almost December

I know it has been a long time since I've updated my blog but life got in the way. I went to the Netherlands for a week at the beginning of November and was very busy decorating our new home there. Whilst I was there I saw Annemiek from De handwerkboetiek had an open day and I was so happy I was able to go!! It had been one year since actually going into a needlecraft store!! Heaven!!! In Ireland we don't have shops like that and all I do is internet shopping. Her shop models were so inspiring and the choice in linens is enormous. I managed to spend some money there and hopefully I can go back soon.

I've been stitching on some exchanges and one has been received by Joanie. This was the ornament exchange on the Stitching Bloggers BB. She liked snowman and I chose a Prairie Schooler snowman design from the JCS Ornament Issue of 1999.


I also received my ornament in the exchange and PattiNH made this for me:

Isn't it wonderful!?? Not only stitched Patti this lovely ornament she also send some goodies: 2 skeins of Needlepoint Silks in a green and red, some needles of John James,Merry Christmas note book, charts from JBW Designs, Trail Creek Farm and Twisted Threads! Thank you Patti I LOVE IT ALL!!!!!

When I was in the Netherland I could give the stitched and framed piece to my niece. She had a baby girl one year ago and I stitched her a cute design from the British designer Jolly Red


Lots of more Christmas stitching to do and actually I've finished 2 other ornaments but I can't show them yet.

Till later!
Karin

October already!

It has been a while! I know but I have been very busy with the 'job' as President for the club and there were weeks I was away each day! Also it was very exciting as we bought a house!!! We've always been renting as we live in each country for only a few years. After 17 years we found we needed a place of our own which will always be there for us and which we want to use for holidays and long weekends. We had planned on buying that in France but reality is that due to the fact our parents get older and we both lost a parent recently we need to spend more free time in the Netherlands. So we bought a home there and signed the papers last week. We got the keys on Friday. The weekend was spend buying things and starting the renovations. It doesn't need much work as the house is from 1998 but we like different colours etc. Here you see a photo of our house:



This week I'm recovering from a cold and now hubby is struck with the same! Not a fun thing to live in this household now. Poor DD!! LOL I did pick up my stitching and finished SB Monthly Musing's Leaf and I worked on an UFO! I'll make photos and show those in the next update. The thing I need right now is a finishing day like I used to have with my friend Katrina when we both lived in Belgium. We managed to get things done then! Now it seems those finished pieces of stitching end up in a drawer!

October is here and for me it is a special month...there is my birthday this coming Sunday. It means I can make those birthday orders with not feeling guilty for spending much as I will get a nice discount :-)))))

Karin

Another week!

Last week was very busy. On Tuesday it was the BIG day...my first Monthly Meeting as President of the International Women's Club of Dublin. There were 140 members and my speech went very well. I was not nervous at all which suprised me enormously! It was great fun! Now we're back in full swing and I've got many functions I need to attend. This week my only day 'off' is today and for the rest of the week I've got something in my agenda every day.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party of a friend. This party had a dress code...70's style. I might upload a photo later on...
We were hilariously crazy dressed and when the make up and wigs were on it was quite scary how different we all looked. We got together before the party with a group of 8 and I think we had more fun getting ready than we had actually on the party :-)

I haven't been up to much stitching last week. I only picked up a needle yesterday!! Another WIP has now seen some progress (SB Monthly Musing's Leaf). I only need to stitch the L and the lettering but I am now waiting for some thread I was missing. Drema of Needlecraft Corner has included them in my JSC Ornament Issue which is on its way to Ireland!!!!! I want to wait for this issue before deciding what to stitch for the Christmas Ornament Exchange of Stitching Bloggers BB.

My goals for this week is to finish Leaf from SB, do some more on the Merry Cox class and to organise my stitching room. I've neglected it a bit lately and it is in need of some organisation :-))))

Yeah!!

I'm back into stitching after a long slump! I did manage to finish a longstanding UFO from Prairie Schooler's book No. 49 Garden Verses. Ehh...ok I posted a photo but am not sure if it is the right way. Oh well it is on here :-)

The other one I stitched is the 1st from Essy's Friends by Mosey 'n Me. The 2nd came yesterday in the mail and again the presentation is lovely! But first I need to get it into the little tin.

I'm on of those people who never finds anything in a sale or in a market. My SIL is one of those who always have these great finds and has a good eye for it. This time it was my luck....or something like that. I found this in a charity shop for the price of €1!!! It is a never used tea towel of 100% Irish Linen with a printed sampler of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK.


I won't use it of course but I might hang it in my stitching room.
We've got no plans for the weekend which is great as the weather has changed from summer to autumn! It has been raining non stop for the last 16 hours and the temperature has dropped too. I think I need to put the heating back on later. That is so depressing!!! So this weekend there is lots of stiching time and I plan to stitch more on these UFO's. My next project to finish is the Merry Cox class I had in London, when was it??? This Spring!!!?Not to speak about these unfinished class pieces from CA Wells from 2 years ago!!! I'm hanging my head in shame......

September already!

I know, I know it has been a while. I try to be better :-) When I decided to start my own blog I saw Ashleigh her new blog page. I jumped at the idea of getting it professionally done instead of me struggling. Thanks to Lisa of Design-A-Blog I've got this wonderful blog!! Thank you again for all your work, Lisa!!! Today my DD went back to school after a long summer break. Schools finish here in June and start again in September!!
This summer I haven't done much stitching at all and it was only the day before yesterday I picked up a needle again. I decided to do something about the many UFO's & WIP's I have and stitched a bit on a Prairie Schooler design. I do hope to show you a finished photo soon!! In the meantime I show you a photo of a beautiful spot in the north of Ireland.

I really need a motivation to get going again and maybe now DD is back in school it might come back. LOL Although I will be very, very busy from next week onwards as my new duty will start. In June I was elected President of the International Women's Club of Dublin and this will keep me busy!! Over the summer we had some meetings with my committee to get everything rolling and organizing some events for September. We have 250 members from almost 40 different countries who live in Ireland. Most of them are in the same boat as us, meaning staying here for only a couple of years. Our goal is to welcome and assist newcomers and their families to Ireland and to further members' knowledge and understanding of Ireland. Beside these goals it is also a social club with lots of activities.

My first attempt at blogging!

After reading for a while all these great stitching blogs I've decided to take the plunge and started one. To get up with a name was the most difficult part but as I'm an expat living in different countries and totally hooked on stitching I came up with the combination.

Karin