THE 'TAILS' OF TILLY & OSCAR . . . .

DD has been putting her creative skills to good use again and look at the results . . . .

Tilly and Oscar's adventures in print!

College term is coming to an end and AS exams are well over with our fingers crossed for good results in August.  These last 4 weeks DD's college has been giving her a flavour of what the second year will involve and in English Language the year will concentrate on children's literature which is something DD has always had a love of whether it be writing or illustrating SO this is her first attempt at both and who better to do it about?

The story content had to be suitable for young children and have both repetitive sounding words and storyline so Tilly and Oscar are of on an adventure.  Having hopped too far away from home and losing their way  their search for home begins encountering many animals on the way all greeting them with 'Boo'!  You'll be pleased to hear the story has a happy ending and even gives me my '5 minutes of fame' and has me waiting for them at the door back home!!!

I love the illustration so much (taken from a photograph of them both) so DD adapted it for my new header ~ just sooooooo cute!  (I'm dreading the Bill she's going to present me with!!!)

Although the illustration is of Tilly and Oscar I don't want to change my blog name ~ Buttons' my beloved bunny now pain free and happy at Rainbow Bridge and 'Stitches representing my passion for needle and thread.

Buttons has now been gone for just over a year but so fondly remembered . . . .

My stitching news is not huge but I do have a finish ~ 'Chicken Sampler' by The Stitching Shed . . . .

Last year I stitched another of their designs ~ Cluck, Cluck so thought, when I bought this earlier in the year at the Stitching Show, that it would make a nice matching pair of cushion covers.  The colours are virtually identical, I have just made a couple of small changes ~ the wording was Hen and Cluck which puzzled me as it was called 'Chicken Sampler' not Hen, so I repeated the word Cluck so that both designs read the same and instead of stitching 4 flowers around the centre chicken I shall add some buttons!

I'm just about to start stitching for another Exchange and some gorgeous Sampler Threads have just landed on the doormat so it's all systems go!
I want to highly recommend a UK on-line supplier who fulfills orders as quickly as 24 hours and carries stock of all the lovely hand-dyed threads and US charts that us English stitchers find so hard to find here but love so much to stitch . . . .
The Patchwork Rabbit run by Karla (http://www.patchwork-rabbit.co.uk/) ~ her prices are excellent and the postage costs are minimal ~ hop over and take a look, any special requests then give Karla a shout and I know she'll help you out, I recently needed 'Bamboo' for a design and wanted one as white as possible and hey presto! the next day it was here ready and waiting and a real bonus is Karla will cut you a 1yard length of thread if you only need a small amount rather than buying a full skein.

And finally ~ after weeks of tender loving care of feeding, watering and pruning . . . .

I have my first ever SweetPea with lots more promising buds!  These gorgeous flowers bring back lovely childhood memories when my Mum grew these in abundance every Summer on trellises outside our kitchen door and their lovely smell filled the house ~ it's funny how a smell can bring back such lovely times!

Thanks for stopping by and as always your lovely comments

HAPPY STITCHING

x x x

TEA PARTY/PICNIC EXCHANGE PART II & A BIT OF TAKE THAT!

I was rather hoping my secret partner of the recent Tea Party/Picnic Exchange might post some photos of what I stitched for them but as they haven't I hope it's ok for me to do it instead ?

My first exchange and I had great fun putting this package together . . . . 2 stitched items, cupcake notelets, pink & white gingham cupcake baking cases, cupcake napkins, pink seed beads, blue & purple butterfly ribbon, DMC scented threads and my favourite teatime recipe ~ Pooh Bear's Raisin Bread for Eating with Honey!

Lizzie*Kate Flora McSample 'Strawberry Sampler'

stitched in DMC threads on Sparklies hand dyed 28-count linen

Red and White gingham backing fabric

Cupcake Pin Cushion using  part of The Historical Sampler Company Cupcake design with DMC threads and spotty button & fabric

Great fun! and again a very big thank you to both Catherine for her kindness and Lainey for her very hard work and now for something completely different . . . . 

I seemed to have waited an eternity for this day to come

If you remember in a previous post, way back in time, over 9 hours were spent securing these precious 2 tickets and last Saturday was the BIG day!

DD and I left for Wembley Stadium, London, in plenty of good time as we knew the crowds would be massive ~ it was a sold out tour from start to finish and this was Take That's last show date in England before heading out to Europe.

A walk up to Wembley Stadium with the 'boys' looking down on us and every wine bar and bistro around us playing their music!

The countdown on the big screens ~ as the 'Progress' bar (name of their Tour & recent album) reached full capacity, the clock counted down . . . .

Four of the five started the show and the hysteria from the 85,000 crowd waiting for the 5th ~ Mr RW himself ~ was unbelievable!

Robbie whipping the crowd up with 'Let Me Entertain You'

Fabulous stage set ~ the boys are right at the top singing!

OMG! I've seen some big names in concert before ~ Madonna, Coldplay, Kylie, JayZ but this was something I wouldn't have missed for the World ~ the crowd singing, the stage sets, the noise and the boys themselves (I keep calling them boys ~ they virtually were when they first started and although I've grown up with them, it's incredible they still 'Rule the World!!!!' even today!) but most of all . . . .I'VE SEEN ROBBIE WILLIAMS xxx

PS. Thanks DD for sharing this great night with me, it meant a lot to have you by my side and also your brilliant camera skills ~ love you lots x

Thanks for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

TEA PARTY/PICNIC EXCHANGE 2011

I recently took part in my first ever stitching exchange ~ a Tea Party/Picnic Exchange hosted by Lainey ~ and was thrilled to bits with the goodies my secret exchange partner Catherine from http://bramblewoodstitches.blogspot.com/ sent me.

The exchange was to include a stitched item with a tea party/picnic theme, a recipe suitable for the same occasion and 5 other items . . . . .

I was really good and waited until my secret partner was revealed before opening the tempting bag of treats and when I did just look at what was inside . . . .

Catherine had given so much thought to what to send me ~ she couldn't have chosen better!  All my favourite things listed on my homepage were included ~ a beautifully stitched and framed bunny, a strawberry design pillow, a burgundy gingham tea towel, 20, yes 20 gorgeous shades of DMC threads, 2 adorable bunny fabrics, fruity magnetic notepads and a recipe for a hot milk sponge cake which Catherine recommends eating with strawberries and whipped cream . . . . . very naughty but definitely one to try out real soon!!! 

 

Such a pretty and beautifully stitched pillow with a heart charm attached with little pink beads

How cute is this?  A little bunny with flowers which Catherine took from a Homespun Elegance 'Welcome' design ~ love it xxx

 

Thank you Catherine so much, I appreciate the time and thought you put into my package and I feel very lucky to have been your secret partner.  Thank you also to Lainey for the considerable time and effort it takes to organise us scatty stitchers to follow the rules and get our packages sent out on time.  I'm hoping my secret partner who I sent to will post some piccies soon, if not I'll show some next time.

Thank you for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx