2007 comes to a close ...

and my blogging anniversary has passed me by. I can't believe it, i had been blogging for a year on 28th December. I have seen so many lovely things and been inspired by so many of you since i joined the blogger world. Thank you to my regular readers for your continued support, comments and encouragement. Sometimes i wonder if i bore you with all my ramblings and finishes of which there were 63 this year, it sounds a lot but most of them were small exchange finishes.



I hope 2008 is a wonderful year for you, filled with love, laughter, happiness and good health.
Love and {hugs} to you all

Spirit of the Eagle

thought you might like to see an update of 'the indian', this is such a colourful project to stitch. My dad was a huge fan of eagles/indians and read and watched everything he could about them, so when i saw this i knew i had to stitch it immediately. I started it on the anniversary of his death and it's kind of therapeutic to stitch on it. My brother had his eye on it when he came to visit, asked me how long it will take to stitch it .... wonder if he'll be over for another visit soon to check on it's progress LOL

Stitched gifts i sent out ...

Stitched Gift Exchange at JA ~ i sent to Christine.
Fabric 32ct cream (not sure what). Thread Carries Creation 'Cranberry Sauce'. Design 'Sampler Noel' by Fancy Work from JCS Ornament Edition 2006 made into a pin cushion
Thank you gift i sent to Jorja at TS for the wonderful gifts she put into the advent parcel, she has let me know it arrived safely with her. This is a Just Nan design, Victorian Roses

This little cutie i sent to my friend Cindy, Merry Kitty Klaus by Vals Stuff from JCS Ornament 2007, stitched on 14ct opalescent aida. I don't usually do aida but i wanted it sparkly and i didnt have anything else suitable. The ribbon says 'Merry Christmas' on it too and was from Tesco of all places LOL

Merry Christmas

to all my blog readers, hope you are having a lovely time with your families ...









My stitched gift in the exch at JA was from Dusty and was wrapped so beautifully and put inside the beaded blue bag with the bar of chocolate. It's a wonderful hardanger tree ornie and is hanging on my tree. Inside the card was a needle puller, i haven't seen one of these before. Thank you Dusty, i love it.

Day 24 of the advent exch - from Jorja i received a lovely gingerbread man photo frame and from Kathy some Earl Grey tea to savour. Day 25 and the final parcels to open. Jorja has gone overboard and sent me these 3 charts!!! WOW what a treat. Kathys gift for Day 25 was the beautiful wooden box that you can stitch a top for and it has dividers inside. I have been so spoilt by Jorja and Kathy in the advent exch and i am really very overwhelmed with all the gifts they have chosen for me. Thank you so much to you both. XX

The other stash in the photo are gifts from Karen, Edda, Jayne, Elaine, Cindy and Lisa. My love and thanks to you all

Ding, Dong merrily on high ....

and high in the sky is what the design of my new project is ... this is a WIP pic as of last night. The finished design is this. Day 23 of the advent exch and Kathy has sent me a diary for 2008. Jorjas gift was fun, it is a snowman made from a flannel and has a bar of soap inside him and his head is a bath fizz ... how clever is that!!!!

A partridge in a pear tree ...

or if you get out your magnifying glass you might be able to see the woodpecker that is in next doors poplar tree LOL

The advent exch is coming to an end, only a couple more parcels to open now. Kathy sent me a great gift today, 6 Birthday cards, no excuse to forget now! and from Jorja i received a nice piece of linen

When Santa got stuck up the chimney ....

Midge decided he wanted to go up and see if he could rescue him!!!! So, we have had to buy a new fireguard for my open fire, it now covers all of the hole and there is no way he will be jumping over and trying to go up there again when the fire is out ... silly kitty

Day 21 ... it can't be can it??? Jorja sent 2 lovely ornies for the tree, i think she has made these herself. Kathy sent me 2 dusting and polishing mitts, wonder if i'll get time to use them before Santa comes, or maybe i could get DH to try them out and show me how to use them properly LOL

Merry Christmas to you all *just for you Sally*

The Holly and the Ivy ....

or should that be 'Hollyberry and the Ivy - today i collected it from the framers minus the fabric threads that he left inside it!!!

Stitching club Christmas meal last night, we went to the local pub/restaurant. The food was wonderful and we had a really nice time. Next time i see the girls will be 2008!!

Christmas stitching completed and only 1 WIP (HAED Leo), so i made a new start that is going to be my focus piece over the festive season. I only stitched for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon, so i'll share a pic with you when there's a bit more.

todays gift from Jorja was alphabet blocks to add your stitching too, they are really small so that will be a challenge to see what i can stitch for those and from Kathy 2 pieces of lovely fabric for my finishes.

Thanks ladies for your kind comments yesterday, and thank you for being my 'special friends'

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen ....

and God Bless my dad, it's 2 years today since he lost his battle with lung/colon cancer. This pic was taken in September 2005 before he was diagnosed and sits on my piano where i find myself sitting and talking to him and imagining him answering me with his words of wisdom and advice. The 2 little ornies i bought from the hospice this year to raise funds for the wonderful work they do


Fabric was in Day 19's packages. White opalescent and brown 28ct from Kathy, and 3 wonderful finishing fabrics from Jorja. Thank you ladies.

Lots of love to you all
{{hugs}}

Mistletoe and wine ....

Mistletoe was one of the scents of the Yankee Candles Jorja sent, the other was Christmas Cookie, i'm looking forward to lighting them to scent my home. Kathy sent a lovely bag too. DH bought some mistletoe from the garden centre today and stood there lips pursed in anticipation in the doorway when we got home, he got the obligatory 1 kiss LOL

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer ....

and me seeing red after going to the framers to collect 'Hollyberry'. It looked beautiful except the small snippet of linda fabric that was wedged between the glass and the fabric!!! The sales assistant was very apologetic, but i was in no mood for her small talk - now waiting for a phone call to go collect it again...
I can't belive we are on Day 17 already, my gifts today were as lovely as the previous 16 days, the mitten from Jorja and the rose scented sachets from Kathy. I sent my gifts to Kathy as i received her name in the advent exchange and as she has opened the 2 individual stitched gifts i made for her, i can reveal what they were. She seems pleased with them LOL

We wish you a Merry Christmas .....

thats what it says on the ornie i stitched for our own tree this year. Chart from JCS Ornie Mag 2005, by La-D-Da, using WDW threads
Kathy sent the lovely box with address book etc in it & from Jorja i received some beaded fringed ribbon for Day 16

In the bleak midwinter ....

you need warming up from the inside out ... Day 14's gift (opening Day 15 due to yesterdays little mishap!) from Jorja is Mary Englebreit's 'Starry Night Wassail' ~ apple cider spice to add to warmed apple juice or apple cider (like the UK mulled wine). Kathy sent me a double ended highlighter and some pink post-its, a perfect gift as i put these into my stitching mags to mark a page and i can add notes/ideas for future reference just in case i forget an idea LOL

O come all ye faithful ....

readers of my blog, i have a big confession to make .... my brain must be getting all frazzled with all the Christmas preparations and exciting gifts i'm getting as i actually opened Day 15 today instead of Day 14

I could have rewrapped them and opened the proper day but as i am an honest person i decided to come clean, i do hope Kathy and Jorja don't mind. Jorja has made me 2 padded coasters filled with winter spice scent and Kathy sent a rose scented candle, they both smell wonderful. I have given myself a slap on the wrist for the mistake and will take much more care in future LOL

I can only plead insanity due to excitment as it happened after the postie arrived with an armful of goodies as well - a gift from Sally (sent to santa) thank you Sally. The stitched gift arrived from the US for the secret exchange at JA - put away till 25th. From Lynne (cocokat) i received the most wonderful stitched ornie and 'special friend' kitty for my tree, she also enclosed a little tea bag with instructions (you can read that on the pic if you enlarge it) thank you Lynne, i will treasure these gifts and i love the Snoopy card, Another envelope had the Loopylou chart 'Christmas Wishes' that i won from Jacqui in a contest at TS

Hope you all have a great weekend even though they are predicting very cold weather in the UK. I'll be leaving the shoppers to their panic as i have now finished all the pressie shopping, they are all wrapped and ready for despatch and cards are all sent too. I just need to make a list of the final foodstuffs i need to get .... why am i so organised .... i'm bound to have forgotten something !!!

Oh the weather outside is frightful ...

and i need to keep warm and cosy inside, so my advent gift from Jorja today was very welcome, she sent me a lovely Christmas Santa mug, its really big and will hold lots of tea/coffee/hot chocolate LOL. Kathy sent me some cotton wool pads but i think i'm going to loose these to DD as she's always running out of them


I've finished another stitched gift but can't show you it as the lady reads my blog, so much for this blog being about my stitching and sharing it with you all ..... it's the time of the year and i'll endeavour to put up pics after Santas been

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells ...

announcing that it's Sally's birthday today
'HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU SALLY' as i know she's received the gift i stitched for her i can reveal my stitched tin. I'm sure there will be better picks on her blog after the day when she reveals all the lovely gifts she received, she's such a friendly lady, i'm sure she'll have plenty of fan mail LOL


Advent Exch Day 12 brought me 2 more wonderful gifts. From Kathy i had 2 baskets and i know exactly what i'm going to put into these. Jorja's clue today was 'It's a girl thing .. we can't help but sniff them' it was a mango/mandarin scented candle - hands off Karen - you can't have it - i know you are the candle sniffing Queen LOL

Deck the Halls with boughs of holly ....

but not with Midge who has decided that now it's gone a bit colder he'll take up residence on the chair in the hallway next to the radiator. I wish i could curl up and sleep in the daytime like he does and that he would do all the things i have to do.

I'm trying to make the heading of each post a Christmas Carol - did you guess that LOL

Day 11 is here and Jorjas clue today really baffled us 'I know you've been good, but just in case' .... i opened this cute snowman box and inside was a poem and a lump of real coal, what a super gift. Kathy also sent me a great gift, some travel wipes, you must be psychic Kathy as i threw away an empty packet out of the car when it was cleaned out last time.

Silent Night ...

not in this part of the UK it wasn't, the wind was howling down the chimney last night and tonight they are predicting -3 temperatures!! Does this mean that we might just be in for a white Christmas? that would be fantastic wouldn't it. I'd like to go to bed Christmas Eve with no snow and wake up Christmas morning with it all white ... a girl can dream can't she LOL


Advent Exchange Day 10 ~ Jorja has sent me 2 lovely sticky 'post-its' how did you know i use these Jorja? and from Kathy i received 2 metallic DMC threads and a packet of needles. December does really whizz past when you're looking forward to every morning to see what surprise is waiting for you

Christmas is coming ...

and Julie's getting fat ... well i will be if i keep eating the chocs out of my advent calendar santa, this is the best advent calendar a girl could have, full of Quality Street chocs and none that i dont like LOL Is it the same in your house, a new tin is opened and everyone dibs in to have one or two or even three!! and before you know it, there's only the toffee penny ones in the bottom of the tin as no one likes these .... Whats your favourite Christmas chocolate ????


Todays gifts on Day 9 of the exchange were as delightful as the previous 8. In Kathys parcel was a fantastic pack of gel pens and Jorja's clue today was 'You'll have an 'edge' with these sparkles' and it was some lovely ribbon with snowflakes on it. I have been stitching a bit but can't show you what i've done as they are secret stuff ...

O Christmas Tree ...

with all my lovely handmade stitchers gifts on it and some old favourties too, the memories when i get some of these out make me both smile and feel sad, i think we all have Christmas decorations that have been coming out for donkeys years and no matter how much we think as we put them away 'these wont be up next year' they are LOL. Look who wants to be a xmas decoration and has decided the best place to take a nap is under the tree waiting for Santa - you've got a bit more of a wait Midge till your stocking get filled.

Advent Exch Day 8 and DD was here to help me open todays gifts. She shook, sniffed, felt and still couldn't decide what they might be ... Kathy has sent these wonderful charms and beads, i love them. Jorja's clue was 'Tuck this in your purse for a boring waiting room' I had guessed it might be a little kit. Thank you ladies for the lovely gifts i am opening each day, lots more surprises still to come

Hope you all have a good weekend and don't get crushed in the crowds if out shopping for more Christmas gifts and goodies, and remember 'the customer (you) is always right' and it doesn't cost anything for the shop assistants to be polite and have manners even when they are busy ... thats what i told DD before she left for her shift in Tesco ...

In the Xmas spirit ??

I'm trying to get there .... why does it take so long to put the decs up and yet we can take them down in record time!! Just for you Rachael (so you don't have to nag me) my open fireplace all trimmed up for the occasion. Just to the right is the hand knitted nativity that my MIL made for the kids a very long time ago (click pic to enlarge). Now she's no longer with us, it's a very special part of our festive decorations. The tree is all done too so i'll post a pic of that for you next time. Can you see the cats xmas stockings hanging up all ready, they sent their lists off to santa as well LOL


Day 7 of the advent exchange today, Kathy sent this beautiful calendar, she knows DH is the gardener in this house so he thinks this is another one for him!! Jorjas clue 'Keep a cold weather sniffly nose at bay' and the pressie - a lovely fabric tissue cover, it holds one of those little handbag sized packets, this is going straight into my bag before DD sees it and tries to grab it LOL

On the 6th day ....

'Whisking you a Merry Kiss-mas' was the clue today, what a great gift it was too, a little whisk with a Hershey Kiss inside the whisk end, all i need to do now is to release the prisoner and eat him !!!! The green fabric is the gift from Kathy for today, it will be so useful for backing my ornaments etc. Thank you ladies, i am really enjoying this wonderful advent exchange

Sorry ...

if you've been waiting to see what i had in my advent parcel today, it's nearly tomorrow and i've only just got onto the PC today LOL. I had the sewing machine out and made up Silent Flutter into the lavendar pocket, it smells heavenly. DD has asked for this one to give to her B/F's gran for Christmas, she thinks she will love it, of course i said yes, what else could i say !!!!


Jorjas clue for Day 5 was 'All the colours of the rainbow' and she sent a packet of Mill Hill assorted seed beads, very pretty. DH has decided that Kathys gift was for him today, she sent a foot massager and as he has arthritis of the feet he thinks this one was intended for him. Kathy, they think your gift box is a family advent parcel that we can all share .....

Day 4 already !!!!

'Don't loose your scissors' was todays clue from Jorja, and inside the lovely wrapping paper was this fob such a pretty colour blue on the charm on the end of it, looks like lapis lazuli (is that how you spell it?). Kathys gift was a tablet of soap, it smells lovely, another pampering session for me if i don't loose it to my daughter LOL

Advent Exch ~ Day 3

Todays clue from Jorja ~ 'A ..... by any other name' and the gift was 4 beautiful gold ribbon roses to add to my stitched projects. Kathys gift was socks, very pretty they are too. Thank you ladies.
The weathermen are predicting rain and bad weather all week, so these little surprises each day will be my little ray of sunshine LOL

Advent Exch ~ Day 2

Todays clue was .... Oh what fun you'll have ----- all the way! this one jingled when i picked it up, bells??? .... we were right, tiny little bells with the nicest of jingle to them to add to my stitched projects - love em Jorja, very clever idea. In Kathys parcel was the nicest smelling bath bomb to add to my next bubble bath, sheer luxury and something to pamper me with - thanks Kathy

First Day of Advent

This is the wonderful box that arrived from Jorja in the US for the advent exchange, she has made me the most beautiful quilted advent calendar with little pockets that i will be able to keep forever and use each year. The box was crammed full of lovely wrapped parcels and there was a sheet of clues, one for each day just to tease me even more. Some of the parcels dont fit into the pockets as they are too big LOL




Day 1 today and the clue sheet enclosed read .... Hope this little guy 'pens' Christmas to your tree were all trying to guess what it might be, but none of us thought of this cute little gingerbread peg man, isn't he the sweetest. My gran used to make peg dolls with me when i was little and we would put on plays with them so this brought back some lovely happy memories.



I also received a wonderful surprise, another advent box in the post from my dear friend over on the East Coast of England, the poor postie nearly had a hernia delivering this one. This too was full of nicely wrapped packages all numbered and a special pressie that DH has put away till the 25th. Number 1 is now opened and can be seen on the top of the box, 10 little canisters for beads/buttons

The last few days i've had some wonderful surprises in the post, I am so overwhelmed by your kindness and thank you all for being my friends, i'm getting all emotional now so think i better go and have a cup of tea and blow my nose LOL

Christmas Exchanges

Edda in Iceland was given my name in the stitched card exchange and today i received the most wonderful card, it's the Just Nan Christmas Wallet design. Edda i am so thrilled with it, thank you so much for stitching such a fabulous card for me, i will treasure it always. Edda also stitched the inside as well, it reads "Christmas 2007 To Julie from Edda, wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" You can see better pics on Edda's blog if you click the link in her name). The gift that accompanied it remains unopened and has been sent to Father Christmas. Quite a few of the cards have been received now and they are all lovely, well done to the girls in this exchange at Jayne's Attic

I'm also in the stitched gift exchange at JA as well, what i've stitched has been despatched via Royal Mail (snail mail and thats no joke!!) but this is a secret exchange and cannot be opened till Dec 25th so i can't reveal what it is or who it was sent to till after then and the partners are revealed by the organiser. Of course, the same will apply to the gift i receive. BUT ... i can show you a pic of the package when it gets here so you can be kept in suspense like me and have some sleepless nights wondering what it is as well LOL

Saturday is Dec 1st and that means i can show you the advent parcel that i received from Jorja on the TS MB. This exchange is an advent calendar for stitchers. We had to wrap up 24 small parcels (both stitchy stuff and anything else you thought would make a nice small gift and bring a smile to a friends face) and 1 larger one for Christmas Day. My box arrived earlier this week and is shouting to me to open them all. I have been good and only opened the outer packaging and left the contents alone so far .... 2 more sleeps and i can open day 1 *snigger*. How are you other girls doing? hope you are being good too, remember Santas little helpers will be watching you and reporting back any naughty behaviour !!!!

Much love to you all

It's arrived !!

****Drum roll**** here it is .... a design out of an old gallery magazine, had a tough job finding something i thought was nice and suitable to put into this tuck, well done Joann for giving me a challenge. Stitched 1x1 on 27ct linda using DMC

Rachael, my decorations are definately not up yet, they are safely tucked away in the attic till nearer the time, we aren't even in December yet, your friends must be bonkers!!!! But i do promise to post a pic of my tree etc when i do put them up, if i forget you have permission to nag me LOL

Christmas is coming ....

The tuck exch at TS is such fun, i love to stitch/receive tiny tucks made by Joann. Mine arrived today and was from Christina, she also sent a lovely card telling me the design reminded her of her grandmothers ornaments when she was a child, i hope whilst stitching she had fond memories. Mine is taking the slow route again so no reveal yet of that!!



I can reveal this one..... this was the stitched card exchange at Jayne's Attic. My partner was none other than Jayne herself LOL. What a job i had to find a design that i thought would be perfect. I finally decided on 'Oh Christmas Tree' by The Cats Whiskers Design Studio in the 2006 JCS Ornament Magazine, stitched on 32ct ivory linen using good old DMC and gutterman for the goldwork. It was a fun stitch and i'm so pleased Jayne likes it, i always worry when it's an exchange gift, do you ????


Hope you are all nice and relaxed and not getting too stressed with your preparations for the festive season, just think 1 month and Christmas will be all over and you can make plans for your stitching in 2008 then .....