Here is the other fireplace, which I have added to since this photo was taken, I'll upload another image later....

I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas break. I would be enjoying mine a whole lot more if we did not all have a cold - feeling somewhat grotty today!

Here is the hall....the mirror is very pretty - shame I am in the photo! :-) I'll try and take another one later.

Here is the dresser (next to the fireplace) in the living room....

Merry Christmas one and all.....

I hope you all had a fabulous time! Thanks for your Xmas wishes Helen, I really appreciate them! I thought you might enjoy a few photos of how I have decorated the house this year; here is the fireplace in the living room.......

I received the most wonderful package from Cathy for the Autumn exchange. Isn't the stitched pillow just gorgeous? Thanks Cathy! :-)

Halloween is on it's way and I have decorated my fireplace accordingly...........

Here is the inside of the tin............

Here is a photo of the tin and fob..........

Danya has received her Autumn exchange package so that means that I can share the photos with you. I used a little mint tin from Marks and Spencers (I think it is the same size as the American altoid tins) and used a little Shepherds Bush witch for the top. I also stitched an SB pumpkin for the wee fob. I am pleased that Danya likes it! How about you? :-)

I posted a little Autumn exchange gift today and I'll post pictures here as soon as my partner receives the parcel. Remember that all my photos are clickable if you want to see them in all their (huge) glory..... :-)

That's all for now; thank you for visiting!

and another.......

Hmm, that's a bit annoying >:-/ I don't know what happened with those photos, they were not merged when I hit the 'post' button. I'll post a couple more single photos now......

Do you remember that I was stitching on Shepherds Bush 'Wish' back in July? I made it into a pyramid for my friend Sue, in New Zealand and she has received her parcel today. This, of course, means that I can now share the photos with you. I hope you enjoy them. I also included a little bag and brooch from a company called Hume Sweet Hume, who are based on Westray in the Orkney Isles. You will find their webpage here: http://www.humesweethume.com/

Here is a closer photo of the inside of the pyramid.......

Here is a photo of the outside of the pyramid that I made for Carol. I hope you like it!

That's it for this evening. I hope to be back soon with a couple more pictures of gift stitching once it all arrives at it's destination. Thank you for visiting! :-)

Carol and I both love bears and so when I saw this fabric I knew I had to have it! The whole gift developed once I bought this fabric....... This is the back of the pin keep and I lined the outside of the pyramid with this fabric. It's great, isn't it?

It was my friend, Carol's, birthday recently and I stitched a selection of goodies. I used gloriana silk and ribbon in 'Topiary' and all the motifs are from Long Dog 'Paradigm Lost' and 'Do Bears'. The pyramid was a real pleasure to make and I found the instructions here:

http://mesfabricationscarto.over-blog.com/

Here is the latest picture of my La D Da rabbit from 'In the Forest' - she's looking good! :-)

Here is a close up of Beatrix.....Carol stitched it on 36ct linen, I believe...........

Here is my friend Carols' version of Beatrix Potter. Isn't it beautiful? Carol chose a DMC coloyr that she liked and then the lady at Mulberry silks provided an exact colour match in silk.......... very pretty!

At last, Blogger is letting me upload my images. This is a little 'Indigo Rose' freebie. I have used the recommended DMCs for the ladybird and the central backstitch is done with Weeks Dye Works 'Ladybug'.

I had planned to upload several photos of my recent works in progress this evening, but blogger does not seem to want to upload my photos after all. Here is my progress on Shepherds Bush 'wish'. The fabric is a very pretty hand dyed mottled pink..............

After a good couple of months waiting, I finally got the supplies to start In the Forest by La D Da. My supplier was waiting, to no avail, for the 18th century blackbird fabric specified in the pattern and we finally gave up and she chose R&R three stitches sagebrush as a substitute to go with the listed NPI silks. I am really pleased with the combination, even though my photographs have not captured the linen colour well - it is a darkish grey-green. This is as far as I have got this weekend............

What have I been stitching on whilst I have not been blogging? Well several things, but none of them seem to have come on very fast apart from this one, which is by Little House Needleworks. I have stitched this as a present for somebody, so I will have to save the finishing photos until they have recived the gift.......... anyway, here it is..........

Happy Fathers Day, Dad! I hope you have a wonderful day, full of pleasurable things! Sorry I can't be with you today, but the bungalow at the bottom of my road is still for sale............... we have hardly changed a bit from these photos, have we Dad? :-)

For those of you who have never met my dad (that would be almost everybody of course), he is the best dad in the world, as I am sure you can tell from these photos!

Love you lots, Dad! :-) xx

more party pics.........

Actually I want to share one last post before I head off to bed tonight. Here are a couple of photos taken at my birthday party. My daughters, aided and abetted by Carol arranged a party for myself and my niece and they decided on a surprise theme, which turned out to be butterflies. When I got to the party everything looked so pretty! The girls decorated the table with butterflies and even made little butterfly-tiara/headbands for all the girls there. The predominant colours were pink lavender and green - my favourites. See, I told you all that I have been well and truly spoilt! I hope you enjoy looking at the photos this evening, I hope to be back again over the next few days with more pictures.... Thanks for visiting, everybody!

Last, but by no means least, of tonights posts, here is a photo of a birthday gift from my friend Annie. Annie has never cross stitched before, but wanted to stitch something for my birthday. She stitched the design for a handbag mirror - a wonderfully vibrant celtic cross on black 14ct aida - I love it, thank you Annie!

My friend Betsey sent me a whole host of goodies which included a bag which she made for me....I am still toying with the idea of using it as a handbag rather than a little 'stitching project' bag.......she also sent a lovely pincushion - look at all those french knots! I love sheep...... Thank you Betsey, your gifts are beautiful!

My friend Sue sent me a beautiful needroll all the way from New Zealand, I just love all the colours in it and the ribbon enhances the prettiness of the needleroll -isn't it just fabulous? Sue also sent a selection of gifts which include the most beautiful wrap, edged with little feathers, based on Maori cloaks and a paua shell brooch. I am so lucky to have such talented and generous friends - thank you Sue!

Here is a close up of the top of the box and the fabulously yummy chocolate birthday cake, complete with edible glitter , which Carol also made for me (along with an almost identical cake for my six year old niece who shares the same birthday and birthday party with me). When does Carol find time to sleep I hear you all cry.............. "goodness only knows" is the answer, she is a very generous and creative lady and I know that I am very happy to count her as my good friend - thank you Carol! Carol will be blushing madly by now as, amongst her many attributes, she is an incredibly modest person - sorry Carol! :-)

As if the basket wasn't enough, Carol also made me a wonderful little octagonal box, stitched in the loveliest variegated thread...one of which was waterwoods. Maybe Carol will comment and let you know what the other thread was called. Again, the pictures do not do the stitching enough justice!

I had so many beautiful gifts for my birthday and was well and truly spoilt! My friend Carol stitched and lined a basket, which she filled with gorgeous little stitched accessories. Both the stitching and finishing are a joy to see and the photos do not do the pieces justice, they are just exquisite. Every time I look at them I am so thrilled that these beautiful things belong to me! :-)

Goodness, where does the time go? I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post! Still, I have been quite busy and have also celebrated my 50th birthday since I last posted....... I have quite a few stitching pictures to share with you, but where to start? :-)

Okay, let's start with a little Marks and Spencer mint tin which I decorated and sent to Vicky, I took the stitching from a French heart pattern which I had in the stash and also stitched a tiny little scissor fob to go with it. Here you are.........

I have just realised that I have not posted pictures of the little valentine exchange that I sent. I stitched Shepherds Bush Watercolour Heart. I put beads on the front and stitched the same design, minus the beads, on the back, along with our initials and the year..........

It seems to have been a long winter this year and I am always so excited to see the snowdrops in my garden. I took a photo of them a week or so back and here is a photo of them, in all their glory - they make me smile!

My good friend and stitching buddy Carol and I have decided that we will stitch Shepherds Bush 'Victorian Sampler' together this year. Here is our progress so far, I think this will be fun to stitch and very pretty and days spent with Carol are always so enjoyable! :-)

I have not managed to get a lot of stitching done since I last posted and, once again, I have been mostly working on exchange pieces which I can't share yet. However, I have taken a photo to show my slow progress on BBD Garland Fair. At least it is coming along a bit - that over one (which I hate doing) seems to take forever! :-)