I'm sorry all...

I'm meant to be taking part in the Around the world blog hop which Frances invited me to. However I haven't been about much. My husband left me just over a week ago. I haven't heard from him since and am struggling to know what is going on and stitching is last thing on my mind.

Sorry that I can't blog or chat much. I will be back when my head is in the game.

Take care x

 

Thanks for popping by!

Jo's 500 follower Blog Hop

Hi everyone!

To celebrate Jo from Serendipitous Stitching getting 500 followers, she has asked us all to take part in a blog hop. I've loved doing this as its great getting to see more people and their stitching.

My blogger that I am featuring is Evalina from This and That. Evalina is a proud patriot of Canada although originally of Polish descent, even going so far as posting 101 things she loves about Canada. As I'm a relatively new stitcher, I don't really have anything I've stitched that may appeal to Evalina but I did find this on the Internet that made me think of you!!

Evalina has also recently taken a brave move to switch careers towards doing something she truly loves in selling Mary Kay cosmetics. Well done you Evalina, money can't replace happiness! So I saw this and also thought of you...can't take the credit but would love to stitch this. You deserve it!

 

Hope you all enjoy my featured post and the rest of the blog hop. I'm excited to see what everyone else posts!!

Until next time...happy stitching!

 

Thanks for popping by!

TUSAL and holibobs

Hi all,

Hope you are all well! I'll kick off with my TUSAL which is hosted by Daffycat. It's where we post pictures of our thread ends (ORTs) and show them off each month as a way of gauging how much, or little, stitching we've got done...

I've made a bit of progress with the baby sampler. A few weeks ago I sprained my weak ankle again and after being on holiday this week, it's been playing up again so I had a day of enforced rest today. Meant I got loads done!!

I recently won a £20 Amazon voucher from something I took part in in Uni and I've used it to buy myself a Q-snap frame. I'm so excited, I can't wait for it to arrive! Heard so much about them from you all...I just couldn't resist.

Michael and I had a weeks holiday this week. Nothing special, just using up annual leave. We have done lots of fun stuff though from adventure golf on 'Pirate Island' to taking a night out and going down to see my brother in Portsmouth where he is at university. We took him out for lunch and got a nosey around his new house which was nice. Our hotel we stayed in was very funky and we had a really chilled out and fun evening. Will defo do it again! Sadly my bad ankle couldn't take much walking so we couldn't stay any longer on Friday afternoon as I was worried about driving home. Thinking I might talk to the doctor about some strengthening exercises for it!!

Oh well back to work Monday. I'm really looking forward to it after such a lovely week. I feel very refreshed and ready to get back!! Hope you are all well. Until next time...happy stitching!!

 

Thanks for popping by!

The bug is back!

Hi all,

Hope you are all well. I'm enjoying the nights starting to draw in a little. Autumn is my favourite time of year, the colours and slight chill in the air is so lovely!

 

Well after losing my stitchy bug slightly, I've found him again and am thoroughly enjoying working on the baby sampler and it is sooooo quick to stitch.

I think I lost my bug as I insisted on doing the border first. It was such a drag with just one colour in one long line. Next solid border I end up doing, I will do in stages. I really feel like with every piece I stitch I'm learning more and more! Gridding, loop method, fractionals and the dreaded French knot and even framing! I love this hobby so much!

I treated myself today to a little thread jar to keep all my TUSAL oddments in. Sainsburys had Kilner jars on sale and this one made it's way home. It's already filling with prettiness!

I've been admiring everyone's blogs recently and have got a bit of a thing about learning different ways to make up my stitching. After all, after the baby samplers I doubt I'm going to keep doing framed pieces forever! I really fancy learning how to make cushions and pull hangers and customising things using waste canvas. I'm so obsessed that I have asked Santa for a sewing machine this year! A few friends and family have machines so I may have to go and play on them to get a feel for it. Any tips?

Right, better get to bed. Am up early this week for work but I don't mind as Michael and I have a quiet week off work next week! Stitchy heaven here I come!!

Until next time...happy stitching!

 

Thanks for popping by!

Friday Night with Friends

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had a lovely evening! My hubby and I treated ourselves to a Chinese and a bottle of wine last night for the first time in a while and it was lush! Didn't get much stitching done I'm afraid so I'm going to show you where I'm currently up to with one of the baby samplers I'm working on.

I've done most of the border of it, but a little bored of doing that so might move on to some of the pretty colours. It's the Zoo Alphabet Baby Sampler by Dimensions that I'm doing for my best friends little girl who is due in November. Also my first attempt at marking out fabric to help with counting, which I'm loving right now! It's stitching up pretty quick so hopefully be able to get it done and move on to my nephews one. Very exciting!

 

Hope you all had a great FNwF, I'll be popping over to see how you got on!

Until next time....Happy stitching!

 

Thanks for popping by!

Time to relax? What's that?

Hello all!

Sorry I have been so quiet this last month, so much to do at home and work that I've been coming home exhausted! Hardly any stitching done and defo no energy even to blog. I have been keeping up with you all though so I'm not completely out the loop...

I know I told you I am working in an emergency night shelter as part of my Uni course. I love it just so so much, really feel like I know what I am doing now and even have some clients to keywork myself. It's all so positive and I am going to struggle leaving to go back to Uni next year for sure. Hopefully they will love me enough to offer me a job when I leave uni....here's hoping anyway. One of the activities we do with the clients is performing arts and recently completed a 6 week course of becoming a choir. We ended by playing a gig at a local festival called Weyfest and it was amazing. Even I was on stage singing and I have no confidence to do things like that! Awesome to see what working with others brings out in me.

My stitching hasn't completly come to a halt. I managed to stitch up a little card for my Grandmas birthday which was today. Saw this in a recent issue of World of Cross Stitch and loved it, knew she would too. Although Grandma wants to frame it as well! I'm very flattered....

I'm starting to get a little more patience with backstitching now, although it will never be my favourite job to do. My next project is to continue on with the birth samplers for my nephew and best friends daughter who are due in December and November. So a bit of time but it is rapidly disappearing, losing the stitchy bug due to tiredness has eaten into my schedule a bit...

My little brother got into Uni! Yippee! I am so proud of him. He is going to study Drama and Theatre Studies at Portsmouth - which is great for me to go shopping hehe. Wonder if there are any craft shops at Gunwharf, may have to look into that. Andi got his house sorted today as well, one week to go then he is on his own two feet! Scary stuff.

I also have a new addition to my little family by way of a Syrian Hamster called Garibaldi, or Gary for short. He is a gorgeous little character and is super friendly and tame and loves a cuddle, just the perfect pet. My dog, full sized Labrador, is still frightened when Gary gets in his ball and rolls around. Considering the size difference, I tell my dog he is a big fat wimp!

Gary selfie!

Hope you are all well. Thanks for bearing with me and until next time....Happy stitching!

 

 

 

Thanks for popping by!

I'm still here, promise!

Hi all,

This is going to be a fairly short post. Just to say I'm still here and all is well, I'm just so so busy right now. I started my work placement at the homeless shelter and although it's only 6 hours a day, I'm coming home absolutely shattered so have had no time for stitching or catching up with blogs!

I promise I'm still trying to keep up but I have to admit, I've been in bed by 7:30pm every night, asleep by 9 at the latest! Not used to all this regular work haha. I've started to settle in now I've been there a few weeks and got a bit of stitching done last night. Will post a pic a bit later on.

Hope you are all well and will catch up soon, promise! Until then...happy stitching!

Thanks for popping by!

Friday Night with Friends

Hi everyone,

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. It's just been one of those weeks where I feel I have been run ragged yet not achieved all that much! My parents are in the middle of remodelling their living room so I've been helping shift furniture and source stuff for them, spent a delightful (not!) afternoon in a DIY store with Dad looking at lots of different flooring. I'm not particularly handy so I wandered off and eyed up some pretty kitchens for when we get our own home hahaha!

Well since I last spoke to you all, I have finished Boofle! Yes it's done, framed and given to my friend who absolutely loved it. I was so thrilled with how it turned out in the end. Although I really hate backstitching, and frankly am not that good at it, it really made the design pop and showed off the little details. We went from this, lovely little design.....

               

To this when it was finished. It's so different! I also had some great advice from Hobbycraft again about framing, and I decided to use a self-adhesive mount board and stretch the piece over that before putting in the frame and it was perfect! Took me ten minutes! That is my biggest fear now conquered, like I say I'm not very handy and I was so worried that I would be rubbish at the final stage after months of work.

So now what...well last night for Friday Night with Friends I spent the evening whip stitching and marking out the fabric for my next project which is a baby sampler by Dimensions called Zoo Alphabet Birth Record. This is for my friend who has a little girl due in November. I had a good nosy at the pattern and it looks like it is going to be a fun and fairly easy stitch. When preparing the fabric on this one, I've tried a new method to help me with the overall stitching of the design which is to use some tacking thread to mark the edges with each 10 squares and the middle of the fabric. I think doing this will mean I'm less likely to lose my place when counting, although doubtless I will end up making mistakes I think this will just lessen them!

I'm sorry I haven't replied to each of your comments. Please be assured I do read and appreciate each
and every one of them, I just struggle with time to get back to everyone! I'm also making my way slowly but surely through the last week of blogs so bear with me.
Hope you are all well and until next time....Happy Stitching!

Thanks for popping by!

What a smile filled day!

I couldn't wait to tell you about the absolute gorgeous little pincushion that Jacquie from My Journey sent me through the post. Isn't it gorgeous? It did indeed make me smile and truly made my day. She has a lovely inspiring and cheerful blog that is always a pleasure to read, if you haven't met her yet then I'm sure she would welcome you with open arms so pop over! Thank you Jacquie!

And the backing fabric....

I also met up with a good friend of mine for lunch. She is pregnant with a little girl who is due in November and I'm a bit crazy about the little one already. I had bought her a goodie bag of bits and pieces to spoil the baby when she arrives including bibs, babygros, outfits, teddies and a blanket. I'm also stitching her a birth sampler for when the baby arrives but shhh, she doesn't know hehe. It was lovely to see her face when she saw everything and I got a lovely photo of little baby girls wardrobe with everything hanging up. So cute!

Also the cot with the teddies and blankets in it...

Michael and I don't want children of our own but it is lovely to be part of others lives. Being an Auntie is going to be the best! I have great memories of my auntie's spoiling me rotten and taking me out for the day when I was younger, so I can't wait to do the same for my nephew from December and my friends baby girl from November. Exciting times!!
Hope you're all well. Until next time...happy stitching!

Thanks for popping by!

So close yet so far!

Hi everyone,
Sorry I've been quite quiet recently, I've just been so busy with life stuff that blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. I've been trying to keep up with all of yours though!

I've regained my stitchy bug this week after a few weeks of sewing being a bit of a chore. Boofle is so nearly complete now, I can't wait to get to finished and framed! I went into my local Hobbycraft the other day to get some advice on framing as I've seen so many options, and met the most wonderful sales assistant. She was so helpful that she put all my worries at rest including telling me to bring my piece in and she will go through how to frame it for my first time. No sales tactics involved (apart from what I was going to buy anyway), just truly excellent customer service. Think a nice letter to head office is due!
In other news.....I PASSED MY EXAMS! I'm over the moon that I passed my second year of university with a high 2:1. It's such a great benchmark for me to carry forward to my final year. However first things first, got my work placement at the homeless shelter starting in two weeks. Need to get my list out and start ticking off the things I wanted togetdone before starting. I know it's around here somewhere....
While I was going through all of your blogs, I came across Shebafudge's and she had put a list of questions and answers about herself to allow us to get to know her better. I loved this idea so much that I've pinched it for here!
Q1 - How did you start? Who introduced you to cross stitching?
Nobody in particular introduced me to cross stitch, although my first memory of stitching is making a bookmark on Brownie camp when I was 8. I always admired crafty people and have always been useless at making things with my hands but when I realised you could get cross stitch kits, I fancied a go. So this January just gone, in order to wind down from all my revision, I bought a simple butterfly kit to do. I loved it so much that I got the bug!
Q2 - Favourite theme or designer
I don't have a particular favourite designer although I think Margaret Sherry's designs are cute. I tend to pick Dimensions kits more often than not, purely because I like their style.
Q3 - What brand of floss do you use?
Whatever comes with the kit haha. Otherwise, I have a stash of both DMC and Anchor.
Q4 - What is your fabric of choice?
See Q3 lol, I like stitching on 14ct aida for ease but I'm still a complete beginner. As I advance, I would like to try different fabrics.
Q5 - Do you use a needle threader or are you a floss licker?
Floss licker all the way!
Q6 - What brand of stitching frame (or hoop or otherwise holder) do you use?
I have wooden frame arms that clip together and you have to tape them in place, Sierra I think? No idea as I've chucked the packaging. Although I've heard loads about Q-snap frames so may have to invest in some of those at some point...
Q7 - How many projects have you finished?
I've only completed 3 so far, the butterfly which I framed for my mother in law, a giraffe for a friend who was ill and a bookmark for my mentor at university.
Q8 - How many completed works are hanging in your house?
Grand total of 0, although I have my eye on some that I'd like to do for my own home one day.
Q9 - Do you stitch for gifts or for yourself?
Mainly gifts for people, my pile of kits and charts at the moment has me booked up till next year in gifts for others. Baby samplers, wedding samplers, bookmarks, cards, a large piece for my mum...it's fab!
Q10 - Favourite finished cross stitch piece
I loved the bookmark because it was the first piece where's felt like I 'knew what I was doing'. Sounds silly but I felt more of a stitcher doing that one, possibly because the other two kits were beginners. I don't know.
Q11 - Worst experience whilst stitching?
The frog....and losing the stitchy bug. I hate spending ages getting something ready and hours on a piece, feeling like you have really made progress only to find you have miscounted somewhere.....argh!
Q12 - What do you love and hate about cross stitch?
I love seeing something come together that I have created, watching a design form under my fingers. It's a lovely feeling. I'm also great with tedious tasks, so even large blocks of colour are lovely and therapeutic for me.
I hate fractional stitches. They just bug me, I know they can add definition to a piece but the aida never seems to split properly and my crosses tend to look a bit off. Stupid things *mutters*
Q13 - Have you introduced anyone else to cross stitching?
I haven't, but my family are fascinated watching Mrs Impatient (me) sitting stitching for hours without a break. Especially doing something with my hands as I'm notoriously clumsy and slapdash, so seeing me create something beautiful intrigues them.
Q14 - The first project, did you finish it?
Yes I did :-) framed in my mother in laws summerhouse.
Q15 - How do you store your floss?
I have a floss box where I store all my floss on cardboard bobbins in numerical order by manufacturer

And there we have it, a little more about me that you didn't know. I've really enjoyed doing this so I hope to see some of you maybe doing it also? I'll be popping along to see!
Until next time......happy stitching!!

Thanks for popping by!

July WIPocalypse

Hi everyone,

Sorry I've been quiet on the blogging front but have had a crazy busy week! Had a benefits tribunal with my dad who is off work with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and we won, such a relief! Also my friends wedding was on Saturday. Had a lovely lovely day and very pleased for her.

Wedding time means Boofle! Sadly, I didn't get Boofle done in time for the wedding, what with everything else on. However, she is back from honeymoon in 2 weeks so I have time to get it finished for her then. I have got Mrs Boofle, the bunting, personalising and then the back stitch to do before framing it. All things that really need to be right! I'd rather take the extra time and do it right than rush it.

All in all, I have this habit of underestimating how much time it takes me to stitch things. Does anyone else find that? I forget how long getting everything right and following a pattern will take and end up overshooting my deadlines. As I haven't been stitching all that long, I suppose it's just something that will come with time.

Still got three weeks left till I start my work placement. I'm really excited about it, but am going to relish these last few weeks. Got a few things I still want to do with my time off. Nothing exciting, but just those bits that pile up when you are busy! One of them is getting back to a routine with the gym and swimming. Long story for another post but I suffer with Major Depressive Disorder and have a delightful cocktail of meds to keep me stable, however one in particular has caused me to swell like a balloon in the last few years. I'm now coming off that one and am hoping I get back to a normal size again!! We will see...

Anyhoo, hope all of you are well. Will blog hop and check out all your WIPocalypses this evening. Until then....happy stitching! Xxx

 

Thanks for popping by!

Friday Night with Friends

Happy weekend all!

Just a short one today to update you on my Boofle wedding sampler. It's coming on really well and is a week today until my friends wedding so I am getting my stitch on! I have recently joined Friday Night with Friends, which is a stitchy night in once a month held by Gone Stitchin' which I love the idea of! The stitchy community is so warm, welcoming and open. I'm proud to be a part of it!

Mrs Boofle has more of a shape to her now. All the shading was a bit of a pest but no more visits from the frog...touch wood.

Pop over to Parsleys blog to see details of an amazing giveaway!

Hope you all have lovely weekends! Happy stitching xxx

Thanks for popping by!

Plodding on, slowly but surely...

Hi all,

Hope everyone is enjoying the slightly better weather after the recent downpours here! Well I'm home now after a lovely week in Devon. Waking up usual time on Monday was a bit of a culture shock for us both and I don't feel like I have stopped since!

Had a bit of a palaver with Boofle yesterday. Silly things really but ended up spending a while stitching a section of shading in half cross stitches, realising I had made a mistake which couldn't be ignored as it affected the whole design and having to frog the lot. Argh! Took me the same amount of time to frog it as it had to stitch, had to ditch all the floss as it was a bit tired looking and then restitching it all. Made for a grumpy evening!! Thankfully we are talking again today and that's the last of the half cross stitches done, I can decidedly say I am very pleased!

All the shadows on the bottom, that's the entire section I had to frog. Ugh, onwards and upwards..It's just over a week and a half to the wedding and I need to finish and get it framed. Framing will be my next challenge as I haven't done that before but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it....

I took my dad out for a belated Fathers Day treat today. There's a pudding restaurant style gelataria near us which is very popular but which he hasn't been to yet. As he has a really sweet tooth, I thought it would be an ideal place to spoil him a little.

Doesn't he look happy? Look at the size of that waffle! I had a few scoops of ice cream as I'm more of a savoury kinda girl (but love a little ice cream, what girl doesn't!). Dad loved it so much he has decided he wants to bring his birthday forward (it's in November!!) so he can go next week, then maybe the following week we could go in lieu of next years Fathers Day. Hmm, I might be buying him an extended belt for his next birthday...

Would also like to say welcome to my new followers. I really appreciate you all commenting and taking time to visit me here in my little corner of t'interweb!

Until next time...Happy stitching!!

 

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Free stash? Don't mind if I do...

Hi everyone! This blog to is brought to you from sunny Devon where I am currently on holiday and seeing my grandparents.

Michael and I have had a fantastic week so far. We initially only planned to come down for a few days but ended up extending it twice as we are so relaxed. This B&B is just amazing! Got a jacuzzi bath in the room which is lush, I've had a few of those app with my book and it is amazing! We also have some pretty cool next door neighbours

Went to a farm yesterday and saw some of my favourite animals....miniature pigs! I got to have 'piggy cuddles' with a few of them and it was just lovely. Michael had to drag me out of there as I was just in heaven. Both the ones I picked up fell asleep in my arms after squealing and wriggling with everyone else. I'm now demanding to be called the Piggy Whisperer ahaha!

Beautiful eh?

It's also been great seeing the grandparents. Not least because my grandma has decided to give me all her old embroidery and cross stitch stash as she can no longer do it. I'm over the moon with it all!! A new sewing bag, TONS of anchor thread (some even brand new), a new floss box, hoops and patterns she doesn't use and a scroll frame as well. I'm so so pleased with it all.

See that tin? It's chockablock with Anchor thread! It felt like Christmas opening and seeing what was in there. She also bought me this gorgeous homemade sewing kit in a box. It's ideal for travelling as it has all you need and is cute to boot!

Before I go, a few people have told me I'm coming up as a no comment blogger when I come visiting you all. I've tried to rectify it but if it still comes up like that then please let me know! I love hearing from you all and chatting on blogs etc and want you to be able to talk back haha.

Once again thanks for stopping by. Happy stitching!!

 

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Annnnndd relax!!

Hi all,

Well thank you so much so far to those of you who have commented or emailed me, I've even gained a few followers so thank you all for stopping by! I'm going to try and keep up with the blogging as I find it really great watching everyone else and reading about your sewing and lives etc. I hope I keep you all interested!

This week has been my last week of university for this year. Finished all my exams yesterday and it's an amazing feeling. I've booked the whole of July off so I can relax and sew and get back to reading for pleasure, rather than for work. Already started a fab book called The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. My mentor at uni recommended it and it was the first thing I picked up yesterday after my exam was finished!

Had a lovely lunch with some girl friends to celebrate everything being over. Delicious food and they even had a cheeky lunchtime cocktail - I was driving so it was diet coke for me but still a fab afternoon. I've just been informed by one of my closest friends that in today's final lecture of the year that we are taking loads of photos to mark the end! Hope she gets my good side hahaha.

Going away to Devon next week with my husband to see my grandparents and to show him the area they live. It's beautiful down there and we both need the time away so I can't wait. My grandma used to be a cross stitcher too and has promised to give me all her old stash and patterns and I even think there is a frame or two! I'm so excited, it's nice now that I've taken up this hobby that we can bond over it. Plus, what sort of stitcher would I be to turn down free stash!?

Hope you are all well and enjoying this lovely weather. I'm not going to mention the football...

Chat soon lovelies, always great to hear from you!

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Cakes, tea and stitching...oh my!

Hi all,

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine, although where we are in Surrey the weather broke yesterday. It's pretty overcast today but no rain....yet!

Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there. I have sent Michael, his dad and brother out for a game of golf this morning to celebrate. Seeing as I lost my maternal grandfather last month, we are playing it a bit lower than usual with my parents as mum is understandably a bit vulnerable today. However, I'm not neglecting my dad, have planned to take him out to a pudding restaurant in our town during the week while mum is at work. Dad does love his puddings so I can't think of anything better to treat him with!

I'm only new to the WIPocalypse scene so I can't really post a before and after, so here is a picture of where I am up to currently with my Boofle wedding sampler for my friends wedding. I'm really leased that I have got that much done since Tuesday! Can't wait for exams to be over so I can spend my days stitching during July. Going to be heaven...

Don't forget to comment and let me know if you popped by. Have a good day! ~Summer

 

 

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First post...Testing, testing...

Hi all, this is my first blog post! How exciting!

I've decided to set this blog up to document the progress of my various stitching works and as a bit of a diary as I go along. To start with, let me tell you a little about myself...

I am a full time student studying a degree in Psychology. It's really interesting but such hard work that I started cross-stitching earlier this year as a way to relax after a busy day studying. This year, from August, I will be doing a work placement in an emergency homeless shelter which I'm really looking forward to! One of my other pastimes that I love is reading but I haven't had much time to read for pleasure, what with all the studying I do. I'm looking forward to getting that time back to myself once I start at the shelter!

I have a golden Labrador called Cody, who is my baby. He is nearly 9 years old and a bundle of fun. No doubt you will see countless photos of him along the way... I have also just celebrated my 4th wedding anniversary with my darling husband Michael. I'm sure he'll get the odd mention along the way.

 

 

On to stitching!! My first project was a beginners kit, which was a lovely butterfly. I loved stitching it and gave it to my mother in law as she loved the colours in it. I have also done a cute giraffe picture and a bookmark for various friends. I have to say my backs are coming along well, finding it so much easier to keep them neat!

 

 

My current WIPs are a Boofle Wedding Sampler for my best friends wedding in July. I'm making fairly good progress with that but will enjoy it more once exams are finished I think. Also I have, on the side, a Flower Fairies Masterpiece that I'm doing for my mum who is fairy crazy. That one is pretty complicated though and is taking ages. I have a few other projects with deadlines that need doing first, will just have to fit in the odd bit of stitching here and there when I can with that one.Right, I'm signing off now. Happy stitching! ~Summer