Santa is back

Just picked this up at lunchtime and so pleased with it. Will get it hung up tonight all ready for the real santa to come and fill it with goodies!

mean kitty

mean kitty - saw this the other day and it just made me laugh. If you have ever had a kitten you will so understand..

santa has left the building

Finally got Joe's stocking finished and it is now off to the dressmakers all ready to be made up and should be ready next week, just in time for Santa to fill with all his goodies....only 11 sleeps to go.

Now planning to take a break from stitching for a week or so to let my arm heal up completely as still getting a little residual pain from my irritated nerve and reckon that the stitchign has not been helping .So although no actual stitching a good chance to sort out stash and get a couple of things ready for next year - in particular a lovely new SAL we are starting over on Friendly Stitchers called Beau Bands..

Feeling quite high tech tonight - we got ourselves a nice shiny new laptop a few weeks ago and managed to get the wireless router sorted so am now sitting on t'internet on my shiny new bed with my nice shiny new bedroom furniture - i've been wanting new bedroom stuff for years -as well as actually having a carpet in here - it's all so exciting lol! .

back soon.

stocking fever

No stitching pictures to show as i am still spending every spare minute on my ds Christmas stocking, the what feels like the never-ending stocking now!

The end is in sight though and i plan on a stitching frenzy this weekend courtesy of my recently won Battlestar Galactica dvd box set - I have never watched this before but am really enjoying it. This should hopefully result in a trip to the dressmaker during the week. Watch this space lol!

Went to Harrogate a couple of weekends ago to visit the Knitting and Stitching Show with some of the other wonderful ladies on Friendly Stitchers - a very good time was had by all and i was really very conservative with my purchases. It was nice seeing stuff in real life though - have earmarked a piece of Sparklies fabric for Lee's led zeppelin symbols which i might just be able to start next year. I did purchase a great light for my bedroom which while not the prettiest object certainly does the job - it is so nice to be actually able to see what i'm stitching now.. and treated myself to a kit from West End Embroidery "tile 2 alternate" - i have always fancied one of these pieces but never quite knew where to start so was delighted to find they had lots of their kits with them.. It was great meeting everyone for real, so to speak, and hopefully if we do it again we will be joined by some other new faces and me thinks i had better start saving now!

I will be off now and shall be back sooner rather than later - all fingers and toes crossed - with a finished stocking.

I can see a rainbow

This was the view from my office window this morning - i'm afraid the quality of the pic isn't too good as it was taken with my not too hot mobile phone through a window - the rainbow appeared to be starting (or finishing however you wish to see it) in the car park - i was very tempted to run out and get my pot of gold... i'm lucky in that we have a pretty good view out of our office, normally you can see right over to the sea and Arran - beats a brick wall any day.

why do i think i have the time?

Ok - there are times i think i must lead some kind of double life - one where i go to work, look after the kids, hubby and the house and the other where i can spend all day stitching ridicuously big projects, browsing websites looking for more ridicuously big projects and oh buying wool, cause i could really do with knitting a scarf - but no then i realise i only have one life and that i really do not have any more time.. it is so disappointing but doesn't stop me trying lol!

I was in Lidl at the weekend and they had some lovely wool on offer in a scarf making kit, so of course that just had to be bought, not that i have any needles or anything but i'll get them just in case ..

and then over on Friendly Stitchers we are having a Secret Santa swap and they were asking us to submit a wish list to help our partners out - oh bad idea! I have now found there are a huge amount of things i would just love to do and i have not even looked at half the site i want to - never mind

Been working away on Santa, want to get him finished by the end of november so he is made up and ready for when the decorations go up - i can't believe it is november next week though - this year has just disappeared on me.

Watched the end of Emma on Sunday - i so enjoyed this and am feeling quite smitten with Johnny Lee Miller - Sunday's are going to be a bit of a letdown now..

I've finally got caught up with blog reading however as soon as i turn my back you are all at it again - so off to read the next lot now.

mmm -donuts...

Homer has officially entered the building and will hopefully exit before Christmas - with him being mostly yellow it's a very easy stitch but am stitching it over one so it's taking time to see any progress but he appears to be on schedule. I'm liking it so far..

and Santa is on the roof - i'm now just working on these two as

want to make sure they are both done on time - not much to do now

other than that not been much happening, working, working and working a bit more - getting the car through it's MOT - always a stressful experience lol! Off now to pick up Lee from work and then pick up Joe's friend and take them and Lee to the pictures - peace for a couple of hours . Time to catch up on BBC's new version of "Emma" - I'm loving this and then find out who else will die in "Harper's Island" he he! and of course see who gets kicked off on X Factor..

Bye for now ...

exchange received

Here's a picture of what i received in My Stitching Place Exchange with Friendly Stitchers . This was from Mouse and it's just gorgeous - going to hang it up in my bedroom as this is my main stitching place . Consequenlty i've taken a break from my rotation as i've been concentrating on finishing off my piece to go to Mouse - all stitched up just the finishing now which as i've mentinoed before is not my forte!

However so far so good, one half is done but i need to nip to the shops to get another little piece to finish it off so will get that done this week and get it off - then back to the rotation however reckon i will give it another couple of weeks and then will have to concentrate on the stocking for my wee boy Joe as this has been promised for this Christmas and time is just flying by.

I'm back to working a couple of shifts in the restaurant at the weekend as they were short staffed and we're were skint lol. It's a bit of a pain as on top of working full time it can get quite tiring but it's so nice getting some extra cash put by for pressies etc oh and of course my weekend away to the Harrogate show with some of the girls from Friendly Stitchers where i intend to spend money like it's going out of fashion!

Well i'm off to watch last nights Strictly - between that and X factor my wee Sky + is jam packed and the new series of Fringe starts next week - all good stitching telly..yay..

HAED update

Have done a little bit more on Twilight Shimmer - however every time i think i am getting near the end of page 1 it just seems to keep going lol. Still sticking to my rotation of three days per piece, this is working really well for me .

Not got much else to say today - been at work, been home, back at work - you know the same old same old - however the sun is shining today yay! so going to get the embarrassment that is my garden sorted and do some bramble picking as well with the kids and then hopefully get a walk in tonight with a friend. It'll be nice to get outside for a bit.

Bramble Rose update

This is Ink Circles Bramble Rose update - nearly finished one page - thought this would be a nice easy stitch as only using the one colour but oh no - keep missing by one stitch and then having to backtrack - hopefully i've got all the gremlins out now!

back to school

Well - that is it, summer is officially over and it doesn't even feel like it started. The kids are back at school today - Neve in P5 and Joe in P2 - it's grey and miserable - oh joy.

We had a good week the week before last though as i took the week off work and actually got stuff done i had planned to.

Painted my bedroom a pale yellow colour, just another quick coat and I can actually get a carpet in - it's only taken me five years to do this .

We took a day trip to Millport which is on a little isle just up the coast from us - the kids had great fun going on the ferry and then of course on the way back at Largs we had to have a fish supper sitting on esplanade polished off with an extremely nice ice-cream - if you are ever in the west coast of Scotland head to Nardini's - so nice!

Also headed down to North Wales for the weekend to catch up with some friends - a good time was had by all with much eating and of course a few beers to wash it down with..

Been stitching on Ink Circles Bramble Rose and just about finished the first page and now working a bit on my HAED. Will have to change my rotation slightly though as am planning on doing a Homer Simpson piece for our friends in Wales boy - he is a big Simpson fan - so want to make a start on this. Also doing an exchange for Friendly Stitchers - I have a plan for this which i hope will work well - again better start this soon so if it doesn't work I can go on to plan B!

stitching

Okay this is my stitching update - been working on a three day rotation which seems to be suiting me fine:

1. Haed QS Twilight Shimmer- ended up going backwards on this as had used the wrong thread for a piece of it but that is now sorted so back on track

2. Chatelaine - St Pete's. This has been sorely neglected for the past few months but i enjoyed getting it back out - just finishing up part 2.

3. Dimensions Stocking - Santa's nearly on the roof..

4. Ink Circles Bramble Rose - just started this on 32ct white jobelan with Carries Creation Island Breeze

Going to add in my Mirabilia Spring Maiden as well which i will be doing as part of a Mirabilia/L&L sal on Friendly Stitchers.

Right, I'm off to finish painting DD Neve's bedroom - i did the first coat about two months ago so reckon it's about time to get on with it..

a couple of giveaways

a couple of giveaways i have come across recently:

Jolene is having a giveaway with a gorgeous design from la-d-d

Marie is having a birthday giveaway

back from hols

Well we made it to Turkey and back - when we got to the airport and we got given our boarding passes i was so exicted, all along i kept thinking this is not real, they are going to turn us away!

The hotel was lush - it was so relaxing, we had a two bedroomed room so plenty of space for us and the kids and the pool area was huge with plenty of gardens and slides to keep the kids occupied. Weather was hot and hot and then a bit hotter.. the only thing wrong was that it was too nice, i'll never be able to afford something like that again! Will just have to keep entering comps and try and win another one lol!

On the stitching front - i did nothing on hols, just caught up on reading.. however since i've been back i've started on Ink Circles Bramble Rose -doing this on 32ct white with Carries Creations Island Breeze - it's such a nice easy stitch which is making a change from my HAED - aah! Was looking at it last night and thought something is just not right, so checked one of the colours and sure enough it was the wrong shade so spent most of last night trying to unpick a patch - so frustrating but glad i noticed now and not after i had done the whole page.. after i have sorted that out though i should be able to get through the rest of the first page easy enough..she says with fingers crossed...

While i was away i received this from Cindy Mae:

Thank you ever so much Cindy, this is very much appreciated.. now i have to nominate 7 others so here goes:

Gillie

DJ
Michelle

Jo

Chrizette

andie

abi

I do love reading everybody's blogs though - it's great keeping up with everyone's goings on and seeing all the fab stitching progress and i appreciate all your comments..

off on my hols

Off on my hols today - will update stitchy stuff on my return

finished and framed

Okay this is the wedding sampler now framed -picked up the frame in hobbycraft,was only about £6 so was really chuffed at how it came out..


This is my part of Lynda's round robin (from Ally's round robin group) - she chose to do Dickens's Mittens from Cross -eyed Cricket - think that's the name of the design - don't quote me on it lol! I have done Ghost of Christmas Past - will get this of in the post before i go on my hols.

This was me all ready for a night at the races - we had such a good time. It was the Saints and Sinners race night at Ayr Racecourse on Friday there, we had o

won tickets at one of their Christmas parties last year when i was with some of the ladies i work with - it was such good fun, i had a winner in the first race but then zilch but we all won something in each race - it was lovely seeing everyone dressed up, some of the dresses worn were absolutely goregous - it's one of the few places you could go and not be overdressed, the bigger the better.. mind my feet were absolutely killing me by the end of it - i just can't cope with heels!

Getting ready for my hols now, as we go a week on Tuesday - got my tickets the other day - I am so excited, still can't believe I actually won it... Turkey here we come! Just now to decide what stitching to take ...

thanks all for taking the time to read my warblings and commenting - always much appreciated.

yay a finish!

First of all some touristy pictures from my recent trip to London - it's years since i had visited and with the sun shining i have to admit that London was looking pretty good - we were staying up at wembley and hadn't known the play-offs for the championship and premier league were on - that was fun trying to get through the crowds to get to the hotel lol!

now this here is a real life finish - yah! and on time big yay! This is Bent Creeks "I do" which is for a friends wedding next weekend - i was up at Glasgow at the weekend so went over to Hobbycraft and bought a frame for it so will now spend this weekend getting very frustrated trying to get it into the frame without making a total hash of it - the price of professional framing though is so prohibitive so it's a diy job or nothing at all..

Wasn't sure if i had shown this, i had the baby sampler for my friends wee boy made into a hanging - i added a piece of bamboo at the top and she finally received it there at the weekend. She was really pleased with it and i was chuffed that i had actually managed to get it to her before Arran's first birthday

My June goals are coming along and tonight i should finish the rr -with Lee working backshifts now I am getting plenty of quality stitching time which i am loving - so should have another finish to show off soon...

big walk

Well the last two weekends have been pretty busy - this is me and my buddies (me, Janice and Lorna) before the start of our midnight walk half marathon on 16th May which we were doing for The Ayrshire Hospice and below is me at 13 miles (a wee while later lol!) and pretty puffed out by that stage... very proud of ourselves though that we managed it all. However didn't get home till about half five in the morning and Lee was working that day so only got a couple of hours sleep which was not so much fun! They have emailed to say that it going to be going ahead next year as it was such a success - not sure if i want to do it again though - wouldn't mind during the day, the whole through the night thing was a bit of a killer..










Was hoping for a quieter weekend just gone but as mentioned in my last post did i not go and win tickets to Britain's Got Talent for the Sunday show! Got all our stuff through on the Friday and got a morning flight down to London on the sunday morning - dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then headed back into London to meet up with my brother as he lives near by - it was absolutely roasting in the centre so had a nice wee wander around all the touristy bits - big ben and what not and then headed back up to Wembley for the show.

We met up with the rep from Domino's Pizza about 7 and then headed down to the studio which was just round the corner. Had our free drinks and pizza (of course!) and got seated for just after eight.. the studio is much smaller than you would imagine - kind of like a fancy school hall! It went really quickly but was really entertaining - glad Susan Boyle got through, we had our Saltire out for her... but by the end of the night was getting fed up standing up, sitting down and lots and lots of clapping ... just headed back to the hotel afterwards and seen a few of the contestants who were going to be on Monday's show and then the next morning got our flight back up to Scotland - all in all a fab time was had..

Stitching wise - not a lot been happening - these are my goals for June:

finish and frame wedding sampler
start and finish lynda's part of round robin
start and hopefully finish serenity piece for Friendly Stitchers

Just got to get one thread for the wedding sampler and of course when i am purchasing this will so have to accidentally add a few things - I have seen that the letter N is out for Nora Corbertts alphabet which i have been waiting for - been dying to get this for Neve as they are just so gorgeous ...

hope you all have a good weekend - here's to the sunshine!

may time

okay first up here are my adorable squares received from Anna VS (aka Stitch Bitch) which i received a wee while ago but only just got a chance to take some pictures.. haven't decided what to do with them yet

My gosh - it is the middle of May already and my dd Neve's 9th birthday tomorrow - been stitching away quite nicely. Working on a wedding sampler for my friends wedding in June. This is Bent Creek's "I do" - i stitched it once before and it came out so well that i decided to use it again - it stitches up pretty quick as well which is a bonus..

done a little on my HAED QS Twilight Shimmer - i'm about half way through the first page - will aim to get the page finished by summer - there is no rush with this one though,it is purely for me

Am now waiting on the next round robin to appear any day now so will work on it and do some more on Joe's stocking - that should keep me occupied through June - and also planning on stitching the Serenity piece for Friendly Stitchers comp - got a couple of ideas going around my head for that..

Was planning on doing a bit of stitching this weekend but this may now be put on the backburner as i am off to London on Sunday to see Britain's Got Talent - i won two tickets, travel and accommodation for the night - how cool is that! So me and my pal Lorna are flying down on Sunday morning ... i have to admit i've only seen a couple of clips of the show so far but it should be a good laugh.. will try to get some photos and update next week

square received

Good to hear that my f&s square arrived safely at it's home, now i can show it off lol!

Also got my part of Karen's rr finished :

Got my sampler back - will get a picture up once i have the hanger sorted which i must actually remember to do this weekend and then i can actually deliver it to my friend, by which time it will be an early 1st birthday present, oops...

Right, better get ready for work, thank god it's friday..

easter hols

Well i had a lovely week off - did pretty much nothing, it was great - just not having to always be somewhere at a certain time and just going with the flow - so relaxing... Did a couple of walks - these two pictures are of the Heads of Ayr and Greenan Castle which are just to the south of Ayr - a friend had told me of a lovely walk from Burns Cottage right down to Greenan Beach and it really was - it's amazing what you discover on your own doorstep.

This was one of two finishes for the week - April Glooms part of the Bent Creek snappers - i have plans to make this into a pinkeep but as it is unlikely to be done for the end of this April i will put it away just now for next year lol! The other finish was for a fair and square round which i will show when it has been received. Worked on other stuff as well , so quite a productive week - now just finishing off Karen's piece for our round robin- should only take another couple of nights.

I also took in the baby sampler to the dressmaker for it to be made into a hanging - should get this back this weekend, can't wait to see what it will look like.. just need to get my dad to me a little hanger for it and it will be good to go - decided on having it made this way instead of framing for a couple of reasons, 1. thought it would look pretty nice and 2. it's a hell of a lot cheaper lol! It cost me £2.37 for the fabric and wadding and £7 to have it made , as opposed to probably nearer £50 to get it framed...will pop up a picture on it's return.

Well, what did i do in March:-

• Baby sampler still finished, still not framed
• Twilight Shimmer -
  
• Christmas Stocking -
• 
• Started on Bent Creek April Flows -
• 
• Started on Karen's round robin - she has asked us to stitch up either welcome or home sweet home etc. Found a chart from an old Crosstitcher which I am adapting a bit - think it will work pretty nicely - picture up when done.

To do in April:-

• carry on with rotation
• finish April Flows
• stitch and send Fair and Square round 12
• finish and send Karen's rr

All this seems quite doable and i have just over a week off work for the easter holidays - yay! Lot's of nice stitching done -well that is the plan. Whether or not i will succeed is another thing.

I have also entered a half marathon midnight walk in May which is in aid of The Ayrshire Hospice so have been out training with my friends for that - so far so good, we got a bit carried away at the weekend and ended up being out for about three hours which we weren't really prepared for - we were just about crawling back up the road - however the weather was nice and it was a lovely country walk - i have to admit i was so surprised as it is only a couple of miles from town and you felt you were in the middle of nowhere - we ended up just outside Oswald Hall, one of the pictures on here - http://www.ayrshirepaths.org.uk/gallery.htm. We're planning to walk out to Troon on Sunday along the coast and up by the golf courses - here's hoping the weather holds out.

Right, need to send off my sister's birthday present, get some ironing done and then enjoy the rest of my day off.

Baby sampler finished

It's finally finished - thought i was never going to get there - there wasn't too much to it, just felt like it was dragging - anyway now just need to get it framed...

Now on to some new stuff, well i'll carry on with the Christmas stocking and little bits and bobs and we are about to start a new round robin on Ally's round robin - I have chosen an advent calender which is made up of 25 little pillows , so i'll get a few stitched up for me and then finish it all of at some point..it's from Crossstitcher magazine from last year. Looking forward to seeing everyone's choices.

finally framed

Okay - a little update. First off here's baby sampler's progress -

i made a start (just a small one but it's a start) on twilight shimmer ...

and last but not least here is my TW Celtic Knots which i have had back for quite a while but only just got framed - this was done as part of a round robin from Ally's Round Robin - big huge thanks to Karen, Ally, Mylene and Lynda for their contribution to this - I am so pleased with it!

having a lucky month

Still entering competitions like mad - I think it is turning into an addiction but so far January has been pretty good. Won two tickets to my local cinema - took Neve to see Bride Wars, good fun... then I had a phone call from Kerrang Radio to say i had won £500 in their recycling comp - (got my cheque through yesterday) and then Lee phoned me while i was at work to say the postie had just delivered a nice shiny new Nintendo DS and game !



I reckon that's my quota of luck for 2009 lol! but i'll still keep trying ... now if i could just win a nice stitching lamp, that would be the business!!

woefully neglected blog

Oops - it's been a while since i updated this blog but it's because i've been trying to stitch with every spare minute i've got which ain't a lot- nearly finished my friend's baby sampler - fingers crossed will get that done in the next couple of weeks and get it framed.





Decided that as it is my birthday on Tuesday i would give myself a new start - so got my HAED Twilight Shimmer QS out and got it kitted up (well as much as i could - goodness, for a smaller design it still uses heaps of colours!) Am on a self imposed stash ban ( hubbie lost his job last year so finances are a bit tight) so will work with what i have at the moment starting on my birthday... might also through caution to the wind and start my Mirabilia Maiden of the Spring - i feel the need for lots of new starts ....


I did manage to stitch up and finish in time for Christmas a little Thomas for my wee boy Joe as he had been asking for it for months - he was very pleased with it and it now sits by his bed, along with a lot of other Thomas the Tank stuff, he's quite a fan!

Normal work as usual has been busy and then the restaurant as well has been busy at the weekends - considering it's January when everyone is supposedly poor, what happended to the recession - still can't complain, helps keep the finances ticking over.