Secret Animal Exchange Reveal

Well I can finally put my first attempt at a scissor fob that I sent for the Secret Animal Exchange.

My sewing machine has finally died on me and it will cost more to get it fixed than it did to buy the thing in the first place so its off to the tip

I ended up sewing the thing by hand, and really my hand sewing is terrible, as it takes me ages to sew small neat lines, my family cant believe that i can cross stitch but cant sew.

To be honest, I can its just that I don't like doing it so I just don't bother unless I have to.

It took me ages to chose a design for the exchange and I stitched it on 25ct so it doesn't look much but if I had done in 2 over 2 on 28ct it would have been far too big, and I didn't want to send it framed in the post as it would have arrived broke no matter how much I had packed it.

I have to do another scissor fob for the yahoo group , I chose the design and went and got all of the stuff that I needed for it. my local shop doesn't sell Mill Hill Beads so I went and bought some other seed beads that they had in, I just had to change one of the colours, but I like the new colour I picked.

Hopefully this time it shouldn't take me as long to stitch and put together since I have a better idea of what to do. I want to get it done by next week as I am going off on my hols hopefully, so want to get everything done and posted before then.

Oh and yes I finally succumbed and I went and bought the Harry Potter book, now do I read it now, or leave it for my hols, and can I actually leave it alone and not read the back pages, hmmm what do you want to bet that someone will tell me what happens before I get the chance to read it lol

Handbag And Gladrags Reveal

I have finally changed from AOL onto BT and god you can tell the difference, no more waiting 15 minutes before AOL would start to work, no i switch PC on and its there waiting to me to sit down and surf the web. now i must resist the temptation to buy stash off the net, no Bev... Bad Bev lol

On the stitching from I received my handbag and Glad rags exchange from Brenda and Lauren has been trying to pinch the notebook all morning since its 'cooolll' lol.

I have not managed to get much stitching in so far just did a bit more of my Xmas chickadee, but nothing that you can really see that I have done.

I did though drop everything to stitch the free gift that came in this months Crossstitcher magazine. will post a picture when there's something more interesting to see.

Magent exchange reveal

Nothing much to report, Bieke, got her magnet that i did from an exchange in the yahoo group, and i was really struggling to find somehting to stitch for the size of the magnet.

everything that i looked at stitching was too big for it, even on 32ct.

In the end i chose this ice cream sundae, that i stitch in variegated threads that i bought,I have never had the chance to use them so i thought I would try them and and see what they looked like.

Next time I have to stitch on a magnet i am going to have to stitch on either plastic canvas and stick some magnet backing onto it or find a bigger magnet!!

2 Down. 2 more to go!!

I can finally reveal the handbag's and glad rags exchange that I sent to Brenda in Australia, I had no idea how to finish off my work , since my sewing machine is bust I did want to hand sew as basically its crap!! lol

Anyway was shopping and saw the memory folder, and I thought it would be perfect for her new job. I only posted it on Saturday morning and she got it Tuesday so I was really impressed on how fast Brenda got it.


The right hand side of the design took far longer than the left as i had to duplicate the woman but he other way around, I spent so much time frogging I didn't think I was never going to finish. I was so happy when i finished all the border and put the beads on it, as it seemed to take an age to stitch!





I have only got three more days left to work so I now officially going into holiday mode, you know the one when everything seems to take so much longer, the minutes seem to stop and all you want to do is wish your life away because you cant wait for Friday to come!! Well that is me at the moment, work which is normally so easy is now such a drag, oh well I shouldnt moan( but I am lol) I have never had such a long time off work so six weeks is going to be bliss ( just a shame i have the kids at home lol)


I have finally finished the RR for Margaret's Bookmark and sent that off, only thing is, I think I have done it a bit long, I didn't realise how much i had stitched, I just got carried away, so now I am going to get going with the Christmas chickadee card and try yet again with my knitting.

Cheered me up!!

Well this has definitely cheered me up today!!
lately been getting nothing but bills and more bills ,but I got a knock on the door and I got this from my Mystery Stitcher ( I find out who it is next week)from the realistic animal exchange that I did on the cross-stitching forum.

I love it and it has pride and place in my conservatory so its the first thing people will see, I love the card too, so I'm off for a frame for that to go next to it too.

So thank you very much, to who ever stitched this I love it

One Down 3 More To Go!!!

I have finally finished my RR piece for my bookmark. Though It looks better in real life as the scanner has not picked up the bright colours, as they look dull on the picture.It has took an age to do and i haven't even started on Margaret's yet. Been having some problems on the home front, with MIL (who lives next door) stirring up some problems with me and hubby, so I am feeling a bit low lately. I am sure she would be happy if she split us up. I have resisted the temptation to tell her exactly what I think But it will only cause more trouble, and i will never be good enough for her son, as I am not rich, get drunk with them on a weekend,drink and drive like they do, and wont roll over and do as im told.

I always so though what goes around comes around so i will just have to wait. Really want to say thanks to my sister though, as we have never seen eye to eye on many things but has been a great help this pastweek!!

Oh and the knitting HA!!! i have spent more time pulling the bloody wool off the needle that it has stayed on, i have though finally cracked the purl stitch , as i was having real problems with it but i have just to master how to get it neat because as the moment it looks a tiny bit untidy !! lol

How hard can it be?( yeah right lol)

When I went into my local craft shop I saw a knitted top that I loved, so obviously I thought I know I will learn how to knit!!!
Yes nothing like seeing something and jumping in with both feet, so here I am with my book to learn, since no one i know knows how to knit.

I was really good last night I sat down and read some of my book, but i didn't start any,I thought it would be better when i have more time to my self as the kids last night were a relay pain every two minutes they were playing up, I sent them to bed early and they were still arguing with each other( imagine The Waltons, at the end of the program, but shouting at each other, that was my house last night if you could have steam coming out of your ears then last night that would have been me)

Hopefully tonight I will make start on my first ever knitting, someone said knit some socks !!! not a chance 2 needles will be bad enough never mind 4, so I am going to attempt to make a scarf. There wasn't much choice in the wool shop i went to , as it said in the book to use pure wool for a start, and there was very little in, as it was all fancy stuff which is no good for starting, I wouldn't be able to see what i was doing.

Hopefully It will look like a scarf and not something that a dog has ripped to pieces lol.

On the stitching front, I got all my exchange pieces in the post, so hopefully I will be able to post the pictures of them next week.

I am now doing my RR, I received Margaret's piece yesterday , so after I have finished mine ( which is so fiddly I don't think I will do small Celtic knot again, unless its on evenweave) I will chose a design that fits, (the one i had in mind wouldn't look right on it)
I also made a start on my first christmas card, i normally leave it till the week before, realise its too late and dont bother with it, and every year I say I will start it earlier, and every year I don't. Its Valerie Pfeiffer Chistmas Chickadee, I loved stitching the chicks I thought I would do another!

As you can see theres not much to see really but its a start. I can't wait till next Friday I get 6 weeks off work so hopefully I will get more to time to stitch ( and knit) oh the joys of working in a school!!!

I dont Like frogs ( apart from Kermit!)

When I came home from work yesterday I decided to do some gardening ( I hadn't cut the grass yet and it was beginning to get a it long) the weather looked like it might actually stay fine for a hour so, I'm busy cutting the grass singing away to my ipod( well in a fashion), and a couple of hours later i had a garden fit for the Chelsea Flower Show, Ok maybe not but it was the best it had been in ages.
I shifted all the rubbish that had been kicking about and put it all in my boot and set off for the tip. I think everyone had the same idea as me, the place was packed!! I had to wait for 15 minutes before it was my turn to get anywhere near the containers.

It was when I was busy minding my own business , emptying all the junk from my boot when I saw it. The Biggest Frog I have ever seen. it was sat in the car just staring at me. I had no idea what to do, I screamed so loud when I saw it that people had stopped what they where doing and all staring at me. I just smiled and tried to get the rest of the rubbish out of the car with the toad on top. but it wasn't having any of it. Every time I moved something It would sort of hop( if you can call it that, it had a job to move it was that big) and then i couldn't find it.

I carefully took everything out of the car hoping it had gone in a bag that I had chucked out, but no it was still there, still starting at me with its big eyes.

There was no way I was driving home with that in the car, I was worried it might jump on me, and I would crash the car, sod driving I would be wailing my arms everywhere!! lol

There was no way I was going anywhere near it, so I asked the man who worked there if he could get it out for me, where I was told by him that ' its not in my job description!!'
I muttered a few words about him to myself, I mean what happened to a man coming to a womans aide, bugger all thats what happened.

I did manged to get another man to get it out for me, which he said he would but only because he had big gardening gloves on( I thought men were fearless lol)

it took him ages to catch this Frog, as it suddenly sprung into life, and the man was getting slightly impatient with it, his words that he was using was starting to attract more peoples attention.

when he finally did managed to catch it, he looked quite pleased with himself, and then with the frog in his hands he put it up to my face and asked me if I wanted to Kiss Prince Charming.

I think he thought he was funny, as he was laughing, but I wasn't when it jumped off his hands and into my face. I screamed( even louder this time) and I had slime on my face from it( well it was wet anyway ) it was everywhere in my mouth as well.

By this time the man was rolling about saying the frog was trying to kiss me- well he got something in my mouth anyway but i don't want to even think about, what it was!

The last I saw off the stupid thing was it hopping off down the road with everyone looking out of their car windows at it, with a few of them laughing.
I wanted the ground to open up, I just said thank you to the man and drove off so fast.

oh the humiliation. lol

Bloody Dogs!!

I have had disaster on the stitching front, well a mini one anyway. I haven't posted much as there was nothing to see as i have been busy stitching for the exchanges that I am doing. i have just to finish my last one tonight, then i am sending them all off.

I took photos of them all to put on here when they arrive at there destination, when my mum came up with her new dog that she got from the RSPCA.

Now my mum rarely comes up to see us, and we only live 8 miles away, she is more closer to my sister, and as for looking after the kids well, that is even rarer. she says that she cant look after 3 kids, i mean the youngest is 8 so its not like they don't know how to entertain themselves.

She once came up to see them, and gave each of them 50p, now i know i shouldn't be ungrateful but 50p in one year, well she can afford to give them more, every week, but i guess that is why she has money and i don't!!

anyway .... when she gave Callum his 50p she asked for a kiss, or she wouldnt give him his money. He just looked at her and said..

' its ok i don't need your money that bad!'

now i know i should have shouted at him for being rude, but he did have a point, and theres nothing like kids as to telling it like it is.

She doesn't make an effort and I get fed up of ringing her all the time, and asking for a sitter only to be turned down or told she's too busy tidying the house or going out, so she cant see us.

So i was surprised she came up, mind you I did find out that she had a purpose to the visit, as she is going on her hols in a few weeks and she wanted me to live at her house for a week and dog sit for her!!.

OK i may be flying off the handle her a bit, but she wants me to sit for her dog, but if i ask her to look after the kids, and i get every excuse known to man!!

Now, ( back to what i was trying to say... lol) she same up and i went to have a nosy around like she does when she comes up and the bloody dog, got hold of my card that i had stitched for an animal exchange. in a matter of seconds it was ripped up, so now i have no card.

I suppose i should have moved it off the table but i didn't think and now i have had to make a quick card up. It took me all weekend to stitch it too, so i wasn't very happy, I didn't even get a chance to take a photo of it either!!

I did get my friendship card from Jenni though, shown above, so I made sure that was well out of the way.

Now the only thing I have to do, is to find a Celtic design that I am doing for my first ever Round Robin. Its a bookmark so the design cant be that big, and the ones i like are a bit too big for a bookmark, need to find some freebie sits that have some designs on them.

after that I really should get a move on the Mirabilia's Middy fairy or HAED's Motherhood. Must resist the calling to start something new!! lol