Boris joins the Cat Party!

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I hope you have all had a pleasant weekend? Mine has been pretty relaxed, we went out for some shopping and a meal yesterday then today I have just stitched away and watching the Bob Ross marathon on Twitch - love it!

So, as expected the next cat didn't take very long at all. After coming home yesterday evening I sat down and managed to complete all the cross stitch in the cat, then today stitched up the bowl then added the back stitch to both the cat and bowl.

I think this little guy is so cute!

So as last week this will now go away until next weekend when the next cat will be stitched - so far this rotation seems to be working out well for me.

In other news I won £50 on the national lottery! Woo! So of course that has been very wisely spent on stitching stash :)

First I picked up this PDF chart from Etsy;

It's a super geeky Fallout pattern which I plan on stitching up for me and David for our wedding. I still can't decide on what fabric to use though - I don't want anything too bright.

Next I got a few more charts I've had my eye on for a while;

This is To Have and To Hold by Country Cottage Needleworks.

Again, this is for mine and David's wedding - I know why the heck do we need two wedding pieces?! But I plan on the Fallout one been for our computer/geek room while this one will probably hang in the hall or living room.

Next was At The Met by Mirabilia. I've loved this one since I first saw it. No idea when I will stitch it though!

Lastly was A Little Luck from Lizzie*Kate. I think this is a fun little stitch and I plan on stitching this one in March for St Paddy's Day, fingers crossed this shouldn't take me too long.

I've also bought some hand dyed fabric from Crafty Kitten as she has had a sale on, but I will share that with you once it arrives.

Plan for the week? To continue on Lily!

Until next time!

Emma xo

Row of Cats - Third Cat Complete!

Good evening all!

I hope your Mondays weren't too painful.

Just a quick update from me tonight, I sat down after dinner and carried on working on Row of Cats by Bothy Threads and I managed to get the third cat complete! :D

As Katie described him once the back stitch on this "orange clump" (Haha) was complete he really came to life, I think he is sweet little chap and kind of reminds me of my own cat Charlie.

So, this one will go away now until the weekend and I am going to pick up one of my other wips to work on through the week - as yet I'm not sure which but we shall see!

Until next time!

Emma xo

Row of Cats and New Stash!

Good evening all

I hope you are all well and had a pleasant/productive weekend! It sure seems strange tonight how dark it is already - this clock changing business always messes me up!

Anyway, after my finish which I showed in my last post I had a look through my stash and thought about what I would like to work on next. I decided no new start, and instead to work on some Wips in the hope of getting one or two finished before the new year.

Here is how Row of Cats by Bothy Threads looked the last time you saw it.

It's been a long time since I've touched this but I've figured if I just aim to stitch one cat a week then I will get this complete by years end. So I started working on it on Saturday afternoon while rewatching House on Netflix and here is where I am now :)

I'm pleased, of all the cats in the pattern this is probably the one with the most colour changes but he stitched up pretty quick none the less.

Fingers crossed just a couple more evenings and I should have all the crosses in and the back stitch done - this is one project I back stitch as I go as each cat feels like a little finish :)

In other news I got some stash this week! I picked up the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament magazine for this year, in the UK it's sometimes a bit of a pain to get hold of but I got mine from Patchwork Rabbit.

I have to say there doesn't seem to be as many in this years which jump out at me and scream "STITCH ME!" but thats ok, still a few that I will get done at some point - I am still stitching things from the 2012 magazine!

Is anyone elses Bloglovin' messed up? My feed hasn't updated since yesterday but I see on blogger news feed people have definitely updated? I've tried logging in and out again but still no luck.

Once my cat is complete I will be back to share that and what else I plan on working on each week.

Until next time!

Emma xo

Another Small Finish, Hooray for Trains!

Good Morning!

I hope you are all well. Over the past week I have worked on a couple of projects and I am please to say and even managed another small finish from my Crazy January Challenge.

First, I worked some more of Bothy Threads Sew Dinky Gingerbread house.

Before:

After:

As you can see I now have the outline of the Christmas tree and a small orange present waiting underneath it just waiting to be opened! :) I am still enjoying this one very much so fingers crossed I should have more to show you this week.

Last Thursday I took a trip back down to Yorkshire as over a year ago I bought tickets to see John Bishop with my Mum for her birthday, little did I know that in 12 months time I would be living in Scotland!

Our View, before the show began!

I have to say he was very funny and we both enjoyed it, if any of you are near to Leeds he is doing another show at the arena this Thursday (13th), although I don't know if tickets are still available.

The good part of this meant I had a 3 - 4 hour train journey (I go the cheaper route, changing at Carlisle via Settle in case any of you are wondering why it took so long) on my own so it was ideal stitching time! I decided to take one of my smaller projects just for the ease of it, and I was pretty sure I would be able to get near a finish on the journey there and back.

Tada!

This was the very first project I worked on this year, I only managed to complete the door and it hadn't been touched since. But now it is done, and another off my list! Making it 8/15, however I am not so sure if I will get the rest done in time!

Until next time,

Emma xx

New Start...in more ways than one!

Good evening!

I hope you are all well and had a good weekend, I don't know about you but I think this past week has flown by! Sure doesn't seem like a week since my last post!

Thank you all for your kind comments on my latest finish, it is hard to reply to them all while I am on the phone app and Ipad, I can't wait to get my own computer back again!

So, as I mentioned last week me and the MIL took at little trip last Sunday to the Hobby Crafts show in Glasgow, it was a last minute decision to go but we had good fun and both ended up coming away with some stash.

MIL is more in to crafting with felt and card, although over the years she has tried her hand at almost everything crafty!

I on the other hand was pretty limited in my choices, I only came across two stalls for cross stitch, but never mind, I still got some goodies!

First was one of the cute new kits from Bothy Threads called Sew Dinky Gingerbread House.

It looked so cute stitched up and it was a very reasonable price for a full kit so I thought "Why not?!"

Here is my progress so far;

Not much, but its a start and I am having a lot of fun with it :)

I also picked up one of those polystyrene wreaths which I have plans for, although I don't know if that will be for this Christmas or I might just have to hold off till next year!

Lastly, I picked up one of those stitched Advent Calendar kits from Pinflair, when it's finished it should look something like this...

Although again, I don't know when that is going to happen, haha :D

In other news I had a job interview last Thursday and they offered me a job on the spot! The money isn't great, nor the hours but it is better than nothing. I am still applying for other things but now at least the pressure is off to find something. I am due to start next Monday, so I will keep you updated on how that goes.

Until next time, have a good week!

Emma xx

Sunday Round Up - plus another Crazy Jan Finish!

Good afternoon!

I hope you have all had a pleasant weekend and those to the south of the UK and Ireland are coping in the battering storm that seems to be going on the moment - here further north we have had some wind and rain but nothing too bad.

This week has been a pretty good week stitching wise, I worked on some secret stitches at the start of the work which I can't show you at the moment, sorry, but once I can I will :)

Then I continued to work on Row of Cats by Bothy Threads, and today I added the backstitch to my first cat Chester. I think he looks great!

Then, once that was complete I pulled out one of my Crazy January Challenge pieces and managed to complete that too! This is the Tropical Bookmark which came free with Cross Stitcher issue 269.

I just love the bright colours in this and it's another of the 15 done! Hooray!

In other news the slimming is still going well, I lost another 3 1/2lbs this week, so since joining Slimming World two weeks ago I have lost 10lbs! Added to the weight I lost on my own last year I am now 23lbs lighter. I'm very pleased but still a long way to yet :)

I will be back tomorrow with another post as it is Turtle Trot time, I haven't managed to work on all ten projects but the ones I have I think I have made good progress, so I am happy.

Until tomorrow!

Emma xo

New Start! Oops!

Hello!

I hope you have all had a pleasant weekend? Mine has been pretty relaxing, made even better with the knowledge I have tomorrow off work too :D

Today I decided on a new start, this one has been niggling away at me recently so I figured as it is one of my Turtle Trot pieces then it is ok to start it!

This is Row of Cats by Bothy Threads, and was a birthday gift for my 26th Birthday (over a year ago!)

This is what it should eventually look like...

And this is the start I made today :) I'm hoping this is one of the ones I can actually complete this year, even if I only complete one cat a month then it should be done!

I started in the middle so Chester is the first cat I am stitching up, just a little more on his body then I will make a start on his head. I can't decide if to back stitch each cat as I go or save it all for the end...we shall see!

Now its almost time for me to put my feet up and watch the Superbowl! I'm hoping I don't sleep too late tomorrow and have chance to go out for a run during the day.

Until next time!

Emma xo

#57 - Happy New Year!

I hope everyone saw in the New Year in whatever way they wished, be it with Family, Friends or even fast asleep before the clock even struck 12 (our preferred choice for last year)!

As it was my birthday our friends Rachael and Hannah kindly invited us over for dinner. It was a lovely evening with some pleasant suprises!

The first was...more stash! :D I was very surprised as normally we agree not to get each other anything (now we all have mortgages to pay) and I just love it!

Row Of Cats - Bothy Threads

It is already calling my name but I must wait for now...I love the little kitten second from the right, he is called Boris - such a butch name for such a tiny kitty :D hehe.

Second surprise of the night...cake! Yes, not only did they cook a beautiful chilli with all the trimmings they also took the time to bake me a birthday cake! A HUGE one at that, and very yummy too!

After we had let our dinner settled we played on the xbox, dancing like Michael Jackson, a very funny game and really makes you realise what a great dancer he was in his day. The next thing we knew it was almost midnight so the bubbly was popped and we watched the fireworks in London on TV. It was a lovely evening.

Yesterday was pretty quiet, I made a start on Mini The Black, getting in 450 stitches, but as they are all the same colour I won't bother to share a photo. I will see how I get on the rest of the week and update then.

I've also made a small start on the Wedding Sampler, but again, not really worth posting a photo just yet!

Emma xo