Big thank you and finished gift tags

Hello my friends, I hope you are all well. The sun is shining and the sky is blue and it looks like it's going to be a gorgeous day. 

I've been doing lots of little bits of stitching lately. I finished off my flamingo design, quickly stitched up a card for a colleague who was leaving and I also spent a couple of evenings working on these cute gift tag designs.They're from the latest issue of CrossStitcher, but I actually had some of the card tags leftover from a previous cover gift at Christmas time. I really enjoyed picking my own thread colours from my tin of leftovers to create these.

I just have to say a huge thank you to Cath from The Stitchin' Chicken who sent me a lovely surprise parcel. Cath was gifted recently with a collection of DMC threads, and was kind enough to share the love and pass some on to me! There was also two huge pieces of aida in the package. I feel so lucky when people are so generous and think of me. I know I will make good use of the threads and the fabric, so thank you so much Cath!

I'm definitely on the look out for my next big project, but I'm quite enjoying the small pieces at the moment. I find there is certain satisfaction in taking a scrap of fabric and a few old threads and making a brand new card or gift tag with them. I think stitching and craft in general can be quite thrifty if you want it to be, although I love spending money on stash!

I hope you're all enjoying a lovely weekend. 

Best wishes,

Bekca

xxx

Gift Giving for Easter

Hello friends. I hope you are enjoying glorious weather, wherever in the world you are. The sunshine has been marvellous here for the past couple of days. I've had lots of washing on the line and have been taking myself out on long walks across Winchester to take in the views. There's nothing like a bit of fresh air :)

On Monday, my older sister came for a visit. We had a wonderful time shopping in the high street and going to our favourite diner for lunch. We even sat outside in the ground of the Cathedral and spent a happy hour chatting about future plans. I only have one sibling, so we're understandably close. I wanted to gift her with some small, just a little thank you for treating me to lunch. Awhile back, she donated her unwanted cross stitch stuff to add to my stash. Included were a few unfinished items, did I post about this at the time? Well, I finally managed to finish one up completely. My sister was thrilled with it!

I wrapped it up in pretty floral paper, added an Easter egg and her favourite Malteaser bunnies and it made a lovely gift. It wasn't wildly expensive, but she said it was very thoughtful. I do like being able to give gifts, it's very heart warming.

I hope you have an awesome Easter weekend, however you decide to spend it. I'm off to Devon for a few days with Lawrence and his family. I'm so excited! I've recently obtained a shiny new camera, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to share when I get back from my trip :)

Happy Easter to everyone!

 

Lucky Lady

I've been very blessed lately with prize wins and gifts from some dear stitching friends. I was lucky enough to be chosen to stitch the travelling pattern by Elisa. The pattern will soon be moving in with its latest owner, Karoline.

I recently commented on a finished design made by Nataly over at Nataly's Needle Creations. She had recently finished Hibernation Day by Heartstring Samplery and it looked gorgeous. I left her a comment saying so, and Nataly very kindly sent me the chart! I'm so pleased to own such a lovely design and I have started, but just a few stitches. I'm challenging myself by stitching this piece over one on 36ct fabric. It will be so beautiful when it gets finished, if I manage to get that far!

My lucky streak continued with a prize win from Justine over at Justine's Cross Stitch. She recently held a Spring Giveaway and my name was drawn out of the hat! Justine thoroughly spoilt me with a wonderful parcel that truly brightened my day.

I received a whole bunch of DMC threads, a door hanger, a darling card, sweet Easter chick ribbon, a fab chart book (which I'm sure you'll see more of) and the best gift of all . . .

Justine made me a personalised scissor fob and I love it! It's such a beautiful handmade item and I will treasure it. 

Thank you so much to Elisa, Nataly and Justine for making me feel so grateful for such wonderful stitching buddies :)

Hope you're all enjoying a lovely weekend,

 

Season of Joy

Hello all! Well, I'm having a fab time in Glastonbury. My mum is spoiling me rotten! I've had all manner of sweet treats and goodies throughout this week. I'll need my running shoes lots when I get home :P

I hope you all shared a wonderful Christmas with the important people in your life. I'm so pleased I arrived in Glastonbury early. I travelled here last Sunday, which was just before the big storms hit. I don't know if I would have made it if I left it any later. I felt grateful that night to be tucked up in my bed, safe and warm from the howling weather. We only had a little damage here, a bit of flooding in the cellar. After watching the news, it seems Glastonbury got off lightly!

On Christmas Day, we spent it quietly at home, watching movies, eating and drinking - it was perfect. I was very lucky to receive lots of presents from my parents, ranging from the practical to the pretty.

My mum's pristine Christmas tree!

Lovely presents for me - socks/cake slice/books/DVDs/mugs/fancy cake wrappers and toppers/napkins and a box of my favourite chocolate Brazil nuts :)

This is the gift I'm most pleased with. The photo has decided to sit the wrong way round, but you get the gist. Mum made me this cushion after I mentioned to her about my back. I sometimes get pain in my lower back and I know it's because I don't sit properly when I'm writing or stitching. Now I have this great cushion to help support it. It was such a thoughtful present.

I couldn't resist buying myself a gift just before the big day. I stopped buying cross stitch magazines when I went to University. Firstly, because I couldn't justify the expense and secondly, because I already had quite a few! But if you can't treat yourself at Christmas, when can you :)

There are lots of charts in this edition of CrossStitcher, as it came with a free booklet filled with retro charts. I must admit, I picked this one over the others in the shop because of the Camper van chart. I do love the old fashioned Camper vans! This is probably going to be my last stitching related purchase before the Stitch from Stash challenge begins. Is anyone else joining in with Mel's new group? I signed up straight away! Not only will it help me save money and stitch up a few things that have been hiding away in drawers, but I might win prizes too! Do let me know if you're taking part as well :) The original post explaining all is here. 

I head back to Winchester tomorrow after a wonderful week in Glastonbury. I will cherish the time I have spent with my family, but I am looking forward to returning to my independent life in Winchester. New stitching projects await!

Best wishes to all, and Happy New Year!!! 

The First of Many

Hello everyone! Gosh, third year is definitely living up to its reputation of being tricky. I do have to work hard, but I like to reward myself with some stitching time at the end of the long day :)

I'm trying to make a lot of my present this year, so I thought I'd share the first one. This was for my housemate who is very young at heart.

 

This is actually the third David Tennant I have cross stitched - all gifts. The suitcase is from Cath Kidston, which my housemate wanted so that she could use it for storage. And the little wrapped parcel is Chocolate and Caramel flavoured coffee :) I'm pleased to say my first stitched gift this year was a success. I'm sure they'll be lots to come, especially in December!

 

I also have a Farmhouse update to share. I've started on the goats, which are all unfortunately scribbled in biro. I am managing to see the chart though, I'm just taking my time. I've been doing more backstitching on the house itself, as well as working more on the red border. I'm still on track for finishing this one this year :)

 

Right, that's enough from me. I've got some serious reading to do before my next lectures!

Best wishes to all,

Another year older

Thank you so much for the lovely birthday wishes on my last post. I had a truly wonderful day and was thoroughly spoilt! I must say a couple of thank yous to two birthday fairies who really made me smile.

First, I got this wonderful parcel from Elisa at Old Ragged Threads. Elisa was swift to the post office and the package was tempting me for days! I was very good and waited until the big day. It's a lovely ornament alongside a M Designs chart and a very suitable card :P Thank you so much Elisa!

 

Birthday day gift number two came from Cath over at The Stitchin' Chicken. Cath truly spoilt me with an array of kits and charts, and even a new hoop! It was a wonderful selection, and I didn't previously own any of the kits. I can't wait to get my needle into this little lot. A huge thank you to you too Cath!

 

I had the most wonderful birthday. I went to Uni in the morning and then Lawrence came over and I opened my cards and gifts. I felt so blessed when I opened every card and unwrapped every parcel. I am so lucky.

Lawrence took me out for dinner that evening. We went to Loch Fyne, which I had never been to before. It was such a stunning restaurant, very welcoming and warm too. The food was certainly delicious.

This was my starter of charcuterie plate, so good. Lawrence enjoyed crab cakes.

 

 

Then for main I had this delightful bowl of goodness! It's a pear, butternut squash and pumpkin seed salad, topped with a fillet of kiln smoked salmon, with a side of chips. It was heavenly!

 

We split a bottle of my favourite Pinot Grigio wine too. I felt like a true birthday girl, being spoilt rotten by my love. I felt so content when I went to sleep last night :)

I hope you've all had a great start to the week too, I'll be back soon with a stitching update.

Best wishes,

 

What makes the world go round?

Kindness!

For my blogaversary in April, I had the chance to give back to this wonderful blogging community of ours and offered a giveaway. Two months later (gosh, I'm terrible!), the winner Karoline received her goodies. I'm pleased to say Karoline loved what I sent, which is always the aim :)

Here's what was in the giveaway parcel . . .

I stitched up CCN's The Tea Room and finished it into a pin pillow. That's what took me so long to get the parcel out, I'm rather slow at finishing things.

Appropriate backing fabric I'm sure you'll agree!

Here's what the whole parcel contained . . .

I would love to do more giveaways. But next time, I'm going to FINISH the intended prize before I offer it away :P

And kindness was returned in my direction when Sadie from Stitching Up a Storm offered to send me the chart for a design I'd been admiring on her blog. I'm such a lucky Lion! I cannot wait to stitch up LHN's Moons and Stars - thank you so much Sadie!

Extra shifts at work have been keeping me busy, but I'm finding plenty of time to stitch. I'm hoping to get a couple more finishes ticked off my list on my day off on Tuesday. 

Back with a stitching update soon!

Best wishes,

 

Treats of All Sorts

What do you do when your housemate goes to throw away three perfectly good (albeit slightly brown) bananas? You stop her at once with promises of cake and shrieks of waste not want not. As a student, being thrifty is a necessity of life. I've had a lovely morning baking this sweet smelling banana bread. It's the first cake I've made using gluten-free flour and I can't wait to taste it! Although I love baking, finding the time to do it is such a treat. Sunday mornings before everyone else is up is the perfect time to spend in the kitchen :)



I had a lovely treat in the post last week. Tricia from The Stamper's Stitches sent over a chart from my wishlist and the most beautiful handmade card. The generosity of my fellow bloggers fills my heart and it was so thoughtful of Tricia to send me a gift. Thank you my friend, I hope to return the favour some day :)

Also in the post this week, just a couple of days ago actually, was my 123stitch order. I try to only do an order twice a year, a massive one after Christmas then a smaller one when I really need to. The rest of the time, I just make do with things I have. It's ok though, I have a lot of stitchy things!
So, in this parcel I got a large length of 32ct Lambswool fabric, JBW Designs Scottie dog (would love to get this finished for Christmas!) and a whole bunch of threads, mainly for Lawrence's Pokemon that he keeps pestering me for :P 

And finally, (phew! Quite a long post for me :)) I have an update to share on Mississippi Riverboat. This is the perfect design to work on in the evenings when I come home from Uni or work - sometimes both in the same day! It really relaxes me and let's me unwind after hectic days.

I've had some lovely comments recently with well wishes for my Uni life. It's going really well actually. I got my first essay back with a high mark and I was very pleased. My parents were proud too and gifted me with a £10 Sainsbury's voucher :) I have been a very lucky lion this week, recieving goodies, gifts and things that make me smile from all over the place. Life is wonderful.
I hope you've been having a relaxing weekend. It's a bit on the cool side here, but I'm going to take a wander into town to go and browse the farmer's market. Here's hoping I find even more goodies there too!
Best wishes,
 

PS I'm wearing my poppy with pride today and I hope you are too :)

Two Decades

That's how old I am now :) Some days I think I haven't done much with my twenty years. Then other times, I think I'm doing pretty well. Studying a course I love at Uni, spending lots of time with my lovely family and I've met the love of my life already. I really am a very lucky girl :)

My luck continued a couple of days after my birthday when a lovely parcel popped through my letterbox. Mouse was kind enough to send me my own Birthday Stitch Parcel! Isn't this card so perfect? Mouse must know how fond I am of pretty tea sets :)



The parcel was wrapped with care and contained lots of lovely goodies. 

Hand-dyed fabric, tea cup backing fabric and a new pair of scissors, all in girlish hues of pink and purple - I love it all! Thank you so much Mouse for thinking of me, your parcel was very much appreciated.

The issues of last month meant I got behind with sending out my birthday parcels. But I have two wrapped and ready to be sent off in the post tomorrow. Cath from The Stitchin Chicken and Elisa from Old Ragged Threads are my next two victims for September and October :)

Gosh, it's getting close to having to think about Christmas stitching. I definitely want to do a big giveaway this year. I love the festive period and want to share my joy with you all :)

I'll be back with a stitching update soon!
 

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,

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,