BIRTHDAY GIFTS AND ROSIE . . .

Good afternoon everyone and I hope the weather is being kinder to you than it is to the South of England  . . . a snow storm blew in yesterday afternoon and during its short visit caused havoc!  Today the surrounding roads are still very dangerous, some are impassable, many many cars have been abandoned and nearly all the schools and colleges are shut yet as I post this bizarre weather news to you the sky is blue and the sun is shining?

Please, Spring, hurry up and come!

A couple of dear blogging friends have celebrated birthdays recently so my needle and thread have been busy.

Firstly for Barb I stitched a pillow of a floral teacup with teabag and finished it with blue and cream spotted fabric and blue ribbon . . .

And secondly I stitched another pillow for Lesleyanne with a small grey and white bird holding a pink button, I finished this one with a darker blue and cream spotted fabric, cream ric-rac and a heart button with a wicker embellishment to help this little bird with any future nest building! . . .

I was so happy to hear from both recipients that they were happy with their gifts and they are now hanging in their homes in the appropriate places.  I stitched both of these designs from the UK CrossStitcher magazine which I have plenty of issues of but never seem to use.  I often pick a design out when I buy the magazine each month but then completely forget about it so whilst I ploughed through them picking out designs for the birthday gifts I noted down all the ones I would like to stitch, as you can see, along with all my cross stitching books, filed magazines and two further boxes of charts, there are a fair few to choose from!

And the first one from the list is Rosie the Rabbit . . .

Isn't she cute? ~ a grey and white mini-lop who is one of the characters from the RSPCA Perfect Pets range.

My little Oscar came from the RSPCA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and they do fabulous work in rescuing abused and abandoned animals and re-homing them.  Oscar came from an abused home, details of which I was not allowed to know nor would want to know, but he has come far since then and now has complete trust in us and is truly adorable, full of cheeky character and very gentle.   I would love to have had Rosie Rabbit  all sewn up and finished today but I'm out of pillow stuffing and due to the hazardous roads it will have to wait a little while longer.

Thanks for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

x x x

JUST ENOUGH SNOW!

Well, as I thought in my last post,I haven't fallen off my chair as no-one guessed what my new WIP was  . . .

Not surprisingly really, as I didn't have a lot to show last time

But a couple of twig arms and the start of a long woolly checked scarf is a bit more of a clue

Winter Poinsettia, a Red Cardinal (I think) and a trio of snowballs

and all these ingredients make . . .

'SNOWFALL FRIEND'

stitched on 14-count Black evenweave with suggested DMC threads

I'm not sure if anyone will know the design but it was part of a series of co-ordinating designs called 'Season's Greeters' with the original artwork by Becca Barton.  The trio was Twilight Angel, Starry Night Santa and Snowfall Friend, all tall and skinny like this one, I do have the Santa and will save that for later in the year, but unfortunately not the angel.

I finished him last night and had just enough snow DMC 712 for the final touches and he has been duly stuffed and completed this afternoon . . .

He stands 14" tall and I'm thinking 'if' I manage to stitch the Santa as well, they will look lovely each end of the mantlepiece next Christmas!

This is the original artwork by Becca which can still be purchased as posters, cards etc. ~ it's a pretty good likeness don't you think?

Talking of snow, it's just decided to start again here in the South and it really is very cold so I'm off to get Tilly and Oscar in from outside and get those floppy ears warmed up.

Thanks for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

BACK AGAIN . . .

Sorry, I've been AWOL again but too many horrible emotional things happened last year and I've just needed some more time to get back on track again!  It's funny when you've been on that so often quoted 'emotional rollercoaster', it leaves you not quite knowing who or what you are and priorities all change place on your Agenda!  I'm not the first, I won't be the last and I know things will fall back into place!

Enough of the doom ~ let me wish you all a somewhat belated HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope you all had a great Christmas and enjoyed all your festivities.  I expect you're all fed up with looking at pictures of the fluffy white stuff  BUT you have to admit it was sooooo pretty . . . 

So many bad things happened last year that I never got round to showing you the work we had done in the back garden, our horrible black iron railings and uneven patio slabs were all removed and instead we now have wooden ones and matching decking with sunken in lights all round it . . .

The wooden pergoda matches too . . .

BUT this is the best part ~ my new sewing room . . .

There is a stone path that leads down to it and you just might be able to see the edge of more decking which again has pretty sunken lights.  We've put an enormous corner sofa in there with all my favourite cushions, a big fluffy rug and in the corner is a TV so I can watch all my craft programmes and listen to my favourite music in peace (visitors by appointment only)!!!

It has electricity and heating which can be set on a timer so lovely and toasty for first coffee break of the day, I can take the bunnies down there with me and we positioned it to give maximum light and be just perfect for sewing . . .

These are my recent finishes, one before Christmas, one during Christmas and 3 since ~ all need to be finished into wall hangings, flat folds, pillows and as and when they are I will show you the before and after and all the finer details!

This is my current project . . .

I would fall of my chair if any of you knew what it was and I shall keep you in suspense until there's a bit more to show!!!

Thank you to all of you that have stuck by me and been patient, many of you were not and it's so disheartening when the 'followers' number keeps going down.  I have not been actively reading posts so please don't take it to heart if I've not visited you, I'm back now and looking forward to a happier year ahead.

Thanks for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx

HAPPY DANCE AND SPECIAL FRIENDS . . .

Thank you everyone for all your kind comments on my Dobby finish in my last post, glad you liked him!

I was determined to squeeze in one Halloween finish this year, so sorry it's a bit late but please Happy Dance with me as I have just finished . . .

Little Witch ~ complete kit by Shepherd's Bush

Loved this one and it stitched up so quickly, the muted colours are gorgeous and as always the silks provided are a joy to work with.

The pumpkin face button comes with the kit.  Nice hair!!!

Anyone who knows this design will notice I have not stitched 2 horizontal rows of pattern at the bottom, one was a vine and flower and the other a zigzag but I wanted this design to match a couple of others I've already completed so . . .

Now they all match and have the same satin stitch triangular finish at the bottom.

Ssshhhhh!  I'm not shouting from the rooftops but another birthday has come and gone ~ like Christmases they just come around too quick!

My dear friend Lesleyanne remembered me though and I received a lovely parcel from her, she had not pre-warned me that anything was on its way, so it was a complete surprise and I was thrilled to bits with all that she had chosen to send me . . .

Three fat-quarters of pretty fabrics, co-ordinating ribbons and tassel, Bent Creek 'Smell the Flowers' chart and . . . OMG! deep breath . . . 7 skeins of Belle Soie ......... just the touch of them is good enough, let alone the colours she chose and the names ~ Butterscotch, Mudpie, Plush Plum, Old Crow, Attic Tea, Sister Scarlet and Vanilla Pudding ~ now which shall I eat stitch with first!

Thank you so much Lesleyanne, you have truly spoilt me and your kindness means the world xxx

The sun must have been shining down on me as I was also lucky enough to win Vickie's giveaway of the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament 2012 issue.  I told Vickie they are literally like golddust here in the UK so it was a lovely prize to win and when it arrived Vickie had also added the most gorgeous beaded pins ever ~ so pretty ~ between Lesleyanne and Vickie I am a very happy bunny and have lots of projects ahead of me ~ you are both very special blogging friends to have xxx

Thanks for stopping by

HAPPY STITCHING

xxx