My Birthday and 3, Yes 3, Finishes!

Last Friday was my birthday and I was rather spoilt by my family and friends. I had a lovely day but will admit to feeling a little down as well as I was missing my Dad. I had been rather silly and decided not to make myself a cake then wished I had but I ended up buying a small cake from Tesco on Saturday!  I had a lovely visit from Gill in the morning then later on in the afternoon Chris and her DH Andy came for a cuppa and a chat.

Speaking of Chris we have now completed our private ornament exchange. I think this is a case of great minds think alike as even though the pieces we stitched were different we used the same finishing technique!

This is mine to Chris.

Little House Needleworks Snowy Days ( JCS ornament issue 2014)

32 count  Nougat linen

DMC

Private ornament exchange with Chris.

This is what Chris stitched for me and I LOVE it! Some of you may remember this was in my top 5 from this year's ornament issue! Thank you so much Chris.

Onto my lovely birthday cards and gifts now. I shall let the pictures do the talking so here we go.

From my DH. He also gave me a Nominations Claddagh charm which means my bracelet in now full :)

From Jess

From Abi.

From Barb and her DH. I need to get a better photo of the beautiful snowflake that Barb's DH made.

From Chris.

From Julie.

From Michelle.

From Lisa.

From Karan.

From Christine.

From Gill.

From Lesleyanne.

I received gift vouchers for Sew and So for my birthday and Christmas from Lainey so I treated myself to these.

I also received some money from my sister and her partner,  my brother in law and his wife and my DH's auntie to I have treated myself to Mani Di Dona Winter Days Sewing Basket with some of it and that is on the way from Italy. That will be my last chart purchase other than my autos until at least June!

Thank you so much to my family and friends for the lovely cards and gifts.  You are all so kind for thinking of me.

The magazine I ordered through Crafty Kitten back in October arrived along with the two chart I'd asked to be added to it. That will come off my December Stitch from Stash.

Finishes and WIPs now. Sorry for the picture heavy post.

I finished this ornament a couple of weeks ago but have waited until I posted it and it had been received and opened by my lovely friend Michelle. I am happy to say that she loves it.

Blue Ribbon Designs A Woodland Wish

36 count fabric

DMC

Gift for Michelle.

First finish was this one which was my Friday evening SAL with my dear friend Barb.

Tralala Tricotine

32 count white fabric

DMC and Atalie threads

SAL with Barb

Second finish is my Monday evening SAL with Barb.

Barbara Ana Designs Wicked Since

32 count Colour Cascade Fabrics Silver Springs

DMC and DMC Variations

SAL with Barb

Third finish is one which is only available on Candy Cane Stitchers on Facebook.

Barbara Ana Designs Silent Night

40 count sand linen

DMC

So those are my finishes and now I'll quickly show you my WIPs.

A little progress on CCN Frosy Forest. The Foxes are still blind I'm afraid!

I've been stitching quite a bit on the SAL I'm doing with Chris and I love how it's looking.

Finally progress on CCN February Cottage.  Love the colours in this one!

A few weeks ago I had my eyes tested and have finally had to give in to having distance glasses as well as reading. I couldn't stand the thought of having to swap and change glasses so I went for varifocals. My reading prescription hasn't changed.  I picked them up on from the opticians on Sunday and am now trying to get used to them. I'm finding it a bit difficult just having a small area to read through when I'm used to having the full lens but I'll keep trying as I have a 30 day trial with them. I have found them great for stitching and watching TV as I can easily find the bits I need to look through! They're useless for my PC though and I have to use my old readers from 2011! Last time my reading prescription changed the optician told me I'd need to use my old ones!

I will be back with one last post before Christmas as I need to do my final Stitch from Stash post then I'll be gearing up to try and do even better in 2015!

Until next time take care everyone and my heart goes out to the families of those killed and injured in Australia in that terrible hostage situation. 

With much love.

Sally xxxxx