Celebrate!

We have been busy celebrating here recently, firstly a birthday...

Then the birthday boy got an extra special gift ....a new cousin (I've already had my new Aunty cuddles, she is such a sweet baby). As luck would have it I had ordered a new chart to make a birth sampler and it arrived the same week as my niece did.

Oooh look at that gorgeous packaging I almost didn't want to unwrap it. I love receiving charts from Maja from The Snowflower Diaries it's like unwrapping a special gift.

I am a sucker for the little details such as this cute little sticker to keep the plastic sealed.

This is the pattern I chose, I knew my sister was expecting a girl and wanted a small chart that I could personalise. I am fully aware of my flaws one of which is my short attention span which is why I chose a small chart as there is more chance of my niece seeing it finished before she leaves home!

I have made a little progress on my sons cushion but it is slow going and to be honest tedious. I really don't like stitching on canvas but I like the finished look.

Ignore the fact that the stitching isn't following the printed pattern....it's another of my flaws. I become obsessed and frustrated trying to work out where the stitches should go. Fortunately for me the Historical Sampler Company included a printed chart. Woop woop! So I am following the chart instead so much easier and no procrastinating required whew!

To break up the tedium of the canvas work I made this kit up.

The kids gave me the Cath Kidston book set several years ago which included a kit to make this sweet little bag. It's my first bag and I am really chuffed especially as I managed to line it too! 

The kit did not include lining or instructions to line the bag. The lining is a pink cotton by P & B Studio but the outer material is cotton duck and was a pain to sew! The bag holds a couple of balls of yarn just nicely. 

These three books are full of inspiring ideas but I must not be distracted so for the moment they have been put back in the cupboard. Thanks for stopping by x.  

The Snowflower Diaries

Ok I wasn't expecting to post again quite so soon however I received a wee parcel in the post this morning and it was a very pleasant and welcomed surprise. A surprise because I had forgotten I had ordered these and pleasant because I love receiving packages! Take a look at the packaging isn't it scrummy? I have said before that I am a sucker for delicious packaging and this parcel didn't disappoint ....

*eeeek* look pretty ribbon. 

and pretty stickers I am just a big kid me *grin*

Maja of The Snowflower Diaries recently offered free shipping if you bought her paper patterns........well it would have been rude not to wouldn't it?

I got The Angela pattern and Maja's Garden I.

Though I seriously need to curb my buying and do some actual stitching now! So having said that I will be off now and catch up with all later.

Under Pressure!

As the title suggests I am feeling a little bit under pressure at the moment, college is drawing to a close and it's been a bit frantic getting all the last bits and bobs done and handed in. I've sat soo many exams this last wee while my head is spinning......but the end is in sight just one more big exam to go and in a fortnight I will be FREE let me just say that again ....cos I like how it sounds.....I will be FREE!! To do whatever I like....well ok..almost anything ;0) I did have a break this past weekend I had just had enough and I was missing stitching so I dug out Forget Me Not by BBD and made a start would you like to see?

I found this a really relaxing project to stitch and I am loving the colours. I have chosen to stitch it using the recommended threads and colours but I am stitching it on 40 count linen using one strand of floss over two threads and I like how it's turning out. It's not going to be a big project but right now that is just fine with me!

Ah those mellow and soothing colours good for the soul. I can't wait to come back to this project not long to wait!

I like to have a mix of projects on the go to pick up something that takes my fancy be it a big project or little ones. Iam a huge fan of  Maja of The Snowflower Diaries designs and have stitched a few which you can see in early entries on this blog. So I was tickled pink when I saw that she was having a giveaway  on her blog just check this little lot out!

Not only can you win three copies of her newest patterns but also 2 pieces of 32 count linen hand dyed by Maja and 15 skeins of gorgeous Nina's Hand Dyed Threads! Wow! Who wouldn't want to be the lucky recipient of that lot! Certainly not me which is why I've added my name lol and hope you will all pop over and join too cos if I don't win I would love one of my lovely blog buddies to :0)

Just click on the link above or the picture to take you to her blog and good luck if you decide to enter.

Spring!

It's officially spring today though somebody forgot to tell the little corner of Scotland in which I live, it's been very windy with lots of rain oh yes and very grey. It has been sooo windy that my daffodils have been nearly flattened, poor things are looking very battered and sorry for themselves. The only bit of colour left in my garden is this little pot of tete a tete. The rain had stopped and the sun was almost shining so I quickly nipped out and snapped this pic, got back indoors and it's raining again.

I decided to stitch a quick little project to celebrate the arrival of spring with this pattern from Snowflower Diaries. It only took a couple of nights to stitch from start to finish and I had all bar one of the threads already from stitching Spring Bunny Love. 

I hope wherever you are that your first day of Spring is a colourful one.

Spring Bunny Love Stitching Done

I can hardly believe I am writing this but it's true I have completed the stitching for my Spring Bunny Love, yay I've finished a piece of stitching - my first for 2014 but hopefully not my last! There were a few technical hitches such as having to unpick and re-stitch the entire upper body of the girl bunny. I wasn't happy with the position of her ears, don't know why but it was annoying me so unpicked and moved them over a stitch, much happier now. The body had to be done again as I wasn't happy with a dark stripe that appeared within the stitching, not stitching in straight lines helped solve that wee problem so I've got happy bunnies now which makes me happy!

The bunnies eyes are stitched with black silk thread as I could not find for love nor money my black DMC threads that I know are around here somewhere. I've searched through boxes and bags of supplies, spent a frustrating afternoon hauling out old needlework kits to see if there were any black thread remnants  ( does anyone else keep all there old threads and kits together or is it just me I wonder?) but no luck. They will be hiding someplace ready to reappear when I least need them. Anyway the bunnies now have lovely shiny black eyes, not that it shows up very well in the photo the light here is poor today and my photography skills are not the greatest either.

I wish I could take better photos the colours in reality are much brighter and not so dark as they appear in the above pictures. Although I've completed the stitching there is still the finishing to be done which if  I am honest with myself is not one of my favourite past times. However my aim for this year was not just to get the stitching done but to properly finish each piece off  so with that I am off to look for my tin of trims and see what backing fabrics I have ....  let's just hope they are not in the same place as the black threads!

A new project

I've started a new project, just a wee one but it's easy to take with me to stitch while waiting on the kids during their swimming lessons so Iam hoping I can get it finished soonish. It's called Spring Bunny Love by Maja from The Snowflower Diaries she has some gorgeous designs and I've already spotted another design I'd like to stitch!

Please excuse the state of my needlework.

Those thread colours are just sooo scrummy! They are by Nina's Threads.