I HATE KEEPING SECRETS!

So to keep three little secrets and one very BIG one has not been easy and I'm literally at exploding point!

This is my first Christmas in the world of blogging and I wanted to stitch and send some gifts to a few people I was lucky enough to have the addresses of.  Two of those have been received and one has been opened and the other kept until the 25th and the third one, fingers crossed, will reach its destination overseas in time for the big occasion.

I stitched this jolly fellow for Lesleyanne (Lesleyanne's Life of Stitches) and found the chart in the 2002 edition of Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments.

Roly-Poly Snowman by Bent Creek stitched on 28~count natural linen in GA sampler threads

Lesleyanne sent me a lovely email upon receipt, thank you Lesleyanne and Merry Christmas to you.

Now for the BIGGIE!  Tomorrow we fly to Florida for a 2 week Christmas Holiday and my gang of 3 have been 'kept in the dark' for as long as we could manage.  Playing a Secret Agent is not my strong point but I have managed to consult with schools/colleges and absences for the last few days have been authorised, presents have been exchanged for the 25th, my brother-in-law has been signed up to come down from Scotland and look after the house and Tilly has gone to stay with a lovely lady who's a nurse at the Vets we go to.  This really was the hardest part and I already miss her terribly after only 4hours but her Christmas prezzies are here for when we get back and I shall certainly be doing some serious bunny shopping whilst I'm away!!!

My gorgeous 'Tinsel Tilly' xxx

I shall be keeping in touch with all your posts whilst we're away and hope to post as well but just in case I don't get the chance (you know what with shopping, theme parks, lazy days, cocktails, restaurants etc!!!!!!!) a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL, may it be peaceful, joyous, memorable and snow-free!

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

OK, SO A 'BIT' OF SNOW . . . .

OK, so yesterday's 'bit' of snow was nice, pretty, christmassy and I can cope with  BUT this is taking it too far :

nearly 2ft of snow overnight
 

Winter Wonderland in the back garden

My sewing bench

'My driveway is there, somewhere?'

How beautiful you're all saying, how pretty, what fun for all the children?

NO!, the driveway has disappeared, we cannot open the garage and if we could the roads are so laden with snow the car would be useless, over 5,000 schools, most airports and all public transport are at a complete shutdown and to top it all our central heating packed up over night and no Engineers can get here until at least tomorrow!!!

Even Tilly, after being moved in to the house this week from her summer hutch, is begging to go back to the garage where it's probably warmer!

AND the forecast ~ more snow, I think Siberia would be warmer than here.

On the positive, snow makes the house so bright that cross-stitching is great, any excuse to make cookies is great, having everybody home safe and ? (I would say warm!) is great and Oh! I so don't want to admit it but it is sooooooooooooooooo pretty!

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

'MUM, IS HE COMING'?

'Mum, is he coming?  That white fluffy stuff's arrived!'

'Please, please Santa, I've been really good!'

'Still no sign, this is getting boring!

I'm a busy bunny, things to do .......'

'Wake me up, when he arrives!'

KEEP WARM EVERYBODY!

Happy Stitching

xxx

GOOD NEWS . . . .

Firstly, I have to share my good news : Tilly's op was a success and she was able to come home the same day - such a relief and the biggest heartfelt THANK YOU ever to all of you who sent your best wishes for her.  I took her back last week for her check up and apart from her seam coming undone one end everything was ok (I said to Tilly, the lovely vet that she was, she obviously needed to practice her sewing skills and if there was ever a next time I would do the invisible stitching for her!!!)

Thank you too for all your birthday wishes, I did have a lovely day but it was hard to relax and really enjoy knowing that Tilly had her op the next day but DH and gang had paid good attention to my birthday wish list and I was thrilled with all their gifts.

Two Historical Sampler Company Kits ~ 'A Wise Old Owl' and 'Cup Cakes'

Bothy Threads Gorjuss Kit ~ 'I Love You Little Rabbit'

Cross Stitch Charts, Gentle Art Threads, Lots of 28count Linen, Ribbons, Heart Buttons and Christmas Fat Quarters (no excuses now not to have anything to stitch!)Tilly bought me the gorgeous little cuddly bunny with lop ears as long as hers and the bouquet of flowers  travelled all the way back from London with DH the night before.

No comparison Tilly!  You're the best even if you do eat my sewing threads!!!

Only one Happy Dance this post and that came with problems throughout ~ the snow was stitched in Oatmeal GAST and although I knew I wouldn't have enough of the skein I had, I just thought I'd order a couple more and then I would have enough to complete this design as well as stitching another.

NO, silly me! hand-dyed threads all come different even if they are the same colour and unbelieveably all 3 skeins were different so lots of unpicking and re-stitching. 

A miss-count and a 'pine' GAST that did nothing but knot throughout made this quite a time-consuming stitch but I'm pleased with it and I love the christmas present embellishment plus a seed bead for the door knob.

Lizzie*Kate Snippet ~ 'Winter Sampler'

stitched with Gentle Art Sampler Threads on 28-count Flax Linen

Winter has really set in here now and the temperatures are set to plummet overnight with snow forecast in the far North and down the Eastern side of the country by the end of the week, brrrrrrrr!!!!

DH and I are off christmas shopping next week and plans are to complete it all in 1 day (no hope!!)

I'm really enjoying reading everyone's posts at the moment, the christmas and seasonal stitching is all gorgeous to look at ~ cross stitch and christmas are just the perfect combination don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by xxx

HAPPY STITCHING . . . .

KNITTING AND STITCHING . . . .

THANK YOU to everyone who commented on my last post, your comments are so appreciated and very inspiring.

I have finished my chunky knit cushion, WOW! did this knit up fast and a fraction of the cost of shop cushions:

It's just simple stocking stitch with buttonholes and my choice of wooden buttons to complete, I enjoyed knitting it so much, that matching cushion number 2 is already half-done!

So in full flow of cushion-mode, finally I sat down last weekend and turned my Mouseloft cross stitch projects into a patchwork cushion:

This was definitely a little more tricky!  I had no sewing pattern to follow but had an idea of what I roughly wanted to achieve.  I used fabric pieces left over from cross stitch pillow finishes to make up the patchwork squares and chose a beige & cream heart design for the backing which has a simple envelope finish, I just need some buttons to sew along the opening!  I am pleased with the end result, the Mouseloft designs were all pretty small designs and as I had completed 8 of them, framing and my usual pillow finishes seemed a bit excessive!!!

This weeek is a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride for me.  Tonight is DD's achievement evening at her school and she will be presented with her certificates for all her recent exam passes - DH and I are very proud of her success and she has settled very well at college.  Tomorrow is my birthday and DH and I are having a day out with a visit to every craft shop I can think of high on the agenda - (OMG! another year gone and I'm still only 21! but so looking forward to it).

Friday will, without doubt, be horrible! after much deliberation and a lot of research I have decided to have Tilly spayed  As my regular followers will know I lost my beloved Buttons earlier in the year to a tumor and even though he was the fantastic age of 10, I still feel if he had been neutured in his early life this may have been preventable and he would still be here with me today.  A female rabbits's chances of getting uterine cancer between the age of  3-5 are greatly raised if they have not been spayed and although, like any operation it comes with its risks, I don't want to lose another bunny in this horrible way.

I will take her to the Vets at 8am on Friday and if everything goes well and she is eating and drinking after she wakes I will be able to collect her in the evening ~ please keep everything crossed for her, she's a little darling, so so affectionate, I hope she forgives me for putting her through it?

Two things to look forward to though for next year:  I love my music and live concerts are the best so, as part of my birthday prezzies, DH has treated me to tickets to see both Kylie Minogue and Take That with Robbie Williams!

I have seen Kylie before and she puts on a fab show, I'm going with DD and we shall have a great girlie night out in our glitter and glam and are staying overnight in London.  Later in the year we shall see Take That who are now reunited with Robbie (yum!)  I am so lucky to have got tickets for this one as on the day they were released the mass response for tickets caused all tickets sites to crash and the telephone network jammed but after only 10 hours of persevering we got our tickets!

So as a thank you to DH and also because I've wanted to stitch this little cutie for so long here's:

'Love Ewe' by Lizzie*Kate stitched on 28-count natural linen with Gentle Art threads and finished with a grey and cream gingham to match the sheep and burgundy daisy print backing to match the lettering.

Another Lizzie*Kate stitch is in progress at the moment but lots of frogging yesterday as I ran out of Oatmeal sampler thread and when the new skein arrived it was a completely different shade!

Thanks for stopping by and until next time

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

Better Late than Never . . . . A WINNER!

A big thank you to everyone who left such complimentary messages on my last post! ~ they all mean a great deal to me xxx

A very BIG apology for the delay in posting a winner of my 'Little Owl' kit but AOL very kindly decided to close our Intenet connection down on Monday without any reason or notification to us and after some very long and heated telephone conversations (steam literally coming out of DH's ears) and a 3-day duration of no internet we have now received an apology and normal service has been resumed so without any further ado . . . . .

Sixteen entries . . . . .

Tilly ~ please pick a winner . . . . .

Number 1 ~ Crystal ~ Midnight Stitcher

With no internet available on Monday my random generator AKA Tilly decided ticket number 1 was rather tasty so Twin II and I had fun and games trying to rescue the piece of paper before having to unfold the other 15 to see which one had nearly been eaten ~ success!

Crystal please let me know address info and I will get this in the mail to you as soon as I can.

Now, down to stitching.

  As I said in my last post, 4 spooky stitches have been waiting for completion and again with no internet

connection and time to spare I squeezed a fifth in!

First up is 'Fright Turn' by Lizzie*Kate from her Halloween Highway collection stitched on 28-ct Antique White evenweave fabric with my choice of Gentle Art threads.  The star is stitched in Madeira gold metallic thread and the pumpkin fabric was from my recent fabric stash addition with brown ric rac and bronze seed beads to finish:

Next is another Lizzie*Kate design ~ 'Hats Off To Halloween' which I stitched last month.

I stitched this on 28-ct Sand Minster linen again with my choice of Gentle Art threads and have used a spider fabric to finish as a pillow:

A small design next but really cute and love its smiley face!

This is 'Itty Bitty Pumpkin' by Twisted Threads which I stitched on 28-ct Natural Linen with the suggested DMC threads.  Sorry, but yet again I finished it as a small pillow with pumpkin coloured fabrics and a raffia decoration pinned at the bottom:

'Spooky Row' by Bent Creek was another piece stitched last month and due to its size I was a little unsure what to do as a finish so a wall hanging seemed to be the best idea and 'at long last' I hear you say it's something different from a pillow finish!

I found some nice black fabric with white spots which I used for both the back and front and added some tabs at the top for hanging but found it also looks good hanging from the mantlepiece over the fire with candles sitting on the tabs holding it in place.  I added some self-cover buttons to each corner with the orange fabric used in Itty Bitty Pumpkin and they match the stitched pumpkins in the design perfectly!

And finally (hope you're still there?) a small design using two patterns from cross stitch books ~ Boo and a Black Cat.  I coffee-stained some 28-ct white linen and stitched the design in just black DMC, frayed the edges, gave the kitty 2 silver seed beads for eyes, added 4 small purple buttons with matching ribbon at 2 corners and a loop to hang and finished ~ yep! you guessed! ~ as a pillow with the same fabric as Spooky Row above.

That's me done for Halloween!  I an now in knitting mode and have just started a chunky knit cushion cover which is done on 10mm needles so literally grows before your eyes.  Knitted cushion covers in natural colours are very much in fashion here at the moment but they can cost as much as £45 (ouch!) so with this pattern only needing 3 balls and costing only £12 this is a great saving but a great temptation for Tilly who's decided to move on from eating my Gentle Art threads and feels a balls of wool is much tastier!

Take care everyone, Happy Halloween to you all for the 31st and until next time:

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

AUTUMNAL TRIO

After almost 4 weeks since my last post I'm finally back into full swing again and the troublesome tooth is behaving itself and the rotten cold long gone.

My stitching mojo has waivered a little recently and no large projects have seen light of day but a trio of Autumnal stitches, all quick and easy are now complete . . . .

The two owls, both the same, are the 'Little Owl' Blackwork design which I had in kit form.  I didn't fancy stitching them in the black thread provided or on the 14ct Aida so the top one is stitched in DMC chocolate brown on cream 28-ct linen and the bottom one in DMC autumn tones on natural 28-ct linen with wooden buttons for his eyes.

Both are pillow finishes with decorative braiding to match the thread/fabrics used.

This was my first attempt at blackwork stitching and I really enjoyed it which is why I stitched the same design twice, I'm tempted to stitch a third owl with White Whisper thread and give it a Snowy Owl effect, maybe save that idea for a Christmas finish!

If anyone fancies having a go at stitching this cute little owl then I have the unused kit to pass on, I always work from a photocopy (just in case of 'coffee' spillages ~ yep! it has happened!) so the kit is complete ~ just leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner next Monday, 25th.

This little fellow is a Quaker Hedgehog freebie and I stitched him with Gentle Art Sampler 'Sable' on a piece of 14ct mottled AIDA fabric.  Again he is a pillow finish with a caramel wavy striped fabric which reminds me of woodgrain and has 4 little buttons to complete (pictures do enlarge if you click on them!)

Temperatures here in England now definitely tell us Autumn is here and I've finally given in and the central heating is on and doing its job!  The past few days have been lovely and bright and are perfect for stitching but the nights are really, really chilly and next weekend on Halloween night will see the clocks go back 1 hour and the evenings dark by 6pm.

Halloween already?  I have 4 completed stitches and none of them finished to hang up or display so guess that's my next job or they'll be sitting in 'that' draw until next year.

Thank you for stopping by, I'm well behind with reading your blogs but it's Half-Term next week so I hope to catch up with you all then.

HAPPY STITCHING . . . .

SYMPATHY PLEASE!

Firstly a huge thank you to everyone who wished me better after my raging tooth infection, unfortunately my tooth wasn't listening and I was back at the dentist on the following day and prescribed stronger antibiotics with root canal treatment booked in for that Wednesday. 

Still my tooth didn't listen and despite numerous injections to numb it still it raged on so I had antibiotics injected as a last resort (still with me or if you're anything like me out for the count when it comes to injections and needles) and thankfully this worked BUT made me throw up so back I went on Friday and another concoction prescribed and thankfully it has now settled and I have a week off before returning.

So instead yesterday I went down with a rotten cold and have now been up since 2am with a high temperature, continual runny nose and my usually very controlled asthma has made an unwelcome appearance too!!!

Yep, I'm feeling very sorry for myself (lots of aahhs please) and Tilly has missed her fun playtimes whilst I've moped around . . .

Tilly, we need something to cheer us up . . .

and Lesleyanne (Lesleyanne's Life of Stitches) did exactly that with a RAK delivered by the Postie on Tuesday morning

Lesleyanne had contacted me to say she had something in her stash which although she loved would probably never get round to stitching and it was screaming my name at her ~ Bunnies Galore by Brittercup Designs, it couldn't have been more perfect, I love it and it's taken position high up the 'to-do' pile once my Autumn and Halloween stitchies are complete ~ thank you so much Lesleyanne, bunnyhops and smiles all round xxx

Sleeping seems to be something I once did a long time ago and having such a painful mouth meant it even hurt to put my head on a pillow so I've burnt the midnight oil (and much beyond) on many nights recently stitching Spooky Row by Bent Creek . . .

It's over 2ft wide so not easy to photograph hence the extra 2 pics below :

I stitched this on 28count natural linen with DMC threads rather than GAST and have a few ideas what to do for a finish but will leave that for a later post.

I managed to have an afternoon out with DH on Monday, it was our 24th Wedding Anniversary but after feeling so low recently we are going to have belated celebrations at a later date when I will be able to have a glass or two and actually eat something so instead we went stash hunting and did really well :

Autumnal and Halloween fat quarters and ric a rac

Green felt for pumpkin making, a Halloween sign with paints (meant for kiddies but as I'm the biggest one of them in our family!) and some gingham ribbon

AND

3 cross stitch books, all in perfect condition and never used for the fantastic price of £1 (who could resist?)

The weather is horrible here today and noticeably much colder but the leaves are turning those gorgeous shades of Autumn and I now don't need an excuse to light the fire in the lounge at night!

I'm off to renew my Passport tomorrow and need a new photograph ~ I look like Rudolph with my sore red nose at the moment and the gang are all laughing at me ~ still I'll only have to live with it for another 10 years!!!

HAPPY STITCHING . . . 

'HAPPY DANCES' BUT WHO ATE THE SOOT ???

 This was such a fun, easy stitch and I can't believe how quickly I was able to celebrate with a spooky happy dance!  I love the black cat peering out with its green eyes and the pumpkin coloured hat is my favourite!

Lizzie*Kate - 'Hats Off To Halloween' stitched on 28ct Sand Minster Linen

 with my choice of Gentle Art Sampler Threads

I didn't have all the exact colours listed on the chart so used some similar and some of my own choice and not having enough 'Purple Iris' for the writing I chose 'Soot' instead, plenty of that one . . . . at least until I got to the 2 letter e's in the word 'Halloween' and this was all I had left . . . who's nibbled the Soot?

If I curl up in my wooden tunnel she probably won't notice me . . .

If I disguise myself with hay she may not notice . . . .

And I camouflage well with the kitchen floor so that's always a good option  . . .

but I was there stitching with Mum at the time and it did look tempting so I only ate one length of it, how was I to know?

Tilly, you pickle!  I just had enough to complete the lettering, if it had been 'celery' or 'spring grass' I could have understood!!!

So with my threads and fabric under threat now I need a new stitching pal and with huge thanks to Cath (The Stitchin' Chicken) that's what I now have . . . .

Cath was celebrating her blog birthday with a giveaway and this cute Stitch Pal was her prize.  I lost my best stitching pal a little while ago, my lovely Buttons, so whilst I get Teabag, sorry Tilly into shape (DS was telling a friend about her on the phone and he misheard him and thought we had called her Teabag!) this is my new partner.  Cath also sent me some crafting scissors, always a necessity to me and she had stitched this cute little bunny which has a pink fabric on the reverse with a bunny holding a big bunch of carrots!  It has a lovely pink ribbon attached and I shall use it to keep my cross stitch needle safe ~ I have hundred of needles but I always use the same one and if it goes missing or I drop it it's everyone on the hunt to find it!!!

Thank you so much Cath, this was the first giveaway I'd ever entered and I was so thrilled to win it.

Another quick and easy Happy Dance this week was Pine Mountain's 'Tie One On' Kit ~ October.

I can't find the pillow form to go with it anywhere here in England so I think I will have to make one of my own but I love the big black ribbons on the sides, they will look great when they're tied in bows ready for the witching season.

I haven't stitched since Thursday as I've been in complete agony with an abscess on my tooth.  After being up all of Wednesday night, my Dentist was really good and saw me the next day and prescribed antibiotics for 5 days . . . . it's the first time today, since then, that I actually feel more comfortable with it and back to myself, don't think I've every felt pain like it and not being able to eat or drink (what's the weekend without a glass or two of wine?) hasn't helped!  DH and the gang have said they will cook the dinner tonight so I can catch up on some sewing (aahhh, how sweet even if I probably won't be able to eat it!) 

HAPPY STITCHING . . .