Bon Voyage

Hi everyone, 

Sorry, I have been offline for a while but the internet is not working at home and as I am über busy at work trying to get everything finalised before I go overseas tomorrow I have had little or no time for my blog or even stitching.

I apologise to the winners of my giveaway and the Travelling Treasures, it has been madness at both work and home and that is all going to have to wait until I return at the end of March.

I will have limited visibility on FB (Kaye De Petro) and Instagram (Kaisievic) if you want some travel updates.

Below is the design I am taking away to stitch, pretty, isn't it?

See you all, in a month, love Kaye

Quick post: Two Happy Dances....

I have had two happy dances - lovely!

1.   A geisha for my Joan Elliott Round Robin:

Oh boy, she has been a hard slog but worth it, I think!

2. Then another Train Stitching piece (thank goodness for travelling to work on the train, it gives me a good chance to work on my Smalls) - this is 'Girl things' by Pine Mountain designs.  It is stitched on 16 ct aida and is a ready-made cushion cover - I just need to make the pillow form.  It is going to be a surprise gift for someone - so Shhhhh!

Not too late to sign up for the Travelling Treasures if you are an Aussie blogger - you can sign up on this post here.  I will choose the lucky recipient tonight or tomorrow morning.

Thanks for visiting,

hugs,

P.S. TraderVic has just informed that we will be without internet for a few days, so I may be MIA from blogging until the end of the week. So sorry everyone.

So much to catch up on.... Part 3

Well, here I am still trying to catch up with everything!  I am so far behind on my blog and comment/email reading and time is hurtling towards our holiday (starting to get excited) and there is still so much to do!

Anyway, let's try to catch up a little more:

The weekend before last, on the Saturday, my sisters and I went with my Dear Dad to the Springvale Botanical Cemetery to organise the plaque for my mother's rose bush bed.  It was a bit sad but good to be all together.  The cemetery is truly a beautiful place (apparently it has won an International Award for Excellence).  Mum is temporarily in the Wall of Remembrance until the plaque is ready and her ashes are placed in the rose bed.  Here are some pics to give you an idea of how tranquil a place it is.

Dad doesn't look bad for 94, does he?

Thanks for visiting,

hugs,

Grow Your Blog Party Winners Announced, a Happy Dance and So Much to Catch up on Part 2....

Well, today is the day to announce my Grow Your Blog Party Winners which was organised by the wonderful Vicki - you can click on the pic below to get to the Party.

I elected to have two winners - one from Australia and one from Overseas.

So, drum roll please..... The Overseas Winner is

KimM from Wisdomwithneedleandthread

Your gifts are:

a cute little Babushka scissor fob, a nail file which looks like a ruler (useful on two counts), some fabbie from my stash and an Aussie home kit from Juniper Designs.  I hope that you enjoy these gifts.

Congratulations, Kim, please email me with your snail mail address and these goodies will be winging your way soon.


Second drum roll..... The Aussie winnner is......

Noni from Fireflies and Cats in the Garden

Noni, I think I have your snail mail address but maybe email me with it again, just in case?

You have won:

A book called "The Hand-Stitched Home" which I hope you will enjoy browsing through, also a nail file which looks like a ruler and a Babushka scissor fob as well as some fabbie from my stash.

Now wait!  We actually have a third drum roll!  As Cath  from Bits'n'Bobs was the first person to guess that I am the middle sister (most people chose my baby sister!) she will also win a small prize - some more fabbie from my stash and maybe a couple more surprise items.

Cath, I am not sure I have your snail mail address so please email me with it.


Now, here is my Happy Dance - This is my Day 6 Crazy January Challenge - my first finish for that Challenge and my second Happy Dance for the year - Merry Cat'smas!  This is a freebie design from Terri Carl but I am not exactly sure where I got it from. This was a train stitching piece - so I stitched a bit on it each morning on the way to work.  This was finished between Jolimont and Flinders Street Stations yesterday morning.

Now, to tell you some more of my adventures.  Last Sunday, I went to the city with DS1's gorgeous girlfriend who comes from Taiwan.  She had been intrigued by my stories of the 19th century shopping arcades of Melbourne and my tales of marvellous lunches at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms in the Block Arcade and of Gog and Magog in the Royal Arcade.

So here are some of the marvels we saw - we had such a great day together, it was just lovely.

Sorry, the photos are all a bit jumbled but that was a bit like our day as we wandered at will through the arcades and laneways of Melbourne.

Well, off to do a little bit of stitching,

hugs, 

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop and Travelling Treasures

Happy Valentine's Day each and everyone of you, I hope that you have a fun day with someone you love.

Me?  I am giving TraderVic what he wants - I have promised to sit and watch his beloved Tigers play a footy match tonight. Romantic, hey?

I am taking part in the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop run by Jo from Serendipitous Stitching. Each of us taking part in the blog hop is given a Sweetheart photo at random, we post it on Valentine's Day and then we visit each other's blogs looking for our photo and make a comment when we find it.

Such fun!  Here is the gorgeous heart pic I was given - I wonder who was the talented stitcher who made this?

You can check out all of the fun at Jo's blog Serendipitous Stitching.

Now, it is time to tell you all about the Travelling Treasures.  This is a treasure trove of stitching goodness which is travelling around Australia.  You can read all about it on Debbie's blog Sweet Little Cottage - where it all began last March - or you can click on the Travelling Treasures pic on the top right of my blog.


So, I was lucky enough to win the Travelling Treasures from Melanie of Pinnylea Creations.

Now, the idea is that you take a few gifts from the Treasures and add a few and then pass it on.

So, here is what is in the Travelling Treasures - lots and lots of goodies.

I am taking two items - this handy thread catcher and this gorgeous wall hanging.

.... and here is what I am putting in....

Fat Quarters from my stash in sunshiney yellow:

A Heart scissor fob:

Two Cross Stitch patterns -  Birdhouse Row by Diane Arthurs and Cat lessons for People by Lizzie Kate:

Some sweet buttons from The Friendship Tree:

... and three skeins of my favourite hand-dyed thread from Cottage Garden Threads:

Now, to be eligible for the Travelling Treasures you need to live in Australia and have a blog (or a friend with a blog who will post for you) and just comment on this post to let me know you are interested.

I will keep this open until Tuesday, 18th Feb and announce the winner on Wednesday, 19th Feb.

Good luck everyone!

Don't forget to  to join in the fun of my Grow Your Blog  Party Giveaway, entries close on Feb 15th, you can join in the fun on this post.  It closes tomorrow - when I will reveal not only the winners but what the actual gifts are! lol!

hugs,

P.S. TraderVic's beloved Tigers are winning so far (it is half time) and look at the gorgeous Prairie Roses he bought me and he even remembered my favourite colour!

P.P.S. Tomorrow's post will also feature a Happy Dance and a further update of what has been happening in my life lately.

P.P.P.S The Tigers just lost - oh well, it was only a practice match!