Mike's Happy Dance

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

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

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

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!

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 ....

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

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

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 ...

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

***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!)

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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 :-)

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

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

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!

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

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem