Today I received an unexpected package in the mail. I could see from the return address it was from my dear sweet friend Yuko. As you all know I lack patience (although I do try) so, without further ado, I tore excitedly into the package and found this beautifully stitched gift for Mother's Day (May 10 in Japan)! Anyone who has been the recipient of Yuko's stitching will know exactly what I mean when I say how exquisite this is and that she chose the perfect frame and mat to compliment this pretty design. 

Thank you so much Yuko - I love it. It's already hanging in a prominent position in my home so I can see it and think of you and your dear little son!

Also this week, the mail brought an ebay win of a glass flower frog. Just the thing for my scissors collection so I gave it a good wash and filled the holes with some of my scissors! I really must sort out all of my scissors to show! What is it with stitchers that we need to own more than one pair of scissors? 

I discovered Les Ciseaux d'Emmanuel whose scissors make me positively drool at the prospect of owning a pair. These scissors are completely hand-made by Emmanuel who tells me that each pair can take 20-40 hours to make depending on the complexity of the design. The cost for a simple design is 170.00€ and for the most complex is 350.00€. If you are able to indulge yourself and want to make not only me but the rest of the stitching/blogging world really envious, email me and I will let you have Emmanuel's email address. Now why couldn't I win the £112 million on the Euro Millions Lottery draw so I could keep Emmanuel in employment for the rest of his life?

And last but not least, I also received another package from dear Edgar containing a sweet treat of Midnight Milky Ways - yummy! Thank you Edgar.

Stitching wise, the Dutch Band Sampler is coming along nicely although I think I overdid it with a couple of hours stitching yesterday afternoon and then for most of the evening. My hand is letting me know today that it's not ready for stitching marathons!  

Thanks for visiting - enjoy the weekend

Take care 

Yesterday I realised that the deadline for the HOE Christmas ornament exchange is all but 2 weeks away so I made a start on my ornament. It will be three-sided and I have already stitched one side completely and nearly finished the second. I hope to be able to finish the stitching today and then I think I should have a 'finishing' day as I still have other ornaments to make up too. So no stitching photos today.

If are wondering where the 'bows' are, there aren't any - just a catchy title!

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Take care

Some new stash arrived today. My JCS 2008 Ornament mag - I must admit that I am a bit disappointed with it this year as there is nothing that immediately jumps out saying 'Stitch Me' 'Stitch Me' but I will read through it again later and maybe that will happen. Along with the magazine were two gorgeous cuts of fabric, a piece of 40ct linen in Bisque and some 36ct pearled barley linen - I have no idea what I will be stitching on these but I am positive they will not go to waste! The two skeins of threads that make an appearance in the picture are Caron Waterlilies in Peacock and Polar Ice. And yes the scissors you can see are the Chinese Dragons that I won on Ebay a few weeks back. These have pretty engraved handles but the reflection of the sun makes it difficult to see - try clicking on the picture - you can just make out the engraving.    

 

And now an update on Quaker Blackbird. As you can see I had a good run on this last night but ... why is there always a 'but'? ... I thought the fabric I was using was 36ct - it certainly had a tag in the corner that said 36ct - but alas I think it's 32ct as the design is stitching up larger than I had wanted. I will finish stitching it but I will have to re-think my finish. It certainly is a lot easier on the eyes to stitch on 32ct but I do so love the delicacy of a higher count fabric so I will probably stitch this again at some point.

I also finished the Quaker SAL with Yuko but as it needs ironing I will wait for it to be framed before I show a 'finished' picture. Yuko and I are now planning on another SAL and have chosen a LHN piece this time round. 

May I now introduce to you the latest addition to the family. Ken called into 'Mouse World' (or did he say PC World?) after he finished work last night and chose from a large litter this beautiful little girl mouse who I shall henceforth call 'Milly'. Isn't Milly beautiful? Just look at her glossy white coat and that adorable little scroll button and she behaves perfectly too. She not only scrolls upwards and sideways but downwards too! I think Milly and I will be very happy together. 

Thanks for visiting - enjoy the weekend and

Take care

While searching for a particular photograph on my many discs I came across this beaded dreamcatcher that I made for Kirby a few years back. I took a class with a lovely lady at FOB in Sarasota - I'm sorry but I cannot remember her name. It's made with silver Delicas, mauve and crystal Swaroski beads and other various beads. This picture does not do it justice and I will ask Kirby to let me borrow it back so I can take a better photo. 

This is my first day after finishing a three week stint covering sickness and holiday at work but I have an idea that I may get another phone call at the end of the week or the beginning of next as the lady who had surgery still has her foot in plaster. I am going to make as much of my time just in case I get a call! 

I have been catching up on household chores this morning and also visited my neighbour whose husband died two days ago. Once I have finished this post I have another birthday package to put together and then I will do some finishing and hopefully have something new to show you shortly.

My package has arrived from SB&Bs but instead of being a chartpack as ordered it was just the chart so now I have to order 17 NPI silks, although she has offered me a discount. She is unable to supply the charm pack so I have emailed Drawn Thread to see if they can help. What is annoying is that I already had the chart, albeit a used copy, but decided to order the chartpack so as not to have to order the silks and charms!

Thanks for visiting

Take care 

A little stash arrived this morning, firstly an Ebay purchase, The Goode Huswife's 'A Quaker Four Corners Sampler' which I am going to alter slightly and make into a biscornu. I will stitch this on 40ct linen with the Waterlillies Cherry silk floss which also arrived in the mail today. The scissor fob which I purchased from Yuko's Etsy shop also arrived. This was beautifully packaged and is made from some really pretty flower beads with a gorgeous mother-of-pearl butterfly at the bottom. Unfortunately the butterfly doesn't show up in the picture so have a look at the one on Yuko's blog - isn't it just gorgeous? 

I have a lot of projects ready for finishing so I need another marathon finishing day but yesterday I wanted something small to stitch out in the garden so the tiny house is the beginning of a Christmas ornament. *I have no idea who the designer is - maybe someone knows? I am stitching from a picture that I found on the internet. It looks as though it was originally stitched in variagated threads but I am using DMC on 36ct lambswool linen. 

Tomorrow I am back at work for the rest of this week, 4 days next week and 2 the week after that so I don't suppose I will get much stitching or blogging done so I am off to finish my chores and maybe make a start on some finishing.

Thanks for visiting

Take care

My second Ebay 'win' was Little by Little's Quaker Blackbird. This is such a lovely pattern and I can't wait to stitch it. I have two others patterns that I also won but they haven't arrived yet. Also in this picture are some more of my personalized thread drops - the recipients names are on the back and I will be sending these out to them shortly. 

I am still working on exchanges and gifts - most are stitched so I really need a marathon finishing session but today it was bright and sunny here so I am sure you can probably guess where I spent most of the day!

Have you seen the beautiful scissor keeps that Yuko has for sale in her Etsy shop? They are really gorgeous and I could not resist buying the shell butterfly one. Go have a look and see if you can resist them!

Thanks for visiting

Take care