The Stitchin' Chicken

Orts and ends.

2012-01-23T10:54:00.005Z

Just realised that I did not update my ort pot for last year. I don't participate in the TUSAL , but I do like to keep track of my bits and bobs.

So this is my orts from last year . Now ,I admit that not all of them are from last years stitching , at one point I was clearing up a bit and dragged all the bits of thread out of the cover kits that I'd stitched etc, so there are some stragglers. But, I also filled a box with usable bits of thread , whether I will actually get round to using them is another matter ,lol .

Got some more bargains just before Christmas , with these two kits at 1/4 original price. My kind of stash. I went out for a couple of hours me time the other day , and picked this up from one of the charity shops. I have the first one already, and there are some nice charts in here . My kids have already picked out a few. This year I am hoping to do more things for them , as they have been very patient and understanding while I have been stitching for charity. I also called in at my LNS and picked up some fabric. A friend recently gave me these rolls of lace , they are a bit stretchy, but look really pretty so I'm sure I can find a use for them ,lol . And this is my newly started ort jar for this year . I am busy stitching away , but can't show anything at the moment ,as I'm working on some RAKs. I have four stitched,and two of those are made up , and now I'm working on the fifth . I'm really enjoying it ,and it's nice to stitch what I want when I want .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Catching up .

2012-01-17T10:51:00.004Z

Hi everyone .

On Thursday 5Th Jan I got myself a serious case of Stitch Butt. Both kids were back at school , school went back the day before but my boy stayed off for the first day , still recovering from his poorly ear . He had a type of abscess behind his eardrum which eventually burst , leaking blood and pus for a few days , but thankfully he is now back to his usual mischievous and cheeky self .

Anyway, my first day of peace was spent in stitchy bliss , well mostly , I had a lot of back stitch to do ,lol .

So , I got myself a finishThis Tatty Teddy has now been sent to Love Quilts UK , to be included in one of their named quilts. Not usually the sort of thing I like stitching . My only other Tatty was my daughters' birth sampler ,and I have to admit to making the back stitch up as I go along as the charts do my head in. I enjoyed it , but I'm glad it's finished .

I also wanted to share this lovely sunset from the other day. We are getting a few nice ones lately,as it has turned colder . Frost all day for the last few days. The sunrises are really pretty too , but we don't get a clear view from here .

I have been doing a little more stitching. I've started a small project which will hopefully become one of my RAKs, but it's slow going . Not a hard chart , I've just been distracted. I have been spending some of my Christmas money on books , so have been reading a lot. I've missed being able to buy new books so picked up quite a few . Luckily Asda have been selling some off for £1/£2 so I've gathered a few from there as well as a couple of others and also got one for Chrimbo from my hubby , so that was the first read of the year . I've just started number six, but think this might be a little harder going as it's been translated from Swedish, but we'll see.

Catch you soon .

Take care ,

Cath

Year of the RAK

2012-01-03T20:42:00.002Z

Hello again . Back so soon ? lol I have kind of decided to send out some RAKs this year, hoping for one a month , but I am not holding myself to anything . So ,here's the thing , I have some names and addresses and some of my followers are on the list , but are there any more out there who would like to be included on my potential RAK list ? If you are interested in maybe receiving something made by me , please send me an e-mail (in my profile) with your details if I haven't already got them . Please don't be shy , just jump in . Thanks , Cath

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!!

2012-01-02T21:12:00.006Z

Hope everyone has had a good start to 2012 .

Ours could have been better , my little lad is not very well again . He had a rotten throat just before and over Christmas, just got over that to start with earache. Not sure if it's infected or not , so we may be going off to the doctors' tomorrow if it's no better.

No stitchy goodies for me this Christmas , me and hubby only got each other a couple of token gifts with things being tight , we mainly spent on the kids , but I did get some money from other family members , just not sure what I'm going to spend it on yet ,lol.

So , I have a few finishes to show now that they have been received .

A friend asked me to make her a scarf a while back , then asked if I could make a hat to go with it . I'd started to knit the scarf in chunky white with pastel flecks , and she asked for cream , lol, so I decided to do both. The colours are not obvious in these pictures though .

These were my first attempts to make adult sized hats , they could have been better , but thankfully my friend liked them both .

I also stitched her these little kitties as part of her Christmas gifts . A also got around to sending out (rather late) my blogoversary gifts to Dawn and Jane , and both have been received . I knitted a little red and white stocking and made beaded scissor fobs. I also included a pair of scissors (not shown) . Sorry I was so late ladies ,things have been very up and down here of late . A few people were wondering what I was going to make with those knitted strips , so here it is , a paper chain scarf , just to be different ,lol . I had almost enough strips left over to make two smaller ones for the kids , just need to knit a few more strips . They thought it was cool . I have to show you a lovely gift I did get for Christmas . My best friends Mum - in - law made me this lovely scarf after I admired one she'd made for herself .

This picture really doesn't do it justice , it is gorgeous, and in my favourite autumnal colours too . Love it. Lastly , this is what I'm stitching on at the moment , hopefully a finish soon . So , looking back at my aims for last year , I managed to complete a massive...... one. Ah well, the best laid plans and all that .

I completed 67 stitched pieces , 40 of which were for charity.

I knitted 4 adult size scarves , 4 kids scarves , 2 teddy scarves (got to include them , lol ) , 2 adult hats , 8 baby hats , 8 pairs of bootees , 1 teddy and 3 stockings.

I also read 100 books.

This year , I just want to stitch and enjoy my stitching . I would like to finish my WIP/UFOs , but we'll see .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

What does Wontoo smell like ?

2011-12-24T11:48:00.003Z

You gotta love kids who ask questions like that , right? Yesterday , my son was telling my daughter that on New Year , before the countdown , they had to say Happy Birthday to his teacher as it is his birthday at the New Year. I was only half listening as my daughter started singing Happy Birthday , but then she piped up , " Mum , what does wontoo smell like?" What ??? "What does wontoo smell like ? , You know , you look like a monkey and you smell like wontoo! " After eventually picking myself up off the floor , I explained that it was actually, one too . But , it kept me giggling for a lot of the day . Just now , the kids are watching films on TV. Charlotte's Web has just finished , Muppet Christmas Carol is coming on and five minutes after that finishes, The Polar Express is on the other channel. My daughter asked what is after Polar Express , and hubby said "A rest." The reply ? "Can we watch that too ?" Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year , I will be back soon with a few more show and tells . Thanks for dropping by , Cath

Catching up and some thank yous

2011-12-12T14:22:00.007Z

Hi everyone , I've been meaning to post for the last couple of weeks, but time is getting the better of me .

My hubby has had a positive diagnosis of Genetic Haemochromatosis ,and has started treatment at the hospital. He has to have a unit of blood removed every two weeks at the moment , and we are hoping that it will start to bring his iron levels down. It is very early days , so no real change with his symptoms as yet .

I will have to be tested to see if I'm a carrier of it as the kids will have automatically inherited one faulty gene from their Dad , so they at the least will be a carrier. If I am clear then it won't have any effect on the kids, but they will have to be aware that it could be passed on to their children should they have any .

I have been stitching a bit , done a tiny bit more on the snails ,

and started a new project but I will show that next time when hopefully I will have done a bit more .

I have also been knitting , and have a plan for these .

I made this, basically to see if I could and now I'm not sure what to do with it . I've had an offer of a good home , so we will see , lol. she just needs a nice scarf of some sort.

On to the Thank yous .

First to Becky who very generously sent me a bag full of tins and boxes to aid my finishing . I am looking forward to finding some smalls to add to these. Thanks again Becky .Then to Chris who passes on her charts when she has finished with them , and very kindly sent me this happy little snowman , again something to look forward to . Thanks Chris , I love him. And , last but not least thanks to the lovely Nia who sent me this lovely Christmas card and bunch of everlasting mistletoe . Nia , you brought a smile to my heart , thank you sweetie.

If you haven't visited any of these lovely ladies blogs , please do so .

I am seriously hoping to get back into the swing of crafting and blogging , but probably not until after Christmas now. The presents are bought , but not wrapped , most of the cards are written , but not sent , one nativity done , the other on Wednesday, then discos and parties . I am not joking , the kids have a better social life than me , at five and seven ,lol.

There are a couple of lovely giveaways listed on my sidebar , please have a look .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

In case you're wondering

2011-11-03T21:29:00.003Z

Why I'm not around much . As you may recall, In July my husband was made redundant from his job of nine years, what you won't know is at that time he was also ill. Initially we put it down to stress and exhaustion , but it got worse not better . He went to the Doctor and had routine blood tests for anaemia and other general things ,as he was totally exhausted all the time , falling asleep in the day as soon as he sat down, and feeling dreadful most of the time . The blood tests came up with the unexpected , his iron levels were high , not low . More than three times the usual level in fact. He was referred to the hospital , and his consultant thinks it is hemochromotosis , which is a genetic mutation which allows the body to absorb too much iron ,which then accumulates throughout your life , until it gets to a high enough level to cause problems . It usually makes itself know around 35-45 years of age in men , later in women . At the moment , we are waiting for the results of the genetic test,if it is this disease , the treatment is weekly blood reductions for up to and possibly over a year, then every two or three months afterwards for life , to maintain the lower levels of iron. As this is genetic , to suffer from it you have to inherit a faulty gene from both parents , so if it is a positive result I will then be tested to see if the kids may be affected in later life. As you can imagine ,the stress levels are incredibly high , and amongst this I am looking for a job to support my family, not the easiest of things at the best of times. I'm not stitching much as I can't concentrate , so not much to blog about , sorry . I hope to be back after some good news , with a new enthusiasm for everything , but time will tell . To the regular readers and follower , thank you for sticking with me , Cath

Stash and snails.

2011-10-18T11:40:00.006+01:00

Here I am again , though still not a lot going on.

Whilst out shopping for my Sons' birthday presents , we went into Beale's (ex Co-op dept store) , and they also have a small craft/haberdashery dept. I managed to spend some of my birthday money on some new stash , as they had a good sale on some things.

I first saw this kit over a year ago , and really liked it . The colours are beautiful , and to see it at half price , well what's a girl to do but buy it ?

And then I saw this one . I love wolves ,and already have a few kits on my to do list , but again at half price , you just can't go wrong .

I really have been wanting to start this one , but can't just yet . My stitchy bug is intermittent at best and I have other things to do .

I found this book in a charity shop . It has a few charts that I like so I will stitch them and then it will probably find it's way back into the system ,lol.

The success of the bags is continuing . Both of my kids have decided that they want a bag with stitching on too , so when I have been in the mood ,this is what I've been doing.

My son was very easy to please , he wanted snails . This chart is from an old copy of Cross Stitch Collection . Probably from around the late 90s' , but I can't say for definite as I just clipped out the pages .

No , I did not see into the future that my son would be a snail fan , let's just say that I kind of like them myself ,lol .

This was started first as it took my Daughter a long time to make up her mind what she wanted, she was coming out with list of about ten things , probably too much for one bag ,lol. I think she's now settled on flamingos, so that will be the next on the list.

I hope my stitchy bug comes back properly soon , I have so much to do !

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Birthday Season

2011-10-03T14:29:00.008+01:00

Well , I can now share with you a couple of my secret stitches that were for birthday gifts.

First off it was Laineys' birthday last weekend , and knowing her love of sheepies and purple , I was well chuffed a few months ago when I came across the perfect chart for her.

You may recognise it , LHNs' Lavender Hill . I really enjoyed stitching it ,and will have to do it again at some point for me ,lol.

I was planning on making it into a pillow , but didn't have enough stuffing , and they didn't have any in , where I usually get it from , so came up with this instead.

A tote type bag , in lavender fabric. I'm pleased to say that Lainey likes it .

The day after Laineys birthday , it was Auntie Janes' at SFPSFC , and this chart was just crying out to be stitched for her. It's from the "Children of Southern Roots" chart book , and the little girl with a teddy and blanket just said what we do in the charity group so much. As I was on a roll , I made this into a little bag too .

Then , it was my birthday !

Lainey sent me this lovely mag ,

And this fantastic pillow . I just totally love this to pieces , and it is so well co-ordinated with the trims etc .

And here it is with a couple of other lovely hand made gifts from special friends. Love my new kitty , and the boys aren't even a little bit jealous , lol.

I also got these two fab books from my Husband and friend .

And I treated myself to this I have found a few charts that I like , but on first impressions, I don't think it is as good as last years issue.

Mostly , I got money for my birthday , so I've bought some fabric to make Spooky Row into a wall hanging , and now I'm on a stash hunt ,so look out for some yummy stuff heading this way soon .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Catching up.

2011-09-18T12:02:00.008+01:00

Hi everyone , I am still here , just had a hectic couple of weeks .

Both kids back to school , and my Son started full time this year . After a couple of wobbly days (but not the first two) he seems to be settling in well now, and enjoying it . We've also had my Daughters' birthday party this last Friday , her birthday is tomorrow ,so the excitement has been building up .

Not much time or inclination for crafting really , way too much happening and the stresses are still around , with even more things causing grief , but we're battling along .

Stitching wise , I have some charity squares to show , name logos for quilts, some are for Rachel's Place and others for Hope Harbour , a one off we are doing for a foster home in South Africa . There are two without names as two new children have joined Rachel's Place , but we don't have their names yet .

I also stitched two squares for the Send Along , which I enjoyed .

They are all done on white aida , it's the lighting on my pictures that make it look blue , lol .

I do have a couple of other completed stitchy projects , but can't show them yet as they are for gifts . but I will be able to soon .

Also , I want to thank Cathy at The Inspired Needle , I won a giveaway on her blog recently, and here is what I won

Another bad picture , for some reason the scanner decided to include the blank space at the top . Still , you get the idea .

I know this is odd , with it being an Americana design , and I'm English , but I do like it and will stitch it ,so thanks again Cathy .

And, thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

WINNERS !

2011-09-05T12:00:00.006+01:00

I set my two random name pickers to work , and the winners of my 2nd blogoversary draw are : Jane (Buttons and Stitches) and Dawn (Anime Stitching) . I already have your details Jane, but Dawn , could you please e-mail me with your full name and address info and a bit about your likes and dislikes , thanks. Thank you to everyone who entered , and welcome to the new followers . I had intended posting before now , but we've had a busy week. Back to school tomorrow for both kids, and my son starts full time so the days are going to be a little strange until I get used to it . I will be back soon with a bit of stitching and maybe some other stuff. Thanks for dropping by , Cath

Two Years!

2011-08-20T19:33:00.002+01:00

Yep , today I have been blogging for two years , so I think it calls for a giveaway don't you ? So , if you want to win something made by me ( not sure what yet as I will try to fit to the winner(s) ) all you have to do is be a follower , and leave a comment on this post only by 4Th September . Easy . I think as it's a two year bloggyversary , I will choose two winners, so come on guys and girls , give it a whirl . Cath

Angels stitch on Earth

2011-08-19T20:51:00.004+01:00

I was most surprised to get a little package in the post yesterday , and totally stunned by the contents.

If you remember , last year I joined the Stitch it and Pass it On blog , and was the first person to stitch and send some lovely Christmas ornaments . Of course , being the first one to send means being the last one to receive , but not a problem.

We hit a few glitches along the way, and then a major one cropped up . One of the members said she posted it out in April , but it was never received ,so Tracy didn't get any stitching , and also lost her chart. I was sad ,as it meant I wouldn't get anything either , but hey ho ,these things can and do happen .

Unknown to me , Hazel had volunteered to be an Angel and stitch me an ornament as one of the charts was in a JCS mag , and that is what I received yesterday , along with some gorgeous ribbons and thread.

I absolutely love this ornament , it's beautiful , and I can't wait to put it up at Christmas. Thank you again Hazel , for a wonderful surprise , and for making my week a lot brighter. It gave me back a little faith in human nature .

I will be back soon with some stitching of my own , and other news .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Hats and Bootees

2011-08-12T20:57:00.004+01:00

I really enjoyed knitting the hats , and did a few different colours, then decided I needed a change , so I moved on to bootees.

I was only going to make a couple of pairs , but they were so easy , and so cute I ended up making a pair to go with each hat.

So ,eight hats and eight pairs of bootees later , here is what I got

Just to show how tiny these things really are . These are destined for a local(ish) hospitals' special care unit , I hope they help to keep some special babies warm .

The knitting has now come to a crashing halt as I decide what to do next . I spent one day this week sewing up flat pack teddies for Jane , and (GASP) I actually did some stitching this morning , so back later with pics of that .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Knitting and news.

2011-08-03T21:38:00.005+01:00

You probably won't remember , but way back in March I went through a stitching funk. As I don't watch much TV , I was getting fed up in the evening with having nothing to do , so I madly went and bought some knitting needles and wool.

The last time I did any knitting was when my eldest sister was pregnant with her first child. My niece is nineteen in October ,so you can guess I was a bit rusty.

I did hats, bonnets, jackets,cardigans , leggings ,pods , mittens , pretty much everything baby related , but this time I just wanted something to keep my hands busy .

So ,while the weather was warming up outside , I started knitting scarves ,lol .

This one was supposed to be mine , but I couldn't find any more wool the same ,so it's a little short .

One for my Son ,

And one for my Daughter .

I got back into the stitching for a while , but lately the stress has got to me again , so the knitting needles have made another comeback.

Squares for the jumpers and blankets for Stitch for Charity ,

Teeny prem baby hats , which I've just started doing .And here's one modelled by one of my Daughters' dolls , lol

I hope to get back into my stitching soon , hopefully things will calm down bit. DH has got a job interview coming up , so fingers crossed for that .

If you followed Terri's' site at Dixie Samplar designs ,the site has been lost , but you can now follow her new blog here . Go and have a look anyway . She's also having a giveaway to get her new blog going .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Award

2011-07-26T21:10:00.004+01:00

Rhona at Tangled Threads has given me the Stylish Blogger award , so thank you very much Rhona , I am honoured .

If you haven't visited Rhona's' blog ,please do so , she is a great stitcher and fantastic designer too.

So , rules of the award are 1)Thank the person who gave it to you .

2) List seven things about yourself , and

3) Pass it on to fifteen other blogs .

The seven things about myself is the part I was struggling with ,lol , so here goes.

1. I like banana sandwiches , when I was a kid I had it with ketchup (I know) , now I like it with peanut butter .

2. I drink tea at home and other peoples' houses , but drink coffee if I'm out .

3. I do not wear a watch , and haven't for years.

4. I have my ears pierced three times , and haven't worn earrings for about nine years. I can still get earrings in the first holes , but not the others though.

5. I am very short sighted , and also have a condition that makes my eyes a funny shape , so even with glasses my vision is not brilliant.

6. I hate shopping , especially for shoes .

7. I love to read , and could read pretty well before starting school . I have just finished my 43rd book of the year.

Now to pass it on to 15 other blogs . This was difficult too ,as I follow over 200 blogs , but I have chosen ones that I read regularly and enjoy a lot. There are a lot more , but I'm trying to stick to the rules . Some may have already been given this award ,and some may be no award blogs , but to be honest , I can't be doing with faffing about checking.

I'm not linking these blogs , but they can all be found on my sidebar . In no particular order ,

Beth at Garden Grumbles and Cross Stitch Fumbles ,

Sally at Stitchyangels Treasures ,

Sharon at It's Daffycat ,

Nia at Caixinha de Pirlimpimpim ,

Jane at Buttons and Stitches ,

Lesleyanne at Lesleyannes Life of Stitches ,

Marlene at Poppy Patchwork ,

Lainey at Laineys' Stitching Hoose ,

Lisa at Lisa V's Lounge ,

Hazel at Quietly Stitching ,

Loulee at Manxgirl ,

Mylene at Mylenes' blog ,

Becky at Becky Bees Stitching Hive ,

Theresa at Shakespeares' Peddlar ,

Patty at Hanging on by a Thread ,

Thank you to all these stylish bloggers for giving my plenty of reading and enabling , lol .

No news on the job front , just lots of forms to fill in and questions to answer at the moment .

I don't have much progress on Newton either , not been stitching much , I'm knitting at the moment instead . It keeps my hands busy while my mind is away with the fairies .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Just a quickie

2011-07-17T21:18:00.005+01:00

I haven't been stitching much with all the stresses at the moment. Mu husband lost his job last week, and whilst not unexpected , it's still not easy to come to terms with . When I did see something that I wanted to stitch , I jumped right in to do it while I was in the mood ,so I have a new start.

It's from the back of The World of Cross Stitching , issue 179 , though there are lots of others , I may end up doing a few of them. The saying on this just reminds me so much of my Daughter , lol. I also love Newton from Newtons' Law , my Daughter had just decided that she no longer wants her two teddies , so they have joined my two , lol.

On the positive side, my Husband has got to go to two sports days , and is able to be at school on Tuesday when our Daughter gets an achievement award , so we're making the most of it .

I can't believe the kids break up from school at the weekend , and come September , both of them will be in school full time. How time has flown.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Stitchy Challenge

2011-07-16T12:00:00.002+01:00

Ok ,all you stitchers , we now have a stitchy challenge from Stitch for Pleasure , Stitch for Charity . The best 10 x 10 inch square , with a Disney theme sent in by 25th December , will win : A craft bag with a stitch kit , aida , threads , hoops and gold needles inside. the fabric square must be 10" squares ,with the stitched design being around 8" square or thereabouts. This is open to everyone , member or not . If you wish to join in , please get in touch and I will let you have details of where to send. Thanks , Cath

More exchanges

2011-07-12T21:29:00.005+01:00

I mentioned that I recently took part in an exchange via the Stitched With Love Exchange blog , which was set up by Lainey , and I can now show some pics. My partner was Nataly , and this is what I stitched and sent for her.

I am so pleased that the mug and tea light holder arrived safely . Thank whoever invented bubble wrap , lol.

As you can see, I went with a cupcake theme, making a cupcake pillow using a chart from one of the stitching mags , think it was Cross Stitcher. The chart matches up pretty well to one of the cupcakes on the mug , which is cool . I also included magnetic notepads , a smelly thread cupcake kit , and some WDW thread , with lovely food names ,lol and a little lady bug bag , as there are always bugs on a picnic. I really could have done this exchange two or three times over ,as I found loads of cup cake themed items, it was great.

My stitching partner was Colleen, a new to me blogger , and I'm so pleased that I have a lovely new blog to read as well as some fantastic goodies and a lovely stitched pillow from her.

The pillow is a mix of two designs, French Country Basket from JBW and the wording is from TSG .Didn't Colleen make a lovely job of it ?

She themed the exchange with a Garden Party idea , so as well as the pillow I got some lovely floral buttons , and butterflies , floral scissors , gorgeous blue threads , my first ever Dinky Dyes , looking forward to using them and lots of other fantastic gifts .

So a big Thank you to Colleen , and also to Lainey for organising the exchange ,she did a brilliant job.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Woolly challenge update

2011-07-12T14:24:00.004+01:00

Just wanted to show a few pics of what the knitted squares will be made into.

Thanks ,

Cath

Just a quick note.

2011-07-07T20:22:00.001+01:00

Thanks for the enthusiasm re the woolly challenge. I have replied to messages where I can , but Carm , your profile is set to no reply on blogger. I don't want to put Jane's' address on her , so could you please e-mail me (addy on my profile) and I can let you know where to send squares. If anyone else is interested , please e-mail and I can send you the details . Thanks , Cath

Woolly challenge for SFC.

2011-07-06T21:19:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone , Auntie Jane at Stitch for Pleasure , Stitch for Charity has sent out a challenge for knitters and crocheters, so I'm just putting it out on here too . We are looking to receive 1,000 knitted or crocheted squares to be made into blankets and jumpers. The squares can be any colour , any ply as long as they measure 4" x 4". the deadline is 25th December ,and there will be a prize for the person who sends in the most squares. The prize is a knitting bag filled with wool ,needles, hooks and CHOCOLATE !!! If anyone would like to send in squares , please drop me a line and I'll let you have the details for posting . You do not have to be a member of the forum to join in this challenge. If you do send , please enclose a note with your details . Thanks , Cath

Stitching and Swapping

2011-07-05T13:46:00.014+01:00

Hi everyone , and welcome to the new followers . Good to see you , please feel free to drop me a line if you want to.

Well , the Old McDonald's' farm quilt turned out to be needed sooner rather than later , so I offered to stitch up all the remaining squares for it. As some had to be duplicated , I changed the colours round a bit , lol.

The little dog was originally charted facing the other way , and was a tan brown colour. I thought black and white was more apt ,as he'll look like a sheepdog , lol.Daisy as charted ,And as a slightly different colour . I have to say , I prefer this colour way . Petal facing the opposite way .Neddy as charted Woolly facing the opposite way ,and different colour . I hate stitching white on white , so this one is 3865And this one is ecru . I enjoyed stitching them , but I'm glad they're done ,and on their way to Jane to be made up into the quilt . I hope the little boy likes it when it's done. (And no , they weren't given names , that is me being odd , lol. )

In other stitching news , Lisa and I have just completed our private exchange ,and it was lovely.

We agreed on the exchange earlier this year , but I wanted to wait until June to make sure everything was sorted from my year long exchange with Lainey , and get a few other bits done. Funnily enough , I posted mine out the day before Lisa , yet I got mine from her a few days before she got mine , lol.

Anyway , this is what I received

I love receiving these kind of parcels. Look at all the goodies.Fabby , pins , buttons,kreinik thread and a gorgeous reindeer.A lovely chart I've never seen before . Also , I've never made a needle roll , so lots of firsts for me in this package.Lisa chose to stitch me CCNs' Cherry Hill , using the recommended threads and made it into a pin keep. I'm sure you will agree that it is gorgeous. I didn't have anything by CCN , and this is my first pin keep , and I totally love it.Isn't he fabulous. I'm going to have to keep an eye on him though, my Daughter has been dropping hints. She loves pretties ,especially sparkly ones , and she loves Christmas.

This is what I sent to Lisa. the chart is a freebie from the Workbasket , I'm fairly sure it's called Quaker Hedgehog. It was my first choice of charts to stitch , and after several times changing my mind , I came back to it.He's finished as a kind of pin keep , with a pocket for scissors at the back.The scissor fob is the centre of the hedgehog chart made into a full motif, I thought it turned out quite well.And the other goodies : Two pieces of even weave , DMC linen threads, a chart from Lisa's' wish list , notebook and a Tudor Rose Pin. I'm very pleased that Lisa likes it all , so another successful exchange . Another big Thank you Lisa , I've really enjoyed this.

I also took part in Lainey's' Summer tea party exchange, which I have received ,and I think my partner has received hers ,so hopefully we'll be able to show pics soon. There has been some delays with the problems with Canada post , but hopefully it will be sorted now.

Still no news re. my husbands' job. The company that bought them out are too busy dissolving their other recent purchases (Habitat and HMV) at the moment ,so will get round to letting them know what's happening at some point.

Thanks for dropping by everyone ,

Take care ,

Cath

Chickens and other animals.

2011-06-22T21:29:00.005+01:00

Just thought I'd show a few squares .

I finished my last chicken for the cushions. I did find some suitable gingham fabric on e-bay , but haven't bought any yet , more about that later.

We are doing a special request quilt at SFC, the theme being Old McDonald's' Farm , so I've also stitched a few for that.

Another chicken

Goose Cat and ,mouse

We are also doing a Disney themed quilt, so I stitched Dumbo. This is a chart from an old cover kit from a mag, still cute.

Today I've been busy with the sewing machine, did a few other bits and bobs , and made up this bag for a friend. She wants to attach some stitched squares so I've left one side open until that is done ,then it will be finished off. Other news , we have been worried for a while about the state of my husbands job, and heard last week that the company he works for has been bought out by a competitor. At the moment ,we still don't know where we stand, so as you can imagine , my stitching and blogging mojo has been a bit haywire to say the least . So , no new stash for a while either until we know what's what. While we don't need new cushions ,we do need to eat ,so the fabby will have to wait , lol.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Still here

2011-06-08T13:38:00.006+01:00

Hi folks , I know I have been neglecting my blog of late ,the truth is , not done much stitching either .

We have had a couple of big stress factors since the end of February which seem to have infected everything at the moment , so my mojo for most things is pretty low.

Add that to the extra long holidays the kids seem to have had from school , and everything has gone to pot. With Easter being late , inset days and extra bank holidays added on, they were off for three weeks , and they're only back at school for three weeks before half term.

Anyway , I was one of the lucky people who received an gorgeous lavender bunny from Nia.

Thanks again Nia , I love it and have it on the shelf next to my seat .X

I have done a bit of stitching. Three chickens from Cross Stitcher issue 229 (before they changed it). They will be joined by a fourth (eventually) and hopefully turned into a couple of cushions.

I'm hoping to find some gingham's in black and red to make them up . Work on the fourth chicken is slow , but hopefully things will improve soon.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Bolsover Castle (part one)

2011-05-28T15:19:00.011+01:00

These pictures are actually from last year , but we did so much in the summer holidays that I never got around to posting them. Bolsover Castle is not too far from us ,especially now that it has it's own exit junction from the M1 , it only takes us about 15 minutes to get there.

We decided to go out one Sunday last year , but didn't know where to go so just started driving to see where the road would take us . We stopped off at one place that looked as though there wasn't much there, but it cost a lot to get in .So in a round about way we got to the Castle. We paid to go in , enjoyed a look round then my husband decided that we might as well join English Heritage as we got our entrance fee back , and it meant we could go to lots of other places too . Plus , we got an extra three months membership for free by doing it direct debit.

The castle was built by the Peverel family ,and bought in 1612 by Sir Charles Cavendish who set about building "The Little Castle" a small keep that you can now walk around and view some of the paintings,murals and other artefacts.

The view from the entrance .

A scale model of the castle.

Parts of the ruins , which are still safe enough in the most part to walk around .Look at the view !

The door to the Little Castle . Some of the paintings .The ceiling in "The Star Room" , I love this , it's so pretty. The famous Venus Fountain . This is known to be one of or the most rude fountain ever . And not just for the tinkling cherubs , the creatures around the fountain are very well endowed , if you know what I mean , lol.

edit: to add this pic , lol. We had a great afternoon out ,and have been back since for events , which I will post about another time . To be continued....

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

I Am still here.

2011-05-23T22:05:00.007+01:00

Hi everyone , no I haven't deserted the land of blogging ,though it seems like ages since I posted . I have been reading blogs , just not got around to doing anything on my own.

Most of my stitching of late can't be shown for a while as it's for exchanges and gifts , though I do have a few bits to show and more in the pipeline .

After the ladybugs, I stitched Roo , twice , for a Disney babies quilt.

I was originally doing Baby Donald and Daisy , but I just couldn't get a proper feel for the charts, despite wanting to do them.

I recently received my last issue of Cross Stitcher magazine (for the foreseeable future at least). After reading the mag for over 15 years ,and for a lot of that time considering it to be the best of the British stitching mags , I cancelled my subscription.They changed the format of the magazine last year , and I decided to give it until Christmas to see if I could get on with the new look. Just after Christmas , I decided I didn't like it and after a couple of weeks , I canceled .Unfortunately , I'd just paid for another quarter ,and they don't refund , they just send the issues that you're owed , so this is my last one.

It is no longer a cross stitching mag . I know we are all experimenting with different finishes etc ,and it's nice to get new ideas , but not for the whole magazine and not when it changes it so completely . I have to say , that none of the issues I received after my decision to cancel did anything to change my mind . It's quite sad really.

Anyway , the free kit in this issue was a fox , which I quite liked so decided to stitch it . The aida that came with it was horrendous , not cut straight and it wouldn't have been straight even if it was cut straight , so I used a square I had in my stash.

Then I opted to do it again in slightly different colours , lol. They have been claimed by the kids now .

I have started a new small project , so I'll be back with pics soon , and also to show some pics from our recent days out .

Thanks for dropping by . hopefully normal service will now be resumed , lol .

Cath

Eight little ladybugs.

2011-05-05T20:34:00.004+01:00

I kinda got talked into completing a theme for SFC , which is the ladybirds from Cross Stitch Crazy . I did some a while back , but we had some spare that needed new friends to be able to make a quilt.

I agreed to do six , which ended up being eight , but they were quick and fun to do .

There are only seven charts in the series ,so I changed the heart for a star on the first one , and did them all in totally different colours to mix it up a little bit .

I can't wait to see the finished quilt .

Well ,in between the kids being ill with tummy bugs over the Easter holiday , we managed to get out to a couple of interesting places , so I'll be back soon with lots of pics .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Exchange for Lainey

2011-04-27T14:56:00.006+01:00

As you probably know , Lainey and I were doing a year long seasonal exchange which finished recently . I sent Lainey's package off a while ago , but she has been ill (thankfully feeling better now) . So , time to reveal what I sent .

I wanted something seasonal , preferable with all the seasons and found the freebies by the Stitcherhood , so this is what I came up with .

I originally though of making a kind of hanger which the pieces could be put in and out , but wasn't too happy with the idea , so instead I planned and gridded and came up with this . If you notice the triangles on the ends of the blocks , they helped turn this flat piece of stitching into this.

The back stitch enabled me to whip stitch it together , like you would a biscornu.(So now you know Lainey , lol) I did the ends first and half way across the edge, then stuffed it before finishing the closure. I think it turned out pretty good .It was lovely to stitch , though if I was going to do it again I'd probably change out some colours. This was done using the recommended DMC on the chart .

And here's a pic of the rest of the things I sent . Though Lainey will probably have better pics ,she usually does , lol .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

So close!

2011-04-19T11:03:00.009+01:00

I've been in a bit of a stitching funk since the beginning of March . Even doing the Pikachus for the kids didn't help , so I decided I needed something to get stuck in to.

A while ago , I lent Sadie my chart of Autumn Row by Bent Creek , and in return , she lent me Spooky Row . So , last Thursday morning , I decided to get to it . I also thought it would be a good idea to keep tabs on the progress , so here goes .

I actually started in the middle ,which I think is a first for me . I usually count out to the top left hand corner and work my way across and down.

So , this is Thursdays' progress.

The Skelly Bob . I actually bought some glow-in-the-dark thread to stitch him with , but after doing the hand , I invited the frog in . Sheesh that stuff is horrible to work with .It's like stitching with wool . So , it was back to the regular stranded cotton .

Fridays' Progress Including the R,S and T as I had missed a stitch on the R , so had to re-stitch those . thankfully I realised before stitching the whole pumpkin , otherwise it might have stayed ,lol .

Saturdays' progress:

The bird (Vulture?) and then back to the middle to start going backwards.Not much done on Saturday , it was one of those days where I was wanting and trying to stitch , but didn't really get round to it properly .

Sunday:

Not including the black . I started stitching before remembering to take a picture , lol . Sunday was not a great day either as my Daughter wasn't well . She's back to bickering with her brother now , so I think she's ok , lol.

Monday .

I was this close to a finish when I called it a night. In the end , I may as well have stayed up to finish . I went to bed at 11.30 , but didn't go to sleep for at least another three hours , plenty of time to complete it .

So , here it is today.

It is really hard to get a decent picture of something this long . The Whole Thing .

Bent Creeks' Spooky Row . Started 14/4/11 , finished 19/4/11. On 32 count linen , using the suggested DMC threads , apart from 935 , which I swapped for 3808 .

A big Thank you to Sadie , I will be sending the chart back soon.

It will probably be put away for a while now , not sure whether to frame it or make a hanging.

All I have to do now is decide what to do next !

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

FAB giveaway .

2011-04-18T11:40:00.002+01:00

Angela at Hooked on Stitches is having a great third blogoversary giveaway .

You get to choose your own chart (from LHN or Lizzie Kate) and type of finish ,and she will make it up for you .

Click here to take a peek.

Stitching and Chickens .

2011-04-11T10:57:00.004+01:00

Quick update on the new girls , two of them laid yesterday , which was a big surprise .

Theirs are the two eggs in the middle . they are a bit smaller than the others at the moment , but the girls still have to grow to full size .

Thought I'd better show some stitching too , lol. I mentioned a couple of things I was doing for the kids ,well here they are . Two Pikachu (s) .

Mu niece has downloaded some of the original Pokemon cartoons to her laptop , and they were all watching them couple of weeks ago. My 4 yr old, and 6 yr old , and 15yr old niece , lol . They were totally glued to the screen. Anyway , my two like Pikachu best so I got a couple of charts and stitched them up. They need to be finished off , with some felt at the back or something , but the kids like them.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

New Girls on the Block .

2011-04-09T21:41:00.005+01:00

I'm very excited . The weather here has been lovely ,so after taking the kids to a birthday party this morning (11-1) , and having some lunch ,we went out and got some more chooks.

I've been after some more for a while now , as the garden seemed empty with just two , but we had to wait for the right time .

So ,we've got two Light Sussex hybrids and a Black Rock hybrid , and they are lovely .

This is BlossomBossy IIAnd OllieHessy and Bessie are not too impressed right now . Bessy has had to assert herself as the boss so has fluffed up and jumped on the new girls a bit , but it soon settled down . Hessy isn't too bothered , she just likes a quiet life , but she sided with Bessie when Blossom stood her ground , so I think they will soon establish the new pecking order . So , I am a very happy bunny. The new girls aren't laying yet , so they have time to get settled into their new home , and I get to watch them when I'm doing the pots . See , there are silver linings ,lol.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Exchanges.

2011-04-05T21:24:00.004+01:00

Last week saw the last of my seasonal exchanges with Lainey . I got one parcel on Friday , and one on Saturday . Amazing as they were posted at the same time ,lol .

Anyway , Lainey really spoilt me . Look at the lovely goodies she sent

A gorgeous ladybird planter , which has gone down really well with me and the kids ,as we love ladybirds . Lots of yummy threads for my stash ,some fabric , sticky ribbon , choccy for the kids (that didn't last the day , lol) big paper clip , buttons and charms and DMC number stickers .

And

A fab chooky chart , gotta love it . It says "Oh Cluck" , my thoughts on many an occasion , lol.And a beautiful ladybird pillow , it is soo cute . Love it all . Thank you so much Lainey , I have really enjoyed the year of exchanges with you .X

I'll hopefully be back soon to show what I sent Lainey .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

DOH!!!

2011-04-01T21:41:00.004+01:00

When the pump for our central heating broke , I had to empty the shelf at the side of my seat and move everything out for when the engineer came. A lot of my stitchy stuff and other bits and bobs got stuffed into a plastic crate and has been there ever since . Well ,the other day I decided to have a look through and sort it out , and came across a box with some threads in. Aha , methinks , I've prepped for a project , but I could not for the life of me remember what that project was .

I looked in a couple of charts books that were also in the box , nope . Considered lots of possibilities but could not come up with anything. But , strangely ,the colours looked familiar .

Hmm , a few minutes later , enlightenment . They were not out for a future project , but had been left out from a couple of finished projects , namely Dandy Dreams and another little stitch.

Problem solved eh? Well , kind of .

You see ,a couple of weeks ago I was getting threads out for a project , and couldn't find a couple of the ones I wanted . "Must already be in one of my "in use" boxes I thought , but again couldn't find them anywhere.

So , I printed off a full list of DMC threads , and checked out any I couldn't find and came up with 11. Not too bad , but when you think I did this last year and stocked up so I had the complete catalog , a bit strange . Nonetheless , I ordered them , and received them and they have sat waiting to be wound onto bobbins since .

Then, the penny dropped , the missing threads were the ones that had been sitting in the box all along , so I now had duplicates . Well ,you can never have too many threads , can you ?

I am a tad annoyed though ,as I had also bought the threads for Dandy Dreams to go with the chart for my giveaway , and I had them sitting there all along ,lol .

Anyway , last night I did the winding and today put them away. While doing it, I decided to do a bit of reorganising in my thread boxes ,as some of them were crammed pretty tight into the slots , so I though I'd just show a few pics ,

These are all my regular DMC threads , all sorted into number order , apart from the ones that are in use at the moment . Plus , some of the special Winnie the Pooh threads from Designer Stitches.My Stitch for Charity box , which has the logo colours and a few others that I like to keep separately , and My box of Anchor , complete with DMC conversion on the lid , lol .The new colour variations , along with a couple of Anchor varis ,And a box of cheap , nondescript threads that I have had for ages. Some of them may be DMC , but I'm not sure

So , I now have an extra box with my threads in , as well as a few dotted around with current project threads in , but I had fun playing in my stash . ;-)

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Bits and bobs .

2011-03-29T21:13:00.005+01:00

I haven't really done much stitching since my last update . I can't seem to get rid of this stupid cold/blocked sinus things and I'm beginning to wonder if it's allergy driven . Yuck ! So , I haven't been sleeping too well .

I did do another couple of squares for the baby quilts after the hippo :

Elephant and Monkey . There are a few more in the set , but I'm not sure if I want to do them or not. At the time I didn't have one of the threads that was needed for pretty much all of the rest of the charts ,and now it's kind of gone off the boil a bit .

And then , there was the pin cushion that I made for the giveaway , which is now winging its' way over to Lisa . I really enjoyed stitching it . for anyone who doesn't recognise it ,the chart is " 'Tis Red" from the 2010 ornament issue of JCS. I used one of the 21st Century thread I chose at the Harrogate stitch show ,and I was really pleased with it . The thread is only four strands , but is thicker than the usual stranded cotton , and I thought it gave really good coverage with just one strand . It feels really nice , and there was no fraying or problems at all . I really like how it turned out .

The fabric it is lying on is what I used for backing , I think the top picture is probably the most accurate colour wise . I'm looking forward to trying out more of those threads now, and it's looking hopeful that I will get to go to Harrogate again this year ,so fingers crossed that I do , and they are there again.

I have got back into the stitchy groove a bit , and am currently doing a couple of small projects for the kids , but I'll show those next time.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Drum Roll Please .

2011-03-21T22:16:00.004Z

I roped the family in to help pick out the winners of my giveaway , so , to get straight to the point , the winners are : Draw A , for the fabric and threads , Crystal .Draw B for the books , Juco .Draw C for Dandy Dreams , Hazel .And draw D , for the pincushion , Lisa V .

If you could all contact me please , with your details so I can post out your prizes , Congratulations .

And , a big Thank you to everyone who entered , it's quite nerve wracking offering a giveaway , what if no-one likes what you're giving away ? Thankfully ,I seem to have made some good choices.

100+ followers GIVEAWAY!!!!

2011-03-14T22:13:00.008Z

As promised , my giveaway to say Thank you for my 100 + followers . It's taken me a while to get organised ,but hopefully it will be worth it for a few lucky people .

First , the rules

You must be a follower to enter , but new followers are welcome to join in the fun .

You can enter one ,two , three , or all of the draws , whichever grabs you the most .

I will post anywhere , but it may take a short while , so please be patient .

If you post about this on your blog , please let me know and you can get an extra entry into one of the draws (you get to choose) .

Leave a comment , letting me know which you want to enter and if you get the bonus , before midnight UK time on 20th March , and I'll draw the winners on the 21st.

Draw A

Three pieces of 28ct even weave and an assortment of DMC threads , linen , pearlescent effects and one fluorescent effect.

Draw B

Medieval Cross Stitch Samplers and Celtic Cross Stitch Samplers , two books full of charts and historical facts about what you will be stitching . (Please note , these are from my stash but have never been used and are in very good condition).

Draw C

Dandy Dreams by Silver Creek Samplers . This chart is as new as I used a working copy , and I will include the needed DMC threads to stitch it .

Draw D

This is for my last PIF , so if you would like to win this little pin cushion made by me , join in . I will do a separate post about this later .

Please note ,all packages will have other small gifts as well ,I just don't have pictures at the moment .

Thanks for visiting ,

Cath

I'm so excited .

2011-03-07T20:38:00.005Z

Look what came in the post this morning .

I was very lucky to be a winner of Lisas' blogoversary giveaway , and today my prize arrived.

Isn't it beautiful .

The chart is "Queen of Hearts" by The Sampler Girl and Lisa used 28ct linen and the called for DMC floss , it is just gorgeous .And look at the lovely fabric on the back . The buttons were made by Lisas' DH , and the pictures do not do them justice . Also included were some skeins of DMC in lovely pinks .

Thanks again Lisa , I love it and can't wait to put it on show.

And now , I have to get ready for my own giveaway , just look at my followers ! Yee haaa . I have made it in blog land , lol . Sorry to get so excited , but it is really nice that so many people appreciate my blog and stitching efforts . So , my next post will be a giveaway , and it will be a biggie !

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Heeere's Dandy.

2011-03-03T10:00:00.004Z

I went and collected Dandy Dreams from King Street Framers yesterday. I was really excited to have it back , and they didn't let me down. Gary has done a wonderful job as usual.

It's a pain trying to get good photos without flash glare and reflections but I did my best.Arty shot , lol .Fraser checking it out for me . It is now hanging up on the wall , just got to wait and see if anyone notices , lol .

I'll be back soon with more pics .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Kalispera!

2011-02-27T17:56:00.003Z

Or Good Evening.

I finished my Greek square last night ,after spending most of the day doing all the back stitch. Not my favourite part of stitching , but it makes a lot of difference .

And a close up . I had to wash it as had a little whoops with a cup of tea. We have coasters that like to stay attached to the mugs , lol .And this is what I've been doing today .

Talant is one of the girls who is living in Rachels' Place ,so she will get her own personal quilt .I will also be stitching a Cherished Teddy square for her quilt .And this is a square for a baby quilt for Amys' Creche .

We 're having a bit of a crap weekend so I needed an instant fix . I will probably do a few more from this set of charts over the next few weeks.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Stitchin' and stashin'

2011-02-25T14:43:00.006Z

Not much of either going on at the moment . Half term holiday has curtailed my normal routine , but not too bad . We've had some nice days visiting , going to the library , crafting , and a visit to the Kids Club .

On the stitching front , when I've had chance and inclination I've worked on my Greece square . This is how it looks now . I'm hoping to get it finished this weekend . I got most of my order from Thread Bear . They're still waiting on one of the charts I ordered , and will send it on later . I have to say , their service is fantastic , they only charge postage at cost, and their threads are cheaper than some other ONS ' . And it comes all wrapped up nice , lol.

So , I got LHN Winter Band Sampler . I fell in love with this the first time I saw it , and in the end I just caved in and ordered it . Also , some threads for Bent Creeks' Winter Row .

I just need lots more time to stitch .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Snowman.

2011-02-15T10:04:00.005Z

No , thankfully we have not been blessed with more of the white stuff , I have been busy working on my Christmas Recipe.

I have had a couple of days of serious stitchers' butt , one day each of the last couple of weekends , and boy did I enjoy it .

This is what it looked like after last Saturdays efforts :

And here is how it looks after this past weekend

The bits of pink paper are covering up my kids' names . I decided to personalise it with all our names , so have added some extra boxes.

I'm really enjoying working on it again ,and looking forward to a finish .

This is my start on my proper square for the fund raising quilt. It's a Greek couple dancing and as we went to Greece for our honeymoon , I just had to stitch it . There are lots of squares from around the world , so I'm sure the quilt will be lovely when it's finished .Still no stash from Thread Bear . I'll leave it a few more days then get in touch to see if their order has arrived yet .

After a lot of deliberating , I've decided not to start my Dads' sampler yet . I just can't cope with having too many projects on the go at once , I can't decide which to work on so end up doing none of them , lol . Still , hopefully I'll have another finish soon so I feel more able to get on with it .

I'm still gobsmacked at the number of comments on Dandy Dreams , so a big Thank you again to everyone .

I'm on 97 followers now , so only three more to go and I'll have a giveaway .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

A New Sisterhood.

2011-02-07T10:16:00.003Z

I know a lot of people have been / were following the progress of the traveling pattern. I've only seen one around , but apparently this is not the original as someone dropped the ball and didn't send the first one on its' journey . Anyway , the traveling pattern has just been finished by Nan @ Nans' Needlework Notions ,click here and is being passed on to Michele @ Just Another Stitching Blog , click here . I keep putting my name in , but haven't been chosen yet ,lol . So , Sharon @ It's Daffycat is starting up a new Sisterhood , with a new chart . It's a lovely chart called Count Your Blessings ,so if you want to be in with a chance , go on over to Daffycats' blog and put your name down . There is already big list though , lol Cath

Another one of those weeks .

2011-02-05T11:12:00.005Z

Thank you everyone for all the lovely comments on my Dandy Dreams finish. The most comments on one post so far , and I really appreciate them . Thank you . Not much to show this week , I finished my secret stitch last weekend , then things went down hill from there. Monday night both kids started with a stomach bug , so no sleep at all on Monday night , and of course they've been off school and nursery . And every other night this week has been disturbed with one thing and another . So , I've been really tired and had a pretty permanent headache , so not got much stitching done at all . I did manage to complete this

This will be used on the special quilt Jane is making this year for fund raising . Not sure if it will be raffled or auctioned , but I will post when I know . Sorry the pic is a bit wonky , had to fold the fabric to stitch it , lol .

I have taken my Christmas piece of the scroll frame , washed it and replaced it on a smaller frame so hopefully it will be easier to do now .

I also got out my Dads sampler to sort out , but am quite disappointed . The fabric is not much bigger than the design is supposed to be , so I've had to replace it with a larger piece . My framers like at least 3" round the design , especially if using a mat , so I need to make sure it will be ok to be framed . Then reading the instructions ,it says to pre-wash all the threads to make sure they're colour fast . I have never had to do this on any kit I've purchased before . So , I'm unsure whether to do this or to just kit up from my DMC threads.

I hope to stitch on one of my WIPs over the weekend , then I'll make my decision next week when hopefully peace will return with the kids back at school , though only two weeks before half term . I think I may need another scroll frame for it anyway , so a trip to the shop is in order .

I've ordered some new stash from Thread Bear , but got to wait a while until it comes in , so can't even show that . Oh well , always next time .

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Spread your dreams and let them grow.

2011-01-27T15:34:00.004Z

I finished Dandy Dreams on Tuesday , but it's been too grey and murky to take photos .

Still not the best quality , but I couldn't wait any longer .

I was unsure how to personalise it , but eventually decided on the year rather than name or initials .

And for anyone who is interested , the back . I have to say , I was quite sad to finish it as I've really enjoyed stitching it . The chart is really easy to follow and it kind of just flows along . It needs a bit of a wash and press ,then will go to the framers' next week. Then I'll have the excitement of collecting it all framed up , lol .

Meanwhile , I've been working on a secret stitch . I'm really excited about it , and very frustrated as I won't be able to show it for a while , but never mind.

Next , on to one of my WIPs , then to set up my Dads' sampler .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

TGIM

2011-01-24T20:31:00.004Z

Thank Goodness It's Monday.

No ,the weekend was not much better , lol .

Saturday morning , 3 am saw me up with my Daughter who had an upset tummy. Trips to the loo every ten minutes for the first hour or so , then a bit bigger gap in between . I put the old cot mattress on the floor in her room , with a big quilt , but was not very comfy as from my knees down was hanging off , lol .

At twenty past five , she'd been quiet for a while , so I thought I might get away with going back to bed , when she rolled over and said "Mummy , I think I actually managed to get to sleep for a bit " Gee, thanks kid. My reply was , "Great , now see if you can do it again " , "No , I need the toilet " . So at some point after 6am I got to sleep for a while , only to be woken by my lovely girl turning the night light off , so I could sleep as she knows I don't like having the light on . Bless .

Anyway , up and at 'em , got sorted then went and did the grocery shopping . I normally go Friday mornings , but couldn't fit it in with collecting the car . Daughter was fine ,and stayed so for the rest of the day , so we took the kids to a birthday party late afternoon . Another full and busy day .

Yesterday was our cooking round the world meal with my Husbands' family , so he was in the kitchen making a mess most of the day , while I felt fairly ropey. For some reason I always feel worse the second day after a bad night . Nice meal , but we got back later than planned ,so the kids were late in bed and we just flopped .

Today was extra nursery for my Son , but got a call mid afternoon to say he wasn't feeling well , so I went and picked him up , only to go back half an hour later for the end of school. He was fine as soon as he got home , so not too worried , though he has gone to bed early tonight ,lol.

Anyway , some stitching . Here's a pic of Dandy Dreams which I took Saturday morning .

I stitched on it a bit on Saturday , though Friday saw a frog come visiting , so had to unpick and redo a lot that had been done on Thursday . Also done some today , so more progress than this now .

And , just remembered I didn't show my end of year ort collection , so here it is . The pot is getting some more bits in now , so see how I go .

I also thought I'd share a recent pic of my boys . Still cute and cuddling . Thanks for dropping by ,and thanks for the lovely comments ,

Cath

Is it next week yet ?

2011-01-20T21:22:00.005Z

I am really ready for this week to be over .Even worse , today I keep thinking it's Friday . Wishful thinking I reckon.

I don't seem to have had a minute to myself this week ,and the stress levels have been quite high.

Monday I planned to visit my Grandma , as I haven't seen her since way before Christmas , with us all being ill etc . Then my friend who is having a rough time at the moment asked if I'd go for a cuppa , so I gave in and went for a chat to give her a bit of a break . Lunch time was spent at nursery , having lunch with my Son , his friend and friends Mum and little sister. The nursery offer an extra session as the government said the kids should be allowed an extra 2 1/2 hours a week , and that was the only way to fit it in . Not a problem ,and quite a nice relaxed hour and half.

I'd decided to nip into town straight after , and when I came back the road was blocked off. So I nipped round the back roads to come out further up the hill , to find that I couldn't get near home as there'd been a bad car accident not far from the end of our street. No people or ambulances were around , it had apparently happened 1 1/2 hrs before I got there , but the police were waiting for the forensics guys to turn up .

Still not heard anything about the people in the vehicles, but the car and van were a total mess , so not looking very good . Anyway , I parked the car up and walked home only to walk back past later to collect the kids . Had to tell them what had happened as we had to walk past it to get home , and they both got quite upset. My Daughter was really worried about the people and I still can't tell her what happened to them .

Tuesday , I went to visit my Grandma in the morning , then spent the afternoon catching up on the jobs I didn't get done on Monday . Then Wednesday I had to take my car for the MOT . Drove over after taking the kids to school , dropped it off , then walked back into town to catch the bus (about a mile or a bit more , and I did it in 15 mins-, not bad ) back to the bottom end of the village then walked up home. Only to go out 45 minutes later to walk to school and fetch my son from nursery .

Phew , I'm worn out from just writing it , lol .

My car is still at the garage so after taking the kids to school , walking down to the doctors then back home , I finally got to sit and stitch today .Hooray !!!

I hadn't planned on showing pics of Dandy Dreams , as I didn't think I'd done much , but after looking at my last progress pic , I've done more than I thought . Anyway, I'll save that for next time . Instead , I'll show some little bits I've stitched for the kids . (Not recent finishes by the way)

Thomas for my train mad boy .

Kipper , doing a little jig .

Kipper again , jigging the other way . Don't you just love it when they both want the same thing ?

I reversed the chart and girlied up the frame for this one , lol.BOTD Fairy Girl . The frame fits it perfectly , not bad for an off the shelf from Wilko's .We just added sequins and glittery stickers ,as you do .A Somebunny cover kit .And my Daughters' birth sampler . I loved this , but ended up making up the b/s as I went along and the chart for it wasn't great.

Still not done a birth sampler for my Son . I've got a Popcorn one , just not sure it's boyish enough . I'll have to make my mind up soon and get one on the go for him .

Thanks for the comments . I've been a bit slack posting them myself this week with all the aggro , but have tried to catch up bit today.

My car is now all sorted after having some work done , so off to collect it tomorrow . A reverse of the trip on Wednesday . At least I'm getting plenty of exercise ,lol .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

The dandelions are growing ...

2011-01-12T12:59:00.002Z

Slowly , lol .

I haven't had as much time to stitch as I would have liked this week , with one thing and another , but I am enjoying working on Dandy Dreams again . Here's a quick pic of the progress :

It looks a bit dark as it's very grey , foggy and yucky here today .

I've also done a couple of charity squares . These butterflies are for a personal quilt for Anna , one of the girls in Rachels' Place . I loved the chart for the rainbow one , but the light blue seems a bit bland . I think I'd have preferred a brighter shade really .Love the little owls .

And , remember this ? Well , I was really pleased and excited when I got a message from the designer herself. Rhona Norrie has just started her own blog , so please visit here to say hello and give her a nice blogger welcome (I'm sure a few new followers would be appreciated too ;-D ) . I have to say , it's given me a renewed enthusiasm for carrying on with this piece , so I really want to get cracking on Dandy Dreams so I can restart this and start my Dads' pic.

Thank you everyone for the comments on my last post . I appreciate each and every one of the 17 comments , just got to keep aiming for more , lol . And thank you to my new followers too , I'm up to 85 , woo hoo . When I hit 100 , I'm planning a giveaway , not sure what yet , but I do have a few ideas , so spread the word !

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

HELLO

2011-01-05T10:29:00.005Z

And welcome to my new followers . It is really nice to see you there , but don't be shy . Please come and leave a comment so I can get to know you. It's funny isn't it ? We all love to receive comments but sometimes struggle with leaving them . I made a point towards the end of last year to try and comment more on the blogs I read . No mean feat , as I am currently following over 170 blogs ,and like to have a look round at others to find new ones too . I don't leave comments on every blog or every blog post but I am trying to leave more , so if we all do the same , we will all get more comments and hence be happier bloggers :- D so come on everyone , leave those comments . Thanks , Cath

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

2011-01-01T15:06:00.006Z

Hope everyone has a wonderful year filled with love , fun and stitches .

First , I'd like to thank everyone for the lovely comments on my Dads' sampler . I am looking forward to stitching it , but have decided not to rush into it . I want to get Dandy Dreams finished first , I think . I don't like having too many things on the go at once , and already have WIPs ,but I'll go into that later.

I am not doing the Crazy challenge or anything like that , it would totally do my head in to have new starts every day for 15 days , even if they were small . To all those who are doing it though , I really admire you .

A quick re-cap on 2010 .

I finished 97 stitched pieces , 65 of which were squares for charity and 32 my own . Of my own projects , there was one big (Chicken Run) , 7 small-medium (the main one being Moon Struck) and the rest were all smalls.

I also stitched and stuffed a few teddies and had a go at crochet .

And , I read 89 books .

My last three stitches of the year are :

My last three Digimon characters . I have really enjoyed stitching these , but glad to have a break for a while. Thanks again Dawn for the charts .

Actually ,the last one was finished this morning , but I'm counting it as a 2010 finish so I can start with a clean slate.

I don't do resolutions , but I have a few aims and wishes for this year .

My aims are to stitch my Dads' sampler and complete my WIPs ,

Dandy Dreams

Christmas Recipe , started 2009 but I stopped stitching when my cousin was killed and didn't get back into it . I think I may fit his initials in somewhere discreet . And Three Little Maids , never been shown on this blog before . Started either early 2009 or late 2008 . Will be finished 2011 . Also, just realised I never showed my other stitch from the JCS mag

I made it into a little cushion, but I'm not totally happy with it , so may stitch it again , we'll see .

My wishes are to stitch

Bent Creeks' Hen and at least one of the Rows ,

LK ABC lessons

McDonald's Maple Leaf

Flamingos

And to at least start one of my L&L charts. There are lots more , but I'm trying not to be too optimistic , lol , and of course , some of these may not happen .

I'm also hoping to do more stitched cards and ornies and maybe some more individual exchanges with different people , so if anyone is interested in exchanging with me , please let me know .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

A Start to Remember.

2010-12-30T12:56:00.006Z

I had all the best intentions of having a new start to show yesterday, but this darned cold just hasn't let up enough for me to feel up to much .

It was ten years yesterday since my Dad died . I still miss him , and this time of year it's more noticeable , especially as he's missing out on the pleasure of the kids etc.

Anyway , a couple of years after he died I saw this kit advertised in a magazine and just had to buy it , despite having lots of stash already ( nothing compared to what I have now ,lol ) . I knew I wouldn't be able to stitch it straight away , so put it away , occasionally digging it out to look at and then put it away again .

I decided that it was time to get it done and had intended to start on the day , but haven't felt up to much , so this will be my first new start of 2011 . I'm figuring on taking a while to get it set up , plus I have a couple of other bits to finish up asap .

The verse around the edge reads :

" Some may have castles on the banks of the Rhine , and hire an orchestra each evening at nine . But richer than I , they will never be . I had a Dad who spent time with me "

The verse and the picture are so right as when I was a kid me and Dad used to spend a lot of time tramping in the woods ,especially in Autumn. We'd go hunting for chestnuts , conkers , hazel nuts , blackberries ... you get the idea .

I don't think it will be easy to do , not that it looks a difficult chart but each stitch will bring a memory . Not a bad thing , but hard sometimes .

Thanks for looking ,

Cath

PIF

2010-12-29T09:49:00.004Z

I am pleased to say that Kate has now received her PIF gift from me . It didn't quite get there in time for Christmas , arriving on the 27th , but Kate really likes it , which is the main thing.

I did a bit of spying and discovered that Kate likes dragons ,and Christmas ornies , so this seemed like the perfect thing to stitch for her.

You may recognise it from the JCS ornie mag . This is the stitched piece before making up.The finished ornie on the fabric I used for backing. And a close up of the finished ornie. I chose to put the year on instead of the charted words , and I think it turned out quite nice .

So , that is the two people that signed up . I didn't get a third ,so if anyone wants to sign up now , I promise to send a stitched gift to you before the end of March , otherwise I will carry on with the plan of having a giveaway for the third PIF.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Gifties , thanks and pics.

2010-12-27T17:56:00.013Z

Hope everyone had a good Christmas . Ours was better than expected , my daughter was ill with flu , but thankfully started to improve on Christmas Day . Of course , my son has now got it , but recovering , and I started with it Christmas Day evening . Hey ho , it could be worse .

I'd like to say a big Thank you to Jane and Tilly , who sent me a parcel of love just before Christmas . I saved it to open on the day , and what a lovely surprise it was . Jane had made me a lovely LK Christmas ornie , and sent a bunny cookie cutter . I will think of them every time I use it . Thanks Jane , and Tilly

Isn't this lovely .

Also , my exchange package from Lainey . I wasn't allowed to open it straight away as it was all wrapped in Christmas paper , so the kids said if I could open presents , then so could they ,lol . So , these were opened Christmas Day too .

Lovely lavender smellies (one of my favourite scents) and some DMC special threads.

Christmas fabby, photo ornies and some cute little buttons. Two gorgeous charts . I love the snowman before and after , and went on to the Sew and So site to price up the buttons for it . I think I will be waiting a bit before doing it , lol. And some lovely snuggly socks , which are keeping me warm as I write as my slippers collapsed last week , and no time to get some new ones yet.And a totally gorgeous snowman cube . He is so lovely. Well done Lainey on the finish and thanks again for a fantastic exchange.

On to some other gifts I received.

Kitty calendar ,two books and Eclipse DVD (yet to be watched as I've felt too rotten in the evenings ,lol)ScooterAnd Cooks Helper . Two Pocket Dragons to add to my collection . And here they are with the others. Gotta love the little guys.

And finally , some stitchy gifts .Lots of lovely WDW and GAST threads

all ready to stitch these. Though I need some more WDW now so I can stitch Spooky Row too.And these 21st Century threads are the ones I picked at the Harrogate show . Can't wait to try them out.Lastly , some lovely gifts from special forum friends.

I got lots more bits and bobs , but getting tired now. I was up pre 6am today as woke up with a rotten sore throat so got up to have a warm drink. Hence the dark photos , lol. It snowed again today , but it was the wet stuff so hasn't done much .

I will leave you with a couple of pics of the sunset on Christmas Day.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-23T20:52:00.002Z

To everyone . Hope you have a lovely time . I was going to post this tomorrow but may not get chance as both kids are really poorly. Take care ,and enjoy the season . Cath

It's exchange time again.

2010-12-22T11:15:00.006Z

Lainey has received the winter exchange package I sent her , just in time for Christmas . It was looking dodgy for a while with the snow causing problems with the post , but thankfully it got there safe and sound.This is the package as a whole.

The stitched snowman ornie. The chart is from 2010 JCS ornie issue , and I changed a couple of colours and added beads.Scissors and a beaded fob I made .Snowman hanger.Sheepy goodies and a keyring.And , this little fella was her Christmas present , but a case of over excitement meant he got opened early , ROFL. We only have one round of exchanging to do , and that's March/ April ,so I'd better get my thinking hat on.

On another note , we are getting more snow right now , so not a happy bunny .

Thanks for dropping by .

Cath

Rewind

2010-12-18T14:31:00.005Z

We had a sprinkling more snow on Thursday , then it froze and has done nothing else since . So we have an ice rink out on the street if anyone wants to bring their skates .

Back to the Chicken Run sampler , I have got permission from the couple that received it to show their pictures , so here's the finished article with it's new owners.

Lisa made these figures herself to go on top of one of the wedding cakes .

I have to say , that it was the most fun formal wedding I have ever been to , so Thanks Lisa and Phil for letting us share your special day.

Back soon , thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Melting, gifts and more.

2010-12-13T20:48:00.004Z

Woohoo , the snow and ice is pretty much gone. It started to melt a bit on Friday, and lots had gone by Saturday morning.It continued for the rest of the weekend and has been helped by a rain shower this afternoon , so I am a happy bunny . Sadly , it looks like it has shifted just to make room for another lot as it is forecast for Thursday . I'm just hoping "they've" got it wrong ,lol .

All the snow and ice caused us a few problems with our post . The latest things have been getting through fine , but the older stuff has been delayed somewhat . A few weeks ago I won the blogoversary giveaway over at Michelles' blog , and she even went out in the snow to post it, bless her . the package finally arrived this morning , so Thank you again Michelle , I love it . I'm really looking forward to stitching Cromwell the Snowman , and the threads are lovely .

I recently lent Sadie my copy of Bent Creeks Autumn Row . she had stitched Spooky Row and wanted to do a different one to go with it. Again , after a wait with the post . the chart arrived back , along with Spooky row for me to borrow and a gorgeous fob that Sadie had stitched for me as a thank you . I'm sure you'll agree that it is totally lovely , despite my crappy photos .Front :and back :Finally , here's my latest on Dandy Dreams. I hardly got any done last week , as trudging through the snow and ice three times a day on the school run just about did me in . It is so tiring, then had a few restless nights so I'm worn out . I will be back soon with more pics. Until then , Take care.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Take a Breath.

2010-12-05T20:48:00.004Z

Saturday was grey and foggy. The morning was spent digging out my husbands' car so he could go and do the shopping. I carried on when he had left , so he could get back on to the drive , and we did a pretty good job.

This is the pile of snow that we got off the top of the car and from round the side . Can you see the bumper impressions? Most of this snow was there before we started moving it lol. Trees in the fog .

So , we're stocked up with groceries again , and he also picked up a couple of kiddy presents which made me feel a bit better . I've just reserved some more online ,which he is going to pick up tomorrow. Then we only need some small bits and bobs and we're sorted.

So ,with the fog came a bit of a thaw , and later on some fine rain which also helped to melt a bit of snow. It did freeze overnight but has melted some more today with the sun, so I'm feeling a bit more positive now .

Friday night I decided I needed a new start , so Saturday morning I got organised with these:

and made a start late afternoon. Now it was Casualty last night , so nothing got done while that was on , but this is my progress so far.I'm loving it , despite a couple of small frogs , well can't blame them for wanting to get out of the snow . It seems to be slow going , but I'm using 32ct evenweave which is taking a bit of getting used to after using the aida for the charity squares . The colours aren't showing too well in this pic , but it's the artificial light. You get the idea anyway.

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments and support , I really appreciate it.

Take care ,

Cath

Misty morning , lazy day and rotten night.

2010-12-03T21:55:00.006Z

We got up this morning while it was still dark , again. My son seems unable to sleep beyond 6.45 am , bless.

Anyway , as the sky gradually lightened , it was also clear , no clouds ,which meant even better , no snow. In fact , we got mist in the valley . I've shown pics of the "spooky mist" before , but it is even weirder when there is snow on the ground.

And , so dawned a bright , clear and sunny day . Hurray . We actually got dripping in places , though the icicles were still hanging around.I took this hanging out of my bedroom window ,lol.

So , the kids went out for a very short while , there is still so much snow they got very cold and wet very quickly , then they came in to play/draw and do their thing. I did the pots , and some washing then some stitching. and the cats enjoyed lying in the sun.

I wrote out my shopping list , as my husband planned to dig out the car in the morning , then go and do the grocery shop .And now , it's snowing again ! Not only that , it's also quite windy so it's drifting. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

The kids are already missing a party tomorrow, as I don't want them to have to walk on the main road when there is only a clear path for one lane of traffic. It's impossible for them to walk on the pavement as it's so deep in snow it would be up to their behinds at least .

I'm worrying about Christmas . I haven't got all the gifts for the kids yet , and nothing for my husband , though all others are sorted. Me and hubby were planning on going shopping and leaving them with MIL tomorrow and I planned a few trips out during school/nursery time this week. Obviously that's all gone out the window now . I know there are three weeks to go , but everyone is going to be in the same boat.I'm sure I'm not the only one who hasn't finished all the shopping . So , I'm wondering whether to order some things online and hope they can deliver at some point or just to wait and hope for the best .

And , we haven't got Turkey yet either.

Either way , I am decidedly fed up .

Hope the weekend gets brighter .

Take care ,

Cath

I've decided I don't like white.

2010-12-01T20:34:00.011Z

It finally stopped snowing after 30 plus hours and about 1.5 - 2 feet. We are still getting the odd flurry , but thankfully that's all for now.

Yesterday the kids wanted to go out , so we decided to go for a walk to the end of our street to check the state of the main road .That was a mistake . After 5 mins out in it , I looked like a yeti , lol.

Here are a few pics from yesterday

This one was taken last night when it was still coming strong.

It didn't stop all night , and yes I was up for most of it . I started feeling ill yesterday evening and was sick before bed. Then both me and my Daughter were ill in the early hours , so I saw most of the snow coming down. Thankfully we are both feeling better now . There has been quite a few bugs knocking around , and with the stress of the weather etc I just copped it .

And here's the state of play this morning.

This is my Husbands' car ,lol . you can just about see the wing mirror.So , I've about had enough of white for this year . We haven't had snow like this since 90/91 winter . I remember it well as I was learning to drive at the time and my instructor insisted that I still have my lessons,even though the snow was so deep . I went over a roundabout (quite literally) but otherwise survived to tell the tales lol.

Thanks for dropping by , and stay safe in the snow .

Cath

We Got More

2010-11-30T11:10:00.010Z

SNOW.

yeuck!!!!

It snowed last night , and is still coming. The local schools are closed , and fortunately my husband was at home last night and has decided not to go on his travels today. Something which I am very grateful for as I worry all the time.

This may look the same as from last post , but an hour or so before this picture was taken , my husband had cleared the car in preparation for going out. Other news , I have finished another Digimon square .

Only three more to go .

And , on Sunday I went to the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching show . It was a bit of a surprise as I wasn't supposed to go. My MIL was going on a minibus trip organised by the craft group she belongs to and someone dropped out at the last minute , so I got the place.

I enjoyed it , and would go again but I felt it was aimed more towards knitters than stitchers. I did get a bit of new stash , well got to make it worth the trip , lol.Bent Creeks' Winter Row , quite apt I suppose .

LK Housework and JBW A Very Merry Christmas And some Threadworx threads and some buttons , which I will hopefully be able to use with the JBW charts so I can do a few of them for next year. I also got some more scrumptious threads , but My MIL has claimed them for my Christmas present , so you'll just have to wait to see those , lol.

I heard from Michelle that I have won her giveaway , so that was a lovely surprise , thanks Michelle .

I will leave you with a shot of Mr Cool, our new resident .

Take care in the bad weather and if in doubt , stay in and stitch.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

We Got It .

2010-11-27T14:44:00.015Z

Snow , that is . I was hoping that we'd escape it, but I woke at some point in the early hours and just knew it had snowed . The light is always different as the snow reflects the yellow from the street lights, and there it was. Needless to say I didn't get much of a lie-in this morning as the kids were too excited . Stomping down stairs, gasps and squeals of delight just made me chuckle.

Both kids and Daddy went outside to play while I organised washing etc. I just don't like the snow now I'm older , I find that I want to load up with groceries and hibernate indoors ,lol . So , apart from a few housey jobs , I've stitched and read a little and that's about it.

Here's what I've been doing for the last couple of weeks.

Three more Digimon squares , I just finished off the latest one . Only four more to do and I've done the 12 I promised , though I expect I'll end up doing more. I love the one in orange , he looks so much a tough street kid , lol.

Four little bunnies. The charts are really small for these , so I used some 11 count aida that I got in a bargain pack from Readicut and they turned out ok using 3 strands of thread .And, Jiminy Cricket , who will be joined by Pinnochio at some point , but I want to get the Digimons finished as they are for a quilt for one of the kids in Rachels' Place.

And , look what came in the post the other day. I saw this chart ages ago on a blog and fell in love with it so got in touch with Thread Bear on the off chance that they'd be able to get it for me . It's not one they normally stock , but my luck was in as I happened to contact them on the day they were sending an order in , so they added it for me . I love how they wrap things , it really is like getting a gift through the post .

Blowing dandelion clocks is something I've always liked to do , and something my kids like to do , so this is just lovely and I can't wait to start it . The bonus is it uses only DMC threads , so no faffing to get other threads , hopefully they will all be already in my stash.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

A Good Post Day.

2010-11-23T10:32:00.006Z

I was recently one of the very lucky winners of Mylenes' blogoversary giveaway. Mylene offered five beautiful ornaments as prizes as it was her fifth anniversary , and I was one of the people who won.

Now , all five of these ornaments were totally gorgeous , but one in particular drew me in . It was total luck as to which one I got , and I got my favourite !

After a bad start to yesterday , I was so happy to get a nice surprise from the postman , especially when I saw what it was.

My first Christmas card of the year too.Now , isn't this just totally gorgeous ?And so beautifully finished .

Thank you again Mylene . I love it .

This is my 100th post . I had considered a giveaway , but as I've just had the stamp giveaway I think I'll wait a while. Lots more to show , but this deserves a post on its' own , so "I'll be back".

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

A winner and more .

2010-11-20T13:55:00.003Z

Thought I'd best get on with it , lol . My Daughter has just picked the lucky winner of the stamps ,and it is ........ Stressed Stitchy Mum , please get in touch with your post details so I can send them out , thanks . I have a few more charity squares done , but will show them next time . Meanwhile , The Travelling Pattern is on the move again , if you'd like a chance to be a part of this great adventure , go over to Lisas' blog and put your name down . Catch you later , Cath

Furry friends and other things.

2010-11-11T10:35:00.011Z

I've just spent lovely half hour with both cats curled up on me . As it's wet and windy outside again , I can't think of many better things . Obviously , Finley thought it was a bit rough being ousted from my lap , so he went and snuggled himself under a fleece blanket , lol . And here's the boys together .

I have some stitching to show , I would have shown it sooner , but my laptop decided to throw a key at me , so it had to go to be fixed. Anyway , here are some more digimon squares for SFC.

And this is Mr Funny , I stitched him up yesterday . I'm now going to hopefully spread the joy a little . My local stamp factory/shop is closing down and getting rid of everything , so I bought a few extras and I'm offering them as a giveaway . I know a lot of stitchers also do paper crafts , so if you are interested in winning these brand new mounted stamps , just leave a comment on this post , saying that you'd like to be entered. The winner will be drawn on 20th November . (The one with no picture on the back says "have a lovely day")

Finally , one last thing in honour of the day .

REMEMBER

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Things received.

2010-10-31T09:28:00.011Z

Finally , I can show some of the secret stitching I have been doing.

First up , Lainey has received the exchange parcel I sent to her. We are doing a year long/seasonal exchange with stitched pieces and extras. I really enjoyed doing these two Halloween stitches , and tried something new with the making up.I like the ruffled ribbon look , but have never done it before . I think it looks quite effective on this flat ornament .Then , I also did this Plumpkin pillow . Both of these are LK designs , and I love them . I did use slightly different colours on the Plumpkin , and didn't have the rec. charms , but they turned out ok.

This little sheep ornament if the gift that escaped the packaging in the last exchange, so I'm glad they decided to behave on their journey this time . I just couldn't resist this when I saw it , and I'm glad to say that Lainey loves it too.

And this is the whole package I sent . Lots of stitchy fabric, some sweeties ,hankies, a purse, notebook and bag , and the sheep of course.

And , I have stitched , finished and sent the first of my Pay It Forward packages. I made up this free design from Beth Twist at Heartstring Samplers into a pillow and sent it to Tricia. she received it in record time ( I posted it on Monday and it got to her is the USA on Thursday , pretty good ,especially when you consider I sent something to Stevenage in the UK at the same time , and that arrived Thursday too!)

Tricia has been in touch and said she loves it , and will be offering the PIF on her blog soon.

I have stitched the piece for Kates' PIF and will be making it up and posting it as soon as I can , then I'll have to decide what to do for the giveaway one.

Thanks for dropping by, I'll be back soon with more charity stitches.

Cath

Charity stitches and exchange goodies.

2010-10-23T09:26:00.015+01:00

Here I am again . The kids have broken up for half term , so blogging while I have the chance , lol.

I've been doing some small squares for Stitch for Charity . Six small logo squares with 'Made With Love' , 'Li entsoe ka lerato' (made with love in the language used in Lesotho) and two with names on for the kids who have moved into Rachel's Place.

I've also made a start on some Digimon squares . I came across a wonderful blog by Dawn , who charts all of these characters and offers them up for everyone to use. I contacted her and asked if it would be ok to use them for the quilts , and she kindly agreed . So we now have around 200 new charts to use . This is great as we can get tired of doing the same stuff all the time .

If you want to see the charts, got to Anime Stitching and follow the links . If you don't want to see the charts , go and look anyway as Dawn does some great stitching as well.

I have also received my Autumn exchange from Lainey . As usual I am behind on getting organised and sending mine out , but here are some pics of what I received.

I must be getting better at this , I actually remembered to take some photos before ripping off the wrapping , lol.

Ribbon , thread and buttons and pins.

Stitchy fabric and backing fabric. Hoop , frame , card and notebook. And a gorgeous cushion , I love the bird , so cute.

Thanks again Lainey , it's lovely , and the kids loved the choc .

Hopefully I'll be back soon to show what I sent to Lainey , trying to get my bum in gear .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Tying up loose ends.

2010-10-13T21:16:00.010+01:00

Hi everyone. I haven't really been in a stitching mood since finishing the Chicken Run sampler , though I have been doing bits and bobs here and there . For now , I'm going to show a few pics and tie off some loose ends I'd forgotten about.

First off , the Moon Gazing Hare . I am pleased to say that my SIL liked it very much , and though it means I didn't get to keep it , I'm glad she likes it and it has gone home with her .

We went to the Chicken Run wedding on Saturday , and had a great day . The bride and groom looked lovely , and had a brilliant day , and they loved the picture . When they get back from their honeymoon , I will hopefully get permission to show some photos on here , but you will have to wait until then .

I also suddenly realised that I'd forgotten one of my husbands stitches , so here it is , another one that he did for me , bless.

I have been finishing off some squares for Stitch for Charity .

These are the last ones needed to complete a quilt ,and will be in the post to Auntie Jane hopefully tomorrow , along with these teddies .

They were knitted by another member of the group , and I stitched and stuffed them . I've had them a while , but the call has gone out as we are completely out of these now for the boxes of love, so if you know anyone who likes to knit , and would like to make a kiddy very happy , please get in touch for the pattern.

I hope to be back soon with some more pics.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Not a lot

2010-10-04T22:50:00.008+01:00

of stitching going on , but I do have some other pics .

I have been stitching , but it's mostly for exchanges and though the stitching is done , the finishing isn't , yet , and anyway , no pics until it's received .

It was my birthday last week , so I thought I'd show some of the lovely handmade cards I received , aren't they great.And just look what Lainey sent me . A gorgeous birthday hanger , and the JCS Christmas mag , how fab is that. I was gobsmacked ,to say the least ,and have found lots I want to do.Aside from my exchange stitching , I've also done this . I won the bunny from Cross Stitch Crazy as a prize for being Angel of the Month at the beginning of the year , but had to wait until now for someone we knew to have a baby boy. And here are a couple of pics of the views from our house of late . Lots of lovely sunsets , but I'm usually putting the chooks and kids to bed so don't have much time to take pics.We also get "spooky mist" in the valley , which I think is great . We live at the top of a hill so the view from our house is great ,and on Autumn mornings we get lots of mist in the drop opposite our house . It's weird to see the tops of trees and telegraph poles just sticking up from nowhere.

I've added a new list thing on my side bar where I will post any new giveaways that I come across , then I'll delete them when they're done . I'm hoping this will make it easier , lol.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Giveaway

2010-09-25T11:48:00.003+01:00

Just a quick note to let you know that Deborah at Cranberry Samplings is having a great giveaway. Cath Edit : Michelle is also having a giveaway , with a mystery prize too !

Remember

2010-09-23T18:50:00.004+01:00

If we didn't haveThere wouldn't be any

On days like today, when you've got soaked to the skin on the school run , it's nice to have a pretty reminder when you get home .

Stitching Showcase.

2010-09-21T13:37:00.007+01:00

After my last post , there have been a couple of comments about my husband stitching , so I thought I'd show what he has done . When we first started seeing each other , my husband was a gamer . German board games , card games , role playing etc. He was determined to continue with it , and got me involved too . So to be fair , he said he'd try one of my hobbies. He started with this little "Bopping Dragon" and made it into a card for me . Then he wanted to try something a little different , and chose this wizard bookmark from one of my chart books . I didn't have all the correct threads ,and he was pretty impatient so it didn't turn out quite as it should have and has hardly seen the light of day since , but I've kept it anyway.

After that he needed a bigger challenge , and as he likes fantasy type things , chose this Unicorn. He was working regular night shifts at the time as a carer , and this helped him to stay awake .

The Indian is a kit I bought him for Christmas , and it set his love for using even weave instead of aida. He decided to leave a couple of the arrow heads off as it looked good like this.

Then there is the Skull. We put this on the wall in our living room , and not one person commented on it , but the kids think it's cool .

Of course we can't forget the other half of the Eagle pair, which is done on aida as I hadn't used even weave before when we started these.

At the moment , he has another Indian , Teresa Wentzlers' "The Castle" and a Dragon Eye on the go , though not much has been done on any of them for a while.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing these stitches.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

One in , one out .

2010-09-13T14:18:00.010+01:00

When I took Chicken Run to the framers the other day , I was really pleased to find out that Moon Struck was all done and ready for me , so I brought it home . Just got to wait until next week to see if SIL likes it . If not , she can have the money and I'm keeping it , lol .

Jane has received her giveaway prize , so I'll be able to show you what else I sent to her now ,

I included a pair of craft scissors , and made a little hanging bunny . Jane loves bunnies ,so I knew this would be perfect for her .

This is the back

My husband also stitches and has a couple of projects in progress at the moment , but he's not stitching at the moment . Meanwhile , I've been getting fed up of having to hunt for threads I need when they're stashed away in his project boxes. So , I did a full check on my thread boxes and filled in the gaps .Lots of lovely stash . This was ordered from Sewing Club Express , and I'm really pleased with the order . DMC threads at 32p each , free p&p and they were delivered on Friday after being ordered late Tuesday afternoon. Not bad !

I have been stitching , but can't show it yet as it's for exchanges .

Denise is having a great giveaway , if you want to nip over and have a look .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath.

TA DA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-09-07T10:19:00.011+01:00

I put the last few stitches into Chicken Run yesterday . I really enjoyed stitching it , and in some ways I'm sad to finish, but at least I've got plenty of time to get it framed before the big day .Tried to do some arty shots . I'm not too sure , but you get the idea , lol.

It is personalised with the names and date but I'm not going to show that without the couples' permission , which I will hopefully get at the wedding. So , it's off to the framers tomorrow .

Today , I'm enjoying a couple of hours peace as the kids have gone back to school and nursery , bliss !

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Another giveaway .

2010-09-05T19:54:00.000+01:00

For another giveaway , on Bettes' blog , click here.

New Giveaway

2010-09-03T18:42:00.005+01:00

Loretta is having a giveaway to celebrate 3 years of blogging . Go over and have a look . see you soon , Cath Edit : sorry , I put the link in wrong , but have changed it now . (Whoops)

Who is getting a new stitch pal?

2010-08-31T11:27:00.006+01:00

Miss Martha wanted to help me choose the winner of my bloggy birthday giveaway . Like the pot? It's Poole Pottery , the design is African Sky , may favourite . This was a Christmas pressie from my husband >X

Lots of bits of paper.

And the winner is ..................................

Jane . Well done Jane , if you could send me your detail , I'll get your package in the post . Your stitch pal wants to come to his new home .

Thanks for dropping by , I'll be back soon with chicken updates .

Cath

Updates

2010-08-23T21:37:00.010+01:00

Hi everyone. Well ,we had a busy weekend again . I've got so many photos from our trips out over the last couple of weeks , I could probably have enough posts to last for a couple of months ,lol .

Just wanted to show where I am with Chicken Run as of now . It's coming on quite well despite not getting much chance to work on it last week .

As you can see, I've done the back stitch on the top half . I didn't fancy tackling it all at the end as it's not my favourite part of stitching , but I have to say it really has made a difference to the picture .

And , I know everyone will be itching to see more pics of the kittens. They have settled in really well , are totally litter trained and are eating loads . they love to curl up on my lap or on my V cushion , which is where they are at the moment , but they are also fighting a lot too . I think they're trying to figure out who the boss is , they are yet to learn that it is me ,lol .

Fraser

FinleySnugglesAlso , I'm sure I forgot to post pics of this before . I stitched it a few months ago , and it has now gone to Aunty Jane to be put on one of the kids quilts.Well ,that's it for now . Don't forget to enter my bloggy birthday giveaway on the previous post . You've got until 30th August.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

2010-08-20T21:21:00.004+01:00

My bloggy birthday that is . Yep , I have been blogging for a year as of today , so I am holding a giveaway to celebrate .

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning this

cute little Stitch Pal , all you have to do is leave a comment on this post only telling me who your best stitching pal is and why , before 30th August. This giveaway is open to anyone , anywhere but if you are a follower , you will be entered twice. Please feel free to mention this on your own blog , the more the merrier .

I will probably throw in some extra goodies , just don't know what yet .

So Thank you to all my followers , to the people who encouraged me to start blogging and those who keep encouraging me to continue by leaving lovely comments ,and to friends all over blog land.

I will be back soon , I've got loads of things to share .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Bound to make you smile .

2010-08-18T09:59:00.004+01:00

Hi everyone , just wanted to share pictures of the new arrivals.

Please meet Finley

And Fraser They came home with us yesterday ,and are making us all very happy. At the moment Finley is sleeping on my Daughters' lap , not sure who is purring the most lol.

They are around nine weeks old ,eating loads and very scatty when they are awake . Loving it !

I'll be back soon with other things.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cath

Exchange Goodies

2010-08-14T15:39:00.011+01:00

Lainey and I are doing a year long exchange ,and recently sent and received the first one.

This is what I received :

Lovely fabric , and a Lizzie Kate chart (one of my fave designers).Summery threads , and buttons.And a gorgeous seaside pillow and a little chicken to brighten my kitchen.I love this little pillow , especially the cute little star fish . thanks so much Lainey . Sorry it's taken me so long to show on here , every time I get ready to put it on , another post pops up ,lol.

There were also some lovely card swatches , that got put out of the reach of grubby little fingers , lol.

This is what I sent to Lainey :

I have nicked this picture from Lainey's blog , as when I was looking at my pictures I realised that one of the gifts somehow escaped the envelope . As it will go into the next one , I don't want to spoil the surprise .

Lainey likes sheep , and as we nick name sheep "Flossies", this LK sheep just asked to be made into a floss tag .I kind of themed this exchange with needles and thread, so made a needle book . The chart is a freebie from Samplings from the Berri Patch and is called Hannah's Flower Basket. It is part of a reproduction sampler called Hannah Mary Manley 1864 .

I left off the date ,and changed a couple of the colours to suit Lainey's likes , hope you don't mind Sherri . It was a lovely chart to stitch , and I'm sure I'll use it again , so a big Thank you to Sherri for a lovely design.

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments on Chicken Run . It is nice to stitch my own design , especially as so far it seems to be coming out as I'd hoped . I'm enjoying the fact that I'm stitching something no-one else has ever stitched before . I wonder if it's the same feeling for stitchers who do the models and first drafts for other people? I always like going out in fresh snow too . To know that you are treading where no-one else has trodden before. :-)

That's all for now . I will be back soon with updates of Chicken Run ,and more pictures of our days out .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

On the Run .

2010-08-11T16:08:00.009+01:00

Hi everyone , thanks for all the comments ,and welcome to my new followers , I hope you enjoy seeing my crafty bits and other stuff.

A while ago , I asked if anyone knew where I could get a chart from the film "Chicken Run" , I had no joy , but really wanted to stitch one as ... a wedding sampler . Yes . you did read that right. A friend of my husbands is getting married , and his fiancee is mad on Chicken Run and has a whole collection of stuff ,so I thought it would be a unique gift for them.

So ,the only thing for it was to design my own . I have played about designing bits and bobs here and there , but this is the biggest project so far . I've got two computer designing programmes, but still prefer the good old fashioned way .

So what started out as this : (downloaded from the net )

Became this :

Then this :

And is slowly becoming this :

The wedding is 9th October ,so I have to get the stitching finished at least a couple of weeks before then to allow time for framing. I am feeling the pressure a bit with the deadline , but I'm happy with how it's going . I added a few bits , like the flowers , ring and Ginger will get a garter too , lol. I started stitching last Monday night , but did nothing on it at all Friday , Saturday or this Monday . Tuesday I had all day to stitch as the kids were out with their Grandma and also stayed the night . Yet to see if I get any done tonight though.

Thanks for dropping by , come back soon for pics of an exchange and from our visit to Matlock Bath today .

Take care ,

Cath

Cromford

2010-08-08T09:39:00.016+01:00

Firstly , Thank you everyone for the lovely comments , they always make me smile .

This is a non-stitchy post , but I will be back soon with posts about an exchange ,and updates of my new project .

Yesterday we went to Cromford for the afternoon , and had a lovely time . Cromford is close to Matlock Bath in the Derbyshire Peaks , for anyone who doesn't know . There is an old book shop there called Scarthin Books, that we go to occasionally. The shop is not for the faint hearted . It is chock full of books, to the point where you have to squeeze between the shelves , climb over them on the floor and climb up narrow rickety steps to the next level , but it can be a treasure trove of old, out of print ,second hand titles ,as well as the new stuff.

They have a modern art/sculpture on the front wall. Not a great picture , but you get the idea .

We also like to have a look round the old Mill , which now houses a few different shops , but used to be a working mill owned by Sir Richard Arkwright .

So , after browsing the shops and looking at the "waterfall" , we had to pay for more parking so we could go and have an ice cream (a must for the kids ) , and a walk along the old canal tow path. We didn't go as far as we normally do , due to time , but had a nice wander .

I remember when I was at junior school ,we had a trip to Cromford ,and they had an old barge that we took a ride on. It was pulled by a pony called Strawberry , and the people who owned it had a dog called Friday as he just turned up one Friday and decided to stay.

When we got to this bridge , they had to unhook Strawberry and take him over the top , and push the barge through . After that I always had a fascination for canals and barges and did a huge project on them one summer holiday .Whilst walking ,we came across these two baby ducklings on the side of the canal . Mama duck wasn't too far away ,so we stayed back and watched them for a while .And here are some more views from along the way .Hope you enjoy .

Thanks for dropping by , I'll be back soon.

Cath

Moon Gazing Hare ,and lots of lovelies.

2010-08-02T10:50:00.014+01:00

The Hare is finished !

I put the last stitches in late Saturday night , and I love it . I'm surprised how much I like it actually , I think it will be hard to let it go . Got to get it priced for framing , then decide whether to frame or make it into a wall hanging .

If I do let it go , I might just have to make another one for myself at some point , lol.

I'm all set to make a new start , with a deadline . I'm doing a "different" wedding sampler , and it needs to be stitched and framed for early October. so , there will be lots of progress pictures to come .

I was very lucky to win a prize in Michelles' blogoversary giveaway . My prize came last week ,and what a prize it is . Look at the lovely goodies Michelle sent me .

Buttons , beads and charms .Beautiful hand dyed linen , DMC threads , and local (to Michelle) made thread . I have a couple of projects I could use the fabric for ,best get checking on measurements and see which will fit best.Ribbon and lace ,

And a gorgeous hand made fob , and a lovely biscornu , which I get to show twice , so you can see both sides.

The choccy bar is still around, but Michelle also sent some sweets for my kids , which soon disappeared .

Michelle, hope you got my e-mail , but Thank you so much again , I love it all .

All the gifts were wrapped up really nicely , but I was in such a hurry to open them , I forgot to take "before " pictures . I think I need some more practice ,so any offers of help would be gratefully received , lol.

My own blogoversary is approaching , so I will be having a giveaway soon, keep 'em peeled.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Goodies

2010-07-21T12:11:00.003+01:00

Thank you all for the lovely comments , I really appreciate them.

I remembered that I haven't shown my latest haul of goodies yet .

The Thomas book was from a charity shop , the Country Diary alphabet and Festive Fayre were from my LNS , and the other two were from a haberdashery shop I nip into occasionally. All bargains.

My son is a total Thomas fan , so at some point I will be making the most of that book .

This is what Moon Struck looks like at the moment . A bit bright from the flash .

I haven't done any for the last couple of days as I've been reading the Twilight books (again) , but hope to get back to it tonight if my little lad is better. He had a temp last night and this morning and then started being sick ,so no nursery today . But , he seems to be improving a lot now , so fingers crossed he will get there for the last day party tomorrow.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Giveaway alert .

2010-07-14T21:14:00.001+01:00

Just to let you know that Cindy is having a giveaway to celebrate getting to 100 followers. Quite funny , as I've just become the 130th ,lol.

Just catching up .

2010-07-12T10:05:00.009+01:00

Hi everyone , today dawned cooler , grey and damp and it is now raining properly. I'm not complaining , I'm not a sun seeker or a big fan of hot weather , though I do like it to be reasonable. Anyway , the gardens need the water and we all need some fresher air , so it's a good day in my opinion.

I couldn't resist showing a picture of the flowers on one of our courgette plants . I think they're really pretty , just a shame they don't last very long.

We usually have a couple of plants that we buy as sets from the local herb garden , this year we have ten plants lol. My MIL set them all from seed and was more successful than she anticipated . Good job we like courgettes , though I guess we will end up with a freezer full of various recipes .

We had another lovely sunset the other day . I missed taking pics of the best part as I was out watering the plants , but this was near the end .

sorry the photo is a bit fuzzy , it was late and I was tired.

So , my stash from Wimblebees arrived , yippee .

Bent Creeks' Autumn Row , Lanartes' African Woman and L&Ls' In the arms of an Angel .

I've had my eye on African Woman for a couple of years , and when you can get it at half price , you've just got to go with the flow . I also ordered Lizzie Kates' Housework Never , but it was sold out , and a little something else that I can't show at the moment.

Don't know when I'll get to stitch these , but at least I've got them lol.

Progress on Moon Struck :

I haven't done as much as I'd hoped. Most days last week seemed to be spent running round doing lots of errands , and I've got two sports days to go to this week , so not sure how much will get done . I would have liked to have got the sky finished over the weekend , but it didn't happen . I am enjoying stitching this though , even though it's not something I'd usually do , so can't be bad. I need to crack on with it though so I can get my other project started. More on that next time .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

I'm back .

2010-07-06T10:02:00.009+01:00

Hi everyone . first of all , thank you all for the lovely comments . It makes me smile every time I receive one. Sorry I haven't been around for a while . I have not been feeling at all creative . My stitchy bug took a long and unwanted vacation without me , so I was not impressed. I have just been doing lots of reading . Thank heavens for the local library , as I have been getting through books at an alarming rate this past few weeks . I've read 52 so far this year , most of them my own . I'm also helping to keep the local charity shops in business lol. I have made a few more cards , though didn't photograph all of them due to having to get them to the birthday people , but here are a couple .

These are for my Husbands' Grandma and my cousins' daughter .

And , finally , I have started doing some stitching . I needed to get another scroll frame for the project I want to do , so this is what I started to keep me going while I was in the mood lol.

It will eventually look something like this :

This charts is from an old , old magazine called Classic Stitches , and is actually a chart for tapestry , and is charted in Anchor tapestry wool . I contacted Anchor to see if they had a conversion to stranded cotton , but they don't . So one day last year I was running around Hobbycraft with a basket full of Anchor tapestry wool and a notepad and pen , trying to match the colours to DMC stranded cotton ,as I prefer to use DMC .

I matched them the best I could , so the picture will look a little bit different , but hopefully will turn out ok .

This is hopefully going to be a present for my Sister-in-law as many years ago there was a sculpture in Past Times called Moon Gazing Hare that she really liked , so I hope she will like this picture.

I got my other scroll frame yesterday , so will soon have another start to show . I've been getting some stick for starting and not finishing , but I don't have loads of projects on the go . My Christmas one and the Owls and a couple of small squares is all . I don't think that's too bad .

Anyway , I'm all excited as I've won a prize in Michelles' blogoversary giveaway , so looking forward to that . And , next month I will have been blogging for a year , so watch this space for my own giveaway .

Wimblebees are closing down and are selling everything off at 50% discount ,so go and have a look before end of August . Guess a little stash enhancement has helped my stitchy bug to come home lol.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Green eyes? Look this way ....

2010-06-15T21:39:00.007+01:00

I am going to make you soooo jealous .

A while ago I entered Gaynor's draw to win a RAK of something handmade by her . she let me know on Tuesday of last week that it was in the post , so I was on tenterhooks waiting for it to arrive . Boy was it worth the wait .

Look at the lovely package I received. I've got to admit , it got me quite emotional .

The gorgeous stitched piece is backed with the fabric shown , which Gaynor kindly sent as well ,and she included the chart . How cool is that . I totally love it , and can see myself stitching it more than once in the future . So , a BIG Thank you , once again Gaynor for such a gorgeous RAK . I absolutely love it. This is the first stitched thing other than bookmarks that I have been given , so it's even more special .

If you are interested , Gaynor has just offered up her next RAK , so go over and put your name in .

I am still open for people to let me have their details if they want to possibly receive a RAK from me at some point. just let me know.

Other news ,still no stitching to show , but I have made a few more cards

notice a trend here ? lol .

Thanks everyone for your comments , I do appreciate them very much.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Cards

2010-06-08T14:09:00.004+01:00

It was my eldest sisters' birthday last week , and her eldest daughter passed her driving test the week before , so I had a card making session for them

I have a few more birthdays coming up this month , so will be busy again . I quite like the dress one ,and it was easy to do so will probably do a few more of those. Loads of birthdays in July , so I will be really busy lol.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Problems,Prizes and Primates.

2010-06-04T10:06:00.010+01:00

Well , this post would have and should have been done last night , but I was tearing my hair out instead. I want to be able to do all my posting from my laptop , but needed to have the program for my camera put on it. Couldn't find the disc so downloaded the updated version from the company's' website. What a mistake! An absolute pain in the wotsits . It took me over two hours to save the pictures from my camera , when it should only take around two minutes or less. Needless to say , by the time I'd done that , I was in no fit state to write anything lol.

Anyway , a while a go I had a competition ,and eventually sorted out sending the prizes lol. Kids and other things conspired against me .

I know that three of the four have arrived safely a few days ago , so I'm assuming the fourth has arrived too , and I'm going to show pics .

I do have individual pics , but due to the problems with the camera program , half of my photos still haven't down loaded . Grrrr .

Anyway, yesterday we went to Monkey Forest again , and had a great time . The weather was a tad too hot at points , but we enjoyed it .

I won't put loads of pics on ,as I posted lots last year when we went. We went a bit earlier in the year this time , so the babies that were around were smaller , and some were being waited on being born .

The one at the bottom left has been named Snow White by some of the staff as she is a lot lighter in colour than the others. She was my Daughters' favourite last year , so it was good that we got to see her again.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

A friend in need.

2010-05-22T17:54:00.005+01:00

Can anyone please help ? My friends Nan is cross stitching a set of place mats with dragons on them. She has finished four , but wants to make a set of six and has run out of DMC 781 . this thread number has been discontinued and replaced with 782 , which is a slightly different shade. I don't have any in my stash , but have managed to swap some with members of the charity group , however , I'm not sure it will be enough , so if anyone out there has any DMC 781 , that they'd be prepared to trade , please contact me . Happy to send another DMC thread in return , thanks . Also , a plea for me this time , does anyone know if there are any charts available from the film "Chicken Run" ? We have some friends who are getting married in October , and they are big Chicken Run fans , so I thought it would be good to make them a sampler . If not , it looks like the old graph paper will be making an entrance. Thanks again , Cath

Needles , hooks and reading books.

2010-05-19T18:30:00.008+01:00

First things first , here is Miss Martha who helped me to pick out the winner of my giveaway.I decided to include some red-heart ribbon and a pack of red beads , just to make it more interesting. Look a little closer , and you can see that the winner is :Mylene , well done Mylene , if you can send me your details , I will get it in the post to you as soon as I can. Miss Martha was sitting in a charity shop when I went hunting the other day .I tried , I really did try to resist , I put her down and picked her up several times before giving in. I always said if I had a daughter I'd call her Martha , but my husband didn't like the name , so I've given it to a bear instead.

I'm still not really stitching much , but I have been filling my time . Lots of books have passed before my eyes , and today I tried something different.

I've wanted to learn to crochet for a while , but missed out on the first issue of the magazine that's recently been published over here , so bought a book instead and today was the day I decided to give it a go. Here is Miss Martha modelling the result.

I made a bag ! No pattern, it was a "wing it and see" kind of thing. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination , but not too shoddy for a first attempt.So , that's it. I've got reading duty now (well listening to reading anyhow) so best get on .

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

GOS ,and a Giveaway

2010-05-11T10:43:00.005+01:00

I stitched the GOS challenge in the hope it would bring my stitchy bug back home . It helped a little bit , but not enough .

I was going to make a floss tag , but it seemed too obvious , so I hummed and haahed a bit before deciding to combine the challenge with a little giveaway.

As today is our wedding anniversary , I'm going to give away this floss bag , and fill it with 8 skeins of red floss , one for each year we've been married , so I'll also give you eight days to enter.

Leave a comment on this post before noon on 19th May if you'd like a chance to win , and I'll choose a winner , simple as that.

I stitched it on some even weave that was lying around, using DMC 321 and made a little bag. As I had the sewing machine out , I also finished off the prizes from my last competition (sorry for the delay ladies) , so they will be in the post this week.

Close up of the stitching.

My little bug has been visiting the last few days , but I'm doing secret stitching , so the reveal won't be for a while.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Stash , Gifts and Thanks

2010-05-05T10:16:00.006+01:00

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments and words of encouragement.

It seems I'm not the only one going through a stitching slump right now lol. One of the main things I've come to love about blogging is the overall friendship , kindness and generosity shown by everyone. Perfectly illustrated last week, when I got a lovely surprise in the post on Friday.

Lindsay sent me these , just because they made her think of me.

So thoughtful and kind , Thanks again Lindsay , I totally love them. they are hanging on the door at the moment but may get moved around a little bit.

I have done a little bit of stitching. I finished a Baloo cover kit for SFC

and , I've also stitched the GOS challenge , but haven't made it up yet , so I'll save pics of that for later.

I've been charity shop hunting again

Got these the other day. The big Ultimate Country one has a lot of the same charts in as the last one I got, So I'll see which one I like best and pass the other one on.

I won't use the Garden Flowers one , but picked it up anyway as it was a good price , so if anyone wants it , leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Just like Eeyore

2010-04-27T21:01:00.008+01:00

I'm feeling rather gloomy.

My stitching bug has done a bunk , and I just can't seem to get back into it. I have lots of things that need doing ,but am going nowhere fast. Help !

Last Sunday , we decided to go to the coast for the day , and though it was chilly if you were out of the sun , it was a lovely day.

Whilst it was quite busy in the town , the beach was fairly empty. The sea was still a bit too cold for paddling though . That said , I have been paddling in the sea in November , well , you can't go to the beach and not dip your toes in the water , can you ? I know some people are opposed to these wind farms , but I'm not . OK , they are not on my doorstep , but I don't think I'd have a problem if they were. At the end of the day , it is a sustainable energy source , surely that should be more important than aesthetics ? And , actually , I find them quite calming , and very graceful.

The kids were fascinated by this starfish , and we eventually had to catch it in the net and take it down to the sea.

Karan recently had a giveaway , and I won ! Look what lovely goodies arrived for me on Friday

Fab or what ? And , today I found these in a charity shop ,which are great . But , new stash and still no stitchy bug. what to do ?

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath

Smalls

2010-04-20T10:07:00.009+01:00

Hi everyone .

Well , I have been in a bit of a stitching slump the last couple of weeks, think it's due to having the kids at home for the holidays , my routine was all out and I didn't have as much time to myself.

I managed a small cover kit for SFC, which was part of a send along , but even that took lots longer than it would normally.

Not a great pic , but the best I could get at the time ,and it's now been posted off to the next person in line.

So ,I thought I'd show the ornaments I made for Stitch and Pass it on . They haven't been shown on there yet , but they were received the beginning of last month , so I kind of feel I've waited long enough .

This is the chart we were to stitch from . As I was the first person ,the pressure was on , so I thought it would be nice to stitch both designs. I didn't have the recommended threads , so used DMC , making my own conversions up by eye , looking at the cover picture.The snowman doesn't show up quite as well as it could , as my fabric was a bit lighter then the called for , but I still think it looks nice.One of them was meant to have little dangly bits on the branches , but I wasn't too keen on it so left them off.The little cardinal button on the snowman is as charted , thankfully , I bought him separately. They were lovely to stitch , but it took me a while to get the sewing machine out to be able to finish. Overall , I'm quite happy with how they turned out. The person receiving them said she liked them , so let's hope so.

I have some other non stitchy pics to show , but I'll leave those for another day.

Thanks for dropping by,

Cath

Giveaways , RAKs and prizes

2010-04-12T10:18:00.005+01:00

No new stitchy updates at the moment , I've been busy reading and refereeing . Thankfully , calm will resume now the kids are back at school and nursery ,lol . So , Edgar is having a giveaway to celebrate three years of blogging and 700 posts. Angela is having a giveaway for her 2nd Blogging anniversary , and Patty is having a giveaway for her birthday celebration . so , if you like prizes , go and have a look. I've seen this on a few blogs ,and think it's a fab idea , so I'm going to copy it lol. You know how it is , you want to stitch something and it would be a perfect gift for someone, you'd like to surprise them , but you don't have their address , so you have to ask and spoil the surprise. Well ,a few bloggers are sending a message out , that if you want to be in with a chance of receiving a gift from them, let them have your details , and then you may get a surprise one day. So , if anyone would be interested in getting a RAK from me , maybe , one day , please let me have your details (inc Blog so I can check out your likes and dislikes). On to the prizes ,the winners of my competition , please don't think I've forgotten you , I haven't , but the last couple of weeks have been rather mad with the school holidays. Thanks. Cath

Fan-fare

2010-04-06T08:49:00.010+01:00

It's time for the GOS challenge again. I didn't do the last one , as the chart didn't inspire any creativity in me at all.

As soon as I saw this one , it shouted out to me and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

The chart is of three little flowers , which had to be embellished in the center , any way you chose , and the rest as they say ,was up to you. I looked at the chart and immediately thought "fan" , in red white and black. Originally I was going to do a hanging ornament ,which swiftly became two hanging ornaments and then changed completely to a needle book and fob lol.

The front and back of the needle book . I did the front in two strands , and the back in one strand .

The needle book opened out. The felt pages are actually red , but I just caught a bit of sunshine this morning when taking the pictures .

This is the back of the fob. Again I used two strands for the front and one for the back.

I used DMC 310 and 666 , and some scraps of aida from my stash , I think it's 16 count .

The fabric they are on is what I used for the inside of the book.

So , there you have it. The finishing is not perfect , but it's the first time I've done anything like this , and I'm quite pleased as they turned out pretty much as I'd hoped. It took a lot of time yesterday to do the finishing , then a mad dash to the local outlet mid afternoon , as I hadn't got any red felt , just blue and green LOL , but got there in the end.

Thanks for dropping by ,

Cath