Lots more goodies..

My goodness! I have been inundated with gifts galore! It feels like my birthday every day. Several more lottery pieces have arrived for me.

First up is Dianne's gift which is this cute drawstring bag and inside she has put a bag of Hershey's chocolates. It's so lovely. Thank you Dianne.


Next up is the beautiful biscornu from Mindy who also sent this lovely wooden thread keeper made by her father and also some thread she used for the biscornu. Not only all this but a gorgeous beaded scissor fob too. All lovely Mindy. Thank you so much!!


Outi's gift also arrived and with it she included a Periphaeria design and some lovely floss. Thank you Outi. I love it all.


Leena's piece also arrived and Leena made this cute pair of booties for Elijah too! This is the first flatfold I have ever had and I love it. Thanks Leena!!


Next up is my Frosty Friends exchange that Amysc sent to me. It's so lovely. A beautiful snowman cushion backed with snowman fabric and lots of other goodies too. She sent me 3 charts and a charm for one of them, 2 pieces of fabric and 2 threads. Thank you so much Amy. What a perfect gift.


Now, some time ago I entered a competition on Sara's blog and lo and behold I won!! I guess I was really blessed last year to win so many things. Sara was very secretive about what the prize would be so I was totally blown away to receive this gift today!!

The ornie she stitched is by Teresa Wentzler and she also sent me some sachets of cocoa, hand made chocolates, body lotion, threads and a great Lizzie kate kit in a box which I have never seen before. Really cool stash Sara. Thank you so much.

And just to treat myself, like I really need more treats hey, I bought the Mary Peacock Sampler chart ond these great miniature putford scissors from the Sampler Guild and they arrived the very next day. Wonderful service. I don't know when I'll actually get around to stitching it but it's nice to have in my stash. And I just adore the scissors.


So that's me for a bit. Sorry if I have made anyone green eyed! I have been slowly working my way through blogs and responding to my comments. I was so blessed to receieve so many lovely comments concerning my new baby. Elijah is doing well but unfortunately I have ended up with an infection in my wound which has made it very uncomfortable for me. It was just about healed too when the infection set in. So I am now on antibiotics and cream to sort it out. Hopefully I'll be a lot better next time I write. I have been working on a biscornu and not sure whether to give it to my sister for her birthday or to keep it or give it to someone else. I will post a pic of it next time I write when I hopefully will have finished it. Small, easy projects this year I think.

Till next time, happy stitching.
xx

Welcome Elijah John Henry..... Long post, lots of pics

Here's our beautiful new arrival, Elijah John Henry, who came as planned on the 8th January at 10.15 weighing in at 9lb 3oz!! Yes I do have a habit of giving birth to big babies! Lily weighed 9 lb. I'm recovering well from the section - a lot better than last time. We only got home on Monday due to him having to stay in hospital an extra couple of days as he had jaundice. He is fine now though. He is absolutely adorable and is very cuddle. He likes his cuddles. I'm very tired as I'm only just starting to catch up with sleep after having none in the hospital for 6 days!. I did take some stitching in thinking I might have to wait a while for the csection but they did it straight away.
Here is a video of his first cry!!! Just as he was taken from me. (hope it works)

elijah 041.mpg

Since I have been away I have started to recieve some lovely goodies through the post from the cross stitchers lottery.
Here's what I have rec'd so far:

This is from Stephanie which is absolutely stunning. She even sent some extras - the fabric of which I took into hospital with me. Thank you Stephanie.




This is from Cheryl who also sent me a couple of baby vests too. Thanks Cheryl. I love it.


This is from Carol which is so lovely and is set on a real wooden box!! Very impressive. I can store my threads in there. Thank you Carol.


This is from Edgar. Great fabric and my favourite Season. Thank you Edgar.


This is from Dawn who also sent some extras. I really need that ribbon lol! Thank you Dawn - it's fab!

This is from Aniza - so sweet and I love the fabric colour. Thank you Aniza.

This is from Yasmin. I adore the thread colour. Thank you Yasmin!!

Phew Loads of goodies.

Also as if that is not enough to show I also have finished the Simple Little Quaker design. Here it is stitched on 32 count lavender mist belfast linen using Dinky Dyes Amethyst thread.



Also I can show you what I stitched for Jeanne for the Frosty Friends exchange as she has recieved it now. It is by Beardie Designs and is called Winter pocket. I sent some extras too but didn't photograph them.




So going to be a bit busy now but will try to get on as soon as I can. All the best everyone. xx

Can I squeeze in a quick one??

Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2008 is a happy and prosperous one for you all. Was not going to post till baby came but a couple of things have happened that I just need to write about. First off I am so pleased to announce that I won the cross stitchers lottery!!! I can't tell you how chuffed I am to be recieving so many lovely stitched pieces. I look forward to recieving some great gifts in the post!

Also, today I recieved this beautiful wall hanging from Judith!


Its so pretty Judith. Thank you.

I have also been adding to my stash! Well, I'm not giving up my favourite hobby just because we are adding to our family lol. Just a short break perhaps. I figured that if I didn't get these charts now then maybe I'd never get them. The only place I cound find these charts was Wyndham Needleworks. Let me know if you know of another supplier of Exampler Dames designs. I only found two other suppliers but their stock of charts was low. So here are what I ordered:

Examplar Dames "Love"
Examplar Dames "Faith"
Examplar Dames "Prosperity"
Indigo Rose "Mary's Pin Pillow"
Indigo Rose "Peek a boo Pin Cushion"
Carriage House Samplings "Folk Art Pincushions"

So just a last splurge with some Christmas money I got this year. It might be a while before I splurge again.

I have also nearly finished Simple Little Quaker. I am into the last page and am pleased with how it is turnign out. If I don't get it finished before I go into the hospital then I shall be taking it in with me!! I don't know what I'll be taking in if I do get it finished - maybe my Patchwork. Or maybe a little biscornu design or something. I will be staying in for a few days to recover from the c section and dh will be at home in the evenings with dd so I may as well take something in to occupy myself with.

Oh also to thank Tracy for her lovely Christmas treats I sent her a parcel and amm pleased to say it arrived safely. Unfortunately I didn't take pics of what I sent but you can find it on her blog.

Until baby arrives then.......

xx

The end of a fab year!

This year has been a great year for me stitch wise and other wise and a lot of it has to do with blogging. All the wonderful people I have met through this blog and all the wonderful inspirational blogs I have read have moved my stitching on to a different level. I have learned a lot. I have learnt new techniques and how to finish items into things I never thought possible. I have been beautifully gifted and received some gorgeous goodies in exchanges. My stash has increased considerably as has my wish list and I have more wips than ever!

Obviously I don't know how next year is going to go as I am having my baby in 11 days time. I have plans to stitch samplers mainly esp getting my CDC finished and Patchwork finished and I also want to start the Collaboration Sampler that I have kitted up. I also have a few quaker designs in mind too. I will have to see how things go. I will be stepping down from exchanging for the time being until things start settling down.

I have completed my design for the Frosty Friends exchange and will post up a pic as soon as the recipient rec's it.

Here is one I have started and is coming along at a nice speed. It is the Papillon Creations Simple Little Quaker. It is stitched on 32 count Lavender Mist linen and uses Amethyst Dinky Dyes Cotton.

It is lovely to do and hopefully it will give me another finish before the end of the year.

And here are the wonderful gifts that Tracy sent me.

She sent me some lovely charts with the threads and extras to stitch them with. I love the gloriana. I will use it on my Patchwork.
and here are some gorgeous knitted items that her mum and aunt made for me. Love them all. She also sent me some teddies and a bib and she also sent Lily some card making stuff which I thought was just so generous. I feel so blessed to know you Tracy. Thank you so much. Here is a close up of the gorgeous blanket.


Oh and if you are wondering, the first picture is of my dd and my dh doing her first solo in church. She sang down the mike whilst dad accompanied her on the guitar. A very special moment that I thought I'd like to share with you all.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you will have a blessed and prosperous new year and all through 2008. The next time I post will probably be after I have had baby so watch this space.

Hugsxxxxxxxxxx

I've been gifted!!

I have been the recipient of some lovely gifts this week. First off I got this huge box in the post yesterday from Tracy and it contains 8 parcels!!!!!!! 4 for baby 3 for me and even 1 for dd!! Tracy I don't know what to say. This is toooo much!! I haven't opened any of them yet - it's oh so tempting but I'm going to wait till Christmas day. Thank you soo much. You are the best.


And this is what I rec'd today:

Cathy emailed me to ask if I'd like it as I'd mentioned I liked the design on a forum and she had two copies of it. So thank you so much Cathy. It looks quite detailed so I might have to ask some peole to help me with the speciality stitches when I get around to starting it.

And here are some pics of the needlebook I did for the cross stitcher's lottery:



The design is from the book Repertoire des Frises and uses DMC Variations (another gift from Tracy!!) on 32 count evenweave. I used felt for the inside pages and to back it. A very enjoyable stitch and I am quite loathe to part with it.

And last of all, here's a really naff picture of our Christmas tree!! It doesn't have an awful lot of decorations on it but it looks quite pretty and better irl.

Last SAL!

Woohoo!!! The final HAED SAL and I have managed to stick to all ten months!! I have managed to complete the second page and think I will stop at this and make it up into a little cushion or something. I am not intending to finish the whole design.


And I couldn't resist taking this pic of my dd sat stitching away concentrating ever so hard. She only probably managed to get two stitches in but its still progress. I don't think she has really caught the stitching bug yet!


Sorry I have not been commenting on blogs lately. I have been very tired and quite uncomfortable and so have been trying to use any energy I have to work on the frosty friends exchange and the cross stitchers' lottery. I have finished the stitching for the lottery but need to finish it up. The frosty friends is proving to ba a bit more of a challenge - I had to unpick it once.

I have only 4 weeks left to go now and this baby is proving to be quite active (and quite painful at times).

Latest stash purchases (like I really need more stash right??) are charts from Papillon Creations:
Simple Little Quaker
Sheherezade

and Long Dog's
Foursome Reel.

I also purchased a lovely dragonfly needleminder from Kelmscott designs and some thread rings I thought I might be able to use in some exchanges. I am trying to decide on a nice thread colour to do Simple Little Quaker in. Yvonne at Papillon Creations has also put my pics up in her gallery of the stitchers case I made for Linda in the redwork exchange.

Oh and I had a lovely email from Cathy today asking if I would like her Sampler Cove design of Spanish Rouge as she has two charts. That is very very kind of her and really appreciate it. Hugs to you Cathy.

Well, going to make tea and have a rest. I will try and catch up on blog reading over the next week or so. Hugs to everyone. xx

Finished!!!!

Finished her yesterday 29th November!!! Amazing what determination can do lol! Now onto my Frosty Friends exchange. xxx

I'm back and check this out!!!!

Having no comp must have done my stitching some serious good!!! Look at my progress on DM!!!


I am so close to the finish. If I get this little bit done before the end of this month (by Friday) then that is three pages I have finished in a month and a completion to boot!! Hoorah hoorah!!

So my comp is back up and running so I can spend some time catching up on all your blogs. Thanks to everyone who still commented even though I was not around - it means a lot to know people think of me.

Here is a pic promised of Dawn's gift that she sent me:

What a sweet, kind, thoughtful thing to do. I'm sure he will love the little toys.

We survived the weekend as it was Lily's fifth birthday party. She had a lot of fun and she got loads of presents which was fab as I have just given a load of her toys away. Spent my entire Sunday evening getting dolls out of packaging. I don't understand the need for all those twists, threads, and selotape!! If someone is going to nick the toy they will take the box as well!! No need! We got her a lovely birthday cake and it's not doing my weight any good!

So hopefully when I complete DM this month lol I will have the whole of December to concentrate on my Frosty Friends exchange and the Cross stitcher's lottery. I have to remember to also do the Twilight Shimmer SAL for the second weekend as it's the last one.

We have made a start on turning the pink bedroom into the baby's room. DH undercoated it today and we are going to buy the paint tomorrow. I have chosen a light blue and a beige colour. Once it's painted then I will be able to start washing all the clothes and bedlinen and get it into drawers all nice and ready. Then I might be able to relax a bit! Baby is due 6 weeks tomorrow. January 8th. Unless he tries to maek an early appearance that is.

Going to go and catch up with blog reading. Have a good stitch week. xxx

No Computer!!

Just to say I have no computer the moment. It got poorly last week and is now in hospital being repaired. I am on DHs comp while he is out but I don't get along with it as the mouse jumps all over the place and the keyboard is weird. Just to let you know I'm okay if not an little heavy and uncomfortable. Got Busy time ahead with Lily's birthday coming up this weekend, then Christmas plus all the decorating for the new arrival to do. We have just moved Lily into the bigger room so now we just need to decorate the baby's room and get his stuff in there ready for when he comes. Big thank you to Dawn who sent me some lovely baby goodies through the post. When I get my comp back I will post some pictures. I'm doing really well with Dreaming Mermaid and nearly finished another page so I am on track to complete before the end of the year. Still need to get the frosty friends exchange done and the cross stitchers lottery piece. Another thank you to Louanne for the HAED chart - I only just opened my mail today!!! It's lovely, thank you. Hopefully I'll be back on track with update pics soon.
Have a good stitiching week.
xx

Bump pics and updates.

Okay as promised here are a couple of bump pics. I do not take a fantastic photo so I apologise in advance. I look huge on these pictures but I'm sure I don't look that big irl!! Here I am at 31 weeks.



And here is my Twilight Shimmer after the SAL weekend:

Sorry about the blurry pic! Slow going this one. I am thinking I might not complete the full design but just do the top half and get it framed as a miniature.

And here is my Dreaming Mermaid which I am pushing to complete before the end of the year. I really need spurring on to the finish line. I am up to page 7.


Have a good week.
xx

Harvest Exchange from Leena!!

How gorgeous is this!!

It's a lovely box and tiny scissor fob from Leena. I love it so much and the threads are great too as I have never tried them before. The packaging was decorated with lovely stamps all the way from Finland.

So beautiful. Thank you Leena! xxxx

Hello. It's been a while but thought I'd let you see what I sent to Nicki for the Harvest exchange. This little cushion is designed by Homespun Elegance and its called delivering Harvest. I did not have all the specialist buttons so I used some leaf buttons. Here is the front of the cushion. I filled it with lavender.

This is the back.

This is the fob I made with a design taken from a UK magazine. Front and back:


And here are some other goodies I sent her.


I'm still into getting the Dreaming Mermaid done but I just don't know if I will finish it for the year. I'm going to give it my best shot though. I will be working on Twilight Shimmer this weekend though for the SAL. If it is this weekend that is, I'll have to check.

So on with the mermaid. Hope you all have a good week. xx

Dreaming Mermaid and rotation update

Gosh isn't time flying by!! Tomorrow I will be 29 weeks pregnant! As I am having a c section at 39 weeks this means I have 10 weeks to countdown. That is if I don't go earlier. But at the most I have ten weeks left. My bump is getting bigger by the day and is definitely football shaped all at the front this time. I keep thinking I should post a pic of me and bump so I can have something to remember. We have nearly finished decorating Lily's room now and her new furniture comes on Thurday so we can move her in and start on the baby's room. We have ordered the pram and carseat (a huge expense) and I have started getting some bits and pieces together for the hospital. So exciting. Good news is that dh is back from touring now (he had to come home early) so it's really wonderful to have him back home and around me to help as I have been really tired.

Stitch wise, today I have just finished making up my Harvest Exchange for the SBEBB and will be sending that off in the next couple of days. I enjoyed working on it and really hope my partner like it. Will post pics when it arrives at its destination.

Dreaming Mermaid page 5 is finally complete YaY!!! I am wel into page 6 now but all I have left is half pages to do. No more full pages!! So here's my progress so far.


I really want to work exclusively on this for a bit as it's my goal to complete it before the end of the year and I have three and a half pages left to do in only a couple of months so I really need to get cracking on it if I want to meet this goal. Also, it is for Lily and it would be nice to get it finished before the new arrival comes.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and are enjoying your stitching. I will stick to my routine of reading and commenting on blogs on Tuesday. I like to fit it in as they are so inspiring to me and I keep getting lots of new ideas. Take care all. xx