Well I finally made a start on the Lickle Ted design that I have decided to stitch for my sisters 30th birthday. I made a start on Thursday night but I didn't get much done, as I had decided to catch up on the letters I had to right and sort out all of my threads, as earlier in the day I had been to the shop bought some new threads, only to find that I had already got most of them, hidden in a bag( I had put them in a safe place as Lauren had borrowed them for her project, and i didn't want her just throwing them back in , god how stupid am I? I put things in a safe place only to forget where i put them lol)

Anyway I decided to put a 30 in each balloon, just to remind her shes not getting any younger, and the fact that she got on at me when I turned 30. It doesn't look much but it took me ages to do.

On Friday I put a bit more effort into it, that and my sister had the kids for the night so I had peace and quiet and I got loads more done than normal. What bliss it was too lol

I want to get another balloon done and the left hand side of the background, which is only half stitch using one strand. I really want to get this part done before Sunday, as I have joined a yahoo group called ' The Absolute Mystery' where you stitch one of Martina Wiehenburg designs.
I have never done anything like this before, but since I have never done any samplers before I thought I would have a go. So hopefully I will find out what we are doing in the morning, unless its an April Fools joke. :)

Another One to Add to my Stitching wishlist

I have just been looking through my cross stitcher magazine that arrived yesterday when i saw this blackwork design. You can stitch it on 28ct evenweave or 14ct Aida. To buy the Kit it costs you £ 34.95 but you get your choice of fabric, madiera's supertwist threads, beads, sequins and Swarovski crystals.I have only done a bit of blackwork once before, but I am definitely going to get this one as soon as i can afford. There is also another one Called Tallulah In Gold, and even though I'm not goldie colour fan, I will get this one if it all goes well.

I think they would look good as a pair, and with it being something different then, I know for a fact that my sister will end you wanting one too!!

Well the sun is shining and its still a bit cold, but I'm off to tackle the garden, it may take a while as I haven't been in the garden for ages cos its been like quick sand (except its mud), one foot in and you will never be seen again. lol





The kids have also brought there school photos home today, well its a digital print out of how they would looking anyway, were not allowed to bring them home now, but the photo they brought home look nothing like they do normally.
Nicole's hair is curly and never like it is in the picture,someone as school brushed her hair so she looked 'better', so i'm a bit peeved about that and Callum has his hair spikey and his mouth is always open, and he has had to comb his hair flat so he looks quite sensible in this photo. I would have rather had a school photo showing them as they really are, and not a picture that looks nice.

4 Days left to work !!!

Too Busy To Stitch

I didn't get as much stitching done as I would have liked this weekend, what with work, visitors, going out etc, I only managed to get in another 4 hours worth since Friday night. It's coming on slowly but not as fast as I would have liked.

This morning in the post I got my new cross stitcher magazine, a free gift, my needle organizer, threads and Aida that I ordered off eBay. So I can make a start on the Lickle Ted design that I am doing for my sister. I am going to have to put middy to one side for the moment , as her birthday is creeping up and I want it finished in plenty of time, so no more ironing housework etc now today.

I might just be able to get a few hours on before I go to bed early ( these changing the clocks has left me totally shattered, or it might be i didn't go to bed till 1:45am ans i was up at 6 lol)

I'm on my last countdown from work now, only 5 days left!!! ( and 4 days left till the kids break up for Easter, oh no)

Giving Notice

Well I'm going to go into work today and give my notice in, looking forward to that as I currently work in my local supermarket in the Frozen section. so I am constantly frozen.
As soon as I get in from work I have to have a hot bath to warm up , if I don't then I'm cold all day. Mind you it is -30 C so its not ideal since I'm really nesh and I hate the cold.

But I'm not looking forward for them saying I have to work 4 weeks, else I will be breaching my contract(I start next Monday), oops, Never mind only 7 more days left to work, Im sure I can grin and bear it.

Bad News, Good News.

BAD NEWS
Well I have finally started Midsummer Night Fairy, but I got off to a really bad start. On Wednesday night I had a good three hours stitching, which for me is really good, to say I am stitching it on evenweave. I hate evenweave, I find it really difficult to see after a while and I'm very slow, as I can easily make a mistake, I might get better as I go on, as I normally stick to Aida, although I do like the finish you get with evenweave, only time will tell. Anyway I was admiring my handiwork, and I was showing my daughter when I noticed, what I had done.

I had only gone and stitched it the wrong way around, and if I had carried on, the poor thing would have found herself with no head.

To say I was fed up was an understatement. It took me till 1am to unpick it all, and I was trying not to fall asleep, as I didn't want to ruin the fabric, to see all that hard work being unpicked was not something I will repeat again.

I cant believe I was so stupid!!!!

GOOD NEWS

So come Thursday night I started all over again, you can't believe there is two hours worth of stitching there. It doesn't look much but its a start and I made sure I got it the right way around.

BAD NEWS

Hubby's grandma died last week and yesterday was her funeral, not a good day, as I hate funerals. Everyone's upset ( naturally) and I never know what to say, and when I do, I normally say something wrong. Thankfully it went with no major disasters, no arguing families, and we had the excuse to come away after a couple of hours as we had the children to pick up from school. So when the booze really got flowing we were not there.

GOOD NEWS

My eldest daughter turned 13 today ( not quite sure if that should be in the bad news section lol), I can't believe how quick its gone as it doesn't seem two minutes since I was going into hospital to have her. I gave her some cross stitch stuff and a couple of kits for her and she was more thrilled with them than anything else. My youngest daughter also wants some cross stitch presents, so it looks like the bug is catching!!

Oh and I found out today that I got a job at a local school, in the kitchen so no more having to work weekends and finding someone to look after the kids during school holidays, will make my life so much easier, plus I will have more time to stitch :)

Am I Ever Going To Get Started?

Well this week I was all set for starting my new Mirabilia. I have got three to choose from, Mermaid of the Pearls, Midsummer Night Fairy or the Woodland Fairy. Since I have got all the beads and threads that I need for the Midsummer fairy, I decided to make a start on that.
I did feel a bit guilty for not finishing my Chorus Line, as I hardly ever start a project before finishing the old one. I think that is where I have been going wrong, as sometimes I feel like I am getting too bogged down with it and I can stop stitching for months at a time.

I am a slow stitcher, as I know some people can get through them in no time, however if I start a rotation then this might help. Fingers crossed.

So with me determined to get started, its now Tuesday night and I still haven't put the fabric in the hoop. All 3 of my kids came home with homework on Monday night and it has all to be handed in by Thursday. No big deal, your thinking, apart from altogether there was 14 pieces to with them. My youngest had brought home 6 pieces alone. So here I am are of the homework done, kids in bed and me too knackered to start doing anything.


Wednesday night is my pottery class, only been going a few weeks so my work is still pretty crap at the moment. First of all I made a dish( looked like something my daughter made with the play-doh it was that bad), than I was messing about and made a sunflower. I glazed that last week so I will get to see what colour it has turned out like, as for some reason, the yellow was pink to put on, so it may well be another failure, and last week I finished off my vase I made, using technique called coiling. I can say its a lot harder than it looks, I tried to get the vase to go straight up, but the clay was having none of it and it started to get bigger. Hubby will have to buy me a huge bouquet of flowers to fill it.

My next project that I am going to do, is a big dish that I can hang on my wall. I am going to try and make some dragonflies and place them on the dish.
I love the colours of them and thought it would be something different. I find that looking at cross stitch designs to give me ideas, but I'm not quite up to scratch as my teacher, Sue. She makes some really good designs, and if i was half as good as her i would be happy.

Speaking off happy, Tuesday is weigh in day for me and I lost another 2lbs, so hopefully next week if I lose 1lb then I get to my first stone award. It hasn't been easy and it will have took me 8 weeks to get this far, but all the other times I have dieted I have lost it quick and then given up and put it all back on and then some. I was so happy that I went and bought myself a chocolate bar( OK i didn't it was s slimming bar, chocolate and orange flavour, a substitute for a real bar of chocolate, and a real poor substitute at that)

Too Much To Do, Not Enough Time

Well i have done no stitching at all this weekend, as i have spent it all on this thing, who would have thought it would have caused so many problems.
First AOL decided to didn't want to work then I couldn't log on to Blogger. There were times when i could have turn the computer off and give up in a strop, and had a large vodka, which would have been a big no no for my diet, so i went away had a milky way ( the only chocolate that i can get away with eating, well i can have one anyway- and the reason it doesn't ruin your appetite between meals, is because you don't feel like you've had one in the first place!!)

But through perseverance i have now done it, it is still a bit rough round the edges and needs a bit of tweaking but i will have to do it later.

anyway i have a pile of clothes that is growing up towards the ceiling ( my eldest daughter is like the queen and needs several outfits on a day , that she manages to get dirty all the time, how i don't know ( wait till she starts to do her own ironing, i bet she will not do it then), so will make a proper start on my blog tonight.

New Pictures by Nene Thomas

I love these two pictures by Nene Thomas, I think they would looked great stitched, however I would have problems deciding which one to start first.