Hello and welcome

Hi there and thanks for stopping by to look at my blog. This is the place that I am going to keep a record of my stitching progress but I will probably put other stuff on here too. I will be glad to hear your thoughts too so post away if you feel like it.

Sunday 16 October 2011

finally an update

Hi everyone, sorry its been such an age since the last post..I don't know where the time goes??  I have only been working on one project since my last post which is the fall fairy.  I am up to page 9!  Here is a photo

I am so pleased with the way this is coming out...its just beautiful.  I am totally addicted but I think I may carry on til the end of this month and then swap to a xmas project.

I hope you are all happily stitching away

:-)

Lesley

Friday 15 July 2011

a couple of new charts I have my eye on

December


and given that my nickname is bats

Halloween
(the middle sentence is very appropriate :-D)

and a nice summery one
summer

that's all for now folks..:-)

some new photos

'Go on' they say..'blogging is easy'..well I don't know what is going on and why some people can leave comments and others can't..its a mystery.  I can comment on my own blog but that's not particulalry helpful.  So it might be a one way thing for a while til I can work it out.

So here are some new photos for you..

A bit more done of St Petersberg


And the start of Fall Fairy...I love the colours on this.

comments problems

Hi everyone, Tina has reported that the comments bit isn't working properly..not sure why but I have changed the settings so can you try and leave a comment...
Ta
Lesley

Tuesday 5 July 2011

disappeared

so you may have thought I had disappeared but I have just been busy stitching!  I gave up on St Petersburg for a while after making quite a lot of progress and was very badly behaved and had another new start!  I haven't got a photo at the moment but here is the link
Fall Fairy

I have finished one page so I shall get a photo sorted soon.

I love doing these HAEDs even though they are a LOT of work..
In fact I was also even more badly behaved and added to my stash today with this one I couldn't resist
Teddy tree
Who knows when I will get to stitch that! 

Anyway I promise some photos this weekend :-)

Happy stitching everyone

Sunday 5 June 2011

some other stuff

So I have been working hard on St Petersburg which is looking fab but I want to finish the bit I am doing before posting a new piccy.  So in the meantime here are a couple of photos of my garden :-)  I wish I had the creativity to design my own stitching charts as these would give me lots of inspiration!



Sunday 29 May 2011

some new updates

Hi everyone,
I have not made much progress recently largely because I have been out too much!  There seem to have been lots of birthdays and other things in the last couple of weeks so I haven't had much time for stitching.  On top of that I was due to have a quiet weekend this bank holiday but my parents were stopping off on their way to a family party in Plymouth.  They stayed on Friday night as planned but then  saturday morning came and my dad's back had gone so there was no way they could sit in a car for 4 hours.  So they ended up staying which was lovely and I always enjoy spending time with them but of course less stitching time.  The only good thing was that we were able to go shopping for stitching stash as mum had left hers behind at home and so needed some to keep her entertained last night-she bought the cut thru noahs ark from Bothy threads.  I was very good and didn't get any but I won't mention the order I placed with Casa Cenina last weekend! Anyway dad's back was better today so they have gone on their way.
So here are my latest pictures...

Firstly the shakespears fairies...it is working quite well on the black so far.  The photo is a bit blurry (why am I so rubbish at photographs?) bt you can see the effect.  It doesn't really look like much at the moment


and then the second piece I have been working on recently is the Chatelaine White Nights in St Petersburg.  I decided to do this on a dark blue fabric and the gates are done in black on the original design. I had thought they would show up enough but when I had done them they looked rubbish so I spent the whole of my stitching time last weekend unpicking them!  Anyway I have started redoing them in white and they look much better..so here is where I am so far.  You can't see the whole lot as I have it rolled on a large frame but I have just about finished the section with the houses on all four sides.


I love this design..it is so sparkly which you can't see on the photo.  I haven't put the beads on yet of course..they will go on at the end.

The other thing I have decided to do is to have a go at framing my work myself.  I am fed up of paying such a lot of money for framing and my mum has had a go and she says it worked quite well.  I have a small piece (the blackwork house) that I think I will try..I want to lace it properly as well which most of the framers never do.  I will report back when I have had a go and let you know how successful I have been!

So off to carry on with the white nights I think.

happy stitching everyone

Thursday 19 May 2011

new stuff that I like

Just had a bit of time for browsing and here are some new releases that I wouldn't mind getting my hands on!

lovely flowers

halloween fun

lighthouses


chinese dragon

..when am I going to win the lottery!

Tuesday 17 May 2011

not a lot happening!

Well i seem to have spent a lot of time out and about over the last week or so and so I have hardly done any stitching.  Hopefully I might get some done this week and so new piccies at the weekend.
Still disappointed at the lack of good new designs out there but I do like this
http://www.abcstitch.com/designers_php/feature.php?id=727486

I haven't liked that many of the Mirabilia designs recently..I think they have been very disappointing but I do like these little cottages..very pretty.

So back at the weekend with more piccies hopefully!

Saturday 7 May 2011

a slow week

Hi everyone, firstly thanks for the lovely comments from you :-)
so its been a bit quiet on the stitching front this week..hence not posting.  I went to visit my family last weekend so hardly any stitching done then, and of course back to work this week :-(  Its a shame we have to work but I have to get cash for stash somewhere!  I admit I lost my stitching mojo a bit this week, probably because I did so much over the holidays and then the shock of being back at work.  I have made a little bit of progress on the snapperbets...


You can't really see the effect properly on the photo but I am using the weeks dyes floss which gives a lovely shaded effect to the solid blocks of colour.
I think though I need a new start to get my mojo back (any excuse eh?) and I have decided to start a Mirabilia ..Shakespears Fairies..which you can see here...
http://www.mirabilia.com/crossStitchFrames/md103.html

I really like the colours on this design and it has loads of beadwork on it.  I don't like the green fabric though so I am thinking of making it rather dramatic by stitching on black..what do you think? The setting is supposed to be night so I guess this would work ok.  I have put the flosses on the fabric and it looks pretty good.

Is it me or has there been a bit of a lull in new designs lately?  I get various newsletters but I haven't seen much that really makes me go WOW.  Its good for my purse but a bit disappointing.  Come on designers...get your fingers out!

Off now for a bit of shopping (not stash unfortuately) ..I will let you know how I get on with the fairies

Thursday 28 April 2011

an exasperating day but some new pics

not much stitching done today due to having to sort out loads of boring household finances..not helped by my mobile breaking this morning and having to spend about 2 hours on the phone to 02 trying to get it sorted..very irritating.  Hopefully Tina and Pat coming round tonight for a whole evening of stitching which will make up for it.  Cake is  in the oven and house is tidy, all ready and waiting for them!

So a few photos (if I can get the technology to work).
This is cat lessons which is a lizzie kate design that i finished quite recently.  I love the frame which I got from Nimble Thimble just near Oswestry..its now pride of place in my lounge.


This is one of two latest finished..a  tudor style blackwork house from Jane Greenoff that I got when at the NEC show last month.  This is the second blackwork design I have done and I have to say they are pretty addictive.  It has gold on it too though it was that gold thread which is really difficult to work with.  I am really pleased with the look of this though and I hope to get it framed soon.




The second of my latest finishes..Spring Queen from Mirabilia.  I have had this half finished for about 3 years which is disgraceful so I dragged her out last month to get her completed.  You can't see all the beading on it but there is LOTS which took an age to do but looks fab.  I have already done the Autumn and Xmas queens and will get round to the winter and summer one at some point.

So given that I finished two I decided that I deserved a new start and here it is!
This is the snapperbet from Bent Creek..the fabric is just lovely..an aged cappuccino colour which really suits the design.  I am planning on having a whole wall of american designs like the cat lessons and this one so will keep you posted on progress. 

Thanks for looking :-)



Tuesday 26 April 2011

my first day

Ok so after a few suggestions from friends I have decided to take the plunge and wrestle with the technology to create my first blog.  This is a bit of a work in progress and so it might take me a couple of days to get things sorted out properly and photos uploaded but bear with me.  The main idea is to keep a record of my stitching which I am rather obsessed with, but I will probably post other stuff too.  At the moment I am on holiday so hoping to have a few days to get all this up and running.  I would love to have your opinions on my work and any suggestions for new projects !!!