Weekly Update

I have not got as much done as I would of liked, but I was very busy over the weekend.

First Up Spirit HAED:

I am very pleased as I have finished page one and page two which is a partial page.

Next up, Midnight Enchanter:

I am so close to finishing the actual stitching! Just leaves tons of backstitching and couching :-/

Just the bit left in the above photo to stitch and the mauve Kreinik at the top of the moon.

RAK

Edie from my I Love Cross Stitch Yahoo group sent me a RAK. I knew Edie was sending me it but what I was not expecting was her astounding generosity! Edie sent me L&L Angel of Summer, Celtic Christmas, Angel of Spring and last but not least Angel of the Sea including all the threads and beads for it. I was astounded to say the least! I had tears in my eyes when I saw exactly what Edie had gifted to me. She also sent me some pieces of fabric which will come in more than handy seeing Colin's job situation is so dire at the moment. I just can not thank you enough Edie and again, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Lizzie Kate Win

Linda over at the official Lizzie Kate blog held a competition and all you had to do was leave a comment about your favourite bacon food and I WON! I hardly if ever, win anything, so I was chuffed to bits!

http://lizziekateblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/makin-bacon-blog-contest.html

Drumming

All the Scouts groups in our area held a big parade on Sunday in honour of ST. Georges Day , which was actually on the Monday but due to the good old British Government (said with much sarcasm) it is NOT a public Holiday seeing it is England's patron Saint but it should be seeing Wales, Ireland and Scotland all get a day off for their Patron Saints day! Just put a wig on David Cameron (UK's Prime Minster, but you knew that didn't you?), and he will be the spitting image of Maggie Thatcher the Snatcher...............but I digress, sorry,

Anyhow, we drummed for the scouts and didn't realise till we got there what a big parade it was or should I say just how many scouts there were. There was hundred's of them lol. Anyhow, we had a great time drumming in their parade then we headed off around Hastings and then the Old Town drumming for St Georges Day (in advance lol, don't get me started again lol, bloody government).

This is just a few of us but there was about 40 drummers altogether.

Having a pint before we started drumming.

Monday Update

The last week seems to have  flown by!

First of Midnight Enchanter:

I put some more stitches in at the top, the mauve Kreinik but concentrated more down the bottom. There is still a sizeable chunk left to do then the back stitching and couching, but hopefully not too many more weeks now until he is finished.

Apart from my two HAEDS, (ones just a Storykeep, besides, two types of stitching, HAEDS 1 over 1 and normal BAP 2 over 2 , thats my logic for starting a new project lol), after ME is finished I won't have any current BAP's on the go, so I am looking forward to starting something new. Not sure what though. Maybe Circe the Sorceress or a Lavender and Lace Design or even a Patricia Allison Dragon, the ones with all the Kreinik and blending. I am digressing, back to the updates.

Spirit Storykeep by HAED stitched 1 over 1.

Looking much better now that the top of the ladies head is showing. Lots of Kreinik in the 'whitish' areas. It is quite a pain to use on 1 over 1 stitching, trying to get it to lay nice and flat and not look bulky.

RAK'd by Nancy M

This morning I received a RAK from Nancy M . She had read on my blog that I needed to order some navy aida for my son's wolf that I will be stitching him and offered to send me some seeing she had some to give away. Nancy also sent me some other goodies as well...............thank you so much Nancy, I really appreciate it!

I love Cross Stitch Bookmark Exchange

This morning I also received my bookmark from Lyn N.

Thank you so much Lyn, I love it!

Section 5

Our local hospice, St Michaels, asked if we would drum at their charity fund raiser on Saturday, which we did and had a great time as always.

Me on the right in the topper and Colin is the one with the red face lol.

Colin.

Getting ready to play.

HAED Spirit Update

This is what it will look like:

This is a before photo:

And this is what it look's like now:

So far, this is a total of 5000 stitches, done 1 over 1 on 25ct Lugana. I have done half of page one and two. This is the full width. It also includes Kreinik, which is quite hard to get the stitch to lay flat on 1 over 1.

I was stitching my other HAED The Green Man on Dublin linen which was the recommended fabric. It looks absolute shit terrible. I had put in 500 stitches. So I am restarting it on 25ct Lugana which arrived this morning.

Last Friday morning, I received a lovely RAK from Debbie in Canada. She sent it before Christmas and for some reason, it only just arrived. Better late then never!

She sent me a lovely needle case and some floss from The Gentle Art. I am already using the needle book case and it will stop me losing lots of needles in the arm of the settee! Again, thank you so much Debbie!

A RAK from Shelley and More!

As promised on my ILCS Yahoo group, here is my RAK from Shelley......................

Isnt he just the cutest frog? Here he is on my seasonal shelf that still needs adding to.................

Again, thank you so much Shelley, I love him and he will live on my seasonal shelf. I think I need to get him some play mates though lol.

I finally finished my granddaughters, Whitneys, blanket. I got rather behind on it.

I have this weekly publication where you crochet a square a week. Eventually you get enough squares to make a throw out of them. Some of the squares I think are pants, but I still crocheted them lol. I am hideously behind on it to say the least! I got the bug to crochet again and managed to do 7 squares over a few days.

Tomorrow is the virtual stitch in on my group. I am hoping to finish The Shelf over the weekend. I am looking forward to starting something new lol.

After my last post, a lot of you expressed an interest in my teapot. It is a limited edition collectors piece. I collect teapots and tea paraphernalia. Don't laugh lol!!!!!!! I have loads of miniature teapots as well as some full size ones. Some of you have stated you would like to see my collection. I will get some photos of them all over the weekend and do a blog entry on them.  I am always on the look out for new ones. Some miniatures I found in charity shops.

Talking of tea, I think I shall have a cup of Rooibos (I don't do caffeine) and a slice of mince meat fruit cake I made :-)

The teapot is a fish and chip shop. Yup, that's right, a fish and chip shop lol.

I haven't brought any pots for simply ages, as haven't had the funds to do so, but I am hoping to add to them this year. I also collect china thimbles but that's a different story!

Two Finishes and a RAK

It's been a couple of week's since I last blogged. Health has been a big issue for me. I had to have an Upper G.I Endoscopy and the news wasn't fantastic. I have to see a specialist but in the mean time I am seeing my Dr this Wednesday for my new tablets. I hope they work and help!

 

ILCS Virtual Stitch In

I found a piece I finished a year or two ago and decided to finish it off properly. I added some embellishments to it as well.

It's an old freebie by Barbara Ana. I used DMC glow in the dark for the white ghost and the cobwebs. I am pretty pleased with the way it has turned out.

Another Finish.

I finished my October Lizzie Kate stamp. I think this one is my favourite so far.

I don't think I will bother with the November one. Not this year anyway. It's my least favourite....it has a turkey on it and seeing we don't celebrate Thanks Giving here in the UK, there's no need to rush to do it.

I have nearly finished my Praire Schooler sampler as well. Not to many stitches left to put in. Not done any on my Sunday piece for the last few Sundays....my Lizzie Kate 'It's a Jingle Out There'.

Last but not Least

I got a fabulous RAK from Shelley on my ILCS group. It couldn't have come at a better time.

Needless to say, that I have eaten the chocolate already!

Again, thank you so much Shelley, well appreciated! The card and ornament are on my seasonal shelf :)

A finish and update.

Lizzie Kate June 'stamp'.

Stitched on a fabric oddment from a Polstitches 'Grab Bag'.

I finished this last night. I really like the way it turned out and I think it is my favourite one so far.

I framed this too which was a job and a half. I originally was going to make it into a pillow ornament but decided once it was finished that I wanted it framed. What made it a pig was I hadn't left much for the boarders on it as I don't when making ornaments as I like to be econimical with fabric. So, out came the sewing machine and I sewed strips of fabric on the stitched piece so I could stretch it to frame it. There's a little hint of the pink fabric at the bottom of the frame. Other than that, it turned out ok.

Shelley from my ILCS group, sent me a RAK. She sent me some floss I needed for a couple of projects and a Wolf chart which I really love. Thank you so much Shelley!

I have started two new pieces. One is a stitched pincushion for an exchange and the other is a Tea Sampler by The Design Connection. I really love the way this one is turning out and the picture on the chart does not do it justice.

I am really excited about this coming Sunday as I am going to meet up with a couple of stitchers from my town. They advertised in one of the cross stitch magazines, which I didn't get, but Sadie emailed me with the particulars, so I emailed and we have arranged to meet at lunch time Sunday. So, thank you Sadie, very much appreciated that you thought of me!

Two parcels today

Yup, I got two parcels today. One was my Fabric of the Month and Floss of the Month clubs from Polstitches.

The other was a RAK from Emily in NC................thank you so much Emily I really appreciate it. I just love the red dragon. There are some more charts too but they are underneath the dragon in a booklet.