Short & Sweet!

Not a lot to post today. I;ve been busy working on my two Valentine exchange pieces. There both stitched, so it;s on to the fun part now trying to make them presentable. Sorry no piccies until after the 14th as both recipients are bloggers.

A little up-date on my Cranberry bird. I know it;s not much but as I tell myself every stitch counts..lol.


This cute little Ornie is a result of a change of plans. Regular readers will know that I had started stitching I;ll always be a Wildflower by Sam Sarah Designs as this years SAL with my stitching Sis Elaine. It wasn;t really working as a SAL so we have now decided we are doing Ornies from the Just Cross-stitch Ornaments magazines. This little guy was my choice for January.
Hope everyone is having a nice week-end. Hugs!

Valentine exchange & stitchy up-date!

I may be a bit late but I would really like to do a Valentines exchange this year. It would be the usual stitched piece and a little package of stitchy and valentine themed goodies. If anyone is interested in joining me can you please contact me at elaine.main@virgin.net

Having had this nasty flu virus for more than 3 weeks now I have been feeling a bit down. At the week-end I received the most wonderful pick-me-up package from my friend Maggie. She sent me the most gorgeous purply goodies, ribbon, fancy trim, scissors, cute Snowman chart and off course what brought the biggest smile to my face was this darling Snowman. Isn;t he just the cutest!!!

Three babies that I want to stitch for this year so I started this cute Lizzie Kate design last week. As you can see I am hoping at least one has a boy..lol.

I very rarely stitch over one as I just find it too stressful and being old off course my eyesight isn;t what it used to be. This design is Bluebird by Blackbird Designs. I couldn;t find any suitable blue thread in my stash so my bird will be Cranberry.

This is my Willow House (Blackbird Designs) wip that I started last year. I;ve been doing some work on the roof and windows in the past few weeks. I really love this piece and I am determined I will finish it this year.

Well I imagine my DH Ian will be muttering words like these tomorrow as he celebrates his 50th Birthday. It just seems like yesterday many of us were turning 40 and in a blink of an eye oh my it;s now 50. He is having the day off work and we are planning on going out to lunch with my parents. Family and friends will be coming over in the evening for a little celebration.

DH hates getting his photo taken but I will try and sneak some pictures of his day.

Oh and before I leave I have to mention that my stitching Sis Elaine has started posting on her blog again. Please, please go visit and leave a comment nagging oh no did I say that..lol asking her nicely to keep up-dating her blog. She does such wonderful interesting posts about her family, stitching and other stuff. http://shutterbuglady.blogspot.com/
Happy Tuesday. Hugs!

Late arrivals/A start & a finish!

Thanks to everyone for all the lovely comments and get well wishes on my last post. I wish I could tell you that we are all better now but sadly no. Ian and myself still have a chesty cough, headache, sore throat, runny nose. Craig is still coughing too and Heathers asthma has flared up. We can;t even get an appointment with our GP so I guess we will just have to put up and shut-up..lol.

Due to all the postal delays with the Snow in December a number of my gift packages/exchanges I sent out have only arrived at their destinations recently. I;m so lucky to have such wonderful friends old and new. I had such fun and enjoyment putting everything together and it makes my heart smile that they were loved by all.

The Snowman cube I made for Cath for our Christmas exchange. I also included a lot of other goodies in the package but I somehow forgot to take a photograph of the completed package.

I also have to send a big apology to Pirjo as I have no photographs off the wonderful exchange package she sent me. It included a beautiful Angel from Brookesbookspublishing she had stitched which I hung on my holly wreath. DH had put it into the loft with the decorations before I realised I hadn;t taken a picture. This is the Christmas exchange package I sent to Pirjo.

I have to confess I fell in love with this little pillow after I put it together and wasn;t sure about parting with it but I just knew my dear friend Catherine would love it. I;m not known for stitching many designs twice but I will definately be doing this one again for myself.

Like myself Sally is a bit of a Snowman lover so I just had to put this one together for her. I;m so glad she liked it and look forward to enabling her to collect more Snowmen.

This gift for sweet Maggie is my favourite Ornament finish off 2010 (even though I was rather embarassed when I saw it on Maggies blog and a button had fell off). Mental note must buy some stronger glue..lol).

Oh dear this flu is really affecting what little brain I have. I also received a really cute stitched card and gifts from Nia and once again I forgot to take a picture. This is the little sparkly penguin Ornie I made for her.

This little package was for another sweet friend Staci whose stitching, knitting and crafty talents just inspire me to want to do better. I just couldn;t resist sending the "sock queen" some socks..lol.

Now onto this years stitching. This is my SAL piece that I mentioned in my last post but forgot (yeah I know again) to post a picture.

These are the thread colours and fabric I have chosen. The colour of the fabric shows up quite well in this picture as you will see in the next one it looks as if I;ve changed the colour.

Not many stitches done but this is my start. It will take a little while to get used to the 32count but I am enjoying this one. The plan at the moment is to work on this two days a week, off course this is not set in stone.

My second finish off 2011 but oh dear it was nearly in the bin. I tried to stitch it too a backing piece off fabric and it was a disaster. Hopefully I've rescued it okay. I thought I might attach it to a pillow or a notebook.

I am really enjoying all the wonderful new starts people are doing in the crazy challenge. It;s introducing me to so many beautiful charts I haven;t seen before. Happy stitching everyone!

Christmas & New Year catch-up!

Well Christmas and the New Year holidays are now over and how glad am I as our festive season was awful. My DH became very ill on Christmas Eve and by late evening on Christmas Day my son Craig and myself both joined him. All three of us had the flu and spent the next ten days in bed. Apart from us all still having an annoying chesty cough we are thankfully getting better.
The week leading up to Christmas little Leon had some fun doing these crafts. He got so excited decorating the Gingerbread people. He was in floods of tears as the icing on them wouldn;t dry quick enough so he could eat one.

This is our table all set for Christmas dinner and the centre-piece our Christmas cake which is a very rich fruit cake that my Mum makes each year and my DH decorates.

On a quick visit to the local Supermarket I couldn;t resist purchasing Chilly to add to my every growing Snowman collection.

A very close friend always includes a Snowman for my collection in her gift each year but oh my I was just gobsmacked when I opened my parcels this year. Aren;t they all just darling.....

I also got treated to all these wonderful stitchy bits and pieces from Santa (Mrs Claus actually chose them all herself though..lol) As regular readers of my blog know I don;t quilt but I couldn;t resist this book for some inspiration to finish off my stitchy pieces. There are some beautiful projects in it.

I have been doing some stitching the past few days but I can;t show as it;s a Birthday gift for someone who reads my blog. Once I can find the threads in my stash this is going to be my first SAL piece for 2011. My stitching Sis Elaine and I have decided that our SAL won;t consist of us doing the same chart but a SAL where we encourge each other to work and finish our project. Our charts that we choose will be ones that we have had in our stash that for years , you know the ones that you always says you will get around to stitching one day. Well here goes my first piece is I will Always Be a Wildflower by SamSarah designs. I am also hoping to do some other stitching in between so will only post my progress at the end of each month on this one.

Once again I am playing catch up with blogging, emails etc. Looking forward to seeing what you have all been up too the past few weeks. Be back soon. Hugs!

Gifts/Friends/Christmas

Well a few days to go before the man in the red suit arrives and I just can;t find any time to sit down and stitch. I still have a few gifts to wrap and I need to start planning and buying the last bits and pieces for Christmas dinner. I always find Christmas day so hectic. We get up early open our gifts, grab some breakfast then visit my brother and his family and then its off too my Mum and Dads. More coffee, tea and gift exchanging then it;s back home to start preparing dinner. We sit down to dinner early afternoon, stuff ourselves silly, have a little rest and then there is a mountain of clearing up to do. Next we spend a few hours playing family games, more tea, coffee and snacks and you are just ready to sit down and relax and then you realise it;s bedtime. The day has come and gone in a flash. I much prefer Boxing Day as it is a totally chill out day. No one ever visits so we spend the day in our pyjamas watching tv, playing games, listening to music, stitching, reading , just whatever we enjoy. Not much cooking either as we have always found in years past that so much is eaten on Christmas day , you don;t really want lots of food the next day so we always just have a buffet. Roll on Sunday..lol.

I always get the most enjoyment from pieces that I stitch and give-away for exchanges, gifts, etc but while in my finishing mode recently I decided to keep these two for myself to hang in my home this year. Dear Santa I stitched many, many years ago but never got round to doing anything with it and the buttons have also been in my stash for a while and I had no idea how I would ever use them. Isn;t it cute..lol. Snow is a Shepherds bush piece that I stitched right at the beginning of the year. When I came across this fabric in my stash I just knew it would make a great pillow. Who would have believed that as I get near to the end of the year I would actually be happy with some of my finishes..lol.

There has been so many delays in the mail with the snow this December that I didn;t expect any of the gifts I sent out to arrive. Suprisingly this week a few have got through. A little scissor gift, chocolate santas and a stitched pillow for Michelle (http://stitchcraftplace.blogspot.com/) and a JOY ornament, candy cane chart and chocolate scottish snowman for Siobhan (http://bluehenhollow.blogspot.com/). Two sweet ladies that I am blessed to call my friend.

After a long day shopping in Glasgow yesterday I got a lovely suprise when I arrived home and found my exchange box from Cath. Once again she has spoiled me too pieces. Look at all these gorgeous gifts. Oh no I;ve just realised that I haven;t included my beautiful snowman that Cath sent. As I hung it up in my living-room right away I forgot to include it in the photos.

I will just treasure that beaded scissor keeper. This is only the second one I have owned. My friend Elaine sent me one a few years ago but last year it broke and I really miss it. Cath just puts so much thought into these exchanges, she knows what a sheep and snowman nut I am. I just couldn;t stop laughing at Shaun the Sheep, the kids want to steal it but they;ve been told hands off and what about my Stitch pal monkey, isn't it adorable and he is purple!! I have an area in my hall-way where I sit my stitching box and baskets so my darling little stitchy pal will sit there. The Oh Joy stitched ornament is one that I had on my list to stitch myself. I love the thread Cath has used to stitch it and she has even finished the back with some tartan fabric. It;s now hanging on my tree. Thank you so much for everything Cath.

I;ve been so spoiled this week as I also received this lovely card and pin cushion kit from Michelle. I had recently been admiring these pincushions on line and was wishing that I had one. Thank you so much Michelle. I can;t wait to try it.


Another wonderful surprise that arrived in my mail this week was these gorgeous goodies from Staci. I have oohed and aahhed all year at all the beautiful creations she makes and I am so touched to receive these gifts. The heart is so pretty and is now hanging on my tree. Thank you so much Staci you are a dear friend.

As this will be my last post before Christmas I hope the Christmas season fills your home with joy, your heart with love and your life with laughter. Merry Christmas Everyone. Love & Hugs!

Snowmen Alert!

This post is for all you Snowmen lovers out there. I just know I can;t be the only one with this little addiction. These are some of my favourites from my collection. I only get to bring them out at Christmas as I don;t have the room to display them all year round. I started collecting them ten years ago , some I have bought myself , others were gifts from friends and family. I;m still on the look-out for this years addition. Enjoy!

On the stitching front I have been up to my eyes in glue and invisible thread since mid November. I;ve lost count of the amount of finishes I;ve attempted to do. Some I;m happy with some I;m not but I do need the practice and I am feeling a little more confident now about trying to do some more. Hopefully in the next few days I will get the chance to pick up my needle again and see if I can remember how to stitch. I need to get my December SAL chart done and I;m determined to stitch at least one Ornie from this years Just Cross-stitch Ornie mag.

Hope everyone is having a good week. Hugs.