A Little Bit of Making Up

Hello again! I thought I would do just a quick post to show my recent sewing up! I still have a lot to finish but these are a start at least. It's the bigger pieces I'm not sure what to do with so any suggestions would be very helpful.

So I stitched up the Days 6, 7 and 8 of The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas the same as the others.  I think these will hang on my tree at Christmas as I don't know where else to display them. I keep thinking I should just give up stitching ( sorry pity party today not really to do with stitching but lack of space and the house feeling cluttered ) but then I think why should I?

I finally finished up Plum Street Samplers Mary's Sampler. I like how this has turned out even though I made a teeny mistake when sewing on those front bits!

The challenge piece for May was The Little Stitcher Merry Christmas Deer and as reveal day was last Sunday I can now show it. You may remember that I stitched this for Chris for our private ornament exchange last year then really wanted to stitch it for me.

Last week I managed to get all my Little Sheep Virtues on display.  Love them all!

I'll leave my WIPs until my next post I think but will leave you with a few photos from the mere again! Abi and I popped down on Sunday and whilst there I spotted this rather unusual duck. I had not seen one before so snapped a photo. I only had my small lens on so had to crop it in Photoshop, uploaded it to Facebook and asked a friend if she knew what it was. It turned out to be a rare- ish Red Crested Pochard so we went back the next day to see if we could see it again. This time I made sure I was at the ready with my telephoto zoom lens. When I spotted it it was well out on the mere but gradually it came closer in and I snapped away!

There were lots of ducklings and goslings of varying sizes, Abi's "Buddy", even a sailing dog, but then my DH spotted some cygnets and my day was complete.This baby kept straying away from its parents. Little rebel!

Hope you all had a lovely Spring bank holiday here in the UK and in the USA Memorial Day.

That's all for now.

Until next time.

With much love

Sally xxxx

May Stitch From Stash, Do You Wanna Build A Snowman etc!

I hang my head in absolute shame this month! Yes I have been naughty and feel very much like I have let myself down. Not because I bought some 32 count vintage country mocha linen last week as I had run out of that but because I caved and bought myself some charts this week so used some pennies from my accumulated allowance balance from the first four months. To be fair, and trying to justify my purchases, one is to stitch for a gift ( it will probably get stitched several times ), one is to continue with my AotH so that I am one more block nearer to finishing and the other two are, well, just my start to a collection! Plus I added a DMC that I had run out of. So somebody slap my hand please and put me in the naughty corner! 

So I spent all of my £15 budget this month plus £18.17 of my accumulated budget balance from previous months so I have £27.90 of my balance left. Next month I have to be good. Infact I have to be good for several months!

May has been a pretty good month stitching wise. Barb and I have been stitching away on our 12 Days of Christmas and I started and finished Day 8 which is my Do You Wanna Build A Snowman reference! Please excuse my photos. I'm trying to find a good place to take my photos without using the flash as it bleaches them out, as you can see from this one, and I'm still learning to use my new camera!

I also finished this.

Country Cottage Needleworks Frosty Forest Racoon Cabin

32 count pearl grey linen

DMC & GAST

Started 17th March 2014

Finished 12th May 2014

The next one, Snowy Deer, has been started.

I also finished the next Garden Journal.

Cottage Garden Samplings My Garden Journal April's Daisy

40 count pearl grey linen

DMC

Started 16th March 2014

Finished 13th May 2014

And May's Lily of the Valley was started.

I had another new start from my stash but can't show it as it's a gift. I also started and finished the Needlecraft Haven May challenge which I need to get made up and a pic emailed to Christine before reveal day.

Oh gosh this seems to be all new starts and finishes! I just realised I hadn't mentioned my new SAL with Shirlee which is LHN Warm Winter Woolens.  We started this on 8th May. I love how it looks so far.

A bit of progress was made on both Lo How A Rose and The Needlework Shop.

And that's it from someone who only stitches in an evening or when I have a craft morning with my friend Gill. Typing of my friend Gill if you are a knitter in the UK please pop on over and take a look at her new venture Seaside Yarns. She's gradually adding to her website and has some gorgeous yarns and patterns. I'm already planning my next knitting project!

Finally just a few photos from last Saturday when we went to Bempton Cliffs nature reserve. It was a lovely afternoon with a nice sea breeze but just one thing spoiled it. Flies! Millions of the little blighters! However it was worth it for the views and all the wonderful sea birds.

That's all from me this time. So sorry for the picture heavy post but it happens like that sometimes. I may have some stuff finished up next time I post as Abi is going to see Jess tomorrow so I shall use the day on my own to do some finishing and hopefully a good bit of it as the pile keeps getting bigger! I have some larger pieces that I really don't know what to do with so I think once bigger bits in my stash are stitched I won't get any more when I start buying properly again.

Until next time take care everyone.

With much love

Sally

Xxxx

Friendship & Blossoms

Hello from a slightly dull east coast of England. Apparently we are in for a few days of showers so umbrellas at the ready folks!

I have a few finishes to show as well as this wee gift that I stitched for my lovely friend Michelle for her birthday. I am happy to say that Michelle loves it. I used Homespun Elegance Friendship & Blossoms but rather than stitching it in one piece as charted I decided to do the top half as the front and the  bottom half as the back of a hanging pillow.

 Homespun Elegance Friendship & Blossoms

28 count vintage country mocha linen

DMC

Started 5th April 2014

Finished 25th April 2014

I popped the final stitches into this.

Country Cottage Needleworks The Tea Room

30 count R & R Irish Creme linen

DMC

Started 4th March 2014

Finished 2nd May 2014.

Thank you Mouse for the loan of the chart. As soon as I've finished Needlework Shop I'll get both charts back to you :)

After many months I have, at long last, finished Snow Angel. I have been stitching along with Shirlee on this and I was rather jealous when she finished hers a few weeks ago. I found that if I was very careful after my dizzy do I could stitch for a little bit so I got it done.

Lone Elm Lane Snow Angel

40 count  Newcastle Sand linen

DMC

Started 1st January 2014

Finished 2nd May 2014

Shirlee and I are starting our next SAL tomorrow which will be LHN Warm Winter Woolens. I had planned to stitch it on 32 count vintage country mocha but I don't have enough left so rather than order more just yet I'm going to use 36 count WDW Straw that I had left over from LHN Song of the Seasons.

The week before last I finished Day 7 of 12 Days of Christmas so Barb and I will be starting Day 8 on Friday.

April's Daisy is almost finished. It is full of mistakes but never mind. I do need to frog the rabbit though as it is too far over compared to the border.

Another one almost finished is CCN Frosty Forest Racoon Cabin. Just the border, fence and racoon's eyes to do.

Lo How A Rose is going better now I have frogged the DMC that was the old shade colour.

Finally The Needlework Shop is being slowly built. I think I must have those builders who stop for a cuppa every half an hour! I shall be in the parlour with Barb and the other ladies over at Needlecraft Haven this evening cracking the whip to get more built.

Thought you might like to see a few more of my photos. While my DH was on holiday a couple of weeks ago I rather naughtily bought myself another camera. I had been toying with it for a while as I wasn't 100% happy with the bridge camera I had. Anyway I had seen this beautiful,  retro looking Olympus that looked just like the OM10 film camera  my DH used to have and after much deliberation, online reading, telling myself no etc etc I went for it. Two days later we were on our way 70 miles to where I'd bought it to exchange it as it was faulty!  So I am now a compact system camera owner ( lighter than a DSLR but able to change lenses ) , which is what I originally wanted but talked myself out of, so no longer have that super zoom at my finger tips that I had with my bridge camera, and so far I am happy with it. I am getting used to having to change lenses when I want to zoom further than 42mm but it does feel like I'm havingto learn all over again! My bridge camera has been traded in for a good price so I don't feel so bad about having a new camera. These photos are a mixture of my bridge camera and  my lovely new Olympus.  Unfortunately I haven't been out with it for over a week.

With my old camera

 The following are with my new camera

It was a long weekend here with May Day on Monday. Not a deal was done as Abi has been full of cold since Monday last week. I felt like I was going down with cold then Thursday I got up out of bed with the room spinning rather unpleasantly.  After getting myself extremely upset and sobbing like I haven't sobbed in a long time I managed to get myself to the drs and was prescribed some medication. Friday I succumbed to the cold that had been trying to say hello all week.  I think the dizzy do was the final straw. Jess has been home for the weekend;just 4 more weeks before she's done with university and home for the foreseeable future.  Fingers crossed she graduates on 14th July.

That's it from me for today. I need to go the cemetary today to take some flowers then onto the shopping outlet near there to get a birthday present. I don't feel like it but needs must and I am sure the fresh air will do me some good.

Until next time take care everyone.

With much love

Sally xxx