Stash, stash and more stash

Dont you just love technology....when it works.  I have tried about 4 times in the last 2 weeks to update my blog and my poor computer decided not to play the game.  Finally we bit the bullet and got a new wireless modem, so things are all up and running again :)

The last few weeks have been a little crazy but I have managed to get some stitching in.  My little man has decided that he only needs to have day sleeps about 3 days a week now so I am missing my stitchy time during the day.  I have done some progress on Ladybird, she only has a little bit left on the flowers and leaves on the bottom of the design and then she is ready to backstitch and bead. 

I have had some lovely stitchy stuff arrive lately though which is so exciting.  First off was the lovely DMC thread that I won off Melanies blog when she had her giveaway.  I have never bought any colour variation thread and was so taken with how pretty it was when I received it.  Thank you so much Melanie for your lovely giveaway and for including me.

For those of you who have been following my blog for the last few months you would have seen my Dogs that I recently did for my dads 70th birthday coming up in August.  Last week I found the cats version as a chart and had to get it for me, I love cats :)  So it is in my WIP pile but further down the pile as I have others I need to do first.

Next one that I bought was a double pattern that I have loved for ages called Butterfly Fairies. This has been on my wish list for so long and last week I finally got around to buying it! My love for cats is only superceeded by my love for butterflies!  My goal is to do both of these and hang them in my bedroom, but right now they will have to wait as well for more important projects that need to be completed.  Here they are, aren't they gorgeous

So, there is all my stitchy news.  Sadly I broke my glasses last week (cant even blame it on the 2 year old either, it was all me!!!) and so stitching is having to wait till my new pair arrives this week.  Thankfully my lovely optometrist has given me a pair of contacts to use so that I am not completely blind :)

I hope all my stitchy friends are well and happily stitching.  Once I get the beading and backstitching done on ladybird I will be starting my christmas stitching for my family, including putting more work into Jacobs christmas stocking.  Oh, and there is the new Mira design which is called Dressmakers Daughter which I am going to be stitching for my mum for her 70th birthday next year, yes, she was a dressmaker!!

Ok, big verbal blurb is over, I will leave you all with a couple of photos taken last weekend at our yearly photo shoot that we have done as a family.

Our little man

Hubby and I

Bye lovlies :)

Yes people...I am alive!!!!

Hi everyone, yes I know it has been ages since I updated this, I am still around and have been quietly lurking in the background.  Truth be known May was a hard month and my blogging just kind of fell by the wayside.  But here I am, back up to speed, lighter, happier and ready to go!!!!  So let's catch up with what I have been up to.  Be prepared for a long, detailed post!!!!!!

Health wise I had a pretty scary month.  I have had a tiny sore on the inside of my nose for about 2 years now which has never healed (sounds gross I know but we are all friends here so let's share!!!).  I have never done anything about it as it was so tiny and never bothered me.  Anyway last month it grew, very fast and very serverly, to the point that it was tracking up my face.  I went to the doctors and he put me on an antibiotic and cream to try and heal it, but it continued to spread.  I went back and was given a second lot of cream and pills...still spreading.  Another visit to the doctor and a third lot of medication tried.  I was given 4 days with this medication and was told if there was no improvment that I would be admitted to hospital and a biopsy taken to analyse it.  Needless to say, the next 4 days were incredibly stressfull!!!  For the first 2 days nothing changed, day 3 I could breath through my nostril, day 4 I woke up and it was practically gone.  All that is left of it now a week later is a scar that I dont think is going to heal but hey, that's what makeup is for huh :) 

I also in the last month decided to take control of my health and weight and joined Weight Watchers.  I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.  I have a 2 year old son that I want to enjoy spending time with and running with and it is hard to do right now with the size I am.  So I bit the bullet and joined and I am LOVING it so much.  I am happy, full of energy, and have lost 3.8 kilos in the first 2 weeks.  Onward and downward, that's my moto now.  My husband actually told me the other day that he is really proud of me for how determined I am and how well I am doing, which is huge for him.  He has also lost half a kilo since I started too so my healthy dinners must be rubbing off on him.  He came home the other day with Mayonaise on his chin so I asked him where he had been....he confessed he had snuck off to Burger King for a feed.....hahahaha.  At least he had it there and didnt bring it home!!!

So anyway, onto stitching over the last month.  I havent done a lot, it has been so busy and stressfull but I am happy to say that the skirt on ladybird is finished. 

My aim is to get the legs and scarf finished over the weekend, will see how we go.  It depends if my 2 boys play the game and give me some quiet mummy time :)

I hope everyones stitching is going well.  I have been checking your blogs off and on but have not had a chance to really catch up on them for ages, so that is my mission this afternoon while the little man has a sleep. 

Happy stitching :)

A little finish and an update

Hi everyone.  I know it has been a couple of weeks since I updated this blog, so much has been happening and we have been a home of sickness and bugs so my stitching has really suffered over the last 2 weeks.  I do have some progress to update you on though.
Here is the latest on Ladybird Fairy.  I have finished the top 2 pages now and have just started the bottom.  The top part looks a little weird with no backstitching and I have not done the kreinik or beading either in case my hoop damages it.  All that aside I think she is looking lovely and I am excited to see her progress.

Mothers day is coming up this weekend.  I know at least one of my stitchy friends has lost their mother in the last year and my thoughts and hugs are with you.  This will be my third mothers day and my darling hubby has taken 2 days off at the end of this week to give him a four day weekend and he is taking us to our beach house for a long weekend together.  I have wonderful visions of sleeping in, stitching, walking on the beach (fingers crossed for nice weather) and getting spoilt....hehehe.  I have managed to get something done for the mothers in my life, my mother and my mother in law.  I made a card for each of them, I loved this design so I stitched it twice, one each.

So before I go I thought I would share my little spot of heaven with you, my stitchy corner.  I sit in hubbys armchair with my feet up and use Jacobs little sofa beside me to put my stuff on.  My light behind me was from hubby and I love it.

And this is what a typical stitchy session looks like for me

Strangely the only time she sits on my lap is when I am stitching.

I hope everyone has a lovely week and gets some stitching done.  I shall now head off and stalk your progress :)

April IHSW

Hi everyone, well today is a public holiday for both New Zealand and Australia to remember those who served their country in war and the blessings that we have today because of their service.  It is usually a quiet day of reflection for me as I have many ancestors who served in both world wars, some who were killed in action, and it gives me a chance to pause and remember them.  My husband works a half day as all the stores are closed till 1pm and then open half a day.  So he has just left for work, the little man has just gone to bed for a sleep due to being tired and grumpy and I actually plan to spend some time this afternoon while he sleeps doing some genealogy.....I know, shocking....no stitching!!!!  Genealogy is my other passion, and I find that I dont spend enough time on it with all of the other things that get in the way. 

So onto my weekend stitching for the IHSW.  I managed to get some done on ladybird, I did not get to stitch as much as I planned to as we had lots of visitors and other things got in the way.  But I did manage to get the wings done on the left side and all the hair done.  She is coming along nicely, just the skin and a few ladybirds to do and she is half finished.  That is my plan for this week, to get her half finished.

Confession time, I havent done any more work on my SAL this week, I only have a couple of star bursts and then the beading to do.  I think I have been putting it off a bit because I have never done beading before on a cross stitch design so I am worried about it.  I SHALL work on it this week and post my progress next week on here :)

So that is me all updated.  I hope everyones IHSW went well and that you got lots of stitching done.  I thought I would share this photo with you, look what just caught my attention in the lounge.  She spent the night locked in the garage so I think she is staying close to home now.  And I guess she has figured if Jacob is no longer using it she might as well.

Right, off to find those ancestors of mine....happy stitching :)

I think I have a problem!!!

OK, so confession time, I took a look at my kitting up of one of my current WIPS this week after I caught hubby giggling to himself watching me stitching.  I couldnt work out what he thought was so funny till be pointed out that my stitching is just as organised and OCD as the rest of my life!!!!  I have to admit after stepping back and looking at it, that he is right, and it amuses me no end!!!  Ok so I am about to share with you the routine that is my stitching.

So here is the floss box for my kitted Ladybird fairy that I am doing.  I will share a pic with you then explain why it is set up the way it is :)

Ok so the DMC floss are organised numerically so they are easy to find in the box.  When I take a floss out to use it I turn the one before it on its side so I can find where I need to put the one I am using when I am finished (not too scary so far huh).  The highlighter and scissors sit below on the left (it's the only place they will fit).  I do stitch in an armchair though with my feet up so when I am stitching I put the highlighter between my leg and the chair leg since I use it all the time.  My scissors sit point down in the top right square of my box so that they are easy to grab as well.  In this picture I have put all my kreinik in one square since they all fit but if they didnt I would put them into more than one, numerically of course (is it getting scary yet???)  The beads go into their own square, I cut the top off them so they will fit in and I put my thread heaven into whatever square is not being used (what I hear you ask...no set square for the thread heaven!!!!!!).    My cut off threads go in the bottom square next to my scissors and highlighter and my rubbish goes into the bottom right square.....to keep them apart....SIGH.  So there we have it, an explanation of how I kit up.  Hehehe.  Oh, and I must mention my final little quirk, when I pack up my stitching for the day my chart, my floss box and my WIP all go into a zip lock bag (in that order) but the WIP gets folded nicely and put on the top so I can see it next time I pick it up and get excited/frustrated over how much/little I have done.

So, confession over, do any of you get all super organised about your stitching.  I think I do it because with having a 2 year old my stitching time is precious to me, so I dont want to waste valuable time that could be used on stitching trying to find my scissors or floss. 

Onto what I have managed to get done in the last week.  Ladybird fairy is looking good, she has a bodice now and the top half of her skirt is finished as well.  My plan this week and over the upcoming IHSW is to give her a face and some hair.  The V8 racing cars are on this weekend here in Hamilton so I am looking forward to settling down in front of TV with my stitching for the weekend watching the racing.  I would love to be there but will just have to settle with having to hear it from my house.  Anyway, I digress, here she is as of today

My plan this week is also to get the next part of my dream SAL done so I will post my progress on this and Ladybird after my IHSW.

Ok, that should have everyone filled in for now, I hope you are not too shocked by my stitching OCD.....please tell me I am not the only one!!!!

Goodbye summer....

Well, what there was of it!!!  I actually cant remember a worse summer than the one that we just had and now I know it is over as the extra blankets go on the bed and I head out today to get my winter PJs for the year.  We did have a glorious easter though, absolutely beautiful weather.  I had a lovely easter with my family, we pottered around the house on friday, hubby went to work on saturday, we had a family day together on sunday and on monday hubby and I had a date in the afternoon at the movies seeing Titanic in 3D.  I totally love that movie, have seen it more times than I can remember.  Oh, and I did manage to get some stitching done over the easter break too which was great.  This week I started Ladybird Fairy by Joan Elliott that I mentioned in my last blog.  Here is where she is up to today after a week of stitching, I started her last tuesday.

I just love the colours on this design, so bright and firey, she is coming along nicely.  I have just put my little man to bed so plan to do some work on her this afternoon while he is napping.  I havent touched my dream SAL this week as the last week has been a catch up week and I am up to date with it right now. 

Well that catches you up with my stitching for the week.  I hope you have all had a lovely stitchy week and got lots done over easter.  I look forward to seeing everyones progress.

SAL week 2, some slow progress and a new start

Hi everyone, it has been a little while since I updated this, it has been one rough week.  All 3 of us had a nasty tummy bug last week which resulted in us all being home and me having no energy to do anything....including stitching.  So there is not a lot to show for my week, I did a bit of stitching to share with you though.

Firstly I have finished the second week of the SAL tonight.  It was only a few hours work but I love the effect of it.  Here's an update.

So as well as getting my SAL done tonight I did manage to get a small amount of stitching done on Jacobs stocking, there is a bit more red to it now!!!  Still a long way to go but I shall push on with it. 

So that was the week that was.  I have also kitted up my next project which I am ready to start tomorrow, another Joan Elliott design from Cross Stitch Collection, the first of her garden fairies, Ladybird.  I totally fell in love with it when I picked up my magazine this week so am really looking forward to starting her tomorrow. 

I hope everyone else has had a lovely stitching week.  I am so looking forward to getting into more stitching this week now that I am over my bugs and yuckies......more to follow next week.