Just Nan SAL - February update

I have actually had a start and a finish this month.  I have stitched one of the 3 Santas designs - 3 Star Santa. I really enjoyed stitching this one and it only took me a couple of evenings.  I changed the border a bit. Originally it should have been black and white but I thought it made it look a bit zebra-ish so used the dark green of his gloves instead.  The fabric is either dove grey or pewter jobelan but I can't remember which.

Just Nan
1st of '3 Santas'

February's Stitch from Stash

£0.63

Well yet again it has been a successful month with hardly penny spent by me. I needed some ribbon for the 'thing' I am making for Justine. The lighting is a bit harsh in Hobbycraft and I couldn't decide which ribbon to get so I brought both home for the grand price of 63p!  Must be my cheapest ever shop there!

 I have been very lucky to as Colin bought me both of these, one to cheer me up and the other for Valentine's Day.

I was even luckier when I won Linda's blog giveaway which is a gift certificate for 123stitch.  Sadly it wasn't for $500 so I am trying to narrow it down a bit.  It's quite ironic, once upon a time I would have spent it 3 times over and paid the extra but now I am trying to be 'good'.  It's hard though as there are quite a few things I would like!  Thank you Linda xx

Another surprise from Colin

We don't tend to celebrate Valentine's Day but this year Colin surprised me with this chart.  I have loved this for a long while so it was a lovely surprise.  I was rather worried when I received his email as it had the subject line of URGENT please read!!!!!  I was expecting the worst!

Thanks hubby!!  (Now all I need is the fabric)

Silly Cats (again)

After Biskey's antics of the other day, Smudge decided he would get in on the action.  Look at this!

Advice needed (part 2)

This one isn't quite as easy as yesterday's dilemma.

As regular readers know, I have been stitching Cinderella on and off for almost 2 years.  I was asked by my mum, who was asked by her sister (my aunt obviously!) to stitch it for her daughter (my cousin!).  They sent me the money for the fabric, kreinik and beads and provided the magazine with the chart.  I said I would pay for the DMC as I had a lot of what was needed.

Yesterday I messaged my cousin on facebook (I have only met her twice in my life so this is the only contact we have been having), told her I was nearing the end of the cross stitching and could she start looking around for suitable alphabets to personalise the design as it will be a birth sampler for her daughter.  She told me to find one to which I explained that I don't know her taste and didn't want to choose the wrong thing.  She then went on google images and chose pretty much the first one she saw, which is a pretty one but is SO wrong for Cinderella.  It's this...which is one I bought at Christmas to do my ORTS ornie.  She wants her daughter's full name which is 18 letters in total with 2 spaces. Each of those letters is around an inch wide so I explained that it would be too big (not stitching over one for her which would actually still be over 9") and that she needed to find something smaller.  I suggested a pretty alphabet but told her we would have to pay for it - I'm no copyright pirate!  It costs a whole £2.52!  This is it here.

She has then told me to finish the 'picture' and send it to her "She'll sort it out." That was after telling me that she has a frame that she '...thinks will do.'  Anyone see why I am feeling a bit cross yet?

So my dilemma is do I...

1. Finish the 'picture' and send it back.
2. Finish it, stitch the alphabet she wants, hate it and send it back.
3. Send it back as it is now - after all if she can finish the birth details, she can finish the 'picture'.
4. Send my aunt the money back and keep Cinders for myself.
5. Put Cinders away for a month and see how I feel about it once I am calmer and not so annoyed.
6. Just keep it anyway, after all, how many hours have I stitched on it?

Number 6 is out because to me that just feels immoral.  At the end of the day no matter how ********** (submit any word that means irritated or annoyed for the asterisks) I am, they have still paid for the materials mostly and it feels like theft.  

So assuming anyone has got this far, and well done if you have, what would you do???  If you have any other options that I haven't considered please let me know.  If you would prefer to email me rather than leave a message my email is sharon j stevens at msn dot com.  Obviously that is without the spaces and with the appropriate symbols inserted.

Currently Cinders is on my WIP shelf as I haven't got the heart to work on her at the moment which is a shame as I got a lot done today!

Advice needed (part 1)

I need advice please...bet you didn't guess that one, did you?  No clue whatsoever in the title!

I want to organise my stitching, stash etc etc a bit lot better than it is now.  I have downloaded an app for sorting all my threads out. It's called Cross Stitch Thread Companion and seems to do all I need it to although it does have some annoying adverts on it.  I don't know if I buy the 'pro' version if that will just get rid of the ads or if I would need to enter all my threads again.  I need to investigate that.

Then I want 'something' to catalogue my fabric, charts and kits...but what?  Any ideas?  Also I want to record the stitching journey of a piece which is something I don't do at the moment.  In fact when I was looking through my finishes there was only one piece that I could categorically tell you what the fabric was. So again any top tips on how to do this effectively would be very welcome.  So far, I have bought 2 notebooks which is as far as I have got.  I don't know whether to go for paper copy or spreadsheets or something else.  The thread app on my phone seems good and will be handy if I need to replace threads as long as I keep it updated.

So please, please, please share your record keeping with me and help me get organised!

Great giveaway!

Fab giveaway...just click on the button to go straight there...

Silly cats

Can this cat seriously be comfortable?  Or is it he is just so desperate to sit on someone's lap that he will take anything he can get?

He is definitely looking a bit grumpy at having his photo taken judging by the position of those ears.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

I am taking part in Jo's Secret Stitching Sweetheart.  Visit her here!

This is such a cute design, I can't wait to find out who stitched this pretty little design.  Reveal yourself Secret Sweetheart...please!

WIPocalypse - February update

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!  I hope you are feeling loved today.

So of the designs I want to work on this year for the WIPocalypse, what did I do?

Cinderella?  Oh yes, she is coming along great guns as my main focus piece.
Around the World, Santa's Village?  Nope, never touched them.
Cut Thru Stable?  Yes, I put around 15 stitches of pale pink into it.
Honeysuckle Courtyard? No, but that will be my focus once I finish Cinderella.

You may recognise the photo above.  I haven't done anything on her for a few days as it is assignment time again!

So how many projects do I feel comfortable with?  Hahahah...well as when I was updating my WIP's/UFO's page the other day I had 80 I suppose that must be the number I am comfortable with!!  I'd love to say one but I would be lying :)

***Breaking News***

A couple of days ago, Luke said to me 'Can I do a couple of stitches?'
'Haha, no!' was my response.
'Oh go on, you can unpick it afterwards.
'No.'
'Go on.'

So I gave in and let him.  His interest lasted for 2 whole stitches!  Halfway through the first one he looked up at me and totally deadpan said 'And this doesn't mean I want loads of new charts to do.'  Cheeky!  And actually, I didn't need to unpick the stitches. He did a very neat job.

Water Bill

Today we got our water bill for the coming year.  Because United Utilities (the company who fleece us for water) realise that costs are rising are so generous, they have given us a discount on the bill for the year.  It's a whole £2.50 for the year. What are we going to do with it? Let's see who has the best idea of what to do with it!

Treat from Colin

I was off work for a couple of weeks recently with workplace related stress.  Actually I debated whether to tell anyone that because it has a kind of 'you just need to get on with it' connotation to it, a bit like if you tell someone you are depressed and get told to 'pull yourself together'.  But there it is.  Anyway, last Monday I came home from my first day back and burst into tears as soon as I got out of the car.  Colin, bless him, missed all this as he wasn't home from work at the time but when the children told him about it, he decided I needed a cheering up treat.  He found my wishlist here on my blog and treated me to this.

Now, I'll be honest, as cute as I find many dragon designs it is not something I would normally choose to stitch.  But...look at that cute little face...and the chocolate and the title of the book...seriously how could I NOT love 'The History of Chocolate - a love story'.  So this is what I may possibly have accidentally started the other day.  Being the dimwit that I am, I confused 3371 with 3771 and ended up having 79 pale peach stitches instead of 79 dark brown.  Not much difference there then!  I won't bore you with photos of my dark brown blob especially as it's over 1 - it's even more boring than my normal blobs!

Turtle Trot - February update (edited to add photos of Cinders)

Turtle Trot time again.  It comes round so fast.

This month I have worked mainly on Cinderella just because I want to get her finished and sent off to her new home as soon as possible so that I don't feel guilty every time I work on something else.  Here is where she is at the moment.  I have started adding the Kreinik and backstitching as I go, the thought of having to do it all at the end is just too much.  I will do the beading at the end however.

I have tried to catch the sparkly dress in the next two photos but it hasn't really worked too well.  Hopefully you will get the idea!

I did a tiny bit on Positive Thinking too - but not a lot!  Progress is progress though, however small :)

I even pulled out my Cut Thru Stable, but the progress on that wasn't even worth the effort of a photo. Approximately 15 pale pink stitches before I gave up and put it away.

Mary's Sampler got a little attention and I made a start on the border.  I got bored of that too though so not much progress.  Still if I did a little each month, it would be finished for Christmas this year!  I have changed the red of the flower in the border as the one I had was a little too strong and I felt it would overpower the actual design.  At one point I wasn't going to do the border but I felt that it needed something to 'finish it off' 

Theme-a-licious -

In January I stitched on the following designs that I could shoehorn gardens or flowers into.

In the order of the photos:

1. Cinderella - Joan Elliott
2. Rosa - India Grace Designs
3. Halloween House - Ursula Michaels
4. Touching the Autumn Sky - Mirabilia
5. Honeysuckle Courtyard - Patricia Ann Designs

I suppose I could have tentatively suggested that Oh Christmas Tree and A Very Merry Christmas have trees in which could be in a garden...but I won't!