Pottering….

It’s been a pottering few days, catching up on chores, cleaning windows and washing curtains and all the boring things like that that have to be done. My living room is looking lovely and clean and tidy now, the paintwork and decor is a little tired but that will have to wait, but by changing some of my trinkets and treasures around it makes it feel almost new again….also another pretty bouquet of flowers always cheers me and the room up…

I dressed my other hottie this week….another bright and cheery jacket…

The Little Miss started Rainbows this week and was very excited….

I have been doing a little stitching, I started this quite a while ago but it fell by the wayside with Christmas gift stitching…it’s Ewe & Eye & Friends ‘Love Letters’, I’m using Six Strand Sweet threads of my own choice, I should hopefully complete it over the weekend.

Finally…Andrea messaged me to say my Blogaversary giveaway package had arrived to her…I loved putting it together…enjoy it Andrea!

A quiet weekend at home for us…it’s bright and sunny here but it’s biting cold…brrrrrr!

Hugs & Stitches

A Quick Hello & A Winner

Wow I’m not really quite sure how I have made it through this past week, we have had a 5 day sickness bug in the house…without going into detail as one of us stopped another started with it….it has been bloody awful, I haven’t eaten since Wednesday :0(, plus to top it all I now have an awful cold….anyway…things can only get better now!

Consequently nothing has been achieved this week apart from a small amount of stitching on my Friday evening SAL with Michelle, here is my progress on this

A noisy start to Mother’s Day today, we were awoken by both smoke alarms going off at around 7am, a panicky half asleep run-around…..no smoke…no fire….so a phone call to emergency repairs…yes on a Sunday morning at 7am….didn’t they just love me….anyway after 2 hours of high pitched shrill…an electrician arrived and in precisely 5 minutes saved my sanity by replacing both of them…lol…so after all the early morning excitement we had a quiet day at home…the kids did get me this though (with a little help from Grandma)

I did my 400th post giveaway drawing last night……Martha picked a name from the basket…

and the winner is………..

well done Fiona, I will be emailing you shortly….!

Oh and finally I received my mark back from my last assignment…I received my highest mark so far…10 marks better than my last one so I was thrilled…!

Well I have ordered a takeaway…my first real food….so better go and enjoy it!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Hugs & Stitches

Suffolk Puffs and Other Stuff!

The weekend just flew by, with not too much achieved, I managed a little amount of study on Saturday afternoon, I’m now onto the next chapter….ancient medicine! I’m awaiting the scores back from my last assignment on Benin, they should be in any day now….finger’s crossed!

I needed a bag to carry my textbooks to my tutorials, but funds are limited at the present time so I remembered I had a free Cath Kidston Canvas Tote which came with her Make book, so I set to making some Suffolk puffs yesterday and attached them to the bag…and here is what I can proudly carry my books to classes in now…

I made quite a few surplus puffs, so I added a brooch pin to the back of this one for little miss….she thinks “its great”!

I have knitted 3 more dish/wash cloths…

only a small amount of stitching progress from my Friday SAL with Michelle…

I have been adding goodies to my 400 post mystery giveaway…if you haven’t entered yet please see here…I wonder what’s inside the box??

I have added a few chart booklets to my sale/trade page…if you wish to take a look!

Off to do some reading about Ancient Greek Medicine…wish me luck!

Hugs & Stitches

Don’t Faint…..Back Again and a Giveaway!

I know two posts in two days….scary eh…lol!

Mouse has let me know that my piece has arrived at the mouse house and Mouse’s piece to me arrived this morning also…this is what Mouse stitched for me, it’s a Lizzie*Kate design, stitched in GAST and Anchor threads, isn’t it pretty, it brightened up my day!

and here is what I stitched for Mouse..

Bent Creek – Spring House

Fabric: 28c misc. natural evenweave

Threads: WDW & DMC as charted

Michelle and I made a start on our BBD SAL yesterday evening…I still had a headache so didn’t stitch too much, but wanted to get the first few stitches in it…here’s my progress..

My parents have very kindly taken the children for the afternoon so I can get a bit of rest….yes I could make the most of the childfree time and do some studying, but I have decided to put my feet up in front of the TV instead and do some knitting!

I noticed that this is my 400th blog post so as a celebration I will have a little mystery giveaway….I haven’t decided what the prize will be yet…hence the mystery!

The giveaway is open to all my followers and regular commenters (UK & Overseas), if you would like to be entered please leave a comment on this post only with your email address too, I will make the drawing on 17th March 2012 at 7pm GMT.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW CLOSED

Well I better go and get them there feet up and the needles clacking!

Enjoy your weekend whatever you do!

Hugs & Stitches

A Sunday Catch Up…

As promised here is a catch up on what I have been up to the past few weeks…mainly lots of studying and I have to say I am LOVING it! I think it is totally different to when you are at school and “have” to learn, to now at 40 “wanting” to learn. I spent last Saturday afternoon at the theatre watching a production of Doctor Faustus, which I so enjoyed, I then spent all of last week studying the play, listening to an audio of the play and learning about how to read a Renaissance play and also about Christopher Marlowe who wrote it! The previous week was all about Cleopatra and how she has been portrayed throughout history, by historians, Hollywood etc, part of my first assignment is about this. This coming week is Art focused mainly on Paul Cézanne, I have looked at a few Cézanne paintings, they are not to everyone’s taste but I do like his style of painting, so am looking forward to it.

I spent yesterday at Leeds Metropolitan University at a Day School and attended lectures on Cleopatra, Poetry and Assignment Study Skills, followed by a field trip to the Leeds’ City Art Gallery to “Look” at paintings…a very long, tiring but wonderful day spent with some fabulous people!

Now stitching news….firstly I received this divine flatfold from Angela for the Autumn Seasonal Exchange…I LOVE it so much!

Secondly …here is the piece I sent to Amy for the Lizzie*Kate Exchange (not a very good picture)

Lizzie Kate “Halloween”

Stitched on 32c Murano “Vanilla” – DMC’s as charted

Finished as an ornament

Thirdly…Catherine has messaged me to say she has received my Birthday giveaway package…which arrived quite swiftly to my surprise

Ria Lanser freebie “ABC”

Stitched on 28c Miscellanious evenweave – DMCs own choice

Finished as a pin pillow

Finally….I haven’t managed a lot of stitching, all my WIP’s have been popped away for a holiday whilst I concentrate on some gift stitching for Birthdays and Christmas…so I can’t show you too much, but I have made quite a bit of progress on the piece for Martha…this is so pretty and girly, I am loving stitching it so much.

Well it is Sunday so it’s Downton Abbey day, looking forward to that this evening after the X Factor results show, I am not sure if I am enjoying it as much as previous years, but I will persevere a little longer, It’s also the final Spooks this evening, I will record that and watch it after Downton…

I hope you all have a fantastic Sunday whatever you do..

Thanks for visiting my blog today, your comments are visits are much appreciated.

Hugs & Stitches

Life Begins!

at 40 so they say…..it was my 40th birthday yesterday and I had a nice day spent with friends and family….here are pictures of the gifts I received.

A framed photo and notebook from Martha, some passion fruit shower gel and body spray and a trinket tray with roses on the bottom from Isaac…he chose it himself after smelling every one in Boots…lol and a Dove gift set from my friend Gail.

Lovely gifts from my friends…the choccie and wine didn't last very long!

Mum and Dad gave me money to take to the stitching show at Harrogate but wanted me to have something to open….a lovely rosebud mug and coaster and tin (perfect for a packet of digestive biscuits), also some fairy lights to wrap around my bedstead…

From Michelle I received this lovely pinkeep (gorgeous isn't it), a Miss Mary Mac needle case chart and some hand dyed linen…thank you Michelle 

From Sally this dainty pillow with my year of birth on it….just perfect..thank you Sally.

I also received money from my grandparents for the Harrogate fund and lots of lovely cards and messages too.

Stitching….I have finished and made up my giveaway piece…it closes tomorrow so if you haven't entered yet…you can here. I have also started a new piece which is for Martha’s birthday (or Christmas if it isn't done my mid November), it’s Princess Parade by CCN…such girly colours.

I have been to my first tutorial this evening, it was great to spend time discussing subjects in depth…I am so going to enjoy this module.

Time to head to the land of nod now….night night!

Hugs & Stitches

Just A Quickie

To show you an exchange piece which I sent to Bernadette for the Fall Pyn Keepe Exchange over at the HOE blog…

Waxing Moon freebie “Autumn Blackbird”

28c Brittney “Olive” with DMC threads

Finished as a pinkeep

Also a picture of my TSG “Just Married” SAL progress from last Wednesday…just a couple more evenings on this should complete it.

A BIG thank you for all your comments on my previous post…I would really miss blogging and sharing my stitching and ramblings with you all!

I have cut all my exchange stitching out and will just be stitching for myself for the time being…just one exchange piece to complete in the next few days.

My University Induction Day last Saturday was great, I met lots of great people, my tutor and most of my tutor group and a few of us (in real student style) went to the pub afterwards! My first tutorial is next Tuesday evening followed by a day school on 22nd October with a field trip to the Art Gallery!

You still have time to enter my 40th Birthday giveaway here

Hugs & Stitches

Finished Off & A Giveaway….

I finished my Amitie peice off on Sunday evening whilst watching the X Factor boot camp show…

I backed it with red and white polka dot Cath Kidston fabric and edged it with red ribbon and red and pearl beads…I am pleased with it.

I have started stitching a few smalls for Christmas and Birthday gifts so my WIP’s will be going away for a while until these are all completed…

I am in my final 30’s stretch and I celebrate my 40th Birthday in a couple of weeks, to celebrate I will be holding a giveaway, it will include a stitched gift and some other goodies both stitchy and no stitchy related…if you would like to enter this giveaway then please leave a comment on this post ONLY, leaving a contact email. For a second chance to win please become a follower of my blog, post this as another comment and for a third chance to win advertise my giveaway on your blog and post this in another comment…easy as pie! I will make the drawing on Wednesday 12th October GMT 6pm. This giveaway is open to worldwide mailing!

My studies are now in full swing with 2 tutorials coming up, a day school on Saturday and my first face to face tutorial in just over a week….my blog posting with be very limited, maybe once a week as my stitching time will also be eaten into quite a lot.

Thanks you for visiting and posting comments to my blog, I really do appreciate them all.

Hugs & Stitches

SAL Progress!

I have managed some stitching this week, not as much as I would have liked….but life gets in the way sometimes!

Firstly I have just stitched the fourth part for the iStitch SAL, I am stitching this over 1 on 32 count, you can see how small it is by the needle!

I also managed some stitching on my TSG SAL piece too..

I ordered a new chart from Tanya yesterday…as soon as I saw it I just had to have it…”The Witch School Sampler 1821”…I ordered the CC & GAST required and a few other bits too…rude not to…don’t you think!

Isaac had his cast taken off his foot on Thursday, he is tentatively walking around, he had a bath this morning which removed a lot of the dry blood etc. which made it look a lot better, but I am still being bandage nurse as he won’t put socks and shoes on without a bandage, so we have compromised…bandage during the day….fresh air to it on an evening and overnight to aid the healing!

We took a walk around to the local shops, usually a 25 minute round trip….55 minutes today, but at least he is up and moving around!

I booked my ticket to go to the Stitching Show at Harrogate in November, I am going with my lovely friends Michelle & Kath…should be a fantastic day out :0)

Another X Factor double bill weekend, plus Downton Abbey is back tomorrow evening and Spooks…I love the autumn, lots of great TV and more time to get snuggly & cosy and do lots of stitching!

Watch out for a giveaway coming soon to celebrate my 40th Birthday in 3 weeks time!

Have a great weekend!

Hugs & Stitches

Angela’s Goodies….

Angela is having a fantastic 3rd blogaversary giveaway…she makes the most divine things…hop over and take a look (click on photo to go to Angela’s blog)

Treats, Gifts, Progress & Finishes

Firstly as promised here is the gorgeous Valentine’s Giveaway gift I received from Lynn at Happiness Is Cross Stitching…isn’t it gorgeous, it’s so delicately and perfectly made…I will treasure it!

I had a childfree weekend as the children were staying with their Dad, so I managed to root out the sewing machine from the cubby hole under the stairs..I finished 3 exchange pieces and my next PIF (which I cannot share at the moment).

I also finished up the 2 tissue cases which I have made for Mark’s Mum and my Mum for Mother’s day gifts.

Polstitches “Pearl Tissue Case”

Left: 28c Brittney “Olive” using Six Strand Sweet threads and pastel coral seed beads, lined in apple coloured shot silk fabric.

Right: 28c Brittney Lilac using Six Strand Sweet threads and lilac seed beads, lined in aubergine coloured shot silk fabric.

Both are filled with Cath Kidston decorated tissues!

I finally got around to making up my Lizzie*Kate “Living with Charm” wall hanging, I backed it with iron on Vilene and a lovely contrasting fabric and used wooden bell pull ends and a cappuccino coloured ribbon to hang it from…not a brilliant picture as the sun kept shining…lol…shouldn’t complain I suppose!!

Finally here is my progress on TSG “In the Garden with Jane Austen” SAL…I hope to have a HD this week on the flower motif top right to complete and the picket fence to run along the bottom on the design…then all done…I have loved stitching this design.

I have done a small amount of stitching on my “Home of A Needleworker” WIP (no photo at moment), I have almost built the house, just the roof to complete and the windows to fit!!

I have updated my for sale/trade page…please let me know if anything takes your fancy!!

School Governor’s meeting tonight, so I won’t manage any stitching, I may have time to do some knitting when I get home…

Hugs & Stitches