Christmas Greetings

Here we go, another Christmas Ornament, this time its designed by the lovely Carol R http://istitchaholic.blogspot.com/ this was a pretty little freebie that she designed for us last year.

This is for the Fobbles Christmas tree ornament exchange.
I have stitched it on 36ct antique cream linen and used a green NPI silk thread and a red (poinsetta) Gloriana silk thread. I have finished it very simply as I felt it really didn't need any enhancement to take away the lovely simplicity of this design, all its got is a red velvet ribbon hanger. Thankyou Carol for designing this lovely little ornament, I loved stitching it.

Til Later - Hugs

 

A week has passed.....

.... and I cannot believe where the time is going. How are you all?  Ok I hope, thankyou so much for the lovely comments that you left about Mum and Dads garden, I have passed them onto them, and Mum said to thank you all for visiting.

What have I got to show you today, well I have the finish that I made for Tizy for the 'French swap with Nina' exchange and I was delighted to hear from Tizy that she liked my choice for her and that it had finally arrived on her doormat. - Things seem to take such a long time to srrive to Italy from the UK - it takes longer to get there than it does to to the U.S.A. - It always seems that way, whenever I have sent anything to Italy - have you found that too?

As I so enjoyed stitching my little scissor holder and fob the other month from the design 'Ancien filet crochet' by Danybrod, I decided to do it again.

This time I stitched it on 40ct antique white linen and used, red silk thread. The backing I used a vintage style rose fabric I had in my stach and trimmed the scissor holder/pinkeep with red ric rac braid.

The scissors are by Kelmscott Designs and I felt matched perfectly with the rose designs of both the xstitch and the backing fabric, I also added a vintage style crochet lace trim to the scissor pocket, and a large MoP ring for holding thread at the top - again the ring was from Kelmscott Designs.

The weather here has been absolutley awful, we have had torrential rain and gale force winds, everyones garden have been wrecked, and I do believe I am starting to get webbed feet! Yesterday and Thursday there were power cuts in parts of the village due to the weather conditions - I had no electric when I first got up and then it came back on again and then when I got home from work - No electric again, this time it was off for a good 2-3 hours which is a real pain, but today it seems to be OK.

News to tell is that next Friday 23rd & Saturday 24th is Fobbles annual exhibition of craft work (all things stitchy loveliness, beading etc etc), so if you are up this way and would like to visit, its open all day on both days and I can meet you, which would be fun - there is a small admission fee as all the proceeds go to 'Hospice at Home'. If you can't get up to visit, I will of course have pics on my blog again.

I'll leave you with another picture of Mums garden

Ooo and BTW I sit my driving test next Thursday 22nd at 08:20am - wish me luck!!

 

An exchange received

I received today a wonderful exchange piece from  Ellen  I feel very lucky, this is from the Swap with Nina Round 4 - French Designer exchange. Mine hasn't been received yet by my swap partner, so I can't show that yet, but this one is stunning that Ellen has made for me.

Ellen tells me that the design is from Les Petites Croix de Christne and is a freebie. I didn't get just one pillow I got 2, the little pillow is made with the same fabric that Ellen used for the backing on the larger pillow. Aren't they just lovely!! I also received a wonderful array of goodies, fabric, needles, beads and buttons.

Many many Thanks Ellen for my exchange pieces, You are a very talented lady - please go and visit her blog, she has stitched and finished some wonderful things.

Hope that your weather is as wonderful as ours is here. I have Mum and Dad staying with me a for a week, and I am so enjoying it, Mum and I are starting a little SAL, that we hope to have finished by Thursday.
I'll leave you with this weeks flowers in my jug - mostly stolen roses from next doors garden (they do know that I have taken them LOL! and some peonies from my garden added too.

Valentine wishes

I received yesterday the most beautiful Valentine ornament from Shay from the 'Holiday Exchange' I feel really fortunate, as this is sooooo lovely, look at the beautiful stitching and finishing, and ooo that charm is gorgeous. Shay told me in her card that it is by Just Nan -  Thankyou very much Shay and also for the lovely extras that you have sent me.

I hope that you are all having a wonderful Valentines day and received lots of flowers and cards? Has DH or Partners spoiled you? I hope so.

I am  again really busy at work which has delayed any kind of posting from me this week, I can't believe its over a week since I posted, but never mind I'm sure you understand, I must have a visit around your blogs in a bit, I've missed seeing what you have all been getting up to and what lovelies you have created.

My driving is going really well, I am enjoying it - not ready yet though to take my test, but hopefully a few more lessons and I will be, so far I have had 6 lessons, and I can do a turn in the road and not hit the kerb!

Valentines Exchange To Amy

I joined in a Valentine exchange on the Holiday Exchange blog that Becky runs, my partner was Amy and I have just found out that she has received my exchange that I sent to her. Now I know that Amy wasn't too fond of the colour 'pink' sooooo I thought I would use shades of Coral when I stitched this pretty little design by Blackbird Designs, which is part of the 'New Love' sampler which is I think now out of print - it was one of the schoolgirl samplings that they brought out a few years ago.

I have stitched it on 36ct raw linen and its 1/1, I had such fun doing this and I have used Kalluund silk thread in fireglow. I also used the same thread to make the cord around the outer edge and the half tassel. This was such a small design I thought that I would make it into a floss ring tag. I hope that Amy was pleased with it, the poor love had also been my partner for the Christmas exchange, when I sent her a Shepherds Bush little ornie.

Thankyou all so much for your kind and truely wonderful comments about my guest room - Yes if you ever fancy a visit to the Lakes and a trip to Fobbles - get in touch, I always like to meet fellow stitchers!

I have also been asked a few times as to where I got 'my words' from - well they are from here: http://www.wisedecor.com/index.html its a lovely site, but I hasten to add if you order to the UK you will get stung by customs - my customs bill was almost the same as to what I spent on the words.

I'll be missing for a few days as I am off to visit Mum and Dad, should be back Sunday or Monday with new stitching to show - Have a great weekend!!

Exchange from mum

Mum and I like to do an exchange if we can at Christmas and here is what mum made for me - isn't it lovely, its the perfect colours and as always mums stitching and finishing is fantastic - Thankyou mum again - I love it..
I have no photo of what I made for her as I forgot to take one before I mailed it - oops.

More Christmas exchanging

Here is the Christmas ornament I sent to Amy, its from the 2009 JCS Ornament magazine and I have stitched it on 32ct fabric using my own thread choices and finished it as a wee hanging pillow. Oh and its by Shepherds Bush.

....and here is the lovely ornament I received from Cathy, isn't it lovely and I also got lots of super goodies too and felt very spoiled, I was going to leave opening this exchange until Christmas but in the end I couldn't resist.

I would just like to say a BIG thankyou to you all for continuing to visit me, I really appreciate it as I have been so tardy with visiting and posting, I really will make a concerted effort in the new year to go back to normal.

Sent and received

This wonderful book is what I received from Vaida as we were part of the Swap exchange which Dear Nina has organised. I was truely awestruck when I received this beautifyl book as I have yearned for one for the longest time and Vaida is one of the most talented stitchers and finishers out in blogland - Thankyou so much for this wonderful treasure, its by one of my favourite designers of course which is Blackbird Designs and is stitchd on 32ct platinum linen.......... and also I received the scrummiest handmade biscuits from her daughter, they are perfect to have with my coffee, and I have almost ate them all now.

This is what I stitched and sent to Nina for the same 'swap' (we sent to different people, not to who was sending to us)its by Miss Cresents Crowne and is in the new JCS ornament magazine, I loved this as soon as I saw it and thought it would be perfect for her, I used my own choice of threads and finished it as a flat ornament, I added extras such as the beads on the garland (which don't show up to well) to give it a little sparkle. I have stitched it on 32ct white linen.

From Naomi

Naomi sent me the prettiest bag from the swap with Nina exchange,

Its beautifully quilted and the butterfly design is just so lovely, (I adore butterflies, so Naomi picked perfectly), I was delighted when I opened my parcel when it arrived, I'm a little late posting this so my apologies to Naomi, but we were away which was a wonderful break. Also inside the bag were some lovely crochet lace, pink rose trim and satin ribbon which I know I will use, Thankyou very much again Naomi, I love my bag and will use it next I go to a stitching day out.

Thimble Fob

For some reason I just couldn't get really good pictures of this wee Thimble Fob that I stitched for Carol for our exchange but I did my best,

This is Side 1 as you can see I have placed Carols Initials on there amongst the squirrel and the tree of life, with a bluebird of happiness.

Side 2 has my initials on, 2 more blue birds, a wee acorn and crown, there is the tiny heart and the pretty flowers.

and the base has the year on and I stitched a rhodes style heart in the centre, the base reminded me a little of a knot garden.

The whole piece is as you can see 3 sided and is about 2 inches wide and about one and three quarter inches high (all approx sizes as I forgot to measure it). The inside I have lined with two-tone silk dupion fabric (kind of green and deep pink)- the thimble sits in there, to get to it you have to gently squeeze the sides and it opens enough to get the thimble. The fob part I made cord using perle thread and ended it on the other side with a tassel.

Its stitched on 32ct evenweave I used cream not the recommended flax colour. The threads I converted to GAST and WDW to suit as I didn't have any of the threads recommended for this piece and its all stitched 1/1. It was great fun to stitch and finish - it was a new finish for me and I definitely think I will try it again

The design is by Betsy Morgan and its in the 'Classic Inspirations' magazine Issue 61 which is the current issue here in the UK.

A real stunner.....

.... arrived through my letter box yesterday.

Carol and I have been doing an exchange, here is what I received from Carol

I could not believe my eyes when I saw my parcel, a while ago I had admired this finish on Carols blog, and she made one for me - yipppeee!! Its so beautifully stitched and finished, the white on white was difficult to capture on photo, but I have done my best but I just can't seem to do it justice.

All around the edges is our names and the year, the top is trimmed with a beautifully soft silk ribbon and a little button. Also included was some wonderful fabric, threads, marking pins, beaded fob and the nicest stitched button which I will show at a later date as I have plans for it already.
I hope Carol enjoys what I have stitched for her as much as I am enjoying hers. Thankyou again my friend and watch out for the postman tomorrow!

I'm having a real busy week this week, I've worked late a couple of evenings and I am working all of the weekend - phew, I will be shattered next week!! but will probably be working again the following weekend - thank heavens for my stitching it gives me my sanity when I get home and start on it LOL!!

Exchanging and thankyous

Chris let me know that my Valentines exchange to her had arrived safely and that she was more than delighted with it, which made me very happy.

The design is 1st Exemplaire by EEF and I have stitched it on 40ct linen using the recommended thread colours, it was a really feminine design and I thought it deserved a very feminine finish and I made a small cushion using silk fabric. the trim and the edging around the design I made using some of the thread colours and I edged the underneath with some of nana's lace cos thats very feminine and pretty.


I also owe a massive thankyou to Barb (from Stitch and Stash Board), Barb has RAK'd me and she has sent me the new Blackbird Designs book "My heart is true" I was absolutley blown away with it and it made what has been a totally crappy day into a wonderful day, I don't know what I have done to deserve such a wonderful gift, but it certainly pepped me up and made me smile (I'm still smiling).


Also a rather belated thankyou to dear Nancy who nominated me for this award, I was so touched by what it stands for and delighted to receive it. It's called the Special Friends Award and "Love" Pendant.

The description for this award reads "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers. When you pass the award along please include these guidelines. I am to choose eight friends to share this with.".

Again finding 8 friends is difficult as I have made so many friends through blogging, but my 8 in particular for me have to be
Nancy I know she gave me the award but it doesn't say I can't send it back and I feel we have become 'good' friends over the past year
Barbara - who encouraged me to blog in the first place and is always there
Annemarie who I think I have known the longest as an online and phone friend, and I do love our friendship and her wonderful blog
Vonna Love you sweetie!!
Yuko for being my friend and the kind, generous beautiful person that she is
Romy cos I think she is so talented and modest and kind
Becky for being my friend
Carol for our blossoming friendship
and last to be mentioned (remember this list is not in any particular order or exhaustive) but certainly not least Helen for being my wonderful little sis and my oldest and closest friend.

Valentines exchange

Aren't I lucky Chris and I did a Valentine exchange and this is the wonderful little heart that I received from her yesterday

Its really lovely, so beautifully stitched and finished as Chris's work always is, I love her stitching and finishing and to top it all you would never know that this was Chris's first heart finish and ruched ribbon finish, my first heart was very skew wiff not in the least bit perfect as this one is. Thankyou again Chris I really love it.

Bluebird or should I say red bird

I heard from Carol last night that my Blackbird exchange to her has arrived safe and sound and that she was delighted with it.

I chose to stitch Bluebirds needles and pins which is a favourite of mine and is out of 'With Needle and Thread' book. I decided to do a new take on it and have stitched it in antique red overdyed thread 1/1 on natural linen. The back of the fob is a tiny tiny checked gingham fabric and I added some very tiny buttons that I had for the flower head and for the fob ribbon. Its edged with red ricrac.

Well I can't decide whether to have a stitchy day or a finishing day today, The cold is still sitting in my sinuses, but its not gonna get me down LOL! The snow that was forcast for us today hasn't appaeared as yet but its very bright. The high winds we had last evening blew themselves out in the night and so didn't keep us all awake, we walked or should I say were blown round to some friends home last night for a Tapas night which was a lot of fun and the Tapas was wonderful.

Blackbird Design from Hazel

What a really great week I seem to have had last week, not only was I the lucky name to be drawn for Carol's blogoversary prize,this wonderful exchange came through the post for me from Hazel , isn't it just a stunner and so so me, the colours and everything, I really was delighted and was straight on to email her that it had come.

Hazel told me that she used some special silkweaver fabric that she had, its a wonderful mottly shades of pinky browns and that she stitched the exchange with Crescent Colours. The design has been taken from Blackbird Designs 'Sarah Tobias'.

All around the outer edge it is trimmed with antique beads.

This was a specific designer exchange that we were to have on SBEBB, but with the board closing it had to be cancelled, but a few of us still wanted to stitch it - I'm not sure how many as it is now an unofficial exchange, and won't be posted up on SBEBB or moderated, so it'll be a bit of a lucky dip really. I sent mine out at the beginning of the week, so hopefully by next week it will be received.

The dreaded cold has returned,I managed to go all festive season without it, back to work , what 10 days and its back with a vengence I reckon its our air con. as I seem to be not the only one in the office with the sneezes and sniffles and we all started on Thursday with it - strange eh!!

I have been stitching up a storm too, and have lots to share, I even managed to get Barbaras' Spring exchange piece stitched - wowser!! So during the next couple of weeks I should be able to share some of my stitching and finishing(no finishing done yet though) with you - but not Barbaras as its not being sent yet nor would I like to spoil her surprise.

Have a great weekend everyone - we have sleet, snow, rain, cold and gale force winds forecast from this evening, so I hope its better where you are.

Last SBEBB Exchange

Here is my Christmas ornie that I stitched for Linda for the SBEBB Christmas ornament exchange. This was my final exchange from the board as Becky has decided the time is right for her to close it. Thanks to dear Becky for the wonderful time I have spent on the board and the lovely 'friends' I have made I have really enjoyed doing the exchanging over the past few years, hopefully whenever Becky may decide to start another I will be fortunate enough to be invited to join.
So.... next year I will be exchanging far less, though I have a couple of private exchanges to do which I am really looking forward too.

Going back to the ornament in question - Its Blackbird Designs - House on Holly hill, stitched on unknown linen count (I think 28ct, this is an opalescent linen, though its hard to tell from the picture and is quite sparkley. I have trimmed it using pom pom braid and chequered buttons.

Well its raining here, so I am going to cosy up this afternoon and stitch, I have started on Marks end of year gift and its looking good.
I went out this morning before the rain and walked around the village delivering Christmas cards - I am so late with that this year and I still have a few to post, hopefully Mark will be able to take me to the Post Office tomorrow if he isn't at work again.

Have a good weekend everyone

Fobbles Christmas Ornament exchange

Fobbles, yesterday held their Christmas party, the morning was spent stitching, knitting, beading or quilting - whatever your project was, we three, Mum, Helen and myself stitched away and perused the shop. After lunch was the great number draw, when we arrived and handed our ornaments over they were allocated a number, then when the draw started a basket of numbers was provided and we each very fairly pulled out a number and that was the ornament that you were given.
My ornament I received is the one below -

Nice isn't it!! I was quite happy with my exchange. There was a real variety of different crafts used, from applique, patchwork to stitching, stumpwork and beading, I know that Bev will be posting up some photos of the tree and our day in the near future, probably tomorrow or Tuesday I think on their webpage.

This one above is the one I stitched for the exchange, the design is by Casy Buonaugurio. I stitched it on 32ct using DMC, and trimmed it simply with cord and a jingle bell. The holly berries within the design are mill hill frosted red beads.
I'm looking forward to next years as the three of us really enjoyed ourselves.

A stocking for Nancy

OK, so its not a huge stocking but here is what I stitched for Nancy its a Brightneedle stocking, which I stitched on 1/2 on 32ct fabric and changed all the colours of the threads so that they were warmer and not as pastel as I wanted a change to the original. I also added a crochet trim with ribbon running through as an alternative which I thought looked different and quite pretty. Nancy assures me that she loves it, which I am glad, as isn't it funny we always worry what the recipient will feel about our choices for them - I think we are all the same aren't we.

Mum, Dad and Helen have just rung to say they are more than halfway here this morning in readiness to get to the Christmas party, I had better get my camera and stitchy things ready before they arrive - Whatever your plans are for today I hope you have a good one!