The Birthday Stitch Surprise Round-Up!

I have been so looking forward to writing this post! I have completed my year of monthly packages and I've put all of the pictures in one place. So, let's have a recap :)

January's parcel went out to Mouse at Tales of a Stitching Mouse.



February's package was destined to Fiona over at My Stitching Corner.

March's parcel was to Lesleyanne at Lesleyanne's Life of Stitches.

April was Catherine at Bramblewood Stitches.

May went to Pokemon fan Emma over at EveningEmma.

June wasn't a birthday gift, just a parcel for Terri at DixieSampler.

July's parcel went to Teresa at Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches.

August's parcel was for Peggy Lee at Kentucky Sampler.

My month! September's parcel went to Cath at The Stitchin' Chicken.

October's gift was sent to Elisa at Old Ragged Threads.

And last, but no means least, we have Lynn's parcel that was meant to be for November, but silly old me was so late that it turned into a Valentine's themed parcel for February instead! Thank you for waiting for patiently Lynn! 

I have had the best time putting all of these parcels together and receiving such lovely thank you notes in return. It's been a joy to bring just a little bit of happiness into each person's day. I hope my packages has made each of you lovely ladies smile :)
I'm not repeating The Birthday Stitch Surprise this year, but I will be doing a series of giveaways. The first two I have in mind are Easter and my third blogaversary! Look out for those :)
I've got more posts lined up, including a great progress shot on Venusaur, I don't think it will be too long until it's finished :) My mum is visiting tomorrow and I can't wait. I haven't seen her since before Christmas so it's going to be so wonderful to spend lots of time with her :)

Best wishes to all,
 

The Third Installment

Hi everyone! Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post. I'm so glad the chicken is finished, it's freed up my stitching time to work on other projects, like this guy. I'm on the final part of stitching a trio of Pokemon designs for Lawrence. I've finished Charizard and Blastoise, which you can see here and here if you'd like :)

Now I'm onto the final one, Venusaur. This is what it looks like currently:

And this is similar to what it will look like eventually:

Lawrence has said he's so excited to finally have the completed set. He'll have to wait a little longer yet, but it was sweet of him to say :)

This is the project I'm working on in the evenings at the moment. I'd love to have a big chunk of time where I can set up my stitching and stay there for hours, but sadly, my time is taken up by things like studying and working. I'm thoroughly enjoying Uni though. I'm doing a module this year on Children's Fiction, which is something I really want to do in the future. I have to work hard, but it's worth it :)

I haven't been doing as much blog reading as I'd like, due to the annoying fact that my internet keeps crashing whenever I try. Maybe the internet doesn't like blogger? I love blogger and all my lovely blogging buddies!

Hope you're all having a great week, best wishes.

 

The Kindness of Community

Hello everyone! The snow is at last starting to melt here on the hill. But now there's talk of flooding, will the weather ever just settle? Probably not :P

But snowy days do make for perfect stitching times. I've had a couple of evenings this week where I've finished my Uni studies, rushed home in the biting wind, pulled off my snow flecked coat, put on the kettle and settled in my chair with my stitching. I now have the most perfect stitching chair that I will have to share in a later post. My housemates all know that that's where I sit in the evenings and they don't dare to take up the space! At last, I have my own stitching chair! I always love being nosy and seeing where others stitch so I'll be sure to show you my cosy stitching sphere soon.

This post is dedicated solely to the kindness of Cath over at The Stitchin' Chicken. After seeing my post about running out of thread before finishing my chicken project, Cath offered to check in her stash for the matching thread. My lucky starts shone as Cath had just enough thread from a leftover kit to send to me. She sent the prettiest card along with the thread, as well as two magnetic bookmarks that make perfect needle minders. Thank you so much for your generosity Cath! Thanks to you, I can now proudly share my finished chicken . . .

Cath must have an affinity for helping cross stitched chickens in need :P

This is the first project I've finished for my sister. I've already picked out the backing fabric and will be making it into a pillow, ready to give to her when she visits in February :)

I do so love playing a role in this lovely community of ours. I'll be putting together a series of giveaways throughout the year as my way of giving back. Look out for them!

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. I've got two days of work, but only short shifts. Plus I'm going to the Farmer's Market on Sunday morning which is always a lovely experience.

Best wishes to all,

 

Inherited Projects

I cannot thank you all enough for the warm comments and kind wishes you left on my last blog post. It made me smile so much. Thank you again for taking the time out of your day to make me happy!

We're having a snow day today in Winchester :)

Winchester is made up of hills, big and small. Although it wasn't too bad this morning, the continual snowfall has made the roads really quite bad. Uni staff can't travel in so today's lectures have been cancelled. I've been doing a bit of the work they sent through via email, but I'm sure they'll be plenty of time for stitching this afternoon ;)

I wanted to show you some of the projects I've been working on recently during my blogging break. I didn't start them, they were given to me by my sister. She came over for lunch at the beginning of December and bought a big box of cross stitching stuff with her. She said she didn't have the time for the hobby any more and would I like the stuff? Of course! Silly question :)

She donated masses of threads and some lovely fabric, but also in the boxes were a few unfinished projects. I thought I'd finish them for her and finish them into things to give back :) The first design I set to work on was this chicken print, from a copy of one of the stitching mags, not sure which one!

My sister had only done the outline of the chicken, so I had quite a bit of stitching to do. It was quite nice to stitch on simple aida again. The beady eyed amongst you might have realised this piece is not quite finished . . .

That tiny little section at the top needs filling in with a red that I don't have a match for. I will go out and buy the right colour eventually. Don't you just hate it when that happens? I've got some lovely black fabric with white spots, just like the central panel and I'm going to make it into a cushion. One day!

The other project I've pulled out was the simple ballerina hippo design. It's also from one of the cross stitching magazines. My sister counted wrong one day and instead of figuring it out, she put it down and didn't go back to it! I'm sure we've all been there ;) This is also on aida so it shouldn't be too long before I can get this finished. 

I've still got the Solo project and the huge farmhouse design on the go. Maybe this will be the year that it's finally finished? We can but try :) I have one more project to show you, but that can wait for another day :) 

I hope you're all staying safe and cosy wherever you are. We had a snowball fight earlier so now I'm warming up with a big mug of tea and blog reading :) 

Best wishes to all,

   

A New Year

This is my first post of 2013! I only managed one for December, but that was the past and this is now. And now looks a heck of a lot better.

So, life catch up. Before Christmas, I went to Glastonbury to see my parents. It was so wonderful to spend time with them and I was thoroughly spoilt with meals out and endless shopping trips. It really was a restful time, just what I needed when I had finished the Uni semester.

I was working the four days in the run up to Christmas with long shifts at Cath Kidston. The work was tough, especially on Christmas Eve when we had to prepare for the Boxing Day sale. But we left on time, I made it on the trains without any delays and my lovely Lawrence was there to greet me at the other end :)

I was nervous about spending my first Christmas away from home, but I shouldn't have worried. I was included warmly in all the celebrations, Lawrence's mum even made me up my very own stocking :D I got some lovely gifts for Christmas, the highlights being tickets to see the Lion King in the West End and a beautiful butterfly necklace from Lawrence.

Dinner was spectacular, a real feast. I loved sitting round the table with everyone and feeling like a member of the family. It was a special moment to feel so included and loved by all the people sharing the meal. We watched lots of programmes and movies in the evening, which was perfect.

The two weeks after Christmas before the start of Uni, I had restful time. I still had work, but it's now back down to my normal three days a week, which I can handle. I did a lot of reading, some ready for Uni and some just for me. I also planted a little herb garden in some pots outside. Now we have fresh herbs to use whenever! I celebrated the New Year with Lawrence, just us two and a bottle of wine. It was bliss to spend such a relaxing time together.

I started back at Uni on Monday and I'm already in love with all the modules I picked. There is a lot of reading and studying of text books to do weekly, but I have plenty of time to slot that in. Now it's just getting back to the routine of Uni, work, seeing Lawrie, seeing my family and stitching!

What better way to start my posts for 2013 than with a finish. Here is Mississippi Riverboat in all its glory, I finished it just after Christmas . . .

I've already got several other projects on the go and they will all make an appearance on the blog very soon.  I think I'm going to be a lot better with consistent posting and reading blogs this year. Maybe I just needed a little break to realise how much I love being involved in the blogging community, and how much I miss it when I don't get a chance to read/write posts. Thank you all so much for being patient with me, and for the lovely comments on my last post. I will be sure to return the favour!

I hope you've all had a wonderful start to 2013. Let's make it the best year yet!

 

Life

I only managed one post for November and that makes me sad.
Life got very hectic very quickly. I was constantly handing in assignments (ongoing), working at Cath Kidston through the Christmas rush (ongoing) and trying to get all my Christmas things in order (ongoing!)
Now that I'm a grown up, things take a lot more organising. It was touch and go whether I was going to be able to see my parents at all before Christmas. I'm happy to say I've secured three days off where I can travel to Glastonbury and spend some time with them :)
It feels awful to moan. I really should put things in perspective. I love my blog and everyone involved in this community, but my degree is my life. When it gets to the point where I haven't been able to see Lawrence due to work commitments, you know it's too busy! My deadline date is mid-December so I should hopefully be a bit more active in blog world after that :)

I have been stitching most evenings. If I didn't have my needlework, I think I would have gone mad! Mississippi Riverboat is coming along nicely, as you can see.



I've put in a few stitches in my giant Farmhouse project, but nothing worthy of a photo. I'm thinking I will restart my efforts on that one after Christmas. It takes a bit of time to set up when I want to stitch that piece, but with Riverboat, it's just a case of grab and go.

Lynn, I must offer my sincere apologies. I am terribly late with your parcel. I am in the process of putting it together and my aim is to have it arrive before Christmas. I'm so sorry for the delay.

Also, this is an official call-out for Cindy. Cindy won my Birthday Stitch Surprise for December, but I haven't received an email from her about where to send it. Cindy, if you're out there, please send me a quick email with your address!

I've got an hour now before heading out to work (again!) so I'm going to indulge in blog reading, with a lovely mug of tea by my side :) I bet I will see some lovely Christmas stitching going on.

Best wishes to all,
 

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 :)