Midnight Enchanter Update

It's been a while since I updated this, so here is a before picture:

This is what it looks like now:

A close up of the area I am working on:

A prospective shot on how large the project is:

So what do you rate my chances on getting it finished this year? After the cross stitching, there is tons of back stitching and piping to do..........time will tell on whether I get it done this year lol.

A Finish and Update and More

I have finished my January owl for the Oakhaven SAL. I really like the way it has turned out.

I have worked on my Halloween Fairy also.

I finished the wing and am now starting on the second one.

I have worked on Midnight Enchanter, but no pictures  yet.

I got a wonderful present from my daughter Rebecca. She gives me presents now and again for looking after my granddaughter. I just love it!

As you can see it is a Cath Kidson sewing basket. I just love her stuff but have never bought any as it is so expensive!

My daughter Becky and my granddaughter Androulla (Ulla or Doullie)

She has just started walking these past few days. I love her to pieces.

On Sundays last year, I used to meet up with a couple of other stitcher's, Sophia and Jenny but had to stop going because of looking after my granddaughter. Sophia emailed me out of the blue, and after I said I couldn't make weekends, moved it to a Tuesday evening. It was nice to be able to stitch with other stitcher's. This Tuesday gone was  my first evening with them. Apparently three other ladies are interested in joining us.

Thank you Evalina!

I was lucky enough to win Evalina's Followers Appreciation Give Away on her blog http://evalinamaria.blogspot.com/ and my packet arrived today!

I have already opened the chocolates lol. The LK chart is just adorable and I will definitely be stitching it. The dream catcher will be going in my bedroom and the frog is just so cute! It is the first time I have won a blog give away.

Thank you so much Evalina!

A Finish and Update

Woohoo! I finished Just Nan's 'Boo'.............it was supposed to be a needle book but I couldn't understand the making up instructions, I thought it would look nice as an ornament  [cough cough].

Halloween Fairy is slowly coming along. It would have a lot more done on it if I didn't keep starting new projects :-)

I also started 'The Great Escape. It is a free SAL using speciality stitches on The Stitch Specialists Group and designed by Abi.

Not much to see yet and I should of taken a close up picture..........they are montenegrin stitch.

I also worked on Midnight Enchanter but will post a picture when it has more done on it.

Vicky L suggested I join Oakhaven Designs group as I mentioned I love owls, as they are doing a SAL on owls over 12 months. They are on Septembers one now though. I have nearly finished the January one and hopefully will get it finished tomorrow. The owls are so cute!

Went to a fancy dress birthday party on Saturday night. Pictures can be seen here in my other blog 

Two Small Finishes

And yes they are small lol, but a finish is a finish and I have had hardly any this year.

First up is a Christmas Tree ornament. It was in TWOCS magazine and now I have finished it, I am not sure if I like it.

It is  done on plastic canvas and uses little buttons for tree decorations.

Second finish is the cover kit from the same magazine:

It is a Margaret Sherry design.

Here it is in the actual card. Not sure what I am going to do with it, keep it or send it to someone!

I have started another little ornament, an owl this time. Just recently I have started to have a 'thing' about owls..........hmmmmm I can see a new collection starting up now lol.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Since falling ill, Colin said to put my feet up and stitch, so stitch I have.

First off is Halloween Fairy. This is what she looks like now:

As you can see, I have just started one of her wings. She is stitched completely in Cresent Colours.

Next up is Just Nan's Boo:

The picture is a bit blurry but you get the gist of what it looks like..........it is very bright but for some reason the colours have not come out in the photo very well.

Then there is this cover kit from TWOCS:

As you can see I am on the back stitching. I have realised why I hate cover kits. The aida is cheap and nasty, always run out of floss and too much back stitching lol, but saying that, it does look nice. It is a Margaret Sherry design.

Next an ornament:

This is a chart from TWOCS. I remembered I had some plastic canvas so I had everything to be able to do  this at no added cost. Just need to cut it out and add embellishments and then put some sticky backed felt onto the back.

Last but not least:

I started this literally years ago lol. It has had a thread put in it here and a thread put in it there lol. High time it got finished. It is a Wizzer ornament from Janlynn. in case you haven't guessed, a snowman lol.

I have not worked on any of my large projects this week, but hope to next week at some point!

Thank you for reading this post, comments always very welcomed and much appreciated!

Halloween Fairy Update

This is what she looks like so far. She is stitching up really quickly. I am glad I swapped the material as I think she looks a lot better on this one than the one that came in the kit. At this rate, I think I am on track to finish her in plenty of time for Halloween!

This is Just Nans 'Boo'. I am thinking of making it into an ornament rather than the needle book as the instructions are a bit convoluted! Besides, I can always stitch it again.

I also started a cover kit from WOCS magazine. Its a cute Margaret Sherry Christmas card. I am stitching on that when I look after baby Ulla as it is small enough to try and keep it out of Ullas way lol.

Saturday, we drummed in Alexander Park, which was a fun day for families with lots going on. Colin and I were very fortunate to have our photos taken by a professional photographer. We found them on Facebook lol.

 

Colin without his topper on (top hat)

Me with one of my wigs. I just love my topper!

Group photo, the twins are standing one either side of Colin.

Last night we had a Section 5 Pirate crazy golf session all dressed up as pirates. We had a great time even though it was blowing an absolute gale. Made for more interesting playing lol.

Trying to Regain my Stitching Mojo

My stitching Mojo hardly exists although I really want to stitch. I get very frustrated when this happens.

I really do want to stitch but two things happen when I try:

A/ I pick some stitching up and just end up staring at it.

B/ I want to start something new but do not have the 'urge' to sort something out to stitch.

So, I went through my stash and forgot I had this kit by Mirabilia, 'Halloween Fairy'. It is not a very large piece so should give me some incentive. I thought it would look better on a lighter fabric than the linen it came with so picked out a piece of Polstitches Fabric I had laying around.

All being well, I am hoping that I can get stuck into it tonight.

Wish me luck!

Lost My Stitching Mojo

The last couple of months, I have completely lost my stitching mojo. Where the hell it has gone I just don't know. I seem to stitch for a couple of months and then nothing for a while. I would dearly love to stitch again, but have not a clue what to do. I would need to stitch something small to get me into it, but what? Suggestions always welcome.

Here is where I left off on Celtic Summer:

And here is a close up of the area I was working on:

What I can say is that I miss Rene dreadfully and I know she would want me to carry on stitching :-)

Other news: I am awaiting another Colonoscopy and a CT scan where my stomach problems are concerned. The consultant is worried as I have lost 24lbs without dieting and in such a short time span. I have been put on a strict diet but am still eating chocolate as I just can't give that up lol.

Drumming is going great. My twin boys have joined Section 5 now. Last weekend we drummed at Bodiam Castle Medieval Fair and were lucky enough to drum on top of a turret complete with medieval clothes. It was awesome to say the least!

Getting ready to drum by the castle.

Nice shot of the castle! (I'm the one in the cloak with the flower garland on my head lol)

Getting ready to drum on the turret! It could be heard for miles.

Colin and I in 'normal' section 5 garb..........I ditched the face paint for this event at Crowhurst and went for a wig instead lol.

I know some of you are interested in Castles here in the UK, so here is a link to Bodiam Castle:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-bodiamcastle/

It is situated 12 miles from where I live.

'It's a Jingle out There' Finished

It's a Jingle out there by Lizzie Kate stitched in DMC

I couldn't resist finishing this off this afternoon instead of stitching on Celtic Summer. I am not sure whether I will frame it for Christmas or finish it some other way.

For my next small piece, I found a Mill Hill kit called Wisteria Angel that somehow ended up as a UFO which is about half done.  Lots of beading going on in that piece and I will post a picture once it is finished.

Update on Celtic Summer

Here is a before photo:

And this is what she looks like now:

And a close up of the area I have been working on:

I am really pleased with the way she is turning out.

I have also nearly finished 'It's a Jungle out There' by Lizzie Kate, which is my small piece I am working on.

I will post a picture of it once it is finished.

Update on The Green Man and CITA

I finally started The Green Man by HAED. I need to get some more threads for it so at the moment I am stitching on my other HAED 'Spirit', which is a story keep.

So far I have done 600 stitches all in blues, greens and black.

Castles in the Air

This is what it looked like before:

And this is what it looks like now:

It is slowly coming along.

Colin and I have joined a drumming group. We play at festivals, carnivals, private functions etc which we raise money for the special baby unit at our local hospital. We are called Section 5 Drummers.

Its great fun and relieves a lot of stress at the same time lol. I love watching little kids faces when they see us playing. They get so excited.

As you can see in the above picture, beer is a necessary part of an event before, during and after we play lol.

Spirit HAED Update

I have done 10 hours on Spirit. Here is what it looked like before I started with 200 stitches in:

And this is what is looks like now with 1400 stitches in.

1400 stitches altogether so far! It stitched pretty quick as there wasn't too many colour changes and a few of the blocks of 10 x 10 had only two colours. I can see why people get adicted to HAEDS. I get quite excited for every 10 x 10 square I cross off on the chart!

I have also done a bit on my Lizzie Kate, this is what it looks like.

Not too much more to do on it. It stitches up lovely and quick.

Now it is on to stitching Castles in the Air. I thought I was on part 5 but I am on part 4. I'm hoping to get quite a bit done in the 10 hours before I rotate again.

Very sad day

I am very sad and upset as we had to put one of our dogs Lupi to sleep. He was riddled with arthritus and his liver was begining to fail. This is one of my favourite pictures of him.
R.I.P dear little Lupi will always love you and miss you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Bookshelf is Finished!

 

Woohoo, it's finished. I can't believe there was so little to do on it! The picture does not do justice to the colour of the fabric which is a crystal peach.

Since buying my HAED The Green Man, I have discovered that I already had a HAED on the go, a story keep. It only has 200 stitches in, but I am going to start stitching on it regularly. I also found a Lizzie Kate piece, 'It's a Jingle out there' half completed, which I will stitch on while I am looking after baby Ulla. It is impossible to stitch on any thing thats needs full concentration as she is a very cuddly baby. So, the HAEDs will be done when shes not around and easy pieces for when she is around.

I must Be Mad!

Why you ask? Because I have just purchased a HAED chart.......

 

It is The Green Man Cernunnos. I have just ordered 25ct Dublin Linen for it from www.sewandso.co.uk 

I didn't really want to commit to a HAED but it was the only chart I liked when I was looking for a Green Man one. I am going to get it kitted up over the next couple of weeks. I am hoping I don't have to buy too much thread. If I do, I will buy as needed.

Seeing it is such an undertaking, I will have small projects on the go as well.