Finished stuff!

First off, I must apologise for missing my YOTA post, I didn't stitch anything of them so honestly, nothing to see here!

You may remember me mentioning a bit ago that I'd been stitching something as a gift, well it's now been received so I can share photo's!

It's a kit from Anchor called Together Forever designed by Margaret Sherry:

It's stitched on 32ct Fairy Forest Opalescent Murano from Crafty Kitten.  I took a picture prior to personalising as they preferred for their detail not to be shared online and of course I respected that. It was framed in a modern, gloss white frame with an off-white mat.  I did find it hard to get through as it wasn't my choice and although it's cute, the fact it was for someone else put that "obligation" on me to HAVE to stitch it.  I am very pleased with the result and the fabric looked amazing and was wonderful to stitch on.

My next finish is my "Go-Bag" stitching.  I've not shared any pictures of this before mainly because it generally in my bag ready to go!  It's a nice easy to stitch design that is just 1 solid colour, so perfect for when you are out of the house!

Sorry for the slightly creased picture!  This was a free design from Love Thy Thread, who sadly are no longer trading.  It's stitched on a piece of 28ct fabric from Colour Cascades Fabric that has gold opal threads running through it.  It'a actually a little more red than the picture shows.  I can't tell you what the colour is as it was an oddment from one of the month sales from the FaceBook group.

I don't think I've shared a picture of my framed Pyramid with you all yet.  I've had it back for a while, just haven't managed to get a good picture of it, however I'll share one of the ones we've taken of it!

I hope this gives you some idea of how it looks.  We still haven't decided where to hang it, but hopefully once it's on the wall it'll be easier to photograph!

Also, my most recent progress photo of The Three Fates:

I was going to switch away from this but couldn't decide what to switch to.  hubby suggested using a random number generator and picking that way, so I did....seemed the Fates have conspired and are insisting I continue as this was the number that came up!  I think I'll switch back to the left side and continue down, maybe I'll reach the bottom corner, although that may be slightly too ambitious!

Finally, I want to thank you all for your lovely well wishes; I am feeling better now (well at least as good as I get!) and Charlie is doing well too.  Lets hope we continue feeling well until our little trip away at the start of June!

OMG....I did it!

I did it!  I completed my first large HAED design!  It's not had a bath yet but I was so excited and wanted to share.

I started it when we went on honeymoon to Egypt, as hubby thought it would be a great idea to stitch something Egypt themed while we were there.  We chose the chart together and rather than buying something new, we picked this one which had been in my stash for years!  

For those that wish to know, the "technical" details:

Started: 30th March 2013

Finished: 30th January 2015

Stitched on 25ct White Magic Guide by DMC, 1 over 1 using DMC thread. 

From Heaven and Earth Designs, designed by Michele Sayetta
Original artwork By Ciro Marchetti

I am really thrilled with the outcome and whilst being quite confetti heavy due to all the detail, was still very enjoyable to stitch.  Now I need to find a good framer as this is one I don't fancy trying to frame myself!  If anyone knows of a good framer in the Manchester, UK area, I would be really grateful for the details!

By pushing to get this finished, I've neglected to keep up with the blog reading this week.  I'm going to try to get through as many as I can today though.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments I've had whilst stitching this and I've really appreciated the encouragement.

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend - January

As it was so cold this weekend, it was the perfect excuse to "Hermit and Stitch"!  I've been a little lapse in sharing pictures of Pyramid 4, which has been my primary focus since before Christmas.  Once I've finished this post, I'll make a point of updating my "Work in Progress" tab so that you can see the recent pictures.  However, I'll show you the most recent progress from this weekend!

This was the starting point on Saturday morning:

....and where I got to on Sunday night:

As you can see, not far to go now, so I think I'm going to stick with it until it's completed.  I know I was going to start a rotation, but once this is done, I will start it!

I've been naughty......

I've not posted my progress on the Saturday SAL for a couple of weeks....I know, I'm soooo naughty.  I may also have splashed out on a few charts from Love Thy Thread, as sadly as of tonight they are no longer in business :(  I had to get them before they disappeared!  There were so many I wanted but felt that being this close to Christmas I had to be brutal.

 

Mermaid

Bumblebee

  

Snails

Autumn Leaves

Rose

Alley by the Lake

These are my "catch-up" Saturday SAL pictures!  I have been stitching each week, just slacked and didn't write a post!

I've also stitched a bit more of my Pyramid too!

I do have a general "hope", rather than a plan, to finish it next year but the main thing is that I'm enjoying stitching it and I'll stick with it for now until I feel like a change! I may switch back to some kind of loose rotation next year but I'm still trying to figure out how it will work.

Oh, if you do manage to read this post today, you still have time to enter my giveaway, click here! There is also a HAED 50% off sale and a last chance to grab any of those Love They Thread charts you may be wanting!

Saturday SAL, Sales and Giveaways!

It's coming up to the Holiday season and I love Christmas.  It's funny, I never used to be that fond of it once I got past around the age of 8, but for the last 10 years or so it's become my favourite time of year, I love shopping for gifts, the bright lights, the Christmas Markets, the dark nights and the songs.  I have a number of overseas friends and a Secret Santa to shop for, which means that I have to have a number of gifts ready to posted by the beginning of December, although it may seem like ages away, it really comes up so quickly!

I'm loving stitching on the Candy Cane Christmas design and although I didn't get a lot stitched, it really was enjoyable!

I had planned to stitch a bit of colour rather than more red, but it just seemed right to carry on with those colours for now!

Love Thy Thread have got a sale on at present, a whopping 40% off!  Go on, have a look....I dare you!

Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is running her annual 25 days of Christmas event, please drop by and have a look, you never know, you might even be lucky enough to win!

To finish off, the photo I took last time of Pyramid 4 was terrible, the colours looked really washed out, well I've taken a slightly better one that shows the vibrant bright colours!

Also, just a reminder.....if you haven't entered my blogversary giveaway please do so!  For all the details click here!

I'm Late....I'm Late.....

Anyone who knows me in the slightest knows that I am often late!  I've been away for a while visiting family and I got back then had a cold!

I did manage to stitch a little on the Saturday SAL piece, although not as much as I wanted.

As you can see, I finished the "M" and I moved on down to the "C"!  I'm hoping next time that I might get to play with some colour!

Since I got back, I've switched to stitching on Pyramid 4 - Marchetti (HAED).  This is where I'm up to now:

It's not a great photo as the light has been terrible due to the weather, but at least it gives you an idea of where I am.

If you've ever noticed the little widget thingy on the sidebar, you'll see that I missed my Blogversary!  Well I've decided to have a slightly belated giveaway.  I'll make a post after this one with all the details in so it's easy to keep separate!

IHSW - July

I've not been blogging as much recently due to a family visit and other stuff going on, however this post is just an update for what I've been up to this weekend!  I actually managed to do a little bit of stitching in between a shopping trip to IKEA and my American Cocker Spaniel, Charlie, needing surgery on his mouth, which he now recovering from very well, so it's been a bit of a busy one for us!

I've only done a bit but it was all on Pyramid 4 - Ciro Marchetti (HAED).  I took a picture on Friday when I moved my QSnaps so you can see the whole thing:

Then this one was taken this morning:

I've only really done a bit more of the border, but I managed to finish the shading stitches all the way to the bottom! I'm really enjoying this at present so I think I'll stick with it.

Hope you all had a good weekend.  Thank you for stopping by!

Confetti......

It's been a while since my last post, I wish I could say that I've been doing a stack of amazingly exciting things, but sadly that's not the case.  I've been a bit under the weather and the stitching suffered, also the fact that I seem to have reached very confetti heavy sections in a few of my WIP's has made progress very slow and there didn't seem to be much to show you, however I can't wait until I'm satisfied otherwise I'd never post anything!

Let's make a start with Joan Elliott's Celtic Fairy:

It's coming along really well and I'm really hoping that the next picture I show you she'll be nearly done! 

Next up, The Three Fates - Jasmine Becket-Griffith (HAED)

It still doesn't really look like much yet, but it's taking shape and coming along pretty well.

Next one is Pyramid 4 - Ciro Marchetti (HAED).  I've not shared any picture of this for a while (no idea why not) so I'll find a few for you.

This is one of those confetti nightmare projects, I really can't describe how confetti heavy those feathers are....and I've got to do the ones on the other side as well :/  I'm not sure about those pale patches on the face and I may unpick them and redo them in the darker colour to make it look more even, what do you guys think?

Another WIP that I haven't posted pictures on for ages is QS Clara - Hannah Lynn (HAED). Apologies for a ropey photo!

This is really confetti heavy although there are some large blocks of colour as well so switching between them makes it bearable.  This was one of the first HAED's I stitched and I am finding that I seem to have found my preferred HAED fabrics and it's 25ct & 28ct, so stitching this is not as enjoyable as others are but I will persevere and get it done eventually!

There is a project on and off that I haven't shared, it's not for any particular reason other than I've just not gotten around to taking any pictures.  It's Dirt and Glitter - Zindy Nielsen (HAED)

It's stitched on 28ct pale pink Lugana 1 thread over 1 fabric thread.  As you can see, not done too much yet, but I love it already!

I've also stitched a card for a friend who's birthday it was recently.  It was a cover kit from World of Cross Stitching magazine and as soon as I saw it I knew she would like it.  I switched out the fabric for some hand dyed that I had from Sunny Dyes.

Again, I apologise for the bad picture, but I took it right at the last minute as I was packaging it up to send over to New Zealand!

I'm going to try not to leave it so long next time and post a little more often :)

Now...to make a start reading through all your blogs!

Another finish!

I really had hoped to get this completed before the New Year, but as usual my plans never quite go as I want them too!  Ah well......I can now say that I've got another finish in 2014....it makes me look a bit better as I'm not really likely to have many this year!

This is the Lizzie*Kate Christmas Mystery SAL for 2013:

I apologise for it not being pressed, I will do it very soon though!

You may have noticed my blog has had a bit of a revamp, it really wasn't intentional.  I was trying to tweak a few things and messed it up and ended up deleting all the formatting!  That's the last time I try and be clever!  I couldn't find a background that I liked so I decided to go fairly plain, but I actually like it a lot.  It may well change again if I see something that grabs me!

Those of you that have followed my blog for a while may remember that in 2012 I completed a Henry VIII sampler.  I finally got it framed and I gifted it to my Mum for Christmas as she has always loved it and I knew she would appreciate it.  She's not usually an emotional person, but she was really overcome when she opened it, which surprised me, but confirmed that I'd made the right decision.

It was hard to get good photo's once it was framed due to the flash but hopefully you can get an idea of what it looks like.  

Also, I've got an updated picture of where I'm up to with Pyramid 4 - Ciro Marchetti (HAED).  Not masses more done but at least it's something!

 I'm slowly catching up with all the blog posts, it seems that the New Year has renewed everyone's passion for blogging, which is wonderful to see!  I apologise if I haven't commented on them all. Hopefully once I've caught up I can get into more of routine and comment much more as I know how nice it feels when I get comments!

Thanks for reading!

WIPocalypse - July 2013

It's a couple of days late but here I am with my WIPocalypse update.  I don't know where July went as it only seems like I was doing June's update a few days ago!

I've been working on QS Clara and haven't done much more since I posted my IHSW update so I haven't bothered updating it!  I won't repost it as it's in my last post (and on my WIP page) for those whose want to see!

I do have a new start to show you, it's the one I planned to start earlier in the year and never got around to it.  This is The 3 Fates - Jasmine Becket-Griffith (HAED):

Not much to see as yet as it's just a bit of background but it'll take shape soon!


Next up, Pyramid 4 - Ciro Marchetti:

June

 

July

The scarab is complete now and I'm making some progress on the Pharaoh now.  This is fun to work on, the fact it's a pyramid just makes it more fun!


Last up is the HAED Bulletin Board SAL piece, QS Mystic Garden:

June

July

 

 

 

 
There's been a bit more progress on the tiger and on the fountain as well, slowly taking shape.  I may be a bit behind but I'm pleased with how it's going so far and I'm enjoying stitching it, which is the important thing!

Considering how hot it's been over the last couple of weeks in the UK, I'm really pleased with my progress, we're just not used to it!