Please sign up for my PIF

I am one of the lucky recipients of a PIF run on Evalinas blog . Thank you so much Evalina!
So without ado, if you would like to be a recipient then please leave a comment on my blog.

1. Send no less than 5 stitching related items per person within the next 365 days.
2. Items can be DMC, other threads, stitching needles, straight pins, buttons, scissors, ribbons, etc. - a combination of items such as 3 threads, 1 pack of straight pins and 1 pack of stitching needles or just 5 threads.
3. The items must be new and not used. (Send things you'd be happy to receive.)
4. You will post this PIF on your blog and do the same for at least 2 people.

Mid week update.

I worked on my Wizard for UFO Tuesday. I am enjoying working on this so much that when I finish one of my WIP's, I'm going to upgrade it as a WIP lol.

I started my Mill Hill Frosty ornament but there's not enough done to warrant a picture being taken yet.I'm not getting much stitching time in at the moment but I hope that will change pretty soon!

'Naughty' finished.

I finally finished my Mill Hill Ormament 'Naughty' tonight. I really enjoyed stitching it.

Here it is finished....................

And here it is with 'Nice'

I also stitched on my Wizard for the ILCS UFO Tuesday. It is really coming along now . I am enjoying stitching on it again. This evening, I started 'Frosty' which is another Mill Hill Ornament. There's not enough done on it to warrant taking a picture.

Clicking on both pictures will 'bigify' them lol.

Mid Week Update

I have concentrated mainly on my Mill Hill ornament 'Naughty'. It is very close to being finished now. I just have the beading and a bit of backstitch to do.

Tuesday I worked on my Midnight Enchanter for UFO Tuesday. I didn't get as much as I would of liked done but every stich counts! I am enjoying working on this again.



Clicking on both pictures will bigify them lol.

UFO Tuesday, Midnight Enchanter

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On my Yahoo group, I resurrected UFO (unfinished object) Tuesday. The idea being that you pull an unfinished, forgotten work out, and put some stitches into it even if it's only 10 minutes.
I pulled out Midnight Enchanter by Dimensions and put a good two hours into it. I have to say I really enjoyed stitching on it.

Celtic Summer update

(Click on picture to bigify lol)

After several months, I finally have an update on her. I must be over three quarters of the way done on her now. The borders are fiddly with constant colour changes and beading but the skirt is now stitching up really fast. I was hoping to have her finished this year as I have sworn to myself that I am not to start anymore BAP's until I have finished at least two of the BAP's I have on the go. Needless to say I am very disapointed in myself this year as I haven't finished a single BAP! So when this one is finished and maybe the big dragon, then I will have the daunting task of what new big project to start lol.

I have also made good progress on the Mill Hill 'Naughty' ornament.

'Nice' finished

I finally finished my Mill Hill ornament 'Nice'. it wasn't through lack of not trying. Every time I sat down to stitch, something cropped up lol. I really love it. Now I need to get a good start on the 'Naughty' one. I absolutely adore the Mill Hill kits. I did this one aida and not the perforated paper and made it into a pillow ornament.

I have never really had a theme in my kitchen but I have a really nice sized kitchen come dining room and have decided to do a tea and coffee theme, mainly tea though. I love those one cup teapots that fits on top of a cup. I have one and use it all the time for my herbal teas. So I think the theme would be apt as I want to collect teapots. I have a couple of projects to do that are teapot themed which I hope to start in the near future after I have finished my ornaments.

Mill Hill 'Nice'.

I have not managed to do much stitching the past week but was able to stitch all afternoon today. I worked on my Mill Hill ornament 'Nice'. I love how it is coming along. I'm about three quarters done now. I got a lot of the beading done. I usually do the back stitching last but I could not resist back stitching the reindeer lol as he is so cute. I am hoping to have him finished at the end of the weekend.

Motivation back

I havent stitched in a good few weeks and got talking to Rene La Frog on messenger last night and she got me back to stitching. Its an ornament called 'Nice' from Mill Hill and hopefully it won't take too long to finish. Every year I say I am going to do Christmas stitching and every year I havent. So I am hoping to change that this year and do lots of ornaments. I've just ordered another Mill Hill kit, a snowman this time.

I have actually unpacked all (or most) of my stitching now and Colin has put some of my stitching up on the walls so there's now more motivation to stitch.

A finish and ILCS Birthday club part deux

I stitched this bookmark for Rene's daughter, Manda Panda. She has similar tastes to me so it was real easy for me to choose what to stitch for her. I hope she likes it!

Here are my gifts from Nancy J, Vicky L and Kim in Oz from the ILCS Birthday Club. Thank you so much ladies, I was truly spoilt!

This was from Vicky L, thank you so much, I love it all!

This was from Kim in Oz. Thank you so much......you sent me a DD chart that I did not have so thanks again!

Last but not least, this was from Nancy J! As you can see, she really spoilt me. She made me a beautiful bracelet and scissor keep (see below for close up). Thank you so much Nancy, I love them.

Summer Dragon update

(Click on picture to bigify.)

I finally have an update. I havent touched him for a while but spent two days stitching on him this week. I really want to start a new large project but I have promised myself that I will not until he is finished. Besides, I still have Celtic Summer on the go which I do on Thursdays and The Papillon SAL that I do on Sundays. All three projects haven't really been touched lately so I am trying to get back into the routine with them.

ILCS Birthday Club Presents

This is what I have received so far from the ILCS Birthday Club. I still have three more parcels to come which are on their way from Nancy, Kim and Vicky, which I will post pictures of when I receive them.

This one is from Ethel, she really spoiled me as you can see! The thread Heaven is welcome with open arms since Cols mum has mine lol. Lots of nice fabric and I always love to get socks!
Thank you for everything Ethel!



This one is from Meari. She sent me three Lizzie Kate charts, a handy measurer, a stitchy nail file, needles (very grateful for as I have run out and am using a nasty old needle from a magazine cover kit!) and Humour is a Virtue chart by Thea Dueck. Thank you so much Meari, I loved it all.




This one is from Shelley. I love the Dragon chart as it is very unusual! As you can see, she stitched me a lovely bookmark and it is so well stitched and finished. I love the fabric and buttons too, so thank you Shelley!



This one is from Melinda, thank you so much! I have already stitched the free piece that is the companion to this one, and am looking forward to stitching it. She also sent me the beads to go with it!



This one is from Debbie S, which was on my wish list. As you can see, she included the fabric to go with the charts. Thank you so much!



This one is from Rhonda. I want to start stitching all the charts in this book right now but it will have to wait lol. Thank you so much!



This one is from Debra H. I have not seen this design before but absolutely love it. Will definitely be stitching this one! Again, the needles couldnt have come at a bettter time!

Thank you ladies for making my Birthday extra special!

I also received 'Bewitching Cross Stitch' by Joan Elliott from my ex hubby, Ivan, which was on my Amazon wish list. Thank you hunny!

A finish and a Pressie

I finished my first Hardanger piece today. Thank you so much Rene for running the class! I was very nervous about the cutting part but it is easier than it looks. I had more trouble with wrapping the bars.........go figure lol! The design is a freebie from Polstitches. I got the pack which includes fabric, threads and beads from Polstitches specifically for the project.

Rene sent me a pre Birthday package. I just love my piggies. Isn't the cupcake soooooooo cute!

Thank you Rene. I love it so much! Also I received a bookmark from Rene as well that she stitched me seeing I couldn't do the bookmark exchange that I ran as there were an even ammount of participants so I couldnt join in. I just love it and have nearly finished the one I am doing for Rene's daughter Manda Panda.

I am getting very excited as it is my Birthday tomorrow and I get to open lots of pressies from the girls on the Birthday Club. It will be the first year that I will of got stitchy presents!

A finish and a WIP

Last night I finished my Celestial Bookmark, only I am going to frame it as it is too big and nice to use as a bookmark lol.

(Click on piccy to bigify)

I also finished part three of Rene's Hardanger class this afternoon. The next step is the actual cutting. Not sure whether I am looking forward to that part lol.
I also started another bookmark last night for Rene. I didn't join the bookmark exchange as there was an even number of people taking part so Rene said she would do a one to one exchange with me so I can get to do an exchange lol.

Castles in the Air-update

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I decided to finally get Castles in the Air out and get part 3 started and hopefully I will be able to finish it before part 4 comes out! I am really enjoying this as I love doing speciality stitches. I am not stitching as much as I could lately. I just don't feel like stitching a lot of the time but once I start stitching, then I am fine. Guess most stitchers get like that at times.

I am feeling pretty excited at the moment as well as we have just bid on a house. Don't know whether we will get it or not.

Freebie finished

I finished Carlas freebie. The photo is crap as my scanner wont work and my camera is crappy as well, need to get a new one lol. I used purples instead of blue and used Kreinik for the words and blending filament with the cotton for the snowflake. Thank you Carla for giving it to the group!

Celestial bookmark

Today I decided to take a break from pig projects and work on my bookmark.

Actually, for a bookmark it is very big. The dimensions are 30 wide x 120 high. And most of the area is solid stitching. I put my scissors next to it so you can get some idea how big it is. I love stitched bookmarks and when I was looking for a bookmark, I found I had hardly any let alone many stitched. I left my most favourite one at Colins mum's so I guess I won't be seeing it again. Being a prolific reader, one can never have too many bookmarks, but in my case, not enough!

Colin cooked the dinner today as I am still feeling sore, but getting there.

Our area was flooded

Pictures and story curtesy of Hastings Observer online

(I live just around the corner and luckily on a hill!)

Date: 07 July 2009 By Richard Morris

After weeks of scorching sun the heavens finally opened this morning - flooding parts of Hastings and leaving cars in St Leonards submerged in pools of water. Storms hit 1066 Country at just after 1am this morning and have not let up since. Blackman Avenue was one of a host of roads closed off by the time locals left for work, with fire crews battling to clear water which had flooded at the end near Battle Road. In fact, as our exclusive pictures show, parts of Hollington were left as much as five foot underwater, with cars wrecked, gardens ruined, homes flooded and bins bobbing on the water. Elsewhere, parents were told St Paul's School had been forced to close after it was a struck by lightning, causing the electrics to short circuit. And, students on their way to Filsham Valley School were diverted across the South Saxons Wetlands in order to get to lessons because of severe flooding which left the entire school field under water. Emergency services said they were inundated with calls. Mark O'Brien, of the local fire service, said: "We were called out two hours ago because of flooding in Blackman Avenue and Hollington Old Lane. "We have received a number of calls about flooding across town with properties and road affected. "In Hollington Old Lane there has been severe flooding due to the rainfall last night. A number of residents are staying in their properties and are cut off by flood water. "They are in no immediate danger and are being asked to go to the upper part of their homes where it is safe. "Water has not entered the houses and we are working hard to make sure it does not. "There is forecast to be further rain today." He said nine homes in Hollington Old Lane had been affected and two in Blackman Avenue, adding: "The flood water is running towards Stonehouse Drive where around 20 properties have been affected." He said the area had flooded because a storm drain had not been able to cope with the high level of rainfall, adding: "We have got emergency equipment and teams on standby to rescue residents in case the water level rises."

Hardanger

Rene started her online hardanger class today and this is my first part completed. The photo isnt that good as the light from the scanner bounced off the light material. I really enjoyed doing it, so much so that I got my Castles in the Air SAL out and started part three. Just what I needed to get back into stitching.

Apparently, some of you think I have stopped blogging on my day to day blog where there hasnt been any updates in google reader. I have been blogging but for some reason, the feeds are not going through. Alternatively you can add this blog which is exactly the same as my other blog..........it's a back up lol and on Blogger. What can I say? I like blogging lol.

On the road to recovery

Last Tuesday, I had my gallbladder removed. I'm doing well, just very sore. I'm very bored though as it is so hard just sitting or laying around lol. I was so bored yesterday that I signed up for Club Pogo lol. Also been playing lots of World of Warcraft online lol.
Sod's law that we have been having a heatwave while I've been stuck inside.............mind you, not a bad thing I guess as I dont want to get burnt.
Oh yeah, been Twittering and on Facebook a lot, also learnt how to make the most out of my Nokia E71, including how to upload piccys straight from my mobile to Nokia Ovi and Twitpic etc.................I feel like a darn geek now lol.

Summer Dragon, page 4 completed.

(Click on photo to bigify)

I have just finished page four and only have two pages left to go! The picture does not do justice to all the metallics and blending filaments that are used. All the borders, except the grey areas, contain some metallic or another. Even the black rock contains metallics. So, just two pages to go and then the back stitching of the dragon. Then it's finished, woohoo!

England Heart by The Victoria Sampler

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I finished my England Sampler by The Victoria Sampler. I am really pleased with the way it turned out. The kit came with information too.

Official Flower: English Rose
Motto: "Dieu et Mon Droit" (God and My Right)
Bird: European Robin

The offical Flower of England is the English Rose, and the Robin on the left is the official bird. The Foliage stitch under the Robin, symbolizes the wonderful green valleys that attract visitors from all over the world. The St.Georges Cross is the national Flag. The featured stitch represents the surrounding ocean (fan stitch), as well as the Thames River. Finally, at the bottom of the heart, you can find the Crown of England to celebrate the long reign of Queen Elizabeth 11!

On Monday we rang Kodak and they said they would send us a new printer head free of charge and it turned up yesterday (Wednesday), I am certainly impressed with how speedy it turned up! So needless to say, I printed out the Papillon pt 3 SAL out lol.

PT 2 finished of Castles in the Air

This afternoon I finished part two of the Papillon SAL, Castles in the Air. As much as I love stitching it, I had to force myself to do it as I have lost the plot where stitching is corncerned and over the past couple of weeks, have not even fancied stitching. And I'm fecked off as the printer won't print properly so I can not print part three out. The past two weeks have been very stressful for me, lots of things happening, some good, some bad and a smattering of bad panic attacks inbetween. And on top of all this poop, we are trying to move house. [Full story on the other blog.]

Catch up time.

Yesterday I spent quite a few hours on Summer Dragon. I am almost done with page four now. I am trying to keep this as my main project now because it should of been finished a long time ago. I've had to many distractions lol. I won't be starting anything big either when it is finished as I am moving straight onto Celtic Summer and The Magician that has become a UFO. Talking of UFO's, I found another one. It's a bookmark, but a very large bookmark of the sun and moon. That has now become my smaller project.
I hope everyone is well and managing to get stitching time in!

'May' by Lizzie Kate finished

I finally finished it although we are already into May. I might give the next one a miss as I am so behind in my stitching now! Oh well, better late then never lol.

Lucky Recipient.

Today I was the lucky recipient of this kit from The Victoria Sampler. It was from Wanda for being the winner of the lucky draw on ILCS Shrinking Sisters.Its a support group for dieting stitchers. I absolutely love it and have put it in my 'to do soon' pile. Thank you so much Wanda!

I still havent finished the LK May Stamp. I knew I wouldnt get it done in time. I should of elaborated and said that I didnt have much stitching time.........you all must of thought I was a slow stitcher or something PMSL! Oh well, better late then never. Hopefully it will be done over the next few days.

Summer Dragon update

(Click to bigify and see detail)

As promised, here is the latest update. I have nearly finished page four. I really am begining to think that I might get it finished this year.

Sunday update

I started my May Lizzie Kate Stamp today. I wasn't going to bother with it as I thought I didnt have time to do it but Rene La Frog Pooh persuaded me otherwise lol. I also started part two of Castles in the air. There's not enough done to warrant taking a picture.

I will update on Celtic Summer and Summer Dragon during the week when I have taken photos of them.

Celtic Summer update

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I didnt realise how long ago I last did an udpdate on this. I have been concentrating on her skirt today as I'm fed up with her only having half a body lol. I mainly work on her on Thursdays but I might up it to two days a week to try and get her finished in the not too distant future!

T Mobile Improvisation ....for Carolyn lol

Carolyn posted a video about inprovisation, so I thought I would post the British Version which was filmed at Liverpool Street Station in London. It was done for a advert for T Mobile and is still shown here in the UK. This has had over 10 million hits so far.

Proximity Award

Carolyn gave me this award, thank you so much!

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. "

I am passing on this award to:

Gabi

Terri

Colin

Terri

Linda K

Stitch or Die

Stitch or Die by Barbara Ana

I finally finished it this evening. I have not done much stitching this last week but fancied doing some tonight and this is about the only non BAP I had on the go. It's different to what I normally stitch but I like it anyway and it made a change.

I got part two of Castles in the Air by Papillon Creation today but probably won't start it until next week. I want to get a few more stitches into Celtic Summer and Summer Dragon first!

Colour the World Exchange

This is my Colour the World exchange that I recieved from Rene.
I love it all especially the CSI Vegas T Shirt and I am also a major huge fan of the show.
Rene knows me so well and picked things she knew I would really love.
Thank you so much my friend!

Part one finished.

I have finished the first part of the Castles in the Air Mystery SAL by Papillon Creation. I am really liking the way this is turning out. I am happy with the colours I have picked. I am leaving the beads for the moment as I want to see what part two holds before I comit finally to the two bead colours.

Weekend update

I got quite a lot down on Barbara Ana's 'Stitch or Die'. Hopefully It won't be too long before it is finished. This is a fun stitch as it is bright and cheerful.



(Click on photo to bigify)

This is what I have done so far on Castles in the Air, the mystery SAL by Papillon Creation. It's starting to move along nicely. I am making sure I go slow and concise to get the counting bang on and first time due to the intricacy of the speciality stitches.



I haven't really worked on it over the weekend as I prefer to stitch this one with no Him Indoors or the kids around lol. Less likely to be mistakes that way!