Lily WIP Update

Good evening all!

I hope you all had a good week?

So after Row Of Cats was put away for the week I pondered over what to make my WIP inbetween. In the end Lily won - I figured as it is a fairly simple chart then I should see some nice progress on it.

So here is how it looked the last time you saw it - which was AGES ago!

After a couple of nights working on it here is where I am tonight. I would have got a bit more done but stayed late at work last night due to decorating for Halloween (my office is mad for it!)

Also, this tied in nicely with the challenge Michelle has set us in the Official HAED group on Facebook so I will be sticking with this between Row Of Cats for the next few weeks at least!

So tomorrow Row of Cats will return for me to stitch the next kitty up - he is smaller than the last so I'm thinking he won't take me too long. We don't really do Halloween so tomorrow will be just another day - perhaps watch a movie at night but that will be it.

I'll be back once he is complete to share :)

Until next time!

Emma xo

A Stitching post...of sorts!

I hope you are all ok today and enjoying your weekend?

I named this a stitching post of sorts as I haven't actually done any stitching, but I did buy new stash! So I see that as a step in the right direction...haha!

I was rather sad to hear that Nene Thomas has decided to retire her work from the Cross Stitch community. Luckily over the years I had picked up a few I liked but there was still plenty more I could of had.

However, having recently quit my job money is tight so thanks to the sale on at the moment I settled on just one.

Corsair Daemira - Nene Thomas

This one has been on my wish list since I first discovered HAED, and has even been in my basket before checking out once or twice before. But I've always felt guilty about buying another when I already have so many in my stash.

But I knew I had to have this one before it goes away.

All of Nene's work will be retired on the 15th October, and the sale is going on until the 6th so it might be an idea for you to have a look this weekend and see if there is anythign you want too!

You can find it *Here*

Yes I am enabling here! Haha

Until next time!

Emma xx

Mini the Black - First page finished!

Hello!

Hope you are all feeling ok, I had another "episode" shall we call it at 4am this morning, not as bad as the last two, so I am hoping the meds are kicking in. Other than that no pain all day, which I am very happy about :)

Well as you may have guessed by the post title I come here to share with you a page finish!

Here is how it looked last time

And here it is now, all complete!

I'm so pleased, I think it looks really great! I just have to figure out now if to continue on with this or pick something else up...for now I am not sure, I guess I will just decide when I stitch again tomorrow :)

Emma xo

HAED stitching and Running News

Good evening my lovely people!

I hope you are all well, I am now just about recovered from my 10k on Sunday, apart from my ankles which are still aching a little, but I did it! I did it! I'm so proud of myself :) My friends are already asking when we are going to do our next one...let me recover first please!

So on to stitching, this past week I decided to work on something which I haven't worked on since last December! How terrible is that?! But I am happy to say I made good progress.

Lily - Heaven and Earth Designs - As of last December!

I managed to finish the first page I was working on and made a small start on the second.

Lily as of 19/11/2013

This picture also shows the fabric colour much better, still not spot on, but you get the idea!

But now this goes away - the third and final part of the Lizzie*Kate sal arrived YAAAAAAY!!!!! I really want to get this done before December so now I must crack on!

I have a busy weekend ahead, me and two friends are going to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate, then taking a trip to Bettys and then on Sunday I am going to see Andrea Bocelli with a friend! A fun weekend ahead :D

I have yet to hear from Shebafudge about the travelling pattern, so if I do not hear by this weekend I will pick another name out so it can continue its journey.

Until next time!

Emma xo

#93 More Productive than I thought...and TUSAL!

I was pleasantly surprised this week when I looked at my stitching, I only had a hour or so to stitch this week so I guess I can't complain too much about the progress made :)

First up was the wedding sampler, here is the before shot...

Before

And here it is today at the end of the week;

12-05-13

As you can see the Groom now has his hand with a blob of champagne floating above and below his arm! The glasses will be added later with all the back stitch and of course the heart at the top of the piece has also been added along with some more of the date banner behind where the bride will be :) Not too bad!

Next up I made a teeny tiny start on an ornament...

...what you mean you can't tell what it is?! :D This is my first time stitching over two of 28ct fabric, but so far so good.

In other news I could no longer resist the temptation of the HAED sale, but I was very good and only bought one pattern.

This is High Tea by Gordon Fitchett, I really love this one, I'm thinking some subtle hand dyed fabric and it will love great on the wall in our dining room :) But it will be a long time before I even start this one.

Elsewhere the running and the weight is going well, I ran over 10k this week and managed to lose another 2lbs, making it 12lbs in total! Another push this week and fingers crossed I will get to that magic one stone mark!

Fundraising is going great too, we are now up to £350! A massive thank you also goes out to Mii Stitch for sponsoring me! Thank you dear!! x

If anyone else would like to sponsor me click here for details, you could win a £20 gift voucher as a thank you!

Lastly, it was TUSAL this week, a couple days late but better late than never right?

It seems Sheldon has taken quite a liking to my ORT jar and is now guarding it...from what I'm not sure, but if it makes him happy...

I hope everyone has a great week ahead and if you are somewhere in the world today which is celebrating, Happy Mothers Day! 

Emma xo

#81 IHSW Round Up!

Well once again the weekend has flown by, and as ever there just never seems to be enough hours in the day.

Not so much hermitting or stitching happening today - it was my Grandad's 70th Birthday today so we all met up at his local to have a drink.

However yesterday was a bit more productive. This time I worked on the HAED BB SAL Mystic Garden. This is slow going for me but when I compared pictures I've done better than I thought I had so I suppose I can't complain too much.

This is how it looked before:

Before IHSW

Here it is now!

17-03-13

I really don't know how some of the stitchers have already completed the two released  pages - they are speed daemons with the needle clearly!

Fingers crossed this coming week should be a good one for me, we both have a week off work (yippee!) with only plans for Monday and Thursday, so fingers crossed I will have lots of stitching news for you!

Have a great week everyone!

Emma/Itzy

xo

#71 I Am So Lucky

Good evening!

Hooray Friday is here, time for the weekend - thank heavens!

The last couple of weeks I have been so lucky, I have received two RAKs...

The first was from Tilton Crafts, and part of an event of Facebook. Michelle who was partnered to me sent me this gorgeous pattern, my first Tilton and I expect more will be added to my stash sooner or later...

Take Me Higher - Tilton Crafts

Another complete suprise was this! - Sent by Melissa waiting for me in my email.

Mini Celestial Dreams - Heaven and Earth

I don't know if either of you will see this but thank you so much :)

Last night my other half asked me what I would like for Valentines, normally we don't bother with anything, we might just cook a nice meal and sit and watch dvds together, so imagine my surprise when he said "why don't you get yourself some craft stuff?" Well! He didn't need to ask twice!

So off I went to Heaven and Earth looking over my wish list and thanks to the sale on at the moment I finally settled on these...

Mini Amanda and Axel

Mini Eldars Secret

QS Lingering Tenderness

Mini Snow White

QS Heart of Ice

QS Spirit of Winter 

The Princess and the Pea

I am one lucky girl :) Plus these will certainly be healthier/last longer than flowers or chocolates!

In other news the Travelling Pattern from the last post is now on its way to Mii, so if you are wanting to stalk follow the pattern to try your luck next time then pop on over to her blog if you haven't already.

I will be back later this weekend to share stitching progress and I also believe TUSAL is this weekend.

Finally I would ask you all to keep my friends baby in your thoughts, he is two weeks old and had to be rushed to hospital last night with suspected pneumonia and/or meningitis so any prayers/positive thoughts would be so much appreciated right now.

Emma xo

#65 What a day! Plus IHSW

Phew! Finally made it home in one piece, as predicted the snow came and made the commute to work eventful! But luckily we were prepared, I didn't sleep well last night so in the early hours of the morning I watched it come down so when I woke up this morning it was no surprise.

Luckily work let us leave an hour early today to get home before the rush hour :)

Now, on to IHSW! This weekend I worked on Mystic Garden, I didn't really feel like I had done much but comparing it to last weeks photo then I am pretty happy - especially now I can see the beginnings of a tiger paw at the bottom :)

Before

After! 20-01-13

Other than that I did a little more on Mini The Black, but that is just even more 310 so would make a rather boring photo for you all!

I hope everyone has a great week and I look forward to seeing how everyone else got on!

Emma xo

p.s. I haven't forgotten about the giveaway - it will be launched very soon!

#58 New Starts Galore!

Good afternoon!

Thank you so much for all my birthday wishes in my past two posts, you are all so kind. The only problem I am having with this new layout is I can't seem to reply to any comments left, I have no idea why, but please be assured I am not ignoring you! I have tried my best to solve the issue but to no avail so for now I think I am going to have to reply via email when it arrives in my inbox. Not ideal but there you go. If anyone could shed a little light on this it would be much appreciated!

Now, on to stitching. To say I didn't join the Crazy January Challenge I have made a pretty good attempt in keeping up! In the first four days I had three new starts. Thankfully I now seem content with these to keep me occupied.

I have decided January will be my "do what you want" month, after which my main focus will be the wedding sampler as that NEEDS to be done.

Speaking of which that was the first project I picked up, only a few stitches in but a start is a start, right?! This is done on iridescent white 14ct Aida.

Next, after my first day back at work this year (boooo!) I made a start on Mini the Black. This is on 25ct Magic Guide and I am trying 2x1 tent for the first time. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I wanted to give it a go so I could at least say I've tried. 800 stitches in so far - all of them 310!

Finally on Friday the first page on the HAED BB SAL arrived in my inbox so of course I HAD to start it. Got the first 100 stitches in. This is done again on 25ct Magic Guide, but this time 1x1 full cross. This chart really is confetti madness (20 colours in this one block alone!) and I dare say the most challenging piece I have ever done. If I get this done then I really will be proud of myself!

For now I am going to continue on the SAL, I figure if I get a head start on it this month it will give me some breathing space before the next page is due.

Happy Stitching all!
Emma xo

#56 Happy Birthday To Me.... :D

Hello!

So here it is, New Years Eve, a time to start thinking of the year to come and reflect on the past year. Also for me it means....presents! :D Hehehe!

I was lucky enough to add another cross stitch item to my stash thanks to my other half....another Gorjuss girl :D I had a sneaky suspicion I might get this one as he did point it out himself and said he liked it :)

I Found My Family

Also another Christmas gift arrived in my email Thanks to Santa's Elves - I have no idea who you are but if you read this...Thank You! 

Mini So Many Books So Little Time

I see my collection growing and growing, when will I ever get time to stitch them all?? But I suppose I am another year closer to my retirement so I need to build my stash for then ;) Hehe.

I also got some money for my Birthday so I may treat myself to a thing or two...watch this space... ;)

You may have noticed my blog's appearance has changed. I'm still not completely happy with it, a few more tweeks here and there maybe.

I hope you all have a great new year and enjoy yourselves tonight - see you all in 2013!!

Emma xo

#53 I Spy With My Little Eye...

Good evening everyone!

I hope you are all well and in the full swing of everything festive! Welcome to my two new followers Emily and Spices of Your Life, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog :)

Now, it was IHSW this weekend. Hermitting - check! Stitch...not so much... But it has been a productive weekend none the less. First up, remember all those threads I received in the mail? Well I bobbinated my bum off and they are all now neat and tidy, only problem is my box is full so I will be asking Santa to send me another for Christmas ;)

As well as this a little work was done on Lily, here is it the last time you saw it;

and here she is now! Her eye is almost complete, just a few more lashes to add and I will be then on to her hair and eyebrow.

16-12-12

Other than this I have mainly spent the weekend wrapping presents and writing cards, I think I am almost there now to just be able to put my feet up and enjoy...plus only 5 more days at work - yay!

I hope everyone else has had a more successful IHSW than I did, but I can't complain really!

I will be back on Wednesday as I am door number 19 in Jo's Advent Blog Hop!

Have a great week! xo

#51 A Wonderful Gift

Some time ago you may remember I was informed I was the lucky winner of a gift from notes from under the mountain for becoming her 150th follower. Finally today my gift arrived from the other side of the world!

Turns out Lee has relatives who were originally from Yorkshire so that was a happy coincidence! Its strange, so many people seem to have one relative or another who decide to pack up and move to the other side of the world, in my case my Grandma's sister and her children.

Anyway, look how gorgeous this is! A beautiful little note book, I feel very lucky to have something so beautiful - I think I may never dare use it as it is just too precious!

Thank You Lee! :)

 On to my own stitching, Lily has a few more stitches in her, forming the bottom on her eye and a couple of eyelashes so far. I'm hoping this weekend I will get plenty done as I don't have David here to annoy distract me.

06-12-12

The snow has been falling here today and it making every attempt to settle, it's really starting to feel festive :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Emma xo

#50 December time! :)

Hurrah the time is finally upon us where people can no longer say to me its too early to think about Christmas - Three weeks today!! :D

With this in mind the tree went up over the weekend along with lights, snowflakes and whatever else I could find that was remotely festive.

Cards have been sent in the mail and wrapping of presents will start this weekend - the other half is visiting family in Scotland so I know its safe to do so without the risk of him seeing!

It is lovely to see everyone's blogs and how everyone is getting trimmed up for the holiday season :)

On to stitching. Well...with me getting festive fever I only managed to get any done on Sunday evening and Monday. Now, it may not be what you are thinking...it wasn't on Twilight Magic...I may have started one of my 2013 projects a little early... :D

03-12-12

What do you mean you can't tell what it is?! Hehe, not much but this is the beginnings of Lily. Once all the thread arrived I could wait no longer.

Looking at this photo now I can actually see the start of her eye, which I couldn't close up.

Sadly the photo does not show the gorgeous hand dyed fabric I am working on, so I will try to get another in daylight at the weekend.

Hope you all have a great week :)

Emma xo

#49 Bad Emma...

First, I hope all my friends on the other side of the pond enjoyed Thanksgiving, I really enjoyed reading about what you have all done, and how you all enjoyed the holiday with friends and family. Even though we don't have anything like Thanksgiving over here I always get excited around that time as I know then we are on our way to Christmas!

I don't have any progress to show you this week as I have not done a single stitch since my last update! Terrible I know! Its not that I don't want to, I just don't know where the evenings have gone after work. Fingers crossed I will squeeze some in this weekend, but we are decking the halls so to speak this weekend so who knows?

I must also say I have been terrible at replying and commenting on blogs of late, but you must know I am reading and enjoying them all even if I have not left a comment, promise!

Now, I did have time to have a look in the HAED Thanksgiving sale! I was ever so good and only bought two Minis this time.

Mini Melinda and Moohoo

Mini Midnight Secrets

Mini Midnight Secrets only uses 16 colours so I'm thinking that could be perfect to kit up for my holiday next year so I don't have much to carry around.

Other than that not much to report really. I am now just on the build up to Christmas, most of the presents are sorted now and I just have a few cards to send out, if anyone would like to do a card exchange (not stitched!) then please just comment, I figure its always nice to get something other than bills in the post!

Emma xo

#48 - IHSW part 2

Yes, thats right, part TWO!!

For once I can say I am please with my stitching this month, I feel I have made good progress. The other half may not be quite so happy as it did mean not much housework got done - oops! There is always tomorrow, right?

So, today I worked on Twilight Magic, it has been a while since I last posted about here so here is what she looked like last time...

And here she is now!

Yes, yet more background. I will probably fall asleep tonight and have nightmares about light peach and pink. BUT! the bottom right corner you can see where I haven't stitched, that is the start of her hair, yippee! However I still have a long way to go before I move to the next page. Even so I am happy.

I hope you all had a great weekend, and a good week ahead too.

Emma xo

#47 IHSW part 1

I have so much to share, so this months updates will be in two parts over the weekend! I really am spoiling you all :) hehe

 

First, I won a prize! Dear Lee over at Notes from under the Mountain informed me I was the 150th follower and as a small token of appreciation wanted to send me a little something, how fun :D So in a couple of weeks I will be postman stalking - always nice to have something to look forward to!

Secondly, I want to invite you all to join in the 2013 YOTA over at Pull The Other Thread. Basically the first Saturday of each month we will show work on a long neglected WIP in the hope it will help us get it finished. I think it sounds like a great idea and will definitely make me get some long overdue progress on some of my WIPS/UFOs! 

Now, stitching. Today I started and finished a little something, hooray! This cute garland came free with Cross Stitcher issue 257. It was my first time stitching on card and I think it has turned out quite nice and I know just the place it will be hung in December.

As suspected I did eventually join the HEAD BB SAL. It took me a while to decide but in the end I settled on QS Mystic Garden. The rules this year are slightly different in that for each half page you finish you get one of the other charts! I like the sound of that!

Something tells me this will be confetti hell heaven, but I like a challenge!

Lastly, Mr Postman was ever so kind to me this morning and delivered my thread pack for Mini Transcendence! YAY! I was to start right this second sooo much but I am going to be good and wait for the new year.

Mini Transcendence Goodies! 

Sadly this photo does not show the beautiful hand dyed fabric at its best, but click Here to see it in all its glory!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Emma xo

#46 Back in the Classroom

I am so tired this week, the last three days I have been on a first aid course, it's amazing how tiring it can be learning all day again. Every night I have come home and then fallen in to bed about 8pm!

But, today I passed! Yay! I was thinking of treating myself to some new stash to celebrate, but as yet I am trying to refrain, but we will see how long that lasts!

Just dropping by with a couple reminders, this weekend is IHSW. Click below to join in the fun! I am looking forward to this one, it feels like today should be Friday already but I still have two days at work - URGH!


Also, for you HAED lovers out there, the 2013 BB Sal sneak peeks are up showing which charts its going to be. Part of my wants to join in but none immediately jumped out at me so at the moment I have not decided. Perhaps once the sign ups are open I might turn in to the green eyed monster and want to join the fun, hehe :D
I will update at the weekend with new photos. 
Have a great week everyone!
Emma xo

#42 Where has this Weekend gone?!

After a day of decorating yesterday I finally got chance to settle down with some stitching this afternoon. I continued work on my Sweet Treats SAL. Didn't get a whole lot done, but progress is progress.

Sorry for the Blurry Picture!

My Stitching Stash has increased somewhat over the last two days thanks to the HAED Rakoween Event on Facebook. I think as it tied in so nicely with Heaven and Earth's Sale which is going on at the moment people went a little RAK crazy!

I now have these four beauties added to my collection. Envy and the Montage are HUGE. When I will get round to even starting them I don't even know yet!

Mini Starlight

Four Seasons

Envy

Hannah Lynn Montage

My dear sweet Nana asked my what I would like for Christmas and my Birthday this year (which is the week after Christmas), she is to thank for my crafty side so when I suggested the threads for one of my charts she agreed - Yay! So I have ordered what I need for Mini The Black. This means I now have three sat ready and waiting for the new year!

Mini The Black

Hope you all have a great week!

Emma xo