Halloween in 'Almost December'!

Yikes...is it really December on Saturday? I'd better get this post done before then...posting about Halloween in December just wouldn't do! ;0) 

I had a Halloween stitching frenzy in October. I'm fed up with stitching on 'Santa's List' so have put it in a bag behind the sofa until the New Year. The plan was to have it finished this year, but I think I seriously underestimated the work involved. :0( So Halloween stitching was a welcome change. Below is how my ornie tree looked in time for the big day. 

Halloween Tree 2012

My new additions this year...

'Afraid of the Dark' by Blue Ribbon Designs 

32ct Belfast Linen with lurex

(I think this is my favourite...)

'Boo' by Lilybet Designs

32ct Belfast Linen with lurex

(no actually, I think THIS one is my favourite!)

'Halloween 2008' freebie by Les Grilles de Maryse

28ct Lilac Linen

'Halloween Biscornu' freebie by Cyberstitches

32ct Belfast Linen with lurex

'Owl' by Prairie Schooler

from The Pumpkin Patch Leaflet

32ct Belfast Linen with lurex

'By the Full Moon' by Ink Circles

28ct Lilac Linen

Only 10 more months and I can have these lovelies on display again. 

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I participated once more in a Stitched with Love Exchange. This time was 'Fall into Halloween'. My exchange partner was Joy. I just 'had' to send a few 'bits and bobs' for her young son too! I'm pleased to report that both Joy and her son liked the parcel I sent! I wish I'd taken a close-up photo of the scissor fob. It's the Brimstone scissor fob by My Big Toe Designs and I LOVE IT! I'll not lie, it was difficult to part with it! ;0) Perhaps I will put it on my Christmas Wish List.

'Boo!' freebie by The Stitcherhood

32ct unknown fabric

My fabulous parcel was from April. I messaged April to let her know how much I love what she sent and that I will be keeping the pumpkin ornies (yes, plural - she stitched TWO for me!) on display all year round. My little munchkins had great fun sticking the gel words to our window. I think it may have attracted a few trick-or-treaters too!Thanks once again April. 

And finally, I'll end with a photo of my darling family - XL, S and XS! 

Until next time.

Christina

Animal Antics Exchange

Oh my goodness...Blogger and I are going to fall out very soon. I consider myself fairly computer literate, but this latest interface has me annoyed/perplexed/frustrated and worse still, not wanting to blog! I'm not sure if it's just because I'm now having to use my ipad to blog (since Isaac picked all of the keys off my laptop). Any advice would be gratefully received. :0)

Anyway, onto nicer things. It has taken me some time to get around to posting about the latest 'Stitched With Love' exchange (see above rant!). I simply had to participate in the 'Animal Antics' round as I'm a HUGE giraffe fan! But more of that later...

I stitched for Greta (no blog) who is - I am reliably informed - a little fond of frogs. 

I had so much fun putting this package together although froggy themed items are few and far between in the shops at the moment (unless one is mad on Kermit!) so I did find it rather challenging, but that just adds to the fun of it, right??!

Pins by Nataly Needle Creations

Frog scissor charm by My Big Toe Designs

 

My stitched piece was a freebie from Casey Buonaugurio Designs. It is the first time that I have attempted a biscornu finish and I really enjoyed the challenge of it. I definitely see more finishes like this in my future.

 



Front view

 

 

Back view

 

Greta emailed to let me know how much she liked the parcel I sent - phew, mission accomplised! ;0)

 

 

My exchange was from Rennee. She chose to stitch me two fabulous giraffe ornies. I will definitely be keeping these on my ornie tree all year round. Aren't they sweet?

 

 

And an added bonus...a giraffe ornie to hang on my Christmas tree! I have looked for a giraffe ornie for years but never managed to find one. Thank you so much Rennee!  

Ok, I've had enough of struggling with Blogger. I think it is an issue with using blogger on my ipad as I can't scroll down a post whilst it's in draft. I'm now using my dad's laptop and it seems a lot easier (but still nowhere near as easy as the old interface). Sort your act out Google!

I'll be back soon with lots of Halloween stitching (better late than never!).

Regards,

Christina

Tea Party Exchange

Before I begin, may I just apologise for the irregular spacing in this post. The new Blogger interface and I are not getting along very well...

Now to stitching news...yet another fabulous 'Stitched With Love' Exchange organised by Lainey! This time around Carol and I stitched for each other, although we didn't realise this until names were revealed at the end of the exchange. Below is the lovely exchange I received from Carol. The project pouch is so useful. We went to London for the weekend last week and I was able to take my latest exchange stitching without having to worry about taking my HUGE sewing bag.








Aren't these pins adorable?  
Also included was a beautifully made tea-bag holder. I only drink de-caf tea, which very few of my friends tend to have in, so I always carry a few tea bags (in a plastic bag!) in my handbag. At last I can throw the crumpled plastic bag away! Thank you so much Carol for my very thoughtful exchange.
******************   I decided to stitch Carol a design from The Cross Stitcher Magazine. There were nine teacups to choose from and I thought this was definitely the prettiest. When I was browsing through the photographs of the completed Tea Party exchanges I noticed that somebody else had stitched the same design! Great minds think alike.

Front View

Back View

All of the goodies sent

I'm really looking forward to the next exchange which is 'Fall into Halloween'. Can it really be almost Halloween? Yikes.

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My God-daughter Clementine turned 1 this week. She LOVES owls - well, her Mummy does ;0) - so I stitched her a little ornie to hang in her bedroom. I love how this turned out, so I think I will stitch it again.

Owl by Penelope Teapot Designs

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DH and I had a day out at York Races at the end of August. The photograph below is just before we got into the racecourse. It's so lovely to get dressed in one's gladrags every now and again! L to R, friend, me, my sister , my cousin.

And finally, Michelle had read in one of my posts that I struggle with one pair of embroidery scissors (woe is me!). Being the lovely person that she is, she sent me this fabulous pair of stork scissors. Thank you so much Michelle - stitchers are the best! ;0)

Until next time,

Christina

A Little Bit of This and That

Wow, already a quarter of the way through August. I just can't believe how quickly this year is going. Unfortunately I am not getting much stitching time at the moment. Iris is on summer holiday until Sept 5th so when Isaac naps during the day, I am entertaining Iris instead of stitching. Hopefully normal service will resume from September onwards!

I have a few things to show. One of my best friend's sister had a baby boy back in May, so I stitched a little ornie for her. She emailed me to let me know how thrilled she was with it. She had put a few photos of little Vincent on Facebook and I could see my ornie hanging up in the background so I was really chuffed! :0)





I haven't shared photos of my progress on 'Santa's List' recently as, to be honest I'm a little embarrassed about how little I've done. I'm not enjoying stitching it at all but I'll plod on until it's finished. This is the progress as of this morning.



In other crafting news...I've been keeping my mum busy knitting. A former colleague had a baby girl on Saturday so I asked my mum to knit a replica of the blanket she'd knitted for me 30 something years ago! (yes, I still have it!). Unfortunately my mum couldn't find her original pattern, but it turns out that this pattern is a bit of a classic and has been reproduced many times over the years. I was able to source a new version of the chart on ebay. It's not obvious from the photograph - the blanket is a soft lilac. Isn't it lovely? I hope my friend likes it.


Sirdar Baby Leaf Blanket
Sirdar Whispers Bamboo Yarn #196

My friend's little girl turned 6 last month so I made her some bunting to hang up at her party. I'm pleased to say, she liked it so much it is now a permanent fixture in her play room. :0)



And finally, in my last post I promised some photos of Iris's 4th birthday celebrations. Here is the birthday girl...



and here is her birthday cake...



The conversation about the cake went along these lines "Mam, I've seen a fabulous cake on the internet - please can you make it for Iris's birthday?!" Didn't she do well? I'm so proud to have such a talented mother. I don't think there's anything that she can't turn her hand to (although she says that she isn't a big fan of crochet - but she can still do it!!)

Well, better leave it there. Hopefully next time I will have a lot more stitching to show.

Regards,

Christina

Stitched With Love - Jubilee Exchange

Wow, where has July gone?! Another month and another Stitched With Love exchange to report. The theme this time - Jubilee.

I received a fabulous parcel from June (aka Butterfly). Everything was so beautifully wrapped. I love the wrapping paper she used - so much so in fact, it was the paper I used for the Jubilee bunting I made for family/friends.






The stitched piece is finished to absolute perfection...






Isn't this a fantastic red, white and blue package?

The chocolate didn't last very long at all, although I did have help from my two mini-me chocoholics! ;0) I have put the soldier tissues into my changing bag but I don't think I'll ever use them - they're far too nice to blow a nose on!! Thank you June - I loved each and every item that you sent me.

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This time I got to stitch for Lainey. Those who follow Lainey's blog will know that she's mad on snowmen, so I decided to stitch a patriotic frosty guy for her. I adapted a Prairie Schooler snowman freebie. On the reverse I stitched our initials with a little flag depicting our nationalities. The red/white/blue beading drove me a little mad, but I was pleased with how it turned out.






All of the goodies (of course I had to include a Snowman chart too!)


All packaged up and ready to go

A big THANK-YOU to Lainey for once again doing a fantastic job of organising the exchange. :0)

I'll be back soon with news of Iris's fourth Birthday party - I'm still in denial that my 'baby' is four!

Regards,

Christina

Favourite Things Exchange

Ooohhh, I just love these Stitched With Love exchanges! The theme this time around was 'Favourite Things'. My package came from Lisa over at Blackflies & Snowflies. Now let me tell you, I've been part of this lovely stitchy blogging community for over 2 years now, and I've participated in a fair few exchanges. I have received some wonderful and generous parcels but this one left me absolutely speechless. So much thought had gone into each and every item and they were all SO me! It is as if I have a soul-mate across the ocean! :0) Without further ado, I'll let the photos do the talking...


The exchange arrives all beautifully wrapped. How does Lisa know I have a little 'thing' for organza pouches?!!


Halloween Stitching - My FAVOURITE!


LHN - Winter Greens (from my wishlist - great detective skills Lisa!)


Beautiful Coloured Fabric - Misty Rain, Summer Sunset - they even SOUND fabulous! ;0)


I LOVE anything giraffe related!


ric rac & beads screaming to be used on my next Halloween project

And I've left the best till last...my stitched item. Oh my goodness, I could barely believe my eyes when I pulled this from its pouch.



My very own stitcher's wallet. HOW...ABSOLUTELY...AMAZING. If you have ever received an exchange from Lisa you will be nodding your head around now when I say how utterly spectacular her sewing is (I'm running out of adjectives here). My mum summed it up perfectly by saying that this will become an heirloom for our family.





Just look at the beaded giraffe fob *shrieks*

I just don't think I'll ever be able to thank Lisa enough. She is such a talented stitcher and I look forward to seeing more projects on her lovely blog.
Thank you again Lisa. I just hope you realise how much I appreciate the effort that went into this exchange. I truly, truly love it.


My exchange was to go to Melissa over at St John's Stitcher. I don't think Melissa will mind me saying that she lives in 'Paradise'. The Post Master and I had a good chuckle about that when I went to post her parcel...it was pouring down outside and let me tell you, the view outside the post office looked about as far removed from Paradise as one could get!

Melissa had happened to mention on her blog that 'Paradise' was also getting a lot of rain so I thought 'Rain Rain' by Prairie Schooler would be an appropriate stitch!


'Rain Rain' by Prairie Schooler (front view)


'Rain Rain' by Prairie Schooler (back view)


The exchange in its entirety


beautiful pins by Nataly at Nataly's Needle Creations


All packaged up and ready to go

I'm pleased to report that Melissa liked what I sent for her. The Earth Goddess chart I included was from her 'wish list' and I think I could be quite tempted to stitch it myself. The bead work is beautiful on it. Guess I'd better add it to my ever increasing list! ;0)

Ok, better leave it there. I have a BAP that I should be working on. Progress photos to follow in next post!

Regards,

Christina