There is a wonderful giveaway over on Julie's blog I'll Cross That Leg When I Get To It. All the goodies in this giveaway are bird related such as this sweet little bird, bird printed fabric and threads with birdie names. And there's more so ... pop over to visit and leave a comment for a chance to win. You have until Tuesday, July 5 to enter.

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This is the friendship page I stitched for Amy. As you know I usually stitch miniature but this was stitched on Lakeside linen Vintage Buttercream 32ct with the recommended DMC threads. The pattern is an OOP Prairie Schooler 'Friends & More Friends' . It seemed strange to stitch on 32ct after using such high count linens, and to use DMC threads instead of silks but I enjoyed stitching it and I hope that Amy will be pleased to receive a page for her Friendship Book.

My strawberry pot has been producing a fair amount of strawberries, probably down to having new plants this year. And not only ordinary strawberries, there has been a few strange shapes like this little foot and even Siamese twins! Both were delicious!

The strawberries gave me inspiration for a new design - Sew Strawberry Fields. The chart is done and I need to stitch a model. Sew Forth and Sew Scattered are both charted and stitched but I need to 'finish' the models so I think a finishing afternoon is in order but not today - we are having a mini heatwave and it's much too warm to stay inside. So ... I am off to the garden with my latest book.

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Today, I received an email from Cynthia of Redford, MI (no blog) with pictures of her version of Sew Peacock. It is stitched with DMC threads on 28ct white Monaco fabric. Inside the box is a 'sewing kit' - the lid houses a bluish-green hoop. The box itself is divided into 4 compartments - in the top left section are scissors with a beaded and tassel fob. Top right contains a needlebook stitched from part of the design. Main left is a pouch for floss bags and room for Cynthia's reading glasses. Main right is a ruler floss ring tag, a small pincushion and a counting pin pinkeep - all stitched from part of the main design. Wow what a beautiful box of goodies - thank you Cynthia for sharing your wonderful finish!

These beautiful scissors are my latest finds from ebay. The top pair are marked 'Nogent' whilst the other pair have the intials GC on them - see the picture below for a closeup or better still click on the pictures for a really closeup view! I paid 5 euros for each pair - such a bargain.

I wonder who 'GC' was and how it came about that her/his scissors ended up on on ebay? Or were they a gift from G to C? I will never know but I do know that these scissors are a welcome addition to my collection and I will always treasure them.

I have now finished and framed Jardin Privé's Douceur de vivre. I was unsure of how to finish it but eventually decided to go with a simple frame which I stained and slightly distressed. Douceur de vivre is stitched on 48ct nacre Gander linen with HDF silk threads - you can find my conversion from DMC *here*. I made two slight amendments to the pattern - I lengthened the hair on both the ladies as my hair is that length and I altered the colours of two of the trees as the original shades were too similiar in colour to that of the grass. This was a most enjoyable stitch!

Our honeysuckle has been blooming and the scent in the warm evenings is amazing. It's a shame is doesn't last very long though.

I have had two exciting wins on ebay this week and once I have received them I will post pictures - I am just hopeful that they are as lovely as the pictures on ebay showed them to be!

I have downloaded and printed a lovely little red sampler from *here*. This sampler is a free chart from Sylvia and is a reproduction of the one stitched by her Aunt Minna in 1919. Although Sylvia's blog is in German, there is a google translator there so it's easy to read Sylvia's story. You can also see a picture of her Aunt Minna. This will be my next 'little red' although I aim to put a few more stitches in poor neglected Jane Ries before I make a new start.

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Take care