This Week

Hello there

Midweek already and I've been meaning to add a post for a few days now.  I'm back at work after my lovely break and already it feels like I didn't even have a holiday! 

This is the little piece I stitched during my holiday, which is going to be a gift for my Auntie. I think I'll frame this. 

Family, Friends, Faith, Forever by Homespun Elegance

stitched on 32ct platinum linen using Crescent Colours Manor Red

This week I've started on Part 5 of Santa's Village, Santa's Stocking Store. The next part is on it's way and should be here any day now. I can't believe this series is now half way through.  It's been such a fun project to work on this year.

On Sunday Mother's Day was celebrated here in New Zealand. I'm blessed with a wonderful Mum, who is my best friend, and one of the most loveliest and kindest persons I know. I think the world of my Mother in law too, she is a very special, and a very funny, lady too.  I'm very lucky that both live nearby so we can see them a few times a week.  Hannah loves her Nannie and Grannie very much too.

I decided to bake my gifts for Mother's Day this year and found the perfect recipe in one of the lovely cookbooks I received for my birthday, Gran's Sweet Pantry by Natalie Oldfield.

This Weetbix Deluxe slice turned out just delicious and was a hit with my Mum and MIL. I can see this becoming a regular favourite on the weekend baking list.

And of course, I was spoiled by DH and Hannah.  Hannah made a lovely card and a painted rock, and spent ages in her bedroom secretly colouring in this cupcake picture.  I loved the mosaic vase filled with chocolates too.

The highlight of my day was enjoying a wonderfully cooked dinner by DH followed by a bit of stitching - just perfect:)

Lastly for today, my happy school girl - she's loving it so far, even the homework :)

See you soon x

A Few Finishes

Hello there

Well, my holiday week has nearly come to an end, it has flown by - I knew I should have taken next week off too, lol.

During my break I've been stitching a little thank you gift for my Aunty, who has looked after Hannah for us since she was 6 months old.  Hannah will still go there in the mornings, as I start work just after 8am,  and then again after school, and during the holidays too. She's quite happy about that as she's already missing her little daycare friends:)

I also finally finished my friend's birthday gift recently:

Flowers for You by Blackbird Designs

stitched on 36ct linen using most of the recommended threads

My next little finish was a design I couldn't resist starting when I first spotted it, a freebie from the gorgeous Snowflower Diaires Blog:

You Are So Loved 

Snowflower Diaries Design

stitched on 32ct cream linen, threads of my own choice

My mum asked if I could knit some little hats for one of her friend's baby twin grandaughters due in a few weeks, this is the lovely wool she chose and it was so soft and lovely to knit with.

Some happy mail arrived the other day too, Gail Pan's new Christmas stitchery book.

I purchased this from Sarah at Quilt Fabric Delights and she arranged for Gail to sign my book, how cool is that!

Sarah also included this cute project card from Leanne's House

Have a fun weekend!
see you soon xx

Hannah turns 5

 Hello friends

This week has been a pretty special one here - Hannah turned five years old on Tuesday and also started school.

We started the celebrations on Sunday with a party for a few friends and our family. Hannah had requested a train cake which was made for her by my cousin Donna. Didn't it turn out awesome!

We also arranged for my friend Shelley, who runs a Twisted Chips caravan and Fruso drinks machine at local market and gala days, to come along.  This went down a real treat for everyone. They are so delicious!

Then on Tuesday it was time for Hannah to go to school for her first day

So far so good, she even got her first certificate at assembly yesterday :)

Happy 5th birthday my darling, I love you xx

Wednesday Night Red Stitching

Hello there

Most weeks by the time Wednesday evening comes around I'm feeling a little tired so instead of stitching I've been trying out some Christmas stitcheries. I had several on the go before the end of last year that I didn't quite get around to finishing so at least they will be finished in plenty of time for this Christmas!

Another project that's recently come out of the craft cupboard is my Tail Feathers BOM by Cinderberry Stitches. I bought this way back in 2010! 

Block One is all ready for the embroidery part now so I think that's going to be on the agenda for next few Wednesday nights.

From tomorrow I start some annual leave from work - I don't have any set plans for my time off, just catching up on things around home and of course, spending some quality time with my stitching  and oh yes, Hannah starts school!  I can't quite believe it, our little girl will be five. She's well and truly ready for school, loved her school visit a few weeks ago and loves her school uniform, she even slept in it the other night, lol.  

Thanks for stopping by today x

Flowers for You

Hello there

I don't think I've shown a pic of Flowers For You, which I'm stitching for a friend's birthday, well, a belated birthday present now :) 

I love the colours in this design, I love everything about a Blackbird Design pattern!

I picked up a few of my favourite magazines on Saturday, waiting on my bedside cabinet for some night time reading this week.

See you soon x

Love Finish

Hello there

How's your weekend going? It's a gorgeous autumn day here and I've just come inside from pottering around in the vegetable garden and greenhouse. DH and I have our first seedlings growing in there - cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and cauliflower, I can't believe how fast they came up and they are just shooting away!

Last night we celebrated one of our close friend's 40th birthday so we had a wonderful time catching up with old friends, some of them from early high school days, lots of fun!

A little finish to share today, the Love Virtue by Little House Needleworks. This stitched up very quickly over a couple of evenings

Love by Little House Needleworks, Virtue #2

stitched with recommended threads, 30ct WDW Cocoa Linen

Last Sunday spur of the moment we jumped in the car and headed to Hastings for lunch and a bit of shopping, about 30 minutes north of here. It had been raining all weekend so it was good to get out and about for a few hours.

Hannah by the water fountain in the centre of town.

Can you believe our little Miss H is going to be 5 early next month?!

See you soon xx

Christmas Garden Update

Hello there,

look what has seen the light of day out of the depths of my stitching basket! Why yes, it's BD's Christmas Garden.  I have been stitching on this the past few evenings and now one quarter of the design is finished.

 I don't think I've shared a pic of my Floss keeper before, one of the lovely designs from Country Stitches. I couldn't resist purchasing one a few months back when there was restock on the website.

Today I'm writing this post on my new computer! My other one had been playing up for months and it was getting old and really slow. Lucky I had everything backed up before it decided to completely crash on me!

Looks like we're in a wet weekend here so perfect for a bit of stitching once all my jobs are done for the day.

See you soon x

Mrs Claus' Cookie Shop

Hello there!

A big thanks for all the birthday messages last week - so nice to hear from you :)

I finished up Part 4 of Santa's Village over the weekend, bit of a wonky photo there!

I'm going to sew on all the buttons once the whole series is stitched, I can't believe Part 5 is now out, it's on its way from the US.

I also finished up a couple of ornaments over the weekend but will save sharing photos of them until I have them made up.

So now it's back to working on a friend's birthday gift and then maybe make some progress on BD's Christmas Garden, which I haven't put a single stitch into for months.

See you soon x

Birthday Treats

Hello there

On Tuesday I celebrated my birthday and had the most loveliest day.  It's not quite an "0" birthday, but not far off now!

These are the gorgeous flowers DH gave me, and they smelled so fragrant

Hannah painted and decorated a canvas for me - we were chatting about what my favourite colours were over the weekend so now I know why!

DH & Hannah also gave me these two new cooking books, which I'd been wishing for :)

Now for some crafty gifts. From Kath, she always totally spoils me - some gorgeous Lynette Anderson fabric and two charts from my favourite designers. Isn't the little mousie so cute!

A little stitchery purse made out of the same fabrics as my new bag.  That was some sneaky stitching going on Kath!! lol.

And a little Blackbird Designs pin pillow

From one of my work friends:

and also from another work friend - these tea towels are just too gorgeous to use. I love how one has got a pavlova recipe printed on it.

We celebrated my birthday by having dinner at home on Tuesday night.

Some of the lovely dessert we had, delicious brownie made by Kath

This creation is a Cadbury Mint Bubbly chocolate cheesecake, oh my, it was divine :)

It's been a gorgeous autumn day here today. My favourite time of the year - the days may start off a little bit chilly but we are left with a stunning day, not a cloud in the sky and the sun still has a bit of warmth in it.

See you soon x

Autumn

Hi friends

Just down the street from where Hannah goes to daycare, is the park area where I used to spend many a happy time as a child, playing with my cousins. My grandparents' house backed onto this area so I have lots of memories of spending hours and hours there, gathering up acorns and leaves for our pretend "acorn wars" games during autumn, and sliding down the grass hills on pieces of cardboard during summer :)

After picking Hannah up one day last week, she asked if she could have a play there, as she'd spotted the huge piles of leaves building up. Oh what fun she had!

See you soon x