Ali B Creations ABC

New Blog!

2008-11-08T17:34:00.002Z

Hi Crafters,

Just to let you know I have started a new blog which I have called The Crafty Squirrel.

You can find me at http://thecraftysquirrel.blogspot.com/

Bye for now
Alison xx

Festivities!

2007-12-18T19:53:00.000Z

Hi XS Blogger Friends throughout the World:

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas Season

Keep on blogging and stitching in 2008!!

With happiness and peace to you and your's
Alison xxxxx

Christmas Makes!

2007-12-12T12:40:00.000Z

Hi everyone

As promised, today's posting includes a couple of 'makes' that I have been working on for Christmas. The stocking cost me about 30 pence / 65 c (probably would have cost £2 in the shops!) and the table decoration was about £5 / $10.50 - just goes to show that making-your-own is not only more original and special, its so much cheaper too :-)

The red squirrel was a prized find in Hobbycraft in early November and I found the hedgehog a couple of weeks later so thought they would be an unusual Christmas centre-piece with the scented candle and glittery pinecones that I found under the tree on the other side of the lane, when I went for a walk in the late summer.

Will do a more detailed update with additional photos shortly

Hope everyone is having fun in the lead-up to Christmas and the holidays ahead

PS - San, I hope you get my cards, but let me know if you don't and I will send another couple in time before you leave for Lille on 20th!

Alison xxx

Some acknowledgements

2007-12-04T12:42:00.000Z

Hi,

Just an addendum to my latest blog entry, in alphabetical order:

Felicity: Thanks for your wonderful, 'blissful' newsy letter and Christmas card which arrived safely today. It was great to read all the latest from you and I am busily writing a reply which I will post with your Christmas card tomorrow, so stand-by your mailbox, girl LOL ;-D

Isabelle: Please may I have your postal address so I can send your Christmas card? Malheureusement, I did not receive your gift that you mentioned you posted around end Sept Booo Hoooo :-((( Sadly, that's the main problem with notre courier de l'escargot, I'm afraid to say xx

Margaret: Hopefully you will receive an envelope from me this week as the post office said that it would take 5 - 7 working days and I sent it last Wednesday ..... here's to a X-Stitch Round Robin for 2008 - I'm determined this time :-)) Maybe the Margaret Sherry Advent Calendar that we planned last year, if you still fancy that, or else another of your choosing.

Nela: Mil gracias por tus comentarios en mi blog y espero visitar el tuyo este fin de semana para ponerme al dia con todos tus proyectos de XS. Ojala que el sol brille aca en Maracaibo - que aqui en Inglaterra hace un dia gris, con nubes hasta la cabeza, y lluvia lluvia lluvia, :-((

San: Hopefully you will have received my cards for you and DBF and another for Maman with my love. I sent the cards by internal post last week. Will hopefully be able to set a date to visit Chez San this side of Christmas when I am at the Stevenage site - around Friday week I think ... The cushion on your website is awesome, by the way!

Christmas Makes!

2007-12-03T13:17:00.000Z

Hi Everyone!

Since I arrived back from Philadelphia about 2 weeks ago, I have been getting into the swing of Christmas. When I was over there, I could tell that our American friends take their Christmas celebrations seriously, with the shopping malls fit to burst with people, at the beginning of November, undoubtedly getting ready for Thanksgiving as well! Unfortunately, despite looking for craft shops, there were none in the malls that I visited - I think the majority of crafting is now available over the internet, so most individual craft stores must be struggling to compete (or else are moving to majority web trading, to save money on rents).

In UK, we seem to be moving away from traditional green Christmas trees (of the artificial variety) with different colour trends such as black, chocolate brown, white and copper colours being most evident this year. I found a very unusual but attractive colour combination, teal green and black! There are lots of purple and bronze baubles and decorations in the shops which compliment it really well. I have added a photograph from the shop's website, because my photo didn't show the teal green off particularly well - its probably not that clear from this photo either! I also treated myself to a multi-function light string, which has 5 different settings on, from fade and constant, to graduated and flashing! Should keep me amused :-)

As well as buying the tree, I did most of my Christmas shopping as well, and spent the weekend wrapping up presents and writing labels. Most weekends in December I will be doing the rounds to family and friends so I thought it would be best to "bite the bullet" and get it all done at the start of the month rather than having to spread it out over the month - as I am bound to forget it, if it isn't on my list!

I have been making a Christmas Candle table decoration (I will add a photo tomorrow as I have nearly finished it) - with a squirrel and hedgehog with some pine-cones on a hessian covered board. In all, it has only cost me £5 because I had most of the materials and just bought the two animals from Hobby Craft

Happy Crafting! xxx

New Era, New Look!

2007-11-04T23:27:00.000Z

Hello!

Well, I decided to choose a new theme for my blog, its called Tequilla. It has unfortunately wiped out all my links to my fave blogs, so I will remediate as soon as possible, as I have a list of those I linked to. I just had this impulse to give my blog a "whole new look" LOL! It is like having a new hairstyle, or giving your house a make-over, a way of marking the beginning of a new era.

If you would like me to link to your blog, feel free to let me know and I will add you.

I heard from my tutor about 10 days ago that I had passed my MSc with a Distinction. It has not sunk in yet, so I haven't exactly celebrated passing, but I do feel relieved that all the stress from the last year has been lifted. As you know, recent times have been very challenging, so there are a lot of things that have an 'unreal' quality about them. Maybe that is life, just when we think we have got it all 'sussed' and life is mapped out for us, then something happens to 'warn' us not to take people or situations for granted.

I am writing this blog entry sitting in a hotel room in Philadelphia, would you believe! I travelled over here yesterday arriving at 3.15pm local time, so I am still feeling a bit jet-lagged. My watch tells me it is 6.45 pm (which is local US East-coast time) but my laptop clock (which is set to UK GMT) is telling me it is nearly midnight - hence that is how my body feels!

I had a free day today (Sunday) looking round Philly and taking in the sights - I am a bit of a culture-vulture and enjoy the local heritage of the places I visit. The Liberty Bell (see image above) is really beautiful and an icon for all who seek and struggle for equality and fair-minded liberalism. As you can see, it has a big crack in the side, which is apparently due to the fact that, like many bells made in the 18th century, the Liberty Bell was made of a mixture of metals, which made it vulnerable to crack when in use. It is no longer rung and is exhibited free of charge in down-town Philadelphia (in the Market Street/6th area of the city). If you get the opportunity, I can recommend a visit, you won't be disappointed. You can even buy your own miniature version (which does ring :-) from the Visitor Centre. Handy for requesting breakfast in bed or afternoon tea, LOL :-D

Tomorrow (Monday) is the start of a busy week as I have meetings in our Philadephia and King of Prussia offices. I will have the pleasure of meeting with people I have only been able to deal with by telephone until now, so it will really be good to put faces-to-names, as they say!

Since I finished my studies in September, I have regrettably had precious-little time to do cross-stitch, and only a couple of hours here and there to make a couple of cards for friends whose birthdays fell in recent weeks. I am just waiting to get this next week's business trip out of the way (which I have been preparing for) and then I think that work will calm down in the lead up to Thanksgiving in US and Christmas generally. I am planning to take around 3 weeks off over Christmas, so its time to max-out on the stitching, yeahhhhhhhhh!!!!

Well, that's about all for now, take care everyone and look forward to visiting your blogs more, now that I have some spare time to enjoy my freedom!!

Warmest wishes
Alison xxxx

My Latest News

2007-06-05T17:44:00.000+01:00

Hello there, Crafters!

NB - don't be confused by the date of this entry - I have made it today, 20/Aug, however I think I must have started the entry back in June and edited that entry, so it must have kept the same date - shame on me, how long it has take me but please forgive me, I have an excuse ....

It has been ages since I posted on my blog. I have been hard at work on my MSc Dissertation all these months, and I can hardly believe how fast the summer has flown by. Before we know it, the nights are drawing in and its like autumn, but as you probably know if you are in North Europe, the summer has been rather non-existent this year :-(

I only have 17 days to go until I have to hand in my project to my University, two paper copies and an electronic copy to be posted onto their secure website. Then my summer can begin LOL.

It has been awful not being able to stitch - I can't really concentrate on anything at the moment, just getting the Dissertation finished off, all 13,000 words of it!

I also started my new job in mid-July (at the same company, doing something similar to what I was doing before, but more interesting ... and a bit more money - not a prerequisite for happiness .... but it does help with the Crafting habit LOL!!!!).

I do hope that you are all well. So much has been happening out there in the world. Dear Isabelle and Sebastien are now Husband and Wife - many congratulations - San is shortly moving house - and so on. Facebook and other "social networking" sites seem to have sprung up as if from nowhere, in only the past couple of months (or maybe publicity has increased!). I have been visiting people's blogs very briefly from time to time to "keep in touch", vowing to myself that as soon as I have finished my work I will get back on the Blog Trail and post comments (it takes me time, because I like to read all the postings and then comment specifically on things of interest). Its lovely having something nice to look forward to, so in 17 days' time I will be able to indulge in my favourite pastimes - stitching and blogging!

Watch this space!

Thanks for your patience and friendship,
Much love
Alison xx

At long last!!

2007-05-11T23:10:00.000+01:00

Hi all my blogging friends!

It has been a gap of a couple of months since I last blogged, partly because of my MSc dissertation but also because of sloath! So no real excuse I am afraid, but here I am, all the same.

Since I last placed a posting here, I have been to the Stitch 07 Exhibition at Olympia which I really enjoyed with San and her mum. I bought the most gorgeous book, which I will try to photograph as some of the designs are beautiful - typically English country scenes (barns, farmyard animals and birds/insects etc). I have just started doing one of the designs. I know I must finish my Seed Sampler, but somehow I cannot feel motivated to do all the back stitching in one go :0) I think I will pick it up and do half an hour here and there, and one day soon, it will be complete.

This month, for all those who know me, is going to be very sad, but I guess a bit triumphant in a way - my DH died on 31st May and I cannot believe the year has flown so quickly, but hey I have survived the dark days and although I cry for him a little each day and feel so sad that there are many things that have been happening to me that I can only tell him about in my thought and reflections, rather than have him here to experience the things with me. Life moves along gently and, to be honest, happily, because I know he would want me to be at peace with the world, which I generally am. Work has kept me busy and I spend time with family and friends when I am not studying.

Tomorrow evening, the Squash Club (where Mike was a member for many years and played regularly in the Leagues and competitions) is holding the first Annual Mike Bulbeck Squash Championship. I have been invited to give away the trophy to the winner, which I know is going to be bitter-sweet, because Mike would have been there competing - he was such a great sporting man, never worried if he "lost" but just enjoyed the challenge of the sport.

The experience of losing Mike has changed me so much over the last year - where I used to get annoyed or impatient, I cannot bring myself to, where I was miserable I am now happy and where I was ungrateful, I am now so tenacious of life because it can be taken away so easily, I am now just happy to be alive and with people who have shown me such support and feeling. My friend's little girl (who is only 5) asked me why I was crying and I explained to her that I had lost someone who I loved and that I missed him - she put out her arms and gave me a huge hug and I felt that she had taken away the pain in that moment.

Life is wonderful, sometimes painful, but always worth living .....

Thanks for coming back to my blog, even when I haven't had the strength to put hands to keyboard, it means so much and I will get back to some crafting soon - now that the summer is here, the daylight will give me more of any incentive.

With warmest wishes
Hugs
Alison xxxx

Sunny Saturday!

2007-03-17T16:14:00.000Z

Hi Everyone,

Well, have you missed me? .... I have missed you !!!

I am so sorry I have not been posting lately, but my dissertation for my Masters is taking up a lot more of my free-time than I thought possible :-( I am hoping to have a bit more space over the Easter holidays to do other things, especially blogging, gardening and a bit more stitching. I guess I feel I ought to be studying at the moment because I only have 6 months left before I have to hand in my 12,000 word 'dissy'. I have really been missing the cross-stitching and what makes it worse, I went round to San's house and saw all the wonderful stitching and crafting she has been doing in recent months and it puts my meagre efforts to shame, that's for sure.

We are looking forward to having a nice day up at the Olympia Stitch 07 exhibition - only a week to go before we head up to London for that. I have promised myself some DMC threads and some buttons this year ... and who knows, maybe some beads as well.

It is very sunny today and, although the weather-man said it is going to get colder and more windy tomorrow, all I can do is look out of the window and see the blue skies and gentle breeze and it reminds me of summer. The only trouble is, however, that it reminds me that in only about 9 weeks' time, it will be a whole year since my DH Mike died. I cannot believe how the year has flown by, despite the fact that I felt it would drag without him here with me. In 2 weeks' time, the family and I have organised a ceremony for him at the Crematorium. We have made a memorial plaque for him, with his dates on and the words "Deeply Missed, but never Forgotten" on. The plaque has been mounted around the edge of a rose bed in the Crem - I may visit it later on next week, to see what it is like before the ceremony on 30th March.

Well, I guess that is all for now. I hope that this finds you well, happy, enjoying life and full of the joys of Spring, if you are in UK or Europe, but full of joy where-ever you are 'visiting' from.

Much love,
Alison xx

Happy St Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T13:14:00.000Z

Well, its February 14th and, yes, I know its a great time for the Card and Gift shops and its all rather commercial, but hey, if we can't be loving to each other on a special day like today, well its a sad World isn't it?

So I would like to say to everyone on St Valentine's Day that I wish you love, happiness, laughter and joy, not just today, but every day in 2007. And let's remember those who don't have much of those wonderful gifts, because maybe they haven't got anyone special around them to be loved, or because they are in a war-torn country, or don't have a home or a job .... they need our love too.

HAVE A HAPPY ST VALENTINE'S DAY, FRIENDS!!!!!

Hi There Crafting Friends!

2007-02-12T17:44:00.000Z

Well, after my first posting of 2007, I had to take a few weeks' break because I had to hand in my Dissertation Proposal which meant I was working every weekend on it since mid-January. Now it has been handed in and marked, I am feeling a lot more like getting down to the serious business of Blogging again - I really miss doing my crafts and telling you all about it!! Unfortunately my Seed Sampler has been languishing in my crafts bag unloved :-( and untouched for weeks, but I did some work on it on Sunday, so I only have about 2 hours to complete before its a Happy Dance. So I thought I would put up a photo when that is done, rather than keep adding a photo after only 1 or 2 hours' work!!

In the meantime, I have been buying the Cross Stitcher and World of Cross Stitch to keep in touch with XS and am planning a trip to Olympia with San and her mother in late March which is very exciting. I won £50 prize in the Premium Bonds which is a UK draw we have - the number was one of Mike's which makes it even better - he is looking after me :-) So I have a few funds to splash out on some Stash at Olympia yippeeee!!

It was really cold in UK last week and we had a fair fall of snow on Thursday, so much so that I tried to drive down the hill for a swim at the pool, found that the Leisure Centre was shut then couldn't get back up the hill again as it was so slippery and icy! So I had to park the car in the car park at the bottom of the hill and walk for 2 miles home, which was fun because I could watch all the children playing with snowballs and sliding down the hill on their plastic trays and wooden sleighs - I thought Santa was going to turn up with the presents LOL ;-D

Well, looking forward to being able to show off my Project during my next entry.

Happy New Year 2007 - Ali B is Back!!

2007-01-12T11:04:00.000Z

Hi Everyone,

I would firstly like to thank everyone who has e-mailed me and blogged me with comments to say that they miss me and have been concerned. I really really really appreciate everyone's love, thoughts, kindness and friendship. I am so sorry you had to worry about me, I never forgot my blog or you and just knew you would be there for me for as long as it took for me to get back to you. Let me explain my absence because I need to tell you about it .....

As you can imagine, after losing my DH in May, Christmas and the Holiday Season was bound to be difficult and sad for me and also not forgetting the family and our friends. It was far harder than I could ever have imagined it would be, if I am honest with you. I started to feel very down about the impending holiday season around November (hence the rather large gap in the Blog) and lost all motivation to stitch or blog, as I felt I would not be able to be honest on-line about how difficult it was becoming for me, and it was not easy for me to admit that at the time. Also, when everyone around me was feeling happy, it sort of made me more blue because I wanted to be happy too, but my heart has been aching without my DH. I know you will understand that .....

Dearest San I would like to thank you through the lines of this blog for the amazing friendship we have - you were there for me when I needed you most, and we had a wonderful time together just before you left for Lille for the Christmas holidays. I have been thinking of you all the time and have been hoping you were enjoying time with DBF and the family. I loved your gifties, you spoiled me and I hope you liked the small treasures I made.

I am now feeling very positive in the New Year with all the wonderful challenges ahead, Margaret I will be e-mailing you today and we need to organise our first 'virtual' SAL for the Margaret Sherry Project - thank you for keeping in touch so wonderfully over the holidays with your supportive e-mails - it meant so much to me.

Isabelle, you are just a treasure, a warm hearted girl and loving friend and thank you for caring so much for me - I care back!

Nela, no se como puedo agradecerte los mensajes tan lindos y tiernos en mi grabador de telefono para la Navidad y el ano nuevo, te envio un abrazo muy muy fuerte - I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful sweet messages you left me on my answerphone for Christmas and the New Year - please accept a (((big hug))) that I am sending you now.

Thank you, RosieKiwi, for sending me the lovely Christmas Ornies magazine, its wonderful and I will definitely be fully motivated in the coming year to make loads of great danglies for the Christmas Tree for 2007! Don't forget my offer of any little gifties through 2007 and beyond, I will be delighted to oblige :-)

To everyone, you are just the BEST, the finest gang of friends I could wish for, and I am so happy to be back on-line again. My DH, Michael, knew I ran this blog and loved the fact that I am so keen on my Crafting. He will be smiling up on his cloud at the way you have stood by me over the past 6 difficult months and is wishing you all well. I will be posting a few photos for you in the coming days, so bear with me as I get back into the swing. I will be dropping on by to your blogs little by little and will leave you some messages of love of my own, so Watch Your Blog :-))))

With warm and fondest wishes
All the very best for 2007 - let's make it the best XS/Crafting year ever!!!

Your friend always,
Alison ("Ali-B") xxxxx

Halloween - Not a good time in UK

2006-11-01T12:55:00.000Z

Hi everyone,

I have just paid my regular visit to Von's blog (http://onthedryside.blogspot.com/) and was delighted with her wonderful photos and stories of how they celebrate Halloween in USA. If only we had the same ethos in UK! In recent times it has unfortunately been hijaked and using as an excuse to terrorise people in their own homes. Sadly, despite the fact it is meant to be a time for children, it is being misinterpreted and parents find it increasingly difficult to teach their children to "never accept sweets from strangers" and "don't ask for money from people" for 364 days of the year, and yet on 31st October, all those sound rules are effectively being ignored. So children get confused and youths, possibly having poor (or no) guidance from parents or being left to roam the streets, are using it to create mischief. I do hate to brand young people as "Yobs" because they are frequently the product of neglect and all they need is some boundaries and guidelines and, of course, LOVE!!!!

Enough of my rant - but go and take a look at the way Von has displayed those photos, they are great!!!

Here are a couple of long-awaited WIP photos:

About a year ago (or possibly longer), I stitched 3 of Michael Powell's Mini Cottages series (and I still have a Lighthouse of his to do in my stash pile). I framed them with some inexpensive wooden frames which I bought in HobbyCraft and now they are proudly hanging as a little group in the hallway so that when I come home, I see them and I do think they are cute. Michael Powell's style is so unique to him, I could recognise one of his pieces a mile off! I desperately want to start stitching his "Secret Garden" kit that I bought last Christmas as I love the way the wrought-iron gate is part opened, with the promise of entering the garden and seeing hidden beauty .... hopefully will get some time in the coming months - but next, I am still aiming for my "Road to a Friend's House" and, of course, the project that Margaret and I have planned for 2007, being the 12 Days of Christmas.

Update for the Weekend! Very Busy :-)

2006-10-29T20:30:00.000Z

Hi Everyone - I hope you have been enjoying your weekend.

In UK, the clocks moved back 1 hour so that it is now dark by around 5.30 pm :-( Thankfully, it was clear and sunny today, so it did not seem as if Autumn had yet taken hold. I spent 2 hours in the garden trying out my new lawnmower for the first time (it has rained almost every day since I bought it and this weekend has been the first spell of dry weather for a while! The grass looks really green and even now!

I have also been decorating the front room this weekend, now that the fireplace is in place.

Here is a "before" photo showing the rather dated wallpaper complete with border at the top - very 1980's!

And below is what it now looks like with the door and rails painted (the paint is a cream called "Snowdrop") and the walls clear of paper.

My plan is to paper the walls in a plain textured finish that has the same effect as "raw" silk with the slubs on and then paint with emulsion. Above the rail will be a colour called Pure Water, which is a very subtle blue/green and below will be Burnt Almond which is a medium coloured mushroom brown.

Last weekend I received a lovely parcel of Gifties from Nela! As you can see, there are some beautiful objects, some that Nela made and other little extras like the sweetie bar. Thank you so much Nela for your generosity to have sent the parcel all the way from your beloved Zulia.

Unfortunately, Blogger has now done its normal "go-slow" and won't let me upload the photos of my seed sampler, so I will try again tomorrow!

Hope you have a good week coming up. Enjoy!

All About Books - Let's play Tag

2006-10-25T16:55:00.000+01:00

1) One book that changed your life: (I do not have access to the book at present, as I am at work ... but I may have to come back and correct this ...) "Songbird" - forgot the author's name - DH lent me his copy of the book when we were "just friends" and I loved it .... and then came to love him.
2) One book that you’d read more than once: "The White Hotel" by D H Thomas - its a very harrowing book focussing on the Holocaust but with a storyline woven with references to Freud - really powerful and amazing. They have tried to make a film from it for the last 15 years, but have never been able to agree on a cast list due to the power of the characters .... its that kind of book.
3) One book you’d want on a deserted island: After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
4) One book that made you laugh: "Neither Here nor There - Travels in Europe" Bill Bryson - I started laughing around page 3 and didnt really stop until the last page :-) He is wonderful and my DH loved all his books too
5) One book that made you cry: After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
6) One book you wish you’d written: Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
7) One book you wish had never been written: The DaVinci Code - I thought it was too hyped-up.
8) One book you’re currently reading:"History of the Spanish Civil War" by Antony Beavor - its a really interesting read!!
9) One book you’ve been meaning to read: "War and Peace" Tolstoy - its sooo big
10) Tags: AngelSan, Christine, Nela, Stitch (sorry only 4, but they are the only ones I can think of who have not been tagged!!)

Sampler and Fireplace Progress

2006-10-17T22:20:00.000+01:00

Well, today has been a really busy and productive day. I managed about an hour on my sampler - although it does not look like I have done much, the backstitching on the geranium seems to have brought it to life ... I think it looks a bit more like a proper geranium, now :-D

Apart from stitching I spent a lot of today dashing back and forth from the local timber merchants getting some extra pieces of wood for the builders to complete the skirting board round the side of the fireplace. It was easier for me to nip out than them, mainly because I know the area well and also it meant that they could keep working LOL!

So .... here it is, TADAAAAA! I am super-happy with it - it is amazing what it has done to the room - it is a real focual point now. They finished at 3pm and I spent about 3 hours cleaning up all the brick dust etc. Although they worked very cleanly and put down dust sheets, it is amazing how the little bits of brick get underneath :-( The mantelpiece is a piece of old weathered oak which my friend managed to get from a timber yard in the local area. When it was finished, I coated it with one layer of dark Oak matt varnish and as you can see it is really brought out the grain beautifully.

DH's squash racquet on the hearth is symbolic ... I just wanted to make sure he knows I am thinking of him and I hope he likes the fireplace as it had been our plan all along to build it.

DIY and Stitching - What a Combination!

2006-10-17T10:34:00.000+01:00

Here is a "Before" photo of the fireplace in my front room. It was used for years (by the previous owners of the house) for burning logs and coal, hence it is well-worn and rather tatty looking! I have always thought it was rather ugly and have wanted to rebuild it for a couple of years. So I have taken off 3 days from work so that my friend and his mate, who are builders, can rip it out and rebuild a new one.

I don't really want a "working" fire as I have central heating, so want something attractive that will be a focal point for the room. I plan to put a log-basket in with some decorative logs and maybe a set with brass tongs and shovel on the hearth. I suppose I could even cross stitch one of those lovely firescreens that I see in magazines and never bother with because I have not had a proper fireplace before :-)

Below is a WIP photo of the fireplace after the first day. The wooden arch template gets taken out after the mortar has dried (overnight). I will be able to post what I hope will be the final photo at the end of the day today. There will be a large piece of oak on top (cut into shape) as the mantelpiece.

The next photo is a WIP of my Seed Sampler (hope you aren't getting bored of me putting photos on - my progress is rather slower than I would want, I'm afraid!) I have finally done a bit of the backstitching and also completed the Bee's Seeds lettering above the picture. If I can work away at it for the next 2 days while I am off work, then hopefully it will be finished by the weekend (fingers crossed!). Apologies for the rather poor quality of the photo - it wasn't until I uploaded it that I realised how bad it was :-( Will hopefully have a much better one for you later in the week.

Bye for now!

Memories of a Beautiful Wedding

2006-10-16T09:43:00.000+01:00

Centre Arrangement on each table

Wedding Cake Decorations

My friends' wedding was amazing - everything went like a dream .... people commented on the favours and as you can see from the photos, the table arrangements and cake turned out really well! I was really worried leading up to the day, as its such a responsibility doing crafts for someone's wedding - you just hope everything is what they want - in my experience, it always turns out fine, but its those little tiny doubts in the back of your mind "can I really pull this one off and make it all just as I see it in my mind's eye?".

Nothing much to report on the progress of Seed Sampler ... do I have an excuse for a couple of days, to catch my breathe?! I have 3 days off work to do some jobs round the house and get myself back into the real world again so will fit in some stitching during that "me-time" :-)

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Hugs xx

Latest WIP - Seed Sampler

2006-10-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

Before I talk about my stitching, here is a photo of some beautiful flowers I received from work. I have been working on a Placement in the Personal Computing space in my company and I completed the project on Thursday, so my boss bought me the flowers to say thanks and to wish me luck in my new Placement which will be at a different site in a completely different IT group. I will really miss the team I have been working with because they are so friendly and have been incredibly supportive during my recent difficult times. I will of course keep in touch with them!

Now, onto Crafting matters :-D. Here is an update for you on my Seed Sampler - I have now completed the top left hand quadrant - as you can imagine it took ages due to all the colour changes and a bit of frogging due to badly aligned stitches :-( All that remains is the words of the little poem and backstitching. I am so looking forward to completing it now! I want to see it in a frame and also I am itching to start my Gail Bussi picture - I finally received the White Evenweave - it took so long to arrive because I originally ordered DMC but apparently because it is now supplied from France there are big order backlogs, so they sent me some Zweigart instead and it is just as good and slightly cheaper.

I am going to visit Hobby Craft at lunchtime today because I have to buy some silk flowers for the wedding cake - the wedding is this coming Saturday and I still have a couple of jobs to complete apart from this - I have a further 5 favours to do and also the place cards for the Wedding Breakfast so everyone knows where they will be sitting.

Enjoy your Monday ... if that is possible - hey just think, its a day closer to the weekend LOL!!

Traditional Craft Fayre

2006-10-08T16:45:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I went to my local Craft Fayre which takes place twice per year in the field opposite my house. It is a 3 day event, set up in huge marquis, which takes about 2 hours to go round (if you want to see all the stalls).

Here are my purchases: A set of four Flower Fairies pictures. These pictures are unique in that they are all reclaimed colour plates from old books - I was firstly attracted to the Clover Fairy as this is my childhood favourite. Then I thought how nice it would be to have a set of 4 to hang at home. A complete impulse purchase but I am really pleased I bought them - the frames really do the pictures justice!

The other thing I bought was a sign to put next to the front door with my house number on and, of course, the squirrel relates to the name of the house :-)

Guest Stitcher Giftie

2006-10-02T15:10:00.000+01:00

I recently took part as a Guest Stitcher, reviewing some charts in Cross Stitcher (I just hope no-one saw my photo in the mag, as its the most awful picture of me I have EVER seen - even though I sent through an "acceptable" photo to them to use!) - it was taken when San and I were at Stitch '06 and if I remember it had been raining, so I looked completely bedraggled AND no makeup - OMG a girlie's worst nightmare.

Anyway, enough of my vanity, beauty is but skin-deep :-) So, as a thank you, they send a £15 voucher to spend on the Superstitcher website. I have been completely undecided what to buy ... should I get some DMC threads (no, I have lots of them) or should I choose a kit (well, I have lots of them, but hey since when has that stopped us Stitchers? Big decisions, huh?

In the end, I have decided to go for a really cute Margaret Sherry design - its called The Hen Night and it does make me chuckle when I see it - aren't her characters just gorgeous? Not too sure when I will be able to stitch it, but its going in my Stash Collection as a future make! In fact, I have the chart for the Hens doing their knitting from a previous XS magazine, so it could make up the set :-)

Bye for now, Stitchy-Girls!

Ali xx

Wedding Favours

2006-10-01T12:56:00.000+01:00

I have been busy making some wedding samplers for a member of DH's family which will take place on 14th October. The significance of the Mars bars is that the Groom's surname is the same the chocolate (except with a double 'r' ) and his nickname is even "Mars-bar" so the favours just had to be thus, didn't they? I have had to make 50 in total for all the people attending the sit-down meal after the ceremony which is taking place in Arundel on the South Coast. I have also made 2 special ones for the Mothers (of the Bride and of the Groom) which have a larger red rose instead of the small gold roses you can see - and also the ribbon is larger and is a sheer voile with gold threads it - they look really good (even if I say so myself).

The next task is to make a small circle of silk flowers (reds and pinks) which will sit on top of the wedding cake. I also have to write out the little place cards using an ink pen and my best handwriting, so I think I will try to do that next week.

It is going to be a very happy, but also a really sad day for us all, as DH will not be there in person, but will, of course, be there in spirit.

Love and Peace

Alison xx

25 Stitchy Questions

2006-09-29T11:42:00.000+01:00

As many of you will know, poor San is having awful problems with her Blog and lost a lot of recent records - hope it all gets sorted out soon San, we rely on your brilliant Mag Reviews etc! I did take a look at some of her earlier entries about a week ago, before the nightmare started, and found this great series of questions - so thanks for the inspiration and if anyone wants to have a go, feel free to "steal with pride" as we say at work - hey why reinvent the wheel?

1. How old were you when you started cross stitching?
I started Cross Stitching when I was about 20, but have been sewing and making things since as far back as I can, so probably when I was 5 or 6 years old. My teddies and dolls were the best dressed in the neighbourhood :-)
2. Who taught you to cross stitch?
I taught myself, using magazines as a guide. I found it really easy to pick up the technique, but I must say, my work has become a whole lot neater over the years - its all down to practice and experience
3. What inspired you to begin cross stitching?
I sent away for a "Seaside" kit from a magazine and that got me hooked!
4. What has been your most difficult cross stitch piece?
A Brambly Hedge Wedding Sampler with a bride and groom mouse - lots of colour changes, backstitch, French knots etc!
5. Do you have friends that stitch?
I have several crafty friends and lots of global crafting friends via the Internet!
6. What is your favourite stitched piece?
My Welsh Sampler - really lovely colours and traditional style.
7. What is your favorite fabric?
I love Evenweave, and 16 count aida is ok too.
8. What is your favorite fiber?
DMC threads.
9. What is your favorite needle?
I just use the freeby ones you get with kits and they are fine!
10. Do you prefer black & white or colored charts?
Definitely coloured is much easier to track what you have stitched and what is still to do. I cant remember using any black and white charts.
11. How many Works In Progress do you have at this time?
Only 1 that I am working on at the moment - Lesley Grant's Seed Sampler
12. How many UFOs do you have at this time?
None
13. How many cross stitch charts/kits/mags do you own?
I have about 11 kits (2 traditional samplers, 1 DMC Garden Sampler with embellishments, Poppies in a Field scene, an Art Deco piece from Stitch '05, 3 Flower Fairies, a Country Companion set with 6 charts and threads, a Jane Greenoff Music Sampler called "If Music be the Food of Love" and 2 wildlife kits. I don't keep magazines for very long as they take up space, so I cut out the charts I like and keep them in folders, then try to give away some to people who advertise for Wanted's
14. How much fabric do you have in stock at this time?
Quite a few pieces of Aida and some Linen and Evenweave for specific projects that I have not stitched yet - if only I had more time!!
15. Where is your favorite place to stitch?
I have a chair in the living room which is positioned so that the daylight is on my left side - this sounds very exact, but it is because I only stitch in natural light and prefer the left so that it does not cast a shadow on my work.
16. What is your favorite time of day to stitch?
I like to stitch all morning on Sunday's - the rest of the time, it is a question of stitching when I get the chance, so sometimes at lunchtime sometimes about 30 minutes before work
17. How many pieces have you stitched in your lifetime?
I have lost count, but I guess 50 or so cards and maybe 30-ish projects - that isn't a great deal, but as I work full-time and have been studying for a BSc and now an MSc for the last 7 years, that is quite good going!
18. Do you give your stitched pieces away?
Yes, most of the things I make have been for special occasions, such as Weddings, Births and just birthday gifts.
19. How many different fibers do you have in stock at this time?
I prefer to use DMC threads but I use a few metallics and the new Light Effects as well.
20. How many pairs of scissors do you own?
I have about 20 pairs - that sounds a lot but I have dressmaking, soft furnishing, needlework, cross stitch and many different special effects scissors for making nice edgings for cards.
21. Do you use stitching enhancers (lights, scroll frames…etc)?
I have never got on with frames or hoops and I think that natural daylight is the only way to go!
22. How many pieces that have been stitched but not yet framed or finished off in some other way do you have at this time?
None - the one thing I am quick at is framing! I see no point in completing a project and then not displaying it - also if it is for a gift, of course it has to be completed in time for the special event!
23. Do you have a craft/stitching room?
Yes, I have lovely cupboards and shelves that my DH put in for me
24. Why do you stitch?
I love to create and also like to watch the picture gradually take form over time. Also it is wonderful to give a friend or member of the family something I have made myself - so much nicer than shop-bought goods. Where's the fun in that?
25. What is your most memorable time related to cross stitching?
I really enjoyed Stitch '06 with San and her Mom when we met Margaret Sherry, Maria Diaz and Michael Powell, but Ally Pally '05 was good because we did some classes - Japanese embroidery and a great Jane Greenoff Sampler stitch along.

Late Summer Gardening

2006-09-24T14:37:00.000+01:00

I thought I would take the opportunity to 'snap away' in the back garden as the UK is enjoying some lovely sunny weather at the moment (albeit interspersed with some dramatic thunder storms). This time of year, one never knows how long sunshine will last. It seems as if my pots have suddenly regained some strength and are now bursting forth with a whole new crop of colourful flowers after a bit of a lull in Aug/early Sept. I also think that the rain fall we had this week helped a lot. I repainted the garden furniture with Cuprinol (wood conditioner) which has darkened the wood beautifully, so thought I would show off my hard work :-)

On Friday, we had rain in almost monsoon-like proportions. I was sitting in the library at University in the afternoon watching the torrents of rain falling down for well over an hour, with leaden skies and claps of thunder .... wondering how I could possibly get back to my car (which was a good 10 minutes walk across the campus) without being a complete drowned-rat with all my books, papers and writing materials spoiled. I was only wearing a pair of thin trousers, summer top and cardigan, as it had been mild and fairly bright in the morning. Thankfully by 4pm, the rain stopped sufficiently for me to be able to take a quick walk back to the car and I guess the blessing was that I did get a couple of extra hours' work done as I was "a captive" in the library :-D ...... Maybe Mike decided that I needed to get that extra work done and then at 4pm turned off the tap and let me get back safely without getting wet!

To Margaret, Ash and Carolyn, I have sent off your magazines - World of Cross Stitch/Cross Stitch Card Shop/Crazy - in the post this weekend so I hope you will soon be able to "feast your eyes" on the designs.

Happy weekend everyone
Hugs
Alison xxxx

Review of Cross Stitch Gold Issue 43

2006-09-24T12:57:00.000+01:00

I received the latest issue of Cross Stitch Gold yesterday and it appears that it is becoming very popular with people out there, so I feel I should review it for you quickly this month, notable because it has a mainly Christmas/Seasonal theme

Lesley Teare is prolific in this issue and has produced a couple of stunning projects. The first is called Plush Plumage, referring to a Peacock and is full of wonderful detail on the bird's feathers, as well as a mirrored theme on the border. I should also point out that it does not use any backstitching, so is ideal for those who prefer just stitching whole crosses without further need to outline afterwards.

Lesley has also designed a really cute Christmas Shaker-style picture, which is my favourite of this issue. It is versatile because you could actually stitch any of the smaller panels for special Christmas cards in a fraction of the time .... or else stitch the whole project for a present (even to treat yourself :-D
On the Santa theme, there is an advent calendar by everyone's fave, Maria Diaz, called Mother Christmas. The only thing that I find a bit confusing is that against each day, there is a small ring attached to the fabric, into which you put a sweet - but I am not sure what sort of sweets would fit in the ring ... hmmm a bit strange - but the design is still cute (although Mrs Claus' mouth could do with a bit of 'remodelling' as it does not look very natural unfortunately ....).

Karen Britton's style is instantly recognisable with her "Overlooking Evensong" picture. Those who love cats will be particularly keen on this. The colours are bright, and quite solid in style - the cat has got a very funny little smile, rather cute!

Other projects in the magazine are Winter Retreat, a Lilliput Lane style cottag with fir tree and some snow on the thatched roof, Stained Glass designs to make into Christmas cards, Seasonal Floral display with white lillies and a Westie dog with robin and poinsetta.

Well, its sunny outside today, so as normal at this time of year, its quite a struggle to start thinking of Christmas projects when we are clinging onto the last few weeks of late-summer, early autumn!

Latest Progress on Seed Sampler

2006-09-17T12:08:00.000+01:00

Hope you are all enjoying an active or restful weekend (whichever is your preference!). I have spent this morning sewing my Seed Sampler and here is the WIP photo I promised. There have been lots of colour changes (and a bit of frogging unfortunately!!) but I have managed to get the lady sitting on her bench* reading a book looking right - I think I skipped a line in the pattern, which is where the frogging came in :-(( Eventually on the right hand side, there is a huge geranium (which is the picture on the packet of seeds) and a header at the top with some bumble-bees buzzing around - can't wait to start that bit! At the moment, all the colour changes are slowing me down but that's the Cross Stitcher's lot, I'm afraid :-)

**NB: I know it probably looks as if the lady is floating in mid-air at the moment, but once I have completed all the backstitching, she will definitely be sitting on a bench LOL!!

I have been called upon to make 50 wedding favours for a friend's wedding coming up in about 3 weeks so that will be keeping me occupied each evening next week because I want to get them finished in time to hand the box to her when I see her in about a week's time. I am doing little choccies in some netting circles, gathered at the neck and fastened with gold ribbon and a tiny gold rose to finish off. I will take a photo when I finish them so you can 'inspect the work' LOL!

I am looking forward to starting my stitching project with Margaret at the start of the new year. We are doing the 12 Days of Christmas (MS designs from her booklet given away in Cross Stitcher). I am very honoured that Margaret has invited me to pair up with her on such a project and it is going to be something really special to look forward to after a year that has been incredibly difficult for me. I hesitate to say that I want to forget the year as the events, tragic though they have been to me, are a part of my life and one cannot separate oneself from life-changing experiences as they shape you into the person you are and will be in the future. Its just getting through and surviving that is the key thing now. However, it will be great to focus on our 12 Days project, as a way of being positive for the future.

I am starting to make a birthday card for my friend's DH whose birthday is just before Christmas - he is a very keen cyclist so I am stitching one of those "The World's Greatest ..." series from The Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine for him - of course its The World's Greatest Cyclist and I am going to personalise it with his club colours and even his bike and cyclists helmet will be the right colours. Will keep you posted on the progress, of course!

Happy Sunday everyone!
xx

World of Cross Stitch November 2006

2006-09-08T21:01:00.000+01:00

I have a spare copy of the latest edition of World of Cross Stitch which is full of Christmas designs, and includes a free Flower Fairies Calendar, a card containing extra charts and a pack of Christmas craft cards + envelopes. Click here to read what AngelSan says in her review of the magazine yesterday.

I was wondering if I could interest a fellow XStitcher in this issue, in exchange for a different Cross Stitch magazine or maybe something else "craft-related" - whatever you would like to swap.

I would mail out the magazine plus the additional freeby gifts in a padded envelope.

If you are interested, please let me know and we can exchange e-mail addresses!

STOP PRESS - No longer searching for Margaret Sherry Book

2006-09-05T11:49:00.000+01:00

STOP PRESS
Nela says she has now received her copy of the MS freeby she wanted - in fact, I misread her e-mail and in fact she was looking for the Astrocats Calendar which finally arrived in the Post.

All's Well that Ends Well!

Does anyone have a spare copy of the Freeby from July/Aug Cross Stitcher mag - the Ultimate MS book. I have been asked by Nela (who many of you will know visit XS blogs, especially mine and AngelSan) as she lives in South America and due to problems with both logistics of getting issues of the magazine out to her (they keep getting lost in the post!) and also the language barrier, she has asked me to intervene and help her.

If anyone has a spare copy or can suggest anything other than eBay that I don't really like using, it would be great.

I would really like to help a fellow Crafter if I possibly can :-)

I Say ... and you think ...

2006-08-30T09:29:00.000+01:00

I rather like "Word Association" games, and this one is a goodie! Picked it up from Stitch's Blog in case you wonder where I found it (thank you Stitch ;-)

... although I did not get tagged myself, I would now like to pass this on to San to let her know I am still thinking of her whilst she is away in France on holiday and also to Isabel because she is just soooo good with words!

The idea is to associate the word on the left with a word or two of your choice, which you think has a connection and captures that word's true meaning.

It is called "I Say ... and you think":

Visit :: Friendship
Cake :: Sweetness
Period :: Epoque
Triumphant :: Over adversity
Screen :: Protection
Neglect :: Disregard for
Guitar :: Sensual
Loathe :: Detest
Sugar :: Darling
Montage :: Collection

Cross Stitch Collection (issue October 06)

2006-08-30T08:39:00.000+01:00

Well, despite my best efforts I did not progress very quickly on my sampler this weekend, mainly because I went to a couple of family events which seemed to take up a fair bit of time with the travelling etc, but I am not complaining because weekends at the moment are a bit of a trial for me, so it was nice to be able to spend time with people and catch up on news. This week is my holiday week from work so I can devote a bit more time to hobbies etc, although studies are also back on the agenda as I only have 4 more weeks until I am back at Uni for the final year of my MSc - I cannot believe that the past few months have slipped by without even blinking!).

I received my subscription copy of Cross Stitch Collection yesterday so I am pleased to review it for you.
For anyone who likes samplers, traditional charts, floral designs and cute cottages, this is the issue for you! As I was leafing through the pages, I realised what a great issue it is and that my To-Do list is even greater now, especially as this month's Cross Stitch Gold issue is also chock full of great projects. Still, I mustn't grumble, it is better than not liking anything in the magazine which is far more frustrating :-)

John Clayton has created a really pretty circular design called The Summer Meadow. It has poppies and daisies in the foreground and trees and a meandering river in the background. The colours are very "late-summer" with golds, reds and yellows quite prominent, together with the late summer green leaves on the trees. I really like the design, but recently bought a beautiful Anchor kit which was on special offer (I reviewed it in a previous entry in my blog in case you are interested - around April/May time), so would rather stitch that. As always, Collection also includes some details about John Clayton which is a very interesting read. Their editorial is undoubtedly the best quality of the magazines I buy.

Maria Diaz features prominently in this month's magazine - her first offering is "Garden Birds" and is an authentic and colourful 'sampler' of 6 different birds. I use the term 'sampler' loosely, to describe the fact that she has featured each bird with its name next to it (Song Thrush, Great Tit, Bullfinch, Blue Tit, Gold Crest and Robin). As always, you can rely on Maria to produce a top quality chart, a beautiful study of birds and some additional flora (Apple Blossom and Blackberries). Next month's issue will include Maria's companion chart called "Riverbank Birds".

The Historical Sampler Company's (HSC) offering this month is a beauty! If you would like to stitch a traditional family tree sampler, then look no further. As stated by Joanne Stellig of HSC, they have used fabric and thread colours that give it an authentic and 'aged' look. The magazine also includes the full alphabet in upper and lower case characters to enable you to include up to 3 generations. Collection also features 2 pages of information on other kits you can source from HSC, including a wedding sampler and even one for Christmas!

Sandy Littlejohn is famous for her huge designs featuring costumed ladies and gentlemen from bygone times. They normally span across three issues which makes for quite a spectacular end-result. This month is the final part of a 3 part chart called "The Summer Ball". I think her charts are probably the most requested in the "Wanted" adverts ... people end up with 2 out of the 3 charts and have to search around for the 3rd part if they go on holiday or forget to buy an issue one month! That's where a subscription is handy :-) I must admit I am not at all keen on stitching people - for some reason, I have always favoured more abstract designs, samplers and wild animals, birds and flowers, but that is personal taste as I know many people love to stitch humans!

Faye Whittaker has her normal nostalgic style with a Birth Sampler in the "All Our Yesterdays" range. It has 8 little boys and girls in a circle, each carrying a childhood toy: a balloon, teddy, kite or a doll. The middle has been left for you to add the name of the baby, date of birth and birth weight. This is definitely a chart I will keep for the future as it would look beautiful in a nursery and would be loved by the child and his/her parents.

Lesley Teare is one of my favourite designers as I love her colours and subjects. This month, she has produced 4 gorgeous cards, each with a "dream cottage" on. Around the edge of each design she has included flowers that climb around beautifully. They are definitely on my To-Do list, as they suggest you can either stitch them as House Warming cards, or stitch all four as a combined picture.

Samplers feature throughout this issue of Collection and Jane Greenoff (the Grand Ma'am of Samplers!) gives advice and tips about how to design your own. There is also a free supplement this month which includes a selection of Jane's flowers which she shows you how to stitch onto an afghan. There is plenty for you to read in her editorial as well - a real treat for all who enjoy her works.

Maria Diaz's second offering is a set of small pictures called "Fashion Accessories" using metallic threads. They feature glamorous fashion items like a dress, a handbag and shoes. All the colours are soft pinks, purples and aqua greens and use beading around the handbag. Very smart!

As you can see, there is a lot to keep you busy until next month - Happy Stitching everyone.

Finishing the Seed Sampler

2006-08-24T10:12:00.000+01:00

Well I 'll make a promise here - I will finish the Lesley Grant Seed Sampler first, before going on to the Gail Bussi Road to a Friend's House .... despite the fact that SewandSo.co.uk managed to send me all the threads I ordered within 24 hours (which I was very impressed by). So you can imagine that the temptation to start the new project is quite strong ... but I think there are a few people out there who want to see the finished Sampler - so I will keep going with it and hopefully sometime next week, I will be posting a finished photo and we can do that Happy Dance!

Meanwhile, I could not resist sorting out all the threads into colours and marking up the symbols on my homemade thread sorter - this is just a piece of white card with holes punched in (I am sure most of us do something similar - very ecofriendly, reusing pieces of card rather than buying new ones in a shop!).

Happy Thursday everyone!

Pirates and Progress on my Seed Sampler

2006-08-23T08:55:00.000+01:00

Here is a photo of my progress on the Seed Sampler. I can't wait to finish it, as it has taken quite a while now, mainly because it has a lot of solid blocks of colour to stitch which always seems to take ages! You know how impatient we stitchers get when a project lasts longer than a few weeks ... time to finish and get onto something new and exciting! In my case, I am excited about starting the Gail Bussi Road to a Friend's House chart.

My threads for that chart were despatched yesterday according to the e-mail I received, so I am hoping that if they arrive by the weekend, I will be able to start next week - I am trying to be 'good' and finish off the Seed Sampler first, so that it doesn't quickly turn into a UFO :-(

The part I am working on is top right, the hanging basket - I am now filling in the background in a creamy, ivory colour. Its a bit monotonous and I am eager to move onto the last part on the left, which is a woman sitting in a colourful garden wearing a traditional costume, with a bonnet and reading a book. Then I just have to stitch the small poem underneath and do the backstitching ... and Voila, ready to frame!!

As you have probably experienced, Blogger sometimes does not allow us to upload photos - this has been happening for the past couple of days, but today it is behaving itself, so here is a photo of Pirates which I wanted to post with my review of Cross Stitch Gold. I think its a really cute and humourous chart - there is lots going on and its great if you fancy stitching it for a young person's birthday or even for Christmas. I think it would suit a boy or girl as it captures the spirit of adventure at sea. They suggest that you can personalise it by adding the person's name in the cloud. On the photo it says "Shiver Me Timbers". For those of you who are not familiar with those words, its a very typical "saying" that a Pirate says - I am not sure quite how to explain what it means, but its similar to "Goodness me!", I suppose :-)

The weather in England is due to get wetter and cooler towards the end of August and September. I guess we should be grateful for the end to the drought which was beginning to worry many people, especially the gardeners amongst us! But it is sad that the end of the summer may be upon us. Fingers crossed that September and October may result in a late summer burst of warmth as sometimes happens.

In Search of Margaret!

2006-08-21T14:20:00.000+01:00

Well the vote is out for my next Project and it looks as if Gail Bussi's beautiful Quaker design is a clear favourite.

In case you could not see it in the photo, the words in full are:

The Road to a Friend's House ... is paved with happy thoughts!

I have had quite a few votes by e-mail and blog to stitch this one next, so I think it is a clear winner, with the Traditional Sampler coming in a close second. I know I will get round to stitching all the different ones I mentioned, its just in which order to do them, Decisions Decisions, as Mayte said :-)

Margaret, there are quite a few of your blogging friends who would love to visit your blog and say hi, however your profile does not show your Blog link. Could you post the URL for your blog as a comment here and I will ensure other people get to know about it. We will also be able to update our links on our Blog to show you there. If anyone else has found out Margaret's blog/website URL (Stitch or No Stitch), feel free to share it with all of us as Margaret often visits everyone's blogs and it would be good to return the compliment! I have ordered the threads for Gail Bussi's design already!

I only have around 3-4 hours worth of stitching to complete the Seed Sampler so I don't feel toooo bad ordering yet more stash.... hey life is too short to worry about things, huh?

Stay happy, stay stitching.
Ali xx

Review of Cross Stitch Gold Issue 42

2006-08-20T20:23:00.000+01:00

This is one of the best issues of Cross Stitch Gold in recent months - I would probably put most of the designs onto my Wish List of future To-Do's but realise I may be a bit unrealistic in being able to do all of them ... but that's cross stitching addiction for you, I guess ;o)

As you can see from the cover, there are some lovely charts to stitch. I have taken photos of the best designs so you can see for yourself!

My favourite, which will definitely go on my To-Do List is the Quaker-style design by Gail Bussi, called The Road to a Friend's House. As you can see from the photo, the dimensions are unusual, being a long narrow shape (may be a bit more tricky finding a frame for it, so it may need to have a frame made to measure). The design is gorgeous, with soft colours and wonderful detail (including the charms) and I can already picture it hanging up in the hall! Continuing with the embellishments theme, there is a page of charming Garden Greetings Cards designed by Debra Page. She has used Injabulo buttons which are Fair Trade merchandise. You can be sure of getting lovely original items to decorate your cards, and you are also contributing to a worth cause by giving people in in South Africa dignity and help to support themselves and their families. The designs are all of a Garden theme, with cute bird houses and flowers such as sunflowers, delphiniums and poppies.

Maria Diaz has designed a Woodland Fairy as part of a series. It is has a wonderful autumnal feel to it with rich late-summer cerise and purple flowers and fruits with beige brown foliage in the background. You will see a photo on the cover of the magazine (pictured above).

Finally, the 'cute' submission for this copy of Gold is The Pirates by Jenny Barton. Unfortunately, Blogger is playing up (AGAIN!) and I cannot upload the photo of it, but you can see a tiny one on the cover of the magazine above. Its such a humorous piece, I cannot resist it - and have it on my To-Do List. Probably not top ... as I have a lot of other ones, but I would like to do it for the bathroom :-) I think I would adapt the colours a little, by adding some turquoise colours to the sea, so that it coordinated with my bathroom which I recently decorated with "Cool Aqua" paint.

I hope you enjoyed this review!

Back to Blogging

2006-08-20T11:38:00.000+01:00

I have been meaning to write a blog entry for about a week and somehow have not managed to do so - I hope you have missed me as much as I have missed you :-)

The month of August seems to be slipping away so fast, I don't know where the time has gone.

I received this month's Cross Stitch Gold, and there are some really great charts in there so I will do a review tomorrow and take a few photos of the best features.

As far as my crafting activities are going, I have been working on my Seed Sampler and will take a WIP photo tomorrow as well. It is probably quite near to completion except that there are some rather large 'blocks' of colour to stitch which take up a lot of time. Only 2 more sections to do and I will be able to frame it!

I have a couple of options for my next project, either:

1. The companion sampler to the Seed Sampler, called Garden Sampler, which is similar in style but quite different in content - it has a lot of greens as its theme shows an allotment with fruit and vegetables.

2. The sampler I showed you a few blog entries back, with the additional embellishments

3. A Traditional Sampler which I have modified to include some words of one of my favourite poems by Christopher Marlowe (its rather romantic!).

I enjoyed a nice evening at San's house with her and her DBF. We had very little time for stitching (as normal!) as we were talking and eating a lot of the time. It will be our last meeting for a while because she is away on holidays in France now, but we will get together when she returns to England in a few weeks' time.

I have found the energy and 'inspiration' to do some research work for my dissertation. This involves going to the University Library on a Friday and sitting there surrounded by books and academic papers on Knowledge Management. Yes, yes .... I would rather be stitching, say no more :-) !!!!

Hope you are all well, and enjoying the summer ... in England, we have gone from beautiful heat and long summer days, to an almost autumnal feel. The evenings are noticably shorter as it now gets dark by 9pm. I have felt saddened by the fact that I have not enjoyed this long, hot summer because I have not had my DH to share such happy times. He would have enjoyed all the warmth and sunshine ..... and now it is giving way to autumn already. Such is life, I suppose .....

Review of Cars (Pixar - Disney Studios)

2006-08-06T06:51:00.000+01:00

I can recommend the new Disney film called Cars. I went to see it with a few friends from work the other day and I personally thought it was a really lovely "feel-good" film. The story centers around a bright red racing car called Lightning McQueen (pictured above - source: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/cars/) and his ambition to be the youngest car to win the renowned Piston Cup. After being involved in a dead-heat with 2 other cars, a re-match is called in Los Angeles so the cars have to travel there. En route Lightning rolls off his trailer lorry and ends up in a deserted town called Radiator Springs where he meets some new friends who teach him that there are other things in life than winning and possessions. Its a lovely story, with great characters (not a single human in the entire film - all cars, trucks, lorries and vans). I really enjoyed it!

The Happy Dance - Welsh Sampler (Framed)

2006-08-05T20:09:00.000+01:00

Here, as promised, is a photo of my Welsh Sampler, from the design in Brenda Keyes' Traditional Samplers book. I am really pleased how it has been framed - as you can see it has a double mount in terracotta and teal green to pick up the two prominent colours in the border of the sampler.

The framing was carried out by The Framing Gallery in High Wycombe and the person who did the work, made a first class job of it, in my opinion!

This weekend has been very busy! I have decided to "declutter" my life, so to speak. In the week I ordered a skip to be delivered on Thursday (it is now on my driveway). So far, I have been sorting out the garage, removing a lot of junk that had accumulated since we were doing DIY etc. Also the front room had become a dumping ground for all our DIY materials (tools, paint pots and other assorted materials). Well, a lot of it has ended up on the skip if it is of no use and now it all looks very tidy in the garage (I think I will actually be able to get my car in it, finally :-) and the front room is very empty which is good, as I am getting someone to re-do the fireplace and then I am going to decorate. I think the colour scheme will be brown and turquoise which is a very popular combination at the moment and one I really think works well together. I will take before and after photos to post here in case anyone is interested!

Tomorrow I have a couple of friends coming round and we are going to take up the carpet in the hall, stairs and landing, and the living room. This will go onto the skip and then I am getting some new carpets fitted in the last week of August - I was getting fed up of paint-splodges and frayed edges :-) Thats all for now - with all this activity I think its time for bed!!

Another Gardening themed Sampler!

2006-08-01T17:22:00.000+01:00

When I was in Hobbycraft yesterday, I saw the Garden Sampler shown above and liked it so much, I decided to treat myself. Its really cute, with additional embellishments - there is a rake, trowel and fork which you can stitch onto the canvas once you have complete the cross stitch part. And the fabric is a rustic colour 28 ct linen and threads are DMC - just perfect!

Seed Sampler updated photo

2006-08-01T10:53:00.000+01:00

Here is an up to date WIP photo for you to see my progress on Lesley Grant's Seed Sampler. As you can see, I am now in the upper quadrant of the piece, stitching the hanging basket (shown with the bluey coloured semi-circular shape, which will soon look a lot more like a basket than it does at the moment).

Another update I can give you is that I decided to get my Welsh Sampler professionally framed. I have ordered a double mount (colours - turquoise and terracotta to pick up the tones in the border) and the frame will be a plain style (no embellishments). I chose the frame as I wanted it to compliment, rather than dominate, the sampler design itself. I have decided to hang it in the living room over the fireplace, so I think it will be a nice focal point for the room. The framer said he is going to have it ready for me by Friday so I should be able to add a photo onto my blog at the weekend.

The weather has definitely cooled down in England, much more comfortable than it has been recently. Hope its all going well, where you are!

Archie

2006-07-22T20:40:00.000+01:00

Archie and Spot in training

I visited San on Wednesday for a bite to eat and to exchange our news as well as doing some stitching together. We had a lovely time as we had not seen each other for many weeks, since Mike passed away.

We realised that there has been some role reversal lately i.e. San now merrily stitches samplers, while I am interested in Archie - see above for my latest attempt.

We have decided to write an article about this strange series of events and sent it, with photos of our work, to WOCS and Cross Stitcher!

It has been cooler today in England because we have had rain which is good for the garden but not so good for my attempts at developing my suntan. Never mind hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Photos of My Trip to Wales last week

2006-07-20T17:29:00.000+01:00

The start of the journey up the Brecon Beacons

Getting near the top of the climb - time for a breather and drink!

At the top of Pen y Fan (highest point of Brecon Beacons)

Looking back along the range

Descent from Pen y Fan

Nearly home (and the pub!)

My Flower

2006-07-17T06:51:00.000+01:00

I am a
Daffodil

What Flower
Are You?

You have a sunny disposition and are normally one of the first to show up for the party. You don't need too much attention from the host once you get there as you are more than capable of making yourself seen and heard.

Happy Sunday everyone!

2006-07-16T08:35:00.000+01:00

Hello there my Blogging Friends

I am back after my week's Leadership Training Course in Wales and I have a lot of stories and photos to share with you. There were 6 of us on the course, led by a Life Coach called Ben (who was absolutely wonderful!).

On Monday and Tuesday we had a personality profile done and then put this into action with a number of outdoor leadership activities. My personality profile is INFJ - Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling and Judging. I have to explain that the Introvert assessment is because I tend to think deeply first, before I externalise my emotions to other people (this is so true!!) and the Judging assessment is because I tend to like things to be somewhat orderly and organised rather than being too 'random' (again, I find this to be an accurate assessment of how I am).

On Wednesday we spent the day at the Amelia Trust Farm near Cardiff www.ameliatrust.org.uk/ This is a wonderful place, a working farm full of animals (cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs to name but a few) which is a haven of love and tranquility for young people who are on the margins of society. Most have been excluded (expelled) from school, have no family support to give them encouragement in their lives and hence often turn to drugs, drink or crime. The Farm is the only place where they feel they 'belong' and matter to people.

Our project for the day was to build a 150 metre rustic fence around the outside of one of their fields, so that their cow herd can now graze in safety and preventing them from escaping onto the main road. We worked with some of Amelia's young people and had the wonderful privilege of talking to them, involving them in the work and doing our best to raise their morale. Some of them would drift off, distracted, to have a cigarette or just sit quietly and observe, but then they would come back as we gave them encouragement that the work they were helping with was good and worthwhile. I befriended a young man (13 years old) called Mikey (a rather amazing coincidence that he shares the same name as my DH!) - he was from a family of 9, his father died when he was 3 years old and he had hardly attended school. He was big-hearted and caring and we had a lovely time together hammering staples into the wire fence. I gave him lots of encouragement and told him he was much better at the job than me, which I think boosted his morale somewhat!

I have told the Amelia Trust that I would like to return to help them for a week in October - they badly need volunteers to run activities, so I thought I could gather together some craft materials and run an activity to make cards and posters. October is sometimes a bit cold, grey and miserable so it would be a great opportunity to get some young people together to do some practical indoor activities.

I was reading the wonderful and, quite frankly inspirational, entry (27 June 2006) on Carto's blog http://cartostitchingcorner.blogspot.com/ about how her Mom advised her when times feel hard to reflect on those who are less fortunate in life. As you can imagine, this resonates with me in my current situation (for those new to my blog, please refer to the entry on 31st May) and mirrored how I felt during the day I spent at Amelia.

On Thursday we did some more class-based discussions and in the afternoon, we walked some 13km up to the highest point of the Brecon Beacons - this was an exhilarating (albeit, tiring!!) experience and, as I looked out at the wonderful view, I felt as if Mike was with me at that moment. It took us about 3.5 hours to complete the entire walk, which conveniently (!) ended up back at the pub, where we enjoyed a well-earned drink and evening meal.

== I have some photos on our walk, but unfortunately Blogger is doing its normal trick of not letting me upload them - so I will include them for you later ==

On Friday, we did a self-assessment of our performance over the week and the course finished at 4pm. Before the course, I arranged to visit my cousin and his wife as I almost passed their house on the way home from Wales. I had a wonderful evening with them, talking about Mike and sharing our news, as we have not seen each other for some time. My cousin is a drummer in a tribute band, so he showed me some of their latest concert material and their website www.rollin-clones.com. Currently he does the week-day shows, with the other drummer doing weekends, but he may get to do weekends as well. We have made a commitment to see each other more often as we share the same nutty sense of humour and always have a great time together.

Well, that is the end of my week - I will find some time to visit your blogs later today, but I am going to get out in the garden and mow the grass which has grown long since I have been away!

Lots of love
Stay safe and happy,
Ali xx

A Tranquil Weekend

2006-07-08T06:44:00.000+01:00

It has been quite a week for me. After a month of compassionate leave from work, I decided to return to work on Monday. All my colleagues were very supportive, many just came up and gave me a big hug without saying anything, which was helpful as it showed me immense support but did not start me crying again. Sometimes, the words are just not enough and its best to just show the moral support. People are wonderful, it gives me a lot of hope that this world may have some awful events going on, and yet the beauty of people's compassion and caring does shine through in a crisis.

I had a 3 day course from Tuesday through to Thursday which was quite hard, but was positive in that it gave me something to focus on. Whenever my mind wandered to other things and I felt upset during the day, I just left the room for a few minutes and rejoined when I felt better. This is all new to me, I am taking each moment as it comes and trying to do my best.

Again, thanks for the beautiful comments you have left. I have been connecting frequently to read everything people have written and feel so positive and loved when I read what you have written. It is great to get some new people visiting my site and I hope that you will continue to visit me - I will be visiting you!

Next week I am on a field trip in Wales with the other 5 people who are on the same Graduate Development programme I am on. It is called "Leadership Essentials" and we will have to complete a series of activities during the week and report on what we have learned. We will also spend a day helping out at a Centre for underprivileged children, which will be amazing. I will take some photos during the week, so that you can see the beautiful scenery where we will be located. It is called The Brecon Beacons and it is classed as a UK outstanding natural beauty spot. As we have some free time, I am going to take a walk on my own some days to gather my thoughts and spend time with Mike, who I feel will be all around me in that stunning location .....

I hope you enjoy your weekend, do some great stitching and look forward to talking with you about my field trip when I return.

Hugs
Ali xxx

Beautiful Flowers

2006-06-29T07:05:00.000+01:00

Here is a photo of the basket full of dried flowers I have saved from Mike's floral tributes. As Blogger has started to accept graphics again, I have also taken the opportunity to include some other arrangements that I captured when they were at their best

Rowyn, great minds think alike, my friend - I saw your comment on my blog and smiled, because I had spent about 3 hours the previous day carefully dismantling the tributes to ensure that I kept the best flowers intact for drying. It shows .... once a crafter always a crafter, we have to think of ways of making beauty where-ever we can :-)

I think this will be a project for me to devote myself to this summer ... making a framed picture with some of the many beautiful flowers that I dried. There are 4 different kinds of roses (the cream ones dried better than I thought as they have turned an "antique" sort of beige-brown), statis (purple, lovely for drying), baby's breath, sea holly and some loose rose petals which I may make into pot-pourri.

Roses and Sweet William (from Mike's Aunt and Uncle)

Lilies, Delphinium, Pink Roses and Statis (from some of my work colleagues)

Mike's Happy Dance

2006-06-28T17:40:00.000+01:00

TRADITIONAL WELSH SAMPLER (Designer: Brenda Keyes)

Today I went to University and had a nice lunch with my tutor and one of the other professors who were obviously on "cheer up duties" - they did have me laughing out loud for the first time in ages, as they make a good double-act. I then took the long route home to collect a DMC thread 642 (stone) to complete the sampler - I could not believe I ran out of thread with only 2 of the little edges to complete. Just my luck!

As you will know, I have been stitching the above Welsh Sampler for quite a long time (approximately 9 months on and off, in between other projects and exams of course!). Well, finally today was the day I put the last stitch in this piece at around 5pm UK time to be exact.

Mike would be sitting in his favourite chair, reading his newspaper and drinking a nice glass of red wine, watching me beavering away industriously on it, so I know he will now be pleased with the result. We are slowly dancing round the room, with me in his arms ....

I have a gold frame for it, but just need to get the right piece of backing board to mount and lace it , before putting it into the frame. Once it is completed, I will take a photo of it "in-situ" in the living room. I think it may be a week or two before it will be completed because I have to go to the art-shop in town.

After such a busy day, I am very tired, so I wish you all a fond goodbye until my next blog entry.

The Start of the Rest of My Life

2006-06-27T23:27:00.000+01:00

I just could not get over all those loving, warm-hearted comments you have left me - it goes without saying that I am very touched by your concern about me and feel as if I have the whole world giving me a big {{{HUG}}}. Its strange how, despite being surrounded by people, I am so lonely, but its only a symptom of the loss I feel, not a reflection of the wonderful support I constantly have nowadays. San and I had a long chat today over the telephone and we have planned to go to Alexander Palace in October so that will be something nice to look forward to. I was not very keen on going after the terrible journey we experienced last year, but we have decided to go there by public transport which will make life much easier.

Today I decided to try to be a little bit "normal" if that is possible after the past few weeks. So I have been working all day on my Welsh Sampler. Suddenly it appears to be nearing completion and I calculate that I will only have about 3.5 hours of stitching to finish it. Then I will be able to frame it and hang it in the living room where Mike and I decided it would go. I am so pleased that he saw it almost at its completed stage so he will now know that it looks beautiful and that it will hang in our home.

I will finish it tomorrow and can hopefully post a photo of it as well. It will be the first time for the past 4 weeks that I have been able to do anything vaguely happy, but it will be the first Happy Dance of many more, I hope.

Tomorrow I have to go to University to see my Tutor about my Dissertation which I have decided to start researching - to keep me busy over the summer months. Everyone at work and University have been just marvellous, I could not wish for a more wonderful group of people.

Keep posting,
Love you,
Ali xxxx

PS Is anyone else having problems uploading images to Blogger ... I have not been able to add any photos to my Blog for days!

With Thanks

2006-06-22T10:09:00.000+01:00

I would like to say how much I appreciate all the wonderful postings you have left me on my blog. I cannot describe the emotions I have experienced in the 3 weeks since Mike's death on 31st May ranging from desolation and loneliness at his loss, mixed with wistful to the wonderment at the incredible support I am receiving from so many people far away around the world and near to me in England.

There were about 100 people at his funeral on 9th June, with people flying in from New Zealand, United States and Spain. Many floral tributes were sent to the family, some of which I took photos and have posted in this entry.

Pink and purple arrangement: My tribute (these were our wedding colours)
Pink roses and carnations: Mike's parents' tribute
(I will also post some more photos in a separate blog entry as Blogger seems to be acting a bit strange today and will not let me add more photos at the moment)

There have also been incredible amounts of money raised for charity in Mike's memory, being donated to The British Heart Foundation, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and Cancer Research. The squash club where he played for many years have set up a Trophy Competition in his name which will be played every year.

The days leading up to the funeral were the hardest for me, having to finally accept that my darling husband has left this world and is no longer with my physically, although I feel such an immense surge of powerful love from him constantly, when I am in our home and following me where-ever I go.

I visited him for the last time in the Chapel of Remembrance the day before the funeral and he looked exactly as if he were asleep and as if, at any moment, he would break out into one of the many smiles he gave which lit up my world and all those around him.

Now comes the time to start to move into a new phase, forever with Mike by my side ......

If Tears Could Build a Stairway

2006-06-05T21:52:00.000+01:00

31st May 2006 marks the darkest day I will ever know, for this was the day that my beloved DH, Michael, passed away, suddenly without any warning or signs that anything was wrong. He died of a blocked artery which prevented blood getting to his heart and was killed instantly.

It is the most devastating thing I could ever imagine happening to him, me and to our families and friends. Michael was undoubtedly the most kind, gentle, loving, intelligent and fun-loving human I have ever known. I was truly honoured to have known, loved and been married to him, if only for a short while. We would have celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on 20th June. I will live life in the eternal glow of his memory and his passing will not make me lose hope ,because he was a total inspiration in everything I do and will continue to do in my life.

I must continue for his sake as I knew he was proud of me and our relationship. I know we will see each other again.....

If tears could build a stairway
and memories were a lane
I would walk right up to heaven
to bring you home again.

No farewell words were spoken
No time to say goodbye
you were gone before I knew it
and only God knows why.

My heart still aches in sadness
and secret tears still flow
Mike, what it means to lose you
no one will ever know.

A Good Stitching Week!

2006-05-19T19:46:00.000+01:00

Its my first chance to post a blog entry this week as I have been doing a lot of site visits as described on a previous blog entry. I hope you are all well and have had an enjoyable and productive week with your latest stitching and crafting projects.

Apart from being busy at work I have had a good stitching week - the Bleeding Hearts section is now complete (apart from the back-stitching) and I have moved on to the cherub. I will post a WIP photo tomorrow (Saturday) when I have more time to spare :-)

Thanks to Christine (again!) for links to the "What Kind of Coffee are You?" game and also the Question of the Week which is: Lately, it seems that many stitching bloggers have experienced a loss of their stitching mojo. Have you ever lost your stitching mojo? If so, how did you get it back and how long did it take?

Well, lately I must admit that I always seem to have the yearning to stitch and lack the time to sit down quietly for any extended period of time. So when I stitch, I really enjoy it. I know that during the summer when I have some more time, I do find that I lose the urge to stitch to the same degree - I guess its a bit of "absence makes the heart grow fonder" versus "familiarity breeds contempt" :-)

Overall, I enjoy my stitching until I get to a difficult part of a chart or else I do something wrong, put it away in my bag and then spend several days avoiding it, knowing that there is major frogging to be done (which is, of course, a very frustrating and often time-consuming task - unpicking work that I have spent time on is awful and feels like a tragedy!!). Then, once that painful process is finished, I can put it behind me and feel motivated again.

You Are a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed

At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky

You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn't cutting it

Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Weekend Fun leads to Monday Blues ....

2006-05-15T15:36:00.000+01:00

Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate them and it was so nice to hear from you.

DH and I had a fab weekend in Brighton and it was really such a struggle to leave for work this morning :-((( On Friday evening we went to the Chinese State Circus which was in Preston Park. It was a totally amazing experience (thankfully no animals as I always get very upset with circus animals and want to set them all free!) - it was high-wire walking, shaolin warriers (marshall arts) and illusions - really very well worth a visit (they travel around the world). On Saturday we walked around the town, had lunch with friends and then in the evening we went to fireworks display which was also unbelieveable!

Before we left the house on Friday afternoon, the postman delivered my copy of Cross Stitch Collection - which I flicked through in the car on the way down to Brighton. Its a great issue so I will do a review on Wednesday. Sorry I just did not get the chance to review last month's issue and now we are already into July's edition. If people would still like me to review June's edition, please could you place a request as a comment, and if I get more than a couple of requests, it will give me the encouragement to do it!

I did not get to my stitching until we got home on Sunday afternoon - we sat down with a cuppa and the Sunday papers totally exhausted after the weekend! I managed to (nearly) complete the cream background on my sampler by tea-time - it was a bit boring but actually I did not feel like having to do loads of colour changes, so it was nice to do the "mindless" bit of sewing row after row of cream LOL! I thought I would leave the more challenging parts until I had more energy....

Tomorrow my work colleagues and I are going into the centre of London for the day. We are taking what we have called "A Research Journey" to The Science Museum, The Design Centre, The Apple Shop plus a spot of lunch at Wagamamas! The purpose of the day is to think innovatively, trying to think of things in a different way and coming back with some good ideas for ways we can delight our Customers!

Yes, I know you think its just a company 'jolly' .... well, you are probably right :-)
Have a lovely day and happy crafting.
Hugs Alison xx

My Theme Song

2006-05-12T13:57:00.000+01:00

This 'game' came from Christine's blog - thanks for that, Christine :-D

Your Theme Song is Beautiful Day by U2

"Sky falls, you feel like

It's a beautiful day

Don't let it get away"

You see the beauty in life, especially in ordinary everyday moments.

And if you're feeling down, even that seems a little beautiful too.

What's Your Theme Song?

Happy Friday! Sampler+Stash to show

2006-05-12T13:11:00.001+01:00

Hello! Happy, Sunny Friday

Today started bright and sunny in England so I went for a swim at the local pool as I tend to do on a Friday and I was surprised that it was really quiet, so I had a lane of my own (luxury! normally I am battling to keep up with some huge bloke making a tidal wave LOL!) - maybe people took the day off work and weren't as mad as me to get up at 6.30 am!

Here on the left (at last!) is the latest progress photo for my Lesley Grant Seed Sampler - it is really starting to build up now - as you can see, the flowers on the Bleeding Heart seed packet are finished and I only have the leaves and background to complete. Unfortunately it looks a bit 'distorted' which normally happens when you take a photo before it is complete - it looks really lop-sided. Never mind, it will give you a rough idea of the design. I am wondering which section to do after this one - there is a hanging basket which sits above the purple columbine which will complete the right side of the piece or else there is a cherub on the left next to the Bleeding Hearts plant. All decisions!!

Last Monday I went to Greenford for work, and this is always a good excuse to drop into Hobbycraft at lunchtime :-) I saw a wonderful display of beeds on special offer - there is a picture below to show you what I bought. I think the little brown and cream beads are made of wood and resin - I thought they looked rather African in style. The others are wonderful colours - all those olive greens and aubergine hints. I know I am going to have fun. There are several things I would like to make. Firstly, I picked up a good idea in a home-ware shop near me for a way of decorating curtain "tie-backs" - they are beaded tassles (using similar beads to mine) made into strands which dangle down from the curtain hook.

Very difficult to describe - but I will have a try at making them and will show a photo of my "effort". They were quite expensive in the shop, but I think I can make them a lot cheaper and maybe better. As you can see, I bought 2 packs of beads plus some nylon thread and stone coloured floss, which came to a total of £13. Well each of the tie-backs I described were priced at £5 each - so you can see that I would be able to make around 10 making each one £1.30. A bit of a difference in price! I do realise that they charge for the time to make them ... but even so, I will hopefully be able to make a few and still have some materials left over to make other things. We will see!

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you do and remember - if you drop by, please leave me a message - is anyone visiting me any more? :-((

All Good Intentions ...

2006-05-11T09:26:00.000+01:00

Hi there! Well I had all good intentions of getting back to blogging this week after the fraught times of my exams last week but hey, I hope you will forgive me if I was a bit slow getting back into it. We are going away to Brighton this weekend to visit some of Mike's family who live down there, so I guess this week will be a bit of a write-off ... but I have been thinking of you all, at least :-)

So, just to update you, I have been working quite well on my sampler this week and would have posted a WIP photo as you will see the difference in my progress, however my camera's battery is completely flat (my fault for leaving it on for too long, grrrrr!!) so I will try to post a photo when I get home tonight. I am enjoying sewing it at the moment as its all the green leaves (4 different tones) so its nice and restful!

Work has been manic beyond belief. Today I am going to be running some usability trials. This involves visiting people in the workplace, running a demonstration of a new release of software (in this case it is the software that runs the e-mail system) and asking them to carry out some tasks, timing them with the current version and the new version of the software and noting down the results. The reason we do this is to measure the benefits of using the new version - so, there may be a good benefit in a particular feature, or possibly our user may tell us "that's awful, I prefer it the way it was"! In which case I have to then take the feedback to our software engineers and they will modify or remove the feature. So, this part of my role is really focussed on the end-user (who often gets forgotten!! That sounds ironic, but it happens a lot). I love talking with and helping people so its the best part, as far as I am concerned.

You could say that my personal interests mirror my career interests because I enjoy being creative and also thinking of ways of turning things into something worthwhile in some way. I really admire software programmers as I am not talented in that way, but one thing they sometimes lack is the vision of how to model the software to make it user-friendly - they are focussed on "making things work", whereas there is a need to "make it functional for people using it" and that's where people like me come in!

Well, that's all my rambling for now - I hope that the sun is shining brightly where you are (if only in your heart!) and that we will catch up again soon. Happy crafting and creating - ENJOY :-D

Hugs
Ali xxxx

San's Cross Stitch crafts Forum

2006-05-04T18:02:00.000+01:00

***Latest news!*** San has set up an online forum so that we can have a chat and exchange craft ideas. Rather than being a replacement to our individual blogs which will be our personal space to talk about our life and crafts, this is a location to get together and socialise with likeminded crafters. Quite a few people already know each other through visiting personal Blogs (or even as 'real-world' friends), but any new-comers are also welcome so come and join us! The more the merrier! Here is the address: http://angelsan.free.fr/forum/

WIP PHOTO OF SEED SAMPLER

Finally found my USB connector for my camera so here is a photo of my very slow progress made on it. I will have a much better one to post by the end of the weekend as I am hoping to stitch tomorrow and Saturday. Probably no time on Sunday because we are off to my friend's wedding.

Enjoy your day, Ali xx

A Happy Dance (at last!)

2006-05-04T17:36:00.000+01:00

Here is my (mini) Happy Dance of the week (well, the month really, because I have been rather overtaken with studies to be able to focus on finishing very much, more is the pity!!).

DH asked if I could put my creative hat on and stitch a Springtime thank you card for our friends in New Zealand to show our appreciation for looking after him so well when he went across for the wedding - despite the fact they had to organise a lot for the big day, they took him out on lots of day-trips and had BBQ's and generally treated him like a VIP!

I found the design in a recent copy of Cross Stitch Card Shop and I modified it to include the words Thank You, adding the blue forget-me-nots at the top as they are all in bloom in our garden and make a lovely backdrop to the daffodils (we have about 4 different varieties - some are like the ones on the card, then there are cream and lemon ones, mini dwarf variety in bright yellow and some doubles)!

It has been a glorious day today, 25 degrees, so by far the hottest day of the year, so I am off outside now to water all the pots which are gasping for a drink ... then it will be time for dinner and a glass of wine to relax before the exams begin tomorrow. After that .... life will begin again for me after months of stress, worry and late nights! Enjoy your day!

Photo of a Bleeding Heart

2006-05-03T15:40:00.000+01:00

I noticed on Heather's blog (see the entry for 28th April) that she has a lovely photo of a Bleeding Heart, including the Latin name as well (very impressive, Heather!). As I am currently working on that section of my Seed Sampler, I thought it was appropriate to show you the "real thing" ... although Heather's one is an ivory colour, which I think is more rare than the cerise pink ones! Very pretty pot, too :-)

http://heathersstitchinghaven.blogspot.com/

Today has been a tiring and frustrating day at work - I just can't wait for it to be over. Nothing major, just little niggly things that are "sent to try us". The team I work in has to please a lot of different groups in the company, hence we end up invariably not pleasing anyone :-( No worries, it will soon be home-time and I can feel a swim and a sauna coming on :-) Nothing like it to melt away the worries of the day. DH just called me to say hello and find out if we needed anything from the supermarket ... guess what my response was? C H O C O L A T E !!!!!! He got the message LOL. Hope your day was a lot more cool and serene than mine was....

Ali B Returns!

2006-05-02T12:37:00.000+01:00

Hi there Friends!

It has been too long, I know, so I thought I would break away from my studies to post a blog entry.

Since my last blog entry on 8th April I have been "flat-out" studying, especially over the Easter holidays. My time was spent finishing off my research for the final 2 assignments of my MSc - a Report on Knowledge Management and another on Human Issues in IT Project Management. Finished both within about 4 hours of the deadline ( phew!!)- these days, we submit our work to the University secure area. It felt such a relief to hand-in, I cannot tell you :-) I danced around the room and went mental - just to let off steam I think. Only a further week of exams to survive and that will be everything completed for my 2nd Year. My 3rd Year will be dedicated to my dissertation (20,000 words on a topic within the theme of Information Management).

As regards cross-stitching, I cannot tell you how much I have missed being able to pick up some stitching whenever I want to (without feeling guilty of course!!) - I have managed to fit in about 2 hours this weekend as we had an extra day to play with yesterday - May Day public holiday. I must say that having a limited time in which to stitch really makes it all the more enjoyable!

In the absence of a progress photo for my seed sampler (unfortunately I left my camera and USB connector at home so will not be able to upload it until later in the week), so on the left is a photo of the specific section I am working on taken from the chart, so that it is easier for me to describe. I have completed the Columbine section (above) and am now working on Bleeding Hearts (below). It is an interesting part because although there is not a lot of backstitching, there are lots of colour changes, so I am using the "parking" technique they always mention in our XS magazines. The flowers consist of several different shades of pinks and cerise at the top of each "heart" and the stem and leaves are 4 shades of green. It is very lifelike as we have some of these pretty flowers in our garden, and they really do grow in a line along the stem, just like on this chart!

I am really looking forward to having a nice long sewing session this Saturday to celebrate the end of my exams, as I am going to be really mentally exhausted, and will feel in the mood for creating rather than thinking :-)

Next Sunday, we are going to a friend's wedding. She and her future husband are Seikhs, so it will be a traditional Indian ceremony and lunch, which I am really looking forward to attending. My friend went to India in February to collect her sari, which is rich red silk. She is now all ready for the 'Big Day'. She and her husband have requested that people don't buy presents as they have 300 family and friends attending and feel uncomfortable sending out a wedding list. I know exactly how they feel, as DH and I said to people that we would prefer not to receive gifts, we were just happy for people to come along on our wedding day and celebrate with us. We only had 50 people, so I can imagine that 300 people would be overwhelming!! However, I have bought my friend a personal gift of a book of Love Poems which I will give her when she returns from honeymoon - its almost like a "girlie" gift, not so much to do with the wedding but just one friend to another. We both share a great love of good books and are always swapping titles with each other, so I know it will hold special meaning for her.

Well, that is all for now, have a lovely day! Thanks for visiting me! I've missed you! My blog entries will start to reappear regularly after this week's exam are over, so I look forward to welcoming you and visiting your blogs again after my absence.

Love and Friendship,
Alison xx

Catching up - WIP's of Seed Sampler

2006-04-08T13:13:00.000+01:00

Sunday morning here in England has been really pleasant - not too cold, bright and blue and all the daffodils are absolutely at their best, swaying gently in the breeze. I have a few really pretty pansies in pots on our patio that seem to have burst into life in only a few days. Their purples and pink/lemons are a wonderful complement to the Spring bulbs. Of course, the Spring heralds the start of a gardener's hard work .... since last weekend, the grass is really showing signs of growth. I am going to hold out until Easter before I even think about taking out the lawn mower... once the grass gets its first hair-cut, it suddenly says to itself "aaaahh it must be Spring, I can start growing like mad!!!" - so, like a baby, I will try to let it 'sleep in' for just a while longer!!

Here is the first WIP of my Seed Sampler which I began on Monday 3rd April. As you can see from the photo from the Chart, it is the first signs of being a Columbine - there is a fair amount of back-stitching, including the Words at the top of the "seed packet", but I will wait until I finish the section before I do that ... my original thought was to do all the back-stitching at the end, but this design is one that can be done in sections because each part is a mini-picture in its own right.

I managed approximately 10 hours' stitching - not as much as I wanted, but I have only been able to stitch some mornings before work. My evenings have been 100% into studying, although on Wednesday I was sooo tempted to do some more after work, as it was really starting to look like an Orchid so my motivation levels were up :-) Today I managed to sew the little terracotta square on the right, which will have the geranium pot inside. I love the way each square of the design links into the next one, as it will be nice to change colours from all the creams, yellows, lilacs and purples I have used all week.

Once I have completed this section, I will move downwards to the flowers called bleeding hearts which are mainly pink and red colours - there is some cream and turquoise in the background, so some different colours to "play" with. There are 4 main sections to this work, with some extra bits round the edges, so I think I will be stitching for some time to come!!

DH did not buy me an Easter egg by the way - I did not really want one this year as his parents always buy us chocolate so I thought it would be nice to have something to pamper myself. So I asked for some of my favourite handcream (Crabtree and Evelyn) - its for gardeners, which I guess is quite suitable as I am stitching a sampler with a gardening theme LOL! We went to see his Mum and Dad yesterday and yes .... we got lots of choccies (a big egg, and some Green and Blacks organic chocolate selection box). Yum yum!!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful time and enjoyed the break from work!

Treasures in the Post

2006-04-07T21:20:00.000+01:00

Yippeee the postie delivered stash for me today! My Freebie gift arrived from Cross Stitch Collection - its the Tiger I mentioned in my previous blog entry. Its a style that Maria Diaz could have designed, but I am not sure if she works for Anchor ... anyway, its gorgeous!

Not sure when I can start stitching it, but I'm just pleased I managed to get it as the Freebie gift, because I ordered it the day before the offer expired (they were giving away a craft bag in April, but I did not need one of those).

The second envelope I received contained the square of velvet from Sue Hawkins at Olympia (working next to Jane Greenoff's stand) which is the backing for my canvas Heart kit. I make a start on it over the long weekend coming up as it looks really interesting - lots of different stitches, so it should be a challenge.

Well that's all for now, folks - I'm just heading off to bed now as its 9.45 pm and I was up at the crack of dawn this morning as I had an early meeting at work. Sleep well all those in this time-zone :-)

A Quick Blog before the Day Begins!

2006-04-05T09:21:00.000+01:00

Just a few quick words before the day begins! It was such a tonic to read everyone's comments - thanks for dropping by - makes me realise there is life away from an MSc, LOL !

The problem with writing up about an event way past the date is that you tend to forget the finer details .... yes, San, you reminded me that I did enjoy my "chin-wag" with Maria so much I stopped thinking of our rumbling tummies, oops. I certainly surprised us by having a "good-stash-day" that day, not unlike the Allie-Pally event where you came away with armfuls of exciting bags etc! I was tempted to buy both those hearts (the large one I bought was decorated with hearts'-ease and the smaller one with pansies), but figured I have got quite a lot of kits piling up and want to get some of them finished first. Maybe I will ask DH to buy it for me for our wedding anniversary in June - it would be quite appropriate being a heart!

Aah, Isabelle, you reminded me of Skyscape which we both ended up buying - mine is unfortunately still in its sellophane wrapper - but nil desperandum, I have big plans for stitching it over the summer! You definitely beat me on that race as I know you stitched your kit yonks ago! I am looking forward to the beading as I have only beaded on small freeby kits, which isnt quite the same... and you have started rather an interesting debate about Evenweave versus Aida :-) I must say I recently started using evenweave, having been an Aida girl for many a year and I have to say .... I really love the effect of sewing on evenweave and linens (anything where its stitched over 2 threads) and now find that Aida just isnt the job for me!

But I think I will have to remain a "closet Aida stitcher" - like many of the comments I have read on the subject, us Cross-stitchers are ace at recycling and not wasting, so I will have to make something out of all that 14 count :-)

Donna, I am pleased that I have introduced you to the delights of Moira Blackburn - I just love her samplers. Similar to Brenda Keyes, she uses authentic styles and colours which are based on designs she has seen in museums or as part of her own collection. She does have a website where you can feast your eyes! http://www.emlis.com/blackburn.htm There are some great books on there - I am tempted with the Millers Guide on how to Compare and Value Samplers - Millers are, of course the experts in Antiques of all kinds.

Well, its time to start my day's work now, so with my cappucchino in hand (caffeine definitely gets me through the day!) I will bid you all a happy day and will meet again soon either at my blog or yours :-)

The Day We Went to Stitch '06

2006-03-28T16:40:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the delay in creating this Blog entry - you may know that I have been studying for a Masters (MSc Information Management) over the past 2 years - well my finals are coming up in less than a month (I cannot believe the time has flown by!) and so I have had to become a bit of a boring swot for a few weeks. But in between times if you have visited AngelSan's blog (http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php?paged=2) you will see that I took a Saturday off from the studies and San and I had a brilliant day at the Stitch '06 Exhibition at Olympia on Saturday 25th March.

I think that the best part of it was being able to meet up with our favourite designers and talk to them personally about their designs. I was particularly pleased to talk with Maria Diaz as I have always admired her creativity - she is undoubtedly an extremely talented person and, what is more, she is so down-to-earth and lovely to talk with! Her stand was an impressive show-case of her wide range of work - from cute New Born Cards, wildlife, scenery, quirky dog-walkers and charming settings such as a Paris cafe and Venecian gondolier. Sadly I missed being able to talk to Helen Phillips as she was absent from her stand when we passed by.

However, I got some great stash - here is a list:

1. 3 pieces of gorgeous linen (dusky pink - hey new for me!, country style brown and cream) - just right for my next samplers!
2. Cross Stitch Collection - latest edition. I will do a review this weekend. I finally got a subscription and the free Lion kit, which is totally stunning.
3. A canvas kit to make a pendant-style Heart from Jane Greenoff's stand - the kit includes instructions for making the tassle. The lady who served me is going to send me a piece of burgundy velvet for the back of the heart.
4. A Moira Blackburn Sampler - photo shown below
I have decided to change the poem (as you can see their suggestion is appropriate for making a Twins birth sampler but its really easy to change - they even supply the alphabet and graph paper in the kit). I have chosen some lines from a poem called The Passionate Shepherd to his Love by Christopher Marlowe. The poem is very very romantic! A Shepherd is convincing a girl to be his love by enticing her with promises of a bed of roses and views out across the fields. The last 2 lines of the poem say:

If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me and be my love

These words are really special to DH and me! Also I thought the theme of the poem went well with the design as it has lots of sheep on a hillside!

Happy stitching, everyone!

At last! Time to Blog :-)

2006-03-17T18:01:00.000Z

It is such a shame this is my first opportunity this week to do a blog entry - I have been itching to write all week, but my studies and work have overtaken my time. I just hope people don't forget me or get fed up of visiting here and not finding anything new ....

Today I had to make a presentation at University (which took me 6 weeks to prepare). The subject for the assignment was "Managing Knowledge in commercial organisations", so it deals with how people gain expertise, learn how to improve their skills and thereby make the company more successful.

It makes me reflect on how we develop our expert skills as crafters. What activities do we get involved in to improve our own skills and those of our crafting friends?
- We share our skills with each other, giving each other help on stitching techniques, with mini "teach-in" sessions including photographs and instructions.
- We get together for SAL's and Stitching Evenings to exchange ideas and get help from each other on difficulties we may have with stitching.
- We subscribe to our fave XS magazines and take great delight in putting photos of our WIP's, UFO's and Happy Dance projects on our Blogs. Get the picture?
Unfortunately my presentation at University would have looked strange with these themes, so I had to stick to Organisational learning techniques .. LOL!

Despite lack of time, I am excitedly planning my next Projects. You can compare progress since San took the photo of my Welsh Sampler (see her Blog http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php?m=200601&paged=5.) The close-up photo shows the double border line detail (in brown-black).

I am now filling in the little dashes of colour in pink and terracotta and the embellishments in green and turquoise. I think I will only have another 3-4 hours to complete it, so there may be a Happy Dance sometime soon!

My next project is going to be The Seed Sampler designed by Lesley Grant, who kindly sent me her own copy of Cross Stitch Collection. This happened because I was unable to get a copy of the magazine, so sent in a 'Wanted' Advert which Lesley noticed, and she sent me her copy with a really kind letter. I am itching to get started as I would like to send a finished photo so that she will see that I used her Chart :-) I was very excited when DH rang me in the week to say that the project threads and Linen I ordered from http://www.sewdiscounted.co.uk/ had arrived!

As a mini project, I am stitching a Springtime Thankyou Card for our friends over in NZ to say thanks for looking after DH when he was over there - that should be a quickie job which I want to complete in the coming week. The evenings are definitely drawing out and that means one great thing .... more daylight for stitching yeah!I ordered a wonderful kit from www.stitchability.co.uk (which arrived today). I swooned when I saw a photo of it on the back of my recent Cross Stitch Collection magazine. I just knew I HAD to buy it, even I will not be able to start working on it until I have finished The Seed Sampler and Springtime Card, otherwise I will be overwhelmed and do not want to risk UFO's! Also, it is £10 cheaper on Stitchability's website as they are running a promotion - how lucky is that!

See the haziness of the trees in the background? That effect is created by very soft green tones worked in half stitch - its totally gorgeous and makes me dream of long summer days. There is a field on a hill about 4 miles away from our house that looks very similar to this, so I think it will be a rather lovely project to work on later in the year.

FIELD OF POPPIES
(Anchor - Premier Collection)

World of Cross Stitch Review

2006-03-13T10:50:00.000Z

If you like to know what is in the latest World of Cross Stitch Magazine, then look no further than San's review on her website - its a good read!

http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php?p=807#comments

My next blog entry will be appearing soon!

Happy Monday!
Ali xx

A Funny Trivia Game

2006-03-11T14:50:00.000Z

This is a very strange quiz which I got from Zohrah's website http://xstitch.free.fr/zohrah13/?p=323 :-0 whow, its freaky - I have 3 eyelids!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Alison!

You share your birthday with Alison!
Medieval knights put the skin of Alison on their sword handles to improve the grip.
Snow White's coffin was made of Alison.
While performing her duties as queen, Cleopatra sometimes dressed up as Alison!
Alison is 984 feet tall!
In Chinese, the sound 'Alison' means 'bite the wax tadpole'!
Alison can't drink - she absorbs water from her surroundings by osmosis!
Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by Alison!
Alison can live for up to a week without a head!
Alison has three eyelids!

Technical Problem with my Blog

2006-03-11T09:23:00.000Z

My Profile dropped to the bottom of the blog rather than being visible at the top.

This is a known coding problem - if it happens to you (there is no way of knowing when it may happen or exactly what causes it!), just go into the Template code, and find the following code - then ensure that it matches what I have written below - you may need to slightly increase or reduce the width number + or - 475px -

#main-content {
display: inline; /* fixes a strange ie margin bug */
float: left;
margin: 0 0 0 3px;
padding: 0;
width: 475px; }

Hey presto! Your Profile will be restored to the top again. Looks like it fixed mine, hoorah

Ali xx

My Mugs!

2006-03-10T19:09:00.000Z

Here are my favourite mugs - thanks for the suggestion, Kim, its a great idea to do this!

The one on the left is my cappucchino mug with a matching coaster which doubles as a "lid". The motto is "The years have been kind, its the weekends that have done the damage!"

The right mug is for other drinks like herbal tea etc as the mug is bone china. DH's mum bought us a matching pair - mine is Head Gardener and DH's is Under Gardener (as he is my assistant in the horticultural domain :-)

Cross Stitch Collection Review

2006-03-10T18:37:00.000Z

I finally found my magazine so I can now do the review I was meant to do about a week ago! Hope its worth waiting for ....

Beginning with the designs on the cover, we have a wonderful "Pride of Lions" which is another Joanne Aston masterpiece - she certainly does a mean wildlife picture. Its definitely not for the faint-hearted but worth a challenge as a long term project. I like the way she has used the lilac and violet half-stitches to full effect as a way of 'suggesting' the misty mountains in the background. You would be advised to use a threadsorter to label up the shades carefully - some of the shade numbers are very close to each other which can spell danger, if like me, you have a habit of stitching away then realising that you have been using a lighter shade!

The other cover photo is Jane Greenoff's Alphabet sampler which is stunning. It is taken from her latest book called "Antique Style Samplers" which I was lucky enough to get signed by the lady herself! I don't mind getting the chart in the magazine as it makes it easier to carry around in my craft bag -yes, I have it on my to-do list :-)

Sue Cooke's Nursery Rhyme set concludes this month with "Little Miss Muffet" (photo above) - her designs are very witty and charming - I love her use of colour and her wonderful charting skills are evident here as she makes Miss Muffet really look as if she is leaping in the air as the spider dangles down from its thread. Apparently the facial expression was the most difficult for Sue to capture, but she has done an amazing job of it.

Other charts in this issue include 4 Easter Parade cards by Lesley Teare (a duckling, a chick, a rabbit and a lamb) with each little animal surrounded by miniature traditional Spring-like flowers. If you like William Morris designs (he is a traditional English designer and artist), Maria Diaz has created some designs which fit onto wooden boxes (which you can buy via the magazine) - they would make an ideal Mother's Day present, if you can get stitching straight away! Christine Howes has put together a rather bright and stunning peacock using jewel colours (jade green, purples and oranges) and has added some sequins on its lower plummage which is effective.

Angela Poole presents the technical article this month - a 3 page special on how to create miniatures. It gives the history of Medieval and Royal miniatures, gives some useful tips about how to create them and also provides a buyer's guide of where you can source the materials on the Web.

Enjoy!

Stash Photo

2006-03-10T18:26:00.000Z

I meant to include this photo in my previous blog entry which is the full set of stash from my latest internet "shopping experience" :-)

Reviews - A Big Read

2006-03-09T20:56:00.000Z

Its time I caught up on the latest Cross Stitch Gold and Card Shop magazines (unfortunately I cannot find my copy of Cross Stitch Collection at the moment - I will look for it over the weekend - you can tell what kind of week I have had!)

Cross Stitch Gold
The cover photos tell the story! Lots of spring-time animals - a wonderful cat amongst the tulips with a red admiral in the foreground - stunning! I am very tempted to stitch this because the colours would go well in our downstairs utility room which is my route to our back garden - so it would be appropriate. Designed by Maria Diaz.
Bluetits and Blossom The other wildlife chart is also shown on the cover - a design created by Joanne Aston, representing Coats Crafts. NB, the threads key only lists Anchor, but why do they always do that?? The DMC charts give Anchor and Madeira, but never reciprocated by Anchor. What about us DMC thread-lovers?
Fresh as a Daisy is a promotional project for Zweigart 25-count Dublin linen. There is a competition to win Table Linen and Design Booklets too - but no skill required to enter, therefore its going to be luck ... i.e. if your name comes out of the hat first. I am never that lucky and have only won one prize which was for my sampler. Hence I prefer competitions that judge skill rather than luck!
Count the Creatures is a really cute sampler created by Lesley Teare - its a 4 x 3 grid with each square filled with animals, counting from 1 up to 12. An adorable set of cute animals (such as giraffes, pigs, sheep, penguins, ducks and butterflies). Dangerous .... if I stitched it for a child, I would probably end up keeping it myself!!

Next month there are quite a few designs suitable for men - did I read a blogger was looking for men-style designs (for her father?) - well, there are fishing samplers and classic cars!

Cross Stitch Card Shop

This edition (Issue 47) is also feeling as if Springtime isn't far away.

Lots of cute cats and dogs "Furry Fun" greeting cards with silly slogans like "The Best Things in Life are Furry" and "Cat's Motto - Whatever you've done wrong ... Always make it look like the dog did it!". The designer, Claire Crompton has put together a really excellent card book with designs for every occasion - she is very artistic and her charts are authentic.

There are even a few Easter designs creeping in, with 6 Daffodil Posy designs (by Lesley Teare) and 6 Easter Rabbits (by Debra Page) surrounded by spring flowers. Very attractive and would make a good weekend project.

If you like cartoons, then Debra Page has changed styles with some "Super Star" cards for your relatives' birthdays, Mother's Day, Sister's and Brother's Birthday etc. Nice bright colours and comic-strip poses. Lucie Heaton has created some pastel shaded baby cards, a crib, bunny, teddy, mobile (flower, star and heart) and a rocking horse. You could even stitch all 6 of them and make them into a Sampler (there I go again with my samplers!!!) - they are suitable for boys or girls as the theme colours are pinks, lemons, greens, powder-blues etc. Ahhhhhhh, cute.

Finally, just to follow the Card-Shop tradition, Lesley Teare is featured each edition with a set of Zodiac cards, with the star signs following the relevant month of the magazine. This time its Taurus and Aries - if you know someone who enjoys reading their horoscope, you could copy it out from a magazine inside the card for the individual touch!

Don't groan everyone .... the cover kit was Winnie the Pooh (its a sketch of Winnie, with Hello Friend motif)! Oh well, I guess it would make a nice greeting card for a pal, but not a lot of colour in it, I'm afraid!

Lots of News!

2006-03-09T20:25:00.000Z

I have been really hectic this week and consequently, my blog entries have been thin on the ground (sorry!) - but I will make up for it now! I have got so much to talk about, I have a backlog to catch up with :-)

Firstly, I have taken a couple of update photos of the Adam & Eve sampler for you - showing you the lacing and the effect of stretching it onto acid-free backing board before framing. Traditional samplers are meant to be framed close to the edge of the design, which looks stunning. However, if the lines are crooked, because the piece has not been stretched correctly, it can look awful .... maybe when my sampler has been framed, the lines will look straight, but the photo makes it look a bit wobbly!

I also have some Stash to show off! I am a buttons addict - I really love all the different designs that are available and sometimes just sit down with a big pile and go through them, thinking about possible projects where I can use them. I just need some more time and the right charts for them to be shown off to their best effect.

My favourite ones from this latest batch are the Watering Can and the Rag Doll

The Winery buttons are fun ... these are a joke for DH, to remind him of the amount of gorgeous New Zealand wine he enjoyed :-)

Thursday Brainteaser!

2006-03-09T16:02:00.000Z

I cannot claim to be a mathematical genius so I felt a bit less of a dunce than I used to at school (when I regularly attained 2/10 on a good day LOL :-) ... There's life in the Old Dog yet!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Question of the Week

2006-03-02T14:46:00.000Z

What cross-stitch magazines or other publications (as opposed to blogs) do you read on a regular basis? What do you like about them? What do you not like? What would your perfect publication include?

This is a Question of the Week lifted from San's website http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php.

My regular cross-stitch (XS) magazines are XS Gold and XS Collection - why? Consistent high quality, reasonable price, large charts that you can read without a magnifying glass and, no gimmicks ("freeby" kits are OK but they are very monotonous ... Winnie the Pooh, Popcorn, etc get very boring after so many of them).

X Stitcher, World of XS and XS Card Shop are the next level of magazine. Good quality, smaller projects that Gold and Collection, can normally rely on some "must-do" charts each issue. Freeby kits/give-aways feature strongly - its their selling point, but please can we have less folders, zip-up bags, plastic tape-measures and more cute buttons, embellishments. Also can't they think of different characters to Winnie the Pooh??!

XS Crazy or XS Quick do not inspire me normally - maybe there is one chart in each copy, but will I want to spend £3 just for 1 chart? They contain a high percentage of "trivia" and waffle. Hence the Readers' Letters page is normally irritating and patronising (in my humble opinion), whereas the good quality magazines print full letters, of which most are extremely interesting and informative. For example, XS Collection had a moving Letter from someone who described how her kidney transplant enabled her to get out more than before and meant that she could buy items for her cross stitch projects such as threads, fabric etc, which she had difficulty finding

My perfect publication would contain:
60% charts (different designers like Maria Diaz, Michael Powell, Lesley Teare, Helen Phillips and all the Kooler Design Studios folks)
20% technical aspects (tips, advice, creative ideas)
5% competitions - with craft prizes to be won
5% adverts (for LNS and web-stores - these are useful and we need to support those suppliers so that they continue to make beautiful high quality base-materials for our crafts!)
5% fiction/reading material - nice poetry, words, phrases, short story written by readers or talented writers.
2% templates/motifs - make your own cards, samplers, wall hangings
1% exchanges/swaps/Wanted adverts - very useful to source those items that may be in someone's attic :-)
1% letters - good quality only, including photos of people's projects
1% craft stories from Round the World - traditional crafts, unusual crafts etc

From a WIP to a Happy Dance!

2006-02-28T15:30:00.000Z

Hello friends,

This is definitely a "fast-track" XS entry - I started the Adam and Eve Sampler on the day that DH left for NZ 13 February (taking with him our digital camera :-). Now that he is back home again (hoooooraaaaah), I can reveal the finished piece to you, although I am afraid you did not have the normal 'big build up' with the "in progress" photos!

Yes, it looks mis-shaped at the moment, but I will stretch it on backing board as normal and then the border will be straight and even all the way round. The frame is a lovely dark wood with an discrete embellishment round the outside - I just bought it today from Hobbycraft! I will put a photo onto my blog with the frame for you to see, once I have bought the acid-free backing board on Friday.

So, I guess I am doing 2 Happy Dances at the moment, one for DH being back home again and the other dance for the finished Sampler! I hope you like it. I am now completing the Welsh Sampler and should be able to do another Happy Dance at the weekend. Its all good fun.

I hope that you are also enjoying your stitching and will soon have some Happy Dances of your own to do :-)
Hugs and happy thoughts, Alison xxxx

Alison's Activities

2006-02-28T15:00:00.000Z

Here is a fun quiz to do - I picked it up from San http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php.

I have added my X's- feel free to copy the list onto your blog and amend them according to the things that apply to you - enjoy!

(This is for your entire life):

( ) Crashed a friend’s car
( ) Stolen a car
(X) Been in love
(X) Been dumped
( ) Shoplifted
( ) Been fired
( ) Been in a fist fight
( ) Snuck out of your parent’s house
(X) Had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back
( ) Been arrested
(X) Gone on a blind date
( ) Lied to a friend
(X) Skipped school
(X) Seen someone die
(X) Been to Canada
(X) Been to Mexico
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Set a part of yourself on fire
( ) Eaten sushi
( ) Been skiing
(X) Met someone from the Internet
(X) Been to a concert
(X) Taken painkillers
(X) Love someone or miss someone right now
(X) Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
( ) Made a snow angel
(X) Had a tea party pretend or otherwise
(X) Flown a kite
(X) Built a sand castle
(X) Gone puddle jumping
(X) Played dress up
(X) Jumped into a pile of leaves
(X) Gone sledding
(X) Cheated while playing a game
(X) Been lonely
(X) Fallen asleep at work/school
( ) Used a fake ID
(X) Watched the sun set
( ) Felt an earthquake
(X) Slept beneath the stars
(X) Been tickled
(X) Been robbed
(X) Been misunderstood
( ) Petted a reindeer/goat/kangaroo OR jackalope
(X) Won a contest
( ) Run a red light/stop sign
( ) Been suspended from school
(X) Been in a car crash?
( ) Had braces
(X) Felt like an outcast/third person
( ) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
(X) Had deja vu
(X) Danced in the moonlite
(X) Liked the way you looked
( ) Witnessed a crime
(X) Questioned your heart
( ) Been obsessed with post-it notes
( ) Squished mud through your bare feet
(X) Been lost
(X) Been on the opposite side of the country
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Felt like dying
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang karaoke
( ) Paid for a meal with only coins
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t
( ) Made prank phone calls
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(X) Blown bubbles
( ) Made a bonfire on the beach…at the lake
(X) Crashed a party
(X) Gone roller-skating
(X) Had a wish come true
( ) Jumped off a bridge

1. What time is it? 15.10 hrs
2. How much do you love your job? it’s brilliant!
3. Ever steal any traffic signs? No
4. Favourite pie? Cottage Pie
5. Favorite number? 5
6. Favorite movie? The Jazz Singer
7. Favorite brand of body soap? Dove
8. Toothpaste? Colgate
9. Message to your friends reading this? I think the world of you
10. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Relaxed and Happy
11. What do you enjoy receiving? Hugs and kisses
12. What time is it now? 15.15 hrs

An Alternative Game to Try

2006-02-25T20:52:00.000Z

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

You have medium extroversion.

You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party.

Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences.

But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time."

Conscientiousness:

You have high conscientiousness.

Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life.

Most things in your life are organized and planned well.

But you borderline on being a total perfectionist.

Agreeableness:

You have high agreeableness.

You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly.

Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone.

You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance.

Neuroticism:

You have low neuroticism.

You are very emotionally stable and mentally together.

Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly.

Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is high.

In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas.

You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits.

A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

What Colour Should Your Eyes Be?

2006-02-25T20:17:00.000Z

Your Eyes Should Be Green

Your eyes reflect: Striking attractiveness and danger

What's hidden behind your eyes: A vivid inner world

What Color Should Your Eyes Be?

Thanks to Karen for this cool game! Funnily enough, my results was the same as your's Karen i.e. my result is the same as my actual eye-colour :-)

Busy Day at University!

2006-02-24T21:32:00.000Z

As it has been soooo cold in UK, I decided to "warm up" this blog entry with some Victoriana floral images. I don't know about you, but I feel as if it has been ages since I saw some colour and growth - there are a few tell-tale signs in our back garden that the crocuses are waking up but apart from that nothing else is growing yet.

It was so cold that I had to wear a thick woollen jumper, PLUS 2 T-Shirt! Maybe it was because I felt tired today, but I could not warm up all day! Yesterday it had snowed from morning until night, but thankfully nothing settled as the snowflakes were those big ones that melt as soon as they touch the ground. I am lucky in my job that I have a laptop so I can work from home if I want to - yesterday was an ideal day to stay indoors rather than driving in the bad weather!

This morning I left home early and went to the swimming pool for an Early-Bird swim before getting to University by 9.30. I received my marks for 2 exams I took before Christmas (for my Masters Degree) - I passed both (BIIIIG cause for a celebration!). I got A in Analysing Systems in Organisations and B in Enterprise Architecture. I only have 2 more modules to complete (Strategic Information Systems and Issues in Project Management), then from September onwards, I have to write a 15,000 word Dissertation (which is an analytical research report). I feel relief that the main hard work is done after 2 years. In a way I will be sad when I do not have to go to University each week as I have really enjoyed the lectures. There are 6 people in our group, so its a relaxed team and the lecturers make it a lot of fun.

Hoooorahhhhh - DH leaves New Zealand for London in only 12 hours' time (NZ local time) so I am feeling so excited that he will soon be back home with me again. When I spoke to him on Thursday morning (UK local time) he said that although he was enjoying himself, he was feeling ready to come back home again. I received his postcard today - typical of DH, he listed out all the food and different NZ wines he had sampled that week :-) He is incredibly easy to please .... "the way to his heart is via his tummy" !!!! Typical Taurus, of course, we are so alike - his birthday is 5 days before mine!

There are two things that I think you might look forward to ..... Firstly, from Tuesday, this blog will brighten up again as DH will bring back our digital camera and I can do some WIP photos of my Samplers (Adam and Eve - and also the Welsh Sampler that is FINALLY nearly finished yippeeeee!!!). I am very excited to show you what I have worked on in the past 2 weeks. Secondly .... I bought Cross Stitch Collection and Cross Stitch Crazy magazine today, so I will take some photos and do a review - Collection is another great issue. So stand by for some good reading :-) I think San will do a review of 'Crazy' - but I might add my own supplementary comments after she does the main review on her blog.

Snow, Hail, Wind, Cold, Sun (all in one day!)

2006-02-21T22:39:00.000Z

I love the Dilbert strips - Alice is a top character, so I have put a funny on my blog today as it made me laugh and that's a good thing :-)

Today was the craziest day, weather-wise - probably like me at the moment, changing moods, can't stay still for a minute and can't settle.

I woke up quite early - it must have been around 6am because it was still dark outside. I got up and went downstairs to make a cup of coffee to start the day. I could see out of the side door in the kitchen that it must have rained in the night. By the time the kettle had boiled, there was a bit more daylight and I could see it was really snowing!! I scurried back to bed with my cuppa, brrrr it was too cold to stay up!!

When I got up at 7.30, it was quite light and the lawn looked as if it had icing sugar sprinkled on it. I did about an hour's stitching on my Adam and Eve sampler. Its looking really great, I only have about 4 more hours' work to do (that being the Alphabet at the top of the Sampler plus the single stitched border .... although I am rather tempted to add a bit of shape to it ... I will see how I feel).

Today was a good day's studying. I decided I would sit in the kitchen today so that I could not connect to the Internet which always diverts my attention, looking at everyone's blogs :-) I typed up an interview script which I will be using next week, to interview some managers at work for my Knowledge Management assignment.

Tonight, DH rang me! I was so happy to hear from him - he was sitting in his 'normal' place on the veranda with his morning coffee (it was 9pm in UK and 10 am in NZ). He was due to go off on a day trip with Matt and Trudy later in the day, which sounded fun and he was talking about all the things he wants to show me. I felt elated, knowing that he was thinking about me and planning our trip :-) I want him to have fun .... but not tooooo much fun LOL.

Hope you had a fun day too! I am now off to sleep as I am nearly falling asleep as I type this ... zzzzzzz

Stitching Q of the Week

2006-02-20T11:28:00.000Z

Comment on your comments (giving and receiving):

Do you love comments or hate them? Do you check them every day, never check them, or find them helpful? And finally, are you convinced no one is reading your blog if you don't get any?

I think the current Stitching Question is a really popular one, and being in "Research Mode" as I am at the moment :-) I can confidently say that there is a 100% return vote for "I LOVE COMMENTS".... me included! I have only been keeping a blog since Christmas, but I already feel real happiness and pride when receiving comments - its so important to get the interaction and two-way feedback from people all round the world - what a wonderful thing is the Internet!

I feel as if my Blog is my "on-line Home", to which I invite and welcome my friends every day - so I feel it follows that when I visit a blog, I enjoy leaving a comment, just to say "thanks for having me", "its great to catch up on your latest news", "come over to my place some-time". So, I enjoy leaving comments as much as I get excited reading those left for me.

... and there is only so many times I can expect DH to say "that's nice stitching you're doing" but I know all my stitching friends will say it a million times and never get bored! Let's face it ...

"Stitching rocks!"

What does your Birthday Mean?

2006-02-19T21:54:00.000Z

I would like to credit Mel's blog for the link to this cool 'game' - try it, its quick to do and a lot of fun!

Thanks, Mel - your site is great :-)

http://dubaimel.blogspot.com/

Your Birthdate:
May 20

You are a virtual roller coaster of emotions, and most people enjoy the ride.

Your mood tends to set the tone of the room, and when you're happy, this is a good thing.

When you get in a dark mood, watch out - it's very hard to get you out of it.

It's sometimes hard for you to cheer up, and your gloom can be contagious.

Your strength: Your warm heart

Your weakness: Trouble controlling your emotions

Your power color: Black

Your power symbol: Musical note

Your power month: February

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Sunday, Lovely Sunday!

2006-02-19T20:41:00.000Z

I thought I was going to struggle again to get myself motivated to do studying for my assignment .... but after a bit of a slow start (well, its a Sunday!), I did manage to do a few hours's work. But before that .... I got hooked onto my Adam & Eve sampler for a couple of hours. I just could not put it down, its so addictive!

Made some breakfast at 9.30 am and thought "I'll just do another 30 minutes more stitching, then must get my books out" - that went on for another hour :-) then the phone rang. It was my friend in Spain who called to say she had lost 12 lbs in weight since I last saw her, so we sat and chatted for a while which was lovely. at 11.30 I thought that if I did not get on with some reading, the whole day would go by (yet again!) and I would feel worse.

So despite the wrench to put down my cross-stitch, I sat down at the kitchen table with my books, journals and papers and got started. The next thing I knew, it was 2.30pm!! So I felt very virtuous, not getting distracted like I normally do (i.e. doing a sneaky Sudoku puzzle from DH's book :-)

My research for the assignment is Knowledge Management in organisations - it deals with how companies use IT systems to capture and use knowledge to gain competitive advantage, so its a very interesting subject. I normally find that once I get started, I do enjoy the research, its just getting myself organised and not getting hooked on stitching for hours!

At 3pm I decided to go out for a run, just to clear the fuzz from my brain - got back soaking wet because it was windy, raining, freezing cold and really miserable - had a bath and then just as I was walking through the door, DH rang me from NZ to tell me he was sitting on the veranda in his shorts and T-Shirt. He had been out to a motorbike rally with our friends the previous day and was full of stories about riding pillion at 125 mph etc (all exciting "boys-stuff" - he's just a big kid).

I hope that everyone has had a really enjoyable weekend with loads of stitching activity - I always enjoy browsing the blogs on a Monday, as the weekends can often the most productive time for us stitchy-girls :o)

Adding Photo to my Profile

2006-02-18T08:02:00.000Z

.
Help! I have been trying to add my photo to my Blog Profile but have been going round in circles!

I have downloaded the Hello/Picasa software but am now unsure of the next step. In my Blogger profile, it says to add the URL of the photo. As it is stored on my computer, it does not accept the path name.

Also, I tried to add my Blogger to Hello, but I added the wrong name :-( and now it does not seem to let me remove it, to correct the name - only other option in the drop-down box is "Create a New Blog". Its not the easiest piece of software to use and the Help is really basic.

Any help would be appreciated!

Day Off Today (hence .... Long Blog!!)

2006-02-16T21:01:00.000Z

I have been at home today, which has been really nice. I normally go to University for lectures on Fridays, but this week was a Reading Week (which basically means "time to catch up on my assignment work because I haven't even started it yet"!). I woke up early and decided to get down to the local swimming pool for an "early-bird swim" - there is nothing like some exercise to get motivation levels up. Then a quick dash to the supermarket, picked up some bits and pieces for the weekend (nice salad things, jacket potatoes, fresh bread and lovely strawberries on special offer, yummm) .... strangely enough World of Cross Stitch fell into my basket without me noticing ....what a surprise, LOL!

Came home and put on a wash-load as there was a week's worth of sport's kit and work clothes - how can one person create so much mess and work???

STITCHY GALLERY (Blog)

Despite the semi-energetic start to my day, I had no incentive to study today, which often happens when I have a lot of time (I end up doing less than normal - WHY???? It must be some subconscious gremlin that sits inside my head and tempts me to do nice things like cross-stitching and blogging). I decided to create a Stitchy Gallery, which will link to this Blog. The Master Plan is that it will be my permanent Gallery, to include Happy Dances, WIPs, UFOs and Wish List - although I will do ongoing WIP photos on this blog so I can chat to everyone about progress. It may take a few weeks to get it really how I want it, so I have decided not to add the link just yet - I am sure after all the big "build-up", you will be dying to see it LOL!! Don't worry if you don't hear anything for a few weeks, its all still going on ..... behind the scenes :-) Then it can be like a Grand Unveiling in some uptown Art Gallery - see, I'm dreaming again.

Over lunch, I made some progress on my latest project - I keep calling it my Adam-and-Eve Sampler, the one DH's Mum bought me for Christmas (she's wonderful!). DH has the digital camera in NZ so I will have to take a photo of my work when he gets back. Its a nice relaxing one to do - the photo below was the one I took of the actual kit.

So here I am mid-afternoon, writing my blog, feeling a bit bad for not doing at least 2 hours of work before finishing for the evening - then again, I will do some over the weekend to keep myself busy. I have created a work-plan for 4 hours each day - so that leaves me 20 hours to eat, sleep and .... yes, stitch!!!!!!!

I have an exam on 28th February so must be back into 'motivation-mode' before that - I also have to do two 5,000 word assignments for April and they take a loooooooong time. PANIC!!!!

I hope that whatever you have been busy doing in your day, you have had a great time - I have been dropping into quite a few blogs, leaving messages here and there and admiring the beautiful crafts we love so much. Its such fun this blogging!! Take care and speak to you soon xxxxx

Day 1 WDH (Without DH)

2006-02-13T13:21:00.000Z

DH is, as we speak, flying to New Zealand - by my calculations, he will be over Eastern Europe by now! Yesterday was really really hard for me - outside I was so excited for him going to the Southern Hemisphere, with all the wonderful experiences he will gain and I know he will have a lovely time. Inside I was feeling so melancholic as we have never been apart before for more than a couple of days. But despite my outward appearance, he knew what was going on ... let's face it, he knows me so well.

Work today has been a relief - keeping me really busy and no time to sit and mope!

My blog entries will probably be slightly less colourful as DH took the digital camera. I have added some Tatty Ted's to break up the text somewhat.

If, like me, you enjoy reading San's reviews of our top UK Cross Stitch magazines, take a look at her latest views for Cross Stitcher http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php?p=774#comments - it looks like a good issue, judging by San's comments!

I have terminated my subscription for Q&E Cross Stitch as it has disappointed me for about 90% of the year (the renewal notice arrived at the weekend and it prompted me to make the decision!). Despite the excellent credentials of the guest designers, there are a number of charts that I feel fall well short of the quality I would expect to pay for. I did feedback some comments to the editor but I feel it may not have been taken seriously enough for changes to be made ....

I will be doing a review of Cross Stitch Collection on Saturday as it is due to reach the shops on Friday.

Sincere good wishes to you all for a dreamy Valentine's Day, and, including those to whom the day does not hold a particular significance (as I am aware that not everyone is in agreement with the commerciality of the Day -a sentiment I partially agree with), may your Tuesday be happy, peaceful and serene.

Finished Wedding Sampler

2006-02-11T17:56:00.000Z

Hi Everyone,

It was really amazing how many kind comments I received on my blog - thank you all so much, I felt instantly better :-) What a lovely bunch of people you are - big hugs all round!!

Here is a photo of the framed Wedding Sampler for you to see! I am so excited about it - I just wish I could be there to see the newly-weds open up the parcel!

Sorry this posting is short today - its DH's last weekend before he heads off to New Zealand, so I am cooking our meal at home and then we will open our presents. The parcel he promised arrived this morning - I have not opened it yet as I was waiting for him to return home (he had to work today). Will post all my latest news on Monday.

Take care and enjoy your weekend - have fun!

Some Romantic Poems

2006-02-11T17:43:00.000Z

LOVE QUOTES

"Love does not consist in gazing at each-other

but in looking together in the same direction."

~by Antoine de Saint-Exupery~

"Love is a fruit in season at all times,and within the reach of every hand."

~By Mother Teresa~

"Love like paint,

can make things beautiful

when you spread it,

but it simply dries up

when you don't use it."

~Author Unknown~

"The rose speaks of love silently,in a language known only to the heart."

~Author Unknown~

"The sound of a kiss is not so loud as a cannon,

but it's echo lasts a great deal longer."

~Author Unknown~

"Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing

while she mops up the floor

after her husband has walked

across it in his barn boots."

~By Hoosier Farmer~

"Let us have love and more love;

a love that melts all opposition,

a love that conquers all foes,

a love that sweeps away all barriers,

a love that aboundeth in charity,

a large-heartedness,

tolerance,

forgiveness and noble striving,

a love that triumphs over all obstacles."

~By Abdul Baha ( 1844-1921)~

"I Heard Him Say"

Accept the things to which fate binds you,

and love the people with whom fate brings you together,

but do so with all your heart."

~Unknown Author~

"Love: It is the greatest thing that God can give us,

for God himself is love.

Love is the greatest thing we can give to God,

for it will also give ourselves,

and carry with it all that is ours."

~By Jeremy Taylor~

Time for Romance ... but no DH :-(

2006-02-08T18:01:00.000Z

Sorry for no blog entries this week, I have been off with a streaming head-cold and have been rather sorry for myself. I hope to be back in action soon. And I hope everyone is well and do not have a red nose like me :-(
Well, those who have been following my blog will know that DH will be travelling to New Zealand on Monday 13th and I sadly cannot go as I have exams in a couple of weeks and am also not able to take time off work. So we will not be together on Feb 14th - but we will be together in spirit. He said he is going to call me as soon as he arrives at Matt and Trudy's house, to let me know he arrived safely.

He has told me that I need to be around this Saturday for a delivery .... so that sounds really interesting and exciting. I think we will end up clebrating our Valentines day on Saturday as I will give him the presents and cards when we have dinner. So maybe I ought to cook something special .... hmmm will look in my recipe books to see what inspiration I can get.

Will hopefully feel more human tomorrow and will talk some more about crafts
Hugs Ali xxx

Its Woolie Sock Weather

2006-02-02T18:21:00.000Z

One of life's great mysteries .... February is the shortest month, yet it seems to last longer than the others! Judging by the weather here in the south of England, it has been really cold, and definitely calls for thick woolie socks, hat, gloves and staying cosy indoors. Today was the first day for a week when the thermometer did not dip well below freezing-point. We had a bit of milky sunshine at lunchtime so it ended up being pleasant to look at, but still so cold.

Everyone seems to be getting into romance mode, especially us Crafting girls as we always think 4 weeks ahead of everyone else :-) Well, I guess the card and gift shops also think ahead too, as everywhere I shop, it is full of pink hearts, fluffy cards, cute teddies - what an excellent time of year.

In view of this air of romance, I thought I would reveal what I have bought for DH this year - there is no danger of him reading this message, as he uses the Internet less frequently than most (although Amazon seems to be in his favourites at the moment!). So here goes ...

- 2 cards, one romantic (it's in my blog entry about a week ago, in case you did not see it before) and one funny cartoon one of Purple Ronnie

- A mini-box of chocolates which spell out " I heart Y-O-U " - substitute the heart with a red heart-shaped chocolate
- A bee coloured stripped purple and red, carrying a heart which says "Bee Mine" on it.
- A book called "Does Anything Eat Wasps?" - its one of those fascinating scientific fact books with questions you always wondered about like the one in the title and "Is Britain getting lower in the South, and Higher in the North?" - giving books like this to a DH like mine makes you an instant hit and his v. v. best friend :-).

Update on the Wedding Sampler - FINISHED, Happy Dances all round :-)

I managed to finish Matthew and Trudy's Wedding Sampler by Saturday lunchtime which I was so pleased and relieved about - phew, a week ahead of schedule! All that remains now, is to pick up the mount and backing board from my friendly frame-shop on Friday. Then I will stretch and lace the sampler and put it into the Frame on Saturday. I managed to find a fabulous frame, just what I was looking for - its a dark mahogany coloured wood, very old-fashioned looking and the most important thing of all, it is 10 inches x 10 inches square. It is soooo difficult finding nice square frames - there are loads of 10 x 8, 9 x 7, 10 x 14 etc, but so few with equal sides.

Here is a detail photo to show the beads that I added (they were not in the original chart, but its nice to adapt, isn't it). They are ivory pearl Mill Hill seed beads. Sorry for the poor quality photo, the light quality was poor when I took the photo and I was trying to stop the camera using a flash as that normally means the beads disappear!.

So, now its back to my Welsh Sampler project that had to wait in the craft room for a few weeks! I managed to do some more of the border lines - there is probably only about 4 hours more to do before it is completed. My frame-shop get used to my little flurries of activity - suddenly I will be in and out of their shop for a few weeks with some goodies to show off, before disappearing again to work on the next 'assignment'.

After I finish the Welsh Sampler, it definitely calls for a "cute-n-cuddly" project, with a bit of back-stitch in it - I feel as if I need to give the samplers a rest for a while, but not too long, because I am addicted to them :-)

View my Crafts Online!

2006-02-01T11:37:00.000Z

I am going to the crafts shop after work so I will let you know if I get some interesting stash!! I still have not received the threads from Sewdiscounted to finish off the wedding sampler, so I am starting to panic a bit. As its such a small amount of money to buy the missing DMC thread I think I will buy them and then I can keep the others in my thread box as spares - they are popular colours for my samplers so will have no problem using them.

In case you are wondering .... my friend Sue sent me a lovely e-mail with Tatty Ted's everywhere, so I will probably be completely over-kill with them everywhere up until Valentine's Day as there are some cute 'romantic' ones that are appropriate for this time of year!

My On-Line Gallery

http://alisonbulbeck.myphotoalbum.com/ If the link is 'dodgy', then simply copy and paste into your browser, you know the routine ;-)

Lack of time currently prevents me from setting up my own hosted website (this is an ambition, once I have finished my Masters next year!). However, as an interim solution I am using a free on-line gallery to store and display a few things I have made in the past couple of years. Ssome of the things were gifts and others were for craft fairs that I have done in the past. I need to update it with more recent photos, but I thought I would include it in my Blog, and I will also update the link list on my Blog sidebar.

Then I can let you know via a blog entry each time I update it with any new photos.

Cross Stitch Collection - Feast your eyes!

2006-01-29T18:19:00.000Z

I thought I would show the contents of Cross Stitch Collection as a pictorial review this month - as they say, a picture paints a thousand words!

One of the reasons I really enjoy Collection is that there are no "gimmicks" - there are no give-aways, freeby kits or gifts on a Cross Stitch theme (you can always buy one of the other magazines if that is what you like) - although occasionally you get a poster sized chart or booklet (next month there is a 12-pager). What you are guaranteed is a magazine full of excellent high-quality designs (then you have the pleasure of going to an on-line store like Sewdiscounted and ordering up all the threads and accessories for the project stash!). In other words, Collection does not need to rely upon cover kits to market its magazine, its quality is its best selling point.

Home Sweet Home is on my to-do list (designed by Cathy Bussi) - I would love to know where the frame can be purchased. I will have to look in the frame shop next week to see if they have something similar. As the magazine suggests, the design can be adapted for Valentine's Day (although it is possibly too late now unless you can get working on it straight away). I just love the folk-art look to it - it would look pretty in our spare room to welcome guests.

If you read my blog entry yesterday, you will remember the free gift I mentioned of the Wildlife kit - it is shown below. I think it is something that would be worth taking out the subscription for, as it is a beautiful design for a gift or to keep.

I

Cathy Bussi's pretty and very feminine cards would be perfect for Mother's Day or even a friend's birthday.

I admit, there are a couple of designs I did not really like this month - Lesley Teare has produced a two-part set This month it is an Oast House, which is a typical style house in Kent, East England. These houses are round shaped and were typically for storing grains and hops for beer, although people lived in them too. The second in the series will be published next month and is a windmill - again a typical country style scene. Although both designs are pretty, I am not so keen on the harsh blocks of colour and lack of real dimension. In my opinion, Lesley is better at botanics (such as the lavender sampler I have on our kitchen wall) than buildings!

Diane Machin has designed a chart called Goddess of Love (the Roman goddess Venus). The border is very pretty, pillars in turquoise blue, with roses growing up round them. My problem is with Venus' face - she is meant to be beautiful, but I think she looks rather ugly, with brown "blobs" for eyes and shocking red lips rather than the softness and beauty I associate with her as a mythical icon from the sea.

Last and by no means least - the Peter Rabbit chart. I don't really need to describe it (see the photo below!), it is amazing and thoroughly deserves the prime spot in the magazine. It is designed to be made into a clock and has wonderful scenes of Peter that are too adorable for words!

What Breed of Cat Are You?

2006-01-28T18:53:00.000Z

Apparently, according to the Cat Breed Quiz linked via Lili's Blog, I am a "La Perm" which I think is appropriate if only because my hair has a natural curl - it tells me "You are adventurous and known for your unique hairstyle which you are proud of"

:-D LOF (Lots of fun!!), thanks Lili

Please link to the quiz via Lili's Blog if you want to try it out and see your result - and while you are there, take a look at her lovely Craft projects !

http://anothercrossstitchaddict.blogspot.com/

A Nice Surprise!

2006-01-28T18:03:00.000Z

A Gift in Cross Stitch!
DH is away for a few days on business so its been a very quiet time at home. I have spent today catching up on jobs around the house and also trying to progress on the Wedding Sampler as I have about 11 days to go before it has to be finished. When I got back home from University yesterday afternoon, there was an Amazon parcel on the doorstep (our postie always hides it in the porch behind a flowerpot, but no-one takes anything in our village!) "Strange" I thought "I don't remember ordering anything ...."
When I opened it, it was a book (pictured left) which DH had bought as a bit of a "cheer up" while I was home-alone. Its beautifully compiled by David & Charles, written by Barbara Hammet, full of photos and information. There are unusual projects such as a Charles Voysey clock (appropriately called TIME ENOUGH) featuring two swans in a lake with birds and deers, 3 classic Mackintosh cushions, and smaller motifs for a needle case, pin cushion, napkins, coasters etc (shown on the cover. Lots of information to browse all about this iconic and evocative era at the turn of the last Century.

I will try to do a review of the current Cross Stitch Collection in the coming days - its a great issue, with plenty to put on the to-do list for the Spring and Summer months. I am considering terminating my Q&E subscription when it comes up for renewal in 2 months, and there is rather a stunning Tiger and her Cub kit (normally £25) being offered for new subscribers to Collection ... its very tempting. Cathy Bussi has been featured frequently and I really do love her designs, so I am sure it will be worth getting.

It was a really cold but bright day in England today - very blue and crisp but so cold, the frost on the ground still had not melted by sun-down. I think its healthy to have this weather as it kills off all the bugs, and also the slugs and snails (sorry, chaps, but you really upset me when you eat all my busy-lizzies in the Summer !)

WIP - Brenda Keyes Wedding Sampler (plus Little Gold Ted)

Here is an update of my Wedding Sampler. Yes, now it has both the bride and groom's name on. I am on track to complete it in time - I estimate a further 6 hours' work is needed to complete the flowers round the edges. I will be very busy at work next week, with my Project testing due to start in 10 days and lots to prepare, but I plan to stitch 3 hours tomorrow and three next Saturday. Then I have time on Sunday for stretching and framing. I am looking for an Antique Pine frame as I know it will fit in well with Matt and Trudy's home surroundings. I am planning to go to the Pine Shop near University next Friday to see what I can find.

Enjoy your Saturday, have some fun and as always HAPPY CRAFTING!

Let's Get Tagging!

2006-01-26T12:31:00.000Z

Something fun to do - Tagging!
All rather new and strange to me, but then againI am :-) I have followed San's instructions, so if it all goes wildly wrong, I apologise here and now!

Casserole of my life
Recent Runes
BOO
Zohrah
AngelSan Creation
Ali B Creations

Here are the people I am tagging:
Von http://onthedryside.blogspot.com/
Harsha http://shinyscissors.blogspot.com/
Shell http://toknitortostitch.blogspot.com/
Connie http://thelaceythread.blogspot.com/

Here are the topics:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was doing part-time studies in Business IT at University while working in a Telecomms company as an Office Manager - I was getting fed up of supporting everyone else's career but not getting very far in my own, so I decided to get some formal qualifications in Computing so that I could fly up through that "glass ceiling" and get into the blue sky! I have never regretted it. My DH was a DBF in those days :-) ahh, we knew back then that we would be together always - since about a week after going out together, in fact.

Five snacks you enjoy.
1 - Anything on Toast - Marmite, Baked Beans, Marmalade
2 - Banana Sandwich with brown sugar
3 - Egg salad Sandwich
4 - Cereal and milk
5 - Porridge made with jumbo oats, milk and sprinkle of brown sugar on top!

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics off your head right now.
1 - American Pie - Don McLean
2 - Everybody Hurts - REM
3 - I'm on top of the World - The Carpenters
4 - Killing me Softly - Roberta Flack
5 - Criticize - Alexander O'Neil

Five things you would do if you had one million pounds (that's the currency I operate with!)
1 - Pay off our mortgage
2 - Throw a garden party for my friends
3 - put some away for a rainy day
4 - Give some to Alderhay children's hospital and some to Cancer Research
5 - Buy DH his favourite car (Boxster)

Five bad habits.
The only one which DH can't stand is that I shove all the recycling into one bag and he has to sort it out into the different bins at the Recycle Centre - well, I don't have time for the niceties in life :-)

Five things you like doing:
1 - physical exercise: Yoga, Running, Swimming
2 - music: playing Classical Guitar (less these days while I am studying!)
3 - crafts: cross-stitch, painting, machine sewing, beadcrafts
4 - Reading - books, craft magazines, journals
5 - gardening - I love the outdoor life and watching beautiful things grow and mature

Five things you would never buy, wear or get new again.
1 - really tight jeans - even tho I am slimmer now than when I was in my 20's, I prefer comfort!
2 - Tesco's CD boxes - they use stupid peel-off labels that split and don't peel off :-(
3 - new car - 2nd hand cars are fine!
4 - software manual - too much now available on the web, and software changes too quickly
5 - TV ... this is a contentious issue, DH and I are still not sure if we want one - too much rubbish on TV, not enough time to watch the good bits!

Five favourite toys - some are more like games!
1 - Trivial Pursuits
2 - Boggle (word-game)
3 - Scrabble
4 - My digital camera - its such fun :-)
5 - collection of Harrods teddies (one for each year DH and I have been together)

Head Like Cotton Wool

2006-01-25T12:53:00.000Z

Hi there everyone - well, as you can tell from my previous 'daft' posting, my brain is like pulp and I am up with the birdies in the sky!

Lili, I agree with you about Pulp Fiction, its just so ace, I really could watch it a dozen times and find something new and quirky to laugh about, that is the mastery of Tarantino's gift.

Time prevents me from doing a detailed posting today, however, I will update my blog on Friday when I have some more time. From time to time, I hop onto your blogs and leave my "footprints" where I have been, its just so hectic at the moment - I am sure we are all in the same mad situation of having too little time to spread around too many tasks. Maybe God is looking down and smiling on us like little ants dashing here there and everywhere - but in the meantime, we do have mortgages to pay, families to care for and about, and apologies to make to our friends for not keeping in touch enough.... keep coming back to me, I would miss you so!

In the meantime, big hugs, and happy crafting, all
Ali xxx

Me In 4's

2006-01-24T12:52:00.000Z

Well, I am completely confused about how to "tag" but I got this from AngelSan's website http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php (maybe just putting the url is classed as the tag ...). So if anyone can explain how it all works, then I can do it right in future.

Anyway, here are the details:

Four Jobs you’ve had

1. IT Service Innovation Analyst (currently)
2. Interpreter for English Managing Director who spoke no Spanish, working in a Spanish electronics co.
3. Shoe shop assistant (Saturday job when I was at school)
4. Working in a bar (my friend runs a bar in the South of Spain, I was helping out so I guess maybe its not really a job)

Four Films you’d watch over and over
1. 2001, The Space Odyssey (Kubrick's masterpiece - thanks for correcting the daft mistake :-)
2. Pulp Fiction - I just love Quentin Tarrantino's black humour
3. Somewhere in Time (Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour)
4. The Deer Hunter

Four Places I Have Lived
1. Montreal (Canada)
2. Yorkshire (England)
3. Mexico City
4. South Heath (England)

Four T.V. shows you love to watch
(Lets ignore the fact that I do not have a TV!) ... Here are a few good programmes (they will be repeats by now :-)
1. Friends
2. Little House on the Prairie
3. Star Trek
4. Starsky & Hutch

4 Places you’ve been on holiday
1. Valencia, Spain
2. Guadalajara, Mexico
3. New York USA
4. Jerusalem, Israel

4 of your favourite foods
1. Any (Veggie) soup - always top of the list
2. Penne con funghi (penne pasta with mushrooms)
3. Freshly baked bread
4. Viennetta (icecream)

Places you’d rather be right now
1. Strolling along Las Ramblas in Barcelona with DH
2. In my garden
3. In a restaurant with a group of friends
4. Running around Central Park, NY

Four singers I Can’t Live Without
1. Chris Martin of Cold Play
2. Alexander O'Neil
3. Karen Carpenter - definitely has a voice like an Angel
4. Gloria Estefan

4 sites you visit daily
1. my Hotmail a/c
2. Bloglines - mine and all my friends
3. BBC News
4. Amazon

Four Bloggers you are tagging

If only I knew how!!

Update on Wedding Sampler ... and that Mystery Parcel !

2006-01-22T18:12:00.000Z

I had a productive weekend's stitching - I felt fully justified in doing very little other than stitching yesterday, because I am now on very limited time to get the Wedding Sampler completed before February 13th when DH flies off the NZ! After dinner last night, I mapped out the words onto graph paper, just to ensure I centred the lines across the design. I still need to add "MATTHEW" next to TRUDY, and also a flower bud on the right of "MARRIAGE" to balance the design. I ran out of time as DH and I spent the day putting up towel rails, toilet roll holders and a blind in the shower room and downstairs toilet - it looks much more "finished" now, but we still need to order the floor covering ... have not made up our minds on that, yet!

Disaster has struck :-( I have run out of DMC 407 (pale pink) which is used for the inside flowers round the border. I have ordered another skein from SewDiscounted with some other colours I need, so it should arrive midweek. If not, I will go to Hobbycraft on Thursday as I want to buy the frame there too. Meanwhile, I can stitch the cream flowers, stems and leaves outside the border, so it will not slow me down! All being well, I will finish around 10 days ahead of schedule, with some breathing space "just in case". Phew!

As I mentioned in a previous entry, a parcel has been waiting for me at the Post Office. As I thought, it was from my brother and sister-in-law. When I got it home, DH and I opened it up and it had a large silver box inside for each of us. Excitement was not the word!! DH's box contained a beautiful velour bath-robe in lovely browns, burgundies and deep green colours and my box contained a towelling bath-robe which was softer than cotton wool. Weren't we lucky!!!

Scroll down to the next entry for the latest Cross Stitch Gold review! Have a happy evening everyone! I am off to make some Leek and Potato Soup - just the thing for a cold evening yum. xxx

Magazine Reviews Galore ;~D

2006-01-22T17:24:00.000Z

Review of Cross Stitch Gold
Hoorah, lots of magazines to keep us happy during the dull days of January! Although, I must say we have had a lot of blue skies and sunshine in England since Friday ... but I won't get too excited about Springtime as apparently the Siberian sub-sub-zero conditions (i.e. -30 deg!!) will influence our weather in the coming week. No worries, its an excuse to stay warm and cosy indoors.
Here are the highlights of Cross Stitch Gold issue 37:
Maria Diaz is amazingly versatile - I have charts she has designed which range from Tigers to cute "chocolate-box" cottages, funny cartoon characters for weddings to the Pyramids of Egypt! This month her latest offering is Magnificent Venice, with a Gondolier gently travelling down the canal towards a bridge, with the old stone buildings on either side, brimming with colourful hanging baskets. The most amazing detail is the way Maria has used a wonderful blend of stone, sand, cream and grey colours to create the texture on the buildings - Amazing! Maria has also designed a Tulip Fairy, but unfortunately I think that her mouth looks a bit like she has had botox!! Sorry Maria, don't take it the wrong way, it is so incredibly difficult to get facial features right ... which is why Fay Whittaker has her characters facing away from view!
Susan Bates has created a "Flowers of the Month" Sampler showing blooms which typically flower in each month of the year - my favourites are daffodil in March, (or perhaps yellow Narcissus ? ...), water lily in July and Michaelmas Daisies in September.
Joanne Aston's "Life on the Riverbank" deserves a mention - it is an unusual elongated design which gives the feel of a panoramic view - just perfect for the natural subject matter. It shows a mother duck lovingly watching over her 3 cute chicks - the mother's expression is really proud and protective at the same time. Joanne has captured the lacy winged dragonfly beautifully and there is a frog perched on a stone - wonderful detail.
Lucie Heaton is a "Master of all things Cute"! This time she has done a colourful farmyard scene, 2 pigs looking through a blue gate, cat strutting across the gate and a chicken and sheep holding up a red banner with "All the Fun of the Farm" on it - I go AHHHHHHHH every time I see it. I think it is going on my to-do list just because of that!

"In the Spotlight" features Barbara Thompson - I have not heard of her before (or at least I cannot remember stitching her designs!), but she talks about her love of teaching others how to stitch and not to be afraid of experimenting with different colours and designs. Sounds like good advice.

http://angelsan.free.fr/blog.php <- San has excelled herself as normal, with thorough reviews of Quick and Easy Cross Stitch and Cross Stitcher magazines, so have a read of her comments. I am most excited by Joan Elliott's fab project called Gifts of Wisdom (page 44 - 47 of Cross Stitcher). It consists of 3 medium-sized motifs depicting nature scenes and inspirational Native American sayings: "Live Strong as the Mountains", "Walk Tall as the Trees" and "Be Known by the Tracks you Leave". These have been mounted onto dark brown suede (like the American Indians wear!) and created into a wall hanger montage which would look just great in our hallway. Joan's design (taken from her new book of Native American designs) uses brown, cream and orange feathers, with bright coloured beads hanging in cascades down each side and additional seed bead embellishments on each motif. Its on my To-do list, that's for sure!

It was lovely to receive such nice comments about the Valentine's Day card I bought for DH and I hope it has inspired people to think of what to buy for their "Other Half" !

Watch this Space - what's coming soon ....

2006-01-19T17:16:00.000Z

I received my subscription copy of Cross Stitch Gold today, so I will take some photos and do a full review of charts and features of interest. Its a great copy! Plenty for all tastes and preferences.

What's in "the mystery parcel"? ..... I have been trying to pick up a parcel from the post office after several attempts by the delivery van to bring it to us (poor guy, we are always out during the day!). When I got to the post office sorting office this afternoon, it had closed early (apparently, Thursdays is their afternoon off!) Frustration abounds, what is in the parcel, who is it from??? I think it must be from my brother who sent some stuff over for Christmas, but DH told me he is still waiting for a book for me from Amazon as he received a mail to say it would be 4 - 6 weeks.... either way, its going to be fun finding out. I will try tomorrow morning before going to University, so watch this space, I could have exciting news, you never know ;-D

In the meantime, here is Romantic Card for DH's Valentines Day (we buy each other 1 Romantic Card and 1 Silly or Funny Card - we do keep the card shops in business, but its just a tradition for us!). Marks & Spencer (the wonderful store where everyone buys their knickers from :-) had a special promotion yesterday. There was a lady sitting by the card section doing Free Calligraphy messages in every card purchased. So I found a nice card and she used her lovely inks to do the message. Isn't it fab?

The Lost Doll

2006-01-19T08:22:00.000Z

On Harsha's blog dated 14th January, she shows her lovely Cross Stitch piece called The Old Doll -> link to her blog (http://shinyscissors.blogspot.com/). I still have fond memories of the first doll my mother gave me. It brought to mind a lovely poem from my childhood book "A Treasury of Poetry" by Hilda Boswell, which I still have and enjoy reading from time to time. I have added a couple of the illustration from the book, as the pictures are just wonderful and bring each poem to life. I am thinking of writing to Cross Stitch Gold and asking if one of their designers (Maria Diaz or Sue Cook perhaps) could create a chart for it, as I am sure they could do it justice. Or maybe, will see a designer at Olympia Stitch exhibition in March.

Isn't it a touching photo of the girl, who is overjoyed at finding her doll again, even though it is dirty and broken. I think its a lesson on how people can love each other, no matter what their outer appearance is....

Happy Thursday, all !

The Lost Doll

I once had a sweet little doll, dears,

The prettiest doll in the world;

Her cheeks were so red and so white, dears,

And her hair was so charmingly curled.

But I lost my poor little doll, dears,

As I played in the heath one day;

And I cried for her more than a week, dears;

But I never could find where she lay.

--oOo--

I found my poor little doll, dears,

As I played in the heath one day;

Folks say she is terribly changed, dears,

For her paint is all washed away,

And her arms trodden off by cows, dears,

And her hair not the least bit curled;

Yet for old sakes' sake she is still, dears,

The prettiest doll in the world.

--oOo--