Giveaway!!

Okay first off I just want to say thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers regarding the sister incident. Things aren't much better unfortunately but I feel stronger and more able to deal with what I consider the rejection coming from her. I tried yet again to text her only to get a defensive message back so I will be just leaving it now.

Right onto business. As I promised, I wanted to make a few gifts for readers of my blog just to say thank you for reading - I still can't believe anyone would be remotely interested in what I have to say. So I have come up with a few gifts.
Rules
I will be giving three of these away. If you would like one then all you have to do is leave me a post and say you would like one and I will draw names out of a hat. The first three names will will one of their choice. It is open to everyone, even if you are new to my blog and have never commented before. I will leave this thread open till 1st Sept to give everyone a chance to enter.



From Left to right: Tiny Little Quaker biscornu Papillon Creations using DMC Varigated
Serndipity Papillon Creations scissor keep using Needlepoint Silk
With Love Lady Periphaeria scissor keep using Six Strand Sweets - one for the girls!



From left to right : Ring o roses Lady Periphaeria scissor eep using Caron Waterlilies silk
Serendipity Papillon Creation scissor keep using dmc and sparkle
Tiny quaker motif scissor keep using Eterna silk

Well I hope everyone joins in and has fun. Like I said I will feel a bit stupid if no one wants one of them. Have a good week and a nice Bank Holiday if you are in the UK. xx

Feeling pretty low.

Just a quick one to let you know that I have been away ona family weekend to the Lake District. It is my parents' 50th anniversary so they took all of us away to a hotel for a few nights. It would have been great except that my sister and I have fallen out and we didn't speak a word to each other all weekend. I had previously texted her and she hadn't responded so it was obvious she didn't want to put things right with me. It is very sad as I don't generally fall out with people and never with my family. My other sister was sticking to her like glue and at one point they even wore the same outfit. It has always been the case that they go off together and leave me out of things and this is just what they have done. She upset me so badly the other week that I was in tears on my bed for over an hour and my dh was away and my dd was upset by it. The baby didn't move for a week after the upset so I was worried by that too. It's moving fine now though. I don't think she realises how bad she has upset me and I don't think it's something that will solve itself until she decides to put things right. So I am feeling very low and so I did not do much for the August SAL challenge but here is what I have accomplished. Very sorry to depress you all.


Jenn you are welcome to my chart. email with the snail mail details hazelhenry@hotmail.com and I will dig it out for you. xxx

Dawn's Gift

Just a quickie to reveal Dawn's gift I made her. It seems to have taken forever to arrive but I am glad it finally has!

Dawn said she liked greens and purples so I used some of the gorgeous fabric Tracy gave me and also the chart she gave me. I thought it was appropriate as the saying is so sweet. I put some petite beads on it too and added some lavender. I even made the tassels!! I'm not great at tassel making. I used different threads than the suggested ones and had fun dipping into my stash of hand dyes.
I really like this chart and it only took an evening or two to stitch it up. I was thinking if anyone would like this chart, leave me a post and I will send it on to you. It would be great if it could be passed around a bit like the sisterhood of the travelling pattern I have seen on another blog. If more than one person wants it then I'll do a draw for it.

I'm still making up gifties and I should hopefully have them done in less than a week. I only hope that there is something you like and want. I will feel very silly if no-one wants one of them!

Have a good week. Mine has been a bit pants up to now as I have had a major falling out with my sister but my dh is back today from being away so that's some consolation. xxx

Some stash, and a PIF offer!

I have decided to join my very first PIF. I joined Rachel's PIF and I copied this from her blog:

Here's how it works:
I will send a stitched handmade item to the first 5 people who leave a comment on my blog under this post. You will receive it within 365 days; you have my word. The only thing you have to do in return is Pay It Forward by making the same promise on your blog! Once you sign up, I will be emailing you for mailing address information and will keep an eye out on YOUR blog to see what designs, colors, designers you like.
Please do sign up; this will be my first time to Pay It Forward and I look forward to making new stitching friends near and far.

Please note, this is in addition to the giveaway I mentioned in my last post. I will be doing the giveaway as soon as I have made up my pieces - may be a week or two. But I want to leave this post up for a bit to give people a chance to sign up for the PIF.

And here's an update of Patchwork that I have worked a little bit on. I do enjoy doing this one but I find it slow going using hand dyed threads that you can only stitch oone cross at a time on.


And here's some new stash I got in the post yesterday. The first is the Loose Feather's no 26 chart which is lovely and such a lovely colour of fabric. I feel so ashamed as I haven't even started one of these yet. I don't know whether to just use DMC or the stated flossies they give.


Here's some fabric I bought from Jaynes attic. Now when I sent in the order I hadn't heard from Jayne about it which is unusual for her so I phoned her up. She was actually in the process of moving her store!! I told her that if she didn't have the colours I wanted in then she could send me alternatives that were similar. On her site, if you spend £15 or more then you can click on this link that says "add me for 1p" and she will normally send you a thread or something of that value. Because she only had two out of the four colours I wanted in stock, she sent me two alternatives and instead of sending me thread for the "add me for 1p", she very generously sent me two more fabric pieces!! How generous is that!! So here they are:

They are a mixture of Sugar Maple Fabrics and Polstitches.

So all in all a good productive stitchy week for me. Have a good weekend, xx

Look what Dawn sent me!

Here is the gift that Dawn made for me. She made it for no reason except out of the goodness of her heart. I have never owned, or even seen up close, a needleroll before and now I am the proud owner of one! It is beautiful Dawn, thank you. Dawn also sent me this pretty chart and these threads too - very unexpected extras. Thank you so much.

Some other news is that I have been excepted on the SBEBB!! Yay! I am so excited about joining this reputable group. There appeared to be two exchanges I could have signed up for. One was the Needlework Smalls exchange where you make a stitchers wallet or the Harvest exchange. I didn't look at the halloween one as I don't celebrate it. So I wanted to have a go at the stitchers wallet but decided it may be a bit ambitious for a first exchange so I have gone with the Harvest exchange. I love Autumn and all the colours it brings so this should suit me well. I am going to still make a stitchers wallet though to see how I get on with making one. I have seen one in the March Gift of Stitching mag which I would like to try out. I doesn't look too hard. I can do tiny slip stitches so I should manage it.

I have also been working on some scissor keeps/ needlecases but not sure how I am going to finish them just yet. At the moment I am just stitching the fronts and backs then I will finish them all at once. I am on my third front and nearly finished it. Perhaps if people like them I might do a giveaway so watch this space. I am feeling very generous all of a sudden.

We have our cell social tonight (sort of like a Bible study/house goup) so I have to go and cook up some food for it.. We are doing a bring and share foodwise so will be interesting to see what people bring. Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for reading and for commenting, I really appreciate every single one of you. xx

Thinking about August goals.

Here is the fob I sent to Carol for her birthday. I sent some other bits too which you can see on her blog. I didnt't take a picture of the rest of the stash, tut! This was the first fob I ever made and it's slightly different to some of Carol's other fobs in style so thought she might like it for her ever growing collection! I don't appear to own a fob of my own now so think I might make one for myself lol. Maybe I could make one of the "House on a Hill" ones to go with the needlecase I did.

So I have been fairly quiet at the moment. I have been doing some knitting for the new arrival but I'm not very good at it really. My sis says if it doesn't turn out quite right then give it to my dd for her doll!! Cheek! It's not that bad. I'll post some pics when I finish it off and sew it up.

Stitch wise I've been quiet. I have been doing a little on Patchwork but not enough to show progress really. Was very saddened by the death of the designer, Jan Houtman. What a loss to the stitching world. I am trying so hard not to start any new projects and just focus on the ones I have got but I am feeling so uninspired by them at the moment. I have finished a gift but need to send it off first before I can reveal it. I am still waiting for my fabric from Sugar Maple. I think she is having to dye it first as Mindy told me she found the piece of linen I wanted. So I guess she is having to dye it and then it needs to be sent from the US to UK so that will take some time.

So, August Goals:

I haven't set any goals for a while so it might spur me on a bit.

1. Work on Dreaming Mermaid
2. Work on Twilight Shimmer
3. Work on Patchwork
4. Make a fob
5. Possible start Cirque de cirque if fabric is here
6. Work on I am Half Sick of Shadows
7. Make a gift for someone, who? I don't know yet - it could be you!

and I think thats enough for this month. Nothing too taxing there.

Hopefully I will have some more pics next time I post.
Hugs,
xx

Ooooooh baby pics!

Oh my it's been a while since the last time I posted. I haven't really had much to share till today but today's been a fab day. I finally had my first baby scan which they normally do between 10-12 weeks but I was 13+!! Actually found out today that I am actually 14 weeks tomorrow! So I am a little further on than I had thought - only by a few days. It was such a relief seeing the tiny heartbeat ticking away and its arms and legs kicking. It's so good to see what is actually inside. It has been particularly stressfull for me recently as dh has been working away again and there was a problem with getting him back for the scan. Well, not so much getting him home but getting him back out there in time for the next gig! I am praying for no delays as he has just got on a plane to Heathrow and then flying out to Bucharest in the morning. So it was touch and go for a while but he made it to the scan so all is well. They can't tell the gender at this stage but we will be finding out at our 20 week scan.




And, now onto some stitching. It was the HAED SAL this weekend and I was stitching Twilight Shimmer and I have the beginnings of a face!!! You can make out her nose and lips and an eye. I am getting a trifle bored with all the blues but I think I did extremely well this weekend. It must have had something to do with DH being away. By the way he is away for another week, back monday, then going away again Tuesday!! I am not getting to see him hardly any this month sniff sniff (that'll be the hormones!)So here she is in all her glory. I saw on Rachel's blog (Willing Hands) that she has been busy with her Loose Feathers. I feel so bad as I haven't even started one of their designs yet and another is on its way!!!



Oh yep, I have also ordered some fabric from Sugar Maple Fabrics to start my Cirque de Circles chart. I have never ordered from them before but Mindy was ever so nice and helpful. I hope it comes quickly. I haven't yet decided on threads yet but will post a pic as soon as I get everything together.

So happy stitching, till another day, or another week lol.... xxxxx

June update

Here is a picture of my Dreaming Mermaid udate. I've not posted one in a while as she has been a bit slow going. I am going to make her my focus piece as I really need to get going and make some progress on some of my BAPs. This page that I am on is the last full page - the rest are just partial pages so I should be able to get her done if I really work on her.

I have also been working on a gift but can't reveal it yet and I have also had an idea about the chart I'm using which I have pinched from another blog so I will keep you all posted on that one.

Well I am off to my friends for a sleepover this weekend which is very exciting as we haven't done it in years. I'll be taking my stitching and we have both been reading Anna Karenina - she has finished, I nearly so - so I am going to try and get it on DVD so we can watch it together. Have a good stitchy weekend. Thanks for reading - everyone welcome. xx

Phew!

I was just messing about with the template on here and really thought I'd stuffed everything up!!! Half of my elements disappeared and all your blogs and all the pictures and links!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh I even did a system restore in order to try and get it back but to no avail. Then it wouldnt even let me edit the page elements and told me to upgrade my template. Well what the heck I thought since I have stuffed it up anyway and when I clicked it it brought everything back!!!!! Phew phew phew!!!!! Drama over. I still have all your links. That is the last time I try changing the template. You will just have to put up with boring pink. xxxxx

House on a Hill needlebook

Since I lost my stitching mojo I thought I'd do something small and finish it into a needlebook. I spent some time thinking about the best way to finish it and this is the result. I am quite impressed with myself as I also did a back to it and worked out the lettering for "needles". Also I did lazy daisies instead of personalising it which also is quite a new stitch for me. You know that I am not the most confident person at finishing and corners are sepecially hard but I think it has turned out okay. The felt was difficult to cut and stitch too.



The chart is a freebie from Chartmakers and can be found here
Happy stitching everyone, thanks for reading. xx

An update

I am feeling a little better so thought I'd do a quick update about what I have been up to recently. First off here is my June SAL of Twilight Shimmer. Still not got this page finished. I think the prob is that I didnt kit it up properly with all the threads right at the outset so keep finding threads I'm missing - doh!! Will definitely do better next month. Sorry its a bit of a blur.


Stitching wise I seem to have lost my mojo a bit. I think what with all the morning sickness and tiredness and not being able to concentrate for long has had an impact on my stitching. Also I think not coming on and reading and being inspired by all your blogs doesnt help either. Just from the few I have been on today has already helped me feel a tad more motivated. Just as well as I got the second Loose feathers today "Awake the Dawning Day". So I am slowly building up some stash but when oh when will I ever get to do it? and how do I choose which to start first? Also I am thinking about a birth sampler but none really appeal to me.

This last week has seen us away a lot. Last weekend we were at our church leaders retreat away at the Lake District. This place is becoming like a second home to us!! We are due to go up again in August. Then on Tuesday we went to Paris and took our dd to Disneyland. Here are a few pics.




We had a good time but it was very tiring and I am glad to be home even if the cat did poo in the kitchen as a welcome back gift!!!!!!!
Thanks for reading and bearing with me. xx

I am still alive

Just a quick one to let you know I am still alive but feeling icky sick on and off a lot. Promise promise promise I will get round to commenting on all your blogs and doing an update soon.
Hugsxx

Happy Birthday to me!!

Wow just look at this wonderful stash pressie I got in the post from Tracy!!
There is a piece of fabric from Polstitches in a beautiful blue/purple colour, some thread cards, A Lizzie Kate chart, Some Carries threads, a VC thread and some DMC Variations!!! Great goodies Tracy, thank you so much. It really made my day. My DD got me a lovely box of hand made chocolates from our local chocolatier. They are very scrummy. My sisters bought me this weird basket thing. Looks like you could put eggs in it but its sort of folk/ country style. I figure it would look good to put my pinkeeps in lol!
Speaking of pinkeeps here is the heart I made. Not fantastic I know but getting there. I think I need to plump them up somehow.

And finally, I got my Cheryl's buquet back from being made into a cushion. Here it is.

Still feel yukky. Take care everyone, have a good stitching week. I seem to have lost my mojo a bit. Not took up the needle for about a week. xx

My news and some patchwork

Okay some of you may have already guessed it clever peeps but here's my news. I'm pregnant! Only 7 weeks so early days. Wanted to wait till I'd seen the midwife before announcing it to the world! There are still a lot of people I havent told yet. Feel pretty sick and miserable which is why I haven't been on here for a while. I am thinking how much stitching time I have got between now and when the baby comes, due January 08. And how much stash I have collected up and will I ever get any of it finished. So I am wanting to try and focus on finishing some projects starting with Patchwork. Although saying that I have just signed up for the new Quaker SAL on the yahoo group Martina Weber one. And I have also seen this
on thread bear which I think is quite unusual and I have also been browsing the Scarlet Letter at all their gorgeous repro samplers. Just not ennough time now perhaps.

Onto Patchwork, I love all the colours I am putting together on this. I am tring not to get any that are too samey but it's a difficult job as the motifs are many and varied. Here is my progress. It is very addictive once you start it.


I ended up making the little heart into a pinkeep but mine never seem to look as good as some as your ones that i see. Practice makes perfect. I have met my May goals except the new start one unless you call the red heart a new start.

It's my birthday next week and my hubby has just surprised me with a trip to Paris - 3 nights!! We are going to take our dd to Disneyland. I know she will love it. In all our 8 years of marriage we have never been abroad together. In fact the last and only time I went abroad was when I was 15 years old!! To Bavaria. So it is quite a big thing for me. I just hope I won't feel too sick or panicky. I figure this may be our last chance to go for a while at least. Hopefully not another 8 years!!

Thanks for reading. When I stop feeling so sick I'll be able to stay on a little longer and get through some of all your posts. Have a good week. xx

Twilight Shimmer May SAL

Just to post my update on Twilight Shimmer after the May SAL. I think I did quite well but still no sparkly metallics on it yet. I'm getting more into this now and can't wait to do the hair and face on the right. Thanks everyone for your lovely responses to my exciting news but you are all going to have to wait for it I'm afraid lol!! I will just have to keep you in suspense a bit longer. Now to work on my Patchwork which hasn't seen the light of day for at least a month if not more. xx

Another finish

Just thought I'd post this quickie that I finished last night. Stitched on 28 count Quaker cloth over two using WDW "Ladybug". Not sure how I am going to finish it though. I am open to suggestions. I think a needle book but I'm not sure and I havent left enough on the left so I would have to cut and stick it I think to some card. Then do a back then join them up. Any tips would be appreciated. I got the free pattern from here. Go to where it says " a grid" for freebies.

Hope you are having a nice weekend and to the folks in the US - A Happy Mother's day!
xx

PS Edited to add that I may have some exciting news in the next couple of weeks - Look out for it!! xx

I am Half Sick of Shadows

Here is my latest update of this bap wip I'm doing. It's got lots of confetti in it at the moment with all those tiny circular windows. Im about half the page down on this little bit. Will have to put it away for a bit as it's the HAED SAL this weekend so I'll be working on my Twilight Shimmer. So so hoping that we will get a bit of shimmer on her this weekend. There is definitely some confetti coming up so hoping for an interesting bit to be able to show on Tuesday.

I am so proud of my dd! I have been reading Dr Suess Green Eggs and Ham with her and she is really getting it!! I mean she is really starting to read it on her own! They are such brilliant books. I would recommend them to anyone with preschool kids. I want to run in the playgroup and show her teachers but then I think "Na cos she probably will forget and then I'll look a right idiot!!" It is enough for me to know she is doing well.

Well I don't think I'll be starting A Most Noble Pursuit now till June so that will not be one of my new starts this month. Maybe I won't have one. Mmmmm. I still have the first Loose Feathers club one and also the second is due any day soon apparently! I have seen a lot of pretty little makes that I would quite like to do. I fancy making a needle book or something similar so I may have a go at one of those. My Cheryl's bouquet is being made into a cushion as we speak and I also forgot to mention my beautiful Rapunzel cushion frill started coming away from the stitching as the fabric just doesnt work!! So she has kindly agreed to fix it free of charge with another frill. Should have those back soon. I sent a picture of Cheryl's Bouquet to Marc from Needlemania who said he is going to put it in his Gallery!!! I will have to resend another when it has been made up.

Thank you all so much for reading and taking time to reply. I appreciate all the lovely, kind comments so much. They mean a great deal to me. And I know how hard it is to get time to reply - I have been struggling myself to catch up with everyone. Have a wonderful weekend however you spend it.
xx

NPIs arrived

Here are the missing NPIs for A Most Noble Pursuit. They actually sent me the full skeins instead of the stated number of strands! You can see there were quite a few colours missing, 15 in all. I am stunned that I actually managed to get the colours right when sorting them out in the first instance. I was dreading that they would send me them then find I had made a mistake with some of the colours and still end up having to order more. But all is well and now I am fully kitted up ready to start. Kate at Thread Bear has been wonderful in getting NPI to send them out so quickly. So maybe this may be my new start this month! We'll see....
Have a good Bank Holiday. I am on my own this weekend as DH has gone away again!! xx

May Goals

Okay here were my April goals:

1. Finish page 4 of HAED Dreaming Mermaid (I will, I will, I will!!) I did I did I did Yay

2. Finish Cheryl's Bouquet (easy this one, I know I can do this) I also did Yay yay!

3. No new starts (this may be a bit more difficult) Okay so I did a bscornu for Louanne:( only a little thing!

4. Work on Twilight Shimmer for the SAL Yep did this one too!!!

So a very positive month stitch wise for me! So for May here we go:

1. Work on Twilight Shimmer for the SAL.

2. Do at least two motifs on Patchwork. I haven't touched her for a while.

3. Work on "I am Half Sick of Shadows"

4. Start page 5 HAED Dreaming Mermaid.

5. Have a new start - not decided which one yet!! This will keep you guessing.

As you can see I am being very indefinite in my goals. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself this month but want to feel like I have achieved something.

Also, got a call from Kate at Thread Bear - that girl is such a star! - the missing NPIs have been sent and she will post them tomorrow. She said she is also awaiting the next Loose Feathers - can't wait!

Also, got the gift of Stitching mag today oh so many goodies in there to stitch. Love love love it!

Thanks to everyone who commented on my Cheryl's bouquet. It means a lot. Still trying to catch up with blog posts. If I have missed anyone, please remind me as I have still not got this google reader / blogroll thing sorted out and still my list gets longer and longer!

Happy stitching all, xx

Ta Da!!!!!!!

Hoorah hoorah I made my goals this month with just an hour to go! I have finally finished Cheryl's Bouquet! This was a lovely one to do although at times I really did have to concentrate on counting stitches. This would have been easier if I had marked off as I went but for some reason I didn't bother to mark off on this one. So now I can set myself some new goals for next month and I am umming and ahhing whether to have a new start or not. mmmmmmm.... So without further ado here is Cheryl's Bouquet. I am going to get it made into a cushion. I am thinking an olive green surrounding fabric.


Have a great week everyone. xx

Oh and I forgot to share this...

Here's a biscornu I made for Louanne as a thank you for the HAED chart she RAKed me with a while ago. I put seed beads in every other circle although its quite hard to make them out. And as is my usual custom, i filled it with lavender.
xx

Lake District

We have just got back from a weekend away at the Lake District. It was amazing and we crammed a lot in. The first thing we did was take Lily to see the World of Beatrix Potter. She had so much fun. Here she is with some of the haracters out of the books, Peter Rabbit, Mr MacGregor, Mrs Tiggywinkle...



We also went on a boat trip and we went to an animal conservation park wich was brill.

After the Animal Park, we went to visit Hill Top which is the house where Beatrix Potter lived and wrote her stories. The house is as it was when she lived there with all the furniture set in palce and ornaments and toys etc... Very special place. Here's one of Lils standing outside the front door of Hill Top.


I did manage to get a little bit of stitching done but not much! I have only got a couple of days to finish Cheryl's Bouquet. So I better get off of here and get doing it!! Hope you all had a good weekend. Have a good stitching week. xx

Good news and an update

Good news regarding the missing threads. Kate got onto Needlepoint inc and they have apologised profusely and are sending out the missing threads straight away! Just so there is no confusion, the threads came pre-packed and rolled in a bundle direct from npi so no-one would have known there would have been any missing. I have also asked Kate if she has any thread cards to put them on as I only had one spare one and it is full. Hopefully she will pop one in the post with it. So hopefully it wont take too long to come.
And here is an update of Dreaming Mermaid:


I actually have about 10 stitches to do on this which I will finish today so it finally looks like I have met my Goall of getting this page finished!! Yay. Looking at todays date, it means I now only have 5 days left in this month to finish Cheryl's Bouquet which was my other goal. Do you think I can do it?? I reckon I might be able too! Victory lol. Then I will definitely have a new start next month as a reward!! Happy stitching, the race to the finish is on.
xx

Oh no!!

First of all I would like to apologise to everyone for not commenting on blogs at the moment. I am struggling to keep on top of all of them as I really want to dedicate more time to stitching and the computer is really addictive and taking my time away. So if I havent commented - I am sorry and I will get round to reading and updating soon. Also, I have been away at my sisters this weekend as my husband has been on a trip to Dallas so I went up to stay for a couple of nights.

Well just got back this morning and got my Thread Bear parcel through of A Most Noble Pursuit!! You can imagine how excited I was opening it up, only to see that the £37 thread pack was all in strands with no codes on that you have to sort through yourself!! Okay, I thought, I'm a pro, I can handle this. So began the task of laboriously counting out strands and matching up the colours with the codes. You can imagine how disappointing it was then only to find about a third of them missing! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! NPI is at fault on this one. Only, now I'm not sure what to do. Have rung TB and I'm awaiting to hear back. It took ages for thm to come and now I expect to have to wait ages for the next batch to come again. Oh well, I wasn't planning on starting it so soon anyway. Just a bit disappointed (sniff).
The fabric and the chart is lovely though!

On a different note - here's some pics of my rabbit Amber that I took of her in the garden the other day when the sun was out. I was wanting one of her with the cat as the cat completely freaks out and goes all bushy tailed at the sight of her before scarpering off up the fence. Please do not tell me she is a hare!!! She is actually an Old English breed with an unusual colouring - I've been told (which prob means she was cross bred!!! But she is far too tame to come from Hare stock!




Have a good week! Hugs to everyone.

Twilight Shimmer Take 2

Well I really did do my best on this April's SAL although it doesn't look like I did much. There was a lot of blocky grey which as Carol puts it "Yawn Stitching". I will be glad to get onto some of the picture of the girl and the fairy. I think there will be a fairy (or it may just show as a glow) in the empty circle bit on the left. Well I am glad to leave it for another month anyway easy stitching as it is. No confetti on this one as yet! Funny thing is, I recently got a nice comment on my webshots about my first pic of this which was a bit strange as its nothing but a grey blue blob at the minute. Don't know who gave me the nice comment - if it was you then thank you but I have a feeling someone perhaps thought they may be winding me up.



Thank you to everyone who left a lovely comment for my dd. She was really chuffed! Happy stitching this week everyone.

My stitching daughter

I bought a small cross stitch kit for my daughter who is four. The kits are aimed at children four and above and is worked on 6 count using wool with the design printed on the fabric. They include everything you need, even the red hoop/frame. I bought it from Daisy Designs from their Early Fun range. I only phoned for it on Tuesday afternoon so its not bad service to get it here today. Here she is. Can't you just feel the concentration? She is not doing too badly with it although my patience is being tested!!


I just think she looks so cute!

Just a quickie

Well the last two days have been glorious weather wise so we made plans to go to the beach today weather still being nice but it has rained all day! How miserable! I've also not been feeling great. Bit of a poorly tummy. And I can't blame chocolate as I've not really had much! We're not big on the whole Easter egg thing but as usual the family have bought dd loads of eggs!!! So there's loads of choc in the house now!
So to cheer myself up today I decided to do something I have been thinking about for a while - I've subscribed to the Gift of Stitching mag. I got the three back issues for this yr too and I must say I am really rather impressed. I think it caters for those with rather fine taste in the needle industry lol! I think there is at least one thing if not more in the four issues I have just recieved that I would stitch. I also like the way they show you any special stitches used in each issue as I am eager to learn new stitches. Time will tell lol.

And now for a long awaited update of Dreaming Mermaid. Still slowly plugging away on page 4 but I think she is looking dreamy now. I love her tail and the colours are wonderful to work with. I really want to get page 4 finished this month. I am on a mission! Hope you all had a wonderful bank holiday.
xx

Two posts in one day!!

Just finished my first ever pinkeep!! Now to all you finishing experts pls don't laugh at my feeble attempt!! As you can see - it's not quite centered and all the pins are different colours and I made the mistake of cutting the backing fabric corners out which made it start to fray a little which I quickly hid with ribbon!! Thank you to Carol for the link which provided the instructions. It's far from perfect but I am very proud of it - even if I may say so myself!

It is a freebie from Carriage House back when they were called Barrick Samplers and stitched x2 on 32 count linen and uses NPI silks. Thanks for looking.

New Stash arrived!

First of all a huge thank you to Tracy (maddixie) for sending me the Patchwork piece she charted for me. It is so kind of you to do it and it will save me a huge job in the future.

Yesterday half of the stash I ordered came from Thread Bear and just as Cheryl said, they cam ebeautifully wrapped in tissue and ribbons. So here is the first Loose Feather's Club chart of the year with the precut fabric and also Polly Wolly Doodle and Glad Tidings.

What I also like about this store is that they have done DMC conversions for all the different types of threads that are coded on some charts like WDW and Gentle arts etc... So I am still waiting for the Most Noble Pursuit chart and the linen and the thread pack of NPIs as they are still on their way from the US I'd imagine. Now I am sticking to my goal of "No New Starts" this month so I will just have to drool over my new charts for a bit!!!

Here is an update on Cheryl's Bouquet. I am three quarters done on this now so I should definitely meet my April goal and get it finished. It's such a nice one to do!

I have been getting back into my Dreaming Mermaid but it is slow going so I will post an update when I have done more on it.
And finally thought I'd post a pic of my other puss Scratchy. She is a bit scatty and it's difficult to get a pic of her at times but here she is. Little cutey!


Hope everyone has a blessed Easter and that you don't get sick on creme eggs (Cheryl!!)!!
Hugs
x

April Goals

Okay just a quickie post today. I have been rubbish at meeting my goals especially my HAED goal which was to complete page 4 of Dreaming Mermaid. I haven't even picked it up since February! So this month I really do need to dedicate some time to it. So here goes:
1. Finish page 4 of HAED Dreaming Mermaid (I will, I will, I will!!)

2. Finish Cheryl's Bouquet (easy this one, I know I can do this)

3. No new starts (this may be a bit more difficult)

4. Work on Twilight Shimmer for the SAL which I'm not sure when it is this month perhaps someone can remind me)

So if I am a bit quiet online this month, you all know why!!
Hugs to everyone who comments and visits my blog. I appreciate you all so much. I so love this community of stitchers!

Hugsxx

Interesting day

What a day!! My little car, which is very old but still fairly reliable, was hit today. I was on a roundabout turning right and another car came onto the roundabout whilst I was still on it and smashed my light and a bit of the bonnet in. I was very nice about it. I really hate it when I see people shouting and screaming at each other on the road. My insurance company have told me that the car will probably be wrote off which means I will only get the bottom value of the car. So we will see what happens. Thankfully no one was hurt and my dd was not in the car at the time. So for the time being I will be on foot. Hopefully the weather will stay nice for a bit. It has been glorious the last couple of days.

On to a nicer note - I phoned Thread Bear up and have ordered A Most Noble Pursuit and the thread pack and the linen. Also the La D Da chart Polly Wolly Doodle. It uses NPI silks three of which are in the thread pack and I will need three more. Kate at Thread Bear said she would order the three threads in for me but agreed I could probably get away with substitute colours from the thread pack. I have a few NPIs at home too. So what I saved in not buying the extra threads, I ordered a blackbird chart Glad Tidings.

I have also joined the Loose Feathers club and ticked to get the linen cut as well. Apparently I got the last space!! So that is something to look forward to every other month. Okay I'm going to chill out now!
xx

An afternoon at Chatsworth

We had a lovely day today. After Church, the weather was so beautiful we decided to go for a drive out to Chatsworth house.

It is only about 40 mins away in the car and is a beautiful piece of the English countryside. The have animals there that you can touch and handle and a great play area so fab for Lily!! I think DH enyoyed himself on the play equipment too! Here's a pic of Lily holding one of the guinea pigs called Bracken.



Heres one of Lily on the roundabout.

A fun day in all even though it cost a fortune - £15 for the three of us to get into the adventure playground and £15 for lunch which was a kids box, a sandwich and a bowl of salad and 2 cakes!! No drinks!!! Anyway it was a lot of fun.

Stitching wise I have been very naughty as I have not touched Dreaming Mermaid in ages and I am not going to meet my monthly goal again for the second month running. However I have been busily stitching away on Cheryl's Buquet as its so nice to do so I am nearly halfway through it now. I think I will keep at it and make it a quick finish then get started back on Dreaming Mermaid. Still not heard about the NP silks from Thread Bare and don't want to place my order till I get all the information off them and order all the stuff together. Here's a pic of Cheryl's Buquet update:


Hope everyone has had a happy weekend and thanks for reading my Blah! I still cannot believe folks are even vaguely interested in anything I have to say!!