I have heard from Amy that she received the exchange that I sent to her. I knew Amy has been laid up with a bad ankle so I wanted to do something special for her. I guessed (correctly) by her pretty pink blog that pink is her favourite colour so I chose a pink and white theme.

  

The Vicky Clayton silk flosses I ordered for my 'miniature' stitching arrived this morning - such a choice of luscious reds. I took my Miniatures au Point du Croix book to Stitch-n-Bitch last Wednesday evening and now they all want a copy - I guess Amazon.fr will be inundated with orders for this book! My LNS rang me to say that the 55ct (!) linen she ordered in for our group has arrived and she has put some by for me so I will be collecting this later today. I doubt I will be stitching 1*1 on this! 

The lovely Su nominated me for the Special Friends Award and "Love" Pendant. The description for this award reads "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind of writers. When you pass this award along please include these guidelines. I am to choose eight friends to share this with". 

Su and I have become friends though our love of stitching and blogging. Thank you Su! 

My nominations are people whose blogs and stitching inspire me and have thus become friends are:

1  Amy

2  Deb

3  Edgar

4  Valerie

5  Valie

6  Wendy Jo

7  Yuko

No 8 goes back to Su!

Back in January I stitched an ornament for the 2009 Christmas Challenge (here) but was unable to complete the back as I did not have the Charland Mistletoe charm. It has now arrived so I will be attaching it to the back of the ornament at long last!

Great mail delivery today. My new magnifier has arrived and I will take a picture later to show you - it's a monster! Valie has sent me some Gander linen from France - 40 and 50 count - yes I did say 50 count - so I think that the new magnifier will immediately be put to use! Thank you Valie! Edgar's Quaker Friendship RR has arrived too and I think this is the last one I have to stitch on. Despite 3 of the RRs going missing, we have all re-stitched and it won't be too long before this RR will be completed as two have made it home already. 

After an exhausting weekend and a busy Monday and Tuesday, I have decided to give myself a day off today! A day off means a stitching day - does anyone want to join me?

Thanks for visiting

Take care

As we all know last Saturday was Valentine's Day. The postman came early and gave me a card to say there was a package at the Post Office but I had to collect it as there was duty payable on it so, as Ken was going out, he called in to collect it for me. When he got back I could see the package was from Jill and I could not wait to open it. Inside was a amazing array of goodies so I will work my way through the list. First up was a pair of scisssors with their own heart decorated sheath; a cute pair of heart socks; two red threads; a packet of needles; red pins; heart buttons; notelets; 'Gloves in a Bottle' which I have been wanting to try for ages; heart shaped chocolates from a specialist shop in Ohio; a gorgeous heart marking pin/thread counter which Jill had made herself  ... yes there's more ... a pair of red embroidery scissors with a delightfully stitched fob and then there was a magnificent bourse! Jill says there is her first bourse but you would never know - it's absolutely gorgeous. It is the first for me too, as I have not tried this finishing option  but seeing this beautifully stitched and finished bourse has encouraged me to have a go myself! Thank you Jill for such a memorable exchange and for thoroughly spoiling me - I love it all!

Information for all exchangers out in blogland, please be aware that any packages coming into the UK from the US there is a customs charge on anything over the value of £36 (approximately $50) even if the said package is a gift! Extortionate I know so please remember if your 'extras' are over this value it might be a good idea to undervalue them on the customs form. (I hope Customs & Excise do not read my blog LOL).

No stitching yesterday as we were out for the day and this morning I had to go into town to run errands and tonight we have guests for dinner but hopefully tomorrow I can pick up my stitching before the withdrawal symptons set in!

Thanks for visiting

Take care 

My first attempt from the Miniature Petit Croix book! I am using 35ct linen and stitching 1*1 with AVAS 2925 silk floss. The top A-D is tent stitch; the bottom A-D is cross stitch; the needle is a size 28 so you can see how small this stitching really is. I prefer the cross stitch version so will now stitch my chosen pattern in cross stitch although I may try both the tent stitch and cross stitch on 40ct linen first! Anyone got a spare magnifier?

Thanks for visiting

Take care

I came across a roll of stitched pieces yesterday and among them was this pretty Derbyshire cottage. I have no idea when I stitched this piece although a couple of the other pieces with it were dated 1995, so I assume it was around that time. It is stitched on what looks like a 28ct evenweave linen in DMC threads using petit-point stitch. It measures 2 1/2" x 3 1/4" so I think it would finish nicely into a pinkeep or does anyone have any other ideas? Not only did I find this but I also found the original pattern! So ... if anyone is interested in having this pattern, please leave me a comment and, if more than one person is interested I will have a draw, say Friday, February 20.  

I finished the last of my exchange pieces yesterday so I am well ahead for the end of the month deadlines. I am going to put together the goodie packages now and hopefully get them in the mail sometime soon. 

Also yesterday, whilst blog surfing, I went to visit with Valie and saw her miniature stitching and it blew me away. Such tiny stitches, such precision; I fell in love! So, I decided that I just had to have the book that she showed in the picture - Miniature Petit Croix by Francoise Prax. Off to ebay I went and then to Amazon.co.uk without any success on either, so I then went to Amazon.fr and there was 'The Book'. Mmmm now this website is obviously written entirely in French and my French, apart from please, thank you, hello and goodbye is non-existent - I really should have paid more attention in my French classes! But with a little help I managed to buy my book - at least I received a confirmation email so I assuming that I did something correctly and, hopefully, the book will be with me shortly. 

Thank you for visiting and a Happy Valentines Day to you all.

First up is an update of Beatrix Potter SAL. For some reason I do not like the large flower motif; I think it's because I prefer things small and dainty! I am undecided whether I will work downwards or across now - watch this space!

As part of my Christmas gift, my friend Caroline gave me a lovely stitching journal and I have been diligent in logging in my projects for 2009. I wish I had done this when I first started stitching as it would have been wonderful to be able to look back on past projects.

The silk ribbon I ordered to finish my exchange arrived this morning along with another larger package from the same place, addressed to me but containing someone else's much larger order! I have emailed the company to ask if I should return it to them or send it on to their customer. I am so tempted to peek into the tiny packages enclosed therein but have resisted the temptation - so far! 

Thanks for visiting

Take care

I received the most wonderful exchange from Becky - a perfectly stitched and finished long Whitman's tin! The design is 'She Tends' by Shepherd's Bush stitched with DMC threads on 32ct putty linen and embellished with four sterling silver charms. 

Isn't this really gorgeous? The inside is lined with a pretty green and white flower print and lovely braid. And, not only, did I receive this, Becky also enclosed a profusion of goodies; a box of coloured pins, a pack of John James needles, a pair of gold scissors, 2 charms, a tin of mints and a sweet little sheep tape measure! I love it all - thank you Becky for making this exchange so perfect!

I have finished stitching my last exchange for a while (see previous post) although I do need to 'finish it'. I am waiting for the 7mm silk ribbon that I have on order to arrive and once this arrives I can get it done and in the mail to it's new owner. I also have another finished exchange to mail out so, hopefully, I can send them both off this coming weekend. I had both of these exchanges outstanding, together with a third part done, when I went down with that cold/fluey bug and was getting worried that I would be late but now I am actually early! Phew! 

So now ... it's back to Beatrix Potter so watch out for updated photos within the next few days. 

I see that Jill has received the Valentine exchange I sent to her so come back tomorrow for some pictures!

Thanks for visiting and thanks, too, for the great comments on my February 2009 Challenge ornament!

Take care

Firstly an update on Beatrix Potter SAL. As you can see I have not stitched too much more on Miss Beatrix and I am itching to get back to her but I have been bogged down slightly with my exchanges. I am mid-way stitching my last exchange and once this is finished I can get this and another into the mail.

And whilst the rest of Britain is at a stop because of the snow ... Deal has bright sunshine! We had a slight snowfall on Sunday afternoon/evening and a couple of flakes yesterday and today - nothing and no sign that it actually snowed here at all! I am beginning to think that Deal is on a different time warp to the rest of the UK.