Magazine Reviews Galore ;~D

Review of Cross Stitch Gold
Hoorah, lots of magazines to keep us happy during the dull days of January! Although, I must say we have had a lot of blue skies and sunshine in England since Friday ... but I won't get too excited about Springtime as apparently the Siberian sub-sub-zero conditions (i.e. -30 deg!!) will influence our weather in the coming week. No worries, its an excuse to stay warm and cosy indoors.
Here are the highlights of Cross Stitch Gold issue 37:
Maria Diaz is amazingly versatile - I have charts she has designed which range from Tigers to cute "chocolate-box" cottages, funny cartoon characters for weddings to the Pyramids of Egypt! This month her latest offering is Magnificent Venice, with a Gondolier gently travelling down the canal towards a bridge, with the old stone buildings on either side, brimming with colourful hanging baskets. The most amazing detail is the way Maria has used a wonderful blend of stone, sand, cream and grey colours to create the texture on the buildings - Amazing! Maria has also designed a Tulip Fairy, but unfortunately I think that her mouth looks a bit like she has had botox!! Sorry Maria, don't take it the wrong way, it is so incredibly difficult to get facial features right ... which is why Fay Whittaker has her characters facing away from view!
Susan Bates has created a "Flowers of the Month" Sampler showing blooms which typically flower in each month of the year - my favourites are daffodil in March, (or perhaps yellow Narcissus ? ...), water lily in July and Michaelmas Daisies in September.
Joanne Aston's "Life on the Riverbank" deserves a mention - it is an unusual elongated design which gives the feel of a panoramic view - just perfect for the natural subject matter. It shows a mother duck lovingly watching over her 3 cute chicks - the mother's expression is really proud and protective at the same time. Joanne has captured the lacy winged dragonfly beautifully and there is a frog perched on a stone - wonderful detail.
Lucie Heaton is a "Master of all things Cute"! This time she has done a colourful farmyard scene, 2 pigs looking through a blue gate, cat strutting across the gate and a chicken and sheep holding up a red banner with "All the Fun of the Farm" on it - I go AHHHHHHHH every time I see it. I think it is going on my to-do list just because of that!

"In the Spotlight" features Barbara Thompson - I have not heard of her before (or at least I cannot remember stitching her designs!), but she talks about her love of teaching others how to stitch and not to be afraid of experimenting with different colours and designs. Sounds like good advice.

http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php <- San has excelled herself as normal, with thorough reviews of Quick and Easy Cross Stitch and Cross Stitcher magazines, so have a read of her comments. I am most excited by Joan Elliott's fab project called Gifts of Wisdom (page 44 - 47 of Cross Stitcher). It consists of 3 medium-sized motifs depicting nature scenes and inspirational Native American sayings: "Live Strong as the Mountains", "Walk Tall as the Trees" and "Be Known by the Tracks you Leave". These have been mounted onto dark brown suede (like the American Indians wear!) and created into a wall hanger montage which would look just great in our hallway. Joan's design (taken from her new book of Native American designs) uses brown, cream and orange feathers, with bright coloured beads hanging in cascades down each side and additional seed bead embellishments on each motif. Its on my To-do list, that's for sure!

It was lovely to receive such nice comments about the Valentine's Day card I bought for DH and I hope it has inspired people to think of what to buy for their "Other Half" !