Life's a stitch...

A finish framed at last!

2011-08-19T21:11:00.000Z

I finally got this finish back from the framer today and she has done a fabulous job!

Shame I couldn't put the other one in to frame. I realised after my last blog post that it didn't look quite right and after comparing it to the pictures of this one, realised I'd made a mistake. Now I have to frog and re stitch all the bottom part. The worst thing is I'm sure I put all the colours I used away and have no record of them. What a disaster! :(

A long catch up!

2011-08-15T16:45:00.000Z

So I got a little behind with everything and I am only now getting to update so this may be a little long but lots of pics so hang in there ;)

First the Lizzie Kate exchange. Here's what I eventually sent...

...and Vicky sent me this gorgeous plaque which is now hanging in my living room.

Thank you!

I haven't been to pick up the finish I left at the framers but I have finished the next one I wanted to frame the same. What does everyone think? I wasn't too sure when I first changed the colours to red but I think it's turned out okay...

I started on Sophie's sampler too which is the matching one to the framing dilemma one.

I haven't got a whole lot done really but it's better than nothing. I've got some sewing projects to fit in as well. Altering school trousers since Seren is starting school in September and I could only get smallest age 3 and I need to take about 4 inches off them! I bought her some new bedroom furniture to make her room a bit more grown up and I got lined curtains half price too. They were too small but I've taken one curtain apart and intend to make a roman blind with it and the other one I'm going to make some cushions and bunting. Sounds fab but I am a novice so watch this space for the eventual finishes if I get that far LOL!

Happy stitching everyone :)

A new plan of action

2011-07-05T00:07:00.000Z

Since I got my stitching bug back I've been trying to juggle quite a few projects. On Friday I finally gave in and went back to the same framer I used before to get a project framed that's been around the house for over a year. Since she is going on holidays and I was in no rush anyway I've got 5 weeks before I pick it up. Then I thought if I finish the others I want done before then all the better. So I sat down and made a list of priority projects which went something like this...

Feathers & Friends (5 blocks a week)
Baby Boy Sunshine Line
Birth sampler - Poppy
Birth sampler - Sophie
Find 2 more birth samplers for Francesca and Daisy

I decided to try and finish Feathers & Friends for my parents wedding anniversary but at 5 blocks a week it might not happen though I have been working on it.

Baby Boy Sunshine Line is for my nephew who is already over a year old. I've done a little on this too.

I started the sampler for Poppy, well the papercraft part of it anyway when she was born. I wasn't sure about doing it but while we were on holiday I actually got to meet Poppy and her mum and now know it will be appreciated so I have done quite a bit of the stitching since. It is the same pattern as the one I am having framed so I'm hoping to finish it in the 5 weeks then if the framed one looks good then I'll have that done too. I changed the colours from pinks to reds for Poppy and am hoping it looks okay!

The sampler for Sophie is the matching one to the finished one I was having the framing dilemma over. I've decided I'm going to lace them up to the foam core myself and take them down with the frames and get the framer to cut a narrow mount for them. Possibly. :D

As for Francesca and Daisy...I already done this beautiful project for Francesca's older sister...

and just can't find something as nice and unique for her. The project currently at the framers is for Daisy's older sister and looks something like this...

and I can't decide whether to do a matching one for her (maybe in pale yellows instead?) or a different one.

So there's my plan of action LOL!

Stitching the night away

2011-06-10T23:25:00.000Z

I finally decided on some fabric for my Lizzie Kate exchange and made a start on it. I've actually spent quite a few evenings stitching which has been a nice change from normal. Then I spent a few evenings doing ironing and other boring but necessary stuff. Then last night I realised the deadline was coming fast and I better get a move on. So tonight I'll be up late finishing it and in the morning I can make it up and hopefully get to the post office before it shuts!

My next project is a wedding anniversary card to be stitched and posted by the 19th. Usually I buy cards but I found a nice chart while I was re organising my stitching corner the other night and remembered I planned to stitch one this year.

Then I will have to tackle the birth sampler I think and make a decision on the framing. I have at least another 2 birth samplers to finish yet too. Plus I found this gorgeous learning numbers chart in one of the magazines I bought. Now I got back into stitching I've that much to do or I want to do and not enough hours in the day!

Decisions, decisions...

2011-05-26T00:04:00.000Z

I haven't got any stitching done this week yet. Mainly because I've not been well but I've suddenly got a load of projects and things to do and I don't know where to start. I got the chart to do my Lizzie Kate exchange but I went through my entire box of fabric and still couldn't decide what to stitch it on. I pulled all the threads for it so at least that was something. I found my working copy and leftover threads from my birth sampler that I need to stitch a 2nd of, I even cut out the fabric needed since I'd got the box out anyway. That was as far as I got. I still can't decide on the framing though my foam board arrived so at least I can lace it up.

I have been on a little spending spree on Ebay and got one or two magazines though. One was on my wanted list and the other was an issue I had fancied and didn't buy. Since I was in a proper newsagents at the time I decided to buy a professional childcare magazine instead (not often I get the chance). Wish I had bought it though so I looked online and landed up paying nearly double the retail price on Ebay. No backorders available so it was obviously a much sought after issue. I got my eye on one more but that'll be my last.

What I really need is a night (or a few) in front of the sewing machine. I've a whole heap of stuff that needs doing. If I would get myself off the computer one evening it may actually happen. I may even get some stitching done!

Shopping and framing

2011-05-22T23:26:00.001Z

So my hubby offered to take me shopping to Aberdare yesterday so although I felt rough I couldn't possibly pass on the opportunity. Usually I have to drag him there! I managed to pick up a load of things I needed for the house plus some extra bits for some craft activities I'd been wanting to do with Seren. I also got 2 picture frames and an idea.

Normally I have my finishes professionally framed but I've had these 2 birth samplers in my house for ages now because I was quoted stupid prices for doing them and/or couldn't find the right frame. One of the samplers will have to wait because it really does need a box frame but the other one is for Faith who is now 1 and a half years old and has just got a new baby sister, who I am going to stitch a matching birth sampler for.

The frames are not exactly what I had in mind. I wanted white frames but I thought maybe these would still look nice. I wanted them to look good so I asked my trusted experts on my cross stitch group for a framing tutorial and voila! they found me a brill one!

I'm discovering recently that it is much easier and cheaper to get random things I need from Ebay so I managed to get a sheet of A3 foam board (foam core - US) for less than the train ticket to the nearest decent stationers. Then Craig made me look for a new car aerial - got that for way cheaper than the car part shop across the road lol! When I commented to Craig about the amount of stuff you really can buy on Ebay he said I should find an aeroplane. No way! says me - but sure enough there are aeroplanes and helicopters. What about an Ariel Atom car? Yep,one of those too. Well, he said, I bet they definately don't sell a Bugatti Veyron - probably the most expensive car in the entire world... I nearly fell off my chair - I could not believe my eyes - as there were 2 listed!!! Unbelievable! That cracked me up all night LOL :D

Anyways......

This is a rough version of my finished piece in the frame. I can't decide whether to frame it as it is or buy the next size frame up and get a light pink mount as well.

So what does everyone think? I'd really appreciate any comments bad or good.

Making some small changes...

2011-05-22T14:00:00.000Z

I'm importing my personal blog into this one bit by bit so some old/new posts will pop up here from time to time. It's hard to keep general life and stitching apart really and I don't have time to update two anymore! :)

I'm still here...

2011-05-20T00:54:00.000Z

Well, we moved house and have more or less settled. Today I finally got the all important letter - I've been approved as a Registered Childminder. Yay me!! And so starts a new chapter of my life I guess... the adventure of being self employed! As for stitching...well let's just say it hasn't been my top priority lately. I've done small bits on Baby Boy Sunshine Line but mainly because I realised it was the intended baby's first birthday last month and I'm no where near finishing it!

I caught up with my e-mails and signed up for a Lizzie Kate exchange on my cross stitch group so I'm hoping that will kick me back into action. Meanwhile, here's the last picture I took of United in Love.

The couching with the perle cotton is turning out real nice even if it is rather fiddly to do. I'm very pleased with the way it is turning out so far. I think maybe it will be laid aside for now until I finish my exchange and Baby Boy Sunshine Line though.

I've got my stitching bug back :)

2011-03-08T15:22:00.000Z

It's been a long while since I couldn't wait to get some stitching done but the last week or so I've spent more time stitching than on the laptop. Now that's an achievement for me! The reason...well I made some money on Ebay and finally bought the thread and fabric I needed to start our wedding sampler. We'll be married 4 years this March so it's been a long time coming.

I'm stitching an out of print Dimensions kit called United In Love. I first saw it in a magazine review when I was still in school and I still have that ripped out page! When I finally wanted to stitch it and couldn't find it, I managed to get hold of the chart and instructions. The rest I've had to make up myself. Converting the threads to DMC from Dimensions, getting the right fabric and finding out about candlewicking thread. I couldn't get hold of any but read that I could use perle cotton instead so we'll have to see how that works.

You can't really tell from this picture how detailed all the white stitching is. Up closer it looks like lace.

This is the first time I've ever started a piece from the bottom left rather than the centre. Even though there's lots of white I'm really getting into it.This was one of my stitching goals to start this but I'm changing that to finishing it by our 5th anniversary - 31st March 2011!!

My first finish of 2011!

2011-03-08T14:55:00.000Z

Finishing this was one of my stitching goals for the year. It's a Country Companions cover kit called 'Tom Mouse' and comes with a little mount to frame it with. It is cute but I don't really want it - I just needed to finish it LOL!

So as promised this is free to a good home. Please leave a comment below if you would like it sent to you. I will draw a name a week today so make sure you check back! :)

Now, what to stitch next.....

February TUSAL

2011-02-06T00:06:00.001Z

So I couldn't find a jar and decided on this little glass instead. It's not entirely accurate though because I did have more ORTs that didn't make it into the glass.

This is my most recent WIP. It's a Tom Mouse cover kit I've had for years unfinished. I haven't a lot left to do on it now.

Cute but not for keeps so watch this space for the finished item cos I'll be giving it away :)

Elsewhere, our house looks like a bomb has hit it...

...electrical appliance graveyard :( ...

...cleaning up the kitchen...

The good news is the insurance company has settled our claim in cash so we're just waiting for the cheque. I sense a shopping spree coming on! :D Also, my parents put an offer on a house and it was accepted so as soon as they complete on the house, we get to move in. Hopefully this time it will be new house, new start, no more problems (with landlords at least)!

A little progress on everything!

2011-01-29T00:39:00.002Z

I've actually managed to get more stitching done than I expected but not enough to warrant pics since I've been switching between projects. I also kitted up a magazine chart into a kit for a dear friend. I must put it on my To Do list because I love it too! I found some stash I fancied today on someone else's blog. These are called Lavender Tumbles and I found them on the Cross Stitch Guild website. Can't decide which colour I like best.

Then while I was searching for said Lavender Tumbles on Sewandso it came up with this kit which is also quite pretty. It's Lavender and Snow Pearls Biscornu kit and I think it was Polstitches. Bit out of my price range though at £13.50!

I also really like the Embroideress but 1) the whole kit is way out of my price range and 2) I don't think I'm quite that skilled with a needle yet!!

Maybe one day....

As for the house, the kitchen ceiling is finished but we don't know what is happening with the floor. The landlord hasn't spoken to us and we've banned his father from coming to the house because the last time he just walked in and proper laid into the gas man who was fixing the boiler and then had a go at me on the way out. I'm not putting up with that! I'm surprised the gas man came back to finish fixing the boiler. We've started cleaning up the mess now but the insurance isn't going very quick.

Anyway the good news is we may be moving out so watch this space for less stitching and more packing :(( Poor us our married life has seen us through 4 addresses now. My packing record is the whole house in 5 weeks! And we said we wouldn't move again until we bought a house...damn useless landlords!!

A little bit of stitching

2011-01-27T21:36:00.000Z

In between everything that's happened lately I managed to get a little stitching in. I stitched a bit on my Summer Sampler before I ran out of a few colours and since I wasn't at home to refill I started back on Baby Boy Sunshine Line. I finished off the beading and backstitch on the boat and the giraffe. I can't see me getting much stitching in for a while anyway but I want to try and get this project finished.

While we were spending the holidays with Craig's parents (a once in a blue moon opportunity) some pipes burst and our kitchen ceiling collapsed, flooding the kitchen and playroom. What made it worse was because we were painting the livingroom we had been living downstairs and moved everything to that room. So we had to cut our holiday short and come home. Well, my parents home since we had no electrics, heating, kitchen....

We've moved back to our own house now but don't have the use of the kitchen or basement room. We have a makeshift kitchen on the livingroom windowsill and are going to my parents for food and laundry. The insurance claim for our contents is progressing well at least but the landlord is a bit slower on his part. The kitchen ceiling is nearly finished but the downstairs floor needs replacing. I've got so much to clean and wash including the kitchen from floor to ceiling.

I am worried about the whole thing since the landlord's father has done most of the fixing work and I don't trust the man as far as I could throw him. I'm not sure what is going to happen with the floor. I am also awaiting the all important phone call from the CSSIW for my inspection since I am in the process of registering as a childminder. At the moment there is no way I am ready for that!

A Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long

2011-01-05T21:22:00.002Z

I had noticed while reading some blogs recently that a few people had joined this TUSAL and thought to myself I wonder what that's all about then?! Today I finally found a link to the original founder and decided to sign up.

The basic priniciple is that as you spend the year stitching, you collect all your thread ends in a jar and then you post a picture of your progress every new moon. It's a bit crazy but I think it'll be fun plus it'll be good to see what my jar looks like when I've finished the year! Now I would be off to find a jar but seems well that my home is still out of bounds it'll have to wait til we move back in. :(

Welcome to 2011!

2011-01-02T00:16:00.002Z

Thought I would share this funny video I recently discovered. Made me laugh anyway!

Stitching Goals 2011

2011-01-01T02:11:00.001Z

I'm hoping to stitch a lot more this year now I've got back into doing some again. I really need to get some WIPs done out of the way so I can do some real nice stuff for myself. I definately want to finish Baby Boy Sunshine Line for my nephew Freddie and Feathers & Friends for my mum. I've also got a lot of little projects that are ancient that I want to finish and get out of my project box. I'm thinking I will actually make a start on Monopoly and our wedding sampler United in Love too. I'll probably work on some other WIPs too but these are my main goals at the moment anyway.

Baby Boy Sunshine Line
Feathers & Friends
Peacock bookmark - to make up
Teresa Wentzler bookmark - finish and make up
Bluetit card cover kit
~~Tom Mouse cover kit~~
Country Diary cover kit
Start on Monopoly
Start on United in Love

Thank you!

2011-01-01T01:52:00.000Z

I received my Sock it to Me exchange goodies from Shelley. I got some 'Stitching Girl' socks, a little notepad and some emery boards, GAST threads, some fruit teas and John James petite needles - I LOVE these they're just the perfect size I want!

Just had to share!

2010-12-31T02:28:00.001Z

Don't ask me how I came about this Facebook page but WOW is this lady talented! It's called Ayarina Buttons and she makes handmade buttons but also crocheted items like these:

Cherry Baby

Lady Bug Set

Aren't they just the sweetest, cutest things you've ever seen?! And if you like these you'll love her buttons! They are FAB! Anyways just wanted to share a good find. Now I just need to find some unsuspecting babies/toddlers to buy them for LOL :D

Something nice for someone special

2010-12-23T01:33:00.001Z

This has been my travelling cross stitch for quite a few years now and I finally finished it on a trip to Manchester and back for a concert. It's part of a series of 3 called Heartstrings. I stitched the first one and had it framed and sent to Deborah Markham, an incredible lady that is in the same online group as me. I stitched the second one to go in a RAK quilt the group members stitched up for her also. It's always been my plan to stitch and frame the 3rd so finally here it is.

So, Deborah if you're reading this it'll be winging it's way across the pond very soon and I hope you like it as much as the first one!

On a crafty but non stitchy note...I haven't felt like much stitching since finishing Heartstrings but I broke out the scrapbooking supplies and spent an evening making the 'daddy' page. I'm very new to this scrapbooking lark so my pages aren't very fancy at the moment. You can't see so much of the details in these photos but you get the idea :)

Here's the first ever scrapbooking page I did!

New home found!

2010-12-23T00:41:00.001Z

So I got a little behind with things and have only just drawn the new owner of the piece I was giving away.

JANET STANKO it is yours!

If you can e-mail me your address I will get it in the post to you.

New home needed

2010-11-20T19:28:00.000Z

Would anyone like this piece of stitching? I did it a while back for someone else but then they didn't want it so it's free to a loving home anywhere in the world. Please leave a comment if you would like it. If there's a lot of people wanting it then I'll put everyone's names in a hat and draw one.

Naughty but nice!

2010-11-18T23:06:00.000Z

I hang my head in shame! I haven't touched my WIP Feathers & Friends all week, since when I was sorting out all my stitching stash from the spare room. I found an old project and I just couldn't resist! Here it is...

See SO cute and colourful lol!

I'm still sorting out my stash but I went through all my mags and charts and my set of drawers. I had already gone through the stash in my wardrobe and sorted all that out a few weeks back so at least that was done. I can now see the floor in my spare room at least!

I have done a bit on another old project too. This one is the last in a set I was stitching. I've stitched it on and off for a few years now. By the time it is finished and sent to the person who it is for, I'm sure it will be a shock! I won't say no more than that or post a pic cos it was meant to be a surprise. I think though I will make this my current WIP to finish it. Just a bit more stitching, some beads and maybe some sparkly threads... then a wash and off it'll go.

And before I go...a big THANK YOU to Dianna who is kindly trading her chart with me that I was fancying : D

A bit of enabling...

2010-11-17T00:57:00.001Z

I'm a member of an online cross stitch group on Yahoo! called ILCS ( I Love Cross Stitch) and another member who is new to the group and new to cross stitching posted her first finish this week on her blog Knit Together In Love. I'm sure she won't mind me linking to her blog : ) Well, it looks great for a first timer and I like it so much I'm thinking when I'm rich I'll buy the chart and do it myself! Normally I wouldn't go for anything religious but this is great and so true. It reminds me of the importance of prayer but makes me smile as well. Thanks for enabling me to expand my wishlist Dianna!

Yay it's Friday!

2010-11-12T16:06:00.000Z

It's nearly the weekend and since Craig isn't working I get a nice lie in tomorrow and a chance to get some housework done while he keeps an eye on Seren. I'm on a mission to sort out our spare bedroom since all the junk from every other room has found it's way in there. This is stitchy related since included in the junk is a load of cross stitch magazines and various bits which need sorting! I did start yesterday but didn't get much done.

I did sort out my knitting last night though. Then I decided to do a row on a square I'd started and did it wrong! The square is in moss stitch but I started on the wrong stitch. What a donut! I don't even know how to undo the row so I've had to put it on a stitch holder 'til I can get someone to sort it out for me. I'll learn eventually but I'm finding it much harder than cross stitch at the moment. Once I start to learn the finer technicalities of knitting I'm sure it'll all come together : )

On a stitchy note I've been carrying on with Feathers & Friends though I have another project in my head!! I will resist the temptation to carry that through at the moment!

Lots of WIP and pics too!

2010-11-08T16:03:00.000Z

I handed in my childminding registration form on Thursday after a year and a half of work. I finally did it! Now I can spend my evenings doing whatever I like and the only thing I need to feel guilty about is not doing housework!! So I spent most of the weekend either stitching or doing housework LOL!

I worked on my Summer Sampler for half the weekend and then changed to Feathers & Friends. I'm starting to get used to my mobile phone software now and got these pics uploaded on my PC in no time today. Yay!

I was going to see if I could finish this by December but there's no chance of that so I'm aiming for April instead.

I really need to get back into my knitting too. I'm running out of space to keep all the balls of wool especially since I'm getting the Art of Crochet mags too. I'll have to get it all out this week and have a sort out. Saying that I'll be glad when the knitting series ends. I really can't afford it anymore but won't cancel it when I'm already 130+ issues in. I think there's only 10 left thankfully!

Some work in progress at last!

2010-11-02T17:17:00.000Z

I decided last week since I'd caught up on some housework and had almost finished my registration form that I would have a bit of me time catching up on some tv and doing some cross stitch. Well I got quite a bit done on Feathers & Friends. I was very good because it was between that and my Summer Sampler but I did that cos I know my mother is nagging about when it's gonna be done. Fair play though she had it sitting in the box not even started for many, many more years than what I've had it to stitch!! Anyways I don't have pics today but I will get onto it soon. Thing is I did so much over the weekend now I'm rushing to finish my form for Thursday!

It's been too long....

2010-10-27T23:52:00.000Z

One of these days I'm gonna get myself off Facebook and start updating my blogs more. I mean Facebook is a bit over rated if you ask me. Soon there will come along something else to take it's place and everyone will jump on that bandwagon. Anyways, I haven't been up to a huge amount really. Had a bit of a cross stitch break for a while after the dreaded fairy but I'm back into doing something now. I started doing some of Tiger on a Rock but got fed up of stitching on black so I've turned my attention to a Summer Sampler. This is from an old magazine and is part of a set. I did the autumn one when I was in school. My first big project that I scraped together the materials for lol! Of course I should be getting some other UFO's done really but I just need to do something I enjoy for five mins!

Kntting for charity

2010-04-14T21:10:00.003Z

I'm not usually the one for doing stuff like this, not that I don't think it's a good idea but I don't really have the time. I've been looking to practice my knitting though with something other than squares for my throw. I didn't realise there were so many projects though so which ones to pick?

Nearly a finish!

2010-02-24T00:29:00.003Z

I didn't realise it's been so long since I posted anything. I've almost finished the birth sampler for Faith. All I have left is her date of birth and add some beads. I changed the pattern a little in this. Originally it was supposed to be silver metallic swirls but I didn't think they stood out much so I left one or two and replaced the others with 2 different shades of DMC Satin instead.

While I've been waiting to find out her date of birth I started stitching on a UFO. I don't have a pic yet though. This one is Feathers & Friends by Butternut Road. There's a long story behind it but to cut it short - it belongs to my mother and I'm stitching it for her.

I've also been making progress on my knitting. Here's a pic of my first four squares.

I've also finished one other square since and I've nearly finished the 6th. So far they've been relatively straight forward with just knit and purl. The worst one was the white with the blue diamond which I had to have help with joining in a new colour. Going good though :)

Finally Friday

2010-01-15T22:56:00.002Z

I was really looking forward to my sewing class today so I could finally get my cushion covers finished and I did. Yay!! They look brill even if I do say so myself! I'll have to get a pic of my playroom so far so you can see the overall effect. Might have to finish painting the walls first though lol!

I also got the organising bug from my tutor, who spent the entire 2 hours sorting out the storage cupboard. I was the only one who turned up and it was a mess. Looks fab now though! I finally got round to sorting out the tall kitchen cupboard which now just needs a child proof lock on it. I also sorted out the storage cupboard with a bit of help from Craig. It's still packed full but at least it isn't sticking out of the top too much now. Wish I had an attic space I could shove all the stuff in.

I've done loads on my WIP this week but am struggling with the metallics. Good news though - a member of my Yahoo group ILCS kindly enabled me to buy new needles from this fab needle shop. It only cost me £2.30 for 10 individually wrapped size 24 gold plated needles inc. P&P. I ordered them last night and they were posted today! Just hope they're the right ones cos I wasn't 100% sure on the size. I like to get the small or petite ones especially if I'm stitching on evenweave. I'll have to add the shop to my links.

Gonna do an hour stitchin while watching Corrie now :)

A new WIP and a little UFO

2010-01-10T23:15:00.003Z

I got a bit of stitching in this weekend. Because I was naughty and didn't stitch on my UFO on Tuesday I did some Friday night instead. My UFO I've decided is Moonlight Bay which is the first kit I ever bought so it's about time I finished it! I've also got quite a bit done on my birth sampler for my friend Lucy for her daughter Faith. It's from a magazine and it's a pair of pretty shoes with lots of sparkly metallics and beads which I'm going to finish off with her name and date of birth (possibly her weight too). It's the first of a few birth samplers I have on my list of projects to do this year.

A different kind of stitch

2010-01-10T22:37:00.005Z

I've been subscribing to The Art of Knitting for 90 issues now. The idea is in the 1st issue you learn to knit and each one you learn to make a different square and it all makes up into a throw. It also includes patterns, stitch library and other useful information and you get all the wool to make the throw too. I've been meaning to get down to doing it for ages but just haven't had the opportunity.

Last week what do I see on tv but an advert for The Art of Crochet! I'd love to crochet so after much persuading and a promise that I would start the knitting one I was allowed to buy it.

So good to my word, I sat down this week and learnt to cast on, knit, purl and cast off. This was my practice piece.
It's rubbish really but I was very thrilled with myself lol! The top and bottom sections are garter stitch and the middle is stocking stitch.

I also got a photo of my cushion cover from the other day.

Sewing class bears fruitage

2010-01-03T23:18:00.003Z

I've been going to a sewing class for a little while. It's quite informal so we don't have a set schedule of things to learn. I think most of the ladies know exactly what they are doing except me lol. So far I've learnt how to take up trousers properly, which is great because I've short legs and struggle to get trousers to fit. I also learnt how to make a slip on cushion cover.

I've had some fabric to make some cushion covers for my playroom -to-be for a while and the tutor cut out the covers for me before we broke up for the holidays. Tonight I made my very first cover all on my own! I did mess it up slightly though. I forgot about matching the pattern up on the back and didn't overlap the fabric enough. Lesson learnt for the next one! I'm still quite chuffed with it though.

Flower Fairy finally finished!!!!!

2010-01-03T19:55:00.003Z

Here's my first finish of 2010. It's taken me nearly 2 years to finish (on/off). It's for a gentleman who asked me to do it as a present for his wife. It is lovely but I wouldn't stitch one again. Now I just need to clean, iron and post it.

Nearly another year gone!

2009-12-27T22:42:00.003Z

I can't believe how quick this year has gone. This time last year Seren had only just started sleeping through and was still a helpless baby. Now she is walking, throwing tantrums and being a general madam lol! I'm close to finishing the dreaded Flower Fairy and I can't wait. I'd like to think I can move onto something nice for myself but that won't happen. I have a long list of projects that really need doing first.

I need to sit down and work out my stitchy goals for 2010. So far they include completing my collection of Anchor threads and finding a decent framer. I don't like the one I've been using and she's expensive. I went to see about getting a birth sampler framed and I wanted it in a white box frame. She wanted to spray paint a wooden frame white! I want it to look professional not DIY - that's why I like to pay to have it framed professionally. Honestly - spray paint!

At least a new Hobbycraft has opened in Cardiff and I can buy supplies there. I'm afraid my nearest LNS is too far away and it is cheaper for me to use a ONS. It's a terrible shame but even though we now have a car, I can't justify the petrol to get there for just one or two threads.

Anyways I will end this post with a pic of the Flower Fairy (though it's not the most recent at all).

Still working on it...

2009-09-26T20:02:00.004Z

I'm being really good and I'm still working on the Flower Fairy though I did start another kit last week. It's for Craig though and it's on black aida so it'll only be stitched on when he's not home and Seren is in bed - so not very often lol! Went to Hobbycraft this week for a thread I really needed and got the wrong one :( I got some Anchor threads too. I've got all the DMC so now I'm working on getting all the Anchor threads. Like I don't have enough already lol! I relocated all my cross stitch stuff into my new wardrobe today also so now it's all in one place and out of Seren's reach. Brill!

Flower Fairy progress

2009-08-17T21:06:00.003Z

Well it's coming along slowly. I'm desperate to finish this - it's getting on my nerves!! Here's the latest pic

At last some piccies!

2009-08-01T19:54:00.004Z

Here's the birth sampler I did for my friend's baby girl Niamh:

Here's Finley's dinosaurs (still not framed yet):

And my Flower Fairy though I've done a lot more since this pic:

Slowly does it

2009-06-10T21:29:00.002Z

I've been getting some stitching done but my Flower Fairy is taking time. I finished my birth sampler for my friend's baby Rosie but need to get it framed now. I'm back in work too so I've been doing a little bit of an old UFO on the train. We're finally getting a new laptop at the end of the month so hopefully then my mobile software will work and I'll be able to upload all my lovely pics! Can't wait!!!

I'm back...

2009-04-06T20:34:00.002Z

Having a baby certainly does change your life LOL! I didn't realise how long it had been since I last updated my blogs. Well, I have managed to do quite a bit of stitching despite everything.

From my last post I did a bit more on the Baby Boy Sunshine Line but that's been sidelined for now. That's complicated so I won't go there. I've completed half of the Flower Fairy and I'm trying to really get into it but I've been sidelined by a few other projects. I finished Secrets and had it framed along with Daisy Chains so now they can go up in Seren's new bedroom.

I've also finished and framed a birth sampler for my friend's daughter Niamh. I've just finished a name plate for my friend's 3 year old son Finley. He loves dinosaurs so I stitched up his name in a dinosaur alphabet. It's quite cute. I've done a bit of stitching on some old UFO's too.

At the moment I really need to finish the Flower Fairy. I also have some other projects lined up. My friend is due in 2 weeks and I've already got a birth sampler planned for her baby Rosie. I want to do name plates for Finley's 2 sisters. I also need to do another birth sampler for my cousin's new baby Francesca. Think I'm going to do Brooke's Books 'Got an Angel in my Pocket'. And my friend's sister has just found out she's pregnant too so that'll be another birth sampler later in the year. I like to do them and it's always nice to find different ones for everybody.

That's about it. Unfortunately I don't have pics. Well, I do but they're on my mobile phone and I can't get them on my PC cos the software I need to do it won't run on my computer. I never thought I'd have a mobile that was actually better than my computer!

Happy stitching all! :)

Welcome to the world!

2008-09-12T05:48:00.001Z

Introducing our new daughter Seren Lyn. Born 25th August 08. Weight 5lb 9oz.

Recent pics

2008-08-18T17:56:00.005Z

Stitching away the hours

2008-08-17T23:47:00.002Z

I don't think I've ever spent so much time stitching as I have the last couple of weeks. I finally got real bored of the Flower Fairy this week and decided to do a small bookmark for a change. It was a cover kit on a x stitch mag I bought many years ago. I was pretty much a novice back then and didn't realise I was supposed to stitch over two threads and messed it all up. It's a lovely peacock and I finished it in 2 days - pretty quick for me - though it was pretty straightforward. I just need to make it up now. I also finally picked up Daisy Chains and finished the back stitch and french knots. I'll get that off to my fave framer as soon as he's back from the USA. I also started another Humphrey's Corner for the baby's room called Secrets. Actually I only meant to sort out the threads and prepare the kit to start stitching on and decided I may as well do a few stitches in the centre just to start it. Which is what also happened with my Baby Boy Sunshine Line which I am now stitching for my new nephew Kyle. I've made a good start on that one but it stitches up so easy. I'll have to add some pics tomorrow. My camera is in my hospital bag as I'm due today and so could go into labour at any time. Hopefully sooner rather than later...

Counting down the days

2008-07-26T18:05:00.001Z

I finally have internet so I can keep up a bit more now. Well, I'll try anyhow. Can't imagine I'll be spending a huge amount of time on here once the baby is born. We're counting down the days now 'til 18th August when baby's due. We finally have everything ready. She has so much stuff it's unreal! She's been spoilt rotten by us and everyone really. Both sets of grandparents have bought big items for us and lots more besides. I haven't been as bad as what I thought I would be. After a while the novelty of being able to buy cute baby stuff wore off lol! I'm a bit more selective and practical now when I have the urge to buy stuff. I've just started my maternity leave and I'm enjoying it so far. I've been able to rest up a bit and I've had jobs to do each day to keep me going. I have a list of things I want to get done before baby arrives so I'm working towards them bit by bit. Anyway thought I'd share some pics of the nursery so far and me!

I hate my WIP!

2008-07-26T16:37:00.003Z

I've been doing loads of stitching this week on my Flower Fairy. I started my maternity leave and in between doing other things I've been stitching like mad to try and get as much done of this before baby arrives. It's not for me but a friend wants it as a pressie for his wife. I absolutely hate it though. It's the most bitty thing ever. I have to change colours every 5 seconds and never feel like I'm getting anywhere with it. I've started taking pics of it each day just so I can see where I'm actually making progress on it. Anyway here it is:

I got my Lottie & Lulu Dolly framed while I was away by my old framer. He does such a wonderful job and he's quick. I saw him by chance on the Saturday and he had it back to me on Tues evening. Forgot to take a pic though. I only have some backstitch to finish on Daisy Chains and then I'm gonna get that framed the same way and put them in the baby's room.

I also spent a small fortune in my old LNS while I was in Wardle. Unfortunately the situation has become such that Kathy and Michelle are having to shut up shop and today will be their last day trading. It's such a shame! Soon there will be no LNS left anywhere especially not any good and decent ones. It's no wonder we're all having to use ONS for our supplies.

I'm also going to be updating my 'Stash to go' blog over the next few days so if you want some goodies get and have a look at that.

Some more finishes

2008-06-29T12:16:00.004Z

I finally got round to finishing my special commission last weekend. It's been a UFO for so long I'm sure the guy who asked me to do it has even forgotten about it himself. It was just a matter of actually sitting down and finding matching colour threads to finish it off. I improvised slightly in places as I didn't have proper instructions or a picture on how it was supposed to look like but I think it came out ok. It didn't really need too much doing anyway. Just some touching up in places and filling in the unstitched bits. Now I can take it to Wardle next week and give it back finally.

I also got my Baby Girl Sunshine Line back from the framers. I should've had Shoes back too but it wasn't ready. It'll be another fortnight at least now before I'll be able to go back and get it. I'm really unhappy about it especially since she had 3 weeks to do it and it's not a big piece. Anyway here's the finished piece.

Some pics at last!

2008-06-11T23:25:00.007Z

I finally have broadband! So here's some recent pics. Knew I'd get them up eventually lol!!

Poppy coasters
Baby Girl Sunshine Line (at framers)SS gift for CJ PeckShoes for my friend Natalie (at framers)Small get well card for Natalie's mum

It's been a while...

2008-05-11T17:27:00.001Z

Well I was hoping to keep my blog updated a little more frequently than this but I still have no internet at home :( The cost of basic utilities and groceries has just rocketed and we just can't afford it. Anyway, I'm now 26 weeks gone and finally have a bump to show! We've found out it's a little girl (not 100% of course) and are naming her Seren Lyn. All the sickness and nausea and exhaustion finally wore off after about 3 1/2 months. Now my main problem is pain in my lower back and hip joints. We've been buying a little something every week for a while now and finally think we have just about everything and a little bit more. My mum-in-law is buying us a pram with all the bits and my mum is buying us nappies as we've decided to use cotton reusable ones. (The modern version not the old terry nappies.) People keep saying make the most of the peace and just the two of us but neither of us can wait 'til she's born. We're both counting down the weeks already lol! Apart from that life has been pretty boring really.

On the stitching side of life... I finally finished my Baby Girl Sunshine Line this week. It's my first 'proper' finish of the year. The only other things I've done having been a small card for a friend and putting together my poppy coasters. Now I just have to get it to the framers. I've also 99% finished a little project for another friend. I just need to add 4 beads and make it up into a small cushion. I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment because I've been feeling better and also because Craig has been nagging me to finish the Sunshine Line project for ages! Next project is a Flower Fairy that I've started. I absolutely hate it but it's for someone else and they're paying me so I shall perservere! One of these days I will manage to get some pics on here too...

Welcome to 2008

2008-01-12T19:13:00.003Z

I can't believe how long it's been since I last updated! Well, the last few months in short. We finally settled into our new house but we're still having problems with the heating and some other little bits. My dad recovered from his operations but still has complications and has to go back in in another 2 weeks for another op. He's back on the transplant list again now though so maybe another kidney will turn up soon. Apart from that life has been pretty much the same old, same old.

I guess the most important news is I found out last week that I'm pregnant! Of course we're thrilled after having tried for so long. I had my first antenatal appointment yesterday. I'll be 11 weeks along on Monday and I'm due on August 6th. I've been feeling quite nauseous and tired and have problems with certain smells but am otherwise ok. I can't wait 'til I start showing lol!

On the stitching side of life... I finally got my last SS gift back from the framers and sent that off before Christmas. No pics today as I'm at my mum in laws but hopefully I'll get round to it soon. I've been doing quite a bit of stitching lately. I've been feeling quite nauseaous and tired so when I get home from work I've just been crashing out in my stitching chair. I'm currently working on Lavender & Lace 'The Wedding' (still...) and Sunshine Line Baby Girl when I'm not up to the fineness of L&L. I also did a bit of work on Mirabilia 'Mother's Arms' this week. I'm working on a card this week though as I'm away visiting family. Oh and I also finished and finally made up my set of poppy coasters for my friend. The original coasters I had for them were useless cos the backs kept coming out so I ordered some different ones last week and they were much better. I think that's about it really. Hopefully I'll get some pics up next time I update. Happy stitching for 2008 everyone!

Finally some pics!

2007-09-14T20:44:00.000Z

I've finally managed to get one or two pics uploaded of my recent projects. My Somebunny To Love which is now finished and framed and my last SS gift.

I've no internet access at the moment hence the quietness but hopefully I'll be able to sort something out soon. :) Happy stitching all!!

Weekly update

2007-07-30T15:57:00.000Z

Well still no pics I'm afraid. Not much to take pics of though. I've been working on my gift for my SS. It's going really well so far. I've put quite a few hours into it over the weekend cos I started to panic thinking I wouldn't get it done on time. I've done about half of it so far though. I'm also on my 4th poppy coaster so I'll have finished them soon hopefully. That's about it really.

Oh, except that I found a LNS well, more like a DNS! (D for distant)It's in Cardiff so I have to get the train and then a bus or walk. All together without waiting it takes about an hour and half to get there. It's quite good, sells a lot of stuff but they're not as friendly as my old LNS and the place is quite cluttered so it's hard to find what you want.

Rollercoaster ride.

2007-07-30T15:05:00.001Z

Well after all the good news there was bound to be some bad to follow.

We spent the first weekend at our new house with no electricity because the meter needed resetting and then we had to cook with a camping stove because we had an electric cooker and the house only took gas. We had to buy a new cooker on credit and it arrived Friday. It's so nice to have proper meals again! We also have problems with the heating and lots of other little things that the landlord needs to sort out. Other than that I'm slowly getting on with the unpacking. I've taken 3 days holidays to try and get on top of things a bit more. I'll get there eventually.

Also most importantly, the day after my dad had his new kidney he had it taken back out because it wasn't working. Needless to say he wasn't best pleased. He's recovering now and is doing ok but he's still very tired and having to make regular trips to and from the hospital.

Though I do have some good news of a kind. One of my best mates from school recently made his debut in the West End playing a part in Les Miserables. He's a fantastic singer and I wouldn't be at all suprised to see him in a lead role in the near future. His name is Gareth Nash so watch this space!

Dad's new kidney

2007-07-10T18:05:00.001Z

My dad has been on the transplant list for 2 years and 3 months and finally yesterday he got the all important call. They operated on him last night/early hours this morning and he now has a new kidney. The doctors have said there's a 50/50 chance it'll be successful at the moment as there were a few complications but my dad's ok. I've just been to see him and he's very drowsy but his usual self. He asked me if I wanted to swap places with him. Sure I said - anything to get off work LOL! Just wanted to share my good news. :)

I have a home! YAY!!

2007-07-08T18:57:00.002Z

We finally managed to sort out all the references we needed and have an appointment to sign the lease and hand over the keys on Thursday. I can't tell you how glad I am to have my own house again. Housework, unpacking and everything included. Unfortunately it's a little bad timing as I'm at a convention in Cardiff Fri-Sun, which means Craig will have the pleasure of moving everything himself with my dad and Barry up the road who has a van. Hopefully all will go well though. Maybe now we can finally get ourselves settled.

A finish!!

2007-07-08T18:41:00.000Z

I finished Somebunny To Love! I wasn't very well Thurs/Fri so I spent much of those 2 days and yesterday stitching. All I have left to do is add EJ's name, date of birth and weight to the bottom. I have already charted it out but I'll have to wait until I unpack my cross stitch stuff so I can find the chart.

Yesterday I also received my first package from my SS. I got a piece of 28ct jobelan from Polstitches called Warm Embers. It's like a warm peachy colour - pretty! I also got 7 limited edition hand dyed threads from Polstitches also. All in gorgeous autumny colours! Can't wait to use them.

Now I just need to decide which project to work on next...I mean I only have about 35+ to choose from. ;)

Pictures to be added soon...watch this space...

Damon Scott with Monkey (Bubbles)

2007-07-05T21:36:00.002Z

This is a clip from the auditions of Britain's got Talent. I thought it was so funny that I'd share it with you all. :)

Things are looking a little up.

2007-07-05T21:23:00.001Z

On Craig's second day in his new job he managed to get himself a lift to work every day off his boss. As for the house well, things haven't gone quite as smoothly. The estate agents sent off for references about 2 weeks ago but we're still waiting for them to receive one more back. Not helped by the fact they sent some of them off wrong and Royal Mail went on strike last week. Despite that we have an appointment booked for next Thursday to sign all the paperwork off and then we'll officially have our own new home. Yay!! Can't wait!

All we have to do then is move our stuff from not only my gran's garage but what we have at my parent's house, my parents-in-law's house and my dad's friend's house. We managed to buy a cheap 3 piece suite from a place that recycles unwanted furniture. It cost us £56. I haven't seen it yet as Craig picked it but apparently it's a blue floral pattern. Not so sure about that. Anyway when they delivered it they couldn't get it in my parent's house so it's at my dad's friend's house. We also acquired a wardrobe through another friend of my dad's. It's one of those canvas covered slat ones like we had before which'll do for now.

I did get some real bad news this week that I was really gutted about but I don't want to talk about that. Otherwise things are looking up a little. Back to hoping and praying for one more reference to arrive at the estate agents.

My weekly progress

2007-07-05T20:57:00.000Z

Well I think I've done quite well this week but have no pics to prove it as my camera is dead and I need the printer dock to charge it, which is somewhere in a box in my gran's garage. :(

I started on my 3rd poppy coaster. I finished the rabbit and one duck on my Somebunny to Love project - including the backstitching. I just have 2 ducks and the writing to add before it's finished. My SS gift is also coming along quite well though I've not done much on it this week. Mostly because I don't want to take it on the train and into work like I do with Somebunny.

I also got approached at work last week by one of the girls who wanted to ask if I would stitch something for her daughter as a present. Of course I agreed, not to seem mean, though I probably shouldn't have with all the commitments I already have. Never mind.

My goal is to finish Somebunny to Love soon and maybe even my poppy coasters. At least the train journey isn't such a waste of time as it could be.

Pictures!

2007-06-20T20:15:00.000Z

I finally managed to get some pics uploaded so here they are:

This is what I've done so far on my Somebunny To Love.

This is the second of my 4 poppy costers I am doing for a friend.

Weekly update

2007-06-19T21:51:00.000Z

Well the train stitching is going well. I finished my SS gift and one of my poppy coasters in the last 2 weeks. Yay! Only another 2 coasters to stitch now to complete the set. I've been getting some good stitching time in at home this week too and have made a very good start to my next SS gift. I treated myself to the World of Cross stitching magazine on the weekend and found the perfect project to do for my SS. Miraclously, I had all the threads and material I needed! A good bonus especially since I still haven't found a LNS here. Apparently there are 2 in Cardiff and I will make it my mission to find them!! I also spent ages doing research on my new SS this week and stash shopping for her. My biggest news is of course I have now finished my Project Challenge as my SS gift and coaster makes the last 3 of my 10 to do!! Brilliant! Now I'm going to think up my next challenge so watch this space!

Happy days!

2007-06-15T22:42:00.001Z

Good news today - DH got a job! He's gonna be working in a food and drink manufacturing company. He'll be doing weekly rotating shifts (6am-2pm or 2pm-10pm) and gets 2 litres of free fruit juice every week which is definately good because I love apple juice! Though we haven't quite worked out how he's getting there yet as it's about 15 mins away in car and neither of us drive.

As for me, I'm just glad the weekend is upon us. It's been a hard slog at work this week, it's really dragged and I've done something to my shoulder joint so it's been quite painful. I learnt something interesting today actually. On enquiring at the Post Office whether I could send certain goods to the USA, I found out it's prohibited to send cotton seeds oh, and radioactive viruses LOL! I'm sure the clerk said anything derived from cotton also but I must be hearing things because that would mean I couldn't send any cross stitch stuff to the USA.

My biggest discovery today though was a pottery shop in the indoor market in Cardiff city centre. Sounds boring but there's a story behind it. An old friend of mine has this cup and saucer in her house and it's really pretty and I love it. A few years back I found a plate of this exact pattern in a charity shop and noted the maker so I could look it up. I eventually found out it was a pattern called Rosebud once manufactured by Royal Duchess. (Quite a small company compared to the likes of Royal Worcester and Royal Doulton.) I looked high and low for somewhere that sold this china and didn't find anywhere. I wanted to get it as a wedding present. Anyway it don't take no genius to work out what I found in this pottery shop...the exact china! Only problem I have now is that my mum and dad bought us an entire fancy dinner set just last December for special occasions. So I have to convince DH that we really do need 2 dinner sets because the one I love is just too pretty not to have!!! :) Look SO pretty......

Still homeless

2007-06-12T23:00:00.001Z

Well as you can tell I'm still homeless. The house we applied for fell through. The landlord pulled it off the market and rented it to someone he knew instead. We were totally gutted. So back on the house hunt again. We applied for another house yesterday. Craig is going to view it tomorrow while I'm at work but we've peeked in through the windows and it looks really nice from what we can see. It's not where I would choose to live but it's getting to the point where I really don't care anymore as long as I get a house! One where I can do whatever I please in, at whatever ridiculous time I want to do it.

Still no sign of a job for DH, though he has an interview on Friday. I've been doing lots of over time at work so I leave at half 7am and get home 7pm. :( And the social decided that we are only entitled to £1.12 a week in the way of support. Great stuff! Obviously the government thinks we can live on my rubbish wage quite comfortably. Guess I can't grumble really - at least I have a roof over my head and I'm being fed every day.

That's my grumble for today over with, now I'm getting off the PC cos my mum really needs it.

The things customers do...

2007-06-08T22:55:00.002Z

I work at Primark as you all know. For the non-UK readers Primark is a high street chain store retailing in clothes, mainly for people in their 20's/30's. They sell the current fashion trends but at a fraction of the cost of most other stores. I would say it's probably the cheapest clothes store in the UK but don't quote me on that. They also sell menswear, childrenswear and homeware in some stores, dependant on the size of the store.

I usually work on the tills but I've done most other jobs in the store as well and it always amazes me what customers will do. These are my top 3 unforgivable crimes to commit in Primark:

No 3: Customers who insist on unpacking everything
This may be a petty point but I have good reason. The space to work with in between each till isn't large and we are expected to neatly pack all the customers goods into bags working in this space. Thus, when a customer comes to you with a basket full of goods and then insists on taking every item out and putting it on the counter in front of you it's neither helpful or conducive to me being able to serve you any quicker. All the customer has done is fill up my entire working space so I have nowhere to fold and pack. It's not the worst offence by far but it's a point I want to make. My job is to unpack your basket of goods, fold them neatly (with or without hangers) and pack them into bags. Please let me do my job?!

No 2: Customers trying clothes on, on the shop floor
Now I have no problem generally with customers who do this, as the queue for the fitting rooms is quite atrocious at times. However, I do find it very rude when certain customers, sometimes blatantly in front of me, proceed afterwards to leave the clothes they've tried on, off the hangers, inside out, on the floor, strewn all over the place or in any other manner of disarray apart from where they got it from. Would it take these customers 5 mins to put them back where they got them from? I don't think so. Simple respect and courtesy is all that's needed here.

No 1: Customers talking on mobile phones whilst being served
I don't know about anyone else but I find it extremely rude and ignorant when I am trying to serve someone and all they are interested in is the conversation they are having on the phone. I'm usually made to resort to sign language and pointing to communicate such things as, 'Would you like your hangers?' or, 'Please put your card in the machine.' Again it's a simple matter of showing some manners. The same way that simple manners refrain me from loudly telling the customer in question that I find it very rude and ignorant.

To all offenders - you know who you are - don't do it again! It's not nice and it's not good manners!

Train stitching

2007-06-08T22:55:00.000Z

This stitching on the train lark isn't going too badly. I'm sticking to smaller projects at the moment. I've been stitching my SS gift, I also did one day on my Somebunny WIP before deciding it was too big for the train. At the moment I'm working on a set of poppy coasters. I've done one ages ago - it's in my finishes album. I'm now on my second. I'm hoping to do 4 all together. I don't have no pics yet as I'm not on my PC to get my pics uploaded. Not much to tell really...very boring without pics. :(

Disaster has struck!

2007-05-24T17:36:00.000Z

I'm gutted! With all the mayhem trying to pack on the weekend I smashed my Autumn sampler. I went to put it in a box and I heard a crunch - cracked all the glass. So back to the framers it's gone. I was so angry I almost cried.

I'm also gutted because I'm leaving behind my LNS which I love. Kathy and her daughter Michelle, who have taken over the shop, are so friendly and helpful. If you need anything they'll do anything they can to help.

I've finished part of my gift for my SS and wound all my bobbins this week so far. At the moment I'm having to travel 45 mins each way to work on the train so plenty of stitching time.

Anyway I have to go my sis needs the PC.

Moved again!

2007-05-24T17:28:00.001Z

This year just seems to be getting more and more stressful. Now the plan was to be happily married and settled in Oldham with money to enjoy for a change after paying off all the wedding. Ye right.... instead 2 weeks after our wedding Craig was made redundant. He also decided he wanted to move to Wales so we did last weekend.

At the moment we're homeless, living with my parents while storing our stuff in my gran's garage, and very broke because it took all the money we had to move. Only because his cousin had booked a Luton van to move us and then the day before it turned out he wasn't allowed it cos he had 6 points on his licence. Instead we had to use his van which is quite small to move everything. They did 3 runs back and fore (3 1/2 hours each way) and there's still stuff in our old house. It cost us £200 in petrol.

At least I have a job. I got a transfer to Primark in Cardiff but I couldn't get full time hours and it's taking me 3 hours to get to work and back every day when I only work 4 hours. It's also costing me a day's wage to get there every week so I'm not very impressed. The only positive thing about it is that I've got plenty of stitching time on the train!

We've applied for a house today so hopefully soon we'll be able to set up home again. Saying that I then won't have no telephone or internet access because we can't afford to have them put back on at the moment. We also have no bed, settee or wardrobes because we got rid of ours when we moved into the last house. The 3pc suite wouldn't fit there and needed throwing out anyway. It had fitted wardrobes so we sold ours and his bro (whose house it was) said we could have the bed that was there so we gave ours to a neighbour. (He then changed his mind last week saying the bed was never ours to keep.) My mum is lending us a bed and settee to start us off though.

Anyways, now I think I'm up to date with everything that's happened lately. Except my rabbit Arthur. I'll have to upload my pics of him. He's well cute! I can't at the moment cos my PC is in my gran's garage somewhere with all my pics on it. Never mind.

Now I just need to hope and pray that we get the house we've applied for and that things start looking up.

Project Challenge Update

2007-05-14T20:32:00.000Z

I totally forgot about this until I was going through some old posts lol! I'm doing well though. So far I've done:

Humphrey's Corner 'Lottie & Lulu Dolly'
SS gift
2 RAKS
Alex's bookmark
Jo Verso sampler
Flower Fairy

...only 3 left to go... I'm glad I signed up for this. I've not got anything huge finished but at least I am finishing things for once.

I'm a self confessed serial starter...

2007-05-13T13:18:00.000Z

I started another project. Yes I know I should hang my head in shame. Well I did do a little bit on my teddy bear stocking but I got real bored with it and so decided to start a totally new project. In all fairness though I've stitched on it nearly every day since and I'm enjoying it so it's going well. It's a Somebunny To Love chart from a magazine. I'm doing it as a birth sampler for my new niece Eva Joan. It's so cute! I also got my Jo Verso and the Flower Fairy back from the framers so here's all my pics:

And yes, I know I have the hoop the wrong way...I remember ages ago one of the group saying they used their hoop this way so I thought I would give it a try. The idea is to keep the stitched area cleaner. It also makes the back more accessible. It's quite good actually - I think I'll use this method again.

Newly wed stitcher!

2007-04-21T22:30:00.000Z

Well a LOT has happened since my last update. I've moved house, got married, been on honeymoon...not much stitching though LOL!

Well I made up 8 drawstring bags for the wedding and managed to stitch names on 6 of them. (We were still stitching the morning of the wedding, me and my mum that is, but run out of time to finish them!) Unfortunately I don't have any pics of them. :(

I've done some stitching on my Sunshine Line Baby Girl kit but it's now become a whenever I finish it pressie. I also finished a small UFO whilst on honeymoon. It's an old Flower Fairy cover kit that came with a free mount. Well it's been sent to framers this week so I'll get a pic when it's back. I'm giving it to my new next door neighbour who knows a little girl who loves fairies.

Well that's it nothing much exciting. Maybe I'll start getting more stitching done now all the wedding stuff is nearly over. Here's hoping....

Officially MRS BOTTOMLEY!!

2007-04-07T18:58:00.001Z

Well we did it we're married! It was a great day and I hope everyone who came thought so too. Click on the link for our wedding photos.

Wedding Photos

Enjoy!

I'm still here!

2007-03-21T12:52:00.001Z

I really am still here. I've moved house and am still trying to get everything straight. The wedding is a week on Saturday so I'm trying to finalise everything for that. Oh and I had a misunderstanding with my internet provider (their fault not mine) so my internet access has been non existent/patchy. Once I get a wireless modem and all my PC set up I'll hopefully be back to working order. Small matter of having the money to buy the modem at the moment. Anyway, I'm getting married in 10 days!! Can't wait! Will update more soon....

Eurovision BLOOPER

2007-03-21T12:43:00.001Z

This is so funny! Terry Wogan can't seem to get enough of the bad press lately LOL.

Wedding dress PANIC!

2007-02-21T21:00:00.001Z

So I went home to Wales on the weekend. Took my wedding dress to my parents house, sorted out the details at the hotel, did a trial run of my hair. All great, no problems. Saturday night I decide let's try my dress on again with all the bits and pieces and it was TOO LONG! Now it fitted perfectly after I'd had it altered so the only thing I can think is that it expanded when it was steamed. Talk about a panic situation! Anyway, thankfully I had planned on wearing flat shoes so all I have to do is go out and buy a new pair but with a heel on them. It all made me very glad that I found out then and not on the day of my wedding!!

Jo Verso

2007-02-21T20:52:00.000Z

New finish

2007-02-13T22:30:00.000Z

I finally did my Jo Verso sampler! I've had this chart for years and I've never got round to stitching it for myself properly. Well, I got the fabric at the show the other week so I started it and it took me no time at all. It's my 6th Project Challenge finish - only 4 to go. Well, I'm getting more finishes done but the no stash rule is totally not working! LOL

Apart from that I've been slowly winding bobbins on the bus to and from places. I'm in the 800s now. I will get them all done eventually! I also started a new project last night. I got two Sunshine Line kits - one baby boy and one baby girl - to do for some new babies. Won't say who not to give it away. I've got 6 weeks to do the baby girl one so I spent most of yesterday evening sorting out the floss and beads. Talk about a difficult job! How on earth are you supposed to distinguish between the colours China Rose, Carmine Rose, Antique Rose and Raspberry??! It was a case of find the symbols on the chart and look at the picture to work it out. I finally did two lengths of thread before crashing out.

Anyway that's about all my stitching news. Not very exciting because I'm spending pretty much the rest of my time doing wedding stuff and packing!

Not enough time and boxes.

2007-02-05T00:39:00.001Z

Well not only is it 8 weeks to our wedding we are also moving on the 24th February! It's a long story but basically Craig's bro has got back with his partner and so is renting out his house. Being family he asked us first and we don't have to pay a deposit or any rent in advance. Yay!
The house is MUCH nicer! It's about the same size overall with some rooms smaller and others bigger. It has a proper hallway, a fire in the living room, a fitted kitchen, lots of storage space, a SHOWER (I'm SO happy about this!). The garden is still just a back yard but the walls are much higher so it's more secure and enclosed and it has a shed and a decent size rockery. I'm already planning what I'm going to grow there!

So I was doing pretty well packing until I ran out of boxes. The house is a total mess but I've given up caring. Our new house will be tidy and junk free I swear! I'm also still trying to battle with my ironing. I want it all done by the time we move.

I also this weekend acquired a new baby rabbit and 'accessories' - hutch etc. From a friend at our local pub. So excited! I haven't had rabbits since I was in school! We don't have it yet she's looking after it until we move but I'm excited! Wish I could feel the same about the wedding but at the moment it's more worry over will we have enough money for everything?!

Anyway, that's my quick update for now. Better get back to what I was actually supposed to be doing!

My wedding dress!!!

2007-01-20T00:27:00.001Z

I had my final fitting for my wedding dress and although this isn't the finished effect I got a photo on the day. I wanted to share....

Oh it's getting closer and closer now...only 69 days to go! I'm so glad I got so much organised in advance or I'd be really stressing out now!

A good stitchy week :)

2007-01-19T22:09:00.000Z

I've had fun this week! I did a bit of stitching on two UFOs - Moonlight Bay and Feathers & Friends. Here's some pics:

I decided Tuesday I wanted to make a bookmark for a young girl in the book study group I go to and it's been fun! I designed and put it all together myself and I'm dead chuffed with it. I stitched it on 28ct Jobelan with some floss from my floss exchange. It was Caron Watercolours 'Potpourri' and I did the Bible verse on the back with DMC 326. Then I stitched the seam on my sewing machine. (Getting it right the 3rd time.)

This is my first finish of 2007 and 5th in my Project Challenge! Though I now have to make a confession and hang my head in shame... I broke my no stash rule.

In all fairness it's really Meari's fault as she kindly enabled the group by posting about her stash for sale blog. ;) So naturally I had a look, one thing led to another and now I have 103 skeins of DMC winging their way across the pond to me!! And I saved myself £50 odd, in the process! And the very best bit...I only need 21 more DMC to finish my entire set!! Craig was also quite the enabler when assuring me it's ok because you'll need them for all your projects...well, I don't need 103 colours for anything and not for anything I'm working on now but if he says it's ok...who am I to argue??

I've also started another stitchy/sewy project. There's gonna be about half dozen children at our wedding all under 4 years old so for favours we've decided to give them something to keep them occupied during the speeches and other boring bits. So, I'm making drawstring bags with their names cross stitched on them. I've made one bag so far but want to get some more of the Caron Watercolours floss to do the names. It will be my first attempt at using waste canvas so it should be fun!

I think that's it. Now I'm looking forward to getting all that floss to wind on bobbins! :(

Ok Go on treadmills (Here it goes again)

2007-01-09T00:44:00.001Z

Just thought I'd add this. I love this video!!

All set and ready to go!

2007-01-08T23:45:00.000Z

I didn't get much stitching done this weekend but I did get some major organising done. I went through all my cross stitch stuff in its various places and sorted it all out. I started two note books, one with all my projects listed, the other with inventories of all my fabric, Mill Hill beads and speciality threads. In my project one I've written where they are, what stage of progress and if I need anything plus any other details. I think I might put in photos too when I've finished. Either that or buy a decent album to put them in. I'm glad I've spent the time doing it cos now I know where everything is properly and what exactly I've got.

Nearly back to normality...

2007-01-06T23:38:00.001Z

Well, the holidays are over once again. I'm so glad! I haven't had the chance to post in a while so there's a lot to update.

We've finally got most of the house maintenance out of the way. After the terrible job the guys did we got the contracting manager out to see the state they made. They ruined the carpets and have got plaster or something all down the front of our washing machine (which is only 4 month old) which won't come off. Since then they've replaced the kitchen carpet (by gluing down new carpet over the old one I might add). Still haven't done nothing about our washing machine (which we want replaced). And decorated the kitchen, under stairs and stairwell/landing. If you call it decorating. I'm not even exaggerating here's some pics of what they did. Needless to say we spent another week afterwards re-painting the kitchen properly. We haven't done the stairs/landing yet cos we need more paint.

Anyway, now all the Christmas stuff is gone I've finally got the downstairs of the house clean, tidy, organised and back to normal. Now I'm working on the upstairs of the house. And still the ironing. Ugh! It was my end of year goal to get it all done but now it's end of January!

I still hate my job but haven't had the time to look for anything new. Though I am looking at signing up for a book keeping course to 'upskill' as they put it. Not that I need to upskill, I've enough qualifications to sink a battleship. How I can't manage to find a decent job I'll never know!

Anyway I think that's most of the main things updated for now...

50 Project Challenge Update

2007-01-06T04:53:00.000Z

Well I'd thought I'd update my progress. Now I've been a little confused about what finishes have counted and which haven't but I think I've sussed it now. Originally I thought I couldn't count things I had stitched as gifts but on re-reading the rules I gather that the exemptions are exemptions on acquiring stash not finishes. Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! So... I have actually completed 4 projects. Lottie & Lulu Dolly, 2 RAKS and my SS gift. Goodness, if I had to exempt every project I stitched for others I'd never finish 10!! Now I want to try and get some of my UFO's done. I'm a little bored of the stocking so I might pick up a UFO this week and work on that instead. I haven't decided yet so watch this space....

Stitching goodies!

2007-01-04T02:51:00.000Z

This week I got two parcels in the post. The first was from my Secret Stitcher who is Nancy 'Cricket Tucket'! I was so spoilt! THANK YOU very much Nancy!! She sent me loads of stuff. Here's some pics:

I got a large piece of khaki coloured 28ct evenweave, a set of DMC Light Effects threads in the prettiest of colours, a Dimensions Gold Collection kit 'Teatime Welcome' which is also really pretty! (I want to start it already!) I also got two hand towels that I can stitch on, some DMC and Six Strand Sweet threads, a chart for a poppy wreath and coasters which I love and a little hanging ornie and card. The ornie says 'I'd rather be in my garden' which would be quite true if I had a garden.

I'm so spoilt and I love it all! I also got RAKed by Terri Ann with this kit 'Honey-Do List' Thank you! It's the first RAK I've received.

New Year Update

2007-01-04T02:01:00.000Z

Well it's a new year. Last year was pretty good stitching wise, well, for me. Not that I stitched much for me. I finished 7 projects in all.

1. No Smoking - for my mum
2. Poppy Coaster - one of a set for a friend
3. Coaster - for Deborah for my group coaster exchange
4. Humphrey's Corner 'Lottie & Lulu Dolly' - for ME!
5. Heartstrings - RAK for a friend
6.Stitched block - secret RAK
7. Pincushion - gift for my Secret Stitcher

Nothing huge but I'm hoping to get some larger projects done this year. I also accumulated a LOT of stash especially DMC threads. This year I've decided I need to work on:

1. Completing my DMC threads set
2. Finishing some of my larger projects
3. Supporting my local LNS more
4. Making a floss cupboard.

One of my ideas is to buy one skein of DMC from my LNS each week. Then I am doing two goals at once.

I'm currently working on my Teddy Bear Stocking and my Special Commission. (Cos I got bored of the stocking last night and fancied doing something else!) Here's some pics:

I've done more on my stocking since this pic so I'll have to get a more recent one. The special commission only really needs touching up in places and one or two big areas but that's it. I did the top bird and have nearly done the branches so far. The stocking is getting on my nerves cos it's so bitty but I will keep going with it. If I keep swapping projects I'll never complete anything!

Finally finished!

2006-12-19T02:40:00.000Z

YAY! I finally finished my RAK square! Here's a pic:

I think tomorrow I'll get out the teddy bear stocking I started and see if I can actually finish one of my bigger projects!

RAK update.

2006-12-04T22:29:00.000Z

Well it was a very busy weekend but I did get some cross stitch done. I've just got one and a half corners to go and it's finished. I'll get it done by Thurs to post for definate. Here's a pic of what it looks like so far.

Well it won't work at the mo. so watch this space... I'll edit this post and add the pic when it decides it wants to work!!! Grrr...modern technology....

Pictures

2006-12-01T22:55:00.000Z

So here are the pics to go with the last post. Here is my Heartstrings framed...

...and a close up. The pic isn't very good but the wings are sparkly thread and the water is done with beads.

and here's my goodies off my Secret Stitcher...

I obviously can't show you pics of my finished project for my Secret Stitcher but I'm hoping to get my RAK finished and a pic of that this weekend. That's if I get any stitching done between family visiting, an evening do and working overtime!

Be warned! Long update!!

2006-11-26T14:23:00.000Z

I can't believe how long it's been since I last updated this! Well, like I said be warned this might be long! Well, where do I start....

I got my Heartstrings back from the framers and it looks great! I need to correct myself on my total finishes though because I counted this and it's an exception in the rules cos it's a RAK. I also finished my stitched piece for my Secret Stitcher. Speaking of which I got my first parcel from my Secret Stitcher. I got a chart from my wishlist YAY! Some 14ct aida, DMC threads and a pretty wire embellishment. Oh, and a nice card. I've also had some real nice Caron Watercolours threads from my floss exchange. I sent my first parcel to my Secret Stitcher and just need to get some more bits for the 2nd one.

I took my L&L off my frame and decided to try the hook and loop tape with a different piece. I used my Forget-me-not Tablecloth instead because it had a straight edge and the tape worked a treat!! It's still not as taut as what I'd like but it's much, much better than before.

I started another project (yes, I'm hanging my head in shame) It's a teddy bear stocking and I thought that I could get it done for Christmas but I got way laid by another RAK project and now it's just a 'whenever I finish it I'll give it then' kind of pressie. My RAK project is a simple square made more difficult by the fact that two nights running I had to frog the same part. I finally figured out the mistake the 2nd night and now I'm on a roll again. Hopefully it'll be finished by Thursday to post. Then I'll get back to my stocking.

Anyway, I would've put up pics but it doesn't want to let me so maybe next time. I think that's it for now. I'm getting back into my PC stuff now I'm more settled in my new job so hopefully I'll be updating regularly again soon.

Dust and stuff

2006-11-26T14:06:00.001Z

I'm having a break from cleaning. We've had maintenance in this week to sort out the rising damp in the kitchen and under the stairs. What a nightmare! They had to strip the walls back to brick and cover it in this foul smelling bitumen paint. Then they stuck plaster board back on the walls with expandable foam and skimmed it with plaster. Skimmed being just what they did. You can still see the scrim tape through the plaster. Now I know nothing about plastering but I sure enough know a bad job when I see one! Apart from that I have plaster all through my carpets and dust everywhere in every room. So far I've cleaned the living room and bathroom. Craig's gone out food shopping so I'm supposed to be getting on with the kitchen but I'm a bit lacking in motivation at the moment.

Apart from that I hate my new job! Though I'm back to normal hours now. I'm bored and I hate the way the entire company works. Oh it just makes me cringe thinking about it!! I think I need something a bit more intellectually challenging. Something where I can use my brain for once. I feel like I'm stuck in another part time student job rather than my first proper job.

I've also come to the conclusion that I think I should've been born like about 40/50 years ago. Then I'd fit in. Craig has commented on this in a round about way. I'm very old fashioned in my beliefs and values and my taste in decoration, music, dress etc. Oh well, never mind. I'd rather be old fashioned in my ways than into a lot of the sleaze that people my age (23) get up to nowadays.

Anyway, I was in the middle of sorting out passport applications. Better go finish them or we won't be going anywhere on honeymoon!

A very tired me!

2006-11-02T00:05:00.001Z

Well, I can't believe it's been nearly an entire month since I last posted! I have worked my little socks off the past 4 weeks. My first week I did 68 hours and I haven't done less than 40 a week since. I 'm fed up and tired now though. I'm sick of the sight of Primark and never have the time to do anything at home, not even shopping or housework. Of course I've done some cross stitch but then that's relaxing at the end of a long day! I'll be very glad that from Monday I will only be working my contracted hours which are 2pm - 6pm. No more early mornings. Great!!

I guess the most important news I've got from the last 4 weeks is I finally got to see the specialist consultant at the hospital and finally got a diagnosis. I've been waiting since last December for this. It's just as my GP originally predicted...I have poly cystic ovary syndrome. The long wait has given me a lot of time to get my head round this otherwise I'd be a lot more upset than what I am. Even though I'm just a size 12 I've also been told I must watch my weight so no more chocolates or biscuits for me! I'm taking line dancing classes for exercise too! My next appointment is in April after our wedding when we will be looking to start a family. I just hope and pray that I don't have to go down the whole IVF route of things.

Anyway, that's it for now... I better go update my stitchy blog and sort out my backlog of e-mail.

A Special Commission

2006-10-08T17:07:00.000Z

While I was at the club the other night sorting out my Heartstrings with the framing guy one of the other members approached me. He asked about my stitching and then asked me if I would take on this special commission.

This is a piece his wife had been stitching before she passed away and he has asked me would I finish it. It's embroidery rather than cross stitch but only needs a small amount finishing on it. He also gave me a bag with boxes full of old threads and 2 small hoops. Well of course I said yes. It's quite pretty. I'm gonna sort out the thread and wind it all on bobbins when I get the chance and finish this up for him. It shouldn't take me more than an evening. The stitching that is not the sorting threads. I feel quite honoured to be asked to do this.

Another finish!!

2006-10-08T15:16:00.000Z

I finished my Lottie & Lulu Dolly this weekend. Yay! 2 down, 8 to go. I don't usually do small things like this so it's been a nice change. I've actually enjoyed having something small to put in my handbag for bus journeys.
I also did some backstitching on my Seaside Boy. I would've got more done but I fell asleep. I must've been tired because I don't normally nap during the day! You can't see very clearly but I did around his hat, face and shirt.

I've decided I'm gonna kit up and start my project for my Secret Stitcher tonight so I can take it into work with me. I'm working 10 hours or more every day this week so I'll be entitled to lots of breaks. Well, 3 breaks. I may as well make use of them and get some stitching done. I'm not gonna be getting much done otherwise. I don't want to take my Feathers & Friends into work as it's quite big so I'll carry on working on that at home. Oh, and I need to find a pattern to stitch a square for a RAK. Lots to do and now I've got a job not enough time to do it all LOL!!

Yay a finish!

2006-10-06T16:19:00.000Z

Well it's been a busy week! I finally finished the first part of my Heartstrings project. YAY!! 1 down, 9 to go for my project challenge. I don't have a finished picture cos I finished it on the bus on the way to getting it framed. I should have it back on Saturday so I'll take a picture then. I was so glad to finish it! I picked out the pattern thinking it wouldn't take that long but it's taken ages. Now I just need to finish the second one and get that framed.

I put Lottie & Lulu Dolly to one side and decided to stitch it on aida instead. So far I've got about three quarters of it done so I will probably finish it this weekend. I'm going to keep all my Humphrey's corner pieces unframed. Then when I've got quite a few done I'm gonna make them into a big wall hanging instead of having loads of them in frames.

I signed up for the Secret Stitcher on my group so I've been busy hunting down info and deciding what stash to buy. I also got a load of really good cross stitch books from the library yesterday and have picked out quite a few projects I want to do. One book is all Native American stuff and so I've written up lists of what I need to get for 3 pieces, all for Craig's bestmate. I really like them myself but I wouldn't know what to do or where to put them in my house so at least this way I get to stitch them and they go to a good home. I MUST finish my 10 project challenge first though!!

Next on my hitlist after Lottie is Feathers & Friends. I also need to get cracking on the Forget-me-not Tablecloth and L&L The Wedding. Which reminds me...I bought some hook and loop tape this week so I'm gonna try using that on my L&L to attach it to my scroll frame. Hopefully it'll work!

Bits and pieces

2006-10-06T15:39:00.001Z

I had my induction training today for my first proper job! Everything went well. I've been given a permanent contract which I was suprised at because quite a few of the others were only given temporary contracts until December. The funniest thing happened though. We were given overtime sheets to fill in what hours we were prepared to work for the next 4 weeks because of it being a new store opening. So I filled in just about every hour I could apart from when I had something on, thinking that they would allocate shifts in between those times. Oh no... at the end of the day we were told that our working hours would be our contracted hours and whatever we had put on this sheet! LOL! So for the next 4 weeks I'm going to be very, very busy!! Some days I've put down for 8am - 8pm too! Oh well... it'll all go towards the wedding and possibly clothes and cross stitch stash ;)

Craig has had his shifts changed too so he now works 1:30pm 'til 9:30pm and 12am - 7pm on Fridays. He's not very happy at the minute because he's sieving all day and he's working with some really annoying guy.

Things are slowly coming together for the wedding though I still haven't finished the invites. I worked on them and the place cards all the beginning of the week and then got fed up. I just have the reply cards and some small envelopes to print and they're finished. I made 50 place cards so there should be plenty.

Anyway, I think that's all the latest bits and pieces. I better move myself and go shopping or we'll be starving this week!

I GOT A JOB!!

2006-10-04T17:02:00.001Z

I'm so excited!! I finally got a job. It's only part time but it's better than sitting round the house all day. I went for an interview for a new Primark store that's opening in town quite a few weeks ago now. I was there 3 1/2 hours by the time I got through the group interview to the individual interview. I got a letter last week saying there were no jobs available for my skills and experience then today I get a phone call to say a job had come free!!! It's 2-6pm Monday to Friday so 20 hours in all. I don't have to get up early in the mornings and I still have my evenings free! Oh I'm so happy!! For now I am going to work 2 jobs and keep my part time job on the weekend but I will have to see how that goes financially. It might not be worth it cos of the amount of tax deducted. I can't wait to tell Craig when he gets home! My wages will be going straight into our savings to pay for the wedding. So excited!!!!

My stitching chair

2006-09-27T21:33:00.000Z

This is where I usually stitch. Craig usually sprawls out on the settee and never ventures into my chair for danger of sitting on a needle or pin lol! I have mostly everything I need around me and my floss and some WIPs are under the coffee table not too far away.

My pet spider!

2006-09-26T18:24:00.001Z

It seems we have a pet spider in our house. We saw the same size spider in our bedroom last week but then scared it away. Today I went to get the hoover from the corner and there it was again, same huge spider! This time I managed to snap him before he ran off. Seriously this spider is HUGE!

Anyway, today I started with the best of intentions. My new goal - to iron, iron, iron. My ironing pile is all the clothes we own apart from what's ironed and put away, about half dozen items in the laundry basket and some in the dryer. Can't you tell I hate ironing!!!

Anyway, I'm not moving any of it until it's all done and put away. Even if it takes me the rest of the night! I got way laid earlier and cleared out and re arranged the cupboard in the spare room. Which is also one of my goals but for another day. Oh well, it's done now. At least I managed to get all the holiday stuff in one place on top of the wardrobe. All the 'memory box' stuff in the cupboard along with my various folders and finally, the bottom of the cupboard is my new hiding place for all the stuff I keep for crafts/junk modelling. Craig hates me keeping boxes and bits. Now he won't notice. He never goes in that cupboard lol!

Well I better start on the ironing or Craig won't have no where to sit when he gets home!

Lottie & Lulu Dolly

2006-09-26T00:33:00.000Z

This is a picture of the kit I wrote about in my last post. So you can see what I mean. This is the best pic I could get. :(

Well it's Monday again....

2006-09-25T20:36:00.000Z

...time for a small update. I got a little bit of stitching done since my last update. I did a bit more on Feathers & Friends and I started a new one this week. I shouldn't have really but I wanted something dead easy to do while I was waiting for Craig to come home on Thursday. I started my Humphrey's Corner Lottie & Lulu Dolly. Craig bought it for me for Xmas. It's actually a children's kit so the material is binca and it's stamped. I've started it using the thread as it is (6 strands) and well, I think it looks awful. Even Craig commented on how it wasn't covering the fabric properly. So I've left it again until I decide what to do with it. I can't decide whether to:

Scrap it and just use the chart and threads on some aida fabric instead.
Finish it as it is. It might turn out fine in the end.
Frog everything I've done and start again using more thread to cover the fabric.

Any suggestions, ideas etc. welcome via e-mail/comments.

I also spent quite a bit on stash. I got Monopoly which I already posted about. I got some Caron Watercolours floss for my floss exchange on ILCS. I also found out about a sale at an ONS Shimmering Dewdrop so I spent just over £10 there on beads and Kreinik braid that I want for some charts I will eventually buy. It would have cost me over £20 normally so I thought it was an offer not to be missed but now I feel guilty cos I still couldn't really afford it. Never mind...I don't *need* to pay the bills ;)

Oh and of course most important of all. I FINSHED WINDING ALL MY BOBBINS!!! YAY!!

Anyway, that's all for now. I need food....

50 Project Challenge

2006-09-22T23:44:00.000Z

I've just being reading my friend Meari's blog ( Hi Meari! ) and found this - the 50 Project Challenge. So hey I thought how cool and am jumping right in with her. I've not got that much stash though so I'm just doing a 10 project challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to reduce the amount of patterns I haven't stitched and stash not used.

The Rules:

Have fun reducing my stash.
There is no time limit.
Thou shall not purchase any new patterns until 10 projects have been stitched. Pattern size does not matter.
Exemptions - the goal of this challenge is to reduce stash so too many exemptions will sabotage these efforts. These are my exemptions: gifts, gift cards, trades, exchanges, RAKs, patterns bought with gift money and supplies for projects stitched during challenge.
Freebies count as part of your total and you can aquire them at any point.
The offical start date of this challenge was Sept 1, 2006

I'm not really bad at buying more stash than what I can stitch because I don't have the money at the moment. I do though have a ridiculous amount of projects started and not finished. Hopefully this challenge will solve that! I guess I better get stitching...