Four More

I'm on bit of a roll with my ornament finishing, here's a few more.  The first two were stitched last year, the other two a few months ago.

Winter Sampler, freebie by Cosmic Handmade

A french freebie, sorry I couldn't find the link for this one 

Sam Sarah Designs Studio from Just Cross Stitch August 2014

Merry Christmas Redwork Sampler by Pineberry Lane

There's still a few in my finishing pile to go!

Some ornament finishes

Over the past few weeks I've been trying to fit in a bit of ornament finishing. I also have several little ornaments I'd stitched last year but ran out of time to do anything with so I've made sure they've been on top of the finishing pile.

I'll share these over a couple of posts.  

Gingerbread Tree - Little House Needleworks

2010 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Preview Issue

Maison Rouges, freebie by Cathy Roy

Sleigh Bells Ring - Little House Needleworks

See you soon x

Latest Christmas Ornaments

I finished another trio of ornaments recently:

Un Mouton sous la neige

free chart found here

From Duo Noel by Tralala

stitched with recommended DMCs, 32ct cream belfast

Also from Duo Noel by Tralala

stitched with recommended DMCs, 32ct cream belfast

It's turned quite nippy out there today, could there be some snow on the ranges near here? Certainly feels like it!

February Ornaments - Tis the Season & two freebies

In recent years I've stitched several Christmas ornaments in the early months of the year and then I tend to putter out, leaving the last few until just before Christmas.  This year I'm aiming to have them all done by mid year, we'll see! 

So for February's ornaments I chose "Tis the Season by Shepherds Bush, this is to put away for our Christmas tree.

Christmas Owl from Holly's Hobbies, chart can be found here

And Merry, Merry by Homepsun Elegance, another freebie that can be found here

March's choices are a couple of small Tralala designs and another freebie, found here. Anyone else out there already stitching Christmas ornaments?

Lately

Hello friends, did you have a lovely weekend? We did - the sun was shining all weekend so I spent a bit of time outside in the garden, DH worked some more on our house extension and he's also made some new shelves for my sewing and stitching fabrics to go onto in our office/craft room, pictures to come soon. Hannah spent a bit of time with Nannie and Grandad, and we also enjoyed a lovely walk & scooter ride yesterday afternoon. 

As usual, I've got lots of crafty projects on the go at the moment so I've sorted out a weekly rotation so I get a little bit of time spent on them all.   

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings have been spent stitching on Christmas Garden, CCN's Garden Girl or Santa's Village, and LHN's Sheep Virtures.

I'm really pleased with my progress on Christmas Garden:

Wednesday nights have been set aside for stitchery projects and then over the weekend is when I stitch ornaments or other small designs. This is a recent finish:

Maison Rouges by Cathy Roy

Le Chalet des Perelles 

two free designs to choose from 

stitched with DMC 321, 32ct white belfast

I'm also trying to fit a bit of knitting in as I've been asked to make some handwarmers by some of the ladies my Mum works with.

As usual over the winter months, I've been reading a lot more and I love getting new books in the mail - these two arrived last week :)

Have a lovely week x

Ornament Stitching

Hello there

Every year I like to stitch a whole bunch of Christmas ornaments, which I give to my family and friends. I usually aim to stitch two or more every month but so far this year I've fallen a bit behind, I'm blaming the addictive Sheep Virtues and Santa's Village series!

Awhile ago I spent a few hours digging out some patterns and getting all the threads & fabrics ready  and this is the result.

From the top:
1. The Prairie Schooler, Freebie - Santa Rides
2. Reindeer from Lizzie Kate's Ting Tidings XVII
3. Sheepish Designs, from an old Just Cross Stitch magazine, unsure of the issue number
4. Freebie from a french site, sorry, can't remember where I found this one.
5. An Owly Christmas cross stitch by the Floss Box.
6. Freebie from Cosmic Handmade.

Now to find a few spare hours to finish them off!

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

Ornament Stitching

Hi friends

Many thanks for the wonderful comments left on my last few posts, and a big welcome to my new followers, it's lovely to have you here.

I finished making up these two ornaments recently for the annual ornament collection for family and friends 

Do you hear by Shepherds Bush, JCS 2012

stitched with recommended threads, 32ct linen

Christmas Robin by Soed Idee

freebie found here

stitched with own choice DMC threads, misc linen

I was so happy to have these charts arrive in the mail earlier in the week - guess what I'll be stitching on tonight!

Happy stitching x

Valentine's Day Stitching

Hello friends

I'm a little late in sharing these latest finishes - last week I was a bit under the weather with a head cold kindly shared with me by Hannah - it seems to be doing the rounds at Hannah's day care at the moment. Every year I like to stitch a little something to celebrate Valentine's Day - here's this year's choices:

Give Love by the Little Stitcher

stitched on 32ct mocha belfast, recommended threads

A Valentine's Stocking

freebie by Plum Street Samplers can be found here

stitched with own choice of threads, 32ct mocha belfast

See you soon x

A Few More

Hello friends

Here's some of the last of my 2012 ornament finishes: 

Christmas Dove by JBW Designs

stitched with GAST Schoolhouse Red, 32ct white belfast

Christmas Wishes Pillow by Beehive Needleworks

freebie pattern can be found here

stitched with DMC thread, 32ct cream belfast

We had a fairly busy weekend just been, with the last of the Christmas functions we'd been invited to held on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.  We also spent a lot of time in the swimming pool - its been sweltering here over the past few days, I don't remember it being this hot before Christmas for quite a few years.

I finished my auntie's gift recently, this is for my auntie that looks after Hannah for us every day.  

I thought I'd share a pic of how our fundraising wall hanging turned out - this was stitched by some of the ladies that I work with and myself, and then my talented pal Clare finished it into the wall hanging. Thanks again Clare!  I love how it turned out and I've bought several tickets hoping to win it, lol.

Hannah has been busy too, attending lots of end of the year activities including her daycare Christmas party. Here she is all dressed up ready to go! She was so excited to go along, especially since she knew Santa was making an appearance.

Wishing you a wonderful week xx

A Trio of Ornaments

Hello everyone

well the last week has just flown by in one big blur! Starting last Friday with family arriving to stay for the long weekend to a family dinner last night its been pretty full on.  I share some pics of our wonderful week soon but today's post is about the latest ornaments that I found time to make up recently.

Three more ornaments to add to this year's tally:

Santa and the Elf

design by the Floss Box 

stitched with recommended threads, 32 ct mocha belfast

Feelin' Festive

design by Lizzie Kate, Tiny Tidings XV

stitched with recommended threads, 32 ct mocha belfast

French Freebie

unsure of designer?

stitched with 321 DMC, 32 ct natural belfast

As always, thanks for the lovely comments. See you soon xx

ABC Noel

Hi everyone,

another little ornament to share today - I stitched this a few months ago and made it up recently.

ABC Noel by L'R de rein

freebie pattern found here

321 dmc thread, 32ct natural belfast

See you soon x

Sister Stitcher

Greetings dear friends, 

here's another little finish I had recently - a sweet freebie pattern from the Primitive Hare.  

I decided to sew it into a small flange pillow, this type of finish I haven't made in ages :)

Sister Stitcher

by the Primitive Hare

stitched on 32ct coffee dyed linen with recommended threads.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and comment on my blog. Have a great day!

See you soon xx

I Love You Mum

Good morning friends

My dear Mum has a special birthday coming up in August, and I'm planning to make her a few hand made gifties, which she always loves.

When I spotted this adorable freebie by the Little Stitcher recently, I had it stitched and made up in a jiffy. I've had this pretty blue fabric sitting in my stash for ages, just waiting for the right project.

Primitive Mother's Day

by the Little Stitcher

stitched on coffee dyed fabric with recommended threads

Have a wonderful day. See you soon xx

Easter Stitching for Friends

Hello friends and fellow stitchers, 

I can now share a little bit of secret stitching I worked on  over the past few weeks. Kath and I always exchange a little stitched item each Easter and this year I decided to make a little something for my other stitching buds, Clare and Janet as well.

- for Clare,  Primitive Betty's Easter freebie 

: for Janet, Easter Flower with Chicks, a sweet freebie by Alexandrina

: for Kath, this design I found on this lovely blog here

This is the sweet pillow I received from Kath, isn't it just gorgeous :)

On Monday it was my 38th birthday - goodness that came around fast this year, lol. I had a wonderful day and got very spoilt with some great pressies from my family and friends. I"ll share some of the special presents I received next time.


Enjoy your day! 

Bunny Time

Happy Easter, wishing you an enjoyable and relaxing weekend, whatever you might be up to.  

We're spending our long weekend at home. We've got a few things planned - lunch out with friends today, Saturday morning my cousin Donna arrives to spend a few days with us, the movies "the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", an Easter Egg hunt and morning tea with friends, a family dinner, and there might just be a birthday celebrated too :)

Each year I like to stitch a Easter design for Hannah - this design is another of Alexandrina's freebies.

I'll leave you with a pic of some of the other Easter goodies I've either stitched or been given over recent years.

Have a super weekend!

take care xx

Making Up and Shopping!

Happy mid week to you all. Over the last few days we have had more heavy rain and wind, right over all of New Zealand, and there's also been bad flooding in some parts. I've been wearing winter boots to work this week, and my coat too, very strange for this time of the year. Our daylight savings hours end in a few weekends time so I guess the dreary weather will really set in then.

Anyways, onto something brighter  - I have some sewing finishes and shopping purchases to share, two of my favourite past times, hee hee.

These little Easter stitches were actually done last year, I just didn't get time to make them up. I've had the cute bunny fabric in my stash for awhile, just waiting to find the right project to match it to.

This little design is  freebie by Alexandrina and can be found here,as well as lots of other sweet bunny freebie designs.

And some more spotty fabric used on this cutie pie Lizzie Kate design, Sampling Easter Quick-It. I love the Weeks Dye Works periwinkle thread used to stitch the alphabet.

Now for the new goodies - our local knitting store has started to get in their new winter stock and pattern books. I picked up the supplies to knit the pink design for Hannah - I was told by the store owner that this knits up really quick, just what I need, lol.

Earlier in the month I went to a training course held out of town so it was a good opportunity to stop by one of our bigger craft stores.  I picked up a few balls of wool for some Easter crochet projects, that may or may not get done in time :)

These were too pretty to resist:

And so were these scrummy colours:

The latest Mollie Makes issue to arrive in NZ also turned up recently, once again filled with lots of pretty ideas and inspiration! I'm purchasing these from Sew Pretty, an online fabric store based in Christchurch.

Well, that's it for today. Many thanks for stopping by, and its great to see some new people are visiting and taking the time to leave me a message.

See you soon xx