Magpie Monday – more cross stitch books and buttons
I grab any opportunity I can to pop into charity shops to see if there is anything good on sale. Earlier this week, I was in Cambridge for a two day work meeting. I thought I’d been stuck in a basement meeting room the whole time, but it was decided that people needed a comfort/fag break so I nipped into the Cancer Research shop across the road.
I returned to the meeting room clutching this:
‘Picture it in Cross Stitch’ was published in 1996 and is one of the all time classic cross stitch books. This revised and updated edition was published in 2008. The charity shop copy I found was in mint condition and it only cost £1 because there was an ‘all books £1′ offer. The book contains lots of ideas for creating your own sampler designs. The page shown below contains instructions for designing a sampler including a picture of the house where you live.
I also found a couple more cross stitch books recently, including ‘Two-Hour Cross-Stitch’ with lots of ideas for little motifs and a Jane Greenoff cross stitch book. The latter book was in a Birmingham charity shop that I popped into when I was heading to BlogCampUK.
Two more cross stitch books
One of the things that attracted me about the ‘Two-Hour Cross-Stitch’ book was that some of the motifs include buttons.
Motifs with buttons
I’ve been buying more old buttons, including two more of little bags of buttons for £1.99 a bag from the local Oxfam shop and a strip of little pink buttons.
So these are my pre-loved finds. What have you found?
I’m linking up with this week’s Magpie Monday at Me & My Shadow.
Haha love a good sneak out to a charity shop mid-meeting ;0)
Those motifs with buttons are really cute. Nice finds x
Yes I am pretty much addicted to charity shops!
Lovely things! I’m toying with the idea of creating my own cross stitch sampler with a picture of our house/car/us on it, the book looks brilliant.
Get yourself a copy of the ‘Picture it in cross stitch today’ book – it’s really, really good. Both amazon.co.uk and abebooks.co.uk have second hand copies available.
Good skills on the mid work charity shop dash! I love the Grandpa snoozing in his chair motif!
I love that motif too – there’s a lot of humour and warmth in Jo Verso’s designs.
Love the cross stitch books! Can’t wait to see what you make.
I’ve still got a bit of a backlog of unfinished stitching projects but I will post photos of completed stuff as part of the ‘needlework days’ linky at Feisty Tapas
Hehe, lol, yeah. I need a very serious looking suitcase to carry with me at all ties to stash the things I find when out and about for work!
Love the buttons- the red ones are heavenly.
I tend to carry reusable cloth shopping bags that scrunch up small. That way I can always transport charity shop purchases home
The red buttons are lovely – I’m trying to decide whether to use them on an item of clothing or for craft projects.
Love all your cross stitch bits, especially the two hour book, love anything crafty that can be finished within two hours!!
I’m the same – especially now I’m trying to squeeze crafty stuff in amongst other things. I can just about stitch with my little boy around but he keeps coming over to chat and that slows me down.
I haven’t turn Cross stitch in years .. xx looks good xx
Go on, do another little bit of cross stitch
Lovely finds small x-stitch motifs always come in handy for cards etc
Also loving the buttons!
Yes I like doing quick cards too. Sometimes I do quite a small motif on aida and fray the edges to use as a card topper.
And buttons are always good
hehe love that you popped out for a charity shop fix
Yes other popped out for a fag, I popped out to the charity shop
It caused much amusement (but a couple of people were coveting the book I bought)
OH if you love cross stitch books I can get you squillions ! There are loads in my local charity shop all usually priced around £1 !
I probably shouldn’t get any more now!
Ooh buttons, I keep looking out for some. Great for card making etc. Fab finds
Yes buttons are great. Hope you find some. (I’m told there are lots on eBay)
I really do love buttons! Do you have a lovely tin to keep them all in? I used to love going through my Grandma’s button tin when I was little. My Mum didn’t have hers in a tin, it wasn’t as much fun! x
Yes I keep my buttons in tins, just like my mum. Definitely the best way x
I’ve never tried cross stitch – always thought it would take ages, but reading your post and looking at the lovely books you picked up, I realise I’m probably wrong! The little motifs are gorgeous and love the idea of putting them on cards
If you want to give cross stitch a go, I can recommend the mini kits from Mouseloft which are available from various places (including here: http://www.stitcher.co.uk/do-search.asp?searchtext=mouseloft ). These kits contain chart, fabric, threads, and needle. You will just have to get some embroidery scissors if you don’t already have a pair. Have fun!
Someone has much more patients than me! What an inspiring find.
I don’t have that much patience! I usually pick charts that are quick to stitch.
I just love rummaging in charity shops, you never know quite what you will find. Enjoy your book and 2 hour projects!
Good to find another person who loves thrift-shopping!