Saturday, December 17, 2016

Advent Calendar Blog Hop!

Welcome to day 17 of the Advent Blog Hop hosted by the lovely Jo from Serendipitousstitching

So the lovely Jo gave everyone taking part a question to answer...

Decorations - do you have a favourite decoration
you must have on display every year,
maybe an heirloom, one the children made
 or something with a special story behind it?

That's an easy question.....yes I do! But not just one  favourite decoration....several! When my children were growing up we started a tradition that they could choose and buy an ornament for the tree. Every year they would get some money and we would walk into town and go to a certain shop and there they could buy any ornament that they liked. They had to go to the cash register themselves and hand over their cash (usually the  lofty sum of £1....and in those days it was a paper note!) We would then go for hot chocolate and walk  back home. I still remember their faces as their chubby little hands held onto the bag that held their treasured ornaments. Even to this day, every Christmas these decorations hold so many memories and they each discuss which one belongs to who....and why oh why do we have two of the same one? (Of course, I cannot remember the reason why!) I would never trade these cheap and tacky ornaments for anything....I LOVE them :)



  
My daughter loves the tradition even although we couldn't carry on doing it when we moved to the US. Years later, when she was traveling in Europe she brought back a hand made wooden ornament from Austria for me so that we could keep the tradition alive.....how sweet! Here's the one she picked for me...


Hopefully it's a tradition that they might carry on with their own children one day. And yes.... I admit it, I'm a sentimental old fool :)

As for Christmas stitching.....well I seem to be working on Christmas stitching all year round! As many of you know, I design cross stitch charts so that means starting thinking about Christmas designs very early in the year! So if I'm not thinking of Christmas stitching, I'm designing Christmas stitching....and by the time that's all over with, it's time to start my own Christmas stitching. Which is why I am often singing Christmas carols in the middle of summer!!!

Here's one Christmas piece that I stitched a few years ago.....




And one of my own designs that I just completed a few months ago, but still has to be finished...




Finishing is definitely not my strength, as you have probably gathered by now if you are a regular reader :)

Please pop over to Jo's blog and check out all those taking part in the blog hop. A big thank you, of course, for Jo for organizing this.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas/Yule/winter season....whatever you celebrate.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona


Monday, December 12, 2016

Darjeeling!

So the little yellow Darjeeling tea block is now completed......


....and looking good! (Even if I say so myself!!!)


The next block has been started....but.... a couple of problems already...


Problem number one.....I have run out of the dark brown colour of the tea :(  Don't you just hate when that happens?  So, the kit gives you DMC equivalents of the threads.....but.....the colour isn't the same as the thread in the kit....so, do I email the company and wait for some replacement threads or do I unpick the dark brown and re-stitch it with the thread in my stash....mmmm, can't decide what to do.

Problem number two.....the dark purple seems to be just a bit too dark for my liking. So, do I do some more unpicking and swap a lighter shade in or do I just trust that it will look ok once the back stitching is completed? Mmmmm, what to do? 

On to some good news....I finally got round to making a card with the little birdie stitching.......remember the aperture had been cut upside down......


Ta-da....finished!

This little cutie will be winging it's way over to my son in California! Don't think this little fella will be needing his scarf over there :) Wish I could hand deliver it.


So, I have some decisions to make  with the tea sampler....lets hope I decide wisely, and don't regret my decisions! If you hear any muttering and moaning, it's likely to be me complaining about all the unpicking!


Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona



Monday, December 5, 2016

Almost a finished block!

Well I didn't manage to complete a tea block this week. I guess it was bound to happen.....I think I probably exhausted that turbo charged needle of mine!


The block is almost completed....


...another couple of evenings and the back stitching will be finished. 

And I realized that I haven't posted a picture of how the whole sampler look so far.....so here it is....


 ...of course, it's a bit wrinkled as I am one of those people who takes their stitching off the frame to do the back stitch and I have to crumple the fabric to be able to hold it.....it kind of un-does all the good work of having it on a fame while stitching! Rest assured it will be washed and ironed once it's all finished.

I also managed to (finally!) make some cards with some old stitching.....


....nothing too fancy but cute and perfect for some last minute birthday cards for a set of twins. Now that the paper crafting stuff is out I guess I should make an effort to get some more cards made....I do have *one or two* pieces of stitching waiting to be finished. 


Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, November 28, 2016

Another tea block....




 ....this time, it's green tea.  Not my favourite tea....in fact, if truth be told,  I can't stand green tea but it does looks good in cross stitch! 


I now only have three more blocks to do then the sampler is complete! Who would have guessed that I (probably the world's slowest stitcher) could complete a sampler this quickly! Hope I haven't jinxed myself by saying that :)

Not only did I complete the tea block, but I started one of the little free kits that comes with the World of Cross Stitching magazine.  I love these little kits as they are  quite quick to stitch and come with a pre-printed card and envelope......nice and easy.....usually!  


But this time......


....it looks like someone was having a bad day when they cut the aperture for the card!  

Guess I'll have to get out the card blanks and do some paper crafting....after the stitching is completed, of course!!!

Hope you're having a better day then whoever did the card aperture!


Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona


Monday, November 21, 2016

And this weeks winner is.....

........Butterfly!

Congratulations, I will email you the chart tomorrow.

And speaking of winners, I was a lucky winner and received this wonderful gift form Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching....



Some gorgeous Christmas fabric (which I have just noticed that I've photographed upside down....sorry, Jo!) and the cutest little Christmas charms....


...which refuse to load properly....so maybe just turn your head to the side to see them better! :) Thanks Jo.....that was such a sweet surprise!

No stitching to show this week......hopefully lots to share next time!


Until then....happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, November 14, 2016

We have a winner!

In fact we have two winners for the Ugly Jumpers charts! Both bits of paper with the names on them   came out of the bowl together, so I figured it was a sign that both these wonderful stitchers should receive the charts!

The winners are....La  trame della Galaverna and Justine ! Congrats to both stitchers....emails with the charts will be winging their way to you tomorrow!

Since I'm having so much fun giving away charts, let's have yet another giveaway! This time the chart for this cutie is up for grabs.....


....this is how he was finished off and made into a cute Xmas card....




Sooooo....same as always, if you'd like to be in the running to win this chart, please leave a comment below. I'll announce the winner next week, Monday 21st November. Please feel free to share this on your blog.....I'm enjoying meeting new bloggers. 

Please ignore the web site details on the photo....the web site no longer exists :(


So, what have I been working on this week? No surprise for regular readers.....another tea block! This time it's Oolong....



I've had a few emails asking about details for this kit - it's called 'Tea Time' by Design Works and the kit number is 2596 . The original artwork is by Krista Hamrick. Hope that helps those of you who are looking for the kit.

So I'm off to start another tea block so that I'll have something to show you  next week!


Until then...happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, November 7, 2016

Christmas chart giveaway....and more tea!

So, who still has some Christmas stitching still to do? Here's your chance to win another one of my charts....this time it's for six 'ugly' Christmas jumpers! 

Here's one of the designs that I have stitched up......


These designs are great for cards or for finishing as an ornament....or whatever else you want to do with it....the choice is yours!


There are six ugly jumpers in the set - the one pictured above, snowmen, penguins, Xmas pudding, Santa hat and Rudolf .

If you would like to be entered into the drawing for the chart of all six jumpers, please leave a comment below and I'll announce the winner one week from today, Monday 14th November, giving the lucky winner plenty of time to stitch this for Christmas.....or to just add the chart to their stash! :)

So onto the next tea block. I finished the back stitching of the Chamomile tea block....


...and completed the block below it....


I'm not sure if I like the spacing on the letters on the  word Grey....so I might go back and unpick it....but maybe not....I can't quite decide :)

The pictures aren't great as my DD took my camera ....thank heavens for cell phone cameras!




Anyway, another block done....I'm over half way with this sampler! Woohoo :)

Remember to leave a comment if you'd like to be in the running to win the chart....and feel free to spread the word of the giveaway....it's always nice to meet new bloggers.

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona



Monday, October 31, 2016

Some tea and some winners!

I know I said that I would pick a winner for the gnome charts, but instead I decided to pick six winners!  Yes....six lucky people will be receiving a copy of the gnome chart. And the lucky winners are....



The first six names from the state of the art, giveaway name supplying bowl were Caitlin, Gominam, The Crafter's Apprentice, Ariadne, Mii and Lynn B.  I will be emailing the charts to you shortly!  Please do check out these lovely blogs if you haven't already met these wonderful bloggers. 

Thank you to everyone who entered...... and since it was such fun to meet some new bloggers (and hopefully spread some happiness!), I'm going to do another giveaway next week! I just have to decide what  chart to giveaway....so please do pop back next week. 

And now for some tea!

The next tea block hasn't been going as quickly as the others. First of all I had to frogging some of the design as I didn't like the colour choices on the chart....


The tea colour just didn't seem right. So I frogged it and started the tea afresh! I like the new colour combination much better. This square seemed to stitch up quite slowly, but I think it's because I didn't really like the colour of green thread....why on earth that would make stitching it happen more slowly, I don't know, but I really didn't enjoy stitching this block as much as the others. Anyhoo, there's not much more to do and this block will be definitely be completed in the next couple of days.



Once again, congrats to the six lovely stitchers receiving the chart and thank you to all who entered.

Until next time....happy stitching!


Rhona


Monday, October 24, 2016

Tea....and an award nomination!


More tea....this time peppermint tea!


These blocks are stitching up so quickly....I can't believe how much I'm able to get done each week.

I did change some of the lettering on this one.....I just hope that the designer Krista Hamrick doesn't mind. I altered the letter 'p' so that they were both the same....she had each one slightly different and my OCD just kicked in :) It's not a huge difference and I'm happy with it, which I guess is what it's all about!

So, on to the surprising news! This little blog of mine has been nominated in the British Craft Awards for the category of Best Cross Stitch Blog.....wow! 


I'm thrilled and humbled that of all of the wonderful stitchy blogs in blog land that my little blog has even been noticed! So, if any of you dear readers would like to vote for me, please click here. You can vote from anywhere in the world. Please click on the Cross Stitch category and there are a couple of other questions to answer (all about cross stitching)  and will take literally less than a couple of minutes of your time. It would mean the world to me if you could do this. Please do check out the other nominated blogs.....they are all fantastic!

Thank you!

And some other good news.....look what arrived from Lion Brand.....


The replacement yarn! So not only did they replace the six balls that I had originally purchased, but they added another ball just to make sure that I had enough yarn of the same colour batch to complete the project! How awesome is that? So another big shout out to the customer service team at lion Brand....especially Ben who co-ordinated it all for me....Ben you are wonderful!

Just a quick reminder that there is still time to add your name if you'd like to be in the running to win the Christmas Gnome charts. If you'd like to add your name to the drawing, click here and leave a comment. Winners will be announced next week, Monday 31st October 2016.


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, October 17, 2016

More tea.....and a giveaway!

Another tea block completed.......my needle is smoking hot!


 Black tea.....my favourite to drink!


I like my tea piping hot just as this one looks with all the steam coming from the cup....perfect!


My next decision is whether or not to do each block in order or to jump around the chart and use some different colours! Mmmm...what to do?

I might not be able to get as much stitching completed over the next couple of weeks as I am doggie sitting for my friend while she is on holiday and her pooch is rather an attention hog. Also, the thought of getting doggie slobber all over my stitching isn't very appealing. Sooooo.....a perfect excuse to have a little giveaway so that I'll have something on my blog over the next couple of weeks!

Remember my Christmas gnomes......


...well there's actually fifteen....yes fifteen all together. (You can see close up pictures of these three here.) There are twelve of the larger gnomes and three of the smaller ones.....and I thought it might be nice to share these little cuties with you. If you would like to be in the running to win the chart for all fifteen Christmas gnomes please leave a comment below.  I'll announce the winner two weeks from today which will be October 31st, giving the winner plenty of time to stitch these for Christmas :) Please feel free to share this giveaway on your blog if you want to. If there are lots of entries, I'll pick a couple of winners!

Good luck!

Until next time....happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, October 10, 2016

More tea!

This little Tea sampler is just so much fun to work on.....I think it's because each little block is a finish in itself . You know how we stitchers love that feeling of a finish :)

So here we have blackberry tea...


....block number three in the sampler so far...


 ...loving the bright colours in this block...


 I originally thought that the blue was a bit strange for the cup and saucer and was in two minds whether or not to change it to white and greys, which was how the picture on the packet looked, but in the end, I decided to go with  designer Krista Hamrick's choice......


....she knew best! It looks great.

And the wonderful Krista Hamrick has designed a coffee counterpart to this sampler which you can see here. I think this coffee chart just might be going on my wish list to Santa!

Until next time..happy stitching!


Rhona



Monday, October 3, 2016

A surprise appearance by.......



.....good old Max! 


I finally finished stitching the third and last block. As you can tell the back stitching still has to be done.....I'm truly wishing that I had done the back stitching on each block before starting the next block....but I didn't, and now have to do it all....urghhh!

Here's how all three blocks look. 


So, decision time....do I crack on and get this finished or do I do another tea sampler block and then do the back stitching? Mmmm.....I know which one is calling my name!!!


Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, September 26, 2016

Tea.......and a shout out to the Lion Brand Yarn Company!

I just had to share a wonderful email that I received.

Those of you who are regular readers may remember my heartache over the baby blanket that I had started (click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about !)  I have to make it very clear that the fault was all mine....a rookie mistake if ever there was one! I had not purchased enough yarn to complete the project and the new yarn I bought on-line was completely different.

Anyhoo, I received a wonderful email from the Lion Brand Company from Ben who has probably the most enviable job ever....he interacts with bloggers from the crafting community! Sweet job, Ben....I'm rather jealous! He contacted me  with the offer of sending me replacement yarn for the project or a project's amount of any other yarn from their site! Talk about great customer service :) I'm totally over the moon with this offer from them. I love the original yarn and really would like to finish the blanket using this yarn as I think it's just a tad different for a baby blanket. Anyway, since we usually only hear of complaints and bad service, I wanted to highlight great customer service. Thanks Lion Brand....you rock!

Hopefully I will be soon able to show you, dear readers, a completed crochet baby blanket using that gorgeous multi-coloured yarn!


What I can show you today is another tea block completed....


 ...a bit of a grey day, so the lighting isn't too good.


 ....and with an empty teacup so that I don't have another panic attack!


This sampler seems to be stitching up pretty quickly!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona

Monday, September 19, 2016

A cup of tea!

Quite literally, a cup of tea all stitched ....



...and back stitched too! And rather bravely of me (or maybe that should be riskily or stupidly, you pick the most appropriate!) here it is with the real thing...


...which was placed there just for effect and then whisked away rather quickly before there were any accidents with the tea spilling onto nice white fabric!


I had thought that each time I had completed one of the tea blocks I could photograph it with a different teacup or mug, but after the heart palpitations I had when the tea was close to the stitching, (I won't even begin to describe my panic as the teacup was placed onto the fabric!) I think I might just change my plan :)


Last week, hubby and I decided to head off to Canada for a short break (hence there was no post last week) Montreal was the place of choice since the World Cup Of Hockey had an exhibition match being played there.


Loved the hockey and loved Montreal...such a beautiful city....



I have to say that Montreal feels just like Paris, but with ice hockey and maple syrup.....lots and lots of maple syrup! 

And beer sangria.....


So, from tea to beer sangria all in one nice little post!

Until next time...happy stitching!

Rhona