Swirling Peacock UPDATE

Good Morning Everyone (it's currently 1.38am here in South Wales).

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year.

Over the last 2 days, I've been working on Swirling Peacock. I didn't touch a single thing in the run up to Christmas as it was hectic trying to get things in place and together for the day.

I have to say though that Christmas was a success and was enjoyed by all....until 2 days ago that is when I somehow managed to hurt my foot.

Here is how Mr Peacock is currently looking:

I am planning on joining in with the Turtle Trot 2014 to try and get my current projects either finished or good progress made on them. More on that will be in another post though.

Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2014 brings nothing but great things to you all.

xXx

Swirling Peacock Update

Good Afternoon everyone!!

I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately, but we've had lots of germs spreading around us like a wildfire.

Thankfully we all seem to be slightly better, although the kiddies were complaining this morning of upset stomachs and feeling sick....guess what....they've perked right up this afternoon.

I have to admit that I haven't done a great deal of stitching lately as my bug seems to have wandered off on me. I will be picking something up a bit later so I can do some stitches that don't need a huge amount of concentration.

I have completed a little bit more of Swirling Peacock, and here is how he is looking at the moment.

If I don't update before Christmas, I hope you all have a very merry christmas and that you get all you want and wish from Santa.

Until next time

xXx

The last TUSAL of 2013

Good evening everyone!!

I'm sorry it has been a while since my last post, but my stitching bug seems to have wandered off a bit and there are currently germs about the house as everyone has sniffles, etc.

Here is my TUSAL jar for the entire year so far.

I will be putting these with the last 2 years worth of threads and hope to one day use it as stuffing for something :)

I hope you are all keeping warm and well.

Until next time

xXx

A New HAED Start

Good Evening everyone!!

How are we all in this wild weather we are currently experiencing in the UK?

As my title suggests, I have a new start.

I recently bought a HAED chart by Nene Thomas called Wings in Repose and last week I ordered both the fabric (28ct) and the remaining threads needed. My fabric arrived on Saturday and I started straight away.

Here is what the chart looks like:

......and here is my progress:

I am stitching this 1 over 1 and I love the coverage :)

I hope to have an update for you all next week as a RR landed on my doorstep this morning too :)

Until next time,
Keep warm and safe

xXx

November TUSAL

Good Evening to all!! I can't believe I forgot about my TUSAL. I took a photo just forgot to blog it.

Here is my ort's up until November 3rd.

Until next time

xXx

A Few Updates :)

Good Morning to all from a rather chilly South Wales.

I seem to have stopped blogging for a few days but I'm back and I do have a few updates on my WIP's.

Since I finished Santa and The Mouse, I went back to Moon Goddess and a few other pieces. Here are the updates:

Moon Goodess. Pages 1,2,3,4 and 6 complete, page 5 in progress.

A close up of page 5 (in progress) and page 6:

Swirling Peacock:

In between these projects, I decided to start something small, but for some reason my stitching bug has started to wane a bit.  Here is my little in between project:

This is from WOCS. I've substituted the white for kreinik 032

I am now off to snuggle on the sofa today with my poorly little girl and do more on page 5. I want to get most of page 5 done by Christmas if not completed.

I do hope you all keep warm in this chilly weather :) 

Have a great day all.

Until next time

xXx

Santa and The Mouse HAED Ornament......COMPLETED!!!

Hello to everyone!!

I'm sorry this has taken a while for me to post but with the kiddies not in school, routine is upside down.

I have a finish!! My first big finish of the year.

Santa and The Mouse HAED:

Started: 15th July 2013
Finished: 24th October 2013
Stitches: 22,500
Hours taken: 162 hours and 55 minutes

For future HAED's I refuse to use magic guide. I just could not get rid of the red lines. It went in the washing machine on a40C wash as recommended, it went in on a 30C wash, and it soaked overnight in vanish and scalding hot kettle water and I can still see the lines faintly. I will now use standard 25ct and a water erasable pen.

I also have a new start. Swirling Peacock by Joan Elliott.

Hubby really likes this and as it is so rare for him to find something he likes, I thought I'd stitch him up.

Here is the end result:

I have so far done the right side of the circle and he has some neck and a face. I hope to continue with him today :)

Until next time

xXx

I'm still here

Good Morning everyone!!

I'm sorry I haven't posted or commented on blogs this last week or so, I've been stitching away like crazy so as to not lose my stitchy bug before Santa and the Mouse HAED ornament is done LOL.

I am hoping that by the end of the week/early next week I will have a finish.

I hope you are all keeping warm and dry in this awful cold, wet and windy weather we are having.

xXx

Santa and the Mouse HAED Ornament

Hello again everyone!! I have a quick update on Santa and the Mouse.

I am now halfway through page 3 and I hope to have the ornament done by the beginning of November.

Here it is so far:

I have no idea why my pictures have started turning themselves again :(

Until next time

xXx

Birthday Spoils :) (pic heavy)

Good Morning to everyone from a very wet South Wales.

It is absolutely battering down outside and as a result I got drenched on the school run. Good time to stay indoors, pop on the heating and get some stitching done :)

Now, as my title suggest I celebrated a birthday. My birthday was yesterday and I turned 28 and I was spoilt.

I took part in a Birthday Thread Exchange, and although not all of the cards arrived, I did receive these:

For some reason the photo has decided to turn again.

 I also received a very brilliant present from my friend Heather.  She sent me a thread per the Birthday Thread Exchange, a piece of Polstitches fabric "Friendship" and money to get myself either more fabric or charts :)

Once again the pic has turned itself the wrong way.

I put the money with other birthday money and bought myself 6 pieces of yummy Polstitches fabrics and a HAED chart.

Here is the chart I purchased:

Wings In Repose - Nene Thomas

This chart is an absolute whopper. It contains 54 pages of chart LOL. How many lifetimes will I need to finish this.

I also took advantage of the sale HAED are currently having and I purchased more Ornaments and another BAP :) Here are the ones I bought:

Santa's Magical Flight

The Enchanted Christmas

Up, Up and Away

The Spirit of Winter Robin

The Waiting

I also received some lovely perfume from my hubby and kiddies. I received two bottles of this:

Haven't I been spoilt :) A huge thank you goes out to Heather for being such a fabulous friend and sending me scrumptious goodies :) xxxxxxxxx

Until next time

xXx

Santa and the Mouse....ANOTHER PAGE FINISH.

Good Morning to all.

Yes, you read correctly. I have another page finish. I started page 2 on October 1st, and finished it last night (October 10th).

Here it is:

Even my hubby likes him. He says he looks a very Victorian Santa :)

I bought myself a pen that you can grid your work with and is washable and it has helped me greatly. I can now do 1 colour all over a page without miscounting :)

I am now going to go back to page 3 (which I started last night).

Fingers crossed, but I think at this rate I may get this done in time for Christmas :)

Until next time

xXx

5th October TUSAL day

Good afternoon everyone!!!!!

I have my TUSAL report for you all today. I have managed to do a lot of stitching over the last month and have a jar half full to show for it.

I will hopefully have an update for you all on Monday :)

Until next time

xXx

Santa and the Mouse PAGE FINISH!!

Good Morning to all.

I have had an extremely productive week and to show for it I have a page finish.

I finished page 1 of the Santa and the Mouse HAED ornament. Here it is:

I will be removing the blue lines once the ornament is fully finished :) I now have 3 pages left. I'm going to start the next page until later on when I will iron and grid up Moon Goddess in order to finish page 4 :)

I hope you all have a very productive day.

Until next time

xXx

Just a quick update

Good Afternoon everyone!!

I have a quick update for you all on my Santa and the Mouse HAED Ornament. I've become slightly obsessed with stitching him this last week.

Here is how he is looking now.

Can you see Santa starting to peek :) 

I am going to continue working on him this week until the first page is complete. I shall then go back to Moon Goddess to finish of page 4 :)

Until next time

xXx

Santa and The Mouse HAED

Good Morning to all on this horrid day here in South Wales. It is humid, but absolutely pouring down.

Over the last few days I have been working on my Santa and the Mouse HAED ornament. My rotation has gone out of the window, Winter Fairy has been put down for good (or until I can get a new fabric for her) and I can't seem to stitch more on 12 Days at the moment as I don't have the umph for it.

I have managed to get a fair bit done on S&TM, I have completed a whole column and I am working on the next.

Here is how it is looking as of last night: (to see where I left it last time, click HERE)

I am hoping that today will see the top row completed :) I will update again in a few days.

I hope you are all keeping warm and dry in this weather.

Until next time

xXx

A RR Finish :)

Good Morning to all.

I was meant to update my blog yesterday, but until late last night, I complete forgot about it.

Last week my rotation plans went right out the window as I started to stitch extra's onto a robin while the one lady is out of the country. Here is another mouse I finished:

He is an adorable little fellow but oh my that back stitch was a right pain in the you know what to do. My hands were extremely sore afterwards.

Over the weekend I managed to work on Moon Goddess, but last night I gave the entire project a wash. I'm now about to unroll her from the towel to iron her so I will take a picture of her then and edit this post with my progress. While she is drying, I am going to be working on Winter Fairy.

I have myself a lamp and oh boy what a difference it makes in stitching. It is a normal halogen light but I can make it bright or dim it down. It's made a heck of a difference in stitching, so much so that without my lamp now, I'm as slow as a snail stitching :)

I will update later with pictures from Moon Goddess  :)

EDIT: Here is Moon Goddess:

As you can see page 4 is almost complete and page 7 has been started on the left. I still have to stitch 1 full page and 1 partial until the top row is complete.

Until next time

xXx

Flying off the needle :)

Good Morning!!!

I have to say that this week I have been busily stitching.....but not on 12 Days LOL.

I have however stitched up more on the RR that I am part of. 

I stitched in place of another lady who went out of the country.

Here are my finishes so far:

Another square on a Halloween themed RR

My little mouse stitched on a Mice themed RR

I also have new fabric. Polstitches had left over monthly limited edition fabric, so put it up for sale. I had to have a piece. This is October's Limited Edition called Crushed Apple.

28ct Crushed Apple Opalescent from Polstitches

Today I plan on finishing up the second mouse that I'm stitching for the lady who went away and then I have no idea what to stitch Friday to Sunday. 

I will have another update for you all on Monday :) 

I hope that you all keep warm in this chilly weather. I'm really feeling the cold now :)

Until next time 

xXx

Weekend Stitching Progress

Good Morning to you all!!

It has been rather chilly in the mornings these last few days, and dare I say that I can feel the winter creeping in.

I have a few updates for you now on the stitching front from over the weekend.

On Friday night, I popped into Asda and purchased a copy of The World of Cross Stitching and I'm blogger of the month :)

Here is the piece in the magazine:

I have to say that I am over the moon, but also curious. How do they choose a blogger of the month is?

I also received on Friday the new bookazine "The Ultimate Forest Friends Cross Stitch Collection". I just love these bookazines.

On Sunday morning, I picked up my TUSAL jar and the thing just smashed in my hand. So I had to hunt around for a new one. I decided on a large candle jar that had not long run out and the remaining wax wouldn't light, so had hubby clean it out. Here it is looking ship shape and shiny with its new contents:

This is a Yankee Candle and I have to say they smell absolutely delicious. The big ones (like this) cost around £13 each but burn for weeks.

Now I'm going to show you my actual stitching progress.  On Friday, I didn't really manage all that much stitching on Day 6, so here is how '6 Geese-A-Laying' is looking:

All that is left to do really is the eggs, some more blue for the sky and the backstitch. I'm definitely hoping to have this completed today.

For my weekend project, Moon Goddess came out to play. She has been yelling at me for a while but I kept ignoring until Saturday. I didn't get to stitch throughout the daytime as it was my little boy's 6th birthday, so spent the day with him :)

I managed to put in a total of 755 stitches :)

A close up of page 4:

Well those are all my updates for the weekend. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and kept warm wherever you all are :)

Until next time

xXx

Day 3 - Top border is completed

Good Morning to all on this chilly September morning.

As my title says, I have completed the top border of my 12 Days of Christmas. Here is how it is looking now, both close up and the entire project.

I'm hoping that today will see day 6 completed.

Until next time

xXx

Day 2 Progress -- 12 Days of Christmas

Good Morning my lovely followers!!

I have spent another day stitching on my 12 Days of Christmas and I found my self rather annoyed yesterday morning.

After stitching on it the night before, I came to find that I had stitched all the holly leaves one stitch too far to the right. I ended up spending most of the morning unpicking them all. (P.S. Thank you to Heather for sending me the frog, he loved his visit :D).

I did however manage to restitch them all, then added the required 33 french knots as berries, the backstitch design and also finish the gold border at the top.

Here is how it is looking as of last night:

I am hoping that by the end of today (11-9-2013) I will have fully completed the entire top of the border.

I also have to say that I am quite enjoying this rotation at the moment.

I hope that you are all keeping warm in the weather, it has gone rather nippy as of late. Brrrr.

Until next time

xXx

12 Days of Christmas Update

Good Morning all. I spent all day working on 12 Days of Christmas as part of my new rotation. After working on it all day here is how it is looking. I mainly spent my time fighting with the kreinik thread, for some reason, this spool is constantly fraying and little pieces snapping.

Today is going to be spent taking the top gold border right across to the last holly leaves, and then I can work on the red and some backstitching.

With a bit of luck, I may manage a little more than I did yesterday :)

EDIT: change of plans, I have to frog all the holly leaves as they are one stitch too far to the right grrrrrr.  :( :( :(

Hope everyone is keeping well.

Until next time

xXx

Good Evening!! I have Finishes :) :)

Good Evening everyone!!

How are we all keeping in the changing of the seasons? I can really feel the cold weather on (my joints ache like crazy), I can also smell it in the air (sounds bizarre right....but it has a fresher smell LOL).

Right, onto my finishes. In my last post I mentioned that I was stitching a RR and also trying to finish the Star Trek sampler for hubby.

I am now happy to report they are both done :) Hubby is over the moon with the Star Trek, and is now eager to go shopping for a frame.

Here are pictures of the finished articles:

Halloween RR finished 6th Sept 2013

Star Trek Sampler started 18th Aug 2013 finished 8th Sept 

I am now sorting out a rotation for my other stitching and through your help and comments I've decided this:

Monday to Friday - 12 Days of Christmas
Saturday - Charlie Bear
Sunday - Spring Fairy

The Saturday slot is still a bit undecided but should I change my mind, I will stitch on my HAED ornament instead.

I hope that you are enjoying your crafting.

Until next time

xXx

Universal Craft Blog Directory

I read a blog that I am following (here) and it led me to a Craft Directory of blogs.

This is a place where you put your blog (free) and can read other crafty blogs too. I thought I would join in too.

To join click HERE

Enjoy and have fun :)

xXx

A Giveaway by Miss LindaLee

Linda Lee is having a give away over at her blog here.

Come join in :)

You have until 26th September to join.

xXx

TUSAL time already. Time is flying by

Good Morning!!!

How are we all on this lovely sunny morning? I hope you are all keeping well.

I have a picture of my TUSAL jar and not much else. I've been stitching on a RR (halloween themed) for the last 2 days, so I will edit this post to show you that a bit later on. 

For now, here is my TUSAL jar :) 

I'm now going to play catch up on reading blogs, as I haven't been able to read/comment on all. 

Until next time 

xXx

EDIT: Here is the RR as it stands at the moment :)

Fantastic but exhausting weekend - pic heavy

Hellooo Everyone.

It has been almost a week since my last post, and I've hardly managed any stitching at all.

We had an action packed weekend planned for the kiddies as during the holidays we moved house. We took them to places they had never been before and had been hankering about for a little while, but we kept it all a surprise from them.

On Friday, we took the kids to Caerphilly Castle and oh boy what a place. I'd never been there before neither so it was an experience for all. The kiddies had an absolute blast looking about the place, climbing, running and jumping and going up into the towers. On our exit, we saw a bride and groom making their way to the Grand Hall too. Here are some pics from Caerphilly Castle:

The bride and groom

Upon leaving Caerphilly we had to a quick stop shop to gather supplies for the following day out. We took the kiddies to Heatherton World of Adventure in Pembrokeshire.

Now this place was fun (well, minus the millions of wasps that were about). They had loads of things for kids to do (you have to be over 6years to go on most things, so we fibbed about my little boys age - well, he is 6 in 10 days time).

The kiddies enjoyed Go-Karting, Bumper Boats, Pistol Shooting, Archery, Body Zorbs, Water Peddlerz and Driving School for kids. Grace even went on the zip line (much braver than me LOL) she flew down 43m and loved it. Here are some pics:

Brave Girly

Look at the concentration HAHA

These are just a couple of the pictures taken haha. They had an absolute blast :)

On Sunday then we went to Cardiff Museum. I haven't been there in over 14 years and the last time I did go, it was rather rubbish LOL. But not any more. They have fantastic dinosaur displays that frightened the life out of the kiddies haha.

Wow, I didn't mean for the post to be such a long one. If you are still with me, Thank You.

I have no stitching updates as yet, but I began working on a RR, so as soon as there is enough done, I will post an update.

Until next time

xXx