Santa's Village

Hello there

One of my favourite projects this year has been Country Cottage Needlework's Santa's Village series and after a whole year of stitching, it's finally finished.

Here are the last two blocks:

Elves' Workshop

The Hot Cocoa Cafe

Ta da! The whole village!

I really can't decide on my most favourite part :)

What a fun project and I'm so pleased to have finished before this Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by x

Santa's Village - Gingerbread Emporium

Hello there

I have another block stitched on Santa's Village - only two more to go!

My gingerbread men are missing their french knot eyes and buttons as I'll stitch them on, along with all the novelty buttons, once the whole piece is finished.

So almost there now - can't believe this was started nearly a year ago!

See you soon x

Santa's Sleighworks

Hello there

Part 9 is now all stitched on Santa's Village, isn't the reindeer just so cute!

It's getting harder to get a decent snap of the whole piece, only three more blocks to go.

I'm going to really miss stitching on this when it's completed, but I can't wait to have it hanging on the wall, hopefully just in time for Christmas 2013!

See you soon x

Candy Cane Cottage

Hello there

Candy Cane Cottage, part 8 of Santa's Village, is now stitched so another row is finished, only four more parts to go.

I'm so pleased I've managed to keep up with this series - I'll start part 9 later in the week, this part has the cutest reindeer button.  

See you soon x

Christmas Tree Farm

It's time to share another part of Santa's Village, this is Christmas Tree Farm:

I made a slight "whoops" on the door but as I couldn't be bothered redoing the stitches, I'm sure its not too noticeable.

Please excuse the wrinkles :)

Next up is Candy Cane Cottage, another cutie.

Reindeer Stables from Santa's Village

Hello there

I thought I was never going to finish this part on Santa's Village, it seemed to take forever. The little reindeer are so cute!!

Half way through this project now and I hope I can keep on track to have finished later in the year.

This past week I've had a second round of the viral cold I had back at the start of the month and Hannah has been unwell again too. DH also succumbed to the tummy bug, and when he gets sick, which doesn't happen all that often, he does a really job of it!  So it was a very uneventful weekend at our house.  Winter has well and truly arrived here in New Zealand, with a polar blast hitting many parts of the country at the end of the week. The start to this morning was clear and frosty and 0 degrees c when I collected the mail from the post office before work!

Bye for now x

Santa's Stocking Store

Hello there

I have another part stitched on Santa's Village, Santa's Stocking Store

 The whole piece so far, almost half way now!

The next part should be here any day now. In the meantime I've been stitching on the next Sheep Virtue, Peace, and a couple of ornaments.  

Thanks for stopping by xx

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

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

North Pole Post Office: Santa's Village

Hello friends

Over the weekend I finished Part 3 of Santa's Village, North Pole Post Office, maybe my favourite block so far, but have you seen part 4 yet, oh so cute!

The whole design so far:

Totally loving this project!

See you soon xx

Poinsettia Place

Hello friends

What a fun little stitch part two, Poinsettia Place, was!  I couldn't put this down last week, staying up late several nights running stitching away.

The two parts together -

Santa's Village by Country Cottage Needleworks

stitching on 32ct mocha Belfast using recommended threads

Part Three is due to be sent out later this week or early next week so that will give me a bit of time to work on some non-Christmasy stitching :)  

See you soon x