Pre Birthday update

Well its been a while since i last updated. In my last post i was working on a Cross Stitch for Esmai, i never finished it. I lost interest and it was clear i wasn't going to be able to finish in time for her birthday so decided to stop pushing myself as i wasn't enjoying it.

I instead started doing some more crochet, something about the end of summer makes me yearn for yarn. I have been able to crochet for years (My Nana taught me) but i  have never been able to read a pattern. My Nana would speak it to me and i would crochet it then its stuck in my head. This time i  wanted to read and work it out for myself.... it didn't go so well, mainly as i wasn't quite grasping the concept of working in the back loop- to create the cable rows i needed. I eventually found a you tube tutorial of the pattern i was using. The lady on the vid finished them in about 30 minutes, she made it so simple and i was able to watch and re watch over and over. The complete set of wrist warms took me around 2 days to finish and I'm pretty sure now i know how to do it, i can do it faster. I plan on making lots more in the future. Now if only i could find some matching boot cuffs.....

 Not stitching related but I'm so chuffed that i HAVE to share. Finally after moving out of my parents just over 9 years ago and moving house 7 times ,i FINALLY have decorated my bedroom...a proper adult room.No where near perfect but i managed to do it all myself!

This is the colour it used to be...i hated it!

 Last night we had a fantastic storm. The first roll of thunder was so loud it sounded like a explosion! All the neighbours ran out and was screaming. This is NOT my picture, it was posted on a local facebook group for our area. Look how fantastic it is! This was taken on my estate, one road down from me.

*~*~* I *think* if you click on the pic to make it bigger you can see the photographers credit, but im not sure. When i find out details i will update.*~*~*~*

Its my birthday soon and my amazing family have got me  The Astronomer by Myles Pinkney!!! Im sooo excited! i fell in love with when i first saw it,i cant wait to start it. Only 17 days to go........

Return of Smaug!!! ( Tribal Dragon)

 After Finishing Yule Fairy i have decided to continue working on Tribal dragon by Sparklies. I have only done a little partly as the holes are so small and i need my eyes testing.

What it looked like when i stopped

How it looks now

I dont know how far i will get with this before he has to go away ( were moving in a few weeks) but hopefully i can get a good chunk of the wing done.
I am planning on treating myself for my birthday and getting the threads for one of my HAED designs but its going to be awhile because of the move. I also need to choose a new chart as part of HAEDs reward program, i just dont know what!!

She has a Face...

....And a very pretty one too!

 

 Please excuse the crappy photos. And the grid marks. I think she's going to look great when they have washed out. Her hair has been a nightmare. If you look close up she don't look so great but when you see her from a distance, walking past or while your looking for something else, she really is amazing. I am still loving the colours for this from the wings to the background to the skin tones.

 

Next I am going to finish the hair and the rest of the wing I think. Or I may skip that and start working on the bottom of the page where the draping fabric is as it will stitch up really fast. Or I may work on the background a bit more as I am loving the darker colours. Or I may finish off her boob as Im sure she feels all lopsided......... Too many choices!!!

Im off to mull them over and treat myself to a vanilla latte mmmmmmmm

I stitched...finally!

I finally managed to stitch. Since my last update I had to have a unexpected operation. The operation itself was a day case, which went well. The only problem was while coming round from the anaesthetic I bit through my lip. From the front to the back. By the time I had left hospital that night it was infected.
Over the next few days I couldn't eat and slept constantly. My face swelled up. I had a fever, couldn't concentrate, shivers and was constantly dizzy. I ended up down A&E. Dehydrated and weak from not eating. I fell asleep in the waiting room. The first time I have slept in public since I was a child, I was so embarrassed! I had a raging infection and have been given Antibiotics.
Things are a lot better now. I can eat almost normally and all the swelling has gone. I can finally concentrate again and Im safe to look after the kids again!

Now I can concentrate I can stitch!
Im loving how this is coming together. You can see where her hair is. Her boobs are there and I can just make out where her arm is. The reds in here is beautiful. I think I will work on the background when I have finished the little bit of red left. Then it will be Her body to do. Looking at the chart is is a confetti bomb! Its going to take me ages to do but I know it will look amazing!

Update on page 3 and birthday buys!!

First of all I would like to say a massive thank you for everyone's kind words on Connors cross stitch. I read all the comments to him and he is over the moon.

 

 

I decided to sew al the black on the page so I have a rough idea of where everything is and can work in rough sections again. So all the black is now done. I then started some of the red on the wing. The colours are amazing and he picture really don't do it any justice!

 

 

Before I forget Esmai is now walking without too much help. Connor goes back to school next week.

And I will finally be able to recover from all the days out we have had. Only problem with keeping the kids busy is I end up more tired them they do!

 

 

Its my birthday next month. The way that things- money wise- are working out at the moment means I got my birthday pressies this month from my partner and children. And the best part Is I got to choose them!!

 

4 New charts from HAED. A Storage box to keep threads in and THE best gridding pen I  have ever found.

No more lost threads!

 

I still haven't finished putting all the threads in

Middle Earth- I have been after this chart forever!!!

Eternal Promise- I fell in love with this chart years ago

Storykeep-Forest Walk- His so cute

Mini Small Things

So lots to keep me busy for the next few years. Now I have to find the time and money to kit all the new buys up.

Progress on Yule fairy

Here’s a quick pic of “Yule fairy” this has stitched up pretty quick and has been nice to stitch. This is the first 2 rows of the first page. I’m now debating on whether to carry on with the first 2 rows all the way across then I’ll have the full size of it, or should I work page by page? Hmmmm so choices!

I have completed the finishing of my mystery project which was a lot more easier then I thought it would be. Connor helped with the sowing on the front panel and the whole thing was finished in about 2 hours of hand sowing. I can’t wait to get it wrapped up and given to the birthday girl. I hope she will love it.

 I have recently started teaching Connor to cook easy meals, supervised of course. He is really enjoying it and his eating has got a little bit better. So far we have made tuna and pasta, which is just tuna, pasta and salad cream and beans on toast.

I had a great mother’s day got spoilt rotten even if I did have to make my own breakfast! Me and Connor made a present for my mum which she loved it was a little heart shaped box which we put a few sweets in. It was great fun making it with Connor.

update and baby#2

Hello. Well after my accident a few days ago I have done a little stitching. More then I had hoped to get done so I’m quite happy with it. It seems to have stitched up really quickly. I can’t believe how many different colors are in one area. The picture of the completed project doesn’t do it justice at all. Neither does my pic, there are loads of pretty colours in it. So far this is a joy to stitch on.

For some reason blogger has turn the pic around. It’s actually the top line going right across not down the side

So for a baby update. I am now almost 18weeks gone. I feel massive already but that’s mainly due to the baby being long and in a weird position. Its feet are by my spine and its head by my belly button. This is making me look nearer to 7 months pregnant. And also explains the kidney shots it’s been giving me. So far it has been agreed to induce me 2 weeks early but it might be sooner depending on how my health goes and how quickly the lungs mature.  It’s so annoying not being able to tell people how much longer I got because I don’t know. The pain is getting bad where my muscles are stretching I have now been about 11 weeks without any painkillers and my mood shows that I’m struggling, and I hate mornings with a new found passion.  In all honesty I’m kinda looking forward to the hospital bed rest the midwife is insistent I will need. Just think of all that time for stitching!!

Connor is really excited about the baby, he felt it kick a few days ago, and he said it made my belly feel like jelly! Charming right?  He is a little confused but not as much as I thought he would be. He is insistent that there is a baby in his belly too.

A new start - Yule Fairy

I have started “Yule fairy” so far I have 199 stitches completed.

It took forever to grid the fabric using thread but I think I may have found a pen that is thin enough to work on 25count but if not I have ordered one that claims to be ultra fine so hopefully it will make gridding the rest of it easy.

 I feel it’s stitched up pretty quick and hope it stays that way

I did start on doing some more but to me the colour looks wrong. It looks too green where as in the picture of the finished piece it’s more of a grey

Yule Fairy

Good morning! How is everyone? I have a quick question before i forget : 

Does anyone know of a fabric pen that has a small enough nib to be able to grid on 25 count fabric? The gridding pens I have are way too big to be able to grid clearly.

As I’ve seen a lot of people sharing snow pics I thought I would share mine. We had snow yesterday morning. Now I should point out now it was extremely pathetic more like a light sprinkle. We didn’t even have a snowball fight, which sucks. Hopefully we will have some more overnight.



Connor rather unimpressed

Out the kitchen window



My thread pack for “Yule Fairy” arrived today, I was so excited. Head on over to Cross stitch Heaven. I love how it’s all pre-sorted and kept together by a key ring. Delivery was fast and the lady was lovely J

I hope to make a start tonight by doing the first 100 squares. I won’t get much done on it this week though as I am helping out at Dreamdragons this weekend. We have shows Friday, twice on Saturday and Sunday then the following Sunday. I’ll be doing front of house as I’m not allowed to lift anything heavy. Lots of showing people to their seats and making drinks. I’m quite looking forward to it. We are taking Connor to see the show on Saturday morning. Its gonna be so much fun. My dad, granddad, aunt, and a few members of family and of course close friends will all be in it. My dad and granddad are playing a double act. There terrible when they get together they both suddenly become little children and spent the whole time they are together mucking about. It’s so much fun to watch!



Thread pack



New start

I’ve made progress on bubbas blanket but not enough to warrant a picture. 5 rows seems like nothing when I laid it out to take a pic lol

Grab a cuppa , lots of pics :D

Wow over a week without a post. Apparently January isn’t our month. My mum ended up in hospital for a few days but she’s at home now and slowly getting better. She had a small accident and her pain killers stopped working so her body went into shock and started shutting down.

PROUD MUMMY WARNING! : Connor is now potty trained during the day!!! His been almost 2 weeks without an accident. He is still wearing night time pants at night but has used the potty a few times. I was starting to get worried as he is due to start primary school in September. So glad it’s finally happened lol

So first up is a bit of progress on “Tribal dragon” the new bit is part of the head.

 

Next up is Connors 2^nd pic with Santa. A local social club does a child’s party every year, they are really amazing.

I have had another scan now that I am over 3 months I can start to relax little. This is our little baby looking like a baby and not a blob!

 

Yesterday me and Connor made some yummy cakes. We had to colour in the cake cases and I got told off for going outside the lines!

Soon I will have a new start! It’s a Jessica Galbreth stocking. I fell in love with this as soon as I saw it on HAED but have put off starting. I plan on doing this for my mum as a Xmas present, although she might get it next year, I don’t want to under estimate how long it will take. I also want to do a xmas stocking for the new arrival but the one I have chosen is a simple cartoon one with snowmen...it’s so cute.

Jessica Galbreth

Snowmen stitcking

Spreading the love

Hi everyone, just a quick post to say hi and share a bit of love

Have you checked out Cross stitch heaven it’s amazingly cheap, easy to navigate and even makes up HAED thread packs! If they don’t have the one you’re after just send them an email and they make it for you! This is so amazing I found that sorting out what threads I needed was a nightmare on “Strength” and I know a lot of the blogs that I follow do a lot of HAED this is my idea of heaven!

It was my blogverasy on the 14^th so I am doing a giveaway. If you haven’t noticed already I have made a separate page for giveaways, you should be able to comment on there. You can also comment on the post that I announced it, on the new page or email me. My email address is at the very top on the right. The more entries I receive the more stash ill add to it.

I am just waiting on some hand dyed fabric from Sparklies which is looks amazing, and this will be the first time I have used hand dyed fabric , then I’ll be starting a new project. I’m so excited about this. I won’t have a time limit on it so I’ll be able to enjoy every stitch. I don’t know how I’m going to finish it as it works out as a very big design but I have months to dream about it, don’t you just love that feeling.

~*~*~*Happy Dance!!!!*~*~*~ ( The coherent version) And blogversary Giveaway!!!

Hello ! I apologise for my earlier post, it wasn’t all that coherent. Not enough sleep does that too me, but don’t worry my lovelies I’m more then awake now! The last post should have read:

I have finished “Strength” story keep!!!! I’m sorry for not posting for so long; I have worked solidly on this since my last post. Just as well really it was a mad rush to get it finished! I now have bruising on my fingertips, partly due to the EDS partly due to it being really hard to push the needle through. I managed to get it finished and “framed” in my own way this morning. It’s the first time I have framed anything and it was a nightmare! I think when I have some spare money I will have it done properly. Black card and masking tape isn’t too professional.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

My wonderful Daddy

Framed

Framed

On the 14^th of this month it is my one year blogversary! One whole year. I would like to thank you to all of you for putting up with my incoherent ramblings. To celebrate I’m doing a quick giveaway. Simply comment on this post and spread the word if you want (but not necessary) Drawing will be on the 30^th November. If your name is drawn you will get to choose from the following:

·         Jane Greenoff  “Cross stitch castles and cottages”

·         Maria Diaz “101 cross stitch card designs”

·         Joan Elliot “Sentiments and sayings”

·         Dorothea Hall “Cross stitch for the home”

~*~*~*Happy Dance!!!!*~*~*~

i have finshed strength storykeep!!! sorry for posting for so long i have worked solidly on this since my last post. i know have bruising on my fingertips...damn EDS.
this is a old pic taken late last night since taking it i have finished but dont have a proper picture yet hopefully by tongiht!
just in time too as its my dads birthday today!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!

Just a quick one!

This is the progress on strength. I have completed four rows. There was loads of confetti stitches and its felt like it’s taken forever. I’m glad to have the first part done. In the pic it looks like its bowed little bit it’s just the way it was laying as I took the pic. It’s amazing how many different shades of green there is in there. I personally think it would look just as good with half the colours.

First four rows

The kittens have all found new homes now. And the house is just a bit too quite, I am seriously considering getting a German bearded dragon. One of my friends has it but they are not at home enough to keep it happy. I’m not sure yet but it’s got a lovely smile.

"Doris" the german bearded dragon

Joyzse the plant that the flower is from is a common spider plant. And it seems almost impossible to kill :D

I do not own this picture

i do not own this picture

( both pics taken from google)