Love is in the Air

First it was the Love Is You SAL piece I was working on earlier in the week and now today I've had a Valentine's card making session, ready for the day tomorrow. There must be something in the air this week, other than the usual household cleaning fluid and cooking smells that is.
Here's my card for DH: It didn't quite start out like that in my head but am reasonably happy with it and think DH will like it.

Now how many of you are looking forward to Valentine's Day tomorrow and are in the mood for luuurve? And how many of you are more in the mood for planting their OH under the patio? ROFL. ;0) I'll leave you guessing as to which way I'm leaning at the moment. LOL

The clip-on magnifier was well and truly christened last night when I used it whilst stitching on the Amanda SAL piece and what a difference it makes! Yes, I know - it was Tuesday UFO Night and I should have actually been stitching on ET, doing the dreaded metallic backstitch, but really couldn't face it. Plus there was a Most Haunted Almost Live on that I hadn't seen - not good for concentration levels and I didn't want to risk making a mistake..... or go missing a good bit of MH. Plus I am getting behind on the Amanda piece, which will hold up all my SAL pieces and the Monthly Challenge if I'm not careful, and this section is so straightforward, now it's started, it was ideal to do while watching TV.
There Julie........ is that enough excuses for Mr Stick? ;0) I promise to make up for it pretty soon.
Here's the latest Amanda pic:

Not as much as I'd hoped to do because, although I can now see much more clearly with the magnifier, it seems to have slowed my stitching speed a bit - it definitely slows things up when it's time to fasten off or start another thread length but I guess things will pick back up once I've got used to it and learnt the knack of handling the frame with the cumbersome bit attached to it. It's certainly made me realise I should have got one of these much sooner!

Today I am waiting for the Gas Man to turn up. We got a letter last week to tell us that they want to come and change the meter - something about "accuracy", "safety" and such like. Fine, I don't mind, but I do think that saying the chap will be here "some time between 8am and 8pm" is taking a bit of a liberty. I've been up since the crack of dawn, in case he came early - he didn't. Been scooting round getting a load of jobs done, as well as making DH's card, and am now shattered and need matchsticks for my eyes....... and he still ain't here. Bet he turns up when I'm trying to cook tea. >rolleyes<

Lynn: sorry, but I don't think the Love Is piece is on Carol's site. It's a Ltd Ed design and was only available to forum members just before Valentine's in 2006 (I think).

Thanks to every one for stopping by and for leaving comments. Hope you're having a good day. :0)

Flippin' Frogs and Stitchy Bugs

Have got the feeling I have been well and truly bitten by the stitchy bug at the moment, as most of my projects seem to be growing well and benefiting from some attention, despite the flippin' frogs best sabotage efforts. So if you've lost your bug girls: sorry, I think he's moved in here! LOL

On Saturday night I carried on with the Amanda SAL's outer borders but realised I was a stitch out, so the bottom edges weren't going to meet. A quick count made me realise I was one stitch too short on the right side, so in came that darned frog and a few choice words, out came the thread back to the corner so I could correct it. All OK now but that made me decide to put it to one side for a while before starting the inner flowers and leaves border - I went to bed.

Sunday was a lovely day, weatherwise, and an enjoyable one. DS went out for the day with some friends so. DH was fully recovered from his Friday night over indulgences so we went to a local garden centre for dinner and a look round. We wanted some plants to replace the ones in my Arthur and Guinevere pots that are on the wall either side of the back door but it's too early for marigolds and we didn't spot anything else that was suitable - will have to wait until later in the season and possibly temporarily plant herbs in them instead.
On to Dunhelm and The Range afterwards, where we managed to get a couple of items we needed then we decided to have a drive out to Alkborough, to visit the turf cut maze site called Julian's Bower. There were layers of mist on the horizon, which obscured much of the views, but the tops of trees and the occasional electricity pylon peeped out, making it look quite eerie and mystical - even more so when the sun began to set and streaks of red, pink and orange blazed across the sky as well. Why is it you never have a camera with you at such wonderful, awe-inspiring moments?
We then went home and from there walked down to the local pub, The Malt Shovel, for our tea. I can highly recommend the poached salmon in dill sauce. :0)

I was feeling quite tired in the evening, so decided to leave the Amanda SAL well alone (need to do some counting and didn't want to risk messing it up) and opted to pick up Love Is You, a Carol Tinson design, instead. Here's the latest pic. Two thread lengths later and the top corner was finished and a start made on the right side - that was enough eye strain for one night though.

Am glad to say that my Sew and So order arrived today, with the magnifier. Yay! As I was busy earlier doing the usual Monday jobs, ready for Alex coming round for her usual coffee and a natter session, there's been no chance to try it out yet........ but that will be rectified tonight. ;0) Will let you know how I get on with it. Helen: I have a feeling I may feel the same and use your solution for the extra little magnifier.

Claire: I'm afraid I don't know what the place in Grimsby is called, that's half the problem. If I did I could probably find it. All I know is that it's a lighting place and it sells all kinds of hobby style lamps as well and at a cheaper price than most specialist needlework places charge. A lady from Freecycle mentioned it - so wish I'd written the details down at the time! >rolleyes< Don't suppose you would have an idea of what it's called and where it might be?

The breadwinners have returned and need feeding so I'd better go. Will catch up with everyone's Blogs later.

Hope you all had a good weekend and enjoyed the fine weather. :0)

A Finish, A Start and A Late Comer

Last night's finish was the Monthly Challenge........ well, the stitching bit of the front anyway. Well pleased with how that has turned out, despite having "fun" with the new thread (although I was warned that it could be awkward to use, so was prepared for this), and am now trying to decide if I'm up to the finishing technique. I'm waiting for a couple of bits I bought from that well known auction site to turn up before making final decisions, as I may well change my mind again - nothing new there, then. LOL


The new start, also last night, is the For Amanda SAL piece designed by Carol Tinson. It won't all fit on the scanner, so here's a pic of what will:

The fabric isn't the recommended one: it's Pol's Georgian Linen, as suggested by Jayne. These are the two outer borders, stitched in Dinky Dyes silk Eungella, and I've completed the top and half of both sides so far and will carry on with this tonight. Am enjoying this piece and loving the effect of the silk/colours on the fabric - they are all a joy to use.


The late comer is the last of the charts outstanding from my Thread Bear order which came this morning, along with the no-sew roller bars. It's a Milady's Needle chart by Gloria Moore: It's such a sweet design, how could I not get it? LOL Whilst Yule celebrations are more my thing we still keep a traditional Christmas for my DH so it'll be a nice piece to make and display for him.


I had a nosey round at various craft sites yesterday and finished up ordering one of those clip-on magnifiers to try out. It's No 7 on this page if you want to have a look-see. Thought it was a good way of keeping me going with the fine work, as what I would eventually like is one of those big, floor-standing adjustable ones that has the lens in the middle and a light round the outside. I definitely would prefer having a try-before-you-buy session before paying out that amount of money though. Still haven't found out where the place in Grimsby is so I guess I shall have to get to a stitching show this year, in the hopes that someone there is selling them.


Well today hasn't gone quite as planned. Last night DH went out to a Retirement Do for one of the higher-ups at work, a meal out and drink - only a group of them went on into town to a late opening pub afterwards as well, with my party animal DH among them. Guess who didn't get back in until gone 2am? Guess who'd had a few more jars than he's used to? Guess who's been feeling as rough as a badger's bum today and spent most of it in bed, feeling sorry for himself? And guess who wasn't too happy about it?
OK, if he was feeling poorly, sick and dying from a bug I would have the compassion and kindness of the sainted Mother Teresa herself and do all the looking after required. It's not though, it's self-inflicted - be prepared to feel the awesome wrath of Sekh'met the avenger!!! Guess who won't be doing that again in a hurry? ROFLMAO
Actually, he's been looking and feeling so rough I didn't have the heart to present him with a greasy fry-up or bend his ear about having more sense at his age - I know he won't be in a rush to feel that bad again any time soon. ;0)

Meantime I've kept myself busy and spent some time in the back garden, filling the brown recycling bin with yet more conifer clippings (they will keep growing! LOL). It was a pleasure to listen to Poppa blackbird singing his heart out at dusk, almost as if he were serenading the new moon. It lifts my heart so to hear him. Hopefully the weather will stay dry so I can spend some time pottering around out there tomorrow as well.

I hope you're all having a good weekend, whatever you are doing, and thanks for stopping by. :0)

Not A Lot......

to share today. :0(
Can't show any progress on last night's stitching as it was on the Monthly Challenge piece and that has to stay a secret until later in the month. The other pics I'd like to share are still on the flippin' digicam because DH still hasn't transferred them over for me - if I knew which cables had to come out so the camera could be plugged in I'd do it myself but I don't, so daren't take the risk. If I screwed up my computer so I couldn't get online I'd freak big time! Although, looking at it from another angle, I guess I'd probably get a whole lot more stitching done instead. LOL

Due to this problem I've asked DH if we can do something to make transferring pics much easier. He waffled on about ports and docking and.......... nah, sorry, I just don't do that computer-speak stuff - a mind-fog quickly settles in and I end up virtually comatose. Basically, when I got him to speak in plain English again, yes there's something we can buy to add to the computer that will make transferring pics from the camera much easier because I'd just have to attach or plug in the camera to this specific piece of kit and it will do the transfer. Right, says I, find out how much and where from and lets get one because I want to be able to get pics on to my computer myself whenever I want. Research is ongoing - fingers crossed it gets sorted this weekend, then I can show pics of my Ink Circles Blackstone Fantasy Garden finish and the promised one of Santa on his broomstick. It would also mean I'd be able to take arty pics of my smaller pieces and cards, rather than having to scan them. :0)

Speaking of pics: can anyone tell me (in an idiots guide to...) how I go about putting in a pic as a header to my blog, please? Although I will have to actually go looking for something suitable first - any suggestions?

Mylene and Karen: definitely NO invites because you really wouldn't want to see me doing a bellydance, as it wouldn't be good for your mental health to witness it - you'd need years of therapy afterwards, if you did. DS and DH aren't daft either: they would definitely be running for the hills. ;0) ROFL

Well I've got a sink full of dirty dishes and a tumble dryer of clean clothes that need my attention so I'm off to sort them, then I can have an hours stitching this afternoon with a clear conscience. ;0)

Hope you're all having a good day, whatever you are doing. :0)

Egyptian Reggae

That was my mini Happy Dance choice for Tuesday UFO Night because I did finally finish all of the cross stitch on Egyptian Tablet and here's the pic to prove it: So glad to get that done. Next week it's on to the backstitch which is in DMC's gold metallic thread....... best get Mr Stick limbering up for then Julie because I am not looking forward to it at all - that metallic is awful and there's lots of it.
There'll be one big celebration in this house when it is finally completed but be warned though: when I do finally get this finished it won't be an Egyptian Reggae HD but a full on bellydance I'll be doing which may result in news reports of earth tremors in this area. LOL ;0)

It's back to the Monthly Challenge piece today. Yay! Must admit that I was enjoying this so much I didn't want to break off to do ET last night but needs must - plus that Mr Stick is a scary dude when he wants to be! I did a little research on the Web yesterday, looking for pieces in a similar style to how I want to finish mine but didn't find exactly what was wanted - saw lots of other inspiring pretties though, with finishing techniques I'd like to try at some point. Although I'm in awe of how many talented stitchers there are out there and the wonderful items they've made - if my pieces end up just half as good then that'll be me very happy.

Glad to say the weather here today, although cold, is actually quite sunny. It seems to have affected the birdies because they are zipping about in hyperactive mode, ram raiding the feeders in my garden then zipping off and squabbling in the bushes. Poppa blackbird has already staked his claim to our garden again and is defending it against all comers, including the neighbours scabby tom cat. Methinks they are full of the joys of Spring already and there may well be some frantic nest building going on soon. As for the plant world: winter flowering pansies and jasmine are still in flower, snowdrops are in various stages of bloom and the crocus are fast catching up but the daffs and narcissi are trailing behind, as per usual. Yes, Mother Earth is gradually waking up after her winter sleep. Am looking forward to warmer days, lighter nights and soon being able to spend more time in my garden. :0)

Hope you're all enjoying nicer weather and having fun, whatever you are doing. :0)

No-Show Tuesday

No picture of the Amanda SAL to show today because I changed my mind (I'm a woman - I'm allowed to ;0) ) and made a start on the February Challenge piece instead.......... which I can't show until the reveal day. I've got about half of it stitched. It's another enjoyable one, plus it's a piece that's giving me the opportunity to try out a thread that is new to me so it's another learning curve. I've sort of got an idea in my head for finishing this but it's a case of if my skills are up to turning it into a reality.

As I haven't got a stitchy pic to show I thought I'd share one of this month's Monthly Club stash from Jayne instead.
I love receiving the pretty rainbow of Carrie's each month and the fabric is a Sassy's called Khaki - can't wait to find a suitable design for this as it's a gorgeous colour. I've also been mulling over what thread to go for once I've got all of the CC's and decided I would like some silks: there are Dinky Dyes in the Memories and Amanda SAL's and they feel gorgeous, as well as being lovely to use, so they are the strongest contender so far. Any other suggestions?

It's Tuesday again, which means it's UFO Night so bet you'll all be able to guess what I'm stitching on tonight. :0) Wonder if I can have a mega-stitch session and manage to get all of that last bit finished?

Well, what was bright and sunny weather this morning is now back to more rain but I've just seen the most glorious rainbow arching across the sky, with a faint secondary one above it - so not complaining about the weather when it brings a sign of the Goddess Iris, a good omen. The last time I saw such a wonderful sight was while we were on holiday in the Lake District last year, so it's brought back a few nice memories. :0) Of course it didn't last long enough for me to grab the digicam and have a go at taking a pic! LOL

Nicola: thanks for the tip re: getting paragraphs when Blogger is playing up. It works! Thank you. :0)

Many thanks to all for the encouragement about going out to the library - it will help me to achieve that goal and go on from there. :0)

Thanks to all for visiting and for taking the time to comment, it's very much appreciated.

To any newbies: don't be shy, please say Hi! :0)

Days Out & Days In

I'm still here - although the trek down the windswept High Street on Thursday did almost take my breath away! It was productive though, as we stopped in at the local craft shop and came away with two thicknesses of Vilene and various lengths of pretty trimmings for finishing items and a good idea of what else they stock for future reference. :0) I also re-joined the local library (just a couple of minutes walk from our house now) and took out a couple of books - one of which is about Boudica, which is very interesting. There's method in my madness here: now I've got the books out I've got to take them back - a nice incentive to break that final barrier, left over from the agoraphobia, of going out of the house on my own. It'll be just far enough to be a challenge but not too far that I can't see myself ever doing it. :0)

Friday we went to my DSis's in Doncaster for the day. The weather was still a bit wild, with occasional downpours, but no snow. We took her out to a garden centre for dinner as a belated birthday treat and so she could spend some of the garden vouchers she was given for Christmas and her birthday. She came away with a ceramic hanging bird bath, a pole to hang it from, a suet slab and a holder for it. No garden pots, as they didn't have a matching pair in a design she liked. DH got a few bits, including a book about the Spitfire, and I couldn't resist this coaster:
It appealed to my sense of humour - although DS swears the only one who isn't normal in this family is me. I really don't know what he means. ROFLMAO

The weekend was down for more lousy weather so we opted for staying in and getting a few things done. Saturday I decided to finish the Ozark border so set to with determination.......... only to realise that I'd made two mistakes: one on the left side and one at the top, right near the start. After frogging what I'd done on the left and taking the top back from the beginning - around three lengths of thread (definitely a cross stitch moment) - the top mistake was corrected (this would've made the border one stitch too short and put everything else out) and the rest was re-stitched. That mistake meant it didn't get finished Saturday, as planned. It did get finished Sunday afternoon though: It won't all fit on the scanner, so the pic is of the bit that will, just to give you an idea of colours etc. The amount of thread given for this was very generous and there's loads left over. :0)

Sunday evening was the turn of the Amanda SAL: fabric marked with the top corner starting point and tacked onto the scroll frame ready to make a start whenever the mood takes me.

Guess I could've got more done but I had to keep breaking off in the afternoon, which set me back. DS finally got round to boxing up the Lego models and other bits that were left in the little bedroom (my future craft room) and I was helping him seal the boxes and mark them, ready for them going in the loft until he gets his own place. Then I was on veg peeling and prep duties for our dinner - whilst I would've much preferred to have continued stitching I do like to eat occasionally and, as it was roast lamb with all the trimmings, it was well worth giving up the time for. ;0)

Alex isn't coming for her usual visit today so, once I've done all the jobs and caught up with blogs I'm hoping to get some extra stitching time in. The choices are: making a start on the Amanda SAL or on the February Challenge, which is a beautiful heart design by Kris of Dragonfly Stitches. Decisions, decisions!

Despite all the forecasts for lots of snow over the last few days we haven't had any here, just a tiny amount of hail and lots of wind and rain. So, the question is: who kept all the snow then? LOL

Hope you've all had a good weekend, despite the weather, and that the week has got off to a good start for you. :0)