Cross stitching mash up.

It's been years since I did much cross stitch. I know there are still magazines out there, but it seems like all the big box craft stores had relegated their DMC floss to a back aisle. Oh, you might've seen a friendship bracelet kit, but not much in the way of old fashioned cross stitching supplies.  Now, lately, I've seening a little slight resurgance in embroidery and cross stitching in particular.  A craft magazine here and there will print a pattern and there are more and more crafting websites devoted to the craft with some of them really mixing it up. This isn't your cutesy cross stitched Ziggy cartoons anymore.



Last week, I picked up issue #30 of Mollie Makes. It is a UK publication. It's a mixed bag of crafty projects and such and at $12.99 for an issue here in the states, kind of pricey for what it is. Anyway, this issue included a cross stitch kit of a lovely rose and since I had had a few at a local club, I was loosened up enough to plunk down the cash and I don't regret it at all.



Now, since I, for some reason, didn't want to delve right into the kit included, I remembered that I had purchased an ugly cross stitch kit awhile back at our local Salvation Army Thrift Store for a quarter. It included the fabric, needle and all the floss. It also included the pattern for a lovely sign that says "Kiss the Cook" complete with a flower and heart border. Definitely not my thing, but I thought for a quarter I could at least use the materials for something.



This is where it gets interesting. I decided to take those materials and use the rose pattern (not the kit) from Mollie Makes, combining the two!  Now, the colors in the rose pattern are all reds and pinks with a little aqua green. The colors from "Kiss the Cook" are two shades of blue, two shades of green, a yellow and a red; definitely NOT the same palette. Very bright and rainbow-ish!



So, if you are looking for an exercise in creativity, I invite you to give this kind of thing a try. Don't overlook those ugly kits from the local thrift store. Good materials can be found for little money. Combine two kits, use the materials from one for another, mix it up!  I was pleased with the results. Does it look like the original?  No, not exactly.  It's almost got a more modern feel. But it was a lot of fun and just a little bit challenging. I may never open that little kit that came with the magazine. Now to finish it up with a little frame and ribbon.