The Big Stash Haul

Oh goodness, how time flies. It's been a very busy time since I last posted and I thought I'd catch you up on everything.

First of, I have reached 100 followers!! Thank you so much to each and every one of you for reading about this student and her craft. This blog means a lot to me and I can't believe it's attracted so many readers. I am so very grateful. I will be holding a tiny giveaway very soon, so look out for it!

Since I last posted, I finished working at Sainsbury's, celebrated my mum's birthday and returned to Uni. Yes I'm back at Winchester and very pleased to be here. I really appreciate the freedom of getting to do what I want when I want, although it was lovely being at home. I've got stuck in with my studies already, getting six books out of the library this morning for future projects. I love it!

The title tells of stash, and what a stash it is :) The day before coming back to Uni, my big 123stitch.com order arrived. This was my Christmas treat to myself, and I beamed at everything I received. I can't wait to get started on it all. 

I treated myself to six new charts; Touch of the Wilderness, by Brittercup Designs/Tea Crazy, by Lizzie Kate/The Tea Room, by Country Cottage Needleworks/Schoolgirl Lesson, by Little House Needleworks/Always and Forever, by Little House Needleworks/Autumn Sampler, by Lizzie Kate.

That should certainly keep me busy for awhile!

I also got some bits for scrapbooking too. I did a fair bit of scrapping over the holidays, but forgot to take any photos. Silly me. I love stickers, and couldn't resist these ones as they were all reduced.

I also got two large cuts of fabric (32ct Belfast in Fairy Dust and Light Mocha) and a whole bunch of DMC threads for future starts. I also bought a Sampler Thread in Dark Chocolate, which is also for a future project - stay tuned!

I'm having a ball with the Birthday Stitch Surprise. It's been so lovely putting a parcel together for Mouse, I really hope she likes it. My next recipient is Fiona. If you could send me a quick email of likes and dislikes Fiona, I would really appreciate it! :) I'm glad I chose to do this giveaway, it's really fun.

I'm on top of my reading already, so I am spending the evening with a big mug of hot chocolate and reading all what you've been up to. I can't wait! I'm sorry I've been absent from blogging lately, but I'm sure it's the same for all of you that family come first over the holidays. I'm back now and ready to stitch!

Best wishes,

Christmas Catch Up and Happy New Year!!

Oh gosh, I've been away from blogging for far too long! It seems I started working full time and everything else went to pot. It was pretty hard working day after day for the first time ever, it's manual work and lots of lifting. It was beginning to take its toll, so I've cut down my hours for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, I can return properly to the land of blogging that I have missed for too long :)

Thank you to the Birthday Stitch Surprise winners for sending me some truly lovely emails. I love that you've all got different likes and dislikes, it will give me lots of different stitching to do. After this post, I'm going to catch up on all the blogs I've missed. I've bet you've all been busy enjoying the festive season.

I had a lovely Christmas and got some truly gorgeous presents. My parents treated me with gifts of sweeties and chocolate and cake tins and recipe books - all my favourite things! One of my best was the latest edition of The World of Cross Stitching, that has some truly lovely patterns in it. Plus, it came with a diary featuring 12 Margaret Sherry charts, bonus or what?

Lawrence spoiled me as well. He gave me a t-shirt featuring one of our favourite singers (Bruce Springsteen!) and then possibly my favourite gift this year. He found me a bounded copy of the Wind in the Willows, with the water colour painting inside. It is so beautiful and no picture I could take would ever do it justice. He was very much in the good books! LOL

His mum got me some lovely gifts too - aren't I a lucky one? She got me the latest Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, featuring lots of yummy cupcake designs which I can't wait to try out. I also got this gorgeous pin cushion, isn't it the cutest?

And on top of all that, my sister got me a 123stitch.com gift card which I can't wait to spend :)

Just before Christmas I got sent some wonderful items from my stitching friends. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to thank you, where are my manners? Firstly, thank you to Sarah from Kiwi Gets Crafty for sending me a beautiful handmade card and a skein of gorgeous autumnal thread. I'll be sure to send a reply soon Sarah!

Next thank you to Karen for sending me a beautiful Christmas ornament. I was lucky enough to be picked for Karen's "Ornament Exchange" and it arrived in time to be displayed this Christmas. I'm going to be keeping it all year round though, it's too pretty to be boxed away, don't you agree?

Thank you so much ladies! I love being a part of this community.

Our Christmas Day was a lovely family affair. Just my parents and me and my sister, perfect. My mum made a huge meal and we didn't move for awhile afterwards. Then Boxing Day, my extended family came for a visit and my nan came to stay. This time of year is certainly very busy :)

I spent New Year's Eve with Lawrence and a few of his friends. We had Indian takeaway and lots of wine and toasted the New Year. It was really fun and a memory I will treasure for a long time.

I'll be back very soon with a list of my New Year's resolutions and possibly a stitchy update. I had a day off today and I've got another one tomorrow, which I'm spending at the January Sales with my best friend. My life might be a bit hectic at the moment, but I wouldn't swap it for the world. I'm a very lucky girl :)

Best wishes and Happy New Year to everyone!

Drumroll Please . . .

Hello everyone! I must apologise for the delay in revealing the recipients of the Birthday Stitch Surprise. I thought I'd have time to post on Friday morning, but what with packing and my final lecture, time ran away from me. I'm here now to announce the winners!
So, I took the names from each month and did separate little draws to find the winner of that particular month. Then, all of those who were unfortunately not picked in their first draw went into a second one for the months I had no names for, June and November. July, October and Decembers winners got the prize by default as they were lucky enough to have no others with the same birthday month.
I hope this all makes sense!
I did the drawing the old fashioned way, cut up pieces of paper and a bowl.

 


Don't worry if you can't see the above picture clearly, here is the definite list of the winners:

January - Michelle from Tales of a Stitching Mouse

February - Fiona from My Stitching Corner

March – Lesleyanne from Lesleyanne's Life of Stitches

April – Catherine from Bramblewood Stitches

May – Emma from EveningEmma

June – (separate drawing) Terri from DixieSampler

July – Teresa from Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches

August – Peggy Lee from Kentucky Sampler

September – Cath from The Stitchin' Chicken

October – Elisa from Old Ragged Threads

November (separate drawing) – Lynn from Kearnel's Korner

December – Cindy from Clear Skies After the Storm

I hope Terri and Lynn are still happy to receive a parcel even though it is not in their birthday month. I thought a separate drawing would be the best and fairest way to make sure a parcel is sent out every month.
If you ladies could all send me an email to stitchinglion@hotmail.co.uk just outlining a few likes and dislikes, that would help me enormously. And don't forget your mailing addresses too!
Thank you so much to everyone who entered my little contest. I have reserved the names of those who unfortunately didn't win this time, but I'll know who to head to first for RAKs and such :)
So it will be Michelle who will receive her birthday parcel first. I can't wait to start putting it together!

In other news, my first weekend back at home has been great. I had a lovely meal with my family when I got back on Friday night, and then last night, I was taken out to dinner by my boyfriend's family. And I'm going out to eat tonight with my girl friends. Phew! You can tell it's Christmas time LOL
Best wishes to all,

Closed

Hello everyone. Just a quick post from me today to let you all know that the drawing for the Birthday Stitch Surprise is now CLOSED. I will be drawing names from a hat (or probably a bowl) and will post the results tomorrow morning.

Good luck to everyone who entered!

Winding Down

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a brilliant start to the week. Although the title of this post suggests I'm winding down before Christmas, the truth is there is loads to do before I can relax and enjoy the festive season properly. I don't mind though, the work is very enjoyable, there's just quite a bit.

First of, thank you to all who have put their name in for the Birthday Stitch Surprise. There's still time to add your name to the drawing in this post here (scroll down or click the link).  I haven't got anyone yet for June or November, so maybe you could be the lucky one!

In other news, I've been spending time in the evenings working on Gingerbread House by Country Cottage Designs. Here's where I'm up to . . .

I really love working on this piece, it uses such bright and cheerful colours.

My meal in London last week was amazing. The restaurant was beautiful and the food was just the best. Then we went on a bit of a drive tour through the sights and saw Big Ben, The London Eye and Buckingham Palace, to name but a few. I celebrated with Lawrie on our own with a quiet meal in town, where for the first time, we could both have a glass of wine out. It was so very lovely.

Have a great week everyone. I go home for Christmas on Friday and I can't wait!

Best wishes,

PS Terri over at dixiesampler is having a brilliant giveaway. Check it out here!

Birthday Stitch Surprise!!

EDIT: The drawing is now closed and the winners will be announced on Friday :)

It seems the idea was popular so I have decided to go ahead with it :) Please enter a comment on this post only with your full birthday. No need for the year, just the month then date e.g September 23rd (my own birthday :P) just so I don't get confused with the numbers.

Rules:

- You must be a follower to enter. After all, this is a competition where I want to treat my followers!

- There is no need to post about this on your blog, but it would be lovely if you would like to.

- If there is more than one entry for each month, I shall put all the names into a hat and draw one name.

- Entry closes next Thursday (15th) at midday (UK time) I shall put the list of each month with who will be receiving a gift on Friday.

I'd just like to point out if I may that these birthday parcels won't be spectacular. I'm planning on sending a few lovely pieces that I think the recipient will enjoy.

I can't wait to get started on this!!

Best wishes everyone, and good luck!

A Finish, A Treat, An Idea

Hello fellow bloggers! I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Wednesday is my day off from lectures, so I'm catching up with reading, wrapping a few more presents, and hopefully finding time for stitching too.
I have my first Christmas ornament to share! It's only a little one, but I could not be more pleased with how it turned out . . .


Christmas Greetings
Carol @iStitch
32ct Vintage Beige Evenweave
DMC and Duchess Threads

This is my first time finishing an ornament with a hanger and I really like it, especially with the red ribbon attachment.
Don't you just love Christmas backing fabric?

I've already got my next ornament waiting and ready to be stitched up. Hopefully I'll get needle into fabric sometime this afternoon.
So now on to the treat part of my title. Yesterday after lessons, I met up with my mum in Winchester. We had a wander round the shops and visited the Christmas market. It was so very pretty, with the ice rink in the ground of the cathedral and all the lit up stalls and huts. The only downside was that everything seemed so expensive. I only found some fudge for Lawrie, and a gingerbread man for me! Mum didn't manage to find much either, so she suggested we return to the shops in search of goodies to treat ourselves with. She found a gorgeous glasses case in Cath Kidston, and just before heading to dinner, we went to the Fabric Shop . . .
I had been looking at these for awhile. I don't own many pairs of scissors and it always annoys me when I have to hunt for a pair. So, as a treat from my lovely mother, I came home with these beauties . . .

These are my first pair of stork scissors and I think they are so very pretty. I can't wait to use them.
As I can never resist ribbon, I got this lovely length with the change . . .

How cute is this! I know exactly what design it will be good for, stay tuned.

Thank you to those who commented on my query about stitching challenges. I've had a thought about it, and I don't think I'm going to enter the Crazy Stitching Challenge. The truth is, I don't own 15 projects that I'd like to start, and I'd rather pick and choose throughout the year.
However . . .
I do have an idea that I'd like to try out, hence the final part of the title. I'd really like to give back to the stitching community as I have been treated to many gorgeous packages and parcels throughout this year. I'd like to send out a few parcels of myself, to treat my fellow bloggers at the perfect occasion. So . . .
Introducing the Birthday Stitch Surprise!
The idea is that whoever would like lets me know when their birthday is, I'll do a drawing so I have a list of twelve names for each month in the year. In that month, I shall send a package of stitching goodies and probably a stitched piece to the birthday girl! Does this sound like a good idea to you? I just wondered what my lovely followers thought before I made it official. Any comments would be gratefully appreciated!
Speaking of my lovely followers, I've nearly got 100 of them - my goodness! I can't believe so many of you care about this student and her stitching. Thank you so much. I love stitching, blogging and being part of this community and you make that happen, thank you again.
I hope you're all enjoying a lovely Wednesday,