Stashaholics Central

Long absence…

2011-10-21T22:28:00.001Z

Hello people who I have not updated in many many months!

I have been very remiss in updating my blog. It seems that when the stitching block hit, so did the writing. I think I’ve picked up a needle maybe two or three times in the past year. I’ve not done very well there.

I have, however, improved my crochet skills – made quite a few hats, scarves, etc. I’ve even made a pair of booties for my cousin’s baby (which they have yet to receive, that I know of anyway). Even crochet, however, has taken a back seat to, well, whatever. I haven’t done many crafts at all this year.

I’ve been busy with kids, house, etc. (Not that you can tell by the state of my house at the moment!) The kids are currently at home for half-term, so I haven’t even bothered to pick up after them. Anyone with kids knows that the moment some toy, drawing, whatever gets picked up, it only gets replaced by something else almost immediately.

The kids keep me busy as a taxi-mom – driving them here, walking them there, gymnastics, Cubs, Beavers, basketball. I’m sure there’ll be more to come too.

I’ll have to post some photos of some of the crocheted objects I’ve made – won’t be easy as I stopped taking photos after awhile!

Here’s a pair of slippers I made for my daughter – rather cute ballet-type slippers

An adorable amigurumi seal

Another adorable amigurumi creature – an elephant

Hats, scarves and mittens for my cheeky kids

Newsboy caps (I’ve made so many of these – they’re popular with my friends), flowers, and tiny Christmas stockings

I’ve crocheted a lot of other things, but like I said, I stopped taking photos (kind of a shame, I know). I really ought to keep a record of everything I make – for myself, if for anything.

Technorati Tags: crochet,crafts

Check out the MyVoucherCodes 'Shop, Share and Win' Christmas Draw

2010-12-18T19:43:00.001Z

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Major happy dance!

2010-05-24T20:52:00.001Z

For awhile now, I’ve been working on my largest ever hardanger design. It’s a Christmas table topper by Rico Designs and red and gold.

I FINALLY completely finished it and it will take pride of place on our table at Christmas this year.

Here’s a few photos:

Full table topper)

Close-up of centre star

Close-up of a corner

I’ve picked up the Elsa Williams’ design (Everchanging Seasons) and that’s what I’ll work – until I get tired of it and have the urge to start something else…

Happy Dancing…

2010-02-10T16:51:00.001Z

I have two finishes to show off. I put off updating my blog last week when I finished my penguins, but now I’ve got two to show. Yay!

Here’s the penguins that I stitched for Andrew. I’m going to make it into a pillow at some point…

The picture looks awfully dark, but it is stitched on white evenweave.

Here’s Tender Gaze. I started it well over 2 1/2 years ago and it kept taking a back seat to whatever else I ‘d decided to stitch. I finally pulled it out and finished it.

Not sure what I’ll do next – either I’ll finish wrapping the bars on my table topper, or start something else. I’m not sure I feel like getting back to the bar wrapping just yet, so maybe I’ll start another one…

I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday...

2009-12-27T22:11:00.001Z

I have had a wonderful, if busy, holiday - busy in that I feel like I've been cooking a lot!!

I didn't manage to finish my table topper in time for this Christmas, but I'm sure I'll be able to guarantee it gets finished for NEXT Christmas.

Anyway, just a quick message (since I've been AWOL for awhile) to wish everyone the happiest of holidays.

Remember my stocking?

2009-11-14T16:24:00.001Z

Back in January/February, I stitched Just Nan’s Burgundy Bouquet for myself. Well, I forgot all about it until I was looking for something the other day and found it. I figured, with Christmas coming at us very quickly, that I should get it sewn up.

The other day, I finally got around to doing it.

I’m pleased with the way it turned out (well, except for the name tag which I think is a bit heavy). I’m looking forward to hanging up all four this year – finally, a full set.

I’ve been steadily working away on my Rico table centrepiece. I can’t show a picture since all I get in the photo is RED – nothing but a sea of red. Hopefully I’ll manage to get a good picture of it when the cutting is done – but I’m not anywhere near doing that yet.

Today has been a non-stitching day, so far. I have been doing some redecorating work. I sanded down one of the kitchen windows (messy work!) and then painted a base-coat on it. I’ve also painted a 2nd basecoat on the tiny window, plus a topcoat (the first coat I painted had dried since it was this morning). I’m done that for the day, I think – maybe. I’m eager to get the windows done, so MAYBE I’ll paint another basecoat on the larger window tonight. We’ll see how tired I am. I still have the large window to sand down, etc., so it’s not as if it’ll be completely finished.

It’s been ages…

2009-11-13T10:32:00.001Z

I know, I know – ages and ages since I’ve updated my blog. For awhile there, I wasn’t stitching at all and really had nothing at all to say about it.

Now I’m stitching, but trying to spend less time on the computer. I’ve succeeded somewhat. Unfortunately, I’m not visiting the boards as often as I used to – perhaps I’ve lost interest in them since I started, or just trying to prioritize my life a bit better. It’s a catch-22 situation – if I spend time on the computer, then I don’t get any stitching or housework done, I’ve got so many charts and kits in my stash that I’ll never get to if I’m constantly on the computer.

I’m currently stitching in a large Rico table centrepiece for Christmas. It’s a hardanger star about 2.5 feet wide, so it may take me awhile. I’ve just started on the inner part of the outer star – the kloster blocks. Once the kloster bocks are done, I have to do a blanket stitching around the edge of that star – then I start cutting and wrapping.

Anyway, this was meant to be a quick post. I’ve just finished my workout for the day and need to get into the shower. The kids are at school until 12:15, so I don’t have as much time to myself as usual today.

At long last…

2009-08-27T20:43:00.001Z

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged about anything. Sorry about that – life does have a way of getting in the way.

I’ve just finished stitching a design that I really ought to have done 11 years ago – but I probably wouldn’t have had the skill to complete it back then anyway. My stitching has come a long way since then and I’ve learned a lot – mostly with the help of the internet.

This year, my DH and I have been married 11 years. I never managed to get around to stitching a wedding sampler for us, so when I saw The Victoria Sampler’s Forever and For Always, I decided that was the one I wanted to do. Now, credit crunch or not, I refused to pay out the £24 for the accessory pack. I decided to just choose my own colours, keeping as close to the colours on the chart as I could. I didn’t want to COMPLETELY change the look of the colours, in case my choices in colour were gaudy in comparison. Anyway, here it is in all its glory:

Looking at the photo here, the colours aren’t very true to life. The leaves on the roses are more of a moss green than yellow, for one thing.

On another note, the kids are back at school. My DS just started school and so is on mornings only until Sept. 22nd. They tend to ease them into school – good for the kids, but for parents of more than one child in school, it means going back and forth a few times… Oh well, just another couple of weeks of this.

Summer Biscornu finish

2009-06-11T10:55:00.001Z

Some of you may have heard of the Victoria Sampler competition running on the VS Yahoo group.

I’m pleased to say that I have finished my entry for the competition. I’ve used some hand painted silk ribbons that I found on Ebay for the flowers.

Here it is:

I’m quite pleased with the way it has turned out.

Just a quick progress update

2009-05-29T14:31:00.001Z

I’ve been working away on the penguin design for Andrew – trying to spend a little more time stitching and less time on the computer (although that doesn’t appear to be happening today so far).

I’m currently trying to also plan Andrew’s birthday party – fun stuff…

Seeing Penguins!

2009-05-27T14:38:00.001Z

I’ve been working on a design for my son – he’s 4 going on 5 in just over a month. I gave him a choice of quite a few animal charts in magazines, my stash, etc., and he chose these penguins.

You can see the photo in the magazine in the background and my work in the foreground – obviously – although you can’t really see the white I’ve stitched on the body of the penguin on the right! How annoying – there’s progress but you can’t really see it… LOL

Stitching – what stitching?

2009-05-18T16:03:00.001Z

I haven’t had the motivation to pick up my stitching very much lately. I started stitching a small cover design of Toy Story’s Woody for my son. I made a mistake on the hat, then put it aside while I was ripping it out. I did pick it up again – finished ripping out the wrong stitches, and finally finished the hat again. I managed to stitch a bit more also, but put it down again.

I’m just so tired lately and there’s always something else to be done – OR I just can’t get my butt off this computer. Facebook and Bewelled Blitz may just be the death of my stitching. Actually, I’m trying to keep away from the Bejewelled game since it seems to be preventing me from doing anything at all.

Today, I’m on my own with the kids who have a holiday today. They’re also off for the next two days for in-service days. I’ve been busy doing laundry today, and attempting to repair the shower again. We have a terrible leak around the edge of the shower and we’ve sealed it a number of times – but I think the sealant was just rubbish. We bought another tube of sealant and today I ripped out all the old stuff and replaced it. I really really hope it works this time.

Well, I’ve got to get up off my bum and cook some dinner for myself and the kids. Pasta anyone?

Finally, a finish…

2009-04-23T22:23:00.001Z

I finally managed to put enough work into what has been the bane of my life (so far). This is the Disney Princess Sampler that I stitched for Emma. The backstitching on the chart is absolutely atrocious, so for most of it I just did my own thing.

I’m glad I’ve got this design out of the way so that I can do something I may actually enjoy.

BTW, I’m planning on making it into yet another pillow for the pillow-mad 7 year old!

A Lovely Surprise!

2009-04-09T11:09:00.002Z

I had a packet pop through the door this morning – such a lovely surprise. I have been on the receiving end of one of Barb’s (barble) surprises. She has been making these absolutely gorgeous beaded scissor fobs. I know she originally sent them out to the members of the RAK group she’s involved in on the Stitch and Stash board. I know because I’ve been admiring them as the lucky people have been posting photos of them!

Well, I was shocked and rather pleased to find this package sitting on the mat this morning and when I saw the return address, I just knew what would be inside. Thank you so much, Barb – it is absolutely gorgeous and I just love it.

Here’s a photo of my goodies:

Isn’t the fob beautiful? Barb is such a talented lady!

A Little House finish

2009-03-04T22:00:00.002Z

I couldn’t face working on Disney Princess a few weeks ago, so I decided to pick up something that’s been calling to me for awhile. Here’s LHN’s Coffee Menu. Obviously, I still need to frame it – at least, I think I’ll frame it. I can’t think of anything else to do with it.

Now, I can’t remember what kind of fabric I used, apart from the fact that it’s a linen and it’s hand-dyed, as you can probably tell in the photo.

So, now that it’s done, I’m back on the Disney Princess sampler. By the time I get this one finished, my daughter will no longer be interested in Disney Princess!

An oversight…

2009-02-04T14:50:00.003Z

I’ve been sitting here going through all my blog posts, and adding tags – just getting organized – and I realised that I never posted my X-Factor finish from last year. I can’t believe I didn’t do that! I know that I posted on a few message boards, but for some reason I missed out posting about it on here.

I’ve shown you the completely finished off picture. This is Patricia Ann Designs “A Frosty Morning”. At the moment, it’s hanging just inside my front door.

Ok, I'm losing it - I fully admit it. I have found the post where I showed the above picture. Silly me needs more rest!

Progress on the princesses…

2009-02-03T12:02:00.005Z

Since finishing my stocking, I’ve been working steadily on my daughter’s Disney Princess sampler. I’ve finished three of the princesses and started on the fourth. I did a bit of backstitching on one of the skirts and discovered that the backstitching on this design is going to be a pig. It seems that all the points are in the middle of the stitches – it’s ridiculously hard to figure out where the stitch is supposed to end. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Here’s a picture of what I’ve done so far:

The princesses are surrounded by the alphabet, so there’s still quite a bit to do on it. I’ll be glad when it’s finished so I can get onto other things – I’m desperate to start something else.

I thought I’d show you my stocking – finished, but not “finished” YET.

I still need to wash and iron it, before even thinking about sewing it into a stocking…

Good news…

2009-02-01T14:31:00.004Z

I emailed Just Nan and they sent me some more beads to finish off my stocking. They arrived yesterday and I got busy last night. I’ve finished sewing on all the beads and I’ve basted the outline around the stocking.

Now I’ve got to sew it together!

Finished!

2009-01-24T21:40:00.004Z

Well, kind of… I have finished the stocking – except for 7 pearl beads, which I’ve run out of. It’s soooo frustrating! The bead pack came with the chart and there weren’t enough of the pearl beads to finish the design. I’m having trouble finding these beads (2mm cream pearl beads – presumably SJ Designs), so I’ve contacted the designer.

Here’s a picture of it complete:

Here’s a close-up of my name:

Progress – 19 January

2009-01-19T10:50:00.004Z

I’ve been working steadily away on my stocking – well, not constantly, obviously, but I haven’t been working on anything else.

It’s coming along very quickly. I haven’t put on any of the beads yet, though, as I’m waiting until the end. I’ve just started on part of the heel.

Here’s a picture:

A Brief Update

2009-01-14T22:19:00.003Z

I’m just about to sit down and start stitching, but decided to upload a photo of my progress before I do so.

I’m nearly finished the first page (it’s spread out over two pages, but I’ve been keeping it folded because it’s so awkwardly large).

On a different subject, my DH is currently stuck at Heathrow waiting for his delayed flight back to Edinburgh. Apparently they’ve had fog (!!) and it’s had a knock-on effect with all the flights going into and out of Heathrow. I find it strange, then, that the flight AFTER my husband’s has left – only about 45 minutes later than it should have – whereas my husband’s flight (the 2nd last one out) has been delayed until at least 10:30pm. They’ve cancelled two flights tonight, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he was completely stranded there – I wouldn’t be surprised, but I would be really pissed off. It’s no wonder that all these airlines are going down the pan! He’s flying BA – he’s been on more delayed flights with them than on-time flights, and he’s flown with them A LOT.

Right – off to stitch!

More progress…

2009-01-11T00:35:00.003Z

I’m steadily working away on my stocking. Nothing else in the house is getting done, mind you!

Here’s what it looks like today:

I think I better tidy the house tomorrow!!

Burgundy Bouquet…

2009-01-09T11:12:00.003Z

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. We certainly did – everything went well, I didn’t burn or undercook the turkey, remembered to put the pudding on to steam… The house isn’t QUITE back to normal yet – the decorations have been taken down, but some things have as yet to be put away.

Well, I’m finally getting around to stitching a Christmas stocking for myself. This is the last one – I hope! For awhile, anyway…

I decided on Just Nan’s Burgundy Bouquet for myself awhile ago, and bought the chart – also awhile ago. I spent a lot of time stitching the last three stockings and needed a little break before starting on this one.

Here’s what it’s meant to look like after all my hard work:

I started stitching it on January 1st – and I have a little progress to share.

These are the bands starting at the top of the stocking – there’s still plenty to do.

My Latest Finish

2008-12-20T09:54:00.004Z

I’ve recently finished yet another, well, ornament I guess… It’s a Christmas design, not quite an ornament that you’d hang on a tree – although it IS sitting on my tree, as you can see in the picture below.

Here’s Alchemy Stitchcraft’s Christmas Cracker…

Yesterday I was busy making mince pies for Christmas – I made two batches since the pastry only makes a dozen. Between DH and I, we’ve already eaten 11 of them! Guess who’s going to have to go out and buy more mincemeat…

I also baked some gingerbread people. I made the though yesterday morning, but had to refrigerate it for at least 4 hours. My hubby was busy in my kitchen yesterday afternoon sawing a couple of planks of wood for the DVD shelves that FINALLY went up. We have to buy another couple of shelving brackets and another shelf – didn’t think there was room for another but I was wrong.

The kids and I also put together a gingerbread house for the first time ever. What an “interesting” experience that was. The kit – yes, I bought a kit because I didn’t want to have to cut the shapes out myself – came with the icing in a bag that you’re meant to cut the end off and use it to pipe the lines. It was so hard to pipe the icing out of that bag, and in a straight line, especially on a vertical wall. The icing was refusing to stick on the vertical walls, so everything is pretty squiggly. I guess it still looks cute though. The kids put on the candy to decorate it.

I couldn’t even control the icing well enough not to have just ugly blobs on the gingerbread people! IF I ever do this again, I’ll transfer the icing into a proper piping bag.

Last week, I used my sewing machine to stitch up a couple of santa sacks for DH and I. I bought a couple of nice ones for the kids a few years ago – whereas the cheap ones I bought DH and I (you know, the big felt ones) fell apart after the same Christmas. I used a metre of fabric for each bag, sewed up the ends, tucked the ends together so that the seam was inside, then sewed a double seam (not sure what you’d call it – sewed a seam, turned it over, tucking the seam in and sewed another seam so that no frayed edges show) down the side, just about an inch from the top to leave room for a cord to go through. Then I sewed a channel at the top for the cord and voila. I ordered the cord on a shop on Ebay that sells curtain supplies, a lovely silky gold cord.

I’ll take pictures once I’ve finished stitching the name labels and have stuck them on.

BTW, here’s our Christmas tree:

TS Ornament Challenge…

2008-12-10T17:24:00.003Z

On the TS board, we were challenged to stitch an ornament for ourselves – that is, one that won’t be given away as a gift, etc. The challenge started on December 1st. As I had commitments in the form of other ornaments/gifts to finish, I had to postpone my start.

A couple of days ago, I decided to start on a kit that I just purchased – it’s a VS learning kit. I fancied having a go at blackwork. It’s only taken me until today to finish it. It’s now finished, and as you can see, it’s now hanging on my tree.

Stocking COMPLETE!

2008-12-07T15:16:00.003Z

After a fraught evening trying to find the pattern for DH’s stocking, I found it this morning. Upstairs. On the floor. Where I walked over it about 3 or 4 times!! Soooo frustrating…

I found it today, so set about basting the edges, then cut and sewed the bits together.

Here it is, complete and hanging up on our fireplace mantle.

A Couple of Ornaments

2008-12-06T16:15:00.002Z

I’ve been busy stitching a few things for Christmas. I stitched these two ornaments for my sisters-in-law, and they’ll be going out in packages this week.

I’m pleased with the way they turned out, and I hope they like them.

Three identical ornaments – well, almost!

2008-11-23T12:32:00.002Z

I’ve stitched three of these stocking ornaments – all for the kids’ teachers (Andrew has two nursery teachers who are job-sharing). I plan on filling the little stockings with chocolates (probably Quality Street or something).

They’re backed with red felt. I’ve done better sewing before, but I’m having problems with my old sewing machine (Santa knows I want a new one!).

The 2008 was stitched over one thread – which I don’t fine particularly easy to do. I hate the way the thread slips under the weave and disappears in some cases.

Not sure what I’ll pick up next. I still have my WIPs to work on, but I’m in a Christmassy stitching mood – so maybe I’ll stitch more ornies.

A Christmas Finish

2008-11-22T11:04:00.003Z

I’ve been working on this Christmas design for the last couple of months or so.

Here it is, completely finished – I just need to add a ribbon as a hanger.

I haven’t really done a lot of stitching lately. Once I started getting towards the end of this design, I really got going just so I could finish it off. I have some ornies to stitch to give to teachers as Christmas gifts and I’ve started on one of them. It’ll be a small Christmas stocking ornie and I’m planning on filling it with some chocolates or something. If it goes well, I’ll make all three the same.

Free Cross Stitch Patterns

2008-11-07T22:20:00.003Z

I just found a site that has really easy to download embroidery patterns for free. It's

http://cross-stitchers-club.com/?code_avantage=bcvfmg

Plus, if you click on this link, you'll automatically receive a gift when you subscribe. I use this site all the time; there are hundreds of all different types of patterns, and there are new patterns added everyday. It's really worth a look.

Christmas Ornament Exchange...

2008-10-21T18:56:00.002Z

I can finally show a picture of the ornament I stitched for the TOL exchange. Bronny received it today...

It's a three-sided ornament - the above photo shows each side. I found it in one of the issues of the JCS Ornaments mag - not this year's - but don't expect me to remember which one!

I've just started stitching a Christmas design for myself. It's a banner - one of two kits that I received from someone's contest on one of the boards. I just couldn't be bothered picking up one of my two projects that are already on the go, nor could I be bothered with kitting up a project. Sometimes a kit works for me! Nothing to do but sort out the threads. DH asked me what the difference was between kitting out a project and doing what I was doing with the threads... Well, I can watch tv while I'm sorting threads, whereas I'm in another part of the house when I'm trying to get all the threads I need.

Eloquent Christmas - finished off

2008-10-11T16:12:00.004Z

I finished this one ages ago and it's been collecting dust in a box ever since. I finally got around to finishing it off today. What a palaver! My sewing machine simply refuses to stitch through multiple layers of fabric - even though it's not particularly that thick. In the end, I got around it by stitching a zigzag stitch with the machine and it worked.

I made it into a wallhanging. I need to buy some dowel to use as a hanger - I'll probably paint it gold or something.

Some finishing!

2008-10-10T19:30:00.003Z

I may not have been stitching very much, if at all, lately - but I did do some finishing. Amazingly enough! I still have at least one more to finish off.

Here's what I've done so far...

This is Veeandco's "My Country Look". I finished stitching this ages ago, but have only just got around to digging it out and finishing it off. The fabric is absolutely perfect for the design - the colours match the design perfect and the squares have little red hearts in the middle.

This is one of the designs from Lizzie*Kate's "Coffee Crazy". I made the tuck myself this morning - not bad for a first attempt! I plan on interchanging the design with Lizzie*Kate's "Tea Crazy" - which I haven't actually stitched yet!

Here is my Stitch Factor entry - this is Patricia Ann Designs "A Frosty Morning". It was, of course, unfinished to enter the competition, but I finally finished it off the other day. If you're wondering, I did not win... Oh well!

Private Bookmark Exchange

2008-10-07T13:37:00.001Z

A few days ago, I received my bookmark exchange package from Angie. Isn't it lovely? The bookmark represents my homes, past and present. The fabric and thread is gorgeous too!

I haven't been stitching much of anything lately. I find that I'm just far too tired in the evening, and can't be bothered during the day (or am too busy with whatever else I've got going).

I've been working out regularly at home, to various DVDs. It's been pretty successful - not sure what weight I've lost since my scale has decided that it's no longer going to give accurate readings! I've been working out 3 or 4 times a week since the beginning of August. I'm still waiting for the fat to melt off though!!

I finally have a finish...

2008-08-26T10:39:00.002Z

I know I haven't been exactly faithful about updating my blog. I haven't had much to say, I'm afraid...

Anyway, last night I stayed up until about 12:30am putting the last backstitches into my DH's Christmas stocking. It's called "Peaceful Evening" by Dimensions.

I think it's wonderful how it looks like there's light pouring out of the church.

I need to pick up Tender Gaze again - it was pushed aside so I could finish working on the stocking. I also have Emma's Disney Princess Sampler that I need to finish (it's not even half done yet).

I've also finished stitching a bookmark that I can't show you yet - it's for an exchange. I need to actually finish it off first though.

I've signed up for a Christmas ornie exchange on the Threads of Life board, so will have to squeeze an ornie in there somewhere.

I also still have to finish off a few designs - i.e. framing, wall-hangings, or whatever. They're piling up!

The kids are back in school - well, Andrew is in nursery - so I have most of the day free of kids fighting, and the morning free of both of them. Is it terrible that I really look forward to alone time? LOL

I've been using the time they've been in school to try an get back into shape. My goal, as usual, is to be my pre-wedding shape (10 years ago!). I was the thinnest I've ever been, and would love to get there again. I just need to get to the point where I NEED to work out. At the moment, my muscles are just tired!!

Success!

2008-08-16T16:02:00.003Z

Last week, I took the kids to an empty carpark so that I could FINALLY teach Emma to ride her bike. She's had this new bike for a few months now and couldn't ride it. Well, she did it. This is a video that I took with my phone last week. It explains the bad quality LOL.

We had a problem getting home last week because she was still rocky, especially on a sidewalk. She couldn't focus on going straight and would either ride into a wall, or a parked car! DH and I took the kids back today so she could practice. Then, we took her onto the bicycle path so she could try riding in a straight line. Well, it worked - she rode her bike successfully all the way home, without hitting anything!

On the stitching front, I've been working on DH's stocking. It coming along slowly. I've got the majority of it done, but there's still quite a bit to do. I also stitched a bookmark for an exchange, but I still need to finish it off. No photos until after the exchange though...

Stitching??

2008-07-28T08:25:00.002Z

I have not even looked at a needle in over a week - not since I was at the cottage.

We went away to a lovely cottage near Lake Bassenthwaite in the Lake District for a week. It was a beautiful cottage - nicely decorated in Laura Ashley style. DH and I even had a four-poster in our bedroom. The kids loved it - probably because of the ponies that they were able to feed carrots and apples to every day.

This was our cottage - all the cottages are attached, but you'll get a general idea of what it looked like anyway.

Here's Emma with one of the ponies.

Holiday photos wouldn't be complete without at least one photo of a child with ice cream all over his face! Here's Andrew enjoying one of the many (well, not THAT many) frozen treats we had over the week.

We, of course, had no phone let alone internet all week, so what else was I to do but stitch? I got quite a bit done on DH's stocking.

I still have lots to do on it - I wonder if it'll be done for this Christmas?

Unfortunately, I haven't picked up my needle since the cottage - and I don't seem to have the motivation at the moment. I'll need to FIND the motivation because I just signed up for a private stitching exchange!

On another note, I had my 40th birthday last Monday. It feels rather depressing being 40 - but then, I'm exactly at the place in my life that I want to be. Things could always be a bit better - i.e. I could win the millions in the lottery, and I'm sure I'd be satisfied for a bit. LOL

My hubby gave me what I asked for for my birthday - a Nintendo DS. Is that sad? I'm really enjoying playing with the brain training games. I've got Big Brain Academy, Brain Training, and I bought Sight Training with some birthday money. My friend Lisa also sent me the Browser software for the DS and I've been having a bit of fun with that (hence the post below...). I've been looking for WAP sites, since normal websites are a bit large and slow to load.

Actually, that's probably why I haven't done any stitching - I've been playing too much!!

On the weekend, we bought the kids a game each - even Mummy needs to share! Emma found a Bratz Babies game (£14.99 - not too bad), but Andrew insisted that he wanted a Mario Brothers game (actually, he keeps calling it Maggio - no idea why). That one cost us £24.99!! They won't be getting any more games for awhile, that's for sure!

Christmas in July tuck

2008-06-17T12:44:00.002Z

Just a quickie here. My partner has received her Christmas in July tuck that I sent her so I can now show it.

Karen loves snowmen, so REALLY I had no choice!!

The tuck itself was actually made by Karen, who made a bunch of them and we purchased them from her. The stitching was by me! Just noticed that in the picture you can barely see the edge of the snowman, but he's definitely there!

Last night I picked up DH's stocking and stitched on it for about 1/2 hour. I just didn't have the energy or the concentration. We all know what happens if we're not paying attention to what we're doing when stitching - that dreaded frog comes for a visit!

DS doesn't have nursery this afternoon due to an open afternoon for the kids that will be starting in August. It's just as well - I think it was chucking down with rain right about the time I'd have had to take him.

My DD has her last ballet class for this term after school today. It's Parents' day, so we're allowed to stay and watch. Need to remember to bring my camera.

Next term, she'll also be taking jazz and tap. I had to laugh at my DH - on the one hand, he says as long as she's enjoying it (and she is), then he's quite happy for her to continue... On the other hand, when I reminded him that there would be another uniform and two more pairs of shoes, plus the costumes for the Christmas show, he winced. It does all add up, but this kind of thing does help her confidence. She has no problems getting on stage and performing - at school or in ballet. Long may it continue.

I have been extremely lazy today - haven't done a thing. I think the lunch dishes are still on the table. I probably should have washed some towels or sheets today, but it's raining and I can't be bothered. I'm trying to save power since the prices have gone up dramatically, so I'm trying not to use my dryer as much. I bought a new rotary dryer for outside - and it's still sitting on the floor in the living room. I need to figure out exactly where it's going to go, then we have to dig a pilot hole and hammer the holder in the ground.

On the weekend, we had my neighbour's 18 year old daughter in to babysit the kids for the first time. It's been almost a year since we had someone else in the watch the kids while we went out. The kids, especially Andrew, just love her. My one worry was Andrew - he still doesn't like us to leave him - but he had no problems in giving us a kiss goodbye and letting us go. Looks like we may be able to do this more often! It'll be nice to get some sort of life back... It's not that I'm into partying or clubs or stuff - I'd just like to go out to a film that's not rated Universal or Family with my hubby for a change, or even just go out to a pub for the evening.

Teacher gift No. 2 completed!

2008-06-16T09:17:00.004Z

It's taken me long enough. It's not a large design, but it's taken me a good few weeks to do - I just couldn't get into it. I think it's because I used the fabric that came with the trinket pot, and it was rather small to work with. I didn't use a hoop - don't think I had one small enough - and every time I made a stitch, the thread would get caught on the edge of the fabric.

I'm pleased with it anyway - I think it's quite pretty, and I hope the Andrew's teacher will too.

LAS biscornu exchange gift

2008-06-14T11:32:00.004Z

I received the biscornu from Jen this morning. It's just gorgeous!

This is Veeandco's design "Ladybugs & Daisies".

Front:

Back:

Isn't it beautiful?

What a gorgeous gift!

2008-06-04T15:23:00.002Z

In today's mail, I received the needleroll from the exchange I'm involved in on the TS board. Oh my goodness! It is just gorgeous and I'm ever so pleased with it. Thank you so much, Katrina!

Here's a photo of it:

Isn't it beautiful?

I Changed my Mind...

2008-05-31T21:47:00.002Z

LOL - It's a woman's prerogative!

I still have a teacher gift to stitch - for my DS's nursery teacher. I was going to stitch Glory Bee's "Thank a Teacher" - until I decided that since they don't actually learn to read in nursery, it probably wouldn't have been very appropriate.

I decided to do something more neutral.

I have a few trinket pots that I collected awhile ago - the kind you mount stitching to. I don't even remember where I got them. I think they might have been prizes or gifts or something - possibly from a magazine subscription (it's been so long!).

Anyway, I've decided to stitch one of the trinket pot designs from Joan Elliot's "Oriental Odyssey" book - Butterfly "Revelation".

It's not too large a design, so it shouldn't take me too long.

Watch this space...

A few updates...

2008-05-29T15:08:00.005Z

I know it's been awhile since I updated my blog - now I have a few things to show you.

Remember the Glory Bee design that I stitched for Emma's teacher? My plan was to make it into a book cover following the tutorial that I found on the Focus on Finishing blog. I FINALLY got around to doing it today, while the kids were away at school and nursery.

I had to modify it a bit since the fabric I stitched on was too big for the notebook I was covering.

Here's the finished result:

It's a proper book cover that can be removed and replaced, with flaps on the inside that the book slides into. I'm pleased with my first attempt, although I do need to learn how to stitch in a straighter line!!

This week, I've been working on Tender Gaze. It's been pushed to the side so many times and for so long - but I refuse to call it a UFO. To me, a UFO is a project that you've given up on - this one was just put on hold.

Here's what it looks like at the moment:

The fabric is only slightly darker than in the picture. I used a flash since the photo would have been far too dark without. I can never seem to get the colours to look true to life.

Before Tender Gaze, I worked on the Disney Princess Sampler for a bit. This one is, of course, for Emma. Once it's done (if ever!), it'll be framed and hung in her bedroom.

This one is definitely slow-going. Here's a progress picture:

Lastly, is the stocking I'm stitching for my DH. It's called Peaceful Evening and I really love this design. It's a Dimensions kit, and what I really dislike about the Dimensions kits is all the blending and the varying thicknesses of thread. I know they wouldn't look the same without all of that - and I just love the detail - but all the blending is driving me bonkers.

Here's the update picture:

At some point in the not-too-distant future, I need to start on my other teacher design. There's only about a month left until the end of school.

Biscornu Exchange...

2008-05-17T19:45:00.003Z

Well, the biscornu that I sent to my partner for the exchange I'm in has arrived, so I can show it off now.

Here's the front:

And the back:

Uh Oh!!

2008-05-14T21:10:00.005Z

Some of you may have heard already that my 6 1/2 year-old daughter finally picked up her beginner's stitching kit, after having given up on it for about a year. She didn't quite get the hang of it at first and put it away after just a couple of minutes.

Well, the other day she decided she was going to work on it again. She picked up the hang of it right away (just don't look at the back!). All I had to do was help out with starting it off and ending each piece of yarn. She finished that first kit yesterday.

Last night, she picked up the second kit - this one is a butterfly. Last night. Tonight, we went shoe shopping as DH came home with his only pair of shoes for work looking like they had a big mouth! Emma decided to bring her stitching with her and worked on it in the shoe store while we were looking at shoes. She finished it while we were in the shoe store!

It looks like I've created a monster - well, an obsessed stitcher, anyway!! DH told her to wash her hands and come through for dinner, and she complained - didn't want to put down her stitching! He laughed and explained that even Mummy has to put her stitching down for dinner... I said that, even worse, I had to put my stitching down to COOK dinner!! Life just isn't fair sometimes... LOL

I'm currently stitching on the Disney Princess Sampler. By "currently", I mean that it's the one sitting here staring at me, willing me to pick it up. I've been so tired lately, that I just can't be bothered sometimes. Last night, I think I stitched for about 1/2 hour before I put it down again.

My needleroll finish...

2008-05-11T11:29:00.004Z

I can finally post a photo of the needleroll that I made - my first ever - as my partner, Jacqui, has now received it.

Here's Aion Designs' Friendship Sampler that I completed for the Tranquil Stitches needleroll exchange:

Note for members of Jayne's Attic BB: If you were previously a member of the board and you can no longer get on, you'll need to re-register as things went very wrong with the server move. No members were banned, but a lot of members have found themselves locked out - including Jayne.

An update

2008-04-30T12:14:00.003Z

This is "Peaceful Evening" - the stocking that I'm stitching for my DH. It's been put aside for a little while, so I could stitch smaller designs and actually feel like I was accomplishing something! LOL

At some point, I will need to put it aside again and stitch something for teacher number 2. I'll probably stitch one of the Glory Bee designs that I have...

I have a couple of other WIPs that haven't seen the light of day for awhile. Remember Tender Gaze? Or how about the Disney Princess Sampler? I'll get to them... LOL

These past few weeks have been a bit rough and I'm feeling the stress. DH has been away here and there and we've basically barely seen him since about January. He's home for a week, then off again - and this was repeated pretty regularly throughout this first part of the year.

Well, a week and a half ago he returned from the US. He was in Providence, RI for a week - a work thing, of course. When he got back, he complained of a sore elbow. The following day, it swelled up big time - and after a quick search on the internet, discovered that it was bursitis. Unfortunately, the following day the rest of his arm turned red and swelled up - and was very hot to touch.

When he finally made it to the doctor's a couple of days later, the doctor decided he needed to be hospitalised and have antibiotics pumped into him. Turns out that, yes, it was bursitis - coupled with cellulitis to make it serious! He went into hospital on Thursday and came out on Monday. It was very stressful and exhausting, going to the hospital every day to see him - with the kids. The kids wanted to see their Daddy - I couldn't go without them, but they get bored so easily...

Anyway, he's home now - still on the antibiotics but things are getting back to normal.

I wish I knew what this weather is doing today. It's been raining all morning - at the moment though, the sun is shining. We had one sunny break - it lasted all of about 3 minutes, so do I trust that it isn't going to rain on me again?

I'm off to the school very shortly to do my bit. I help out a Primary 1 class every Wednesday afternoon. We were supposed to be planting flowers in a garden, but it's going to be very soggy - I hope she doesn't decide she wants to do it anyway.

I planted out my vegetables yesterday - I have some tomatoes to plant out yet, but I want the plants to get a bit bigger before I expose them to our "lovely" weather. I'm also planting potatoes but I'm planting them in pots and need to get more compost. I've got three pots planted so far - but I have more seed potatoes to plant yet.

Anyway, gotta go!

A teacher finish...

2008-04-22T11:10:00.001Z

I recently started thinking about teacher's gifts and, still needing a break from my large designs, started this.

This is Glory Bee's Best Teacher. My DD's teacher retires at the end of this school year, and I thought this would be nice as a final gift. I'm going to attempt to cover a notebook with it, using the instructions from the Focus on Finishing blog. I'll need to find the right size notebook first...

I still have another gift to stitch - this one for Andrew's nursery teacher. Haven't quite figured out what to stitch for her - but whatever it is might be mounted onto a canvas bag...

Has it been a week already?

2008-04-13T10:18:00.006Z

Oops! Well, I've been stitching away on my needleroll. It's all done and dusted now - I actually finished my first needleroll. I think next time I'm going to make the "tail" ends a bit longer. I followed the instructions from the Focus on Finishing blog and they were extremely helpful. A photo of my finished needleroll will be posted once my partner in the exchange has received it!

Next, I think I'm going to start working on a couple of designs for the kids' teachers. I'm going to make one into a covered notebook - as per instructions I found on Focus on Finishing - and the other into a bag again. Maybe. I might change my mind down the line, but we'll see.

I bought a couple of teacher charts by Glory Bee - so maybe I'll stitch one of each. Emma's teacher is actually retiring this year, so if anyone has any other ideas, I'd like to hear them. I decided that hers is going to be a book - I'd like to try out that finishing technique.

I still need to work on my other larger designs. I think I must have burned out on them because I can only work on them for a little while at a time. It was going so well too! Oh well, I'm sure they'll get done at some point.

DH has deserted us again. He's in Providence RI until next Saturday. His plane lands on Sunday morning... I really hate all this travelling he's been doing. Hopefully this will be the end of it for awhile.

I can hardly wait until July when we go away. We've rented a cottage in the Lake District near Lake Bassenthwaite. The cottage is right in the middle of nowhere!! I had a look on Google Earth, and there doesn't seem to be anything anywhere nearby other than farms. I'm so looking forward to getting away. DH also mentioned taking some time and going down to his dad's for a few days later on - although that can be slightly more stressful! Staying with any family usually is - you don't have as much freedom to move around as you would normally, i.e. back for mealtimes, etc.

A small finish...

2008-04-05T13:01:00.002Z

Yesterday, I started L*K "Is it Coffee Yet" from the Coffee Crazy chart pack. Well, this morning I finished it. It's not very big at all - and it's nice to have a fast finish for a change.

Here it is:

Next I'll be starting on my needleroll for the exchange on TS. I won't be able to show you that one either, at least until my partner has received it. I don't even know who my partner is yet!

This morning I have been hard at work digging over my veggie garden. My aching back!! I'm not quite finished - I have to go back out and unflatten the bits that the kids trampled over and rake through to get the weeds that I missed the first time. There was about two years of weed growth since we didn't even bother last year.

A finish!

2008-04-04T16:00:00.008Z

BUT - I can't show you... Sorry! LOL

I've finished my piece for the Stitch Factor competition on the Crafty Natter message board, and have e-mailed the photo over. Unfortunately, voting won't happen until October so I won't be able to share my finish until after the competition is over.

I've started on another small design - L*K Coffee Crazy. I'm stitching "Is it coffee yet?". Shouldn't take very long.

After that one is done, I really ought to kit up and start stitching the needleroll for the exchange on the Tranquil Stitches MB. I've never stitched a needleroll before, so it should be an interesting experience.

On another note, I've spent the majority of the afternoon researching cottages in the Lake District. I found a couple we liked, and we managed to make a decision and finally booked it. We've booked for a week in July - I'm so looking forward to getting away for a bit. Saying that, it's always nice to come back home afterwards, isn't it?

Being away only a week will give our veggie garden a chance as well. The last couple of years have been completely hopeless. Last year, I didn't even bother to dig over the garden, let alone plant anything. There just wasn't any point since we were away for over three weeks while we were in Canada. The year before, I made all the effort - dug over the garden, planted vegetables. We were away for two weeks - missed out on everything. Anything that did grow outwith the time we were away was eaten by squirrels or something. I had some lovely zucchini (courgette) that I was waiting "just a couple more days" - by the time I went to pick it, the darned thing had been completely eaten. This happened quite a few times.

I'm really hoping for the best this year. I've got some seeds started in a couple of planters here in the kitchen. There are a few I need to start directly outside, but I really need to get out there and dig over the garden. It's overrun with weeds.

The weather has been lovely today. We were thinking of going to the Almond Valley Heritage Centre (i.e. farm) this afternoon, but with searching for cottages and just not having the motivation to get up, by the time we were about to get up it just wasn't worth going any more.

I need to start dinner soon. I'm going to make something called "Pink Dolly's Pasta". It's tagliatelle with smoked salmon and cream. I found the recipe in a book called "Cooking with Kids" by Linda Collister that I checked out of the library. I've now got the book for myself since there were quite a few recipes I could see myself (and the kids) making.

Anyway, this post has been probably my longest for quite awhile - time to get on with things.

Having a bit of fun...

2008-04-01T23:18:00.003Z

I've been busy updating my blog, as you can probably see. I tried to download one of those third-party templates, but it completely ruined my page. So, it's back to the Blogger templates. I did add a touch of my own though - the photo at the top. I stitched that design about 10 years ago and I still love it.

I've been doing a bit of stitching lately - giving myself a break from the large ones I've got on the go. I'm stitching on _____... LOL. I can't say what I'm stitching on because it's for the "Stitch Factor" competition on the Crafty Natter message board. From here on, I'll call it "Project X". ;-)

Obviously if I can't tell you what I'm stitching on, I can't show you any progress picture either. You'll just have to wait until about October to see my finish...

Other than that, I'll still be showing update photos of the other designs I'm working on - when I get back to them.

Ebb Tide

2008-03-28T14:04:00.004Z

Do you remember awhile ago when I finished Ebb Tide? Well... I bought a plain wood hinged box from Boxy Lady. The original intention had been to find one of the Sudberry House wooden boxes - they're beautiful boxes, but rather expensive. They're expensive to begin with, but add on the postage and it's extortionate. It would have cost as much as the box itself to post over to the UK.

Anyway, I bought an unfinished box, as I said, and painted it black. Today, I finally got around to mounting Ebb Tide onto the top.

The cord around the design was a lucky find - I actually found it in my stash and couldn't believe just how perfect it was for this.

I've been finishing today...

2008-03-08T16:48:00.003Z

I've barely picked up a needle in a last couple of weeks. Today, all the piles of stitching that I'd finished, but not "finished" were calling to me. I managed to finish off a few things - framing, anyway.

The first one I framed was stitched a couple of years ago. It's a design meant for the bathroom - a kids' bathroom. It's a little reminder to the kids to brush their teeth, etc. I have just noticed that the design doesn't have "Wash your hands" - if I'd noticed it while I was stitching it, I might have added it myself!!

The next ones I framed together - sort of. They're Victoria Sampler designs - Heart of Ontario and Heart of Scotland. Before and after, so to speak.

They're stapled to the ribbon. I haven't hung them up yet - I need to find hubby's stud-finder as where I want to hang them is directly above where there is a power point. I really don't want to find myself nailing through wires. Unfortunately, finding anything in this house is a challenge at best.

I've got many more items to finish off somehow. I'll have to have a look at what I've got and have a think.

MIA Again...

2008-03-04T22:39:00.002Z

How is everyone? I've been busy lately - and far too tired to do any stitching.

I spent about a week redecorating my DD's bedroom. I had to strip off the painted-on wallpaper. Then I had to repair the plaster that crumbled off the wall with the wallpaper. Sanding, washing - yuck.

While living among boxes of junk that my dear daughter has accumulated in her short six years, I finally managed to paint the bedroom. Can you guess what colour it is? The ONLY option was pink - her absolute favourite colour!

The only thing I've got left to do is the door - and that can wait until we have better weather. I want hubby to take the door off so that I can sand it with the rotary sander. It has a clear varnish on it at the moment - and it's going to be painted white.

Here's a before picture of one wall...

Here's the after picture of the same wall. You can get a general idea of what the rest of the room looks like. This is hubby reading the kids a bedtime story.

That was a week or so ago - I still haven't got the energy to do anything but stare at the tv and surf on the laptop.

In the past few weeks, I have stitched only one day - Sunday - Mother's Day. I didn't have to lift a finger to cook or anything on Mother's Day... Ah, to have more days like that!

Another update

2008-02-02T23:33:00.002Z

Well, I plugged away for a few days on Peaceful Evening, and this is what I've got now:

I tried to make the photo a bit darker just to show the truer colour of the fabric. The fabric is navy blue and in the previous picture, it came out looking more like royal blue.

Anyway, I've decided to start on a rotation - although I haven't quite decided on a schedule yet. I decided to start working on another project as well. While at the recent craft show in Edinburgh, I had Emma choose a kit that she'd like me to stitch for her. She, of course, chose a Disney Princess design "Princesses and Mirrors Sampler". You can see it here.

I started working on it yesterday and here's what I have so far:

I'm going to be seeing yellow in my dreams!

WIP - Peaceful Evening...

2008-01-30T12:13:00.002Z

I've been working on DH's Christmas stocking - Peaceful Evening. It seems to be going fairly smoothly so far. It doesn't have stitches with four or five strands, like Andrew's stocking did. This one has no more than two strands, and lots of half stitches - so bits of it are going pretty fast.

Here's a progress picture:

Eloquent Christmas - Finished!

2008-01-22T09:41:00.001Z

I put the last stitch - the last bead - into Eloquent Christmas last night. It was quite nice to stitch - until the beads, anyway. I normally stitch the beads on with a cross stitch so that the bead is lying with the holes facing top to bottom. Unfortunately, I discovered that there wasn't really enough room for the star with the beads lying this way, so I had to go diagonally instead. That meant ripping out all the beads I'd done up until then and starting over.

If you're wondering who the designer is, this is a design by ByGone Stitches. I bought it from one of the online needlework shows, and finally got around to it just before this past Christmas. With all the Christmas preparations, I didn't really have a lot of stitching time - or energy - before Christmas. It would have been nice to get it done, but not really feasible! LOL - it was either Christmas dinner and all the fixings, or this... I'm almost sure my family appreciates that they had a Christmas dinner!!

Next up is a stocking for DH. This year, I'm going to attempt another two stockings - one for DH and one for myself. DH's stocking will be a Dimensions Gold design called "Peaceful Evening". It's a lovely night design featuring a church, a creek, and a couple of deer. You can see it here. Today I plan on sorting out the remaining threads. I tried to do it last night, but I just couldn't tell the difference between the colours.

Hopefully it won't take me as long as the last Dimensions design did - well over a year to finish Andrew's stocking...

Haven't posted for awhile...

2008-01-13T11:19:00.002Z

I've been a bit lazy in updating my blog. Christmas was busy - and exhausting.

There was a couple of weeks where I didn't do any stitching - or hardly any stitching. Not enough to make a difference, anyway. I'm trying to catch up now. It's still Christmas! Seems that way, anyway - I'm still doing Christmas stitching...

I'm currently working on Eloquent Christmas by ByGone Stitches. I'm almost finished the cross stitching - there's quite a bit of beading to do after that. Here's a progress picture:

I finished one other item before Christmas but I haven't updated my blog in quite awhile. I stitched ONE ornament in 2007 - just before Christmas. It's from the JCS Ornie 2007 issue - the design by LoopyLou Designs.

Here it is:

Last year, it seems like I stitched nothing but Christmas designs. There might have been a couple of designs that didn't have a Christmas theme, but certainly not many.

This year, I probably have to do the same thing. After I've finished Eloquent Christmas, I'll be starting on a stocking for DH. I'm stitching Peaceful Evening by Dimensions - this is just a gorgeous design and I can hardly wait to start. I hope it doesn't take me too long. After I've finished stitching that one, I've got one for myself to start. I'll be stitching JN's Burgundy Bouquet for myself. After that, no more stockings - at least, not for many many years!!

Angelic Christmas stocking is finished!

2007-11-23T12:53:00.001Z

Well, I'm proud of myself... I finally got it together enough to start making a stocking out of this design - and finished.

This stocking is for Emma. It had to be just pink and girlie enough - and she seems thrilled with it.

This Christmas, we'll have both kids' stockings hanging from the mantle. I have a design that I'm wanting to stitch for myself - but haven't started it yet. I need to get DH to choose a design he likes so that I can complete the collection. Next year!

There are so many Christmas designs that I have that I really really want to stitch. I doubt I'll get any more done for this Christmas, apart from the candle wrap I'm doing for myself.

Speaking of candle wraps, I've just finished the second candle wrap that I'm giving as a gift. The next one I stitch SHOULD be for me.

Festive Sparkle Candle Wrap

2007-11-21T21:37:00.001Z

Hi everyone! I just thought I'd show you what the candle wrap looks like actually tied onto a candle.

I ordered some 3mm double satin white ribbon from a seller on Ebay - more than enough for the three I'm planning on stitching.

I'm working on wrap number 2 - done all the perle stitching and am about to start on the gold bits.

And another finish...

2007-11-16T14:28:00.001Z

Last weekend, I ran out of gold thread while I was stitching Emma's stocking, so could go no further until my order arrived. I decided to start stitching gifts for the teachers.

Here is the Festive Sparkle Candle Wrap. I'll be stitching at least three - one for each of the kids' teachers and one for myself. I'm waiting for some 3mm white satin ribbon to finish it off and attach it to the candle.

I now need to start candle wrap number 2!

Happy Dancing!

2007-11-14T22:00:00.002Z

Well, it's been exactly a month since my last post - oops! I haven't exactly been faithful at updating my blog lately, but to be fair I've been doing a lot of stitching. I was desperate to get Emma's stocking finished in time for Christmas - and I've done it, with time to spare.

I just put the final stitches into it today. There was A LOT of blending with metallic thread and even more gold metallic to stitch into it. I bought two spools of Kreinik Gold cord and had to buy another one to finish it. It arrived yesterday, so I got down to work and stitched away.

Here is Angelic Christmas...

Of course, I still have to sew it together with backing fabric, etc. To go along with Emma's obsession with pink, the stocking will be backed with baby pink crushed velvet.

I have also started stitching one of at least three candle wraps. This lovely item was designed by Colette Robinson of Col's Creations. The one I'm stitching is the last one on the page, "Festive Sparkle Candle Wrap". It's been wonderful to stitch so far - I've done the kloster blocks, the stars and the buttonhole stitches. Now I have to do the beading, and the other little bits, and of course the cutting, and all that that entails...

On a more personal note, this has not been a good week. Saturday, I woke up feeling as if I'd caught my husband's cold - sniffling and sneezing I can just about handle. On Sunday, however, I woke up extremely tired and eating breakfast was a real effort. I realised after breakfast that I was feeling kind of queazy. Not good. To make a long depressing story short, I spent an awful lot of time going back and forth to the toilet that day. It wasn't until I attempted to have a bit (an extremely tiny bit) of dinner that night that I decided it just wasn't going to happen, and went and lied down. That's when the nausea hit me full-on. Fortunately, THAT only happened the one time and I felt slightly better through the night. The next morning, though weak, my stomach was strong enough to take in some food...

WELL, rather than improving and starting to feel better, my cold decided to hit me hard, right in the sinuses. Ouch! It's starting to improve now, and hopefully I'll feel better when I wake up tomorrow.

If you've managed to read through all of that, I thank you! I try not to whine on here too much, but it's been an exceptional week...

Christmas stockings...

2007-10-14T15:34:00.001Z

Well, I finally got my butt in gear and did some finishing. I finally put together Andrew's stocking for Christmas. I backed it with red crushed velvet instead of the felt that came with the kit. I hope it holds. I backed the crushed velvet with interfacing, but it's a bit stretchy so heaven only knows if that will stay on.

Anyway, here's a photo of the finished product...

I don't want to hang up Andrew's stocking without having Emma's stocking ready to hang as well. I'm not doing too badly on it. I've finished the angel and the heel (except backstitching), but there's still quite a bit to do on it.

Here's what her stocking looks like:

I really really need to get this done before Christmas!!

Here it is, ready to hang!

2007-10-11T12:30:00.001Z

Here's Heirloom Christmas - all ready to hang. I finished sewing it together this afternoon.

I'm currently concentrating on my DD's Christmas stocking. This one may just drive me batty - there is so much blending with metallics. I'm hoping to get it finished for this Christmas - hoping!! I will be surprised if I manage it...

Thank you...

2007-10-02T17:48:00.002Z

Thank you for the lovely comments. I'm very pleased with the result. The hardware for the bellpull arrived this morning, so now I just need to decide what fabric I'm going to back it with. I did think about maybe backing it with burgundy crushed velvet - I recently ordered some from an Ebay shop and am just waiting for it to arrive. It may be a bit fancy for the bit that's meant to be facing the wall though. I'll also need something for the cut-out hardanger and pulled-thread bits - there should be a bit of colour coming through them.

I'm laughing at Karan's comment re. the birthday party. Most likely, a bottle of wine WILL come out with dinner - and it'll probably be some sort of take-out! After two hours of screaming kids running around, I don't suppose I'll be wanting to do much cooking.

I've finished Heirloom Christmas!

2007-10-01T16:22:00.001Z

I'm absolutely thrilled to pieces with this design. It looks difficult, but you can literally take it one row at a time. There was nothing that I found to difficult - well, nothing except the twirled roses in the tree which I found a complete pain to do. I did them in the end though!!

You'll have to click on the image to enlarge it. Blogger will only allow a certain total length or width - the length of this photo obviously exceeds the limit!!

I will be working on Emma's Christmas stocking next. It's already started, but it's been pushed aside so that I can finish this.

Emma's birthday is on Thursday. She has been driving us completely mad over it - she's obsessed. This morning I heard "It's three days until my birthday" - over and over.

She's having a birthday party on Saturday. We invited 14 kids, 11 of them have said "Yes" and only one has said "No". We're still waiting for a response from two of them. I have to keep reminding myself that it'll only be for two hours...

It's going to be a fancy dress party, plus the kids are going to personalise a foam-covered notebook with cut-outs and letters for their name. It ought to keep them busy for a little while.

I've bought a birthday cake for Thursday, and I'll be making a green and pink dinosaur cake for the birthday party. Last year I bought two novelty cake pans and the second one is coming in handy this year. The other cake is a castle - she had a pink and purple castle cake last year.

I've got to, at some point, get the house in order for our many many guests on Saturday. I suspect that I won't get much more stitching done this week.

I ordered three metres of crushed velvet fabric - three different colours - from a shop on E-bay. I'm waiting, impatiently, for it to arrive. I'm going to back the stockings in velvet, instead of the felt that came packaged in Andrew's stocking kit. I think they'll look quite elegant backed in velvet. Andrew's will be backed in red, Emma's in baby pink and mine (not that I've started it yet) will be in burgundy. I haven't decided what stocking I'll be stitching for Graham - I'm going to let him decide what he wants, if I can get him interested enough!

Woohoo! I finally finished something...

2007-09-01T11:55:00.001Z

Here's Ebb Tide - all finished!!

I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet, although I thought maybe - if I can find one - about mounting it on the top of a wooden box.

Does anyone have any idea where I can find wooden boxes to mount needlework on??

Nearly there with Ebb Tide...

2007-09-01T10:22:00.003Z

I just have all the beading to do, which really shouldn't take very long.

Here it is without the beads...

Ebb Tide - WIP

2007-08-31T16:41:00.002Z

The last few days, I've been working on Ebb Tide. It had been tossed aside for a good few months, while I did other things - I finally decided to pick it up again. It's really not that big and it's really coming along. I only have the bargello stitches on the left and bottom to do, plus all the beading.

Heirloom Christmas - an update...

2007-08-29T20:07:00.001Z

The last few days, I've been doing nothing (and I mean nothing) but stitching on Heirloom Christmas. I have towels that need washing, and I just couldn't be bothered today...

Anyway, I've reached row 18 - lots of backstitching and Rhodes hearts (well, only 5 of those).

Here's today's progress picture:

Time for a progress report...

2007-08-24T12:28:00.001Z

Time for a progress report on a couple of my WIPs. This first one is Tender Gaze by Sunset Designs. I don't remember exactly when I started working on it (really ought to keep a journal or something), but I've just finished the first page of the chart. There's another to go. There's a lot of blending of colours and different numbers of strands for a lot of the symbols. Lots of half stitches too, which I can cope with!!

This next one is Angelic Christmas. It's a Christmas stocking design that I'm stitching for Emma. There are loads and loads of quarter stitches (which tend to drive me a bit bonkers) and even more blending with blending filament. There will also be a lot of backstitching with Kreinik gold cord... Haven't got there yet!

I haven't done anything with Heirloom Christmas in a couple of weeks. I've also got another WIP that's been put aside - remember Ebb Tide? I'd put it aside because I knew that I was going to run out of the Rachel thread (well, ribbon). I ordered it from Jayne and it didn't take long to arrive, but I wasn't in the mood to pick it up then. I refuse to call it a UFO though. I just need to pull out a mistake I made in it - hopefully I pull out the right section!

Today was the end of the second week of school for Emma. She's still loving it. She's absolutely desperate to have school dinners for some reason. I just don't see what the big deal is. They're not even cooked at her school - they're cooked at another and transported to her school - you can just imagine how lovely they'd be (Yuck!). I just can't see spending all the money on food that she's probably not even going to like. Sure, some days it might be sausages or something, but she whines whenever she has to cut sausages herself when she's at home. Who's she going to get to cut them at school if she doesn't feel like it??

Anyway, if you want a really good laugh, you've got to check out this blog: http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com

Kind of a nice day...

2007-08-02T16:03:00.000Z

Weather-wise, anyway. It's quite nice when the sun is shining, but still kind of cool when the sun is hiding behind the clouds. We've had a pretty rotten summer though - we need more sunny warm days!

Well, since my last post, things have improved greatly.

The washing machine arrived and my last load of wash for the week is almost finished. I've lost count of the number of loads I've done since the washer arrived on Monday. I had about 7 or 8 loads of clothes, 3 loads of sheets, 3 loads of towels, and a load of mucky work clothes. I've been pretty busy with the laundry, as you can tell!

My lovely new laptop arrived on Monday as well. I've been playing with it an awful lot - trying to get it set up with everything I need on it. Today I tried to synchronize my mobile phone with my contacts on the computer - what a mistake that turned out to be. I ended up deleting quite a few e-mail addresses from my mobile and when I tried to delete entries with just phone numbers from Outlook Express, the address book became corrupted. That was fun to fix... Not.

Our drains were finally cleared on Monday night - Scottish Water came by and cleared it in about two seconds flat. The blockage ended up being on our property after all, but DH has learned another trick for clearing our drains. He'll need to get a big plunger from the plumbing supply store, or something...

Right - off to order a pizza for dinner...

We're back home...

2007-07-25T09:19:00.002Z

I hate coming back from holidays. There are always some nasty surprises waiting for us.

The first thing I discovered was that the washing machine wasn't working. The drum wouldn't turn at all. Well, I thought maybe the drum belt was gone - should be easy, I thought. Well, called the repairman yesterday and he came this morning. The drum bearings have gone as well as the belt (the bearings probably caused the belt to go) and it would cost £150 to repair it. Well, seeing as it's about 5 years old, we chose not to repair it, but to replace it.

I have just ordered a Bosch washing machine off of Currys online. They had some special web prices that I couldn't not take advantage of! Delivery date is this coming Monday, so I suspect I'll be washing some clothes by hand! I need my underwear... LOL!

Yesterday morning, I was sitting here reading an e-mail and caught a glimpse of a shadow outside on the fence. There were little round shadows flitting around erratically and I instantly recognized what they were. Sure enough, looking out the window and up, I saw a number of wasps buzzing around an opening in the roof. Wasp's nest! GRRRRR! I instantly got onto the pest control people and the guy came out that same day in the afternoon to spray the nest. Problem solved.

Two days home, and it's been very expensive! Plus, we haven't even ordered the laptop I was expecting to order for my birthday.

Greetings from Ottawa Canada...

2007-07-19T16:51:00.002Z

Our trip is almost over now. We've been here for two and a half weeks - only a few days left.

Tomorrow we're going out for dinner for my birthday - a day early. We'll be busy on Saturday - weather permitting, we're going to take the kids to a water park and at some point, we'll have to attempt to pack! The number of toys and things that the kids have been given is rather ridiculous. We did leave space in the cases on the way over, so hopefully that will give us enough space for everything!

Andrew had his birthday here, with all the family invited, so he acquired quite a few toys and clothes. The clothes themselves aren't a big deal, but then my mother gave Andrew a plastic golf set!! I'll have to stuff clothes into the case that it came with... Grroooooaaann!

I have not managed to stitch very much at all while on holiday. I've just picked it up again, and stitched for about 1/2 hour before putting it down for a bit to come on the computer.

We were planning on going on an Ottawa River boat cruise today - but the weather has refused to cooperate. The sky is completely grey and it looks like rain is imminent. Mind you, it's looked like it's been about to rain since I got up this morning, and it hasn't yet. Stupid weather...

A major finish!!

2007-06-24T07:46:00.001Z

I finally finished the Santa stocking! I'm soooo happy that it's finally done. I finished last night at 1am - well, I finished it at about midnight, then decided to baste the outline.

A friend has sent me the chart for another stocking which I'm going to do for Emma. She's expecting me to start it right away, so I'll have to kit that up. I'll need to make a good effort to get it done for her so that they both have stockings hanging up this Christmas. It's called "Angelic Christmas" and looking at it, it, it really shouldn't take me as long as this particular one did.

In 6 days, we will be hopping on a plane and leaving for Canada. I'll be taking a project with me, maybe two. Tender Gaze should be coming with me, and probably the stocking if I can get it kitted. I'll have to see if I have a piece of fabric big enough. It's stitched on ivory aida - but I've had enough of aida at the moment so I want a nice piece of evenweave or linen.

LOL - that's twice that Emma has asked me this morning if I'm starting on her stocking... Yup - think I'd better start it...

I've also been working on Heirloom Christmas. We're having a SAL on on Stashaholics Central MB - it's been going for a few weeks now. Here's my progress so far.

Unfortunately, I'll have to leave this project behind when we go to Canada. It's on a wooden lap frame, and since the airlines are more strict with luggage weight, I feel it'll be too bulky and heavy. Plus, I have enough to bring with me!

Back to redecorating...

2007-06-07T22:41:00.001Z

Here is wall number 5 (of 6). This photo was taken after I stripped the wallpaper off.

The next photo is with the wall painted. The skirting boards, door frame and door have one coat of paint. The other side of the door hasn't been painted yet. I only had so much time after the kids went to bed. The door is horrible to paint - I'm definitely going to have to use the scraper on the glass!! I guess I won't get it finished tomorrow night - LOL.

On the stitching front, I have started stitching on VS's Heirloom Christmas. I'm still on the tree (which is all backstitch) and it's driving me bonkers already.

For anyone about to stitch this, or planning on stitching it in the future, make sure you make an enlarged copy of the tree and get out your highlighter pen. As you finish each branch, mark it off with the highlighter pen - if you don't, heaven only knows how much bigger or smaller that tree will be. I found that my eyes kept crossing!

Look look look!!

2007-05-30T13:43:00.001Z

The main stitching on Checking his List is pretty much done. I have the top band to stitch still - with the name - plus all the backstitching and french knots. There's A LOT of backstitch to do... I'm soooo glad that the majority is done now though.

I'm so sick of stitching on this thing - but I don't want to put it aside until it's done. I'll be starting the SAL of Heirloom Christmas on Friday, so I'll have to switch between the two so I can get this santa done.

A little Santa update...

2007-05-27T19:18:00.001Z

Here's my stocking - nearly done. I still have a bit of snow at the bottom to stitch, plus the band at the top with the name, plus allllll of that backstitch and the french knots. Hopefully the rest won't take me too long - not that it really matters. All I wanted was to get it finished before this Christmas since I failed to get it done for LAST Christmas.

This is the only thing I've been working on for the past while.

I now need to head off and do the dishes - oh joy.

Stocking Update

2007-05-23T09:04:00.001Z

Time for another update on Checking His List. I've been working away steadily on this one for what seems like ages. I'm getting kind of bored with it, but I know if I put it down it'll never get done.

I've got the toys mostly finished now, and the bag started. Hopefully that won't take me too long. There's still a bit of snow that needs stitching at the bottom of the stocking. I hope it won't take me too long.

Very soon, we'll be starting an Heirloom Christmas SAL on my board. I'm looking forward to starting it, and at the same time I'm a little apprehensive, only because it's something different. I figure that the first section will be the hardest, only because it'll probably be a bit tedious. From what I remember on the chart, it's mostly backstitching and beading.

I was surfing around some stitching sites today, and came across this gorgeous design. I've never seen it before today. It's called "Fleeting Moment" by Vintage Bliss Designs. I suspect it'll be going on my wish list! I've bought more than enough stash lately, so I really don't think I should by any more for the moment. Here's a picture of it. (I don't want to steal their bandwidth by direct linking the photo on their website.)

And another one!

2007-05-20T22:44:00.001Z

I've been busy again this evening, sewing up this cushion. Here's Dolly Mamas "Who are these kids?" finished - finally.

I used an 18" pillow form, so I found it very tricky trying to get all the bits the right size. What was also pretty tricky was that I only tend to buy fat quarters of fabric - which are only 18" wide! No room for a seam allowance. Fortunately, I found some white fabric that I'd bought at a charity shop that was plenty big enough for the backing. The rest I decided to do patchwork-style basically for the same reason.

The corners are actually a bright pink to match her hair and bag, and there's some pink in the blue-green fabric. I wish the colours would come out more accurately...

I still have more pieces to finish, so watch this space.

I've been busy today!

2007-05-20T15:48:00.001Z

I've actually been finishing off some stitching - and about time too...

Here's Andrew's pillow with Kipper's Bath. I actually forced myself to wash and press the stitching, add interfacing, cut and sew on fabric, and voila! Andrew seems pleased with it. Both he and Emma helped me to stuff the pillow...

Here's JN Tulip Time, which I finally managed to frame. I'm afraid that the beads are all squashed up against the glass. I used a frame that I had lying around, but you know what these frames are like. They're not really deep enough... Maybe I'll have a look for a deeper frame so that I can space the stitching away from the frame. Not today though!

Finally, here is my sister's wedding sampler. They're getting married on July 7th. We fly out on June 30th - the wedding is in Ottawa. I wonder if she's getting nervous yet...

I also started to finish off my Dolly Mamas design, but kind of ran out of time. Dinner calls... Making it, that is!

Speaking of the wedding, I'm all set now. I bought my dress, online believe it or not, and my shoes and bag. The shoes were the one and only pair I tried on, so I was quite pleased about that. They're a lovely cream colour, satin sling-backs with beadwork over the toes. The bag is a similar colour (almost exact, but not quite) with larger beads on the front. It's quite nice, I think.

My sister bought Emma's flowergirl dress awhile ago, and my other sister picked up a suit for Andrew - one that matches her son's. I also bought Emma's and Andrew's shoes. My DH is all set - what else is he going to wear but his one and only suit. At least it's new - he managed to put a hold in the trousers of the last one. Here's hoping that I remember to pack everything for the trip! LOL!

The decorating has stalled for the moment. I've had a pretty bad cold all week - it managed to go from my head to my nose to my throat and then down to my chest. I'm still waiting for it to clear up completely. Needless to say, I haven't had the energy or the motivation to strip wallpaper! I did, however, manage to go out and buy new curtains for the living room. They're cream with diamond-shaped weaving throughout. Hopefully, it will brighten the room considerably. We haven't got the curtain rails yet, but that doesn't matter - I won't be able to put up the curtains until the whole room is decorated.

Another Santa update

2007-05-05T08:33:00.001Z

Here comes Santa Clause! I'm currently working on finishing the sky - as you can see, there's a little chunk not quite done on the top right corner. I also have to stitch the name band at the top, but I think I'll leave that for the end.

I'm almost finished the first page. The second page has a great big bag of toys, but hopefully it won't take me too long. The trees, snow and sky went pretty quickly - tedious, but quick. It was all half stitches and it's amazing how much time you can save when you don't have to finish the crosses!

The fabric is pretty warped. I don't think I've ever had the fabric go so funny before. Hopefully, I'll be able to iron that out. I think it's the thickness of the thread - part of the trees use 5 strands of thread. What a pain...

I think I'm going to continue plugging away at this one until I get tired of it, then pick up one of my other projects. I'm getting encouraged now, seeing it grow. My tune might change once I start on the toy bag though... LOL!

There are less than two months until we leave for Canada. The good news is that I've bought my dress for the wedding. Believe it or not, I actually found it online. I ordered two different sizes, and one is going back. My worst fear was that both would have to go back. Free returns, so no hassle really.

The bad news is that I still have to look for the perfect shoes and bag. Plus, I've STILL got to frame my sister's wedding sampler. I've gone as far as buying the frame and cutting out the greyboard. I think I need to wash and iron the sampler again - it's been sitting around for awhile.

Update on Checking His List

2007-04-29T14:52:00.001Z

I've actually managed to get in some stitching time in the last couple of days. Probably because I haven't been doing any decorating! I took a break from it when my father-in-law came up for a visit, and haven't quite got back into the swing of it yet.

Here's what I've been up to. I've added a lot of stitches to the trees and finished the scroll - minus the little heart at the top. The candy canes on the left are also done. There's still an awful lot to do on this - I'm nowhere near done. The trees are kind of annoying - they're all half stitches, which is great, but they use 4 or 5 strands of thread and I find it very thick to work with. I also find it a bit of a challenge getting the threads to lay flat.

I haven't stitched on anything else lately. I figured it would be nice to get the stocking finished for Christmas - I won't hold my breath though! LOL!

A few of us at Stashaholics Central are planning on having a SAL for VS Heirloom Christmas soon. Still not sure of the starting date... Anyone like to joins us? ;-)

In answer to Julie's question, it's stitched on 14 count aida...

Kipper's finished

2007-04-16T07:26:00.001Z

I decided that since my daughter was hogging the computer all day long, that I might as well stitch. I can't decorate with my son awake - he gets into absolutely everything - and who wants to clean when they can stitch?!

Here's Kipper's Bath Time - isn't he cute. I decided to stitch him up and make him into a pillow for Andrew. I won't be able to make the pillow until I've got Andrew out from under me - possibly on Wednesday when he's at playgroup, if I remember!

Last night, I sanded down the wall that I stripped and repaired last week. I've been putting it off - I get so tired at night, plus there's too much on television that I don't want to miss! I could record it, I suppose, but when would I watch it? Most of the stuff we watch on tv can't really be watched while the kids are awake... Anyway, there was nothing on last night that we hadn't already seen, so DH attempted to install the replacement shower and I was sanding!

I'm going to have to sand the wall again though. After I sanded and washed down the wall, I went over parts of the wall with SmoothOver. That's going to have to be sanded over tonight. This stuff makes loads of dust when you sand it - not looking forward to that.

Well, I got up with the alarm this morning, got the kids in the kitchen for breakfast, last night I made DD's lunch - and this morning, I realised that she doesn't go back to school until tomorrow! GRRR! Why didn't I check the newsletter before today? I could have had an extra lie in!

I've been redecorating rather than stitching!

2007-04-06T16:21:00.002Z

Here are pictures of the second and third wall - all done... Three more walls to go.

... and here's wall number four which I have just started pulling wallpaper off of.

I'm having so much fun... And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell!

The cabinet you see at the right of the door actually belongs in the corner behind the door - we had to move it so that I could get to the wall. Oh joy... You should also be able to see the double strips of brown around the bottom half of the wall - there was a dado rail along there. The previous owners installed the dado rails and just painted them along with the wall, then papered over the paint marks. Twits... It's left me with so many dark spots that just refuse to come off, and I have to try and hide it with SmoothOver.

I will be sooooo happy when the rest of the room is completed. I've been working on this on and of since about November. Because we have young kids - the youngest of which is a holy terror who would probably pour out a can of paint - I have to do any decorating after they've gone to bed. It doesn't leave a lot of time in the evening, so it's a matter of trying to get one wall done at a time.

When I've gotten around to completely finishing this room, I'll have my DD's room to look forward to redecorating. We painted before she was born, but we painted over existing painted-over wallpaper. Now, the wallpaper is completely peeling off and it looks really awful.

The only room after that to completely tear apart will be the bathroom - we have pine panelling, or whatever it's called, covering all the walls and ceiling. It's awful. The previous owners also installed it horizontally, so all the dust just sits along the top of each strip. Yuck! Anyone want to come and help us?

I need to get motivated...

2007-04-04T16:14:00.001Z

I really need to clean and I just can't get myself into it. I did rearrange DS's room, and it looks better for it. I tore down the curtains on our patio doors because I want to redecorate that wall (not to mention that they were really really dusty). Every time I pick up some toys, the kids have thrown them back down again. EEEKKK! They had K'nex pieces all over the floor - so far, they haven't emptied the box again, but every time I look around, I see another piece I've missed.

I don't have the energy to clean but, as far as I'm still aware, my father-in-law is coming up for a visit on Friday afternoon and staying through the weekend. I say "as far as I'm aware" because my hubby's aunt passed away yesterday in Cornwall and he'll probably want to go down for the funeral. I don't even know when it will be yet.

I haven't managed to stitch for a few days and I have sooo much to do. There are so many charts that I want to stitch NOW. There's just no way I can have that many projects on the go at one time. Something would definitely fall through the cracks.

Well, wish me luck - I still have tons of stuff to put away... Grooooaaaaannnnn!

Yet another new project...

2007-04-03T18:54:00.001Z

Well, when I finished the Belle pillow, Emma asked me "Why can't you make a pillow for Andrew?". Why, indeed?

Anyway, now I've started on a design for a pillow for Andrew. It's a Kipper design - "Bath Time" or something like that. Kipper's sitting down on the floor drying a duck with a towel. Shouldn't take too long to stitch, provided I actually get some stitching time. In the next few days, that won't be likely!

The Rachel thread that I ordered from Jayne arrived this morning, so now I have no excuse to pick up Ebb Tide again. I'm really going to have to get a rotation going again.

My FIL is coming up for a visit for the weekend. He'll be here Friday afternoon. Considering the house is a complete tip, I have a lot to do to get ready for him.

On the decorating front, I'm just about finished this third wall. I've just got a final coat of paint for the skirting boards and the window sill. I'm planning on doing that tonight, if I can stay awake.

More Finishing

2007-03-31T08:51:00.001Z

Well, the Sew and So order finally arrived this morning and with it the toy stuffing I ordered. Right away, I started to finish stuffing the Belle pillow. The kids saw me and both of them wanted to help! They took turns putting the stuffing in...

Here she is - finally finished. Emma can stop nagging me about when I'm going to make it up for her. I think she might start on nagging me to make a pillow for Andrew though! She asked me, "Why can't you make a pillow for Andrew?". Truth is, I had contemplated stitching the other Kipper kit I have and making it into a pillow for Andrew.

I'm really going to have to get my rotation going again. My stitching is suffering, mostly because of the redecorating - but also because most nights I'm too tired and really don't feel like picking up one of my larger projects. It would probably be a good idea to pick up a small kit, maybe get me into the swing of things again.

Well, this morning didn't start off well. I was woken up by Emma talking to herself - I think she was just sounding out letters or something, but it was enough to get me up and into her room to tell her off. It's the weekend - and it was before 6am! I don't do 6am on weekends - period. I know what woke her up though - she had a fever last night at bedtime for which I gave her some Calpol. This morning she kept coughing and when I checked her temperature, it was 39.8C. I gave her some children's Nurofen, got her to undress (to cool herself down) and went back to bed. She seems fine this morning. We'll see what the day brings - I doubt that the fever is gone for good. She probably has what I had the other day.

This morning, once I've finally showered and dressed, we'll be walking to the butcher as usual - to get sausages for tomorrow's breakfast and a roast for dinner. DH will be home from the US tomorrow morning - in time for breakfast, I hope. His flight is supposed to land before 8am.

Finishing off...

2007-03-30T16:02:00.002Z

I haven't been doing much stitching at all lately - did a bit (probably an hour's worth) on Tender Gaze, but not really enough to make a difference.

I did manage to take advantage of my DS being at playgroup on Wednesday and ALMOST finished off a pillow. Unfortunately, I ran out of stuffing and had to order more. I ordered from Sew and So on Wednesday pm and it was dispatched by the end of the day. It still hasn't arrived! What is up with Royal Mail??? I can't seem to rely on them at all these days.

Today, I finished off Emma's teacher's end of year gift. I know - I'm early - but better early than rushing at the end of the year. I'm rather pleased with the way it turned out. You can barely see the numbers in the photo though - they're so pale...

I forgot! Awhile ago - probably about a year or so - I stitched this hardanger bookmark. I don't know why I never finished it off - all I had to do was cut the band!

DH is still away and the kids are driving me bananas. There are small Barbie toys all over the floor - every time we pick them up, Andrew decides to play with them and that's that. I wouldn't mind so much if they actually helped me pick them up. By the time they're in bed, I don't have enough energy to pick up everything, so I end up leaving half of it on the floor and it's no improvement...

Tonight, I think I'll put that second coat of paint on the wall. This redecorating malarky is taking a heck of a long time. It really doesn't help when you can't decorate during the day. Emma wouldn't be a problem, but I know that Andrew would be a nightmare around an open can of paint and a wet wall.

A small finish

2007-03-20T11:13:00.001Z

Here's a teddy bear that I stitched for Kieran's quilt. I finished it the other night and it is now in the post, winging its way to Zena.

I haven't picked up any stitching since I finished this. I'm in the process - still - of redecorating the living room. I'm now on wall number 3 (of 6 walls). I've stripped a couple of layers of wallpaper, repaired plaster, filled holes, smoothed the rough bits with SmoothOver. I even had to fill in a gap left when they installed the window (it's an extension built before we bought the house). I discovered that I could actually insert something into the gap and decided that it was probably a good idea to close it.

Last night I painted a basecoat on that wall. Now I have to paint on two coats of top coat, plus paint the window sill and the skirting boards. After that, I can move on to the next wall. It's a pain to do it this way, but when we can only paint at night after the kids have gone to bed, there isn't a lot of options.

On another note, hubby has finally booked our flights to Canada - Montreal to be exact. We'll rent a car at the airport and drive the two hours to Ottawa. We land at about 5pm, so provided the flight is on time, it shouldn't be too bad and we'll get to Ottawa before dark. My sister's wedding is the following week, so hopefully we'll be all rested up in time to party!

I've been looking for travel insurance online, filling in forms to get quotes here and there. It's incredible how it's actually cheaper to get annual multi-trip travel insurance than to get travel insurance for one trip. I haven't decided what company we'll go with yet - some are around the same price, but others are completely extortionate.

Another new start...

2007-03-13T14:16:00.000Z

Well, all my projects have kind of been pushed aside to make way for a small one. I'm stitching a quilt square for a friend on one of the boards I visit. She and her mother are putting together a quilt for a tiny baby who is in hospital with feeding problems. They're still trying to determine what's wrong and hopefully now that he's at Great Ormond Street Hospital they'll figure it out. The poor thing is down to below his birth weight.

Anyway, I'm afraid that I haven't even picked that up for a couple of days. I've been soooo tired and last night I did some sanding on the wall that I'm decorating, so no stitching then. To make matters worse, last week I cut my thumb. It was healing fairly quickly, but then I think all the sanding (I was wearing latex gloves though) irritated it or something. Now it feels bruised and infected. Ouch!

Hopefully, the design won't take me too much longer to stitch. It's a cute little teddy bear with a rainbow over his head. I thought the sentiment fitted quite nicely.

Ebb Tide has been put on the back burner until I receive my order of Rachel thread (if you can call it thread).

I really need to organize all my threads. A couple of weeks ago, I managed to organize all my charts - I took possession of a filing cabinet drawer that was recently emptied of all my hubby's rugby club files! As it stands, I have to check two bags plus a few thread boxes for a single colour of thread. I really need to get them all together so that I only have to look in one spot.

The Glasgow craft show was on this past weekend - I didn't bother to go and I didn't even miss it. The last time I went, there were more and more papercraft stands and only a handful of stitching stands. I didn't pay the admission fee just to see hundreds of papercraft stands!

Ebb Tide Progress

2007-02-21T19:39:00.000Z

Here's my progress on Ebb Tide. The bordello stitches drove me bananas - the first row, anyway. The second and third row of them were fairly easy, since I could use the first row as a guide.

Just started Ebb Tide

2007-02-20T14:36:00.000Z

I was feeling a bit nervous about starting it since it's a completely new thing for me. In case you're wondering what it is, THIS is Ebb Tide. It's a canvaswork design. Anyway, I decided to just do it! I'm on the fourth enormous Rhodes stitch - boy is it using a lot of thread. I hope I have enough!

I pushed aside Tender Gaze - for the moment. I don't want it to become a UFO since I like the design so much. All the thread blending is driving me bananas, but I'll get over it.

One Disney Princess - finished!

2007-02-18T13:45:00.001Z

I finally finished stitching Belle - you'd think she was enormous with the amount of time it's taken me.

Emma is insisting that she wants me to make it into a pillow - another pillow, that is. She's got so many pillows, it's a wonder that there's any room for her on her bed.

It's stitched on Sassy's Hand Painted fabric - 28 count - "Wild Rose". It's a perfect colour for the princesses, don't you think? Especially with a daughter who LOVES pink. I think this was one of the pieces of fabric that I received in Jayne's Christmas stash pack - but I've lost track of everything, so don't quote me on that!

Last night, I picked up Tender Gaze again. It got kind of pushed aside before Christmas, since everything seemed to be more important. With Tender Gaze, it seems that no matter how much I stitch on it, it still looks exactly the same as before I picked it up!!

Help - need some stitching motivation!

2007-02-09T12:39:00.000Z

It's been a few weeks since I've done much stitching. I've picked it up for about an hour or so, and didn't get much done. I'm just doing a small design - a Disney princess (Belle) for my DD.

I've read some books and generally been pretty lazy.

One notable thing did happen, however... My best friend from Ottawa (where I was born and raised) surprised me with a visit. She had my sneaky DH in cahoots with her - he knew all about it, even picked her up from the airport in Glasgow! I was completely floored when the doorbell rang one afternoon while I was having a cuppa with another friend - I answered the door, and there she was standing on my doorstep. It was a wonderful surprise and a lovely visit. We did some sightseeing, etc., but mostly just hung out together. Even when I visit Ottawa, we don't really get to spend too much time together because I have so many other obligations like visiting family, etc., plus she generally has to go to work. She stayed for about a week and a half and it was fantastic to have so much time together.

I've been busy trying to kit up Ebb Tide and have succeeded in getting everything I needed - with a little help from my friends! Enormous thanks to Lynn and Rosanne and, of course, Jayne... I'd love to start it very soon - once I get Belle out of the way. Emma's already bugging me for another princess!!

On a bit of a roll...

2007-01-22T09:52:00.001Z

After I finished stitching Tulip Time, I was looking for another small design to stitch up. I figured, what the heck - I'll stitch up the teacher gift early. So I did! It took me a couple of days. I'm going to attach it to the front of a tote bag.

The colours, as usual, aren't quite right. The fabric is actually a hand-dyed beige colour rather than the grey you see in the picture.

I'm six months early with this - but at least I won't have to think about it in June!

A New Finish

2007-01-20T22:09:00.001Z

I decided that I really needed to do something relatively small to feel like I was accomplishing something. Since I haven't stitched up any of my Just Nan charts, I chose "Tulip Time". Took me about 3 days from start to finish. It feels really great to actually have a finish - I don't care if it's only about 3 inches square!

As usual, the colours are not quite right in the photo. The fabric I stitched on is a lavender colour - whereas in the photo, the fabric looks kind of grey. I can't ever seem to get purples to look right in my photos.

I haven't decided whether or not to do another small design, or to head back to one of my large WIPs. I might have to do a couple more small ones!!

A bit of progress on Santa...

2007-01-13T12:49:00.001Z

So, Christmas has come and gone - but here I am still stitching a Christmas project. Maybe it'll actually be finished for Christmas 2007.

Here's what I've done up until now.

As you can see, I've started doing the trees in the background. They're done in half stitches with 4 or 5 strands, believe it or not... Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge getting the threads through the holes in the aida - the threads tend to bunch up a bit.

I still have the huge bag of toys by his foot to do, just in case you thought I was nearly done. Remember that this is a stocking, so it's an odd shape design.

First Finish of 2007

2007-01-07T12:50:00.001Z

Well, I've done it. I've finally finished something - the smallest project I had on the go! Here is the Wedding Sampler that I stitched for my sister's wedding. She gets married this coming July, so I have plenty of time to frame it.

Unfortunately, you can't really see the lettering as it's done in silver metallic thread - it's not that easy to see in real life either!! I stitched it on a very fine evenweave fabric - but it seems more like a very fine canvas. There are little shiny bits in the fabric, which I thought gave it a nice touch.

Now I've got my two very large projects to finish - I've got a long way to go on both of them though.

I'm currently trying to kit up Northern Pine Design's Ebb Tide. I don't know what some of the threads called for are, but I'm hoping Jayne (from Jayne's Attic) can help me out.