Happy Blogaversary to Me!

My goodness! I've been blogging away for three years! I've gone through two years of A-levels, started at University, moved out of my family home, met the love of my life and stitched so many things, I couldn't recount them all :)

I think blogging is such a blessing in my life. Not only have I learnt so much, from new finishing techniques to previously undiscovered designers, but I've met so many wonderful people. I bet if I met some of them in person, they would greet me with a warm hug and a plate of cookies :) You know who you are! I truly believe it's an amazing to connect with people half way around the world with our craft. I feel special to play a part in this community :)

Onto the celebration! For my third blogaversary, I am naturally hosting a giveaway :) The theme is things I like, but that I think one lucky follower would like too.

As you all know, I work in Cath Kidston. I'm also a big fan of Autumn, it's my favourite season. So this sweet squirrel pin cushion from CK fits the bill for one of my favourite things. He'll be in the parcel, along with a WDW Lucky thread. Green is my favourite colour :)

I LOVE chocolate. I love chocolate so much, I had to buy choc for my giveaway that I'm not allowed to eat so that I wouldn't gobble it up :P I'm throwing in some pretty bias binding in the parcel too.

I may add a few little piece in the bag, but the next major thing will be a stitched piece made by me. To keep it fun, I won't reveal what it is until I pick the winner. But I will tell you it's a Country Cottage Needleworks design! Because that's my favourite designer :)

I hope you would like to join me in celebrating my blogaversary. To have your name in the pot, just leave a comment below with an email addy :) There's no need to pass on the message on your own blog, but that would be very lovely if you chose to. The giveaway is open to all, anywhere in the world. I shall pick a winner in just over a week's time on Wednesday 24th April.

Good luck to everyone! Here's to the next year of stitchy goodness :)

 

Easter Greetings

Good morning everyone! I can't quite believe I'm waking up to another grey day. Where's my lovely Spring sunshine? There's even talk of snow. I'm wrapping up warm when I venture out to work this afternoon. 

At least my stitching is bright :) I finished up the Easter card that I'm sending to my Nan. I couldn't resist adding a couple of sparkly stickers to jazz up the plain card :)

I hope my Nan likes it!

I'll be spending the whole Easter weekend with my parents in Glastonbury and I'm so excited! I've got a jam packed week before that though. I've got another deadline coming up, as well as extra hours at work to make up for having the whole weekend off. It will be hectic, but so worth it when I get off the train in Glastonbury and see my parents :)

I'm spending my days on my Uni work and writing, but in the evenings, I love to unwind with my stitching. Lottie is coming along marvellously, as you can see . . .

She might not see a needle for a couple of weeks though, as I'm busily stitching away on another project. My blogaversary is coming up and I'm determined to make up a good giveaway parcel for it. I do work at Cath Kidston you know ;) Ooh, spoilers! Be sure to look out for it in April :)

I hope everyone has got a wonderful weekend planned. I've got to work this afternoon, then I've got the whole Sunday off. I plan to write, bake, buy groceries and stitch, naturally :)

Best wishes,

 

Living the Wild Life

Good morning everyone! The weather is still drizzly and dull here in Winchester, I wish I could stay in all day and do more stitching. Bit of a shame that I've got a shift at work later, but duty calls :)

But I did get a nice lot of stitching time in last night. It was Comic Relief night on BBC1, which is a big charity phone-in event for those who don't know. It's a series of short films and funny sketches, all in aid of the Comic Relief charity. I bought my Red Nose and made a donation! The programme on the night is on for over seven hours, but I only watched the first part. This is the stitching nest I made for myself :) Because this is what all students do on a Friday night right? :P

There was a whole basket of stitching goodies all vying for my attention! Lottie got a few more stitches added, but the main thing I was working on was a little Easter card for my nan. She doesn't even own a computer so I can show you a progress shot for that one :)

I don't think it will be too long at all before this one is all stitched up and in a card mount. 

The keen eyed amongst you might have spied an extra project lurking in the back of the basket there. That's for my upcoming Blogaversary, something that I plan on celebrating this year. Stay tuned!

There may have been a few other goodies for my night in with my stitching, mainly that little box of chocs that I got in the reduced section for only 99p! ($1.50) It was a real treat to spend a good amount of time stitching and indulging. I do spend most of the week (and the majority of the weekend!) rushing around here, there and everywhere. It was a simple joy to take some time out for me :)

Hope you all had a stitch-filled Friday night too, have a lovely weekend.

 

London Calling

Couldn't resist such an obvious title :P

I had such a ball in London, it was a truly perfect day out. We spent the morning touring Convent Garden and being proper tourists by snapping pictures of everything.

We headed to Carluccio's, after a recommendation from Lawrence's parents, and it was wonderful. It was such a treat to go to a swanky restaurant, but the prices were not unreasonable. Plus, they had an extensive gluten free menu. We both had a drink and a big plateful of pasta for just under £25 ($37.60) for it all. And the food was exceptional, I'd definitely visit Carluccio's again.

(sneaky picture of Lawrence enjoying his dish :P)

In other news, I got splashed horribly on my way to Uni the other day. A huge truck came hurling past and I got drenched from head to foot. It was so bad, my friend I walk with to Uni took me back to her house to get a fresh pair of jeans and a hair dryer! What is it with this nasty weather we've been having? Oh I long for the sunshine and spring.

In stitchy news, I've been working on Lottie's New Scooter and loving every stitch. It's on aida, which makes it simple to do in the evenings, but it's got so many colours included in the design so it never gets dull. I plan on leaving the backstitching until I've got more time in the holidays, if I finish it before then. I can't wait for a bit of extra time in the Easter break

 to do more stitching and sewing things :)

Sorry for the dark picture, I blame the miserable weather, again!

Happy Mothers Day to all the mums out there! I've dutifully sent my card and will be taking a small gift to my mum when I visit my parents at the end of the month :) I've got a much needed day off tomorrow and will be heading out to the Farmer's Market with my housemate, bliss :)

Best wishes to all,

 

PS I have another blog where I'm writing a lot more writerly things, reviews and articles and such. If anyone would like to check it out, please go ahead :)

http://thedomesticstoryteller.wordpress.com/

New pretty things!

Hi everyone! It's so nice to be back in the swing of blogging again. I've been slowly doing the rounds and catching up with blogs. It's so lovely to leave comments again too :) I'm making my way through all of the blogs in my reader which is a truly enjoyable experience. Your needles certainly have been busy!

I had a wonderful time out in Southampton with Lawrence at the weekend. We had lunch out in Pret a Manger, which is one of my favourite places for a quick lunch. One of the best parts of the day was a trip to the giant Fabricland! I got a metre of the green and gold design, which I'm going to use to finish up Venusaur, and two half metres of the other gorgeous prints. Aren't they pretty?

I've managed to squeeze in a fair amount of stitching time this week, in the evenings of course. Lottie's New Scooter is coming along marvellously and it such an easy project to pick up in the evening. Thank goodness for Aida! 

In other news, I was picked to be Overall Performer at work this week. It was really lovely to be recognised for the hard work I do there. As my reward, I got to leave half an hour early and got to pick something from the incentive box. Some of you may remember that I've come home with things before from the incentive box, so it was a real treat to pick something again. I came home with this darling mug in a tin set. The only thing wrong with it is the tiny chip in the mug that you can see (just!) in the picture below. There is nothing at all wrong with the tin. I've just got to decide if I'm going to use it to store sewing bits or food bits!

I've got deadlines this week and other Uni commitments so it's busy as always round here. But then at the weekend, me and Lawrence are going up to London to go and see The Lion King in the West End. Lawrence's mother got us tickets for Christmas :) I can't wait! We're also going to visit the National Portrait gallery and have lunch at Carluccio's to make a real day of it :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful week,

 

Stitching For The Ones You Love

My heart was genuinely warmed by the beautiful comments I received on my last post. I've had so many much-need interweb hugs! Thank you all so much for your kindness. I know I am not alone in losing a furry friend and it was so comforting to have such friendly comments to read. Thank you again for taking the time to make me feel so much better :)

 

I have a finish to share! I thought I would get in another progress picture, but I couldn't stop my needle flying. Here is the finished Venusaur . . .

 

 

The end of this project is in sight. I'm picking out some backing fabric with Lawrence when we go for a wander around Southampton tomorrow and then hopefully I can do this finishing early next week. Then Lawrie will have the completed set displayed in his dorm room. I'm so pleased I've been able to complete this requested project for my lovely boyfriend. I'll be sure to take snaps of all three of them together!

 

When the last stitch in Venusaur was complete, I was eager to start the next project as soon as possible. I picked up an inherited kit from my sister. It's bad really, but I bought this kit as a present for Char's birthday. At least it's found it's way back to a good home! I plan on framing this one when it's all done.

Here's my small start on Humphrey's Corner Lottie's New Scooter . . .

 

Yes, I did buy this particular kit for my sister Charlotte, even though Lottie is not her favourite nickname, which is why I call her it :P Little sisters are wicked aren't we? :P

 

I hope you've all got a lovely weekend planned. I had a lovely trip out with my mum, she bought me lots of food goodies and we had dinner out at Buddy's Diner. I had ribs and they were delicious! Lawrie's taking me out for lunch tomorrow, aren't I a lucky lion?

 

Have a wonderful stitchy weekend!

 

 

 

 

The Greatest Friend

I'm so sorry to follow such a joyous post about lovely giveaways with some sad news. My mum rang yesterday afternoon to say that my beloved pet, Tiptoe, has passed away.

I love this photo!

We first brought Tiptoe into our home in 1996, so I was only four. Every since I can remember, he's been a presence in my life. I wrote about him for a school project that first spurned my wish to be a writer. He's been through all the house moves and all the changes and I can't quite believe that he won't be there when I next visit my parents. 

 I'm glad he got to spend his last few months in Glastonbury. My parents have a huge garden down there so he had plenty of places to roam. I take comfort in the fact that he was a very old cat and that he passed naturally, not through a devastating accident. He was sick beyond repair and putting him down was the kindest thing to do. He's not in any pain any more.

I will miss my black and white companion terribly. He was the best pet a girl could ask for.