Crazy

Hi there! I am still on my blog, but have had to take an unscheduled blogging break. I'm sorry to say that my great-aunt passed away this week and my family have just been concentrating on each other at the moment. For those who frequently read my blog, this was the aunt who moved into the care home not too long ago. She lived a very long life at 94 and it was expected, but these things are still sad. Now it's all a bit crazy in my house sorting out arrangements and family and other important things.

On top of that, I've been living with my boyfriend for the past couple of days as he only had five days between returning from a school trip and going on his family holiday. We wanted to see each other as much as possible, naturally. We had a day out in London that I think I will chat about some other time.

I have been stitching whilst all this chaos is occurring but didn't manage to snap a picture for today. I've got another busy weekend ahead of me so I will hopefully post and get back to my lovely blog reading some time next week. I hope you are all well,

Award, Framing, Progress

Agreed, that's not a very imaginative title, but it is very precise :)
Hi everyone. Thank you for your lovely comments on my previous post, I can't wait to make things using all my wonderful new stash.
I have been honoured by both Emma from EveningEmma and Teresa from Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches to receive the Stylish Blogger Award. I am very thankful that both these ladies thought of me and my little blog.

The rules are very simple:

1. Thank the person who has awarded you.

2. List seven things about yourself.

3. Pass the award to 15 other stylish bloggers.

Seven things about me:
1. I will be leaving home in September to move to Winchester to study Drama and Creative Writing at the University of Winchester. And I can't wait!
2. I can't function without breakfast cereal in the morning, after that, I'm ready for anything.
3. My best holiday was to South Africa in 2004. I learnt to stitch on this trip and discovered so many other things.
4. I have a slight shoes addiction. Last count, 34 pairs :)
5. I live in a little village with a school, a pub and a post office and not really much else. A place where everyone knows each other.
6. I am actually a year older than my boyfriend, and he is hoping to go to Oxford University next year to study History.
7. One day, I'm going to be a successful playwright, with any luck.

And the award goes to these 15 Stylish blogs, in no particular order:
1. Lynn from Kearnel's Korner
2. Peggy Lee from Kentucky Sampler
3. Lesleyanne from Lesleyanne's Life of Stitches
4. Carol from Stitching Dreams
5. Jen from Speedy Stitcher
6. Justflo from Wizzybuff
7. Terri from Dixie Sampler Designs
8. Sarah from Kiwi Gets Crafty
9. Barbara from To Stitch or Not To Stitch
10. Nataly from Nataly's Needle Creations

And that's all I've got I'm afraid. Not that I don't follow other wonderful blogs, but I know a few have been given this award already and some choose to not take part in these schemes, which is their choice. So, here's my Ten Stylish Blogs, I think they're all fabulous!
Thanks again to Emma and Teresa for thinking of me.

Now onto other things. Summer has given me an extraordinary amount of time in which to indulge my favourite hobbies and past times. I thought I'd be more productive one day (just one day mind lol) and sort out my craft drawer. Now, I honestly didn't realise how much craft stuff I've squirreled away in that drawer. I found mountains of frames, cuts of fabric that I'd forgotten I'd bought and all manner of lovely craft things.




So I took these many frames I found and my box filled with finished pieces and enjoyed a very pleasant morning framing these two cuties. Who remembers Luck from August last year? Well here he is in his perfectly sized frame . . .

I didn't buy this frame with Luck in mind, but it fitted perfectly.
My next piece was finished not too long ago, April this year, and again, I thought this hidden frame suited the piece quite well. This picture doesn't show it too well, but there are red flecks in the frame that give it a spooky edge. So here is Hallow Cats, finished and framed.

I was on such a roll that morning that I decided to finish lots of cards too. I was given this pack of Hobbycraft Kits and Cards a couple of years ago from an auntie and I had completed all the stitching, I just hadn't finished them into cards.
Now I have a stash of lovely Christmas cards, ready to use if ever I need one.

And if you've made it down this far, congrats! I'd like to finish with a progress pic of Charizard, who is stitching up very nicely. It's mainly big blocks of solid colour so it makes it easy stitching in front of the TV. I've finished the first page and I don't think it will be too long until this guy is finished for my guy.

I've got a normal weekend of work ahead of me now, which is not the most fun thing to be doing, but at least it's making me money ready for Uni. I hope you have a wonderful weekend whatever you're doing and cross a stitch for me!

Lucky Lucky Lucky!!!

Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to share with you the amazing parcel I received today from the lovely Terri at Dixie Sampler Designs. Terri had emailed me saying she had a very goodies to send me but I never imagined it could be so much!

So I came home from my swimming class this morning and my mum presented me with a box - that's right, a BOX - and said it had come from America. I knew it must have been from Terri so I eagerly teared open the outer cardboard to reveal this . . .

After lots of ooh-ing and aah-ing and delighted squeals, I ended up with a pile of stitching goodies that are all perfect for me. And here they are in all there splendour!

Terri sent me the most gorgeous handmade pillow; this is the first one I have. I'm not sure what the design is, but it's stunning and so beautifully well made.

Next up was twelve - yes 12! - hand-dyed threads. I have never owned or used hand-dyed threads before because they are rather expensive in the UK. All of the colours are wonderful and I love that they all have names. My favourite of the bunch has to be Americana because I have seen so many beautiful blue things made on fellow blogs. I can't wait to stitch with this one.

I also was lucky enough to receive three cuts of gorgeous fabric: Ask Rose lugana, Mocha Creme lugana and Heartland Cottage evenweave. The last two are neutral shades which are my favourite to use. I have never tried Rose coloured fabric but I'm already planning what projects I could use it for! Also in this next picture is a lovely watermelon notepad that I'm planning to use for my shopping lists at Uni, plus the most lovely pair of scissors I have ever had the pleasure to own. They are so pretty, my mum even had her eye on them, even though she doesn't do needlework. Yes, the chocolates have already gone :)

And the list goes on. Here we have two beautiful charts, including a Lizzie Kate one that I've never seen before called All Things Bright and Beautiful. I'm going to stitch for the LK SAL on Mondays over at the Lizzie Kate Lovers blog. I've also been given my first Blackbird Designs chart called Spring Tulips. Terri was generous enough to include all of the DMC threads needed to stitch these two designs.

Terri must have picked up that I'm trying to better my finishing skills because she sent me these wonderful cuts of fabric. I have no idea how she did it, but all of them are perfect for me. I love the one with the bold flowers the most.

And last, but no means least, I got these two beautiful charts from The Drawn Thread, the first one is the Brown Ranch Sampler, the second is There's No Place Like Home. I think they are both stunning and I can't wait to stitch them.

Terri also included some DMC Metallic thread, a pack of needles, a lovely bag of buttons, two spools of perfect ribbon and a doily that you can stitch on.
I feel so grateful to receive such a generous parcel of goodies. Thank you so much Terri for brightening my day, my week even with this beautiful collection of stitching supplies. I know I will put all of it to good use and I can't thank you enough for sending it all to me. Your kindness is inspiring. Thank you again my friend.

A Bit Different

Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend. Mine was certainly very busy, but I enjoyed it all the same.
Thank you so much for the kind comments about my finish in my last post. I will definitely continue to practice and make more lovely ornaments so that my room will be filled with them come December.
At the request of Teresa from Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches, I'm here with a scrapbooking post. Scrapbooking is my second favourite hobby after cross stitching because I am a big lover of photos. I have countless albums and framed pictures all around my room and I think scrapbooking is a nice way of displaying some of those pictures. So, I thought I'd share a couple of scrapbook pages that I've done recently. Don't worry, normal stitchy service will resume in the week! Charizard is coming on really well and I hope to make a new start soon too, maybe another Christmas themed piece?


Piano Man - the picture is of my friend Callum, he is a superb self-taught pianist.

Oui Oui Paris - a picture I took myself of the Eiffel Tower when I visited Paris in 2009

Try Not to Stare
This is my favourite page I have ever done with two pictures from a school trip to Paris I went on a couple of years ago now. I like that the picture of the two boys was taken at exactly the right time. I also really like the butterfly rub on that I've got a close up picture of here . . .

When I went hunting for felt last week at Hobbycraft, I couldn't help picking up a couple of extra bits for my other crafting love too. If any one else enjoys scrapbooking or papercraft, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Anita's Letter Stickers. They're so easy to use and I find them more sturdy than Hobbycraft's own brand. I got a gold set, some other letter stickers, butterfly stickers and some adhesive ribbon, which is another favourite item of mine. Here's my little haul!

Thank you so much to Barbara for sending me the beautiful Just Nan chart, Bluebird Alphabet. Barbara was passing it on after she had finished stitching with it and I will be doing the same so that another can enjoy this lovely chart. Look out for it!

I hope you all have a very pleasant week doing lots of stitching and any other crafts you enjoy. Best wishes,

My First Christmas Finish, in July!

Hello everyone. Thank you so much for answering my technical plea for help. Unclicking the "keep me signed in" box has certainly solved one problem I had, but I'm still getting a HTTP 400 pop up whenever I try to manage my blogs. I've posted this as a question on Blogger's Help Resource (thanks Lynn!) and I hope to get a reply soon enough. I hope it's easy to fix.
I must thank you also for all of your kind and lovely comments on my ball pictures. They honestly brightened my day and delighted my boyfriend to no end when I showed him them. Thank you again for your kindness, it means so much to me and I'm very grateful for it.
I have been stitching much over the weekend, I had a party on Friday, a dinner on Saturday and a wonderful family barbecue on Sunday. So, no progress on Charizard to show on this post, but I do have a finish to share!
As Monday is the LK Stitch Day on the Lizzie Kate Lovers blog, I kitted up this freebie nice and quick and stitched it in one day. Then this morning I got all my supplies together to create this felt ornament, thanks to Vonna's finishing instructions found here. It's so far from perfect, but this is my first time for this finish. I forgot to pin the sides, so it is terribly wonky, but it's only for me so I don't mind. Here it is . . .



The ribbon hanger is actually dark green IRL, it seems to be more black in the picture. I had a great result with the felt though. When I went shopping for upcoming birthday presents, I popped into my local Hobbycraft, as you do :) I was very pleased to see they were having a half price deal on all their felt squares, so I came out with four. One green, one red, one sparkly green, one sparkly red. It was a very good deal.
I also picked up some more bits for scrapbooking which I have been doing more off since I've got a bit more time on my hands. I'm not very good at all the fancy layouts with hundreds of pounds worth of posh add-ons on them. Don't get me wrong, they look beautiful, but on my student budget, I just like to add magazine cut outs/letter stickers/ribbon to a pretty picture to display it in a different way. I do so enjoy all different areas of craft, so I have to be very careful that I don't spend too much on it!
I hope you've all had a fantastic start to the week,

Help!

I hope someone in the blogging world can help me! I'm having real trouble leaving comments on others blogs. Blogger asks me to sign in after writing my comment, I do so, then it just takes me back to the same page I started on - it's very frustrating!
Also, whenever I try and follow a new blog or manage my blogs, a window pops up with HTTP 400 Bad Request - does anyone know what this is and how I fix it?
I would appreciate any advice from anyone who has more knowledge about the settings of Blogger than I do. It is annoying though, I use blogger so often, it would be nice if it worked properly!
Thank you in advance for any help.