Stable, Harrogate, giveaways

Well I didn't get the job, no surprises there.  Apparently my classroom activity was really good which I am really pleased with and the only reason the other lady got it over me was because she related more to the academy ethos than I did.  Thank you for your support, thoughts and prayers though, they were much appreciated.

Now Linda, sit down because the shock may be too much for you!  I have worked on my Cut Thru Stable!! I have restitched the bottom bit of the door/wall that I had 'reverse stitched' and I think I did a bit of the top half of the door too.

Last weekend, I went to the Harrogate stitching and knitting show.  I was disappointed that there wasn't more cross stitch stands there but I still managed to find something to buy.  Sadly most of it has been put away by Colin for Christmas :(  I was allowed to keep the quilting fabrics that I got from the Stitchwitch.  I could have spent a fortune there but had certain designs in mind to finish off so stuck with appropriate things for them.

Sewitall had some nice cuts of fabric so I picked up some brown evenweave as I always struggle to find nice browns.  There is some sparkly white aida, some blue and a gorgeous pink/blue mottled sparkly aida.

Then I discovered this stand.  Oh my word...they were gorgeous!  I had a hard time deciding which one to go for.  In the end I settled on Starry Night in gold and red.  I have made a start but have done something wrong and one bit has come undone.  I think I must have passed the needle back through a bead the wrong way.  Trouble is being a newbie to it, I don't know whether it is a repairable error or whether I need to unbead back to the mistake and redo it.  Google, here I come...lol.

I have been SO lucky recently with winning various giveaways.  First up is a surprise giveaway from Jan over at http://threadgarden.blogspot.co.uk/.  I was a little worried about this one in case it tied in with Jo's Halloween blog hop answer of Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog.  Thankfully it was far, far nicer than that! Firstly it was beautifully wrapped up. 

And on peeling back the pretty paper.  This what was revealed.  That geranium rose soap smells absolutely divine!  It's far to nice to put on the sink and let people use but I suppose I will have to...  The rubbish photo doesn't show the chart very well which is Up Up and Away.  Jan also gave me all the speciality threads to stitch it up with.  Last but not least was some cute little rock sweets, they were divine and if anyone EVER wants to send me some more, feel free :) 

I also won a giveaway from Susan of Acorn House Designs.  She sent me the rather gorgeous poinsetta to make up the design from JSC ornament edition.  Guess what I am doing this weekend?

Thank you ladies for such lovely packages and for offering the giveaways.  I am thrilled with them both.

Drac in the Box

Just in case you didn't see my updated blog hop post yesterday...here is Drac in all his glory.  I think he looks pretty good even though I do say so myself.

So without further ado...may I present Drac in the Box by Acorn House Designs from this year's JCS Halloween issue.

He was stitched on pewter grey 28ct jobelan with the recommended DMC threads and used a few beads!

Halloween Blog Hop (edited)

Huge thanks go to Jo for organising this Blog Hop.  As I told her before, it is my second favourite event of the year with her Advent Calendar being my most favourite!

Now I know if should be a finished piece of halloween stitching but I haven't quite finished him yet! However, this photo will be updated throughout the day until Drac is revealed in all his glory.

So my letter is O as in O dear what a mess he looks at the moment!

Next you need to follow this link which will take you to the next blog and you can find the next letter there!

 Keep Calm and Cross Stitch

Happy Halloween

And he is done!!!  (And on Halloween too!)

Drac in the Box, Halloween Nails and cute cats

Rachael wanted her nails done in a halloween theme.  She couldn't decide what design to go with so we finally went with a different design on each nail. So we have a ghost, spider, pumpkin, Frankenstein and cobweb.  We had great fun designing them and Rachael thinks they look good which is what matters!

I have been stitching furiously on my Drac and this is where I was with it this afternoon.

I have no idea what is going on with the photos.  I uploaded them all the right way up but some of them are now looking the wrong way up.  Still I am sure that you get the idea of what they should look like :)

I have since stitched the bottom design in one of these boxes which has my initials, a cute little spider and 2013 in.  This leaves the rest of the lids to stitch and the top piece.

I can do this!  I can get it finished in time!  I'm sure I can.

And finally...2 very cute cats.  Rachael and I were trying to decide whether they were having a cuddle or whether it was the aftermath of a wrestling bout and Biskey had pinned Smudge.  Smudge however seemed quite content to have Biskey laying all over him.  

Just a quick reminder of Jo's (Serendipitous Stitching) blog hop.  It will be up and running on Thursday so be sure to visit her blog to follow the links and find the secret word(s).It should be fun and hopefully I will find some new bloggers to annoy follow.

Drac in the Box and Mary's Sampler

First up is Mary's Sampler with part 4 stitched.  Part 5 is downloaded and ready to be done some time this week.  So here is the whole thing so far...

Plum Street Samplers -Mary's Sampler SAL

..and a close up of part 4 too.

Plum Street Sampler - Mary's Sampler
Part 4 close up

 Some more progress has been made on my Drac in the Box.  I am trying very hard to ignore the fact that Jo (Serendipitous Stitching) has already finished hers and that it looks amazing!  I have worked on the body today and will take a photo tonight to show you.  That then leaves the 2 lid pieces, skull, bottom, rest of the arms and the top panel to do - oh and the small matter of making up!  I don't think there is much chance of it being done in time for this Halloween!

Acorn House Designs - Drac in the Box

Acorn House Designs - Drac in the Box

A stitchy update

As promised, although a day later than anticipated, a stitchy update.

But first...thank you to everyone who responded to Rachael's worries.  She read all of the comments and I have told her they will be printed off for her to read when she feels down.  I thought of putting them over her bed but will draw the line at that.  I took her to the hairdresser and we had a chat about how she felt about her hair.  The hairdresser cut it into a style that should be easier for her to manage and took loads of the weight out of it.  Even wavy/curly it is easy to see that it is a lot lighter.  Rachael is pleased with it and that is the main thing.

In the few minutes I have had in between writing my research proposal for my penultimate OU course, I have managed a little stitching.

So...there has been a bit of progress on Drac in the Box with most of of the head being stitched, all of the tombstone and some of the bat and moon.  Sorry for the really blurry photo but I am sure you get the idea!

My wired bat arrived which was a special order from Sewandso.co.uk so I will be ready to go when the stitching is finished.

There has been a little bit more progress on Cinderella and I am now down to the bottom of her dress.

 I ordered a couple of pieces of fabric from The Crafty Kitten which arrived a couple of weeks ago.  They look really pretty in real life with lovely delicate mottling to them.

As a weightloss incentive Colin is treating me to 'something' each time I go down into the next stone bracket. This time I chose Nora's Summer Faerie and some fabric.  I have to say that the fabric looks much nicer in reality and not nearly as 'blobby' as it looks here.

My final new purchase is some stick on thimbles to try.  Sometimes when stitching in hand I end up feeling like my pin cushion so thought it might be worth giving these a go.

And that is it for now.  In a couple of days my assignment will be completely finished and I will have 2 weeks of nothing but stitching before the next one begins!