Pretty Stitching & Pretty Dresses

Hello everyone! I am certainly enjoying all this free time summer has given me, I'm managing to sit down and stitch a lot more. The only problem is I've come down with a rotten cold, but I am grateful that it struck after Summer Ball (more on that later). So here's my progress on Charizard . . .



As mentioned in my last post, I'm stitching this for my boyfriend who's a huge Pokemon fan. I'm not letting him see it till it's all finished though, he'll have to wait and see.
In other news, Summer Ball was on Monday evening and I enjoyed a wonderful night. Everybody was all dressed up, including the teachers, and I managed to take quite a few pictures. Feel free to skip the rest of this post, it's all about ball from now on!
Here's the nicest picture I could find of me and the boyfriend together, we didn't realised we matched in black and white till we got there. Now that's fate for you :)

This was the best picture to show off my lovely dress - sorry I've got my eyes closed. The purple shoes were a bargain at half price. I walked out of the shop a very happy customer after I had found them.

Here's a couple of other pictures from ball, just to show off all the other beautiful dresses and suits that were present.

I've got another party at the end of the week and then out for a picnic at the weekend. Next week, I've been lucky enough to receive some overtime at work so that will keep me busy. I'm sure I'll make time for stitching though.
Hope you're all well,

My Pokemon Start

Oops, sorry ladies, I should have explained. The boy in the picture last year was my good friend James, not my boyfriend. I put the picture up because it was the best one for the dress! Sorry about the confusion :) I hadn't met my current boyfriend last year, but this year, we are going together and he says he can't wait to see my dress. Isn't he a sweetheart?
And because he's such a sweetheart, I'm making him his very own cross stitched piece from me. He's a big fan of Pokemon and when I told him I could stitch anything he wanted, his reply was "What, even a Charizard?" So that's what I'm stitching right now!
Here's my very pitiful progress . . .



I'm using one of LittleMojo's Pokemon patterns that can all be found here, for those who are also interested in Pokemon.
I'm sure there are people who have no idea what I'm now stitching, so here's a picture of what this finished piece will sort of look like :)

I've been very lucky recently with giveaway wins and gifting - I can't wait to receive all these wonderful packages through my mailbox. I've also treated myself to a 123stitch order that will hopefully be arriving in the next couple of days. I am doing a few more hours at work now that it's summer, but I've still got plenty of time for a good chunk of stitching.
I hope you are all well,

A Double Happy Dance

I said I was close to a finish, and ta-dah! Here it is . . . (sorry about the wrinkly picture, I was in a rush to show it off!)



So this is my first every LHN piece I have completed and I loved it. The keen eyes amongst will have already spotted that I changed the last line from "Of softly buzzing bees" to "Of whispering trees." I do hope Diane Williams won't mind, but the truth is, I hate the sound of buzzing bees, it honestly frightens me. So I thought I'd change it for something that relevant to me and that's what stitching is all about :)
I can't wait to do another LHN design and I've already got several of my wish list ready to order soon. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to stitch next. I think I'm going to get my drama exam out the way and then enjoy a proper good rummage in my stash.
In other news, I've inherited another treasure! Look at these beauties . . .

I've been pinching my mum's fabric scissors whenever I need them so I think she's relieved that I now own my own pair. We can't tell how old they are but they are still sharp as razors and I'm glad they come with a very nice leather protector. A strange tip for you now. My mum put in a couple of bars of unopened soap into my sewing box and its replaced the aged musty smell with a fresh new one! Just a handy hint in case you need it :)
My drama exam is in two days, then I've got a couple of dinner to celebrate end of exams and I'm going shopping for my Summer Ball dress! You can see a picture of last year's dress here.
I've caught up on all the lovely blogs I follow and you certainly have all been busy. I can't wait for long summer days when I can be that busy with my stitching.
Best wishes,

Hello All!

Hello everyone! How are you all? I've missed blogging so much, it feels very nice to be typing away again. Although saying that, I know I made the right decision to have a little break from blogging. I was doing six-hours of History revision every day a couple of weeks ago, which doesn't sound like much but I was always exhausted afterwards. My History exam last week went very well, my English exam yesterday went well too I think (it's harder to judge) and I've got my Drama exam next Wednesday. However, today is my first restful day. I'm up to date with all my Drama revision so I thought I'd have a day to myself, doing all the things I enjoy - like blogging!


I have lots to tell you. First and foremost, it's been manic in my household at the moment, and not just because of the exams. My great-aunt has made the decision to leave her home in Richmond and move into a care home in my village. She was in and out of hospital for awhile and needed an awful lot of care. It's sad on some degree that my mum is now having to sell the house to pay for care etc. but it was my great-aunt's decision. Although she's 92, she's very much in control of her own mind. And she really likes the care home!
So my family have been sorting through the house and its belongings, which believe me, is a truly mountainous task. My great-uncle, who has passed away now, had a habit of keeping every single scrap of paper he obtained. We're having to sift through everything to deem what is rubbish and what might be valuable. It doesn't help that they were both housebound for about five years, so the house really isn't in a good state. My great-aunt's instructions were to "chuck everything out." My parents are looking into all the antiques and stuff that we found to raise more money for her care, but we were each allowed to pick one item that we'd like to inherit. My mum took all the photo albums, my dad got an old clock, my sister chose some beautiful vases and I got this!

My dad reckons it's a 1960s era sewing box, and it's in a gorgeous condition. I've spent time dusting it and going over it with anti-bacterial spray and now it's looking so nice!
I'm thinking I might take it to Uni to store all my projects when I'm there, but it really is the most lovely sewing box. It has a flat work surface and then can be opened up . . .

. . .To reveal a lovely curved middle part with a drawer.

Unfortunately, all the needles/buttons/threads etc. had to be thrown out because some were mouldy and all of them had that musty smell that wouldn't have made for good crafting. I'm just so happy my parents let me keep this wonderful heirloom. I know I will treasure it for always.
I also got to keep a couple of other trinkets. This is just a couple of pieces of costume jewellery; I think the necklace is very pretty but the clip on earrings are really for when we're dressing up in Drama :)

I asked to keep these rations books because I did a project in History on the Ministry of Food and thought it was really cool to keep a little part of history for myself. My parents are uncovering loads of things in the house, like WW1 medals and letters from the Queen! I'll post again if anything really interesting comes up.

I haven't really been stitching as much as I thought I would during the exam season. To be honest, after I finished my day of revision, all I wanted to do was curl up in a blanket and watch a movie. But I am really close to a finish on Nature's Beauty that I will hopefully finish within the next week or so. Because after my Drama exam, IT'S SUMMER! Which means I'll have all the time in the world to sit and stitch. That sounds so lovely, doesn't it?
I'm going to spend my free day catching up on my blog reading too, I can't wait to see what you've all been up to. After the Drama exam, I hope to be going back to much more regular blog posting.
I hope you are all well,