Me Again!

I very much apologise for this second "no picture" post. I haven't really had the time to do much stitching recently which stinks. What moments I do have, I've been concentrating on my exchange piece, so I can't show that for obvious reasons.

I have moved into my room at University and I love it! All my housemates are such kind and friendly people and I've settled in really well. I'm so enjoying shopping and cooking for myself, it makes me feel responsbile :)

I started my seminars today and they went well, my course is so perfect for me. I have my first drama lesson tomorrow and that should be a blast too.

This was just a quick post to say I am still alive, still stitching (a little!) and I hope to be back with an actual proper post with pictures very soon.

I hope you are all well,

Update

Hello everyone! I'm just popping in to say that my blog might be a bit quiet for the next couple of days. This is my last weekend at home before Uni so I'm spending my time seeing friends and doing so much packing. My mum is genuinely concerned that we won't fit it all in the car! I've made sure my stitching stuff is all safe though, no problems there :)

I turn nineteen in less than a week so we're having a little celebration this weekend instead of on the day, because I'll be at Uni. But my boyfriend has already promised he's coming down to take me out to dinner on my actual birthday, isn't he a sweetheart?

I'm doing little bits of stitching here and there, but I hope to have a proper progress report sometime next week, after I've settled into my new house! It's so exciting!

I hope you're enjoying a wonderful weekend,

Perfect Timing

So, I was enjoying my lunch a couple of days ago (soup and crusty bread if you were wondering!) when the post lady knocked on the door. I was very excited to see a parcel for me as the lovely Teresa from Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches had contacted me saying she wanted to send me some things. And let me tell you ladies, I was well and truly spoiled!
I opened up the package to reveal these lovingly wrapped goodies, all in my favourite Autumn theme as Teresa knew it was my favourite. First up was a large cut of one of my favourite fabrics, I can't wait to use it.

Look at these sweet little things! I do love this mint tin, and they taste good too. The small ribbons are all in perfect autumn colours, I love the one with the leaves. I can see these being used in scrapbook pages in the near future. Also pictured is a pack of "Made with Love" labels that will look great on my finished projects.

Next up is I think my favourite part of the whole package, this bag of gorgeous autumn themed buttons. They're so pretty and such lovely colours, I can't wait to use them!

I was also lucky enough to receive these perfect DMC colours in autumnal shades. I already know what I'm going to use one of them for, I've got a lovely monochrome sampler that would look perfect in the brown shade.

And lastly, another one of my favourites, these adorable puppy thread snippers. Aren't they cute? I've already used them on my exchange piece and they're perfect.

Thank you so much Teresa for sending me this wonderful package! I am so very grateful. It was perfect timing as I'm just off to Uni and all these things will be very useful next year.

I've been sent some really lovely parcels this year and I've always wanted to repay the favour. I'm planning a big Christmas bonanza of giveaways, special parcels and gifts for lots of my blogging friends. Coming soon!
Hope you're having a lovely week,

Pretty Things

Hello everyone, I hope you've all had a pleasant start to the week. I want to thank you all for being a follower, I've reached 88 now and that's more than I ever dreamed of. Thank you!
I began clearing through my stitching stuff today, putting everything I'm going to need in my storage tower. It's still work in progress at the moment, I have a lot of stitching things! Whilst I was sorting through my bits and pieces, I found this kit that I hadn't managed to finish last Autumn. Who remembers The Foxes? It was one of the first things I ever bought from 123stitch. I finally finished it at the weekend . . .



I know why I put this piece off, it had lots of tricky backstitching with metallic thread. I managed to finish that part, but when I started the back stitching around the foxes with normal thread, it just didn't look right. I tried a different darker colour and it still didn't look right. After lots of frogging and uming and ahing, I decided to leave the backstitch off. The foxes are shaded anyways and I really think it didn't add to the design at all.
This was a Gorjuss kit from Bothy Threads, and whilst I enjoyed the subject matter and the stitching, I don't think I will be buying another one of these kits again. I think I've moved past aida now and the backstitching with metallic thread was not nice. I am glad I've finally finished this piece now and put it in a frame.

In other news, I finally purchased a pretty ribbon box. My previous plastic container was overflowing and I do like my ribbon so I needed a better storage solution. I was stacking these on my last day at the supermarket and I knew it would make a lovely ribbon box, even though it is designed to be a lunchbox for girls half my age :)
But still, it's pretty!

Finally, a stitchy update to share with you all. Here's where I'm at on All Things Bright, finished the third motif and onto the fourth, the sunflower. Only one more to go, the watermelon, and the rest of the lettering and this design will be on the finished pile!

I've been itching to start something new but resisted so far. I want to make at least one Halloween ornament before the opportunity passes me by. And then onto Christmas stitching, my favourite!
Not much to report in my life right now, just still packing and seeing people. I'm out tonight to see a comedian with my boyfriend and his family, should be a very lovely evening.
Have a wonderful week,

Memories

Today cannot pass without remembering those who died on the fateful day 10 years ago. Although I was young, I do remember watching the events unfold and being horrified as people ran for their lives away from the collapsing buildings. So many brave people should not be forgotten.

I have come to blog about my new scrapbooking haul. I tried a different website, just to compare, but they wanted £19 just for postage and packing! Luckily, 123stitch pulled through and I got these beauties for the combined price of £6.68 ($10.65), much more reasonable for a student like me. I am quite happy to pay the £3.76 p&p they ask for, it's a good price. Anyway, here are my goodies . . .



One sheet of flocked stickers from K&Company (left) and two sheets of Dear Lizzy Thickers, these ones are all in beautiful greens and browns. Can't wait to do a page with these!
Next up are these gorgeous Remarks stickers called Etiquette. I had to snap these up, for only £1.24! There's lots of different colours so I hope to find lots of different ways to use them.

And lastly my most expensive purchase (but still a bargain at £2.94) is this pad of Distress Ink by Tim Holtz. I've seen some wonderful scrapbook pages using this product over at http://www.scrapbook.com/ and I thought I'd give it a go myself. I'll let you know how I get on!

I've been doing a little bit of stitching, but not really that much. My mojo is still wandering. I am sorting through all my cross stitching stuff soon in preparation for Uni, so maybe that will kickstart my needle. I've decided to take my cross stitch tower with me, but I want to fill it with stuff I will actually use, not some of the junk I've been storing in there at the moment.
Just over a week to go before I set off for Uni! Can't wait!

I hope you all have a relaxing Sunday doing things you love.

Old and New

Hello all! I hope you're all enjoying the last few days of summer before autumn comes around once more. I do so love this season, all the colours and the crisp breeze. And my birthday!
Onto craft news, I have a finished finish to share. Remember Charizard? Well here he is, finished as a pinkeep for my boyfriend . . .



As this piece was for a boy, I decided I didn't want to add cording and ribbon to it. Instead, I opted to keep it simple by just placing a few bold pins at the top.
I thought this fabric was perfect for backing fabric . . .

Lawrence was really happy with his piece, he even called it "his most treasured possession". I think he might be flattering me, but it was nice to hear how much he appreciated the time and thought that went into this gift. Now he wants to full set, so I'm sure it won't be long till I'm stitching some more Pokemon!
In other news, here's a pic of my work in progress, LK's All Things Bright. I did do a little stitching on holiday, but most of this has been done since I returned. I'm over half way through!

I've got the most perfect fabric to finish this off as a rustic pillow. I can't wait to finish it.
And finally, who remembers about a query I had after some posting issues on ebay? The seller offered to send me another chart, free of charge, in order to compensate. I gladly accepted and it was a good job I did because look what she sent! My very first JBW Designs chart, French Country Love. I know this is going to be a redwork piece and I'm looking forward to starting it soon.

But there are so many other charts I want to start stitching on too. There's my exchange piece to finish and I want to complete at least one Hallowe'en design. Plus there's Christmas to think of and all the wonderful stitching that that entails. Oh so many charts, so little time :)
I've only got two weeks to go before I set off for Uni. It's such a scary and exciting time. Exciting because of all the new people and my wonderful new course, but scary because it means packing everything in my room. I don't even know where to start! Of course, my stitching stuff is high priority :) But it's going to be a mountainous task - wish me luck!
Best wishes to all, have a lovely week,

 

Lake District Goodies

It feels like I haven't posted any thing related to crafts in ages, but now I'm certainly making up for lost time. Here is a post all about the lovely pieces I picked up in my adventures in Penrith, the main town in the area of the Lake District we were staying. First up, I got some lengths of ribbon from the local haberdashery, I just love the gingham one, which one is your favourite?



Next up, we visited a really quaint village hall as they were holding a craft fair. I got these cute cut outs to use in scrapbooking, or maybe even card making, a craft I am yet to try.

We discovered another haberdashery with lots of gorgeous fabric, but it seemed a lot more expensive than my normal fabric shop in Basingstoke. Maybe I've found a little bargain place there. Anyway, I did find this gorgeous green fabric that was in my price range and I picked up the little frame in a charity shop. It's the perfect size for a small piece of cross stitch.

In the same shop, I had a rummage in their scrapbooking section and came out with these two goodies, some rub ons and some letter stickers. I'm expecting more scrapping stash any day now. I placed an order with 123stitch after another website I thought I'd sample wanted to charge £19 for postage! Luckily, I found most of the bits I wanted on 123.

It was getting late in the day when we discovered a tiny ribbon shop on the edge of town, next to The Toffee Shop (yum yum). It only sold ribbons and buttons and I was in heaven. The buttons were adorable, but a little pricey. The ribbon on the other hand was not and it took a great deal of time to just pick these four. Lawrence sat outside on a bench reading his book whilst I spent time drooling over the prettiest, quirky ribbon.
I got tiny blue flower ribbon, silk ribbon with poodles on it, a gorgeous brown leaf ribbon that is so beautiful and pumpkin ribbon!

I just couldn't leave this beauty in the shop, I had to purchase a length. Don't you think it's so unusual and pretty?

And here's a thrifty spin. I had spare loops in my jewellery box, punched a tiny hole in each pumpkin and looped them in the make pumpkin earrings! I'm thinking of stitching a tiny Jack O' Lantern face on each one to make them perfect for Hallowe'en. How I love craft!

It seems I haven't had much interest in my MyMemories giveaway. It's a shame because the software is really simple and lovely to use, but I suppose you can't win them all. The competition is open till Monday if anyone is interested.
My stitching mojo has gone wandering lately. I've got my exchange piece all kitted up and ready to go, yet no motivation to put in a single stitch. I did work on All Things Bright during my holiday so I do have a progress pic to share. That will have to wait till the next post I'm afraid and I'm off out soon to enjoy a lunch with my sister and my mum - a girly feast.

Have a wonderful weekend,