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!

Happy New Year!

First off, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!  I'm sorry my blogging presence tailed off at the end of last year, this year I aim to post a little more regularly.

For this year, my stitching plans are as follows:

ENJOY STITCHING!

That's right, no real plans!  I've got a number of WIPS that got neglected last year and I'd like to pick some of those up and make some real progress, there may be some new starts along the way too.  

I have signed up for the Alessandra Adelaide Mystery SAL that's taking place on Facebook (check out her FB group for info) and I intend to stitch this during the year at my own pace.

Prior to Christmas I was trying to get a birth sampler done for my cousin's 1st birthday, sadly I didn't manage it, but I did finally get it finished yesterday

It was a DMC kit and I loved how colourful it was.  I've yet to get it framed but I can take my time and look for a nice frame now.  

I didn't manage to finish the Lizzie*Kate Mystery SAL prior to Christmas, as I was stitching the birth sampler, so I'll be aiming to complete that early this year.

I look forward to catching up with your blogs too!

 

Nancy's Give-Away!

Just a quick post to tell you about Nancy's amazing floss give-away!  She's very generously giving away 25 skeins of her beautiful floss and it really is lovely, I've bought a lot of it and they are very generous skeins of 20 yards as well!

You have until the 25th December to enter and I recommend you do....what is there to lose?!

Click here to enter!

Also, check out the other amazing items she's giving away too!  As a hugely generous gift, she's offering a $50 gift certificate for her ebay shop. 

Click here to enter! 

Mystic Garden Completed

I've actually managed to finish the HAED 2013 Bulletin Board SAL before the end of the year and I'm thrilled!  It's actually turned out pretty well and I'm really happy with it!

Since completing it if been in a "post finish slump" and haven't wanted to do any stitching at all, however the bug is slowly creeping back.  I've managed to finish the second part of the Lizzie*Kate Mystery SAL, although I've not taken a photo.  I'm now making a slow start on the last part and hopefully it should be done before the end of the year.  I've also stitched a little bit of the birth sampler that I started for my Cousin's baby, who was born last December, bit not enough to see any real change as yet!  I will take a photo once I've got something to show.

Hope you are all enjoying getting ready for the festive period.  I've had to be prepared early as I've got a few parcels to be sent overseas.  They aren't all wrapped yet, but I've got all the gifts made and bought, so they should be ready to go out early next week.  I then have to start shopping and crafting for the friends and family nearby!

A bit of a catch-up!

Well it's been while since I posted last but as tends to happen, life got in the way a little!  I'll not go into detail (mainly as it's boring) but things are now getting back on track.

I have managed to get a fair bit of stitching done though so at least I have some things to share with you!

In September it was our 1st wedding anniversary and I stitched a present for my husband that represented how I lucky I feel to have met such a wonderful man!  It's a Design Works kit (designed by Joan Elliott) called Happiness Bears.

I've also joined in 2 different SAL's with 2 FaceBook groups.  I apologise that neither of these have been pressed so they may look a little crumpled.

The first is An Important Flower - Alessandra Adelaide Needlework (AAN) Stitched on 28ct Deep Teal Jazlyn using Sulky Blendables thread in Baby Soft.

Next is a design by Love Thy Thread that was created specifically for this SAL called Halloween.  I stitched on 18ct Aida in Moondust from Crafty Kitten using DMC threads.

 

I've joined the Lizzie*Kate Mystery SAL and I've made a start but not very much to show of that as yet and I'm still steadily working through the HAED BB SAL and I promise I'll take a picture next time I move my Q-Snaps!

Hope you are all doing well and I'll catch up on your blogs.  I may not post comments on all of them but I do enjoy reading them!

Just as a final note, my thoughts go out to Pumpkin's (Cathey) friends and family, as she lost her fight with cancer.  Her wonderful heart and spirit will be missed.

Birthday Stash!

It was my birthday at the end of July and I did a little bit of stash shopping!  As most of it was online, some bits haven't arrived as yet, but a few have and I thought I'd share it with you!

First up, a lovely selection of fabrics from Crafty Kitten:

Some of the very cute Whiskerkins designs by CM Deisgns, also bought from Crafty Kitten:

A couple of Alessandra Adelaide Needleworks charts:

Some of the lovely threads from the Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe:

The lovely cake that hubby bought for me:

Also, I was very lucky to win a giveaway of a chart, threads and fabric from the Jodyri Designs group on Facebook.  If you haven't heard of them I strongly suggest you check out her website:

Last, but definitely not least,  I was gifted a lovely chart of QS A - Tamara Newman from Heaven and Earth Designs by the wonderful Nikki:

I'm currently looking for the perfect fabric to stitch it on now!

I feel really lucky to have a few special friends and a wonderful hubby that made the day really nice for me!  Hubby even encourages the stash buying too!

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!

IHSW - July

I hope everyone is doing well and hey to my new followers, lovely to see you!  It's really hot in the UK, whilst it's nicer than freezing, it hasn't been great for stitching.  I have done some this weekend but not a great deal.

I decided to work on QS Clara - Hannah Lynn (HAED)

Friday

Sunday

As you can see, I've done some of the background, it's not too much but it is progress so I'm happy!

Hope you all have a great weekend, I'll look forward to seeing your progress pictures!

WIPocalypse - June

I've been a little naughty and completed a few things that weren't planned, I just felt like doing some small things to break that feeling of not getting anywhere on large projects.  I do have to say that it worked and I've been able to go back to my Pyramid slightly refreshed!

This was completed for a charity that makes quilts for sick children:

It was a design I found online from Passion Creative blog and I changed the colours slightly to fit with the threads I already had.

Next was a design by Ink Circles that I've had for a while and kept meaning to do called Aventail.

It's stitched on 32ct Belfast Linen called Evening Magic from Crafty Kitten using a Dinky Dyes thread called Merlot.  I really love the way it turned out and I have lots more planned!

Next up is a small kit that I've had hanging around for ages that my niece wanted me to stitch for her.  I finally decided that I'd better get it done as it was a fairly small design I knew it wouldn't take long!

It's Fairy Girl - Bang on the Door DMC kit stitched on the white 18ct aida that it came with.  Once I find a nice frame I can finally give it to her :)

I also did a little work on the HAED BB SAL piece, QS Mystic Garden - Marchetti

May

June

Not a massive amount of progress but anything is a step closer!


Last up is Pyramid 4 - also by Marchetti:

 

May

June

I kept thinking I hadn't done that much, but you can definitely see some progress so I'm really happy.

I'm really happy with what I've completed this month and having a "time out" and doing a few smalls definitely helped spur me on with my larger projects!  Hope you guys all had a great month and I look forward to seeing all your progress pictures!

IHSW - June

I hope you all had a great weekend!  I had a fairly busy one but managed to get a good amount of time for stitching too thankfully!

I worked on Pyramid 4 for the whole weekend and managed to get some of the nasty confetti bits of the scarab done.  It was nice to be able to stitch something other than brown!

Friday

Monday

It's quite funny, whilst you are stitching you think you really haven't made any progress, it's only when you put the photo's together that you really see it starting to grow.  Still a very long way to go, but I'm happy!