Monday’s Musings

Not too much to report this week, a little stitching took place but not as much as I would have liked, I kept getting disturbed or distracted…grrrrr!

Wednesday evening is the Sampler Girl SAL over at Needlecraft Haven and I managed a few stitches on this…but not too many!

I made a new start on Thursday evening…I completed the centre emblem last night whilst watching The Reader…in between the tears..lol, it’s tricky stitching whilst weeping at a film!

I had a childfree weekend, so I caught up with some chores, reading, hair dying etc, my friend Gail and I went out into town on Saturday night and had a great time, too many drinks were consumed and lots of dancing took place, but blimey I felt my age yesterday morning lol!

So Sunday was a quiet day, I organised all my WIP’s into a lovely basket which I found at the back of a cupboard, I’d forgotten I had it, but it is perfect for my current projects. I did have the all in plastic envelope folders in a big box but it wasn’t very accessible, so I have now put that to use with all my charts, kits etc in there. I organised all my WIPs into plastic ziplock bags and labelled them..

It’s very frosty and cold here today, I have spent the morning washing and tidying upstairs, this afternoon I shall do the grocery shopping before collecting little chap from school.

Hope to be back later in the week with some more progress..don’t hold your breath though…lol!

Hugs & Stitches

As Promised…

…in my last post, here are the pictures of my new starts..

Firstly…the lovely chart RAK’d to me by Barb earlier this year..Filigram “Mother Hens”, I am on a no stash buying phase at the moment so I have adapted the called for threads to GAST and DMC threads which I already had in my stash…and 32c Murano Light Taupe which I had a large amount of.

Secondly…I have made a small start on this one…La-D-Da “’Tis the Gift” again I had most of the GAST threads but have made 2 small adaptations.

I had a productive weekend, school was closed Friday due to staff training, my parents kindly offered to take the children for the day, which gave me a free day to “catch up” on household chores, I did all the housework, washing and ironing and then managed to “sort my stash”. Saturday and Sunday the children were at their Dad’s so I spend most of Saturday working on my next assignment which I completed and submitted for marking. I also managed to do those “task” which us busy mums never get around to…dying my hair a nice reddy brown colour and giving myself a pedicure complete with Christmas red painted toes :0). the evening was spent with Wes, we put up and decorated the tree and had a lovely Chinese takeaway and watch X-Factor.

Christmas Tree 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Sunday we went to Mass first thing and had a meeting afterwards as Isaac is making his First Holy Communion next summer, we then went to a local garden centre with my parents, I succumbed to a fresh cream scone and a pot of Earl Grey, they had a lovely Christmas section and I bought 2 new decorations for my tree. We had a lazy afternoon until the children returned.

I hope to complete my Christmas shopping this week and finish all the wrapping too…then I can get ready for the preparations for the festive season.

Just one more picture to finish the post…a little lady wanted to be featured…lol

Thank you for all your comments on my recent posts…I really appreciate them.

Hugs & Stitches

More This & That!

I’ve managed to do some stitching this past week, not as much as I would have liked…due to a bad headache which lasted the week…I went for an eye test yesterday, but my eye’s haven't changed really, so I trip to the doctors is on the cards this week. My Mum thinks I have overdosed on medication and now it’s not working and just poisoning my system, so I am not taking any even though there is a slight headache above my right eye, I am persevering on just using tiger balm on my temples to ease it…

Wednesday was TSG SAL night at NCH and I stitched some more on “Pleasant Hill”, if I get a good evening of stitching this week, I hope this will be a HD!

I have spent most of the week stitching this beauty, it’s a birthday gift for my Mum, I was going to do her the L*K Secret Garden, but she saw a needleroll I had done for a friend and fell in love with it, so I decided to do one for her. It’s “April Rose” needleroll by Heirloom Embroideries, it appeared in GOSM April 2008, I changed the colours to suit my Mum’s tastes. I have liked this as it’s included new stitches, including woven crosses and spider web stitches…which look so lovely when wanting to stitch roses, just another row of roses to do and a  little back stitch then this will be all ready to finish up.

Barb sent me this gorgeous design a while ago as I had admired it on her blog, I haven’t used the asked for colours, but adapted it with Carries Creation threads….

I have chosen my fabric now for my 2 new projects, I am stitching them both on 40c natural linen, the first time on 40c…good job I have my daylight lamp!!

I have joined Carol’s mystery SAL and I have chosen to stitch my piece with Dinky Dyes silk “Peter Pan”

Finally…I purchased some lovely fabrics from eBay this week….the larger green rose fabric is to make up my TSG “in the Garden with Jane Austen” finish from a while ago….cushion or bag…not quite decided yet!! The red gingham is for my Christmas stitching and the others just had to be bought to warrant postage…lol…my excuse anyhow!

Nothing planned this week as yet, let’s hope the weather improves so we can all actually get outside….the kids now have a new trampoline in the garden…so they will be happy on that for a few days….I need to cut the grass…once it dries out that is.

Had notification from the OU that my textbooks have been despatched…exciting!!

Thanks for visiting my blog today….I appreciate your time and your comments!

Hugs & Stitches

BBD “Seaside Retreat”

Every stitch of this finish I have loved… now to find a frame to complement it and my newly decorated bathroom..

Blackbird Designs “Seaside Retreat” from the Stitcher’s Journey

28c Jayne’s Attic Hand-dyed COTM “Mistletoe”

Crescent Colours “Caribbean Waters”

Started 8th April 2011

Completed 12th April 2011

 

I also decided on a new start last night too…I ordered this design from Carol…’cause I just LOVED it as soon as I saw it..it’s “Sew A Brown Bunny”.I purchased another BBD booklet from Michelle…I think I am becoming slightly addicted to their designs :0)!

Not much else happening here…busy trying to get my stitching organised, I have sold quite a lot of old charts on eBay so I have started cataloguing all the remaining charts into some kind of order..I have seen another sampler by Tanya I think I may “need” to buy it’s “Lady Washington’s Sampler” which I love and it’s also so apt as her Christian name was Martha…that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

It’s TSG SAL tonight so I will be stitching on my Sense and Sensibility Sampler…I hope to get quite a good amount done on it.

Have a good evening…

Hugs & Stitches

“In The Garden” Happy Dance!

I am pleased to announce the completion of The Sampler Girl’s “In The Garden with Jane Austen”, which I have been stitching as part of the Needlecraft Haven TSG weekly SAL on a Wednesday evening. I hoped I would complete it on Wednesday evening but I wasn’t feeling 100% plus I realised I would not have enough of Gingerbread Man to complete the fence and the other one I had in my stash was from a different dye lot and was a totally different colour, so after a good night’s sleep and a think I decided to use the Gentle Fawn I had used for Mr Squirrel to stitch the fence post toppers, so I completed it around 10pm last night and after adding my initials I was really happy with it.

The Sampler Girl “In the Garden with Jane Austen”

28c Hand-dyed fabric - Jayne’s Attic “Streets of Gold”

Threads: DMC & Dragon Floss

Started: 26th January 2011

Completed: 17th March 2011
My threads arrived today for my next TSG SAL start which will be the Sense and Sensibility sampler, I just need to tea dye my fabric this evening and prepare and sort my threads then it's all go!

Hugs & Stitches

End of 2010…Just About!

Just about the end of 2010 and here is my stitching round up…a total of 46 finishes which was not as many as the previous year but I did finish more large projects this year…a few UFOs have gone through 2010 unloved and unstitched….lol…but 2 have been picked up again to be completed.

My list of projects to re-start and start in January 2011 are:

LHN The Bookshelf – New Start

LHN Home of a Needleworker – New Start

Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler – A restart with new fabric and thread

L*K Double Flips – UFO now WIP

LHN Prairie Moon – UFO now WIP

Other projects to stitch throughout the year will be on my workbasket page….and I will add to it continually I should imagine…lol

Well my new Cath Kidston Diary is waiting with baited breath to be used and my new family organiser calendar is all ready to go…so I will leave you all with our best wishes for a peaceful and healthy 2011 and I look forward to our blogging friendship throughout the coming year.

Hugs & Stitches

This “n” That

No stitchy pics to show you today, I have finished stitching LHN “Winter Sheep and need to finish it up as an ornie, I have also been stitching and finishing my final PIF which will be on it’s way to Gaynor in the next day or so!! I made a start on CCN “Little Ballerina’s” last night and ending up frogging it all as I miscounted…grrrr…so I will start that again today.

I have had a man free and child free weekend, Mark has gone on holiday with his family for the week, we were invited but I refuse to take Isaac out of school during term time…education I feel is too important. The children are at their Daddy’s so I have had lots of “me” time. I had to do a good dust and vacuum through yesterday morning as I have had the council in doing lots of repairs so lots of dust and mess…I got a new fire and surround…

also the “artwork” mentioned in my previous post which was all cleaned away, the internal doors were replaced and they measured up for my new front door as the other one also has “artwork” on it. The tree surgeon is coming this week to remove the dead conifers and cut the rest to a manageable level, then the new fencing can go up and they also need to remove all the rubbish from behind the trees'…finally things are moving!

I took a few pictures of my pots for you to see….

I can’t wait for those fuchsia buds to open…I chose a purple and pink fuchsia…my 2 favourite colours :0)

I will take more photo’s when they flower for you to see..

Off to do some stitching now I think..

Hugs & Stitches

Elisa x

As Another Year….

draws to a close….and we plan our New Year’s Resolutions…it’s time to plan another year of stitching..woohoo!!

But before this…here is a picture of a piece I finished stitching a few months ago but had not got around to making it up..

I finished this piece as a cushion with ribbon trim and vintage mother of pearl buttons using a delicate pale green, cream and pink paisley fabric which I had in my stash.

We had a quiet family Christmas this year and my parents joined us for Christmas Lunch, the children had a great time unwrapping and playing with their gifts

  

I also received some lovely gifts from family and friends, perfume, smellies, Take That DVD, stitching goodies, Cath Kidston passport case, lots and lots of chocolate…heartfelt thanks to you all xxx

My 2010 stitching includes 3 SALs

LHN Monthly Ornament SAL

Stitchers Showcase “Bouquet for Cheryl” SAL

Stitch & Stash “Just Nan” SAL

alongside these I will be partaking in a minimum number of exchanges..

I also have 1 WIP I need to complete

BBD “Their Song”

and 4 UFO’s to complete

Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler

L*K Double Flips

Papillion Garden Sampler

Debbie Draper “Little Book of Stitches”

and finally 3 PIF’s to complete…

so all in all a busy stitching year!!

Well on a final note a BIG THANK YOU to all my readers and followers over the past 2 years and I look forward to spending another year with you…stitching, stashing and waffling!!

Wishing you all a Happy Healthy 2010

Hugs & Stitches

Elisa x

News….

OOOO sorry to disappoint you gossip seekers…it is only stitchy news…lol I wanted to wait for “good light” to take some pictures of my latest finish and my new start….

This is part of my birthday present to my Mum, it’s her 60th early September…shhhh don’t tell anyone though!!

The design appeared in the June 2007 of the GOSM, I stitched on 32c Jobelan in White & Bay Leaf, using Vikki Clayton silks in Cranberry & Light French Artichoke. The boxes on one of the sides looked a bit “empty” so I decided to stitch my Mum’s initial in one and added a little pewter charm into the other. I used DMC cotton in Ecru to make the tassels to finish it off. I am really delighted with the result…I also have bought lots of other gifts but I won’t reveal the whole package until after the big day!

I have decided to “try something new”…when I saw this needlepoint biscornu design in the recent edition of “Stitch with The Embroidery Guild” magazine. It is the first time I have stitched on canvas…I am using 3 strands of DMC and it’s stitching up really quickly which surprised me. The other piece I am going to reverse the colours around to add a bit of difference.

The weather has been gorgeous here today…sunny & breezy, I managed to strip both the beds and get them dry and clean through the house top to bottom :) so a productive day was had by all!!

Going to have some dinner soon and then settle down to some stitching…enjoy your evening

Hugs & Stitches

Elisa x