Flags

Sadly, the website that I used for 'tracking' where visitors to my blog were from stopped giving free widgets and went 'Pro' (in other words you have to pay for them).  To me personally, there are better things to spend my money on than a flag counter so I removed it from my blog and didn't have one.  I have missed not knowing what countries people are visiting from though and so I have found a different freebie to add. Unfortunately it does mean starting from 1 again but hey ho, there you go, not much I can do about it.  I was up to 86 different countries, I wonder how long it will take me to get there again?

Stitching and garden

I decided to have a few days off from studying so the children both helped clean the house from top to bottom over the course of a couple of days.  Their reward for that was an extra hour on the laptop or Wii Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with an ice cream off the van when it came round. I obviously just did it for fun!! Well actually, I rewarded myself with 3 hours of stitching time.  As my next new start will be Spring Fling Faerie, I thought I should show Sweet Pea a little love.  So this is where she is with an extra 3 hours work on her.  Now I love this design, but to me she doesn't look like a sweet pea.  She actually reminds me of a Cancan Pansy.  Can you see what I mean? All those ruffles just look like a pansy.

Nora Corbett - Sweet Pea

Cancan Pansy from TMseeds.com

I have to admit to having been pleasantly surprised at how different the colours were in the actual stitched piece to the photo on the front of the chart.

I have also been out and got a few shots of the garden which is looking brilliant at the moment.

Wow! 2 updates in the same week - bet you are really shocked.

And finally...is this REALLY what a suave, sophisticated feline should be doing?

That tummy was just begging to be tickled...and it was!  In case you can't work it out.  He is laying on the right hand side of a 3 seater sofa with his head resting on the arm like it's a pillow.

Sneaking in the back door...

Well the study is still going full steam ahead with 5 assignments written and 1 more to go.  Then all I have is the final project which is due on 19th September.  My next course will start on 28th September so there won't be much of a break.

I have done a little stitching, but not much  :(

I have added a blob of 3371 to the bottom left corner and a bit to the lower middle area.  Just telling you in case you can't tell!

Sweet Pea - Nora Corbett

Cinderella has a little bit done to the tops of the steps.

Cinderella - Joan Elliott

A small amount has been stitched on the Stable.

Cut Thru Stable - Bothy Threads

Can you spot the difference here?  Don't worry it's only 4 stitches!

Santa's Village - CCN

 I did finish part 7 of Around the World AND make a start on part 8, woohoo!

ATW - Papillon Creations

Part 7 - upside down!

 Rachael has been bitten by the cross stitch bug too and decided to make a leaving present for her form tutor who is off to London.  He has been an amazing form tutor and looked after her so well, especially with diabetes issues so he will be missed by us both.  She rooted through my magazines and came up with this design.  I haven't a clue which magazine she chose in the end but she personalized it by putting the 'E' on his chest which is his surname.

With a little help from me, she turned it into a cube finish and I made the bow for her which she was happy with.  What do you think of her first attempt?  I didn't help her at all with the stitching after explaining how to read the chart and to start the thread off.  I think she did brilliantly.

Mr E was pleased with it apparently.

Actually...I haven't fallen off the face of the earth

Hello...it's me...do you remember who I am?  Have you missed me?

I have been busy studying, studying and even more studying.  My current OU course is SO hard.  On the plus side though, I am now half way through the assignments and then only have a project to do at the end.  I can't wait for it to finish!!  I have already signed up for the next one which will be Children's Literature and I can't wait!!!!  I have saved this one to be the last module of my degree.  Most of the set books are bought and one has been read with another in progress.

Stitching has been abandoned currently with the course being so much work.  The other night I put 12 stitches, yes just 12 stitches, into a piece and felt like happy dancing.  That shows how little stitching is going on!

I won't bore you with a photo of Cinderella with an extra 12 stitches in...although maybe I could use it as a spot the difference giveaway...hehe.  I have worked on Mabel Figworthy's Song of the Weather SAL which stitch up really easily and quickly with fantastic instructions. I have finished January and February but have ground to a halt on March as I have to try and get 24 french knots looking lovely and evenly spaced.  It just isn't happening!  I don't know how many times I have frogged the first 6 as I'm not happy with them.  I may just give up and use beads.

Mabel Figworthy's Song of the Weather SAL
January

Mabel Figworthy's Song of the Wather SAL
February

As you can probably tell, I am doing them all on one piece of fabric with the same colours throughout. The three colours are DMC blanc, DMC599, DMC597.  I love the look of these so far.

There has been progress on the Monday SAL - if you look carefully.  This is my Cut Thru Stable so far.  

Bothy Threads Cut Thru Stable
Monday SAL

I can finally post a photo of the wedding sampler I did for Helen and Kev's wedding a couple of years ago.  They finally got it when Colin went down in the Easter holidays with it safely wrapped up in about 20 m of bubblewrap.  The design is a Janlynn one and can you believe it...I haven't taken one of the design finished as far as I can see.  What a dozy doughnut!

Well I think that's quite enough news for one day.  Hopefully with it being half term this week I will find some time for stitching :)

Giveaway again

Katie had been in touch so I will be getting her prize in the post on Monday.  Thanks to those who put out messages for her :)

My 'wooden' giveaway

I have still not heard from Katie despite repeatedly emailing her.  I have also left a comment on her last blog post for her to contact me.  If anyone knows her in real life could you please let her know that she won and I'm trying to get in touch with her.  I will redraw the names if I don't hear from Katie by 17th April.

(Jo, I wanted to send yours and Katie's at the same time so I haven't forgotten you :)

Sort of a WIPocalypse/Theme-a-licious update

There hasn't been an awful lot of stitching this month.  My course is really intense and taking up nearly all of my spare time.  Rachael and Luke didn't even know they had a mum for the first week of the Easter holiday as all my time was spent at the kitchen table writing an assignment.  Still we can have a fun week this week.

I am still waiting on Katie getting back to me about winning - I wonder if she is on holiday somewhere hot and sunny?

So this is my progress on Cut Thru Stable which I am doing as a Monday night SAL with Linda and Debbie.  There is now 8 of us stitching various Cut Thru designs.  If anyone wants to join in with us just let one of us know.

This is my progress on Chatelaine's Roses of Paris so far.  I have ordered the rest of the silks and will be hopefully getting them in the next couple of weeks.  I am really enjoying stitching it and have only got a little bit to do before I can move onto the next area.  Do I go up and do the Eiffel Tower or down and do the metro station?  I think I might leave the Eiffel Tower until last actually.

I am slowly moving all the blog links over to bloglovin' which I am finding easy to use so far.

I'm sure I have some other news to share but can't for the life of me think what it is...oh well!

Belatedly...and the winner is...

Well let's face it, you would probably faint if I did something on time, wouldn't you?  So follow the photos and find out the winner.

The bowl of destiny, aka my cereal bowl...

...the boy of fortune (aka Luke)

hmmmm.....I wonder....which one shall I choose?

I think I like the look of that one...

Can you read it?

No?  How about now?

Still a bit blurry?  Well how about now then? 

***** Congratulations Katie *****

Can you email me your address please and I will get your 'woody' prize in the post to you.

There was one comment that really made me chuckle so Jo, for being so 'wooden' and giving me the idea in the first place, I'm going to send you a little something too.  I'm pretty sure I have your address but will shout if I have filed it somewhere I can't find it!!

5th blogoversary

Hello...it's my blogoversary today.  5 years, where has the time gone?  Below I have copied and pasted my first ever post.  I wonder how many readers today have read it before?  None I suspect.

Blogging - I'm a blogger!!

Well where do I start? I suppose the first thing to do is to let everyone know who I am!

I am Sharon, 39, and married. I have 2 wonderful children - Rachael, 8, ( who also has Type 1 diabetes) and Luke, 6. We have 3 dopey cats - Sheba, Biskey and Smudge. We also have 4 goldfish but I don't have a clue what they are called these days as their names changed from day to day when we first got them 2 years ago.

I work as a teaching assistant in a primary school which I absolutely love. I get the best of both worlds - job satisfaction and loads of holidays. Contrary to public opinion we do not get paid these holidays, teachers do, we don't!! Currently I am in a Year 1 class (age 5 -6 years) but I have worked across just about all ages in the past.

My main hobby is cross stitching. If I live to 100 there is a vague chance that I could stitch all my stash but I doubt it. My favourite designs are Mirabilia, Amanda Loverseed's Cut Thru's and Lizzie Kate's for a quick stitch. I recently compiled a list of my WIP's and UFO's.........that was a scary job!!

I also enjoy stamp collecting, not philately - there is a difference! I collect stamps from Great Britain and butterflies from all over the world. I only started collecting again after Christmas 2007 but I am rapidly building my collection again!!

My daughter has Type 1 diabetes and has done since November 2005. This was a total bolt from the blue as there is no history of it in either family. She manages this fantastically, currently with 4 injections a day but we are currently having pump training. Soon she will be the proud owner of a pump - and she can't wait!! Rachael is under Dr Doughty at St Mary's in Manchester. Both him and Marie the diabetes nurse are fabulous and I can't recommend them enough. We only moved there in August 2007 after becoming disillusioned with our previous hospital.

Well there have been a fair few changes in 5 years but nothing major.

Let me see...well obviously I'm 44 now...lol.  We only have 2 cats now, Sheba had to be put to sleep a couple of years ago.  The 4 goldfish became 16 danios - don't worry no black magic was used :)

I'm still a teaching assistant but at a different school.  I no longer work in class but provide SEN support across school but mainly Key Stage 2.  I've also completed 2/3 of a degree in Childhood and Youth Studies now.

My taste in designers hasn't changed massively but it has broadened somewhat.  I still have little no chance of completing all my stash before I die.

Now, if you are still awake, here's the interesting bit...a giveaway.  Jo, of Serendipitous Stitching, pointed out that for a 5th wedding anniversary is traditional to give wood.  So my giveaway is a log.  No...only kidding.  My plan is to make up a package filled with some wood themed stitchy bits.  So for example there might be a chart from White WILLOW Stitching...get it?

If you would like to enter the giveaway please leave a comment on this post only.  I will choose a winner on Easter Monday but it may take me a couple of weeks to get everything together.  I'm not doing this to get new followers or anything like that so would ask that it isn't posted to other blogs.  Let's face it, the less it is advertised, the more chance you have of winning :)

Prayers worked

All the prayers and good wishes have obviously worked as Colin has just started a job with the company.  It is only a 4 month contract initially but Nick, his boss, has said that it is a foot the door.  Hopefully when this contract is up there will be some more work for him - fingers crossed.  So thank you to everyone who sent good thoughts and prayers our way.

I haven't had much time for stitching as I am currently studying an OU module which is really hard work.  It is a level 3 course, equivalent to the last year at a brick university and is Research with children and young people.  This is an area that I am not familiar with, especially the key terms.  One of the set books has turned me into a Pavlov dog and every time I even think about reading it, I start yawning.  I received the mark back from my first assignment and it was the lowest mark I have ever received (this is my 8th module), so I must need to study even harder.

Apart from the updates I have posted over the last couple of days, I have stitched on Roses of Paris and Sweet Pea Pixie.

Chatelaine Designs - Roses of Paris

Nora Corbett - Sweet Pea Pixie

I also had a birthday on March 8th and Mother's Day on March 10th.  With Colin not having a job we were supposed to be having a very cheap birthday without presents apart from the children giving ONE SMALL THING. The capitals are because despite agreeing to the rule, Colin was unable to keep it.  I was very lucky and received the Tiny Treasured Diamond kit and the chart and threads for JBW's Halloween.

Then I received nearly all the silk threads for Roses of Paris.  I have to say my favourite is the Northern Lights (magenta) which is divine in real life.

And finally...

each year they bake me a cake.  Now I'm not saying I'm a chocolate fan or anything but as you can see by the cake I do enjoy a little nibble :)