Having Fun

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Flat beading with Eliza McClelland

Weekend workshop



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Weekend workshop

What a beautiful day



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What am I doing now?

75 flowers

It's not a quiz :)



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The weekly SAL

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And the winner is.....................................

.........................Kathy Ellen.


Congratulations, and thank you to everyone of you who entered. I wish I could have a gift for everyone. I got my daughter to draw a name out, and she closed her eyes to do it. LOL

Another Souvenir

I decided to stitch another souvenir, this one is for me, but I've made a mistake. What do you think? Shall I leave it? I'm tempted to leave it? This one was stitched on 45 count linen, so is smaller than the previous one, and therefore not as easy to frog. I'm not going to tell you what the mistake is but I'm sure you can spot it if you look hard enough.

Royal Wedding Giveaway

A Royal Wedding Souvenir
by The Sampler Girl

I have decided to have a giveaway. The gift being this pin pillow which I have stitched and finished, together with a Union Jack Keyring, and a commemorative box of Clotted Cream Fudge.

To enter - all you need to do is a leave a comment on this post.

If you want an extra entry then you should advertise this giveaway on your blog or website and leave another comment with the link to the post.

This giveaway is open to anyone in the world, but if it is doubtful that your country will let the confectionery through, then I can just send you the commemorative card off the front of the box with the other items.

I need to give you a closing date/time, so this will be 8am (UK time) on Friday 6th May.

A special day

Morning all, well it's morning in the UK. I don't think there can be many people in the world who have escaped knowing about the Royal Wedding. So I have decide to have a giveaway. Come back later to see my Royal Wedding Giveaway and join in the fun.

Thank you

I just want to say a Big Thank You to everyone who took the time to leave me a comment. I have received lots of lovely comments from lots of people I have never 'met in blogland' before, and it's nice to visit blogs I've never seen before. If you left me a comment and it includes your email address, then I am getting around to thanking you personally, and if you don't receive an email from me, then I have deleted yours by mistake, but there are quite a few that I have no way of contacting, and I am truly grateful. I also wanted to say that I am still stitching, it's blogging I am having the problem with. However, something has happened this week to give me a little bit of a cheer up, I won't go into detail but this could finally be the end of something which started a long time ago.

And now I'm sure everyone here is thinking about Japan, it is on the news all of the time. My heart goes out to everyone there, I cannot comprehend what they are going through. Their emotions must be all over the place with what is going on. I only know of two stitching sisters from there - I know there will be lots more. It's nice to know that Yuko is safe, and today I have heard from Satomi (who was one of my first exchange partners), but how will their country recover from this.

This is THE END

I've been wanting to post this for the last two weeks. So here it is

THIS IS THE END.

I don't want it to be the end, but that's how I feel. I'm in a real slump at the moment, please send me some encouragement, and some PMA, I really need it.

What do you want to see here?

What do you want me to post about?

What do you like to see best on a blog post?

XX

PS - PMA = Positive Mental Attitude

Happy Valentines Day

Just popped in to say hope you all have a nice Valentines Day. I have lots of stitching to share, but I need to get it on the camera and then uploaded. My mother in law was rushed into hospital late Wednesday night, and with work and hospital visiting on an evening, and a couple of other things I had to do at the weekend I am way behind on HW and subsequently blog reading. I've just had a quick look at what photo's are uploaded and decided to let you seem some random ones.

The birds, there were 8 when I went for the camera,
but by the time I had the camera and got to take a pic,
most had flown away. LOL





The view from the front of my house, looking to the left.
Thankfully the snow has gone, and we don't want it back!

The view to the right from my front garden fence.

The fountain in the city centre is flood lit,
and looked very nice when it was frozen in the bad weather.

More Christmas stitching

Season of Love
by Country Cottage Needleworks

Gingerbread Tree
by Little House Needleworks

Elements taken from
French Country Star
by JBW Designs

Angels Sent
by Still Stitching with Susan

All stitched last year, and not one made up!

Another old finish

Tiny Things
by Victoria Sampler

Another finish from last year - still needs to be made up - no surprise there! LOL When I started Tiny Things, I did not realise that it was for a tiny Altoids tin as I had no idea that such things existed, so I added some extra borders to make it fit the bigger Altoid tin. I guess I must have finished this in February last year, as it was seen as WIP here.

A new project

This is my new project, a crocheted scarf. It's coming together really quick. I only started it today, and I've reached the half way point. The colour is not too good here, but hopefully will be better when I next take a pic.

S is for Spring
by Prairie Schooler

And another finish from last year. I was dyeing some 40 ct linen last year, when I had the urge to stitch something on white. I had a quick look through some freebies I have and found this one, it was perfect for the white background. It was to be finished as a pinkeep, and it's still waiting to be made into one.

Socks for me

I was going to post this last year, and took all the photo's then. So, I would like to present to you socks all made by my friend Carol (no blog).

Carol buys the fleece and spins and dyes (might be the other way around) the wool herself - I am so jealous. So with the exception of the top socks these are all knitted from wool that Carol has produced. For the top ones Carol used bought wool, and even knitted a little bag for them. I love them all. They have all been Christmas presents and this last Christmas Carol gave me wool so I can knit my own. :)

I have to confess that the purple ones somehow made their way into the washing machine over the Christmas period and have been felted :``( I'm so sorry Carol, but I'm going to turn them into a flower brooch at some point as I can't throw them away can I? At least I got the photo before that happened.

More ornament stitching

Stitcher's Joy
by Prairie Moon

This is another ornament I stitched last month, and never made up. It's from the 2010 JCS ornament magazine. Stitched on 28ct Vintage beige cashel with Carrie's Creations thread in Poppy. I intend making it into a circular ornament, using the fabric in the picture as the backing. I also will use this to finish Caroline too.

My finishing service! (Edited)

The title of this blog post makes me laugh - and I hope a few of you out there are laughing at it too. If only............................

I have an awful lot of 'making up/finishing into something' to do, I think I've seen it called FUFO (finishing up finished objects), but please tell me if I'm wrong or you know of another name for it. There'll be more on this subject in a future blog post!

Anyway, these two finishes were made up by me, but they are not mine, and I did not stitch them. They were both stitched by Irene (stand up and take a bow Irene, if you're reading this). Irene goes to my stitching club, and these are a couple of the things she stitched last year, and I offered to finish them up for her. I finished them up before Christmas, but I haven't yet seen Irene to give her them. And these two pieces will be going on my 2010 finishes list.

For everyone who loves the envelope design, it appeared in a set of 6 designs by Debra Page, in issue 158 of The World of Cross Stitching. I have trawled my magazines and found it, think I will have to stitch it now, and some of the others in the set, although I only have 5 patterns as I was given the magazine and some patterns have been cut out. Available as a back issue here, or Ebay.

Mini Christmas Stockings

More stitchings from 2010. I loved these little stockings, shame I didn't get them made up. Stitched on 32ct Antique White linen, with DMC.

It's Christmas again!

Caroline

by Miss Crescent's Crowne

Joy to the World
by LHN

I seem to still have the Christmas spirit.! I have stitched both of these this month. Now which Christmas ornament shall I stitch next?

I intend giving Joy to the World away once I've made it up, so will have to stitch it again for myself.

SB scissor keep

Shepherd's Scissor Fob
by Shepherds Bush

Stitched on 28 ct Flax cashel
with DMC threads

Another of last years finishes. I didn't have the charm so stitched a little sheep from another SB chart.

I am now selling this chart so let me know if you're interested in buying it. I am about to have a huge clear out of my charts/stash and will be putting up a list. However, if you've seen anything on my blog in the past and are interested in buying the chart let me know, and I'll check if I still have it.

A birthday gift for me

Birthday Gift from Sally

The beautiful inside

Friday was my birthday, and just look at what a wonderful gift I received from Sally. I bet you're all jealous. I am now using this stitcher's caddy for my current valentines piece that I am stitching.

Thank you Sally, I love it.

And wouldn't you know it, I plugged the camera in today and no problems, isn't that typical.

A little treat

Stitchmarkers

The new with the old

I came on here to show you some stitching, however the pc has decided not to recognise the camera? I'm sure I have no idea why, so hopefully tomorrow I can persuade my son to have a look, he's been messing around on here with my MP3 player and it recognised that. Coincidence that now it doesn't like dh's camera?

I did find these pics already on the pc. If you're a regular reader you will have seen that I have recently been knitting. Well I decided to treat myself to some new stitchmarkers. Those plastic yellow and green ones that I've had years are not anywhere near as exciting as what you can buy nowadays. So I had a little browse at Etsy, and fell in love with these. What do you think? And the new ones were packaged so much nicer too!

The 2011 year long SAL

Another SAL with Sally!

The last two years we have done Shepherds Bush needlerolls, well I should say Sally has done a lot of it on her own, I am way behind, but one day, hopefully I'll catch up. So what is it this year I hear you ask? Well, we are doing more Shepherds Bush, this times its the ornaments from the JCS Christmas ornament mags. We've started with 2010, and are going to work our way back in years, stitching one a month.

I've already finished this months, so I've kept up so far. LOL

Absolutely loved this one and couldn't put it down, I can't wait for the 1st of Feb now to start on the next - or can I wait that long.

I've stitched it on 29 count raw linen, and used two strands, the pattern called for one, but I like the look on mine, and I have used DMC. I won't be adding the charm.

The January SAL

Winter Wonderland
by LHN

Another SAL - I can hear you shouting - Can't this girl stitch on her own?

Sometimes, SAL's just kinda happen don't they, you're chatting away and then you're SALing. This one is with Nicola, and we are stitching on Winter Wonderland by LHN. Nicola was going to join in with our December SAL and stitch on Winter Wonderland, then I said I also had the pattern so we agreed that we'd stitch it in January. How are you getting on Nicola?

And if you're wondering how come I'm blogging every day - well I've scheduled some posts. I have a lot to catch up on, so this way I've been able to write and add pics when I can, or add writing to the pics at a later stage, this way I'm hoping I don't forget to show you anything.

Thanks to everyone who left me a comment, I love to get comments, and thoroughly understand that not everyone has time to comment (this includes me).

The December SAL

Poinsettia House by LHN

Stitched on 28 ct beige cashel linen
using recommended threads

Sally and I do a SAL every December, another one of our annual things. Sally is a great friend, she always makes sure I have to keep stitching by planning and plotting way in advance. :) Thank you Sally for keeping me going. And Sally doesn't seem to mind when I fail to keep up, or rather she doesn't tell me off, not sure what she says behind my back though. LOL

Anyways, December 2010 was time for LHN Poinsettia House, and I loved this one, so couldn't put it down. I ran out of one of the Crescent Color threads, but decided against buying another skein. The flowers should have had one petal each stitched in another colour, but I ended up doing them all in the same thread. I finished it a week or so before Christmas I think.

I thought I'd make it into a cushion, but who knows what it will end up as, but it's made it to the forever growing making up pile. How would you like to see it finished?

Snow Man
by Tralala

And here is what we will be stitching this December, as you can see we plan well in advance, I think we decided on this one before we even put a stitch in the last one!

A birthday gift

Jenny Bean's Pin Tuffet
by Shakespeare's Peddler
40 ct hand dyed (by me)
with DMC threads

Finished as a tin topper
I lined the inside of the tin

I used ribbon, velvet ribbon and black felt
to cover the tin sides and bottom

It was Sally's birthday back in December, I had it in my head it was 14th, but I was wrong, I think it was 12th. Anyway, I didn't want to be late so I took a gamble with what I was going to stitch, and I started in October (I think or was it September), and finished in November I think, and then come December - I can't find what I had stitched - so Sally had to wait, and this is what she ended up with. I wonder if she's found a use for it? I love this design so will be stitching it again for me, I just need to dye some more linen.

I will had a birthday gift as a finish in my 2010 finishes as I will hopefully find it again, and be able to use it this year!

December gifts

Stitching, We want Stitching - I heard you all shouting, stop rabbiting just show us some pics of stitching. So here we go -

A Partridge in a Pear Tree
by Glory Bee
for my friend Carol.
Stitched on Raw linen with DMC

Peace on Earth
by Blue Ribbon Designs

The back, as it was a gift for Sally

Stitched on 32ct Antique White
with DMC threads

Here's the two ornaments I managed to get stitched and finished for friends. The first was made for my friend Carol.

The second was from JCS ornament issue 2010, and was for Sally, we do an annual ornament exchange between the two of us. I don't seem to have a picture of the one Sally made me, but you can see it here. I am wondering if it's on another camera, I'll have to check it out.

Thanks for all your blog visits, love you all. You cheer me up.

2010 Competition

Well, I am sad to say that I cannot announce the winner yet!

Last year did not go too well blogging wise, so now I have lots of updating to do. I did not stitch as much as I have done in the previous - I don't think. But there were quite a few finishes, and now I need to round them all up and photograph them, so that I can announce a winner. The rounding up may take a little while, as the stitching is dotted around. I also need to add that I have lost a couple of finishes too, but they will turn up some time. This year needs to be sort, de-clutter and stash bust. And I will update the 2010 finish list in my sidebar, but as I cannot reveal two or three, I will have to put them down as gifts, and you'll just have to trust me on that one, until I find them, and the recipient has them.

Things did not go well in the finishing front, something I would like to address this year. I am sorry for Christine and Kathy, who are both Still waiting for their stitched gifts from me, Christine was the 2009 competition winner, and Kathy was my birthday giveaway winner, they have not been forgotten about but I need to stop procrastinating and get my act into gear. I actually finished stitching Christine's gift over a year ago, and I'm ashamed to say it has sat there all this time waiting for me to finish it up.

I gave up the exchanges, but did join in the HOE Halloween exchange when I thought I was going to catch up. So this year I have to catch up and therefore I will not be doing a 2011 competition. I would like to offer some giveaways, but I'm not making any promises there, as I know life sometimes gets in the way. Last year I thought I would have a giveaway when my followers reached 100, it's now over the 100 mark, so thank you for not giving up on me. I also had the idea of a giveaway at 50000 visits, and last time I looked it was now over 60000 so another Big thank you to everyone. And now having looked several times today - my blog counter at the bottom of my page has disappeared!!! So come on, own up, who stole it?

First finishes 2011

Black and white intarsia jumper

Aran jumper

Hi folks, hope you're all well.

I have been trying to catch up on emailing and blog reading but not doing too well on this. I was going to chat to you all here and now, but dh is driving me nuts, he has gone to clear the garage, but he's back in every couple of minutes to ask for my help, so I'm going out there to join him, or kill him!

Anyway just a quickie, my dd came home for 4 weeks over the Christmas and New Year holidays, and she wanted jumpers. I use to be a knitter, well I've always been a crafter so have done an awful lot of crafts in my time. I have, I think, 6 knitting machines, and a very large wool mountain (you just don't want to know LOL). On her first day I went in the loft and rummaged for my Aran patterns (I had an Aran passion at some time in the past), and down came my Aran books, and she picked a pattern she liked, and off we went to buy green wool. In my rummage I found the black and white jumper - which needed sewing up and lots of ends sewing in, and dd liked it, so that came out of the loft too. I think I finally stitched it up on 3.1.11, and so it became my first finish. This jumper was hand-tooled on the knitting machine, probably 15-20 years ago! Yikes, it was originally for me, anyway it finally got finished. Yesterday, in another rummage in the loft I found another jumper partly sewn together, from many years ago - not sure what I'm doing with that one.
Anyways back to the green wool purchase, I set about hand-knitting this, and of course had to have it finished before dd went back last Sunday, I did have some time off knitting it in the time she came home, as that Aran takes a bit of concentration, and I did want to do a bit of chilling over the holiday. By the last week she was home I still had two sleeves to knit, and I was back at work, so it became a slog to get it done. I was on the last sleeve on the Friday night, and spotted a mistake 4 inches lower, so lots of pulling out, and then lots of arm ache knitting it back up. I really wanted it finished by the Friday night, so that I had the Saturday night to sew it together because I was out during the day. Although I didn't finish the knitting on the Friday night, I was up early Saturday morning, so able to get the neckband knitted, and finally sew it up on the night, ready for dd to go back to Uni on the Sunday. Phew. This jumper is bottle green, but is showing up more Emerald on my monitor-don't know about yours. Sorry the pics a bit blurry too, I didn't realise until now, and as I don't have the jumper here, I can't take a better pic.

Hope to see you all soon. X