A Couple of Finishes!

It's been a while again, but at last I have a couple of finishes I can blog about!  I'm trying hard to get myself motivated and back stitching regularly again, and hopefully posting a couple of quick finishes will help, along with purchasing a couple of new additions to my stash...lol! I just couldn't resist the new A Stitcher's Journey and the Basket of Memories, Reward of Merit Pincushion from Blackbird Designs! 

First to show is Peek a Boo, a freebie from Wal D'Champs. Unfortunately the Wal D'Champs website has changed since I downloaded the chart a few years or so ago and I can't find the link to it any more!  I've finished it as a little lined pocket, a finish I've seen a couple of times and have wanted to do.  I've stitched it 1 over 2 on 40ct Newcastle Pearl Grey with DMC 3865.

Below is Miss Mary Mac's Pins and Needles Pincushion by M Designs.  I've used the listed Picture This Plus 40ct Legacy Linen and Crescent Colours Threads, and the fabric you can see in the picture is what I've used for backing the pincushion.

I hope to be back again soon with more to show, until then thank you for popping by.  :o)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  I'm a little late, but still wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year for 2011!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!  Mine was more then a little different this year and very quiet with just myself and my youngest Matthew.  This was the first year that my eldest Jason wasn't home for Christmas.  At the beginning of December Jase and his lovely girlfriend Nic became engaged and spent Christmas on Holiday in India.  This was also the first time in nine years that Colin had to work away for Christmas too.  He had a flight booked to leave for work on the 20th, but due to snow and flight cancellations at Heathrow he didn't get away until the 23rd.  He was on standby for a seat on one of the next flights out and secretly I hoped he wouldn't get one, but sadly it wasn't to be! :o(  Matthew arrived home late that night on the 23rd and we did have 3 lovely days of Mum and Matthew time together!

I can't believe how long I've let it go again since my last post, I think my New Year's resolution should be to post more regularly don't you, as well as getting a lot more stitching and finishing done!  I've not done a stitch since October, when I started but didn't manage to finish a little something for Halloween.  Although it's not stitchy I do have something I can show, which was a beaded fob I made for Halloween.  It's pictured below with the Halloween stitching I didn't quite finish, a design by C Mon Monde.

Thank you for popping by!  :o)

Fabric Giveaway Winner!

Sorry for the delay in announcing the winner for my fabric giveaway!  My niece Charlotte helped me pick a winner for my last giveaway, and I had promised my nephew Ben that it would be his turn to help this time!  Yesterday was the first chance we had for Ben to draw the winner! 

Ben drew number 39!

CONGRATULATIONS JANE P! Yours was the 39th comment left for my fabric giveaway.  I will be emailing you soon for your mailing address, so that I can send your fabric to you.

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway, and a BIG thank you to Ben for helping to pick the winner!  :o)

C is for Cure and a Fabric Giveaway

My pink stitching for this year is C is for Cure, a Lizzie Kate design from the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of Just Cross Stitch.  It's also free to download from the Just Cross Stitch website here.  This is my first flanged pillow - I've wanted to make one for ages and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.  I've used the listed Crescent Colour threads, except for the flower.  My Ripe Melon and Carrie Berry looked so similar so instead I used DMC 761.  The fabric is 28ct evenweave which has been in my stash for a few years, the colour is Nude and is from the Dye Pots of Jayne's Attic. The fabric for the pillow is by designer Karen Neuburger, which I eventually found after a long Google search!  It's the same fabric that was used for the banner, for the model pictured on the chart.  I was so excited when I managed to track it down because everything about it is just perfect for the design!  I've also been able to find the same print in pink, which I will put away to use another year.

After making my pillow I still have plenty of the fabric left over, so I thought I would hold a draw to give a FQ (18" x 22") of it away.  If you would like to be entered for a piece of this lovely awareness fabric please let me know in a comment to this post.  The giveaway is open to anyone and will close next Thursday, 4th November.  If you don't have a blog, or if your email address isn't with your blog profile then please leave it with your comment so that I can contact you if your name is drawn. 

Thank you for visiting!  :o)

Pink Beaded Scissors Fob

This time last year I had a blog giveaway with my first try at making a beaded scissors fob.  I was going to make another for myself last year too, but never did, so this one is for me!  It's delicate with a little bit of bling and I think it's just perfect for these gorgeous Wasa Scroll Embroidery Scissors that my sister Sarah bought me for my birthday last year!

It's very similar to the one I made last year, using Swarovski crystal, silver plated and Spiral Rose Murano Glass Beads. I've threaded it a little different this time using bicone Swarovski beads and Swarovski spacers. The breast cancer awareness ribbon charm is different too. I didn't use the tutorial I used last year either, this time I threaded the beads on to 49 stranded Beadalon silver plated beading wire and used crimp beads, which I attached with my Magical Crimp Tool which you can see in the picture below. I was really pleased with the result using the beading wire and will definitely use it again for any future beaded fobs I make.

Thank you for visiting my blog! :o)

Sew Blue

This is Sew Blue one of Carol R's (iStitch) lovely complimentary designs, which I requested with a purchase some time ago.  Like the pincushion in my last post this was also finished a couple of months or so ago, all except for making up the floss tag that is!

I've stitched it 1 over 2 on 40ct Flax Belfast Linen with Babbling Brook Belle Soie Silk.  The design has a border which I have left off so that the finished mattress pincushion wouldn't turn out too big and also because I was stitching a little bit of a border around the edge too.  I didn't have any ribbon/trim in my stash that I thought went well enough to use for attaching the hoop to the floss tag, so I decided I would make my own, finishing the edges with Nun's Stitch.  I was really pleased with how it turned out.

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend.  Earlier today Colin and I video Skyped, which we do most days when he's away.  My brother also Skyped this afternoon, which was a lovely surprise, so I've had a little company, so to speak!.  

Thank you for popping by and commenting on my stitching, as always I really do appreciate it and enjoy reading each and every one of them!  :o)

I'm Still Here!

Hi Everyone,

It's been such a long time since my last blog entry!  Colin has been home for six weeks and I've not done a stitch!  He left this morning for work again and will be away now for six weeks - hopefully the time will pass quickly because I'm missing him already! :o(

We had a lovely time while he was home.  Matthew our youngest came home for a visit for a few days and we also had a brilliant time in London visiting our eldest Jason and his girlfriend Nic.  We did a lot of sightseeing - went on the London Eye, saw the Houses of Parliament, did a tour round St. Paul's Cathedral, visited the Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum and much more!  We still have plenty more to do for when we go back again.  Matthew is studying at Brighton University, so after our trip to London we spent a couple of days in Brighton with Matthew.  It was so lovely spending some time with my boys because I haven't seen much of them this year.  They do ring me regularly though, especially when Colin is away.

Although I haven't been stitching I do have a little something to show which I finished a couple of months or so ago.  I love this little pincushion and have wanted to stitch it for ages!  It's by Theron Traditions from the chart Stray Pins & Mom's Scissors.  I've stitched it 1 over 2 on 38ct Natural Gander Linen so is a little smaller then charted.  Threads are the listed Gentle Art Sampler Threads and the twisted cord trim was made using DMC 221 and 3721.  The fabric for backing is one of Blackbird Designs Madeira prints.

I'm looking forward to getting some stitching and finishing done so hopefully it won't be too long before my next post, until then thank you so much for taking the time to visit. :o)

Two Little Angels

These two lovely little angels are from the book 'Anges: Motifs de broderie traditionnelle et au point de croix'.  I've stitched them on 32ct Raw Belfast Linen with DMC 712.  The fabric I've used for finishing is Rouenneries by French General for Moda which I was very excited about purchasing a while ago and mentioned in an early post.

I must say a big thank you to Dany for letting me know which book the charts for these little angels came from.  I've loved them both since I saw Dany's gorgeous finish of them on her blog!  Thank you Dany!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend and thanks again for popping by!  :o)