Monday, August 26, 2013

I should have bought a Lottery ticket!

I really should have bought a lottery ticket while I was on holiday as I was so lucky.....I came home to two packages from fellow bloggers! 

The first package was from Jenni at TapestryMoon . Jenni is a fellow designer who can turn her hand at almost anything! She was giving away some gorgeous fabrics that she had decorated....told you, she can do anything! Here's what I won from Jenni...



...and then she very generously made this one, just for me!


I'm not sure what I'll make with these, but I'm thinking maybe a wall hanging or a cushion....watch this space! Thanks Jenni, I love them.

Second package, which really brightened up a rainy and miserable Monday morning came from Helen at Stitchy Dragon Creates. You really should pop over and see Helen's work....it's amazing, she can do so many different crafts...and all of them brilliantly! Anyway, she was having a giveaway of an issue of Cross Stitch Gold, and these magazines are like gold dust here, so I was delighted to find that I was the winner. Not only did Helen send me the magazine, but she also added some other goodies to the package! Thanks Helen, you are so generous! Here's what was in the package...



I can't wait to get started using those Christmas stamps....if I start now, maybe the weeks leading up to Christmas won't be my usual last minute panic!!!

So you can see why I should have bought a lottery ticket! ;)

I have managed to get some stitching done this week, I almost have 'heilan coo' number 2 completed!



So cute!!!

A quick update on The Pink Scarf Project (button link on the side for complete details). The summer update has been posted, and there are some fantastic scarves to see, click here, to go directly to the early summer update. My scarf and card have been photographed and the setting is just gorgeous! Please check out the project and if you can join in too, that would be fantastic! Thank you.

Anyway, I'm off to stick the kettle on for a cuppa while I read my new magazine!

Until next time...happy stitching!


Rhona

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

It's my 'heilan coo'!

Who can resist the lure of a new kit....not me! So, of course I had to open my Highland Cow bookmark kit and get stitching. In true Rhona style, I thought that I'd get the whole thing stitched within the week, but I was being a bit optimistic and ignoring the fact that I'm such a slow a stitcher, so my progress has been less than stellar! Here's what I managed to stitch this week...


I was rather disconcerted when reading the instructions it stated that you should start in the bottom right hand corner! Geez...that freaks out the OCD part of me. One part of my brain was telling me that I should follow the instructions but the other part was yelling 'but what if you stitch a huge chunk of it and then realize you've run out of fabric!?!!' Arghhh. So I decided to compromise! I counted out all the threads in the fabric, found the middle then counted backwards so that I could start in the bottom right hand corner....both parts of my brain satisfied....but I'm still nervous that I'll run out of fabric!!! 

So perhaps in a few weeks time I'll have a finished set of 'heilan coos'! (as long as I have enough fabric....paranoid or what?!!)

Just before I left to go to Scotland I found out that I had won Kim's giveaway.  (Wisdom With Needle and Thread)  The prize was a beautiful needlekeep...and it arrived just in time for me to slip it into my little stitching tin that I took on the plane! Here's the wonderful needlekeep that Kim made...


 ...and inside...



It  was perfect for my trip...thank you Kim, I love it!

And speaking of my trip, here's one last picture (I don't want to bore you all!) This is my favourite castle...



....the beautiful Eilean Donan castle. 

I'll be putting some more pictures up on my Facebook page, so if anyone wants to see more of Scotland, just head over to Facebook and friend request me!

And I almost forgot to mention that Miss LindaLee is having a surprise giveaway on her blog - so hop on over to sign up!

And now it's time to head back to the drawing board and get some new designs done!

Until next time...happy stitching!.

Rhona

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The best laid plans...

....of mice and men (and even bloggers!) ....yeah, they sure do go awry. 

So, the reason for my absence was the fact that I was on holiday. Since I was only going back home to Scotland I figured that I could just update my blog while I was there....seems perfectly feasible, wouldn't you think? Except for the fact the internet connection was intermittent at best, and when I did manage to get a connection, Blogger decided that it didn't like my password and wouldn't let me reset it with a new one! Arghhh!!!

Anyhoo, had a great holiday, arrived back home to the US safe and sound although a LOT later than planned. Ah, the joys of air travel!

So where are all the holiday pics, you ask? Well, I had intended boring you with them all posting them only to find that my daughter had snaffled one of the camera discs.....so, the best ones are yet to come!

Maybe you should go and stick the kettle on for a cuppa, to make sure you can survive all the holiday snaps!!!

So here we go...



This is Eirinn at the national Monument in Edinburgh....note the blue skies....not often seen in Scotland!!! :)


Nelson monument in Edinburgh....still blue skies!


A rather self-conscious me at the cliffs at Arbroath ( I hate getting my picture taken!) - note the colour of the sky!!


A spectacular view form the cliffs at Arbroath.


Eirinn at the Falls at Killin....skies not quite so blue....but not raining either, so that was good! :)


Killin again. Note the storm cloud making it's appearance....yeah, that's more like Scotland!



Scone Palace, Perthshire - the crowning site of the Kings of Scotland. (And the usual drab skies of Scotland)



And Eirinn's favourite....a Highland cow, aka heilan' coo!  When asked to describe her hair colour she always responds 'heilan' coo colour' and this pics proves she's right!!! Gotta love my daughter!!!

So while being a tourist in my own country and doing all the 'touristy' things, I was rather surprised to see that many shops were selling Scottish themed cross stitch kits. Of course, when  Eirinn saw a highland cow cross stitch bookmark, I just had to splurge and buy it...... and splurge it was....£7.99 for a bookmark!! I nearly had a heart attack at the price (have I been in the States too long?) Luckily for me, I had picked up a kit without a price on it and when I went to pay, the guy at the checkout looked for the price sticker, shrugged his shoulders (guess they were too busy for a price check to be done) and charged me £3.99 ....that's a price I like! So here's my next project...


...isn't that cute?!!! Can't wait to get started.

While I was away, I was the lucky winner of a few giveaways!  Since I don't have my camera  at the moment (thanks Eirinn!), I'll have to keep that news for another post so I can show you all the goodies.

Now I'm off to make a cuppa for myself and see if I can catch up with all my blog reading!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona