About Time!

I'm still happy dancing! I'm so pleased to reveal my finish of Country Cottage Designs' Gingerbread Cottage. Ta-dah!

This was stitched on 28ct Vintage Beige Lugana using DMC colours. I left out the last white border because I didn't like it. I'm chuffed to have finally finished this design, now I can get to work on all the other pieces calling my name.

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my last post. It's Easter holidays coming up and I'm hoping to have a finishing day where I finally finish up all my stitched pieces. I've got quite a pile now. We didn't have a barbecue this weekend, but we did eat wonderful enchiladas outside and it was bliss. I am very lucky that I get on with Lawrie's family so well.

In other news, I got to catch up with two of my closest friends this past weekend. I hadn't seen Georgie since Christmas and it was lovely catching up. She also passed along a Christmas present she was keeping for me from another one of our friends. I was lucky enough to receive a Smarties penguin (very yummy!) and this gorgeous Cath Kidston pin cushion!

Her name is Henrietta and I cannot wait to do lots of finishing products with her by my side :)

I hope you've all been enjoying the gorgeous spring weather. It would be nice to sit outside and stitch, but I'm too worried about getting my fabric dirty. I think I'll stick to reading outside, then cosy stitching indoors when the temperature drops.

Have a wonderful day,

Dancing in the Sunshine

Gosh, isn't the weather lovely at the moment? I've spent a couple of afternoon over the past few days out in the sunshine, reading and relaxing with my housemates. The sunshine does make me smile.

And another thing that makes me smile is finished cross stitch pieces! I'm delighted to reveal my latest finish, Always and Forever by LHN . . .

I thought it looked a bit crowded with full initials and a date, so I just personalised it with our first initials. I'm going to finish this one up as a pinkeep. I can't wait to show Lawrie when it's all finished up :)

I'm off to see my lovely Lawrence this afternoon. I hope the weather stays good, there were whisperings of a barbecue happening. How very lovely!

Hope you've all had a brilliant start to the weekend,

Disappearing Act

Oh gosh, where have I been? Sorry to say I've been rather busy of late and my crafting has suffered. Never fear, my stitchy bug has returned home and I'm back putting needle into thread!

I've been trying to finish up Gingerbread Cottage this week. As it's soon going to be April, I think it's about time I finished this wintry design up. Here's my progress to date . . .

I don't know what I'm going to do with this design once I've finished all the stitching. At the moment, I'm just concentrating on getting it done. Any ideas would be gladly appreciated :)

I'm so close to a finish though. One more tiny area of stitching to do and then I can reveal my latest happy dance. I know exactly what I'm going to be doing with this one :) Stay tuned for more!

And in other news, I made bread! I've never made bread from scratch before and thought it was high time I gave it a go. After hours of kneading and resting and yet more kneading and resting, this was my result . . .

It turned out brilliantly - the yummiest, softest loaf of wholemeal bread I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it did turn out good. I was pretty sceptical that my first attempt would be anything like real bread, but this was darn tasty. I've stocked up my freezer for awhile too :) Do you have any tips for a novice baker like me? I'd love to hear some tricks of the trade.

I hope to go back to regular posting soon, I have missed blogging these past couple of weeks. I can't wait to read about what you've all been up to.

Best wishes,

March Gift Sent

Good morning everyone!

I'm just about to get myself ready for a lovely day out with my best friend. She's coming down to Winchester for a spot of shopping and we're going to my favourite restaurant, Buddy's, the American Diner themed restaurant! They do the best burgers ever.

But before all that, I thought I'd post about Lesleyanne's Birthday Stitch Surprise gift that I know has arrived safe and sound. No stitched piece in this one as I already stitched up something for Lesleyanne for a previous exchange. I didn't think she'd want two botched, misshapen cross stitched pieces from me cluttering up her home! Instead, I opted to send out a small parcel of goodies that I hoped would be useful.

In her email, Lesleyanne told me she liked Christmas best of all. Here's what I came up with . . .

I sent my friend a cut of gingham fabric, two lengths of ric rac, some metallic DMC threads, a pack of button and two Malteaser Bunnies. I know the bunnies aren't that festive, but I thought Lesleyanne's two boys might appreciate them!

I just had to get a close up pic of these gorgeous buttons, I was so happy when I found these. I hope Lesleyanne can find use for them, or if not, aren't they just pretty to look at? :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Mine is going to be busy, but I get to see all my favourite people and that cannot be bad :)

Best wishes to all,

March Stitching

Very imaginative title, I know :P

Luckily, my stitching mojo has returned with a bang! I've been stitching lots in the evening and I'm even close to a finish.

First up, it's Forever and Always by LHN. I'm so close to finishing this one, I think it'll be done in the next couple of days.

This one is for me and Lawrie and I'm hoping to finish it into another pin pillow, if I can find nice backing fabric for it.

I've been putting a few stitches into my other WIP too. I really hope to get this one finished soon too, my stash is calling out to me! I've got loads of new projects I want to start, but I won't let myself until I've finished the one I'm working on. So here's where I'm up to on Gingerbread House . . .

And that's all for today folks! I just got a lovely email from Lesleyanne saying her Birthday Stitch Surprise parcel had arrived safely. I'll be sure to share what I sent soon. Next up for a parcel is Catherine from Bramblewood Stitches!

Hope you're all enjoying a lovely week,

February Gift Sent

Hello everyone!

I recently heard from the lovely Fiona that she has received her Birthday Stitch Surprise Parcel. I'm very pleased to report that she loved it! I'm trying to suit my recipiant's taste and Fiona said she liked the colour blue, so I came up with this . . .

Fiona's package included a piece of blue aida, a metre of blue polka dot ribbon, a pack of needles, a DMC thread, and a stitched pin pillow by yours truly :)

The pin pillow is Lizzie Kate's Tea for Two stitched on 32ct Fairy Dust Linen using DMC threads. I was quite pleased with the finish of this one, and I'm really glad Fiona likes it too :)

I'm afraid my next parcel is going to arrive shortly after Lesleyanne's actual birthday, but I do hope she doesn't mind.

Best wishes to all!

Gifties Galore!!

Oh I have been a lucky little Lion recently! I can't wait to share pictures of two wonderful packages that I've been given. I had to wait to pick them up from my sister's house on Wednesday and I was so excited to do so! Charlotte's house is lovely, by the way. I think her and her partner are looking forward to sprucing it up and really making it their own. She made me a lovely lunch when I visited and we enjoyed a fresh batch of Smartie cookies that I made for the occasion.

Anyways, what you really want to see are the stitchy goodies that I've been generously gifted with. Firstly, I recently commented on a gorgeous piece of stitching that Nataly did, and since she had no use for the chart anymore, she sent it to me! It's the entire collection of Bent Creek's Spring Snapperville! I can't wait to get this design stitched up :)

Thank you so much Nataly for your generosity, it means so much to me :) I love commenting on your gorgeous stitching and will always show my appreciation.

My dear friend Peggy Lee let me know that she wanted to send me some goodies and her parcel baffled my mum. She said it was heavy - I didn't think threads or fabric would be that heavy? But when I tore of the beautiful wrapping in excitement, I saw where the weight was coming from . . .

Look at that giant bag of M&M Almonds! I had mentioned to Miss Peggy that I had never sampled such delights and being the wonderful person she is, she sent me some! She also spoilt me with a fun pair of toe socks (on my tootsies as I type) and a collection of gorgeous WDW threads, none of which I already had.

She also penned the most lovely card. I love the friends that I have made through blogging and Peggy Lee is one of the best. Thank you so much for being so kind Peggy Lee, I'm proud to be your adopted "daughter"!

And in other news, my 100 Followers giveaway parcel reached Lesli safely! I'm so pleased that you were excited to receive the chart Lesli, I'm pleased it's found a good home :) Do share pics when you start stitching!

I've also sent my Birthday Stitch Parcel out to Fiona, albeit a tad late due to unforeseen circumstances. It will be with you soon Fiona!!

And now I'm currently working on the next parcel to Lesleyanne :)

Oh gosh, this post has been all about gifts given and received and it really warms my heart :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful day,