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!