Long Time No Blog

Been a long time since I was in the blogosphere and indeed the realms of reality.

The last few weeks after the death of my Mum have been incredibly hard. Compounded by another death just 7 days after Mum. My best friend's husband died suddenly aged 51.

I have spent some time in a dream world. The children have kept me sane and driven me crazy in equal measure but they are doing ok. I thought that the death of their Nanna would have hit them harder but they have been prepared for a number of years so when it came they had all their coping mechanisms in place.

My Mum had a lovely send off and burial close to me, Just a 20 minute walk away. I have been a regular visitor taking care of her final resting place and spending time with my Stepdad.

We had Mother's Day here in the UK a couple of weeks ago. It was a bittersweet day. I would normally lavish Mum with a card and gift and of course precious time spent together but I found myself in the sunny but cold, cemetery sat with her. After Mum died I went to see her in the Chapel of Rest and I put her Mother's Day card in the coffin with her so she carried it on her journey along with cards and photographs from the children.

Just over 5 weeks has gone by. Time goes so quickly but it seems an age.

Anyway

I have completed pages 17 and 18 of Avarice. Page 18 was a 12 stitch wide column. The last of the 'bad' confetti is behind me now and its onto those mounds of dress!!

115,200 stitches in. of 240,000. So not that far off halfway there.

My next start will be Sistine Chapel. If I can average a page every 2 weeks on Avarice I will be happy. If I get ahead I might start to put in a few Chapel stitches. We will see.

I missed 2 IHSW and ORT reports. I will catch those up next month I am sure.

Til the next update

xx

Copyright - Again!

PLEASE don't ask for copies of any patterns I am using. Your request will be ignored. If you want the pattern then log on to Heaven and Earth Designs and buy it. Like I had to. Or buy the Joan Elliott Bookazine, Like I had to.

Sorry if this seems like a cross post but I won't do this. Don't ask.

Stitchy update coming soon.

Jan IHSW and Snow!

Its SNOWING!!!

Well it has been anyways. It won't break any records but when I woke up this morning there were a fresh 4 inches of snow on the ground.

This weekend was PERFECT for hermitting away. Of course the project of choice was Avarice. Page 17 is getting on for halfway through now.

Here's a start pic. the column and a bit is page 18 and the end of another row. I am looking forward to a fast page finish there!!

And at the end of the weekend stitch - in...

As the gems get smaller they get easier but not less confetti if you know what I mean.

I am looking forward to finishing this page. I hope another week and it will be done.

Til the next update

xx

I Knew It Wouldn't Be Long...

Avarice page 16 is DONE!!!

<does a happy dance>

Been a long page., Not particularly difficult but took a long time due to Christmas and losing my bug temporarily.

Thanks for your birthday wishes from my last post. I had a lovely day - spent much of it stitching. I got lots of cards, some money and vouchers so I can stash and of course my beautiful flowers.


xx

New Year! New TUSAL!

Happy New Year everyone!

Kicking off this year's blogging with the first TUSAL of 2013.

Yes, we all made it, the Mayans got it wrong and we have lived to survive another day....

Not done a whole lot of stitching over Christmas, but I have restarted Avarice. I am close to a page finish so I am saving that for another post.

I emptied my TUSAL pot. Although I didn't manage to fill it I did get a good 1/3 of the way up this year. I aim to do better next time!

You can really see the browns and beiges from Avarice.

This year's pot is currently nestled between my birthday flowers. Its my birthday tomorrow (12th Jan)

Just starting out. The blues are from my kit that Yiota kindly sent me last year - I have started Parthenon. Then some Avarice threads after that.

Gorgeous smells coming from my birthday blooms - I wish you all could smell them!

Next time I will update Avarice as I am maybe a couple of day's work away from a page finish.

xx

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

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

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