To & From

We're enjoying a quiet afternoon at home after DH treated us out to lunch at one of our local restaurants.  The weather has turned here and the rain has come - sadly its not looking good for seeing in the New Year around NZ at any of the beaches or other holiday spots. We don't have any particular plans this year except for a family get together on New Years day, so I'm planning to fit in lots of stitching :)

Now that all the presents have been unwrapped I can finally share a few of the gifts I made secretly over the past few months and also show the wonderful gifts I received from Clare and Kath :)

For Clare this year I stitched Deer in the Meadow by Blackbird Designs -

I also made Clare a Stitcher's wallet to hold all her stitching bits and pieces - front

and for the back I stitched a Prairie Fairie by the Prairie Schooler



From Clare, I was given this very cute Brittercup designs ornament, looks just like Miss Poppy :)

A felted bag

This Santa, which Clare cleverly made

and this wonderful cute little bag - she's very talented my friend Clare and I feel very lucky to be the recipient of her gorgeous sewing and stitchery work.



Now for dear Kath - as soon as I spotted this particular design by Danybrod I knew it would just perfect for Kath. I made it into a small wall hanging. It took alot of searching at the local fabric shops to find some suitable fabric to match, I wanted it to be just right. I just loved stitching this pretty design.



I also made Kath and Clare both a stitchery Christmas Bon bon, the pattern is by Hatched and Patched. I had actually done the stitched parts before Christmas last year, lol.

On the day after Boxing Day, we went to visit with Kath and the girls, and these are the lovely pressies Kath gave to me - this years ornie:



A thread catcher : 

And ta da, a sewing machine cover - I couldn't tell you how excited I was to see this, Kath has known that I've been wanting to make one for simply ages. Its just perfect! Here's the front :

And the back :



My friend Wendy also gave me a set of all handmade cards for different occasions, what a neat idea, and a very sweet angel ornament.

So I was a very spoilt girl this Christmas.  I also treated myself to a few other crafty pre Christmas pressies so I'll share them in my next post. 

As this will be my last post for 2011, I just want to wish you a very Happy New Year and thank you for your visits here, and comments and most of all, your friendship. I'm looking forward to the new year and have lots of stitching, sewing, can't forget knitting and crocheting projects planned!

See you in 2012 xx

A Few More

Angels Sent

Still Stitching with Susan

JSC 2010

Here's a few more ornies that I recently made up. These were stitched earlier in the year. The top one is for my wonderful Mum - each year I ask her to pick an ornament from the JCS mag she likes and then set about making it for her.  This was actually last year's pick, hee hee. 

Several of these felt angels were made for Hannah to give her little friends at daycare -

This ornament I stitched for a friend of mine:

Christmas Eve Deer

by Prairie Schooler

2009 November Gift of Stitching

As of a few hours ago, I'm now holiday for three and a half weeks! Wahoo! I was meant to start my break yesterday afternoon but poor Hannah came down with a nasty tummy bug overnight Sunday, which meant I had to take the day off from work and return today for a few hours, just to get the last minute things cleared off my desk until 2012. Glenn starts his holidays a bit later in the week, and Hannah has a few more days left at daycare so I'm looking forward to spending a few days on my own. They'll be busy though, Christmas baking, grocery shopping, last minute shopping and present wrapping, you know how it goes!

I'm also so looking forward to spending some time with Glenn and Hannah at home over the next few weeks. This year we''ll be mostly at our house Christmas Day, with our family coming for our main meal later in the day. We're hoping that the day turns out lovely and fine so the children can go swimming -its actually been a mixed bag of weather here lately, and we've been having many thunderstorms. Over the past few days, because its been so cool we've even had our heat pump going, isn't it supposed to be summer, lol.

Thanks for stopping by xx

Baked Goods

Baked Goods

by Little House Needleworks

stitched on 32ct linen using recommended threads

I finished this design back in October during my holiday week.  Its one of my favourites from this year's LHN ornie series and I can't wait to see what next year's designs are going to be - although Kath and I have still quite a few from this year to stitch yet :)

Have a great weekend! See you soon xx

Christmas Cat Tree

Christmas Cat Tree by Brittercup Designs

2011 Just Cross Stitch Ornie Mag

stitched with recommended threads

Here's another favourite from this year's ornie mag, chosen for my lovely MIL Heather. It was my first attempt at making a triangle shaped ornament and I found some pretty black and gold braiding for the trim.  I really liked this design so might just have to restitch it next year :)

See you soon x

Santa's Flight

This Mill Hill design has been a very long work in progress! I started it well over 4 years ago, might have even been longer, and since then its been in my "at work" project bag, to stitch on during lunch breaks, etc. I can't honestly remember when I last stitched on it but several weeks ago I decided that it was about time to get it completed and now I'm pleased I have, its so pretty and sparkly, aren't the buttons too cute?

Birthday Treats for a dear Friend

I can finally reveal a little bit of stitching that I've been working on secretly over the past month - firstly, a gift for Kath's birthday last week.

This is Winter Lady by Primitive Hare, from the latest Gift of Stitching magazine, which I thought was a perfect choice for Kath.

 stitched on 32ct platinum linen using recommended threads

For many years now, Kath and I have exchanged an ornament at Christmas time so I decided to give my one to Kath along with her other birthday pressies. This year I chose Rejoice by Mosey 'n Me from the 2009 Just Cross Stitch ornaments magazine.

stitched on 32ct dirty linen using recommended threads



For Kath's birthday dinner she had requested fish 'n chips, as she didn't want me to go to any trouble since we'd all had a busy few days and it was midweek, but I went ahead and jazzed up our meal with some fresh salads, and then individual sticky date puddings with butterscotch sauce for our dessert. Mum made the loveliest fresh fruit salad - talk about yum!! A few glasses of bubbly wine also went down a treat!

What a lovely time we had celebrating Kath's birthday and as its been awhile, so good to have a catch up during these busy pre Christmas days.

I've got several new ornament finishes to share over the next few days - I'm very pleased to say that the last of my 2011 ornaments and gift stitching are all finished. I also started on a new project on the 1st December, Holiest of Nights by Homespun Elegance, aiming to have it stitched by Christmas Eve! Kath and I have chosen our holiday project too, the Holly & Ivy Sampler by Shepherds Bush, which we'll both be starting sometime during Christmas week.

See you soon xx

The happenings around here

Hello everyone

can I just say how lovely it was to read your comments on my last post - they sure do brighten my day, and I appreciate them so much :)

Another week has rolled on by and soon it will be the 1st December, amazing how fast Christmas is approaching this year.  I've been trying to get all my little handmade gifts finished early this year so I can start some new projects before the year ends. I have a few stitched pieces finished but I can't share them just yet, all will be revealed in the next few weeks!

I came across this pattern for a cute crochet candy cane ornament recently so I just had to make some up as candy canes are Hannah's absolute favourite sweet treat.

I've also made up several crochet face wipes, which are to be a Christmas gift, I haven't actually tried these out myself yet but they feel lovely and soft. Pattern can be found here.

Look at this monkey in the bath the other night - too funny as she knew I was planning to wash her hair lol.

Hannah and I have been trying out some new recipes lately for our lunchboxes and these honey biscuits were a hit last week. The recipe came from here.

 

I'm already looking forward to the coming weekend - Hannah is going to be on a float in the local Christmas parade Saturday and then we're off to do some major Christmas shopping.

Enjoy the rest of the week, see you soon x

Fresh Fallen Snow

The Little House Needleworks ornament in this year's JCS ornament magazine was one of my favourites.  I didn't have the recommended Belle Soie threads so I went with Crescent Colours Toasted Marshmellow and Weeping Willow, which matched perfectly to some green felt I had in my stash.

What was I just saying about our lovely weather yesterday? Its pouring down out there this morning, typical spring!

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon x

Three More Done

Hello friends, I hope the week is off to a good start for you - its a stunning day here today, sadly I won't get to see much of the sunshine as I have a late finish at work tonight. 

I'm getting to the end of stitching my 2011 Christmas ornaments for my family and friends, only one or two to go now. I had a few hours spare on Friday afternoon while Hannah was at daycare so I got my sewing machine out and happily sewed away for the afternoon. Boy, did that feel good, its been awhile since I had a decent sewing session. My sewing machine must have thought so too as I'd only just started sewing when the needle broke!!

The first ornament I made up, and for Becky's ornament challenge, is from the Prairie Schooler Santa Moon leaflet.

Next up were a couple of Christmas crackers, also for the ornament challenge, I haven't made up this type for ages :)

The pattern I stitched is from Stitches and Cats, Oh My blog, a lovely freebie from last year.

Soon these will be posted off to make their way around to the opposite side of the world to a few special stitching friends.

I'll be back tomorrow with my latest little finish, and what do you know, its another Christmas design.

See you soon xx

First Crochet Christmas Ornament

This little Christmas angel didn't take too long to crochet but please don't look too closely as I think I may have muddled up some of my stitches!  I think these will be perfect to tuck into a Christmas card.

Pattern found via Ravelry

Many thanks for your sweet comments on my recent posts. See you soon xx

Home Again

Hello dear friends

My little holiday break has now come to an end and it was back to work yesterday for DH and I, and back to daycare for Hannah. I had a wonderful week and half, a few days at home to stitch, read, and trying not to do any housework, and then it was time to take off for our family holiday.  This time we headed south to our capital city, Wellington, and what a wonderful few days we had, doing the touristy thing taking in the city's sights, spending time at the beach, and in general, having a happy time together :)

I'll post some holiday pics soon, and a few other stitchey ones, but I'll leave you today with the felt Santas I've been working on for Hannah to give to her little friends at daycare at Christmas time.

I found the pattern for these cuties at this site.

Have a happy day x

Our Church Fair & Latest Ornie

Hello dear stitching friends,

recently the girls and I went along to the annual Spring Fair held at our local church. This is something I look forward to every spring as I have fond memories of going when I was little with my Mum and Nannie, and now Hannah and Zoe love to go along too.  We always come home with some delicious home baking, a few goodies found amongst the sales tables, and this time, Hannah got to have a ride on a donkey! She was in her element :)

Just a little finish to share today - this cute ornie

Freebie found here
DMC threads
32ct mocha belfast linen

I've been feeling a bit under the weather over the last couple of days - as usual for this time of the year, I've got bad hayfever. Only a few more days of work to get through then I'm on holiday until the 1st November, yippee!  After enjoying a few days at home Glenn, Hannah and I head away on our annual family holiday. Can't wait!

I'll be back tomorrow with some more stitching progress pics. See you then x

Peace

Peace by the Prairie Schooler

freebie design

stitched on 32ct white belfast using recommended threads

Good morning dear stitching friends, its a stunning spring morning here, not a cloud in the sky :) Our daylight savings hours started on Sunday so I'm finding it a bit hard to get up in the mornings this week, lol. Once the second coffee of the day kicks in I'm fine though!

Before I head out the door this morning I wanted to share my lastest finish, Peace, a freebie design by the Prairie Schooler. This is for one of my work friends so I'll definately have to restitch it again sometime for our tree.

Have a lovely day xx

Merry Merry Be

Hello dear stitching friends, well Monday has rolled around again after a very productive weekend at our house.  Glenn and I have been giving some of our gardens bit of an overhaul over the past few weeks, and after Saturday we're now we're up to the stage where we can plant some new trees - they've been ordered from one of the local garden centres for pick up next Saturday. We've also topped up our raised vegetable beds and got some vege seedlings all ready to plant when the warmer weather comes in October.  Hannah and I are also going to pot up some petunias and lobelia in several pots, all reds and whites, hoping for a nice display by Christmas.

Yesterday was a quieter day, I had a few sore muscles after Saturday's marathon effort outside all day, hee hee,  and Glenn was feeling underweather with a bit of hayfever/sinus so Hannah and I spent most of the day in kitchen baking up a few treats for lunchboxes this week.  We tried out a couple of Annabel Langbein's recipes in the latest Australian Women's Weekly, an apricot and ginger slice and a fruit loaf, both of these are excerpts from her new book, Free Range in the City, not out yet but bound to be a hit as her last book the Free Range Cook is a best seller. Oh my, both were divine!  We also made Glenn's favourite chocolate cake and chocolate chippie biscuits too.  I made up a huge stock pot of our favourite vegetable and bacon soup, which I like to have in the freezer to pull out for Hannah's dinner when we're having something that she's not too keen on, or for a quick and easy meal during the week.

So there's not been much time for stitching lately but I did manage to finish the little Shepherds Bush kit, Merry Merry Be, in the above photo.  A lovely stitch, which took me a lot longer than I thought it would with all the little colour changes. I found some pretty red Moda fabric for the backing and sewed it into a small pillow. 

Another project finished off over the weekend is the cardigan I was knitting for Hannah, all it needs is a button sewn on, which is on tonight's agenda. I thought I might knit a matching hat from one of my latest Ravelry finds, this ebook, which has some very cute hats for children in it.

As always, thanks for visiting here and many thanks so much for the wonderful comments about the hexagon quilt - its always such a pleasure to read these comments :)

Well, thats my round up from this weekend's happenings, see you soon.

A small finish and a tiny start

Hello friends, well, the end of another week is here already - this week has just zoomed on by! I'm happy to report that its looks like spring is finally making an appearance too, its been fine all week and today it even reached 20c - a nice and sunny day. Lets hope this good weather stays around for the weekend as I've got loads of outside jobs that I'd like to get a start on.

Now for some stitching, the latest of my LHN ornies is now finished:

Bringing Home the Tree -Little House Needleworks

stitched on 32ct mocha belfast

using recommended threads

This is one of my favourites in the series so far I think.

I had a little stash parcel arrive the other day from the US (more on that in another post) so I couldn't resist starting one of the kits, Shepherds Bush Tiny Garden Scissor fob

Only a few stitches so far but I hope to stitch on this over the weekend. This week I've also been putting together a few more rows on Hannah's hexagon quilt - will I ever get this finished? lol.

See you soon xx

Two Ornies for July

Hello friends :)

We've been enjoying a rare day of winter sunshine so as usual DH and I have been making the most of it getting some outside gardening jobs done. Later on we're having some of our family and Kath around for a pre birthday celebration for DH, its his birthday on Tuesday.

As everything I needed to cook is nearly ready for our family roast dinner, I thought I'd share two ornament finishes for July, and what do you know, they're completely finished! I tried out a new- to -me finish this month, and have to say, I quite like how they turned out :)

Winter

freebie by the Sisterhood

Last Minute December

by Lizzie Kate

I'd better go, our guests will soon be here - I hope you're enjoying the weekend.

See you soon xx

The rest of my June ornaments

Talk about chalk and cheese the weather this weekend - we've enjoyed a beautiful winter's day here today so DH, Hannah and I have made the most of being able to get out in the sunshine. We spent a few hours pottering around the garden, pulling out weeds(!!) and making some plans for some pre-spring projects for a few areas in the gardens. Then this afternoon Hannah and I headed out for a walk to the one of the local fruit and vege shops, we haven't been out for a Sunday walk in quite a few weeks.

I have a few Christmas stitches to share today, I'm beginning to get quite a pile of ornaments that need to be finished so I really must do something about that, ha ha!

First up, is one of my favourite designs from last year's Just Cross Stitch ornaments magazine. I started this while I was away last weekend and after a few hours stitching realised I'd stitched the top words in the wrong colour! Oh dear nevermind :)

Love & Joy by Plum Street Samplers

stitched on 36ct linen with recommended DMC threads

Kath and I are continuing our Little House Needleworks ornie SAL and June's choice was Fa La La

Another quick ornament stitch for June was this cutie by the Sampler Girl, Dash Away All - I have stitched a couple of these for my work friends.

I've just realised after seeing this pic that the reindeer still needs to have a star or button sewn on.

Well, its time for me to get on with organising our Sunday dinner - enjoy the rest of your weekend!

First Ornie for June and Knitting

Howdy folks, here's a little update on a chilly Sunday afternoon. The first of my Christmas ornaments for this month is Holly Noel by Mill Hill.

This was a quick stitch, or should I say bead as obviously it mostly beaded :) I've had a few of these little Mill Hill kits in my stash for several years now so I'm going to try and get a few more done over the next few months.

With the chilly weather we've been having there's nothing better than sitting down by the fire at night, once Hannah is tucked up in bed, with a nice hot coffee, my knitting and some of my favourite tv shows on. At the moment I'm making another cowl, this one is intended for a friend.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Peace

This little Mill Hill ornament has been a very long work in progress - I started it when Hannah was only a few months old and then somehow it got "misplaced" in my craft/computer room :) Recently I was having a major sort through all my patterns and kits and what did you know, there it was. It only took a few hours stitching and beading to get it completed.

Peace by Mill Hill

threads and beads from kit

~Katrina~

Ornament Frenzy Catch Up -March, April & May

Lately I've had the Christmas ornie stitching bug so I've managed to get a few done during May.

Peace on Earth -Little House Needleworks

misc. linen stitched with recommended threads

Noel by 123 Citrouille
freebie found here
stitched with DMC 115




Christmas Deer by the Prairie Schooler
from the November 2009 Gift of Stitching magazine
cream belfast linen & recommended DMC threads



Christmas Eve Flight
design by Tanya Marie Anderson/The Sampler Girl
freebie pattern found here



Milady's Needle, Just Cross Stitch Ornaments 2010

stitched with DMC 115

So now I need to organise a marathon finishing session!

~Katrina~