WOW WOW WOW !!!!!!!!

I think the fairies have been to my house ;-)) and I would like to share with you all the beautiful total surprises that have been arriving to me this past week whilst I have had a holiday, I really can't quite believe it but maybe seeing them on here too, I will :)

WOW No 1 !! First up is a pretty selection of surprises from KarenV who really has been too kind, I had only sent her a few ribbons a little while ago and really didn't think much about it!! However...as you can see Karen obviously did because look at this thank-you !! :-))
Modeled above with the pretty lamp I got for my birthday jointly from my brother and sister (Su), you can see Karens creations. Take a look at the picture below for a closer view of the Fob (which is personalised on the back), Scented Heart Sachet filled with delicious smelling lavender from Karens own garden :) , the silk threads and as if this was not enough Karen made the little bag as well to put them all in !! I am a big fan of Karens lovely work and her skills and talent with a needle and sewing machine alike and now proudly own a selection of little treasures from her !! :-)) The little fob has pride of place as the first one on my new wire lady 'Rose' that I showed you!

Now for my WOW No 2...this is a true beauty of a different kind! I was sent this Needle Holder treasure as a gift for my birthday from Debby, my friend, and such a lovely person she is too :) This is a bit extra special as not only was it sent from Debby but it was handmade with obviously lots of skill by her husband Jerry. Can you see how the top (which removes) has the grain completely matching in line to the main part ? Quite amazing !! This is really so well made and came with details of how to care for it and also details of the type of wood used and where it it sourced, I have really enjoyed reading all about it :)) I can't believe Debby's husband just makes these as his hobby, he has a great talent and you should go and check his website (link on Debby's blog) out if you like nice wood.

My WOW No 3 is here below. This is too funny really and ever so nice ...Colette my friend had asked me when my birthday was....oooohhh lets just say a little while ago...I am pretty bad at mailing at times as any of my friends will tell you and well...time just marched on! Infact time marched on so much my birthday was getting very near and then LOL I didn't dare mail and decided I would get all caught up when I came back from my holidays with my birthday all done and dusted. What should come through my door today, you guess a package from Colette who I really think must BE a fairy LOL...I am sharing her writing on the card to me as it is too funny and yes...I guess I am a silly girl and think she won't mind ;-)) What would I do without Colette (and Eva) to make me laugh and raise a smile, really they are such lovely ladies and so funny they really do crack me up laughing at times, I love you both :-)))




Ahem...Back to business, without further ado... with a bit of a tear in my eye, I opened my gifts...here I present my birthday heart from dear Colette so pretty isn't it :-)) Decorated on both sides, personalised front with a 'H' 1/1 and tiny and the back with Colettes initials.....talking of initials, Colette remembered I would like some ribbon with 'H M' on for my own initials and she so kindly found some of this very ribbon and sent that to me too along with some tiny red Rik-Rak braid, now how special is that!!

Then this my last picture is of the most beautiful pincushion Colette has stitched for me. I can't believe she has said that about me and I am not quite sure I deserve it but my heart is well and truly touched :-)))

THANK YOU ALL FROM MY HEART FOR BEING SO KIND :-)))

For a bit of my own news, we have dashed in this weekend to get ready to go away tomorrow, we are heading to the hills. I may not be around much for the next week or two with holidays. I have my Seasonal Exchange finished, photographed and packed ready to send on Monday to my secret partner so I can share that soon. And........guess what, I have actually started to stitch something for myself, yes me, the first this year. I hope to finish it soon and be able to show you :)

Take care, have fun and as always thanks for calling by :)

Just quick

Please if you get the chance can you go and look at my little DD's blog as she has done a cracking Cross-Stitch exchange recently with Vonna's little DD Katie . Just check out what these young ladies age 8 & 9 yrs have been able to do!! We had better watch out ;-))

Amy has been sent such a beautiful gift from Nela all the way from Venezuela that she has put on her blog and oh boy has this lady done her proud, I am STUNNED !! Amy also recieved a pretty gift from my friend Colette today as well she will put that on her blog next. I just want to say to all you wonderful kind ladies, a huge big THANK-YOU to you all, for thinking of my little DD and welcoming her to the stitching world in such a kind way. Not only those who have sent her gifts but those of you who have left her such great comments. We love our comments at any age ;-)) but more especially when you are young like her and Katie. You have all touched my heart and I know you have made my DD very happy.

STITCHERS REALLY ARE THE KINDEST PEOPLE ABOUT :-)))

A pink Birthday for me ;-)

I think I have recovered enough from my birthday on Sunday to tell...and no, incase you think it is a long lasting hangover just wait till you read about my day. You can just skip down to the pictures and stitchy bit if you want ;-))

I woke with a banging headache far too early by my excited little DS, not the B'day lie in I'd had planned but I wasn't really too bothered as it is so lovely when my little ones are all excited :) I did have a wonderful pressie opening time and received such nice gifts (stitchy ones later) especially The Bratz mug from my little boy :) and the Leo china mug from my daughter who also got me a folding hairbrush because hairstylists can never have enough brushes you know ;-)) One mug is for tea (the china one) and the other for coffee (the pot one). I also got some wonderful pictures from my arty pair :-)) Their gifts are so special as you can imagine :))

All was going well and we had an overnight stay planned to Cumbria where my Mum & Dad were with a planned birthday tea and cake (for the little ones really : ). Last time we planned to go there at Easter our DG back door lock broke and we couldn't go. This time more or less as we were leaving Amy decided to swing off one of the top cupboard doors in our kitchen after getting some chocolate out. You guessed?? Yes she pulled the whole top row down - well, what didn't come down had to be taken down as they were all joined by the top pelmet thingy and all the brackets apart from one were loosened !! Most fortunately of all she was totally unhurt and no pets were in the kitchen at that time. Apart from mess (lots) no harm done and mainly I am just glad Amy was Ok that was my main concern, she was not even really shocked, I think I was more so !! My husband is not too good at DIY as one of his talents (shhhhh don't say I told ;-) and we now have 45 holes he has drilled across the wall to try to get them back up and they are still not up. Can't wait till my Dad gets home! Then I decided to cut the grass seen as we didn't go anywhere and blew the lawn mower up, a few other things happened throughout the day, I won't bore you with them all and to top it all I have got 13 proper cards!! I hope eCards can be added to that total as I am quite superstitious but if I add them the number is more than OK :))

Paola's Stitcher Case for ME

Now onto the stitchy bit as after all that is why you are here...The first 3 pictures show the wonderful surprise I had from Paola in Italy for my birthday. I didn't even know she knew when it was!! This Stitchers Case is all beautifully handstitched , I love the Moda fabric and have some of that myself, I think the inside is beautiful a pair of my French scissors look right at home in it :-)) I love my big initials on the back too. I shall let you admire the pictures of this very kind ladies gift to me .....

Inside the Stitchers Case

The case opened out Back and Front showing

Today in my post I have received one of Carols lovely fobs for my Birthday:), I sent her a crystal cat for her birthday the stitched gift from me is to follow soon :) Carol has stitched me a DT design on 40ct, it is very pretty and the back has one of her little charms that says 'made with love' it is just so nice :-))

Carols Fob to ME

Lastly but certainly not least I have got a special stitched gift from my Mum Veronica. I am now the proud owner of a tray, I think because I admired the one she sent to Becky in a recent exchange :)) The design is adapted from the LHN freebie and I love how it says my name. The fabric for the reverse is pretty special too as it is a Liberty Lawn, you can just see it at the edges :)

My Mums (Veronica) Gift to ME

To match the tray I have had a wee set of 'smalls' made to go with it, Mum stitched me a special message on the back of the scissor fob that certainly brought a smile :-)))

Matching 'Smalls' for ME from Mum (Veronica)

I think I got beautiful things and they all special and definately have a loving home here with me :-)) Thank all you so much including Su for taking the time to make me these wonderful treasures to make my day a bit more special :-)))


Until next time thanks for stopping by...keep those needles busy ;-))

Contest Winner

Is...ta ta da..... Anita

Congratulations to you!! Please email me with your home address and this little summery silk strawberry will be sent to you tomorrow :)

Thank-you to everybody who took part in the contest just for a bit of fun to win a small gift :-)) Thanks so much for all the Birthday wishes too :)

Not the only Birthday ;-)

It is going to be mine on this Sunday the 12th, I was messing about hoping this picture would look like an infinity one...not quite but I quite like the strangeness of it anyway LOL a bit no make-up or hair done though ;-)

I have been lucky and have already started getting some birthday gifties from my family, I will start in the order I have received them :)

From my Mum 'Veronica' I had this lovely surprise come in the post a very summery Mail Art that she has stitched from one of the previous issues of De Fil En Auguille, a French design as last year :) This is the front........

Now you can see the lined inside on this one below with my card that I have been really good and not opened yet, I shall wait till Sunday for that :)

Next photo shows the lovely stitched back with the little sailboat buttons for closure and decoration. I really love how it is all finished with the gingham ribbon she has stitched all round, it has such a cheerful look to it! My Mum knows I have a fondness for some nautical type things so I really love this and more so because it is from my Mum xxx :-)))

Next up is a rather special surprise...I am in a seasonal exchange (new) group and didn't know who was sending to me, BUT...knowing my birthday is coming up Leena who is going to be my partner for the year, had really wanted to get the exchange under way. Here you can see the gorgeous (my favourite shape) bowl that is the non stitched gift of her exchange to me!! I had a lovely card and these pretty ribbons too. I LOVE it all and feel very touched that Leena took the time to remember I had my day coming up :-)) Thank-you so much again Leena for thinking of me. I am really very delighted you are my partner for the year and I am looking forward to getting to know you from this exchange in the future :-) This is so much more than I could have ever thought for the non stitched part of the exchange from a new friend and I am truly 'bowled' over!! Annnnnd ladies I still have the stitched part to look forward to in the near future...cool or what :-)))




Now I can show you what I have received in the post from my sister Su :) even though she is on holiday this little beauty has arrived for me. It is so dainty IRL , I think she has stitched it on 40ct and I must say her spider roses are total perfection. I know this is an Atalie design as I remember her telling me when she had got it. Now I am the proud owner of this gorgeous Biscornu thank-you Su xxx

Take care everyone and thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your week it is all busy busy here but I have been doing some stitching :)

P.S. Just for a bit of my birthday fun for the blog I am doing a little contest :) All you have to do is leave a comment on this posting guessing what age you think I will be on Sunday!


**NB** THERE IS ONLY ONE EXEMPTION TO THE RULES PEOPLE WHO ALREADY DO KNOW MY CORRECT AGE FROM THEIR BIRTHDAY CALENDERS OR A PERSONAL EMAIL IN THE PAST CANNOT ENTER AS THAT WOULD NOT BE FAIR THERE ARE 4 OF YOU, THANK-YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING ;-))


OTHERWISE...Anyone else can enter... regular commenter or not and I will send a small gift to ONE person who guesses correct. In the event of more than one person guessing correctly I shall draw the name. If no-one guesses right then I shall put all the commenters names from this posting in a draw and pick ONE person out to be the winner. The draw will be made on the Thursday 16th August :-))) So join in an have a bit of fun ;-)

Happy Birthday Hamish

This little rascal is 2 years old now... he looks like butter wouldn't melt but don't let that fool you...lol he can catch and kill birds faster than any cat I have ever known, he just leaps up under our tree and boom thats it for the captured bird, twice he has done this now in our garden!!! He even late one night in our garden very recently decided to have an encounter with a hedgehog, I was so glad I was outside...it curled up into a ball right away but silly Hamish decided to roll on it...lets just say he didn't do that for long and I think him and his nose came of worse than the hedgehog which I am pleased to say scurried off after a little while - once it got over the shock unhurt I think !! I on the other hand drove him to my Mums (midnight time) where she sorted him out for me, so all fluffed up and with not much damage to him we came back home.

Other than his strong (bird killer) terrier instincts which show themselves on odd occasions he is a brilliant dog and a total funny little character albeit a strong one and he is very well behaved and a much loved part of our family :-))

This 'n' that

On Sunday I had a trip to the historic market town of Bakewell set in the Peak District of Derbshire. We took a walk through these pretty gardens shown above, that are in the town whilst there :) My main reason for wanting to visit this town was for the stitching shop Wye Needlecraft in the picture below (pinched from their website ;-) My Mum and myself thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in this shop which has an upstairs part too. It has a great selection of many charts from alot of the main designers and we got ourselves a nice selection of stash to come home with :-)))




After the shop we browsed the town before having a walk along the River Wye that runs through Bakewell, this was our walk down the river towards the cricket pavillion.




This is the view on the way back up the walk towards the carparks, as you can see it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the birds were singing and the icecream was good :)) We had a wonderful meal in a tiny Italian Restauraunt before our drive back home. It was a very relaxing day and just what we needed to go home to start the week afresh :)




I very recently had a lovely gift sent to me by Nancy who knew I wanted the PS freebie chart of Rain Rain so she more than kindly managed to get me not only that one (which I knew was heading to me) but the brand new snowman one and all the threads for me to stitch Rain Rain. These extras came as a total surprise along with the card I used for the background of the needlecase pictures on the posting below. I had a wonderful surprise to get spoilt and really appreciate that Nancy did this for me and it quite made my day :-)) Thank-you again Nancy so very much you are lovely !!




I have a little bit of stitching to show you of a fob I made from the Blackbird Designs new book. I stitched this 1/1 on the overdyed linen from Kates Kloths using colours of my choice. I shortened the design by missing off the top bit as originally it was to be a pincushion. I added a tiny silver heart charm and a green crystal type bead to the silk ribbon at the top.

Below you can see how I did the back which was made using some silk and tiny antique beads on the ends of the ribbon. I thoroughly enjoyed making this fob which I did for Deb (Lavender Rose) as she has been in hospital and I wanted to cheer her up a little bit, especially as she had been so kind to me recently!

It is way past midnight here so I am putting the links in tomorrow as I have to change browsers to do that and lastly but by no means least Carol...it is still the 31st in the US so all the best 'Happy Birthday Wishes' from me to you if you read this :-))

The links are in now ;-)

Thanks for visiting!