Anyone interested in some Carriage House Samplings charts?

As you are probably aware, Carriage House Samplings is no more! As from today she will not taking any more orders. In my haste to get some of these lovelies I made a huge booboo and ordered the following charts from two suppliers. I phoned Thread Bear first and they said they would order them in but weren't sure if they could get them in for me and maybe i should look at another supllier. I did that and ordered them from Wyndham in US. Now I forgot to phone Thread bear back and tell them :( . They managed to get the charts and now are worried they will not sell them. So I am giving you the heads up that Thread Bear have the following charts in but you need to be quick as there will be no more after this. Here are the ones I ordered:

Shores of Hawk Run Hollow


Merry Christmas


Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow


2000 Christmas sampler


Thread Bear are very reasonably priced and very friendly to deal with. Anyway if you're interested phone Kate on 020 8657 5050 and mention me - Hazel.

Hey if anyone does get them perhaps we could do a SAL next year???

Thanks peeps. I will be back with a progress post soon. In the meantime I am still waiting for my CHS charts from the US!

Beautiful Wales and A Lesson Learned..

Just got back from a week away in Abersoch in Wales. Stunning place. Gorgeous beaches and we were blessed with lovely weather. Funny how when you have kids, holidays don't really feel like relaxation anymore!







So I have a few bits to update you with. I actually have a finish! The first finish of my Pledge! I finished this before I went away but didn't get time to post. So here is the SAL I did with Sally, Tracy and Lesleyanne. It is At Home with Jane Austen from The Sampler Girl.







Stitched on 28ct antique ivory cashel linen

Now there was a lesson to be learned with this piece but I am not sure which lesson it was. You see, as usual, I was so eager to start this piece that I didn't check to see if I had all the correct threads so things got a little mixed up. I didn't have all the right colours so I decided to use what was in my stash for some of the numbers at the bottom. One colour I had started in I ran out of and so did another colour there. You get the picture. So is the lesson, "Make sure you have all threads to begin with," or is the lesson, "Use stash you have and get creative"??? Hmmmmm... I am quite happy with the way it has turned out even if it isn't using the exact suggested threads.

Anyway, look at these gorgeous Sweet Peas from my mum's garden I brought home with me today.



They smell amazing!

Okay and before I left I also got this gorgeous gift from Heidi through the post but I didn't get chance to post. Whenever Heidi finishes something and posts it on her blog, she apparently collects all the comments from that finish and draws one out for a gift and I won it! Well, I didn't even know I was entering in for a draw so it was even more a surprise. I just love it and it is on my scissors I am using at the moment.

Well I think that's enough for now. Hang on for me whilst I try and catch up with you all.

xx

Exchange with Lynn - oh my!

Yesterday it was my birthday woot!! I had a lovely day and got my hair cut quite short and received some lovely gifts. One thing I got which was not particularly for my birthday, was an exchange I did with Lynn B from Happiness is Cross Stitching blog. She set the date as she wanted me to have it for my birthday. It cam ethe day before and I was itching to open it but I waited patiently so I would have something stitchy to open. What she made had my mouth gaping open for a long while. It is the most beautiful box and I adore it. I keep opening it and looking inside. Here are some pics.











Lynn made this entire package by herself! She included some polymer clay roses and buttons and the last rose has a little jewel in the centre. I absolutely love it Lynn. Thanks for a brilliant exchange.

And I suppose you were wondering what I made for Lynn...

Here is my effort. It is a design from Midsummer Nights designs from The Gift of Stitching magazine. I finished it slightly differently from how it suggested. It was one of my first times on my little sewing machine and I was worried as my machine stitching wasn't so straight but not bad for a first attempt I don't think.













Stitching bag, Needlebook and Fob
Midsummer Nights Designs
Antique white Cashel linen
DMC stranded cotton

Well, that's it from me folks. I am only a few days into my pledge and I am already finding it difficult. Tracy bought me my choice of 50 DMCs for my birthday as well as some gorgeous linen. So I have kitted up projects in preparation ;). Thanks for all your support. I am going to continue and resist new starts. So far we have two people saying they will join us:

Tracy (another Tracy;))
Syd

Why don't you pop by their blogs and encourage them if you get a minute. The rest of you "Serial Starters"..... just watch and see lol. I already have one finish just round the corner hahahahahaha!!!

Have a good weekend everyone. xx

Start of the Pledge

Hi peeps. I had a wonderful weekend with Tracy. We got lots of stitching done and watched lots of dvds and ate lots and lots of food!!!! We got our nails manicured and polished and went out for a lovely meal. It was just the break that I needed. Lie ins and fizzy pink drink - woot!!

It was Tracy's birthday a couple of weeks ago so along with some other gifties I also made her this:



It's a Primitive Betty freebie and was stitched as part of the May challenge on Stitch and Stash bb.




I was also able to make some progress on my Just Nan SAL and completed another band. The pictures really don't do this piece justice as the beads really dazzle and sparkle. It is lovely to work on. Only five bands to go!



I worked on some other projects too but am really pleased I managed to complete the first page of the Jane Austen sampler I am working on as part of an SAL with Sally, Tracy and Lesleyanne. Tanya's designs are just such a pleasure to work on. I was so pleased she had a recent sale and was just able to grab a couple of bargains before it finished.



Tomorrow I am sending out an exchange I am doing with Lynn from Happiness is Cross Stitching. This is such an honour as Lynn stitches the most beautiful things. I only hope my work will live up to the standard! I will show pics once it arrives at its destination.

Well today is officially the first day of our pledge (that is - Tracy and I). We pledged that for the next six months we will have no new starts and only work on the wips we already have. If anyone would like to join us in this journey then feel free to hop on board. The final two hours of last night had me itching to sneak in a new start but in the end I refrained. So this means, in effect, no exchanges, no sneaky smalls, no baps, no socks, nothing.

Hmmmmm.... I wonder how long I'll last.

An exchange arrived

Just a quick one. Look what arrived for me this morning. This is my Early Christmas exchange from Melissa:





I love it! I love the red tinsel around the edge. I have been quite ill since yesterday - feels a bit like tonsilitis but I don't have any tonsils - so this cheered me up no end. Hopefully off to Tracy's at the weekend for some rest and recouperation and of course stitching. This is if my DH can get back from Russia on time what with all the BA strikes. Thanks for your lovely comments. I have been trying my best to catch up on comments and getting very inspired in the process.

Next week I should have lots to show as I have a finish today but I can't show it yet and also Lynn and I are doing an exchange next week so there should be some lovelies to post. x

Finally, a proper post!

I have finally made it back to blogland! I have been beavering away on exchanges and projects and have a few bits to show and tell. First up is my second pair of socks. I used Sirdar Click dk yarn for these. Just the same simple pattern. I can't bear anything too complicated when it comes to knitting.



Secondly, I finished my Tiny Treasures "L" Fairy for Lily my dd. This is stitched on 18count aida as recommended. It was such an easy stitch. Really big blocky pieces. My dd loves it and now I have to decide whether to get it framed or made into a cushion.







I have recently started my next HAED which is Breaking Dawn by CC Kuik:



I have had all my threads and fabric ready to go but I have this little rule that I will only ever have one HAED on the go at one time. Other wips - yes - haeds - no. Only one of those at a time. So I had to wait until I had finished the TT L fairy first.

I also finished the Christmas Ornie for the HOE Early Christmas Ornament exchange. Caroline has now recieved it and likes it :-).




Norweigan Reindeer by Scandinavian Stitches
From the Just Cross Stitch Ornament magazine 2008
Stitched on 32 count Belfast linen
Ribbon Red Crescent Colours thread

Tracy and I have decided to make a pledge that from 1st June, we will make no new starts for 5 months (December being given to ornies of course). That means we will work exclusively on wips with the aim of getting some of them completed. We are allowed to stash enhance but no new starts. Do you think we will be able to do it???? So here is a list of my wips that I will be eager to get finished:

Marie Rose sampler - could finish this

Mary Wigham - Needleprint

Breaking Dawn - CCKuik HAED

CdC - Ink Circles

Patchwork - Jan Houtman

Polar Santa (UFO)

La D Da ABC Sampler - could finish this

Snowfire Christmas - Just Nan - could finish this

Jane Austen sampler - The Sampler Girl - could finish this

A Most Noble Pursuit Collaboration sampler

So that is all from me for now. I have a private exchange due at the beginning of June so I will have some pics to show you then. Next weekend I am going to Tracy's for a stitchy weekend. I can't wait. Last time we went running on the beach! Here's to good weather.

Still here...

Just a quick note to let you all know I am still here and still alive. It has been some time since my last post - maybe a month?? Things have been difficult - I have been quite depressed through one thing and another and quite exhausted. I have also had computer problems too. I have been putting most of my energies into stitching exchanges and projects. I will do a proper post soon with pictures. I have enjoyed looking through my "followers" posts on my reader thingy. I am turning off comments for this post as it's not a proper post. Thanks for your kindnesses, patience and love folks. xx

The Good, the Bad and the UGLY.

I have been converted. I have crossed over. I am going to have to set up a new blog. I never thought it would happen to me. But it has. I am addicted to.......

CROCHET!!

It began about a year ago when I learnt how to make a granny square from that guy Mike off Youtube. Remember I asked for any scrap donations of wool as I wanted to make my dd a big blanket?? Well, I have finished it... but more about that later.

This passion really began with this lovely lady's photos:

ElizabethCat

Please take a moment and see how inspiring this girl's work is! Truely breathtaking.

So this then lead to me getting some of this:



and with lots of help from the aforesaid lady, I was able to make my first African flower motif:



Not quite sharp enough at the edges but a great first attempt.

This lead to this:



which will go towards making a nice little blanket me thinks.

But back to the aforesaid granny blanket. This is definitely the "Ugly" in the title post but my dd loves it and I learned a lot through doing it. I even learned how to "join as you go" to join the squares up. Now I have some ideas about colour and organisation and so the next one will be oh so much better.









I remember having a similar crochet blanket when I was a child and I used to do so much with it. I used it to play on. I used it as a tent between mine and my sister's beds. I used to comfort myself with it and use it to dress up as a queen! I hope my dd will get a lot of pleasure from it.

Sally, Barb, Tracy and I believe Lesleyanne and I are doing the At Home with Jane Austen by The Sampler Girl SAL which was in the Gift of Stitching magazine a year or so ago. I have made a measly start. This is the "bad" in my title. :( However, a start is a start and it is an enjoyable stitch too. Just wish I had all the threads doh!



Here's the good. The very good in fact. I thought I'd save the best till last. My friend and I have been working on big big big baps (you know - the one my dad is now working on :S). Well, my friend, after many years of toil has finally finished her masterpiece. She didn't work on any other project in the 5 or 6 years that it has taken her to finish this. She says she is now going to hang up her needle! It truely is a work of art. Amazing. The design is from Golden Kite and contains lots of blends. I should know the title of this art piece but for the moment it escapes me. We had champagne to celebrate her putting in her last stitch. So without further ado....





Congratulations Michelle!

Thanks for all the lovely emails for the RAKs. I'll be getting on with a few of those soon. Thanks for your kindness and friendship.xx