A Lovely Gift Received!

Hello dear blogging friends! Oh my, has it really been that long since my previous post?  I trust you are all keeping well!  I am slowly winding down from a very, very busy year and I'm so happy to be blogging again.

Last month I received such a wonderful surprise from my dear friend Michelle over at Michelle's Stitchcraft Place - she sent me a lovely gift for my birthday!  Look at the pretty birthday card:

She sent me a Tralala Collection chart, a piece of 32ct linen and the sweetest little notebook:

Here is a close up of the chart - it is so cute and definitely on my 'to do' list for next year!  Thank you so much Michelle, I absolutely love the gift!

Since my last blog post the seasons have been changing!  We had a very long, cold, wet winter this year, but Spring has finally arrived (despite some heavy rainfall this past weekend and more rain predicted for this week!) and the garden is coming to life.  Here is a picture of one of the first roses to bloom - in the background you can see the first sweet peas of the season:

Here is a close up of some of the sweet peas - the scent is just heavenly!

I have not been able to stitch as much as I would have liked to over the past few months, but did manage a few small finishes (and perhaps a large start!), as well as a few other projects.  I will share some pics soon!

Enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

Michelle

Christmas Ornaments and More Needle Painting!

Hello dear stitching friends!  Oh my, Christmas really is just around the corner!  I have been working on some Christmas ornaments these past few weeks - here are some that I would like to share with you today:

This beautiful Christmas tree is a segment from Vintage Christmas by Country Cottage Needleworks and is stitched on self-dyed 28ct evenweave.  It is finished as a hanging pillow ornament and is backed with the fabric pictured.  I changed the colours to a more traditional, vintage colour way and I just love how it turned out - I think I will use more segments of this design for ornaments!

This little cutie is a freebie by Carmela and was such fun to stitch.  It is stitched on light blue linen in DMC threads and also finished as a hanging pillow ornament.  It is backed with the adorable snowman fabric pictured.

I have also been doing some needle painting.  This little piece is called Cerise Anemone and is from Trish Burr's book Needle Painting Embroidery: Fresh Ideas For Beginners and is finished as a pinkeep. 

I have really been enjoying the needle painting and hope to start a new project soon - after I do some more Christmas stitching, of course!

The sun has been shining and the temperatures rising here in our corner of the world and the summer flowers are starting to show their colours!  Here are some pics of my Hydrangeas:

They are a stunning pink this year and almost ready for picking!

That's it for this post - enjoy the rest of the week and Happy Stitching!

Michelle

Mary Glover Finish and Half a Finish

I have not been blogging, but I have been doing a lot of stitching! I finished the Mary Glover SAL, hosted by Emmanuelle, this weekend. This is such a lovely piece, I can't wait to have it framed!

Here are a few close ups:
The colours are so pretty and I love the Rice Stitch band, even though it was time consuming.

I have also made some great progress on Historic Countries Sampler, with half of the countries completed (Spain, Scandinavia, Holland, Ireland, England after the 1700s and Germany).
Here is a close up of Holland:
Close up of Ireland - I really loved stitching this section:
England after the 1700s:
Germany:
Germany also had some specialty stitches, including Queen stitch, Algerian Eyelets, Blackwork, Rice stitch and Zig Zag running stitch:

It is Mother's Day next Sunday, but I could not resist getting these lovely roses for my mom a week early :) Aren't they stunning - I love the pink with the hint of green of the flowers.
Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Free Birthday Chart

Hi! As promised, here is a picture of the piece I designed for my birthday (today). If you want the free chart, all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post with your email address and I will send you a pdf of the chart. It does not matter if you have never left a comment on this blog before and you don't have to be a follower either. You can also leave a comment as long as this post remains available, so it doesn't have to be on the exact date.

I hope you like it! If you stitch it - feel free to email a photo to me - I would love to put it on my blog! I stitched it in DMC threads on a 28ct white evenweave, but you can change it as much as you like :)
Here is a pic of some of the sweet treats we had for dessert - chocolate and strawberries - what's not to love!

Some of the beautiful flowers I received.

Isn't this little posy too cute?

That's it for now, have a good week with lots of stitching!