Sunday 7 August 2011

A bit of this and that!


I just had to start this post with the wonderful surprise I received in the mail this week. Dear sweet Sally sent me this darling Snowman that she knows would just melt my heart. Thank you Sally for such a sweet gift. I know we will both get through the tough road we seem to be travelling just now our love, support, friendship and stitches will see us through.






I know it;s only August but my Snowmen are calling to me so I just had to get started on this years Christmas pieces. This little guy is my definition off Be Warm by Shepherds Bush. Even though I had the buttons for the orginal chart I just felt they were too big for this piece so I stitched the hat, added the nose and lots of extra snowflakes. I just love how this pretty trimming turned out and will definately use it again when I can track down some more.





I have to confess I;ve got a bit behind with my monthly SAL. June;s design was a Skeleton that we were doing on plastic canvas but I ran out of thread and had to put it aside. I didn;t finish this one for July until this week. It;s a wonderful freebie design by Berit at http://jauntyfoxdesignsshop.blogspot.com/  As we head into the second week of August the chart hasn;t quite been decided yet but I keep telling myself you will catch up , you will catch up, if you don;t the naughty chair awaits..lol.



Marly had a wonderful give-away for boxes off fabric on her blog. The lucky winners (which was me, me, me) just had to pay for the p&p for all this wonderful fabric. I was so delighted when mine arrived, Marly as you can see had included all these extra beads and a really pretty Mill Hill Kit. Please go check out her blog and say Hi to such a sweet lady.



I only had 7 entrys for this little chart so I just matched everyone up with a coloured bead and got DH to draw one. Congratulations too Tanya the chart will be in the mail soon.



Our little visitor Ned the Gnome is having a great time visiting us in Scotland as you can see he has recently been doing some baking. He has travelled here from his family home in Pennsylvania where he lives with the lovely Catherine and her family. He has his own blog where you can follow his travels. Coming from a stitchers family he knows how friendly and kind stitchers are so he is hoping that you could take a few minutes to go visit him , follow his blog, say Hi and leave a comment.http://nedgnomesadventure.blogspot.com/







Finally for the fellow garden lovers some more flowers from my garden. In this horrible wet and miserable summer we are having it is so nice to look out and see some colour in the garden. The rain has been torrential again the last few days. I do hope August will bring us some much needed dry sunny weather. Hugs!

22 comments:

Catherine said...

It made me smile this morning to open my reader and see your post!! So sweet of Sally to send you that snowman! He's perfect for you! Great win too - love those fabrics and beads - can't wait to see all that you will do with them. Your projects look great - love that trim!! I need to get moving - haven't stitched a wink this past week. Naughty chair for me I guess! Love that picture of Ned!! I put a link on my sidebar as well - I can tell you all are showing him a grand time! I'm still not sure about Haggis though ;)
Beautiful flowers! We need the rain - how about a trade?
Have a great week - sending hugs!

Bette said...

What a wonderful selection of fabric! That was a geratprise. And so nice of you to host the traveling gnome. Looks like he had a ball baking with you. And your flowers are gorgeous. We sure could use some of your rain.

Myra said...

Oh Elaine - all your stitching is just wonderful. I especially love Fence Cat's Halloween on the purple. Congratulations on your win!

Teresa said...

Love your surprise gift. Both my favorites, snowman and hearts. Your stitched snowman so cute. Can't wait to see what you stitch on your new linen.
Floweres are lovely, sent some of the wet miserable weather here I have lots of sun to send back.
Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches

Gabi said...

What a lovely gift from Sally.
Love your snowman as well. Same goes for your Haloween piece :)

Patty C. said...

I soooo love snowmen - Congratulations on such a beautiful gift !!!

Colleen said...

Love the snowman pinkeep from Sally. How exciting to find something special in the mail!
Super winnings for your stash; the fabrics are wonderful. Thanks for the Halloween link, enable me again, my dear.
SB snowman is cute and I agree, the larger buttons would have taken away from the design. Good choice.
Love your garden and thanks for sharing. Both you and Barb have beautiful gardens. Hmmm, great stitching hands and a green thumb, what more could a stitching gardener want? How about NO green thumb prints on the stitching fabric. LOL.
So good to see your post, always makes me happy to hear from you.
Hugs & love to you, dear Lainey!

Edit said...

I love your snowmen, bot the one you received (it is on my to-do list for a long long time) and the one you stitched. I like snowmen very much, too, in real life as well :)

Like your Halloween piece as well, and the prize you won... :) Sure you will use all the pieces very well.

Here it is s hot that the only flowers I could show are plastic ones, nothing else survives.

Fiona said...

Your stitched pieces look fantastic and I like the trim you used on your snowman too, very cute. Your little snowman from Sally was very sweet. Congratulations on your win I hope you enjoy your new fabric. Will have to check out Ned's blog.

butterfly said...

lovely gift from Sally, and love your Snowman.
Great win . and beautiful flowers.

Annie said...

What a lot of fun stuff! The snowman is just such a cutie.

I was thinking about stitching that Halloween one myself.. yours turned out great without stitching in the orange bg!

How nice of you to host the gnome!

Karen said...

I love your interpretation of Be Warm... love the colors you chose! And I just love the halloween design on the lilac fabric. I have this one ready to go on orange but think I need to look for the lavendar color....so pretty w/ the black!

Lynn said...

I'll trade you... some of your rain for some of our hot, dry weather. We haven't had a decent rain in ages. The lawn has turned brown now. At least we don't have to cut it!
Sally's gift was really sweet and I love both of your finishes. Gorgeous trims!

Brigitte said...

We could also need some dry sunny weather over here. But I always prefer a cool and rainy summer to the hot ones we were having during the past years.
You received some nice surprises lately. And you stitched and finished two great ornaments.

Annette said...

What a beautifull pieces you got...
The snowmen you stitche is so cute, And so beautifull finished up!!
I love your flowers.. very beautifull

Michelle said...

Wow what a lovely win - well done enjoy your new goodies. Your stitched pieces are just lovely xx

♥ Nia said...

ohhh what a lovely gift! and the cutest postcard =)
And a great giveaway prize! Congrats sweetie! :D

Beautiful stitching =) Love that trim too! :D
Hugs&smiles, Nia :)

Carol said...

Beautiful gifts and stitching! I love how your Halloween piece turned out on that great purple fabric :)

I'm off to visit Ned at his very own blog--glad he's helping out with the baking!

Giovanna said...

Lovely finishes, I just love that Halloween piece!

Lillie said...

Beautiful stitching, a lovely gift and a wonderful win.

The flowers bloom beautifully too.

Lois said...

And what lovely 'bits & pieces' they are! What a cute gift from Sally, congrats on such a lovely giveaway win and I love what you've been stitching!

Sally said...

I am so happy you love your little snowman:) You are right we will get through the tough road we are travelling on {{{hugs}}}

Love your gorgeous finish ( especially the Be Warm one lol)

Fantastic give away win too :)