Monday 21 July 2014

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!

Saturday 19 July 2014

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!!

Monday 14 July 2014

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

 

Saturday 5 July 2014

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

Tuesday 1 July 2014

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!!