Cards Galore and Stitching Progress

Before the festivities I managed to have a bit of a cardmaking fest, spread over a few days as the stamina was only up for so much standing around. I made four Christmas Cards, some of which were sent out to Forum/Blogging friends. This one I sent to Lynn:

This one to Barb: 

This one to Sally:

This one to Karen, I think (sorry, brain fart moments are coming thick and fast, thanks to the menopause!):

Then there were a couple of birthday's too. Our friend Alex's birthday was on Christmas Eve, so I made a card for her and had great fun using one of my Celtic style stamps, embossing powder and peel-offs:

I made this card a while ago and the colours immediately made me think of Karen, so that's where it went off to earlier this month:

Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of the birthday card I sent to Sally but you can see a pic here (scroll down a little).

I received some lovely handmade festive cards from family and friends too:

The large blue one was made by my DSis, the fairy card by my PenPal Maggie, Let it Snow card by Helen, the stitched card by Jayne (no blog) and the snow wording card at the front by our friend Alex. Aren't they all fab? BTW, you are getting a sneak peek of my new computer table in that pic. LOL

Next up is the promised update of the progress made on Mother Earth. This pic is where I got up to by last Sunday (3rd), ready for posting on the 2010 Weekly SAL Blog:

I've been stitching on her again since, so there's even more progress and, as I've already posted the update on the SAL Blog, I'll post another pic here too:

When I'm stitching this it can seem like there's not been much progress made..... then I look at the pics together like this and see the noticeable difference. As the Most Haunted Live 7-Night Special started last night (Saturday) it means I shall be parked in my armchair from 9pm every night to watch it..... which guarantees plenty of time to stitch some more on this and my other SAL pieces. :0) The timing of this Special is perfect, as DH and DS are going to be out most nights, as they are involved with the Pantomime production that starts at the theatre this week. Normally I'd have to listen to DS moaning about it being on...... now I won't. LOL

I made a start on the Bouquet for Cheryl SAL earlier in the week but I can't post an update yet, as the first posting date for that isn't until next month.... plenty of time to get a bit more done. In case you haven't had a mosey over there and seen a pic of  my choices for this already, I thought I'd post one here too:

Initially I was just going to use the top thread for this but once I got the chart printed out I changed my mind (it's allowed - I'm a woman! LOL). I've broken some stitching rules with this piece, as the top thread is a Thai silk and the lower one is a Carrie's cotton but the design immediately made me think of contrasts and I wanted the thread to reflect this. I'm doing this 1 over 1 on a 28ct fabric - unfortunately I'm not sure what fabric it is, as the label has disappeared. I'm really pleased with how it's stitching up so far.

I have yet to make a start on the Just Nan SAL piece but will get around to that soon. The Sew and So order I was waiting for (Floss-Away bags and some DMC) has arrived, so I can carry on with my thread sorting and make a start on the JA/S&S Challenge piece...... or at least I can if I can suss out the colour only chart enough to work out which thread I'm supposed to use for which bit, as my printer has made some of the colours much too similar!

I've had my trip to see my Herbalist and now have some new tablets and potion, though the diet is staying much the same. There's a more detailed post on that on my other blog, if you're interested. I was pleased to find that, despite my thinking otherwise, I hadn't put any weight on since my op, despite not being able to move around as much as usual, but had stayed the same. :0) Once this cold snap ends I shall start making a better effort towards getting to my next goal. Fingers and everything else crossed! :0)

If I haven't visited your blog recently I will be doing, as I'm slowly catching up. Some of you have been very chatty, as there were over 400 posts in my Bloglines! I've got down to around 300... but you can see there's a ways to go yet. LOL

Many thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave your lovely comments. Hope you are all staying safe and warm and getting lots of stitching done. :0)