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

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

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

Mermaid progess

I finally got on my PC to post my updates..... for some reason it is on a mega "go slow" and I think it is on it's way out! Luckily I borrowed my work laptop for the weekend.... but my photos were on the PC!

Becki's interview went well at college, and she thinks she got a place there, but they hadn't received her grades from school, so we have to wait for confirmation in the post. Which is a bit frustrating as most of her friends going there were told straight away. Laura got a letter on Thursday to invite her to an interview on Monday (short notice) so we are all nervous again now for tomorrow.

I am pleased with my progress on Enchanted Mermaid, I can see her being finished soon. Lots of back stitch still to do though!

I also finished my letter B of the Fairy Tale alphabet for the Stitch for Charity group.

Then over the weekend I have done another square for the group for a special quilt for twins. This is the boy one and next I'll do a girl one! I couldn't say no to helping a set of twins!

This week Henry will be out again, and I must try to get some more of the February Flip it done.

Until next time,

Ginnie x

Sugar Plum Fairy and others

Thanks for all your well wishes for my cold, I am much better now infact it had gone by Thursday....thank goodness.

I have a few pictures to show today which include 2 Christmas finishes. Last year I bought the Sugar Plum Fairy kit by Mill Hill off Ebay, it was one of 6 based on the Nutcracker and I wish I had bought others because you can't get them in the UK. I spent all week on this because I was just hooked. Even though I broke my favourite long beading needle trying to fit 2 strands of cotton through the eye (instructions told me to) and even though some of the petite beads just didn't want to go through the beading needle provided..... I stuck with it because it is just so sweet. So here she is, the photo doesn't do her justice as you can't see the depth created by the beads.

Then just this evening I have finished my Carol Singer that I want to make into an ornament for mom and dad's tree. Again the photo doesn't really show the white glittery snowflakes and the snowy ground!

Last week was also Enchanted Mermaid week, as I was busy with the Fairy I didn't get so much done on this one. I worked on the top right hand corner..... another cherub now exists!

This week I have had to slot my Family Tree back in it's old place on the rota because I just haven't worked on it. So I will aim to get some done during daylight hours. Otherwise I have dug out the Ballerina I have been working on for Becky for a couple of years. I got very bored with this, especially stitching on the dark blue fabric. I also wasn't sure how much I liked the way it was turning out but I think it is one of those pictures that looks much better at a distance than close up. So I am going to aim to finish it by Christmas for her. Here she is so far and actually there isn't a huge amount left to do.

Hope everyone has a good week with lots of stitching time!!

Ginnie x

Mermaid and Rabbit

Here is my late update of "Enchanting Mermaid" that I was working on last week. She is progressing well, all of the bottom right hand corner is complete now (except beads.)

Then today I finished Rosie Rabbit. She is such a cutie. I need to make it into a cushion now before next Saturday as Alex is coming for a "sleep over" so she can take it home on Sunday for her sister. I agreed to the girls having a sleep over as Stuart is away for the weekend, so it'll be all girls here!!! I am also looking after mom and dads dog next weekend as they are going back down to Dorset to visit my Auntie and Uncle again.

This week was "Family Tree" week again on the rota. But I was getting so fed up of it on its large frame that I finally sorted the base out again and fixed it all back together. It is much easier to work on now but I have to sit on one of the dining room chairs by the window. Here it is in it's new place. Because of this I am now going to change my rota and take "Family Tree" out. Instead I aim to work on it every week but only in the day light by the window, so that'll be a small amount of time in a morning before work and then at a weekend. I hope I still progress on it......... I aim too. That means week one slot is free....... so a new start is loaming!

I will take a closer photo on Sunday when I have worked a bit more on it!

Until next time.

Ginnie x

Returned

Hi everyone, I am back off my holidays.

We had a fantastic time, the weather was really kind to us. The only bit of rain we had was on the Monday afternoon and when we were leaving on Saturday. We had 3 glorious sunny days and the rest were dry and warm. The site and caravan were great and we all want to make a return visit.

I will show photos etc about my hols on my next post as I haven't sorted my photos yet. So this post will be a stitching catch up.

I took plenty with me but these are the main 3 I worked on. Firstly here is my Spring cushion I started a few months ago, I want to do all 4 seasons and the first 3 designs have already been published so I better get a move on. You can see the heart shape formed at the bottom. I love the bright colours in this.

Secondly I worked on my Mermaid/Fantasy one. I just love this..... you can see the beginnings of her face and the lovely castle as well as some of the circle border. There are 3 "light effects" threads in this and I usually hate using these but I am getting on ok with them in this.

Then lastly I started Lizzie Kate's September. I was way ahead of time with August but am falling behind on this one. I will try to work hard on it over the next week to get it sorted in time for the 1st of the month!!

My mom used the little bag I made a lot on holiday so I aim to make mine this week. The new Cross Stitcher magazine was out while we were away with a "nautical" free kit on it. So I have also worked on that and intend to use it on a bag. I also bought some light blue spotty material for it. So hopefully I will have that to show soon, shame I'm not by the seaside still to use it as my "beach bag".

Sorry I have not read any other blogs yet, I will try to catch up over the next few days when I have finished all my washing etc.... Oh the joys of holiday return!!

Ginnie x

Mermaid

Hope everyone is having a good week. My working week has only been 4 days long as I have booked tomorrow off. Becky took her Grade 4 Modern dance exam on Wednesday and has her Grade 4 Ballet exam tomorrow, so I have just been sewing ballet ribbon onto her shoes........ which is a pain because in a couple of weeks they'll start learning "Show" dances and it'll be "ribbons off" again! She is a little nervous but I am sure she'll be fine, her dance teacher is very pleased with her progress. Then in the afternoon we are going to the cinema to see Harry Potter.

So here is my new start from last week. Firstly the picture from the magazine to see what it should look like eventually. I was drawn to the blue/greens and can imagine having it framed with a similar coloured frame so it'll go with my bathroom colour scheme. Not sure how I will get on with having it framed though, as what do you do about condensation in your bathroom? I don't want it to spoil the stitching.

And this is the progress made during the first week. It is sewn on just plain old 14ct white aida. You can see the 3 little sea horses already complete with back stitch. I have loved working on this and am looking forward to picking it up again.

This week I have picked up my Family Tree again and wound it down to work on the bottom again for a change. I spent Monday on that then spent Tuesday on my Tigger/Piglet piece for my SAL. Last night I went out with my Crafty Hands group for a nice meal (we always have a Summer and Christmas meal out) It was very nice but I was late back and got no stitching done! So I think I'll get back to the Family Tree in a moment although I am tired and have a headache tonight.

Ginnie x