Chocolate Shoppe

I actually managed to get some stitching on LHN Chocolate Shoppe this week! Wahoo! I love this chart but have got a little bored with stitching it if I'm honest. I think if I'd been stitching it more than once a week and I'd got on better I'd have enjoyed it more. Anyway I did make good progress yesterday afternoon and felt much happier with it when I put it away again until next week. Hopefully I should get it finished next week as there isn't much more to do. It'll depend on what time I get back from my scan and whether DH is just taking the morning off to take me or the whole day. At the moment it's just the morning but he could change his mind!

I bought some ribbon on Monday and finished up Shepherd's Bush Busy Sheep into a pinkeep ( do you think I'm addicted? Lol!). Busy Sheep was my first finish of 2006 so I think it was about time I did something with it! So here it is! I love this little design and think it's perfect for a pin keep.

Abi has been doing a bit of stitching with me again and finished this San Man Originals piece off. It came with the tuck and the dog charm. I am now hoping she will carry on with her stitching again as it's nice to have someone to stitch with, even if she keeps asking me to thread her needle with more thread etc! Lol! She was thinking of starting a Christmas chart next so keep your finger's crossed that she does!

I shall be having a new HAED start today if I can get off this PC! So watch out for a WIP pic but maybe not for a while, until I get a page done!

Oh my God you should see our budgie! He is literally laid on the window sill ( looks like he's a broody hen!) with his head lent on the water tray of the plant pot going to sleep! Wish I could get a piccie but I know if I move he will! He's such a daft bird!

Poor Abi seems to have picked up what I've got ( whatever it is! Lol!) and DH was complaining of a sore throat last night. Mine still hasn't some to anything so God knows how long it'll go on.

I hope everybody is doing OK this week. Thank you to everybody who drops by to read my blog and everybody who leaves comments. They mean a lot to me and I treasure my stitching friends who brighten my days.

Edited to add a special thank you to Claire who has RAK'd me with HAED Sweet Music of Spring storykeep. {{{{hugs}}}} I love this one as the colours are so bright and cheerful.

It's Friday!

Hi everybody! I thought it was time I came in and updated my blog seen as it's a week since I did! I've been intent on updating it but just couldn't be bothered to be honest. Anyway I am here now! LOL!

First off I was excited and somewhat nervous to be able to meet Chris yesterday. She doesn't live all that far away from me so we decided to meet up at a cafe in the town where I live. We had a lovely day chatting and we both brought along some of our stitching to show each other. I must say that the finishes and WIP that Chris brought had me drooling and made me realise how much I miss all my normal stitching with working on three HAEDs. So I have decided that I want to finish both the quick stitches that I'm doing BEFORE I start another HAED, so that I will only have one QS and one full size one on the go and I can concentrate more on other things I enjoy stitching. Plus no more buying HAEDs either no matter how much I like them. I have loads in my stash so it's not as though I need anymore or have none to stitch. Anyway Chris and I will be meeting up again in the future and I'm looking forward to that.

I have been quite down again and was having trouble lifting myself out of it. I have a close friend who thinks I could have depression ( you know who you are {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}) but I can't face seeing the doctor and going on anti-depressants again. They give them out whilly nilly these days like it's anything for a quiet life. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and don't like the side effects. LOL! However I don't like the way I am so need to boost myself up somehow. A lot of the time it depends on circumstances as to how I feel plus how I am feeling physically. I know things with my Dad don't help plus I am so tired because I'm not sleeping properly.

Jessica has got a mock GCSE results day today and she texted me earlier to say she'd got 4 A's, 6 B's and a C in Art! I am so pleased for her and so proud. I know it isn't her actual GCSEs but it shows what she can do and will give her a boost for her actual exams. I have no idea which subjetcs she got what in until she gets home but I know she'll be pleased especially as she was expecting C's in English Lit and Language and she must have higher. She has a leadership group meeting as well as 6th Form taster lessons as well today so she was trying Maths, Biology and Chemistry as she wants to do those as well as Physics. She's determined to do something scientific as a career.

Last Sunday we finally got out for Sunday lunch! As you may remember we were going out the Sunday after DH's birthday but he was ill. We went The Nags Head at Routh and it was lovely. We used to go there many years ago ( pre-kids!) so since we were last there they have totally gutted it and have refurbished it. We have decided to go out for Sunday every so often and try different places in the area.

Right to my stitching! Last week was the turn of HAED QS Dragonette in my rotation and I didn't do too badly with it. I got to the part where there was bigger areas of one colour so it was a bit easier and quicker to stitch. It is quite a dull piece really but Jess loves it so far. You can see the dragon's wings, a tree and the start of it's horns as well as a bit of it's body. As you can see I only have about 20 rows of page 1 to do so I might just get that page finished when I get it out again in a few weeks. If you would like to have a look you can see what it will be like here

I made a start on the second part of Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV ( yep the frogs Chris! LOL!) and have completed all the stitching but haven't attached all the beads yet so will post that when I have. I daren't sit on the settee and stitch them on incase I lose the beads down the settee so only stitch them on if I can sit at the dining table! I might just get a few on this afternoon when I'm done on here!

What else do I have to share? Oh yes I started this last week and finished up this week. It's San Man Originals By the Sea which is from one of last year's secret shops. I used DMC for it apart from GAST Deep Sea which I used for the sea and the word Sea. I cannot take credit for the lovely tuck as it came with it. Not sure where I'm going to hang it yet but I do have another one to hang also with a sea theme so will find somewhere for them together.

Thank you to Carol (cc45) from the SMO message board who granted my January wish for a coaster to mount the robin in. Not only did she send me one coaster she sent me two as well as two Dragon Floss so thank you so much Carol {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}. Robin is now in his new home.

This week HAED Winter is my rotation piece and I am almost through with page 1. I would probably have got it done by now but I didn't stitch on Monday due to a neuralgia type headache ( thought I was getting another ear infection!) then last night we had a 6th Form meeting at school so by the time we'd picked Abi up from FIL's and got home and sorted I didn't sit down to stitch until 8pm. I am hoping I can get a good bit done tonight then, providing I have all the beads on the Christmas mystery, I can go back to Chatelaine Summer Afternoon.

Off to catch up on the blogs in my list. I haven't looked for days!

First Finish of 2007!

Well, here we are 10 days into January and I have my first finish! It is San Man Originals Let It Snow, a SAL for SMO message board members only. I actually started this back in November and the SAL ran for 7 weeks. I kept up with it pretty well but the last part came out late Christmas Day but I didn't request it until a few days later then didn't get around to stitching it. So here it is, stitched on Polstitches Dragon Shades Friendship using DMC, Dragon Floss and San Man Strands. I am delighted with the way this has turned out.

I'm still doing quite well with CCN Forest Snowfall. I made quite good progress on the house last night and hope to get that bit done tonight. I can't see me having it finished by the end of the week but you never know! Off to stitch and see what I can do!

Oh I almost forgot! I wanted to share this photo of Abigail and our budgie Billy!

Do you think he likes her hat?!!!

Stitching Updates

Here I am with some stitching updates! I actually finished page 2 of Heaven and Earth Designs Summer ACEO ( artwork by Sara Butcher). I am amazed at how brilliant she looks. When I started on her face I was a bit worried as the colours didn't look right, but when you get them together and hold it at a distance it looks fantastic! I have started to grid page 3 but won't be going back to her for a while yet.

Once I'd finished this last night I moved onto part 6 of the San Man Originals Let It Snow SAL. I'm looking forward to seeing part 7 but won't be getting that for a few days as I don't come on the PC on Christmas Day or Boxing Day usually, although I will be on to download the first part of Chatelaine Christmas IV. I was hoping Martina might put it up today with the password! Anyway I love part 6 of the SAL. We were right about it being Let It Snow again! LOL! I am so pleased with the fabric and threads I chose for this. I think they are perfect but that is just my opinion! LOL!

Not sure whether I'm stitching or not tonight. I think I will finish gridding page 3 of Summer then I might read move onto Winter. I bought myself The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett on Friday so I might start reading that!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! See you in a few days!

Anothr SMO Finish!

Well I did say I might start something small yesterday and I did!! LOL! It's pretty pointless getting a HAED out during the day as there are always distractions of some kind to deal with so small things are ideal. So I made a start on San Man Originals Silent Night from the Secret Shop. I decided to stitch that and Holy Night on one piece of fabric and I'd like to try and get it made up into a wall hanging or something to go up in time for Christmas. Not sure I have any suitable material though. So this afternoon I finished off Silent Night and started and finished Holy Night. I stitched it using Seaside Treasures Night Sky ( I think!) and Kreinik silver braid. The charms came with the charts. Why is it pics uploaded from Photobucket look awful!! So I think this will be my last finish of 2006! I'm planning on concentrating on my HAEDs from now until Christmas. I am quite close to finishing page 2 of Summer so rather than go onto Dragonette tomorrow evening I'm carrying on with Summer! My rotation has gone completely to pot at the moment!

Blogrolling still hasn't fixed updates yet. I have posted a message on their forum twice now but they don't seem to take any notice and I'm not the only one complaining!

Let It Snow WIP.

Just here to show my WIP on San Man Originals Let It Snow SAL. This is week 5 and I am loving this the more I stitch it! We are all guessing over on the board what the next part will be and as the song goes "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" we are thinking that week six will be another Let It Snow then week 7 the snowman! LOL! I am so pleased with the threads I chose for this and the fabric. Can't wait to get it finished now!

I have resisted the temptation to start HAED Guardian as yet! As much as I would like to I really need to get a bit done on the HAEDS I have on the go and that's what I'm going to do up until Christmas when the Chatelaine Christmas Mystery IV starts. I am hoping we get some answers about the fabric size and which way round it is. So last night I did a couple of hours on HAED Winter but tonight I might pick HAED Summer up and stitch on that until Wednesday when it's the Quick Stitch SAL on the HAED board, then I'll get QS Dragonette out. After that who knows!! Maybe back to Winter and work on that until Christmas!

I have just received my San Man Originals newsletter/ secret shop order today. I only ordered four $1 charts:

• Holy Night
• Silent Night
• Dreams
• Snowman Frosty

And received Magic free. I also received a thank you for your order chart and embellishments as well as an adorable pencil with penguins on it! Better not let Jessica see that! LOL!
Only three more school days and the girls will have finished for the holidays. I'm hoping Abi will back for those three days. Jessica is having coursework days and if she gets caught up she can finish Tuesday and have Wednesday off so she's aiming to get everything done. She wasn't looking forward to today's coursework as it's English and three hours with her English teacher isn't something she was looking forward to! Mind you having met her English teacher at parents evenings I can't say I blame her! LOL!
Looks like blogrolling has a fault again! I will catch up with everybody's blogs another day as I really need to get off this PC and do something!

Another Finish!

Well I am definitely on a roll this week with my stitching! LOL! Having said that when you consider the three pieces I've finished have been on the go for a while it's not that good really! In my pre-HAED days I'd have finished them a lot faster! Still, I love my HAEDs so I really can't complain. And speaking of HAEDs I've got Guardian printed out and it has huge blocks of colour so looks relatively easy compared with some! LOL! Even more to reason to start it BUT I'm planning on concentrating on getting this week's part of the SMO SAL stitched up then getting more done on Winter before I decide what to do!

So here's my latest finish and probably the final one of 2006. This is San Man Originals Dream a Little Dream stitched on San Man Starry Skies using San Man Strands. The variegated one was a gift on the San Man mb for becoming a maniac ( for having posted 1000 times). The chart and thread was a gift for becoming a double maniac. It's a sweet, little design and it was lovely to stitch. Not sure how I'll be finishing it off as yet. I will probably wait until Christmas now and get some idea from The Big Book of Finishing!

My birthday is lasting many days this year and I have a few more thank you's to say. Firstly thank you to Karen and Lamby ( Cindy) for the lovely birthday cards. Karen I nearly lost Winnie the Pooh to Abi but I told her she couldn't have him! LOL! Thank you also to Heather for the flossogram. The threads are gorgeous and I shall be finding something special to stitch with them. I got Olde Willow Plum Madelyn and Weeks Dye Works Navy. Last but by no means least thank you to Rita in WI who very kindly sent me a $10 gift certificate for EHandcrafts so I decided to pre-order LHN The Chocolate Shoppe. Mary Kathryn emailed me to say I had about $3.50 left as the shipping was on her for my birthday which I thought was really sweet. So I ordered Country Cottage Needleworks A Place We Call Home and will pay the difference when Mary Kathryn lets me know how much it is. I "met" Rita on the LHN Yahoo group when I joined a while ago and she is one of many ladies who make me feel very welcome there. So thank you all for making my birthday extra special. {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}

Time to go I think and get the SMO SAL out for the afternoon. Abi is still home and now has some work from school! I'm hoping she may manage to go back tomorrow though.

The Counting House

Yay another finish for me and one of my goals for finishing before Christmas too! LOL! I put the last stitches into Little House Needleworks The Counting House last night after having to unpick the bottom border as I'd made a boo boo! I did make one on the top border too but decided to make the bottom border the same. Guess it makes it unique! I stitched this on 32 count Polstitches Dragon Shades Blue Moon using DMC, GAST and Crescent Colours. I really love this design. Not sure how I'm going to finish it as yet. I think I might have it framed and hang it with Lavender Hill. Now I just have two more things to finish before I can start something else. Once I'd done on The Counting House I picked up Just Nan Barnabee's Quest and stitched a bit on that. I'll be picking it up again later in the hope of getting that finished over the next few days!

After stitching San Man Originals The Perfect Tree months ago I decided it was itme I sewed it up so that I could get it on display for Christmas. I've just finished it as a simple pillow for quickness but I like it and it is now hanging from a picture in my dining room. Sandy of San Man Originals kindly sent me the button pack for this. {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} Sandy. The picture isn't perfect I'm afraid. One day I will master this digital camera! LOL! This was stitched using three strands of DMC over two on 18 count fabric.

I finally heard from Drema yesterday and my birthday order will be on it's way this next week so I will have some nice stash mail! LOL! Next year things are definitely going to have to be different with not so much stash shopping unless it's fabric and threads I need to stitch something. I have more than enough charts to keep me going over the next year ( and many more!) so it won't hurt not to buy so many. HAED are having a sale at the moment and I haven't even ordered from them although the temptation is there to get the one and only one I have on my wish list, but I figure there'll be other sales for me to buy it!

DH is stranded at work at the moment! Looks like plans to go to the market later are thwarted! So typical that he rarely works weekends then when he does he ends up stuck there!

Some Finishes

Wahoo! The ornaments I was stitching are done! I finished Val's Stuff Be Merry this afternoon and I really love this cute little fella! I think I may have to stitch him again for our tree! I'm going to get the sewing machine out tomorrow and make him up ready for Jessica to wrap for her group tutor. I finished Monsterbubbles Feliz Navidad but not before making a change and swapping the cactus for a tree! I have to add a star to the top yet but will do that before I make it up. Both 0f these are stitched on Sassy's Fabby 28 count Gaucamole evenweave which I love! This is my first time using Sassy's Fabbys and it certainly won't be the last!

I'm now up to date again with the SAL piece Let It Snow. I'm having great fun stitching this and look forward to getting the next week. Those of you who know me will know I LOVE wintery pieces and snowmen so this SAL is ideal for me!

I received my birthday discount letter from Needlecraft Corner last week but wasn't going to indugle. Today I thought what the hell and emailed Drema and ordered the new Little House Needleworks Dear Diary chart, Julia Flynn 1898. Who can resist snow and sheep! I also ordered Brittercup Design Antartic Penguin as I thought they'd be really cute stitched up for Jessica and Abigail , especially Jessica who is penguin crazy!! LOL!

Well I went and had my ECG box taken off this morning and the nurse uploaded everything onto to her PC and then transferred it onto a floppy disc for the doctor to look at. I'll make an appointment for next week but I'm sure he'll be in touch if there's anything desperate. I was quite relieved to get it off as didn't sleep much last night. Everytime I tried to get comfortable the box swung round my waist so I ended up on my back and I hate sleeping on my back. Finger's crossed I get a good night's sleep tonight or I am going to be one moody girl tomorrow!

Let It Snow!

I thought I would show my Let It Snow SAL WIP. I am loving stitching this and can't wait each week to see what the next part will be like!

This is stitched on Dragon Shades Friendship 28 count Jobelan using San Man Strands, Dragon Floss and DMC with Mill Hill Beads. The fabric is absolutely gorgeous and so nice to stitch on.

Once I'd finished part 3 of this I moved onto Monsterbubbles Feliz Navidad, which I can't wait to see the back of! I don't know what it is about it as I like the design itself but I'm just not enjoying stitching it! I think it may be because I want to stitch on other things, like Just Nan's Barnabee's Quest, and get things finished so I can start something new! LOL!

Our town's Christmas lights are being switched on tonight so we'll go and have a look at them. It's never really very exciting as there isn't much else going on but we like to show willing as the chamber of trade put a lot of work into the lights each year. Most of the shops stay open late and serve wine and mince pies but we don't often go in any of them on lights night. I remember our first lights night when I worked in a china, glass and hardware shop. I was voted to dress up as Miss Christmas in a rather short outfit and serve punch and mince pies. We had great fun mixing up this punch and we kept having secret sips of it! In fact,as I was in a different area to them I think I had more secret drinks than they did! LOL! It was great fun though!