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

Ballerina grows

Hope everyone is having a good weekend, or extended weekend if you are in the UK. The weather is a bit dreary here still, I wish it would warm up. I have both Monday and Tuesday off work so nice to think it is not the end of my weekend this evening!

I still haven't been stitching a huge amount, but I am slowly getting my mojo back...... Here is my progress on the ballerina, I thought I may get fed up with the similar colours but I am actually enjoying working on it. I think Becki will love it when I'm done.

I suddenly realised last week that of all the Lizzie Kate month stamps I have stitched I was missing June. So yesterday I started it, I doubt I'll get it finished for Wednesday but hopefully sometime during June it'll be complete! Here is the small progress so far.

Finally I got around to doing another charity square, this one is for a "Toys" theme quilt. Very cute!!

Laura has just 2 AS exams left to go, so far the others have gone ok I think..... although her normal reaction is "it was awful!"

Becki is working on her show dances for the end of June, she is pleased that she is choreographing some as well this time and her dance teacher has said how good they are looking.

Stuart got another job last week, although he only moved schools last September he has found it hard to settle there. This new school seems a bit of a challenge as they have had a lot of problems but he was used to this at his last school so feels happy that he'll get on better here.

Happy stitching.......

Ginnie xxx

Some stitching at last

Finally I have my stitching updates! It has gone so cold here my fingers are freezing and I am trying to type! Typical UK weather....arh!
So firstly here's my Spanish couple for the special quilt at SFCSFP group. After doing the majority of this while on holiday I finally finished it last night. I really enjoyed it too.

I also worked on my AOY while away and here's the progress. It is looking very sweet. Just the other girl on the left to complete then lots of background etc.

These final two I actually finished before my hols, they are another 2 squares for my charity group. The H is from the Fairy Tales alphabet that I have done a couple of letters for already.

And Mr Greedy is one of four Mr Men I am going to do.

I have set myself a deadline for my Family Tree piece as it is almost done. I am going to finish it by the end of August. I am not far off and should have no problems attaining this goal! So my next post should have the finished piece to show.

The girls got their GCSE results on Tuesday and did very well. Becki was very happy as she exceeded her expectations but Laura was a bit disappointed as she was predicted a couple of As that she ended up with Bs for. One of which was her History which is her favourite subject. We are going to check how close she was to the A grade as you can request a re mark which in many cases they find a couple more marks and this will up your grade. Mind you school said to phone today to check this out and surprise surprise no one is answering the phone! Luckily this doesn't effect her college place.

Becki also started her English Youth Ballet auditions yesterday, so far they are going well, although a lot of hard work. We are really looking forward to seeing it now.

Anyway until next time.

Ginnie xx

A few bits

I don't seem to have much to show at the moment. My stitching mojo keeps coming and going! It has not helped that I haven't been feeling 100% recently, but I won't bore you with the details at the moment! I have also been out a few times, meeting friends etc, which has been lovely but effected my stitching also.
So firstly here is my Christmas Window, I think it has been a while since I showed this. It still has a long way to go. I have been working on the lady's red coat and the red doll's house. It will be lovely when it is done but I think that'll be sometime next year.... there is so much brown that is boring!

Here's another little start that has been on my "to do" list for a while. You can probably guess from the small part I have done that it is an All our yesterdays. It will have 3 girls and a dog on looking at a pier. This was in one of my magazines last year.

And finally just another charity square, this was a really quick stitch for the "robots" theme.

Everyone in my house are on summer holiday now, which is fun. I leave them a job list as I come to work and they sort of attempt it! We go on holiday in just under 2 weeks which I am looking forward too, I need the break!

Anyway until next time.

Ginnie xx

Blackwork Lady

Finally found time to blog again. I have had a busy week which included several early mornings. Becki had her Induction Days at college and I took her, then Stuart had to have his car mended and I took him to work. So by the evenings I have been too tired to do much!! Becki loved college and got on well with the other dance students so she'll be fine in September.

Stuart also got a new job last week. His school is about to close and we were beginning to worry he wasn't going to get anything sorted.... but he finally has. The school is in the next Education Authority and is about 12 miles away, but it's not too bad a drive. So all of my family will be starting something new in September...... very exciting.

I completed the Blackwork Lady stitching a few days ago. I didn't think I would finish this so quickly but I just loved it. I need to order the frame to go with it now.

I also finished another charity square, this one is for an "up in the air" theme. So I choose a colourful hot air balloon.

I have also been trying hard to get my Family Tree completed. I am now just working on the top border. The rest of the tree is done but that bit can't be seen now as I have rolled up the stitching just to work on the top. I am so pleased that I am close to finishing, it'll be such a great piece.

Happy stitching to all

Ginnie xx

Pleasing progress on Henry

I have spent a week and a half working on Henry and I am really pleased with the amount I have done. It seemed the dresses I had left to complete were so huge that it would take me forever, but I stuck with the greens on Catherine of Aragon's dress and finished both side sections. I have also completed some of the side border and stitched her name.

I am going to give it a rest now and get back to my Christmas Window that I have neglected recently also.

Otherwise I haven't done much else. I completed another charity square about a week ago - here it is a pirate! I need to start another square but haven't got around to it yet.

What I have done is made myself another bag. I bought a new magazine with the material and handles as a free gift and here is the end result. It was so easy to do, I love it. I am currently using it to bring my stuff to work. I am going to get some more of these handles and make some more as my mom and the girls like it.

The girls have just a week left before all their exams are over. Still feels very strange! Prom is next Thursday so we have been sorting hair and makeup appointments. Laura is having her hair coloured tomorrow at the hairdressers as she has short hair and won't have much done to hers on the day. Becki is letting me colour hers on Friday then on the day she is having it all put up with lots of curls. She had a trial run recently and it looked really nice. I hope the fine weather we have at the moment stays for the 24th !!

I also have to confess to a new start ! I had my World of Cross Stitch magazine come on Saturday and there was a lovely Blackwork Lady chart, stitched on dusky pink evenweave. As soon as I saw it I just had to do it.... it just caught my eye so much. So I ordered some fabric which arrived the next day and I stitched just a tiny bit last night. I will share a photo when I have a bit more to show.

Happy stitching

Ginnie xx

Tree update and another square

Just enjoying my last day off work before returning tomorrow! We had a nice day in Bath on Saturday but the weather was a bit miserable and the journey down took forever because of holiday traffic! We only took a few photos as my battery ran out! Should have remembered to charge it!

Here are just a couple of shots at the Roman Baths.

I have been trying to work on my Family Tree while I have been off work. It is getting there slowly........ I am still aiming to get this finished by the end of the summer. I am going to carry on with this as soon as I have finished blogging!

I have finished the other mouse charity square to go with the one I completed last week. This time he is in his aeroplane

Then I have started my Forever Friends baby teddy for my cousin's baby. He is looking very cute! I will have to leave some parts blank until I know if it is a boy or a girl.

The girls left school on Thursday, what an emotional day that was. I actually cried after I had dropped them off and drove home! I still remember their first day at both Primary and Secondary School and it seems like only yesterday! They took loads of photos and had some lovely comments written in their leavers book. Now it's just exams and revision sessions!!

I am only back in work for 2 and half days and on Friday afternoon we are off to see "Hairspray"...yeah!! So something else to look forward too.

Until next time.

Ginnie xx

Christmas in the sunshine

It felt odd finishing off my Forever Friends Christmas Stocking this weekend as it was soooo hot here!! In fact too hot to stitch, the really warm weather drains me and by the evening I have hardly any energy to pick up my needle! Luckily I worked on the last bits of back stitch yesterday afternoon on 2 pieces so have 2 to show!

Firstly the lovely Christmas Stocking. I love the Forever Friends teds but have never stitched one..... now that I have I have 2 others lined up to do. He is so cute! The back stitch was a bit of a pain as there were several shades of brown and grey but the effect was worth it in the end.

I have found another Christmas one to do, but have started first a baby Forever Friends ted birth sampler for my cousin and his wife. I had so much thread left from the Anchor kit of the stocking that I am using that up first for the baby ted.

Secondly I have finished another charity square, this is just for a general "boys" theme. I have now started one of a mouse in an aeroplane to match!

I can't believe that the girls only have 2 and half more days until they finish school for their exams. After all they have been through this year I am glad that they have put that behind them and are looking back on their time at school in a happy way. They have made some lovely friends and are going to miss them a lot. They took my camera in to school today and intend taking it in all week to catch some "end of school" moments! It seems very odd to me too, they will catch the bus to college from September so won't be needing my taxi service in a morning. It doesn't seem 5 minutes since I took them to Primary School for their first day, they were fine but I got home and cried my eyes out!!

Next week is also half term week so I am planning a few days holiday and we are hoping to have a day trip out to Bath. We love it there but haven't been for several years. We hope to visit the Roman Baths and the Jane Austen museum. So expect some photos next time.

Until then happy stitching.

Ginnie xx

Just smalls !

Well it is Friday again already, that week went quickly. Once again I only have small bits and pieces to show you. I stitched on one of my charity squares all weekend, for a "send along" I joined. I choose a Lickle Ted one, which is very cute.

I also finished my ballet dancing hippo for Becki and put the ballet she is appearing in, the date and EYB (English Youth Ballet) on it. Tomorrow we are off to buy her some new Pointe shoes so she can practise in them (and wear them in!) all ready for the 7th July which is casting day.

My Aunt who has just died had recently got into cross stitching and my uncle has sorted some of her stuff out and passed it onto me. There is a birth sampler to finish off for a friend of theirs, which I will do and also there was a Forever Friends Christmas kit. We aren't sure who she bought it for but I intend to stitch it for her grandchildren. I haven't done much yet but this is what it will look like. It is very odd and sad stitching on it, but I know she would have wanted it to be done not just left in a bag!

On Monday we had a family reunion on Stuart's side of the family. He has an Aunt and Uncle who now live in Canada and they came over to visit. It has been 10 years since we last saw them so it was lovely to meet up again.

Then on Tuesday it was the girl's 16th birthday. Here is a photo of them before they went out for their birthday meal. They had a great time with all their real friends! And now they have lots of cash to spend!! Their has been no problems with the "silly" girls this week, thank goodness. They leave school on the 27th May (later than a lot of the other local schools) then their last exam is the 23rd June, it'll fly by !

Anyway hope you all have a good weekend.

Ginnie xx

Enchanted Mermaid.

We finally made the agonising decision on Monday to take our lovely dog, Marshall to the vets to be put to sleep. He had a really bad weekend and we knew things were never going to get better, he had no real quality of life anymore. So as you can imagine we are all very heart broken at the moment and miss him terribly. So first I want to share this lovely photo of him, taken a few years ago when he was still fit and well and full of life. This was at our old house, Stuart had just dug a little patch to plant some vegetables in and Marshall decided this was his favourite place to sit and eat his chew!

We had him when he was 6 years old from a rescue centre in 2001, his previous family had split up and put him in a home, he would have been 16 in October, so a pretty good age for a dog. I know he had a lovely life with us. The house is so empty and quiet though without him. We are having him cremated and will bury him in the garden and put a pretty bush above him. Rest in peace dear Marshall.

I managed to get some stitching done too, to take my mind off everything! All day Sunday I worked on getting the beads attached to my Enchanted Mermaid piece so that it was finished. There were more beads than I thought and it took ages.... but it looks great now it is done.

You can't really see the beads on this photo, especially as 2 of them were clear/opal colours. Here is a closer shot of the mermaid's head, and the seahorses and castle. Still the beads aren't very clear but you get the idea! I will add this to my "to be framed" list !

I also finished a little fairy for my Stitch for Charity group. She is a birth stone fairy and represents July. I may do another of these at some point but for now I have moved on to a "chick" square.

If any of you have the UK magazine Cross Stitcher I have a letter in there this issue (226) I wrote it well before Christmas last year and forgot all about it. It is about the beach bag I made on holiday last summer. Luckily a friend who subscribes to the magazine spotted it and told me. I sent my mom to buy a copy today so haven't seen it myself yet! So looking forward to reading it later when I get in from work.

This week I am working on Henry and I have a few little ones I want to start. There is a ballet dancing hippo in my World of Cross Stitch magazine that I am going to do for Becki. I will make it into a bag for her ballet shoes for when she performs with the English Youth Ballet. I also want to stitch something to remember Marshall. I have seen Little House Needlecrafts do a chart called "Walk in the park" which looks like the sort of thing I want. Lastly I have started another small Art Deco Lady and now have the beads to finish the first one. Need to keep busy!!

Sorry my last 2 posts have been a bit doom and gloom, it has been a tough week. Hopefully back to my cheery self soon.

Happy stitching

Ginnie xx

All good!!

Not so much stitching news today but lots of good stuff to tell!

Firstly I am so proud to say that Laura got into King Edward VI Sixth Form College! You cannot imagine what an anxious Saturday morning we had, our postman is never early. She had 3 friends who had also been for interview (some got automatic places due to very high grades) and 2 of them texted her early saying they hadn't got in. This just made us even more worried. Finally at 12.45 the postman arrived and as soon as I picked up the envelope I could see the top line of the letter and I saw the word "Congratulations"...... we all shouted "yeahhh!!" Only 1 other friend got in and about 6 others in her school. I believe it is 4th in the country for A level results so no wonder it is hard to get a place, good one Laura.

Now I can say both girls are sorted and doing exactly what they want to do. Just need to get their GCSEs now, although Laura's place is not dependant on her grades although I am sure they wouldn't be happy if she failed all her exams! Becki only has to get 5 GCSEs C or above and she has 2 already!!

To make the day even better Laura's Prom dress was ready for collection, so we went and bought some shoes and collected the dress. We then invited mom and dad over for a chinese takeaway. The girl's also had a friend over but she was one of the ones who didn't get in, so we didn't celebrate too much.

As for Friday night, Becki and I had a fanastic time seeing Brian and Kristina dance. It was touch and go whether Kristina was going to turn up, they had already cancelled other shows due to health issues and she missed the train and was late arriving on Friday. But it was worth it, they danced beautifully. The whole evening was full of dancing, other couples too. Then at the end we were able to have autographs and photos taken. Here are ours -

Becki with Brian

She was so happy because he told her she had a very beautiful smile.

Me with Brian and Kristina.

There were 2 Chippendales, they served us chocolates and gave all the ladies a shoulder massage. Becki loved it!! Not sure that Stuart was too happy about it though!!!

So I have to confess I did no stitching for 2 whole days!! And after all the excitment and stress I did little on Sunday either as I was so tired! So I'm not showing a Henry photo as I only did a small amount. I did finish my latest charity square, the Bug in a Bottle, which I think is so cute. Laura reckons she wants me to do one of these Bumble Bees for her!!!

Then I have worked on my Art Deco Diva a few Wednesdays at club and also last night and here is my progress on her. I am really enjoying this one and will work on it a bit more this week before getting my Christmas Window out again. Sorry the photo doesn't do it justice, the metallic thread in the dress is lovely.

Well I have babbled on enough for one day, so until next time,

happy stitching

Ginnie x

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

Last week's stitching

Not an original title, but I couldn't think of another one! I can now get on Blogger again at work so I thought I'd write a post this afternoon as I have a Parent Support Group meeting tonight and may not get chance to go on the PC.

It has been a stressful week, although Stuart has recovered from the flu he has had a reoccurance of a problem with his legs that he had last year so he is still not 100% I think the flu bought on the leg issues !! Then the bullying with Becki came to a head on Tuesday, they started making her life miserable at school as well as on Facebook etc. So much so she was in floods of tears Tuesday evening and didn't want to go back to school. So we finally went into school to talk it over with her Head of House. He has been great and saw Becki right away the next day, she really didn't want anything said to the girls still, so for now they are seeing how it goes but at least she has someone to talk to at school and they have all the evidence I printed off. Since then it has been quiet.... so I am hoping they have got bored with picking on her. She has under 50 actual school days left (not including exams!)... she is counting down.

So I have some stitching to show although I feel I could have done more on my Family Tree but just didn't seem to have as much time last week. Here is my little bit of progress.

I have worked well on my AOY piece for my Aunt and Uncle, I think I'll get this finished by the end of the week so I can frame it. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed working on AOY's.... may have to start another one I have had in the pipeline a while!!

Somebunny also got finished for my Charity group, I have just sorted out the threads for another similar one. I love the colours in this one.... lovely shades of blue.

Finally I made a little bookmark for Becki..... with a dancer on of course! I need to make Laura one now but I can't decide what theme to pick.

Next Monday Becki has a very exciting audition. She is auditioning for the English Youth Ballet. They take 100 local dancers and they appear in a big production later in the year. This time it is to appear in Giselle in September. It would be great if she got picked but we know it is strong competition so the experience will be great on it's own. So fingers crossed for next Monday night!!

Happy stitching...........

Ginnie x