Dec IHSW, A Birthday and An Anniversary!

Hello there!

Well what a busy time again!

We made it! One year in our house! I managed to complete the decorating so every room has now had a coat of paint. House looking splendid. Going to start work in the garden next year.

The following day it was my eldest daughter's 11th birthday. She had an awesome time and was of course spoiled rotten. Presents, cake, a take out of her choice for her tea... what a day it was.

It fell on Saturday - the first day of IHSW. Naturally as my attention was focused on Hannah the stitching was put aside on that day, but on Sunday I did put in some stitches:

Before:

I had my nails done too LOL

Not a huge heap of progress, about 1000 stitches in all.

Next year I plan to finish Avarice and start Sistine Chapel. I also want to finish my Flower Bride storykeep and put in work on both Twilight Magic and Firefly.

Next time, a year end round up as I am now breaking from blogging for Christmas. Prob between Christmas and New Year I will post.

Til the next report

Merry Christmas one and all

xxxxx

Avarice page 15 completed

I am more than halfway across this row now, 3 pages, 2 full and one 12 stitches wide left.

I am getting through roughly a page a fortnight but that will slow now the festive season is almost upon us. I have one more room to decorate too.

Wanna see the pic?

Ok...

Until the next update xx

November IHSW report

IHSW was all of a sudden upon me and guess what? Yep. I worked on Avarice. I just cannot put her down!!

There has been a fair bit pf progress since my last post. 2 pages and a bit in fact....

The last left side page of heavy confetti gems has been completed, and on page 14 her beautiful hand appeared. Here is a pic at the start of the weekend:

There were around 1200 stitches to finish this page.

And here is an overall after IHSW pic with the first row of page 15 in place. I am LOVING the block stitching on her skirt. At the end of this row there are some more gems but hey, its the payoff for a few easy pages.

I love stitching her. I can't get into rotation with Firefly because she keeps calling me.

So. Life? you ask?

I am trying to increase my fitness levels and I have started running again. I did it years ago, restarted earlier this year but injury forced me to stop until I lost a little weight so I did. I restarted though and I am really pleased with how its going so far.

I want to be a lean, mean stitching machine!

I have a long way to go and I am realistic, but I want to change ME within the next 6 months. I am focused on it and I WILL do it. First goal, 7lbs/3kg before Christmas season starts.

Children are all fantastic, house is great. New car coming soon.. hubs happy about that LOL.

Can you believe next month it will be a year since we moved?!?!?! Time flies.

Til the next update!

xx

It's been A While...

But I have been very busy - honest!!

On the home front - Lauren has settled into her nursery well and is doing fantastic. Coming home with paintings daily, she is a true little star.

My eldest, who has special needs, had a review at her school too. She is moving up to secondary school next year so we have also been to see that and meet the staff.

My middle one, my little superstar, has lived up to her name. There was a Harvest Festival at her school and she played a leading role and was amazing. She has joined the Glee Club too and is singing her little heart out at every turn.

My husband is still working away, but that's ok, because while he is not here I am busy decorating the house. My girls chose what they wanted in their rooms so after a coat on the bathroom which really, really did need doing, I started their bedrooms.

Here are their bed spaces after a coat of paint and some girly accoutrements...

The top two belong to Victoria and Hannah respectively, They share a room. Hannah is the eldest, Victoria the middle one. The bottom pic is Lauren's room - she is just 3.

They all love their new spaces. So much better than the uninspiring greyish blue colour they had on their walls before. Bedtime is a pleasure for them now.

So after doing their spaces I have organised what I will do with the master bedroom and plan to start that soon, then its on to the downstairs.

After a major declutter too this week I started the downstairs by painting my pantry. Its now just a plain white room and looks much brighter and cleaner. The living room and dining kitchen still need doing but I can't do everything at once!!

So what stitchy news??

I lost my bug. For the longest time. I hated being without stitching in my hands but when I had it it just wasn't doing anything hence me putting it away completely and getting cracked on with the house.

I did pick Avarice up again though...... and completed row 2 - pages 11 and 12.

Its a horrid, horrid pic, I am so sorry. Dreadful light and a camera phone. But you get the gist. She is looking fabby. I love her. Since my bug is back I have managed in the last few days to average 700 stitches a day on her.

Anyway, that's my news. Sorry to all my followers (and welcome to the new ones!) about how long its been since I blogged but I am sure you all understand how life can creep up on you.

Until the next update

xx

Avarice Page 10 Finish, Late WIPocalypse.. And Life Update!

Whoo! I am so pleased to get this one done! I really wanted to finish this in time for the WIPocalypse at the end of August but I am almost 2 weeks late! A page and a column and the second row is complete. That's the next task!

This page saw her other arm completed and the next one is confetti hell. More gems. The next row sees the last of the gems on either end then its just lovely block stitching for a good while.

Pics:

My next pic is one of me and the family that I wanted to share from our recent holiday in North Wales. We are on a boat on the middle of Llyn Padarn, a lake in the town of Llanberis. The town is at the foot of Mount Snowdon and the day we were there it was so clear we could see the summit.

From L - R,. Me, Hannah, my husband Jon, Victoria (sticking her tongue out as usual LOL) and Lauren peeking out.

We had such a good time and the sun shone down on us that day :-))

Next, Lauren started pre school this week My baby is 3 1/2 already. She has truly come a long way this year being unwell with one thing and another. Anyway, here she is in her school uniform:

That's all for now, Don't forget IHSW this weekend - hop over to Joysze's Blog and sign up!!

xx

Celtic Rose Giveaway from Thea!

Thea over here at Gizzimomo's Stitchy Place is having a giveaway in conjunction with Celtic Rose Needlecraft!

Get yourselves over there to be in with the chance to win a chart from them.

Full stitchy update soon

xx

Heaven and Earth Designs

Sad to bring my stitchy friends the news that due to continued copyright infringements and the knock on effect of a downturn in sales the Heaven and Earth Designs site is considering closing.

I am a massive fan of HAED and I have a whole heap of their beautifully produced charts on my to do pile and in my wishlist!

Here's what a lady on Facebook has to say to her friends:

"You've all seen my beautiful Nautilus Princess i just finished cross stitching. It was charted by a company called Heaven and Earth Designs which are in danger of having to close down due to loss of sales from copyright infringement :( If you have an intrest in cross stitch please join and support HAED Appreciation Week starting Sept 10. Even if you don't like cross stitch but know someone who does you can send them a Random Act of Kindness (RAK - a chart purchased throught the website and emailed to the person) throught the HAED website. Every sale helps and charts are not expensive starting at around $9usd (and not all are as big as Nautilus Princess either!)"

Great idea. Even if you would not tackle a HAED design there is a way you can help. Buying direct from them is the first one and, as this lady says, participating in RAK is another.


On Facebook there is an event concerning this to offer Michele and Bob our support.

https://www.facebook.com/events/426887544025679/

If you can't see this then please feel free to add me as a friend and I will point you in the right direction.

https://www.facebook.com/SpookyMadMummy?ref=tn_tnmn

Don't allow copyright infringement to ruin your hobby! Don't accept it!

Thanks for reading

xx

August IHSW, TUSAL, Holiday and other news!

So I had a holiday. a week in Wales

We had good weather and bad weather but as per the previous post I was quite unwell throughout it. My chest infection properly took hold and although I tried not to let it interfere with my holiday then what happened? It took my stitchy bug!

I barely put in 50 stitches on Avarice. All week. When I came home I got out my stitching on a sunny day to sit in the garden and this happened:

And thats all. Nada else.

It isn't even worth posting a pic of my TUSAL jar. Its not changed since last month.

Our holiday was, on the whole, fabulous. We got to explore where we haven't been before, and refresh our memories on places we have been and people we have met in the past.

I got some lovely stitching stash, I won;t share it now but I will next post.

Its early in the AM here in the UK and I got the news a couple of hours ago that my Mother is seriously ill in hospital. I needed something to do while I wait to be able to go to her and blogging seemed perfect. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that she pulls through. She is currently on an assisted breathing device.

Til the next blog... think its WIPocalypse soon??

xx

A week's rest and relaxation!

Off for a week's holiday tomorrow.

In the nick of time really as I am unwell with a chest infection.

Taking Avarice with me. The place we go is very rural with no tv/radio/phone signal so the girls play and I stitch, hubs reads and we all get a buzz from going back to basics.

Expect a mammoth post when I get back - and by my reckoning it will be IHSW! Joysze if you read this then sign me up when you put up the post!!

Til next weekend
xx

Avarice page 9 finished!

Woo hoo!

This has been a lovely page to stitch. I have enjoyed every single stitch of it. The bodice of the dress coming out from under the needle was something else.

Parking certainly seems to work for me too and I think I will continue doing it.

I need to take the grid out but I will leave it until the piece is finished.

Onto Firefly now..

xx

Little Update! (And WIPocalypse too!)

Week 2 of our children's lengthy summer school holidays and we have had not much other than rain! Had some lovely sunny days but the rainy ones seem to overshadow those. Ho hum. Soon off on Holiday :)

Olympic fever has hit Britain with the Opening Ceremony last weekend. I don't watch a whole lot of Olympics to be honest. I can see the attraction for some but for me its take it or leave it.

On Facebook in a HAED group there was a post about Olympic Starts - so I decided to start one. Since finishing Wiz I have worked on Avarice but I wanted another project. I am not disciplined enough to rotate properly though and I find myself working on both projects in the same day.

My Olympic Start:

Firefly - Another Marta Dahlig - was really always on my list for the next start. I did have a brief though that I might want to start Sistine Chapel but I soon put that one away for a little while at least.

3 days of stitching in:

Its all 310 on the first page bar one stitch of 3799. I don;t mind. People said I should stitch it up on black but I want to do the background. Anyway that is about 2000 stitches.

So I worked Avarice too. Further down there is the last update from IHSW but as you can see the carrying threads is really paying off for me.

The bodice of her dress is absolutely beautiful. Is there any wonder I just can;t put this piece down for any length of time??

Anyway, next update is a page finish :)

xx

July IHSW and tutorial post

So this IHSW once again Avarice got in there. I just love stitching this piece. And the bottom half of her face is now complete!

I started carrying threads/parking/whatever your preferred choice of name for this part hence the loose threads.

Isn't that face amazing? A testament to the talent of Marta Dahlig (original artist) and Michele Sayetta's charting.

Speaking of HAED I have been very fortunate. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have received a further 2 charts through the RAK programme. So to add to my stash I have Dahlig's Umbrella Sky and another piece called Cleaning House!. Some further Dahligs have been released and they are now already on my list LOL. That takes my Dahlig stash up to 5 with about 7 on the WL!

No new start this month. I am on holiday later on in August though so I might get the new one started up then!!

Oh and check out my Tutorial page - I uploaded the method for my framing of Wiz

Til the next update!

xx

July Tusal!

On time for once LOL

Been busy with Wiz and Avarice and there are a few grid threads in there too. Not been doing much stitching since I finished Avarice page 8. Need to get back on it so I can show more thread next month - and a out shot of how much the jar is filling up!

It looks like the thread is a looong way down!!

Till the next update...

Avarice page 8 done!

Well I surprised myself with this one.

Even though I was under pressure to complete Wiz I managed to crack through page 8 of Avarice. Page 9 sees the return of some confetti but that's ok.

Sorry the pic isn't all that great

I can get into rotation now. I am up to date with gift stitching. I have 3 current HAED WIPs and I want to start Firefly. The others I have on are Twilight Magic and Flower Bride storykeep. Might finish the storykeep before the new start tho...

I gave Wiz to my Sister last week. It was very well received and already has a place on her wall.

Until the next update xx

Framed piece!

So I had to crack on today getting this piece washed and pressed and in a frame. I have also taken tutorial pics and I will sort out a post. I often get people asking how I wash and frame etc so I thought I would share,. Anyway, Here is the finished piece ready for presentation to the Birthday Girl tomorrow.

A final polish needed, the frame seems to attract grease.... Its in a recessed Box frame so its got dimension that is hard to depict here. Hope you like it!

Woo hoo! A Wiz Finish!

<Does a happy dance>

I finally finished Wiz.. with 2 days to spare! I need to wash it and frame it but I think I can just about do that in the time left.

Wanna see? Of course you do :)

10,400 stitches, measuring approx 4 x 4 inches.

I plan on putting it in a square frame I bought specially for the occasion - one of those box type ones that adds depth. I have a framing plan so next post I will put a pic of it framed up on.

In other news... remember this? Aillidh

Sadly Aillidh passed away from complications post bone marrow transplant. She developed a lung infection and a pneumothorax and departed this world last Saturday 7/7/2012. RIP little one. Your spirit lives on. The legacy you left behind encouraging people to sign up for the registry lives on.

Til the next page finish... Avarice calls....

Weekends, Wiz and a WIPocalypse!

Hello to new followers! Up to 150 now! <happy dance>

This weekend was busy for me for many reasons. It was my 15th wedding anniversary last Thursday 28th and my MIL's 65th birthday the day before. At the weekend we travelled to their home for a garden party as the In Laws are also celebrating 45 years married too.

We stayed overnight in a lovely hotel and it was great to catch up with some people I haven't seen in a long while - some even since I got married. I made a tub of plants for Mum in Law, some lovely alpines and a lavender and she was delighted.

So this WIPocalypse I think I have done rather well. I didn't have a stitch all weekend obviously with being away but I still managed from the last update to do quite a bit on my 2 major projects on the go, Wizard of Oz which I need to finish for my Sis' birthday in 10 days time (Eeeek!) and Avarice got a look in too because when I didn't feel like confetti I block stitched her. Anyway, on with the pictures.

Here is how Avarice stands this morning.

Quite a bit of the way through page 8. I think another 2 good stitchy sessions will finish this page.

Now for Wiz. I got the remaining floss I needed bar one colour which I thought I had but didn't (grr) so I have been filling in. I reckon half the 10 x 10 stitch squares are complete. It is quite hard going at times with the confetti and colour changes,,, especially on the lion!

I love how this one is turning out. My sister will be delighted I am sure. I see all the characters now. The image is better from a distance. I managed to find a square frame for it too. Its one of those deep box frame ones. Think I might mount it and fray the edges of the evenweave to display to give it some rustic charm.

Anyway, thats my lot for this post. Happy stitching!

June Tusal time!

My June ORT report goes something like this:

I like taking the photo looking into the jar.

Full of Avarice threads on the top as the last couple of days have been a major Avarice push since I needed some threads to complete Wiz.

They have arrived now and I will get cracking on it next time I get a stitchy session :D

xx

IHSW June report

This IHSW I worked mainly on Avarice, but a little on Wiz too.

There is a  battle for computer supremacy over the weekend here and seeing as the weather hasn't been all that great the girls have spent their time indoors. Unfortunately my pattern for Wiz is on USB storage rather than hard copy so I can't stitch it up as much as I wanted. Anyway.

I finished page 7 on Avarice! Yippee!!!

This was very confetti heavy so I am looking forward to page 8 which is mainly block stitching. Some confetti comes back after that though with dress detail coming in.

Overall view:

But that was not the last of her this weekend... I got in a good 700 stitches on page 8 too.

I did those in around 3 hours. Very fast! Lots of black on it. I am really going to enjoy this page!!

And Wiz? Well. Lookiee here! Wiz is looking AMAZING. The lion has suddenly jumped out and Dorothy's face is starting to come in now.

I am rather enjoying the change into cross country stitching with this rather than the block work of Avarice.

Hope everyone had a great IHSW. TUSAL report tomorrow... ish.... :D

xx

Official June WIPocalypse Post

This month I worked on Avarice and on Wiz. I said I wouldn't work on Avarice but having had computer troubles and unable to access my Wiz pattern Avarice got a rotation in. I am working it when I start to run out of steam too. Staves off the block.

So here is Avarice.

A good halfway through page 7. Still confetti heavy although the gems are getting smaller. The right hand side is black block work with confetti inbetween and the left is the border and gems. Again I switch from one to the other to stave off the block. That's why 2 needles threaded up in my work.

And a pic of Wiz progress

Dosen't look hugely different - I guess that's cos I am working this cross country. Having said that there are at least 3 complete 10 x 10 stitches squares on there and a few that are a couple of stitches from completion. I have more thread to buy to complete this and the next job is work out what exactly I need.

In other news: Check out this bad boy!

2100 metres of 310 loveliness. I am getting ready to start Firefly - well.. itching to start it! And I wanted the 310 to be the same lot number all the way through. The answer was buy a cone.... Oh dear.... I think I might have to get some blackwork charts... or even design some....

And so to the family:

Lauren is now fully recovered. No further problems from her pneumonia. Hannah the eldest, on the other hand, has fallen off her scooter and broken her collarbone! Geez if it weren't for bad luck we would have no luck at all! Fortunately she didn't need a surgical fix.. a sling and rest should sort it. If only she would rest it!
Victoria (the middle one) is walking around proudly telling people there's nothing wrong with her and she has never been in hospital! Don't tempt fate love....

We are preparing as a family too to go to my Mum In Law's house at the end of the month. Its her birthday and wedding anniversary and there is a bit of a surprise gathering for her (sshhh! Don't tell her!!) so I am busy looking at dresses online and choosing which one!

Phew! That was a long post in the end!

xx

IHSW, TUSAL and WIPocalypse!

Short post today. No main computer! I am posting from my Tablet.
Luckily IHSW< the WIPocalypse and TUSAL all came within days of one another so I can condense into one post. And I am late posting this!!
I worked on WIzard of Oz for both IHSW and the WIPocalypse. I need this piece finished.. and soon! About 8 weeks left. I also came by a posilock stand ready for my next start. Once WIz is done I am starting Dahlig's Firefly.
My ORT jar looks good too.. Lauren is my model for it this month... She is well recovered and was more than happy to pose with it! I will squash my thread down too although there is still loads of space in the jar.
Opinions sought... I often stitch up little cover kits that I get on the front of magazines. I am usually left with threads over. What do you do with them? Do you add them to ORT's? Or put them in your stash to use on a different project? I have a box with some in and I have hesitated to add them to ORt's as it almost seems like cheating??
Anyway onto the pics! I have a feeling they may be skewed... urgh. Once I get my computer back I will turn them.
Turned out to be a longer post than I thought...
xx

Pics as promised!

Well its been a busy week.

This last week Lauren has continued her recovery. I have had all sorts going on too. A pre school place for her, and my middle daughter's birthday. She had a party for a few friends and crafted jewellery boxes and picture frames and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

My work: Well. I have started the QS Wizard of Oz (Gustafson) for my Sister's birthday. I am doing this one cross country and using up threads from my stash while writing a thread list for the remainder. I have Too. Much. Stash. I am trying not to buy... sitting on my hands... but anyway. Here is a so far pic.

I see the start of a tin man!

I am working this on an 8" hoop so you can understand the scale. its only a small piece but one over one on 25 count makes for small stitches!

This is one WIPocalypse piece, the other of course being Avarice. I said I had put her down while working on Wiz but.... I didn't... hehe... so I did a bit more on her.

Getting through the confetti slowly. I can't wait for the gems to be finished!

So that's my WIPocalypse pics. There have been a couple of fabric swatches for cards too, but I am not showing those as the recipients may well read this!

I got a rather nice gift this week. 2 RAK charts. Lance and Guinevere (Fenech) and Sistine Chapel. Both HAED pieces. Takes me up to 10 now!!! 

That's it for now

xx

Home at last!!

My daughter was finally discharged from hospital today. What a terrible fortnight we have had.

Happy to report she is on the mend, fast asleep in her own bed and happy to be here with her sisters.

We still have antibiotics for her and she has to return for outpatients next week.

My stitching - not done alot! I have some cards to do and I will share a pic of works in progress for the WIPocalypse when I have daylight and can take a decent pic! For now here is one of Lauren earlier, enjoying some ice cream.

Thank you those of you who have been following her illness and saying a little prayer, all gratefully received!

xx

It's my blogaversary!!

Many many thanks to everyone who has read, commented, taken part in or otherwise these last 12 months.

I promise to do another update soon - suffice to say my daughter is on the mend slowly but surely

xx

IHSW April post

No pictures i'm afraid... yet.

On my last post I mentioned that my youngest, Lauren was in hospital. Well, we still are.

Lauren has silent pneumonia complicated with empyaema - fluid between the lung and the chest wall.

We are currently in our regional children's hospital and she has a chest drain inserted to drain off the pus, a picc line to administer meds and is on constant monitoring.

It';s been a very worrying week. It all started with an uncontrollable temperature. 2 visits on consecutive days to my doctor and she said it was nothing more than viral. On the third day (last Saturday into the early hours of Sunday) Lauren started vomiting pain meds back so I rang for medical help. The consensus was to take her in to my local accident and emergency department and have her looked over

The A&E doc concurred with my GP but referred us up to the paediatric ward. She was seen then and again, sent home as now 4 doctors had seen her, examined her top to toe and listened to her chest but nothing was heard.

Fast forward to early hours Monday and Lauren came into my bed in the night, struggling to breathe. I rang the paediatric ward for advice and they said to bring her in.

Within minutes of us arriving, it was discovered her blood sats were very poor for her at 82%, her pulse was racing, and her temperature was fast heading towards the 40 degree mark. Immediately she was x rayed and it was discovered that she was alot sicker than we first thought. Within the hour we had the diagnosis.

The following day we were transferred to our local children's hospital where we still are.

So naturally I haven't done a stitch!

I will post a further update soon xx

April TUSAL

Short post today, nursing a sick child :(

Will do a full post with IHSW report

xx

Spring Cleaning!

So yesterday and today I began my ritual spring clean. After the Easter break I usually set about decluttering my house.

Even though we only moved a short while ago there is still a fair bit to do!

Yesterday we had some conifers removed from our garden. I would have liked to have kept them if they could have been topped properly but the previous owner took no care of them apart from a shoddy topping and in the interests of safety(fire risk, already scorched) and security, and good neighbourly relations they had to come out.

I spent a good while yesterday clearing up after the kids half term craftathon. They get out cutting and sticking, collage, drawing, crayons, all that stuff, and as with all kids not all of it gets put away.

I have started getting rid of some stuff on ebay and resolved to list at least 2 things a night.

Today I did my usual daily clean then I worked in my sitting room putting back books and tidying up behind one of my sofas. Tomorrow I will do the other sofa and toy area.

In the garden, I repotted a plant that has been waiting to be done for some while now and planted some seed potatoes, then Lauren and I planted tomatoes, chillis and sunflowers and they are propagating away.

My stitching - well I began the project for my Sister. I am using up bits of my stash thread before buying more and I will top  up the threads I need for Avarice too while I am at it. I ordered a seat stand as I am having trouble with my wrists and fingers on my left hand from holding the hoop so I hope that helps.

I will post a pic soon!

xx

Avarice top row finished!

I completed pages 5 and 6 late last night. The top row is now done!

Some pics: Top left side

Top right side

Complete top (sorry the ends are a bit chopped off but you get the idea)

Its been hard work and 39,200 stitches but I finally did a row. I can't wait to get cracking on page 7! But I have to take Avarice out of rotation now as I have a piece to do for my Sis' birthday - yes its that time again! This time I am making her the QS Wizard of Oz from the HAED site. I made a start last night, gridded up some fabby and put on some stitches. I am doing this one cross country and trying to use up my stash thread before buying any more so I am doing the colours I have then I will buy the colours I  need to complete it.

That's the lot for now!

xx

WIPocalypse April

I am still working on Avarice. I haven;t lost steam just yet so I am taking advantage of that. I am a column plus the filling in the picture away from finishing the top line.

Sorry I don';t know why the pic is so dire.

I estimate there are 1500 stitches left there to fill in that page finish.

Next post *should* be a page finish one :)

Til next time

xx

Finish Friday Blog

A new blog has arrived!

Thanks to Julie and Yes Dear for posting this!


Time to celebrate all those finishes!


I love looking at finishes - especially HAED and here is a new blog which promises to do just that. You can find Drea's blog here ; Finish Friday and submit work for her to include.

Definitely worth a follow!

(Julie is also running a giveaway to help promote this blog, so get entering!)

Til Next time

xx

100 Posts.. March TUSAL.. and... A Page Finish!!

I made 100 posts! Crikey when I started this blog even to get to 50 was hard! But here I am, posting my 100th. And what a post it will be!

First off my TUSAL report. My ORT jar is filling up nicely with Avarice thread. The colours are lovely, lots of creams, browns and green tones, with some burgundy thrown in. Not a great pic i'm afraid, under electric lighting, but I wanted to wait till I had finished my page before taking it so it had as many in as possible.

Now for a report on Avarice.

Whoopee I finished page 4! It was such hard slog at times, very much a confetti page. However I gritted my teeth and made myself finish it. This piece will become a vendetta I think! I have barely put it down lately. Stitching times are a bit more seeing as the house is now mostly sorted and life is starting to settle down somewhat.

A close up piccy:

I am still working it on the hoop. There are no metallics at all. The illusion of sparkle comes from the lighter floss combination of shades, Looks good, no?

A full picture:

Ahh there she is.

I have one page and a column on page 6 to go and then the top row is complete.

I would normally put this in rotation now and get out another WIP but seeing as I haven't run out of steam just yet then I will be continuing this for the time being.

When I do finally put her down I have a QS to start for my Sis' birthday. It's the Wizard of Oz one on the HAED site. I looked for a design that would mean something to her, and it just so happens that the Wizard of Oz is her fave film. Some picking and selecting and shortlisting and that's the one she chose for me to do for her.

Wonder how much of Avarice I can get done for the WIPocalypse???

Til next time..

xx

A Liebster Blog Award!

Woo hoo! I got an award!

Thanks so much to Thea at Gizzimomo's Stitchy Place!!

There are conditions attached to this award, so here is the text I copied from Thea with my blogs added to the end:

Liebster is a German word meaning favourite, dearest or beloved. The Liebster Blog Award is awarded by bloggers to other new bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to help spread the word about their blogs and to help them gain wider recognition.

The Liebster award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting.

1. Choose 5 up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.

2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blog so they know about the award.

4. Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

Here are the five people and blogs that I've chosen to share this award with.....

1. Christine at SilverSands Blog  She makes the most fabulous bears. I would love to be able to do this! So envious of her skill.

2. IrishCream over here at StitchyFingers blog Her words make me smile :) And I LOVE that pic of her gorgeous ring!

3. The Manbroider He has a FLYING needle! I love watching his pieces appear! (I may have broken the rule on this one... he has a few more than 200 followers....)

4. The lovely Kaye at KittenStitching Not only stitching, but some lovely recipes and other bits too.. 

And finally 

5. Marianela at her blog here  Her wonderful stitching HAED is a joy to see.

Gosh that was hard! 

Now 5 random facts about me.....

1. I am OBSESSED with all things Titanic/ No, not from the movie, I am talking from when I was a little girl and the wreck was discovered.

2. I am a redhead although I try hard a) not to be! and b) to cover the grey...

3. I really, really hate Marmalade... 

4. I have lived in 4 houses in the last 15 years since I have been married

5. My TV of choice: any medical drama. I am a sucker. although I am incredibly squeamish and spend more time behind a cushion than watching! 

So there you have it. I have an award :) 

Til next time 

xx

IHSW March!

Yes I actually managed to put in some stitching!! Yay me!

I had a good weekend actually - it was Mothering Sunday here in the UK so I decided to get my chores out of the way ASAP so I could indulge in my stitching!

I continued Avarice page 5 and here is how she looks now.

Not too far away from the end of the page., Just some confetti to go. I have a couple of hours today as I got extra chores done yesterday so once again I can sit and stitch :D

Other news - Thanks all so much for your comments on my last post and the sympathy messages. Losing Sinead was incredibly hard, I was affected more deeply than I thought I would be.

Last year we knew that she didn't have many more years in her and we decided then that we would adopt a retired racing greyhound. So thats what we have done. Tony has joined our family and he will be joined soon by Chloe. Both ex racing dogs, Tony is 7 and Chloe 2 1/2. Both spayed/neutered, they are proving to be a hit with the children and the neighbours! Truly gorgeous dogs they are.... here is Tony doing what he does best - he sleeps for up to 18 hours a day... and this is his favourite place.

He looks very happy dosen't he?

Till next time

xx

WIPocalypse March report and a sad update

Good things first :)

I picked up Avarice again, and worked some more on page 5. Hope to have page 5 done by the end of next week if I can get in the stitching I want. Double Ice Hockey this weekend or it would have been sooner!

Here she is:

Holding off on a full pic just yet. I want to get across the top before another big one :)

Next up on the WIP list was Eeyore:

Getting some of Roo in now. Been a nice stitch so far - shame the photo is a bit rubbish <glares at camera>

So that's me WIPocalypse stuff done :D

On to some sad news.

This week we said goodbye to our faithful family dog Sinead.
It looks like she had liver and spleen cancer hence why she was so thin at the end not absorbing her nutrients from her food properly.

She was 13 1/2

Here is a pic of her in happier times - enjoying a play in the snow.

RIP girl xx

Until next time - with news of a new family friend.

xx