A few smalls

Finally back with a few small finishes, otherwise I haven't got much to show!

Firstly I made yet another Forever Friends card for a friend of Becki's. I seem to have stitched loads of these teds recently.... I think I have had enough now! He is pretty cute though !

I have also been working on the pieces for the girl's 18th Birthday cards. Having just had some time off for Easter I got Becki's done in just a couple of days.

This one is for Laura, for her love of history. I am going to back it on some Egyptian symbols paper on the card and put a Happy Birthday in hieroglyphics. Mind you the darker orange colour of the skin was supposed to be more gold but I mis read the symbol..... by the time I noticed it was too late. Oh well I think it looks good still.

Then here is Becki's - dance related of course. The original chart had a pink ballerina and roses but Becki prefers purple, so I had to do some changing around. I like the way it has turned out.

Since my last post Becki had her audition at Bedford University and it was successful. She loved the place and the course and is now happy to be going here and feels it is the right place for her. It won't be as intensive as a dance school but you get the same degree at the end of it. I also think it will be better for Becki as she has struggled with keeping weight on since dancing at college and has lost over 1 stone since she was 16 and I would have worried more if she was dancing 9 - 6 at a dance school. Now at the uni she will do more theory as well which will open up other options. I am glad she is happy and sorted.

Laura has now been offered her accommodation at Nottingham for the first year and will be living in Willoughby Hall... sounds good and seems ok although we didn't look at this Hall when we visited, so aiming to go again after exams.

I have no idea what I will do with out them..... more stitching I suppose !!!

Happy Stitching

Ginnie xx

This famous blog

While flicking through the latest issue of World of Cross Stitching I was surprised to see an article on "websites we love" that mentioned my blog. What an honour, especially as I have only just got back into blogging! I feel famous !!!

Since my last post I have just a couple of small pieces to show you. Firstly this Buzz Lightyear square is for a charity quilt. We are trying to do a Toy Story/Super heroes one for a very sick little boy. I am working on Woody now.

I am also stitching a liquorice allsorts jar for Becki who is just mad about them!! For Christmas I bought both the girls a fleece blanket and they want me to sew small cross stitch pictures on them so they can take it to University. I will show a photo of the whole blankets at some point but they barely part with them!! I should have this finished by next post. The chart is from WOCS magazine.

Lastly here is the card I have now completed that the girls gave to their friend for her 18th birthday. I believe she really liked it.

Becki has now applied for University Dance courses after getting a "no" from the Dance Schools she auditioned at. It has been a very stressful time as she has been very upset about it all but is now coming to terms with it and moving on. Least she can still pursue her love of dancing just not at such a high standard.

Laura has an interview at Reading University next week, although Nottingham is still her favourite.

Happy stitching
Ginnie xxx

An old UFO

I have dug out one of my oldest, oldest, oldest UFOs! I think I started it before the girl's were born, so 18 years ago but it could have been just after.... my memory doesn't quite recall.

It is a Dimensions kit of Noah's Ark and just before Christmas I started to take it to Stitch Club to work on as one of the other ladies was doing a Noah's Ark too.

Here is my progress:

Some of the reasons it became a UFO are it just was so big, it is on 18 count aida and it grew very slowly. So my new aim is to take it to club when I go and try to get it done by the end of 2012. As you can see I have just over 50% complete.

My small finish this week is the piece for another 18th birthday card. The girls thought the saying was apt for this friend. I will make it into a card over the weekend.

Becki is waiting to hear back from her audition on Saturday. She liked it there and thought it went well but you can never tell. One place she sent an application and payment to have just sent a letter back saying they can't offer her an audition. That's nice, they take the money still though. This Saturday she has an audition in Leeds, so fingers crossed for that one. I am getting more and more stressed as the realisation hits me that she may not get a place so will be devastated. Especially as Laura will then probably go to University in Sept and Becki may stay home. Her back up plan then will be just to apply for Dance courses at Uni, but that would be for the following year. Don't you just wish you had a magic wand to make everything right for them !

Happy stitching

Ginnie xx

New Year Resolution

I have been away from my blog for far too long and I have started to miss it.

So I am determined to try and blog more again in 2012.

Since my last post in July I have stitching only small things, a few of which are below. I don't seem to have as much time as I did as in October I increased my hours at work. I have also lost some motivation to stitch.. I hope I can get back into the swing of things more agin in 2012.

The girls have kept me busy too, especially Becki. We have been down to London (and Leeds)several times to view Dance schools and in December she has had 2 auditions. Sadly she had a straight rejection from the one school but the other has put her on a reserve list... which is a little more promising. In January she has 2 more auditions, so lets hope one of them is a "yes".

Laura has had offers from both Nottingham and Birmingham University to study Ancient History and Archeology in Sept '12. She wants to go to Nottingham as long as she gets the grades.

So here are a few of my pieces from the last couple of months. Firstly these are the cards I made the girls this year for Christmas. Becki's is London... in the hope she ends up at a Dance School there and Laura's is Rome as she hopes to visit Rome when she is studying Ancient History. They were stitched with metallic thread !

This is a Forever Friends one I just fancied stitching for myself. I haven't actually done anything with it yet.


Lastly this is my Christmas Angel, she is very pretty. I have just made her into an ornament but haven't taken a new photo yet.



Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and see you in 2012.

Ginnie xx

Golden Wedding Anniversary

It was my parent's Golden Wedding Anniversary on Friday and we had a wonderful night out. 19 of us (all family) went out for a lovely meal, Stuart made a cake and it was great to see everyone.

Here is the card I made them, they really liked it.

And here is a photo of me with Mum and Dad, I love this photo and am going to get a copy printed to be framed.

As I have had a few days off work I have been able to spend time stitching. I have worked on Henry quite a bit but when I look back at my last post with the last photo of him I'm sure I can't see a huge amount of difference. I will post another photo next week.

I thought instead I would share with you "Safe Haven" I am doing this as a SAL but feel it is really coming along now. It has lots of blended colours and the central part is in 2 threads whereas the outer edge is in 1 thread!

It is my birthday tomorrow so I booked another day off work. I am having a girly day out at the shops then lunch out! Then back to work Tuesday !

Happy Stitching

Ginnie xx

More cards

I have the card making bug at the moment. Which is good because I love making cards, but bad because all my larger cross stitch pieces are being ignored! I did get Henry out briefly last week and stitched 2 threads worth! I have also been working on Safe Haven a little... but not much else.

But these are the cards I have completed -

This is Stuart's Valentine card, it was the freebie in the latest World of Cross Stitching magazine. There was a lot of discussion on their Facebbok page about people running out of thread stitching it.... but I just managed.

This is for my Valentine Exchange partner on the Cross Stitching forum. I hope they like it when they receive it!

Lastly I hope my friend isn't reading my blog, I don't think she does so I'll chance it! This is her 40th Birthday Card. I am so pleased with this the card just matched the stitching so well. She is having a party in a couple of weeks which we are all looking forward to.

Have a good week everyone

Ginnie xx

Happy New Year

So first I decided to brighten up my blog for 2011 and went pink !

I have also changed the girls photo to one taken over Christmas.

Now to stitching...... lots of cards to show so far for this year. I am really happy with how they have all turned out.

This one is for Becki's friend Amy, she is at college with Becki doing dance. The A on the chart had different shoes while the D had ballet shoes... so I swopped them over!

This one is from the same alphabet charts, this time for a friend of both girls who they have kept in touch with from school. E for Emily !

The latest issue of The World of Cross Stitching popped through my door last week and I choose one of the cute bears to stitch for my friend who is about to start cancer treatment. The charts were aimed at being for Valentine's Day but I thought this one would suit a "thinking of you.." card. I actually stitched it in just 2 evenings !

Then today I made a quick decoupage card as I suddenly remembered another friend's birthday which is next week. I got the paper and design from papercraft inspirations magazine, they were free to download. Pretty cute.

So what's next? Still a few more cards..... but I have also started my Poppy Pixie but not much to show yet. I am also taking part in a 2011 SAL and have chosen SafeHaven by Derwentwater Designs. I will try to post updates on these when they begin to resemble something!

Anyway as I am back at work I better get myself off to bed !

Happy Stitching

Ginnie xx

The reappearance of Henry

Finally I got Henry out of his stitching bag and worked on him last week and I am very pleased with my progress. We now have another wife all stitched up !! I finished Catherine of Aragon's green dress and worked on the border at the bottom a little.

I now have just 2 wives to finish and then the rest of the border..... I am getting there slowly!

Stuart's mom moved house last weekend so I made a decoupage card for her. I haven't made many cards recently but I was pleased with it. I have also just made an 18th birthday card as Becki is off to a friend's party tonight, I will show that next time.

Lastly here is a Christmas new start, I picked it out to do a while back as I have enjoyed the couple of Forever Friends teds I have done. He is very cute but I have had little time this week to work on him as I have been very tired and out and about quite a bit, being a taxi service for the girls !!

At least it is Friday, tonight my friend Steve is treating me to a chinese meal, I am looking forward to that ! I must try not to eat too much though, as it is a buffet style place where you can go up and help yourself to as much as you like!!

Until next time
Ginnie xx

Nearly finished

I was really hoping to get my Enchanted Mermaid finished this week, but there seemed to be more left to do than I first thought. Especially as there is a lot of back stitch and lots of beads yet to add. Anyway I had a good try and here is where I left it on Sunday night. Only a bit of the seaweed and a fish to complete in crosses. So I hope to be "happy dancing" next time.

Last Thursday we went to the girl's school to watch their Dance Show. Becki's solo was fantastic and I think she surprised a few people as she has never really shouted about her dancing skills at school and so when they saw what she could do they couldn't believe it. Even Laura danced in a group dance with Becki and 2 other friends and she was really good too. Laura used to dance with Becki too but gave up about 2 years ago. The school took some photos which they are supposed to be emailing to me...... but I am still waiting!

I had a nice Mother's Day on Sunday, the girls didn't get me a present as they don't have much money and need all they can save for Prom stuff! So they just looked after me for the day, made me drinks and lunch etc, it was lovely. I promised to show the 2 cards I had made for my mom and mom in law so here they are. I was pleased with how they turned out.

This week I should be getting Henry out again, although last night he stayed in his bag! Instead I was working on a charity square as they urgently need another few "bugs in bottles" to finish a quilt. So I am working on a Bumble Bee and need to finish it asap. I also worked on April Flip It last week but haven't taken a photo yet.

I have a very exciting Friday evening ahead of me. If you watch Strictly Come Dancing then you may know Brian Fortuna....... well I am going to see him dance. My friend Julie does Ballroom dancing and her local dance school have booked Brian and his dance partner Kristina to do a show. It will only be for about 300 people and they also let you meet them later and take photos etc. Me and Becki are going...... I also hear there may be 4 topless chippendales there feeding the ladies in the audience strawberries.... yum!! So watch out for photos next time!!

It is also this week that Laura hears if she has a place at the Sixth Form College she wants to go to. It could be Friday or Saturday so please everyone keep your fingers tightly crossed.

So until next week,

Happy stitching

Ginnie xx

Creative card making weekend.

As the title says I have had a very productive weekend and made up several cards. 4 of which were cross stitch ones and 2 decoupage ones. I will just show you the 2 thank you cards today, I also made 2 baby cards and the decoupage ones are for Mother's Day. I'll show them next time.

Sorry the light wasn't good tonight but the flash washed out the whole cards so they look a bit gloomy. They are for 2 of the girl's teachers who have been lovely, I know it is early yet but I wanted to get them stitched and finished in plenty of time of them finishing school. The designs are from an issue of Cross Stitch Card Shop and were really quick and easy to do.

I made 2 baby cards, one boy and one girl as I know of 3 people having babies this year and thought I'd do a selection to send when needed. One of which is Helen who had baby Grace last February, she is pregnant again and just found out it is going to be a boy..... so that makes her card easier!

This week has been Family Tree week too. It may not look like a lot has changed from last time but I am pleased that I have all the name boxes stitched up now and all the back stitch on the family at the bottom complete. Lots more of the green in the tree to do and the border!!

Lastly I finished another Charity Square, this time I did Eeyore. The back stitch on this was a bit of a pain but I got there in the end! Next I am doing another little fairy.

This week is Mermaid week again and I have also sorted the threads for "April" Lizzie Kate's Flip It stamp. I will need to get that finished before March is out. This Thursday the girls are performing in a Dance Show at school for Sport's Relief, Becki is performing a solo to Snow Patrols's Chasing Cars, so we are looking forward to seeing that.

Until next time, happy stitching

Ginnie x

She did it !

We had a great day yesterday, Becki went for her audition with the English Youth Ballet..... and she got in! There were 101 girls aged 13 to 18 and just 50 were to be offered places... and Becki got one of them. We are so pleased and so proud, she looked amazing up on the stage. All the hard work starts in August and the beginning of September when she has several full day rehearsals and then on the 17th and 18th September she will appear in three performances of Giselle at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. After all she has been through it was so well deserved.

I also have several pieces of stitching to show, I have been busy!!

Here is Stuart's Valentine card, it is just a small, cute Winnie the Pooh which was a free kit on the latest Card Shop magazine.

I also managed to finish the All our Yesterdays (AOY) design for my Aunt and Uncle, I am going to take this to be framed later in the week.

My main piece on my rota this week was my Enchanted Mermaid, as you can see I am not far off finishing this one also. We are thinking of decorating our bathroom next so I need to complete this to hang in there!

I didn't get any stitching done last night because of the audition but I was off work in the day so I tried to finish my latest Somebunny square. I didn't quite get there then but have finished it this evening while waiting for the girls to return from the cinema. Again I just love him..... and it'll look great on a Somebunny quilt.

As it is half term I have Thursday and Friday booked off too this week, so hopefully I will get more stitching done. Henry is back on the rota this week, so look out for an update on him next week.

Until next time.......

Ginnie xx

Small progress

Another week has gone by... and I don't feel I have a lot to show you this week.

We went to visit Halesowen College on Tuesday for Becki, they do the Dance BTEC National course that she is interested in. She really liked the college and the course and has applied for a place there next year. She has to have an audition but they tell you on the same day if you have got in! Then on Thursday we visited Stourbridge College which is going to be Laura's second choice if she doesn't get a place at King Edwards' Sixth Form College. So that was 2 days of no stitching!!

On Wednesday this week it is Stuart's birthday so I thought I would make him some cards. As he was at a league meeting on Saturday I spent the day working on those. Firstly I made a decoupage card for him off the girls.

Secondly I cross stitched a letter S for him off me. I am pleased with the way they have turned out considering I did them both in just one day!

I have also been trying to do some of my Family Tree, you can see the people emerging on this side now. Slowly but surely on this one!

Lastly I worked on My Needle's Work, she now has 2 arms and half a head!!

I am thinking it is getting very close to Christmas and I may have to abandon my rota to get all the things I want to get stitched for Christmas. I have made very few stitched cards this year but I do want to make some more ornaments for people in my family and I have 2 cushions to make up for the girls - the Ballerina one and Tigger one. This week I am working on the Lizzie Kate Christmas one so I'll try to get as much done as possible, I think I have less of a busy week than recently.

Until next week.

Ginnie x

I'm a sewing machine wizard.

Actually the title is a bit mis leading.... yes I have been using my little sewing machine this afternoon.......... and yes I am very pleased with my final results........ but no, I am no wizard coz if I was it wouldn't have kept breaking my thread and making me swear !!!!

I finally got around to finishing my Lizzie Kate - Housework piece using the bell pull end. It is now proudly hanging in my lounge. The only thing I am not happy with is the way you can see through some of the fabric in the middle of the stitching, also one tab is slightly wonky!! But for a first attempt I am very happy!!!

I then made Becky a draw string bag for her new ballet shoes, using some pretty ballet material on the front and plain blue material on the back. I then used the blue material for a casing too...... I will take a photo of this when I get the cording and it is complete.

I have also finished the August piece, although I hand stitched this yesterday. I think it needs something around the edge.... so I think a trip to the sewing shop is called for as I haven't much in the way of trimmings !!I will start the September one in a few weeks.

Lastly here is the piece of stitching finished for the Good Luck card I am making for Becki's friend when she leaves dancing. The cat and horseshoe were supposed to be 3 stitches lower.... but somewhere my counting went terribly wrong.... oh well it still looks good !!

Henry is coming along well to, I have been working on wife number 6 some more. I will continue on that tonight and update you in the week as normal.

Just to end this post here is baby George (now 7 weeks old) we went to visit him for the first time yesterday...... this is a lovely photo of the back of my head (pleased to see no grey hairs showing!!) He was very cute and it was lovely to hold a baby again....but just as nice to pass him back to his mom !!!!

Happy stitching,

Ginnie x

Weekend break

We had a lovely weekend in Hereford, and the weather was warm but not too hot! We stayed at a lovely little hotel called Brandon Lodge just south of the city. If you ever fancy a short break do check this hotel out as it was very reasonably priced and extremely friendly.

Hotel

In the afternoon after checking in we went into Hereford to visit the Cathedral which also houses the famous "Mappa Mundi" which is the only complete wall map of the world known to have survived from the Middle Ages. It was very impressive. We stopped and had tea and cake in the Cloisters cafe and then returned to the hotel.

Hereford Cathedral

Before dinner I even sat outside in the hotel gardens and cross stitched....... bliss !!

We then had dinner at a lovely pub a few miles up the road called the "Axe and Cleaver" a good ole black and white English pub!! Then back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

On Sunday we had a large cooked breakfast and then went to Ross-on-Wye for a walk along the river (walk off the calories!!) Finally returning home in the afternoon feeling very refreshed.

Back to normal on Monday........ so here's my stitching updates -

My poppy card is now complete and ready for Becky to write in and present to her teacher next week. I'm sure she'll like it.

Then my progress on Country Idyll - some sky done, some more trees done, the horse is just about complete and then lots of confetti stitches on the wall and the man and girl. I still think I can complete this by the end of the summer!

This week Henry is back out again, I am going to stitch on him now and look forward to watching the 2nd episode of Torchwood at 9pm !!

Ginnie x

Baby arrived - so card finished

What a lovely weekend we have had...... some sunny weather!! I have had a good "go" at the garden, lawns are all cut, trimmed, raked etc. Stitching though has suffered but never mind! Yesterday we went over to my mom and dad's for a chinese take away tea to celebrate my dad's birthday. (His birthday is actually today) We also celebrated the arrival of my cousin's baby, they had another little boy and he was a whooper at nearly 9lb !! They have called him George William, so last night after a few glasses of wine I quickly stitched the bow blue on his card and mounted it today. I adore the way this has turned out and I hope they like it too.

I had also finished dad's father's day card in the week so I mounted that too. I need to get a peel off stitcher for the bottom yet. Again I am pleased with the result. This afternoon between gardening I have been doing some decoupage as I want to make some cards for my charity stitch group for their fund raiser in September. I'll show some of them when they are complete.

Otherwise this week I have made fantastic progress on my Bang on the Door design, it has been lovely to stitch.... lots of bold colours. I will show this once it is done and been presented to the person I am making it for !!

I have just 2 days off for spring bank holiday, so I am hoping to fit in a bit more stitching and card crafting.

Happy stitching.

Ginnie x