I discovered cross stitch when a friend sent me a cross stitch wedding invite. Up until then I thought that it was only pictures that you could cross stitch, once I discovered that you could do all sorts of other things I was hooked.

I tend to cross stitch for other people, i.e. I do special cards such as weddings, birth of babies etc. There's load of different card mounts to buy and for a pack of five at around £2.50 it's quite a lot cheaper then buying a card in the shops. My favourite item to stitch is a guest towel, basically it's just big enough to wipe your hands on and it has a little Aida strip down the bottom of it. However, it is extremely useful to give someone who's just had a baby. It's ideal for slinging on your shoulder whilst nursing the baby and for mopping up all the "spills"!!! Stitch a suitable baby motif and it's a lovely gift.

I've also stitched using waste canvas. This enables you to stitch a design on an item of clothing or something like a table cloth. You place the waste canvas on the material and stitch through them both. Once the design is finished to wet the design and the waste canvas becomes all soft and you can just gently pull it out.

I find cross stitch lovely and relaxing and really enjoy making something for someone else. I also find that the recipients are really touched by the fact that I've made something for them. What could be better then that?

Give it a go, it's not difficult to follow a pattern and the materials aren't that expensive to get you started. I'll be starting on my Christmas cards soon!!