Very late TUSAL and some stitching progress

Oh dear, this is a rather late TUSAL post.  Here is my little jar.  I love the way that you can see by the layers what I have been working on.  Last month it was the soft colours of Cinderella, this month it is largely the red of Noah's Ark

I have made great progress on Noah's Ark.  I just need the baby to be born so that I can complete the details which are to be stitched underneath the animals. (Don't worry, that is not a pink stain on the fabric it is just the design on my doona showing through)

I also had another start this week:  January Wordplay by With thy needle and thread.  I am stitching it on the recommended 35ct Abecedarian Linen - I thought that I might have trouble with the smaller stitch count but it is going well so far. I have seen so many people stitching the Wordplays that I just had to join in, too.

And as usual I will finish with a picture of Furio - this is him guarding the house from the builders on the roof where they are working on the house next door (you can see them putting the blue tarp on where they have been working).  I swear - Furio was growling at them! I think he thinks he is a dog not a sweet little kittycat! lol!

Off to stitch now,

hugs,

Weekend away in Olinda - Part 1

TraderVic and I have just returned from a lovely restful weekend break in beautiful Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges, only a short hour's drive from our home.  We stayed in a beautiful B@B called Annie Roe's in the Penthouse Apartment, no less!

Isn't it gorgeous?  Lovely views, luxury accommodation and a lovely big spa bath!

Must go watch some MasterChef now and do some stitching - I will fill you in on more of our adventures and post some stitching pics tomorrow night.

hugs,  

My 1st Blogoversary Winner and 200 followers Winner are.....

The winner of my 1st Blogoversary giveaway is..... drum roll, please....

FAITH OF FAITHFULLY STITCHING

Congratulations, Faith, you have won:

In what form it is finished is still a mystery - you will find out when you open your package (plus there might be an extra surprise !)

... and the winner of my 200 followers giveaway.... yet another drum roll....

GRACIE OF NEEDLES, PINS AND DRAGONFLYS

This is a mystery giveaway, so Gracie, you won't know what you won until your gift arrives!

I would like to say thank you to everyone who entered and to all of my followers old and new - your friendship and support over the past year has been wonderful.  I have enjoyed making so many new online friends.  Aren't we so lucky to have the internet to bring us all together?

Faith and Gracie, if you email me your snailmail addresses I will send you your gifts.

Happy Stitching everyone, 

hugs,   

ELEVEN THINGS QUIZ (THANKS JULIE)

Hi everone, Julie has tagged me with the Eleven Things Quiz. This is meant to be a fun activity to pass around.


1.  I have to paste the rules, so here they are:  
The Rules:

• Post these rules.
• You must post 11 random things about yourself.
• Answer the questions set for you in their post.
• Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
• Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

2.  So, eleven random things about me:

1. When I was three, I jumped off a tennis umpires' chair because I thought I could fly like superman - I broke my left ankle - I can still remember this vividly.
2. Some of you might know this already from reading my blog, but I am an avid reader - I usually read about 100 to 120 books a year. 
3. When I was 15 I was a surfer chick with an older boyfriend with a sportscar!
4. I have two sisters - one five and half years older than me and one five and half years younger.
5. Many years ago, Tradervic and I had four kittens in a row named Tiger.
6. Tiger (1) was kidnapped by a fur trading ring (I tell you true)
7. Tiger (2) was run over by a car
8. Tiger (3) had to be put to sleep because he had ringworm which the vet could not cure
9. Tiger (4) choked on the front doorstep with DS1 (a very little boy) saying "Mummy, what is the kitten doing?"
10. So, the next kitten was called ......... "Coco Chanel No 5" and she lived for 16 years!
11. I love kittens (ha! ha! You all knew that one - sorry!)

3. Eleven questions I have to answer, questions set by Julie:

1.)  Chocolate, Vanilla, or Strawberry?  (If none of these are acceptable, you must choose a flavor that is!)
Definitely Chocolate!  Yum!
2.)  If you could meet any famous person, living or dead, and ask them one question (ONLY ONE), who would it be and what would you ask them?
I would like to meet Henry Viii (Tudor King of England) and ask him what on earth he was doing marrying all of those wives and treating them so badly?
3.)  What's the hardest thing you've ever done and why was it so difficult?
Dealing with a very difficult situation at work and having to go to my manager to get resolution.  It was difficult because I am a person who likes to avoid confrontation.
4.)  Who did you look up to as a child, and do you still look up to them today?  (This can be a parent, a rock star, an athelete, whatever.  You can also list multiple people.)
My Dad - he is my hero.  He was a Japanese prisoner of war during WWII.  he was kept captive for three and a half years. Yet, my Dad overcame all this to lead a long and productive life (he will be 93 this coming August).
5.)  List the pros and cons (for you, keep it personal) of what you do for a living.  If you could go back and do it again, would you do the same thing, or change it?  What would you change it to, and why?
Pros: I am actively creating great educational resources for Australian students to learn from and I work with some very talented, creative people.  I also work for a great company.

Cons: Deadlines can be very intense and as I am getting older I am finding that working 5 days a week is quite hard.
6.)  What's your favorite meal?  (You can say anything in response to this, including dinner, breakfast, tea, lunch, etc.  It can be your fave meal of the day, or meatloaf and mashers.  Up to you.)
Definitely veal schnitzel.
7.)  What's your favorite way to communicate your ideas to others?  How often to you partake of this method of communication?
Two ways: in person - nothing beats a good chat - and nowadays via my blog - I am finding it so good to connect with other like-minded cross stitchers and find out about their creative ideas.
8.)  What's the nicest thing you've ever done for someone you don't know?
Sending gifts and prizes to fellow bloggers around the world.
9.)  What's the number one problem with the world today?
 Too many to isolate but probably Global warming.
10.)  Do you like technology, or are you one of those people that only puts up with it when they have to?  (By tech, I don't only mean computers.  I mean smart phones and HDTV and digital radio and iPods and everything.)
I love technology - I am saving up my flybuys points to get an ipad.  I love my kindle and my Mac computer.
11.)  If you could have one perfect day, who would you see and what would you do?  (Get descriptive here people.  Write a paragraph or two.)

A perfect day: Wake up magically transported to New York - staying in the Waldorf-Astoria.  I am taken out to see the sights of New York escorted by Denzel Washington and Hugh Jackman (Yum! Yum!).  We finish with a Broadway show and supper at Sardi's or the Russian Tea Rooms. Lovely!

3. Eleven Questions for my tagees to answer:

1. What is your earliest memory?
2. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you like to visit and why?
3. List your top five designers and give at least one reason why each one is your favourite.
4. If a movie was being made of your life, who would play you and what would the theme song be?
5. What is your favourite movie? Why?
6. List five of the most influential historical figures and explain why you picked them for your list.
7. What do you love doing most in the world?
8. Cats or dogs or both?  Why?
9. What is the one thing about your life that you would change if you could?
10. Why do you blog?
11. If there is one luxury item you could acquire, what would it be?

4.  Now, for my eleven tagees:

1. Cheryll from Gone Stitchin'
2. Shirlee from The easily influenced stitcher
3. Debbie from Debbie's Cross Stitch
4. Linda from Stitching with my furbabies
5. Anne from Doll's musings
6. Noni from Fireflies and Cats in the garden
7. Dani from Dani Black Belt Stitching Wizard
8. Chiara from The Grey tail
9. Jeanette from Jeanette's Place
10. Annie from Round of the Season's in Japan
11. Mouse from Tales of a Stitching Mouse

I hope that you enjoy this fun activity,

hugs, 

FNSI update

FNSI update:

I am going great guns on Noah's Ark, check out my progress below:

Some detail:

I hope that everyone else has had a productive FNSI.

hugs,

P.S. Don't forget to check out all the giveaways listed in my sidebar - some lovely gifts to be won.

Four more followers in four days?????

Hi everyone,

It is my 1st blogoversary in four days - my hope/aim was to get to 200 followers  by that time?  Do you think that I can make it?

Don't forget to enter my 1st Blogoversary Giveaway - also, if I do get to 200 followers - there will be a second drawing of a mystery gift for a second winner.

Good luck everyone.

hugs,

A Great Giveaway

Teresa from at Willow Tree Pond is having the most wonderful giveaway of several absolutely beautiful sampler patterns.  She is celebrating having 300 followers.  Congratulations, Teresa.

 Follow the link above to check it out and enter.

hugs,

A Happy Dance and Stash Empire Building

  

I would firstly like to say a big Aussie hello to my new followers - Welcome to my blog, I hope that your enjoy visiting me here in Eaglemont, Victoria.  It is so lovely to make new stitchy friends from around the world.  

I am getting excited - only 8 days to my first Blogoversary - who would have thought that I would still be going strong nearly a year later! Please don't forget to enter my Giveaway - I would love for you all to have a chance to win!

I have had a pretty good stitchy week this past week and long weekend (it was the Queen's Birthday Public holiday today).  I have a HAPPY DANCE.  I finished my second version of "here lie my needles".  I am really pleased with it - the variegated thread has turned out well, I think.  Sorry, the fabric is actually a dusty pink but it hasn't quite turned out like that -  not sure why.

"here lie my needles"
The Sampler Girl free pattern
28 count Dusty Pink Linen
Threads:
Cottage Garden Threads: Raisin
Olde Willow Stitcher Quaker Colours: Medallion Black

On Saturday, I went to visit my LNS, Lazy Daisy and, of course, I had to engage in some Stash Empire Building:

1. A kit for an Australian cushion  - I am going to do the Home Sweet Home version.  I do not normally like AIDA but on the stitched sample in the shop it looked fantastic.
                                      

                                         

2. Then I saw this sweet little French birth sampler - I couldn't resist as one of my friends at work is having a baby in about a month.  I am stitching it on 28 count Natural Quaker Cloth, which is gorgeous to stitch on, using Weeks Dye Works Garnet. It is stitching up really quickly, as you can see from the last photo in this set.  This is only three days stitching:

                                      

3. I had ordered this great design from Diane Arthurs, which I am going to stitch using Waterlilies variegated threads.

 4. I also picked up a Little House Needleworks Christmas Ornament and a Cottage Garden Needleworks May Cottage of the Month.

5. Then I couldn't resist this Needle book and Scissor Keep from the Stitching Girl - I am going to use the soft pastel colours.

6. This is the reason I went in the first place:  to kit up this cute design from a magazine - I have been planning to kit this up for ages.

 I have chosen a soft lilac fabric (sorry, I just do not seem to be able to get the fabric colours to show up right) and here is the floss toss.

7. Another impulse buy:  a kitty cat key ring to stitch.

8. Couldn't resist these cute scissors - a steal at $5.00!

9. Lastly, I bought some more Cottage Garden Threads - some for me and some to send to my stitchy friend Shirlee.

Noah's Ark is beckoning, so have a good evening everyone,

hugs,