Show and tell . (Lots)

Well ,after not much at all to blog about , I now have lots to catch up on ,lol .
 First off, I received a lovely e-mail from Marilyn , to let me know that she had received her giveaway package , and she likes it , thankfully . Then , Sharon posted on her blog that she had received hers , so just waiting for Lynns' to arrive and we're all sorted.
 This is what I sent to Marilyn :

 And this one was for Sharon .

I had to order the charts and wait for them to arrive , so it took a wee while .
 I will show what I sent to Lynn  when she has received it.

 Secondly , it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago , and the lovely Bekca of the Stitching Lion had chosen me to receive her birthday RAK for September . Look at the lovely goodies she sent me .

 There were also a couple of packets of sweets. but they disappeared with my Daughter ,lol .
I also got a new kit for my birthday from my lovely hubby .

 It is much prettier than this photo shows, I can't seem to get the colours right at the moment. I mostly got money for my birthday , hence the debate on the lap stand. I'm still undecided ,lol .

 And , this is what I was up to most of yesterday .
 My Daughters' friend asked me ages ago to stitch her a Pokemon , and this is the one she chose. I finally got round to making it into a little pillow for her ,and as it was her birthday yesterday, wrapped it up and gave it to her .

 I'm quite pleased with it , and my hidden closing seams are getting better .

  Also made up the cushion covers for my two . They chose the fabrics themselves , but didn't know I was doing them yesterday , so got a nice surprise this morning . It took me ages last night to sew on the closing snaps.

Almost lastly, progress on Calm Seas .

 I have almost finished this cliff , only two more and the beach to go ,lol .

 Notice my needle minder in the top right corner ? I was browsing around wilkos and spotted these .
 I wouldn't use them for bookmarks , but they are perfect for needle minders .

They hold the needle really well ,

and are strong enough to hold scissors too.

 I like them so much , I went back and bought some more to share , so I'm going to have a little competition .

 If you would like the chance to win some of these fab little magnets, leave me a comment on this post only, telling me how many projects you have on the go right now. I mean projects that you are actually working on , not just things lying around .
 This is open to followers only ,though new ones are welcome to join in too . I'll leave it open until the end of the month , so feel free to comment until the 31st October , and I'll let you know who wins sometime after that .
 If you are still reading , thank you , it's a very long post ,lol .

 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

I've done it !

After months of

debating ...

wondering ...

ooohing ...

aaahing ...

wishing ...

thinking ...

I did it .

I have bought two HAED charts !

 I am amazed at myself , though I must stress ,that I got a Story Keep and a Tiny Treasures . As much as I love the "BIG" charts , I'm not totally convinced that I would ever actually finish one , lol .
 As HAED had a massive sale on last week , it seemed like the ideal time to try them out .

 So , d'ya wanna see ?

 Aren't they pretty ?  They have both been on my wish list for ages .Though , I don't know when I will get to stitch them . After finishing the gift I'm doing , I want to finish of LK ABC Lessons , then I've promised a picture each to the kids , and I'd also like to finish my other WIPs/ UFOs too , so I need to grow a couple more pairs of arms , lol .

 Thanks for dropping by ,
 Cath

Orts and ends.

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

Stash and snails.

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

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

DOH!!!

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

Stitchin' and stashin'

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

Another one of those weeks .

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

Gifties , thanks and pics.

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