our new video game Animal Crossing New Horizons.  I was trying to create different elevations with different green paper and my island design is not to scale.  The white rectangles represent the 2 stores. Nook’s Cranny for furniture, tools, wallpaper, flooring and flower seeds.  The Able sisters is where you can buy or design your own clothes.  There is a Museum to donate bugs, fish and dinosaur fossils.  Resident Services for help and bank machine is inside here.  I also added houses.  You have a house (and mortgage) to decorate.  It is called Animal Crossing because your Villagers are all animals. Maximum villagers on the island is 10.  I made Jordyn’s house red because it is his favourite colour.  I just added extra house to represent some villagers.

When you start playing the game you receive 4 random islands to choose from. There are over 80 random islands, so usually you don’t get the same one as your friends/family you are playing with. My son Jordyn and his fiancé Sarah we’re both choosing their islands at the same time and didn’t realize they both chose the exact same island. They were both surprised, and happy that they got different starter fruit trees and their airports are different colours.  So strange, what are the chances?

Inside I added 4 coloured balloons with gifts because in the video game we shoot down these balloons with a slingshot to receive items ... 

Yellow balloons usually have money ($1000,$5000,$10,000).

Blue balloons usually give you crafting items (iron, clay).

Red balloons sometimes will give you recipes to make with the crafting items.
Green balloons furniture (bed, wardrobe).

This is what the balloons look like in the game.

When I play later today, I will mail him a gift in the game.

Another Birthday Card

Today is my baby sister Denise's birthday (she is 42).  There is 12 years between us. We have 1 sister and 3 brothers between us.  I'm closer to my 2 sisters (Pam & Denise) now that we are all adults.  We are all creative, but in very different ways.  I cross stitch, make cards, and scrapbook.  Pam loves to crochet and read.  Denise makes stuff with her Cricut (mugs/glasses/shirts) and makes the most beautiful cakes & cupcakes.  I try to make cards personal to the person, so I chose baking as my theme for Denise's card this year.  Denise has a great sense of humour, so she wasn't offended by my card.  The card reads My desserts don't look as good as yours do … They look better!  Too bad we can't eat them.

Front and Back of card

Inside the card looks like a kitchen

The card standing up

Happy Easter

I’d like to wish all of my stitching friends a Happy Easter!!  Here is the card I made for my Mother-in-Law for Easter.  It is my first Easter card.  We are not religious so I went with the rabbit and egg theme for the card.

Today is also my husband’s brother Bob’s 60th birthday.  The Dave & Bob have been Boston Bruin fans since they were kids, so I definitely had to make this card.

Snooker Birthday Card

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday and I forgot to show everyone the card I made for him.  Here is the card all folded up to fit inside the envelope.

Here is the card opened up.  It is supposed to look like our snooker table.  I used a wiggly die cut to make the cue ball slide.  This is a joke because you want the cue ball to go straight so you can hit as many red balls as possible when you go to break (shoot).  I even made the cue stick fold in half (to fit inside the envelope), just like the real ones that come in two pieces and screw together.  He loved the card.

Here is a photo of our real snooker table.

SYOA - Chapter 2 - Happy Dance!!

I finally finished all of Chapter 2.  I love how this chapter turned out.


After seeing photos of Hufflepuff banners completed on Facebook group, I realized I forgot to backstitch the inside of the Letter H.  I wasn't going to do the zigzag pattern stitched along the edges of the banner but my youngest son Jordyn said it would look better, so being the good mom I did it.  I agree it does look fancier.

This is how they look together. 

Card - Get Well Soon

My closest friend Lisa had knee replacement surgery Thursday on her right knee.  I was her babysitter this morning and will go back on Tuesday to help her.  

I used this as an excuse to make my first Get Well Soon card.  She also loves Teddy Bears, but already has too many. So, I decided she needed bear themed food gifts instead. My favourite bear character is Winnie-the-Pooh and because he loves honey I bought Honey flavoured Teddy Graham cookies.  And who wouldn’t want Gummy Bears to go with the cookies.  Never too much sugar when you are feeling crappy.

Knee Card

Honey Teddy Graham cookies and Gummy Bears.

Birthday card for February

Today is my Mother-in-law Jean's 79th birthday.  This is the card I sent her.  I was trying out some new die cut shapes Lawn Fawn's Build a House (with flowers), and a garden set which included a tree, fence, grasses, birds, and bird house.  This type of card is called a Z Fold Card, but I forgot to take a photo of it standing up.

We also ordered her this bouquet of flowers from her local florist in New Brunswick.

Here is a sample of another Z fold card (standing up) that I made Christmas 2019.  I printed out the images below on white printer paper, then taped the 3 scenes to some Navy cardstock.  I cut out the scenes with an Exacto knife.  I took my time, and my closest friend Lisa loved the card.

2 Birthday cards for January

Here are the 2 cards I made for family and friends birthdays this month.  I made both cards blue because that is their favourite colour.

My friend Kim’s birthday is January 10.  I will drop off her card tomorrow during the day.

I will mail Dave’s sister Karen’s card tomorrow, so it has time to get there for her birthday on Sunday, January 19.

Happy New Year 2020!!

2020 Stitching Goals

1. Finish Spring Mouse in a House (and the Spring mouse)
2. Summer Mouse in a House (stitch just the mouse)
3. Autumn Mouse in a House (stitch just the mouse)
4. Witchy Mouse
5. Witchy Sister Mouse
6. Frosty Mouse in a House (stitch just the mouse)
7. Christmas Mouse in a House (stitch just the mouse)
8. Gingerbread Reindeer Mouse
9. Gingerbread Santa Mouse
10. Gingerbread Mrs. Claus Mouse
11. 3D Xmas tree

Stitch-a-longs I'm thinking of participating in.

Thanks to Loretta at Stitching the Night Away, because I found a Big List of Cross Stitch SALs to Join in 2020.  I only chose 3 from her list (1 for sure, 2 still thinking about joining) along with 2 continuing from last year.

Stitch Your Own Adventures (SYOA) Letters from Hogwarts - Hosted by Cunning Cross Stitch

If you are a huge Harry Potter fan like I am, then this SAL will definitely be lots of fun.

Seasons SAL (50sts x 50sts) - Hosted by Magical Quilts

I like projects that have all 4 seasons, but I will decide after seeing the first pattern.

35 x 35 for 2020 - Hosted by Magical Quilts

I’ll decide after seeing the first pattern.

Fully Finished Gallery - Hosted by Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher
I participated most of the last year.  I'm planning to do this again, but hopefully for the whole year.

Smalls SAL - Hosted by Mary at Mary's Threads
I participated the first half of the year.  I'm planning to do this again, but hopefully for the whole year.

Card Making Goals

January - 3 birthdays

February - 1 birthday

March - 1 birthday

April - 2 birthdays, 1 Easter 

May - 2 birthdays, 1 Mother’s Day

June - 4 birthdays

July - 5 friendship Day, 2 birthdays, 1 wedding

August - 2 birthdays

September - none

October - 1 Mother-in-Law Day

November - none

December - 1 birthday, 20 Christmas 

I want to make 47 cards in total.

Other Hobbies Goals

Gardening
plant a vegetable patch 
add some new flowers
enlarge the front flower bed

Colouring
try to colour in my colouring books at least once a month

Puzzles 
We have about 7 still to do (3x1000, 1x1500 & 2x2000 pcs), plus I'm sure I'll find new ones to add to our pile.

Reading 

Read 50 books (should be easy, I read 82 in 2019).

Scrapbooks 
Cross Stitch Diary - update my book
Theatre Plays - update my book, complete pages for 2017, 2018 and 2019

Video Games 
complete as many goals on Animal Crossing New Leaf (Nintendo 3DS). Start playing Animal Crossing New Horizons (Nintendo Switch) when it is released on March 20, 2020.

I'll try to be a better blogger in 2020.  Last year I blogged 117 times, which was a lot more than the 8 times in 2018.  

2019 A Year in Review

2019 Stitching Review 

Not a great year for stitching, I only completed 4 projects.

1.  Just Nan’s Cardinal Tweet (replacement).  The first cardinal I gave to an ex coworker because she liked cardinals.

2.  Blue Jay (Just Nan’s Cardinal pattern but using blues).  This one I made because my Mom loved feeding the Blue Jays.  She passed away December 2015.

3.  Lesley Teare’s Anemone Blackwork SAL - 12 parts (12 weeks).  I LOVED working on this one because it is purple and that is my favourite colour.

4.  Lesley Teare’s Floral SAL 2019 - 12 parts (one per month).  I’m so happy I got this finished before the end of the year.

2019 Card Making Review

January - 1 birthday

February - 1 birthday

March - 1 birthday

April - 1 birthday 

May - 2 birthdays, 1 Mother’s Day

June - 4 birthdays

July - 3 friendship Day, 1 birthday

August - 1 birthday

September - 

October - 1 Mother-in-Law Day

November - 

December - 1 birthday, 20 Christmas 

I made 38 cards in total.

Other Hobbies in Review

Zentangle - I’m glad I tried it, but decided I don’t want to dedicate time to this hobby when it will take away from my other interests.

Gardening - we added several more shrubs, hostas and flowers throughout the summer. 

Jigsaw Puzzles - Dave & I assembled 10 puzzles (1000 pcs) over the winter months (January-April & December)

Colouring - I only used my colouring books a few times, but I did colour a lot when making my cards.

Video Games - I continued playing Animal Crossing on my Nintendo 3DS.  I’m trying to complete as many goals as I can in this game before the new Animal Crossing comes out on the Switch March 20, 2020.

My oldest son Jaspar talked me into playing some Nintendo Switch games with him.  We played Luigi’s Mansion 3 where I controlled Gooigi throughout the game.  It was very challenging for me, but I absolutely LOVED it!!  I also tried Pokemon Shield.  It is ok, but I got bored very quickly.  Then he had me playing some Goose game, that was kind of fun solving puzzles around a town.  I also tried playing Star Dew Valley, but I didn’t like it because it uses a clock/timer to make the days go fast.  You only have about 20 minutes per day.  I can’t play with a timer.  I like to play games at my leisure.

Birthday card for my Dad

Yesterday was my Dad’s 70th birthday.  Dave & I took him for lunch at his favourite restaurant.  Mandarin Restauran has the largest selection of Chinese food (buffet) with lots of locations in Ontario, Canada.  We went to the Newmarket location near my Dad’s house today, but usually we do take out at the Kitchener location near our house.

My dad has everything you can think of when it comes to tools, so I decided he needed a tools/workbench for his card.  I found a tutorial on YouTube for building  a U Box Workbench Card.  This is how it turned out.  Yes, I intentionally made all the tools bigger than they are supposed to be.  They are not to scale, they would be too small to see all their detail.  My Dad loved the card, because it was personal and I made it.

Front folded flat to put inside an envelope.

Back folded flat to put inside an envelope.

Front with desk half folded down.  You can see the tools hanging on the left side os the peg board.  It is hard to see, but the saw blade on the right is a clock.  I pointed the clock hands to 7:00 o’clock because it turned 70.
Another shot of the front with desk half folded down.  You can see the tools hanging on the right side of the peg board.

Here is a look at the top of the desk.  The round metal circle is supposed to be a magnetic dish of screws, nails and bolts.

This is the front view of the  card with the desk down.

Birthday card for my niece Katie

Yesterday, was my niece Katie’s birthday.  Here is the card I made for her.  My sister told me some things that Katie likes so I could make a personalized card.  She likes pink, unicorns, hummingbirds and outdoors.  I went with the outdoors theme, but wanted to add some pink balloons, floss for string and a ribbon to hold them.  Katie loved the card.

Inside the card on the left side is a cabin in the woods.

Inside the card on the right side are 2 deer (male and female) in the woods.

I still have 1 more card due this week for my oldest son Jaspar.

Birthday card for Sarah

Today is Sarah’s birthday.  She is my youngest son Jordyn’s girlfriend/fiancé (my future daughter-in-law).  I created hers at the same time as I made my nephew’s because they both love the Zelda video games.  I was already creating one, why not make 2.  They are slightly different.  Sarah’s card is smaller and fits in a pre-made envelope.  Glenn’s I had to cut down a large brown envelope.

Here is the front to look like a Nintendo Switch console.

The inside of the card shows the character Link and a Tri-Force (triangle).

As usual I stamped my name on the back.