Grow Your Blog Party

Today's the day! For the 2014 party and a Mystery Giveaway! (Sorry to those of you who visited me for the party last year, as I have borrowed a little bit from that post!)

For the Grow Your Blog party! 

Welcome to all of the party goers - I hope that you enjoy visiting everyone's blog.  Please follow the link above to see who is partying with me.

For those of you who are new to my blog, I will tell you a few things about myself that is not on my header above:

1. I have had this blog, Kitten Stitching for nearly three years now and I absolutely love it!  I have made so many good online cross stitchy friends who have enriched my life immensely.  Thank you!
2. My dear online friend Ginny, started me on this blogging journey when we "met" when I was searching for a Henry VIII Cross stitch pattern.  Funnily enough, Ginny doesn't blog all that much anymore but we still keep in touch on FB - Thank you, Ginny.
3. Now, talking about Henry VIII - I am mad for the Tudors, so I have several Tudor WIPs and I started a FB group called Tudor Tuesday SAL - if you are on FB, love the Tudors and would like to join, just let me know - here is a link to the FB group.

4. Basically, I am a passionate historian and luckily for me, that is what my job is now.  I work as a publisher of History books for a large educational publisher here in Australia.  It is a great job and I love it - although working full time does cut into my stitching time!

5. As well as stitching, I read a lot - in 2012 I read 120 novels, in 2013 I planned to read 150 but as my mother was very ill last year (she passed away on November 25th) I read far less than this.  So,  this year I am aiming for 120 again - I have already read 11 books this year so I am on my way.  If you are on Shelfari or Goodreads you can see what I have read/am reading there or  you can see what I am reading on my Shelfari shelf on the sidebar of my blog, if you like.  I always read several books at once but my main book at the moment is the wonderful "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak but more of that in another post.

6. This year (as every year) I am trying to be more organised with my stitching.  I am involved in a number of SALs and PIFs and two exchanges so far.  I find that I am one of those people who the busier they are usually the more they can achieve!  

Now, I thought that you might like to see a picture of me as a young girl, with my sisters:  (Can you guess which one I am?)

Lastly, I promised you a mystery Giveaway for reading this post.  Well, the mystery is that I have not yet decided what the Gifts will be!  Yes, I said Gifts.  That is because I am going to have two Giveaways: one for Australian bloggy friends and one for Overseas bloggy friends.  So, here are the rules:

1. You must comment on THIS POST only, telling me that you would like to be entered in the Giveaway.
2. In your comment, please tell me if you are an Aussie or Overseas bloggy friend and please include your email address and your blog address.
3. The Giveaway closes on Feb 14th, winners' names will be drawn on  Feb 15th.

So, thanks for visiting, enjoy the Blog Party and good luck for the Giveaway.

hugs, 

Hopeless Prognosis!

Aaaggh! That is what the specialist has said about one of my upper front teeth!  It is cracked, infected and it will need to be extracted and replaced with an implant - now the extraction and a temporary crown all has to be done in the next five weeks before TraderVic and I travel overseas.  Oh dear, just what I don't really need!

(and for those of you with less than salubrious minds -as some people have on FB - this is his drawing of my teeth!)


I promise to have a more upbeat post for you next time - lol!

hugs,

P.S. Some good news is that I saw my GP and my blood pressure was excellent - the first time for a long time that it hasn't been extremely high - yay!

Turtle Trot 2014....January Post + FNWF + Very late TUSAL

Well, this is my January Turtle Trot post (one day late, sorry!), where I outline for myself and you all what the 10 BAPs are going to be.

Just to refresh all of our memories (mine in particular) - here are the rules again:

 2014 Turtle Trot SAL 

It is very simple:
Rules (copied from the BAP Attack blog):

1. You must have a blog, because you'll be posting links to it. If you don't have a blog, you can still work on those old projects, lol. You just won't be eligible for the contest.

2. Pick 10 unfinished projects.

3. Take a picture of them and make a blog post by the 10th of January.

4. Each month, by the 10th, post whatever progress pics you have.

5. Post a link to your progress post here.

So, here we go:

Turtle Trot BAP 1:

Joan Elliott Round Robin pieces.  This started May last year and looks like continuing until May this year. I am sneaking this one in as I think that even though each month or so it  is a different JE lady, it is still a BAP.

 (For some reason this pic is at 90 degrees - not sure why! lol!)  This is Oriental Beauty.

Turtle Trot BAP 2

Snooty Parrots Sampler by Barbara Ana


Turtle Trot BAP 3
Ravenmoon Hall by Praiseworthy Stitches


Turtle Trot BAP 4
Mary Wigham (0ne of my very favourite projects)

Turtle Trot BAP 5

Winter Silhouette by Diane Arthur




Turtle Trot BAP 6

Cherry Tea by DMC (kit)



Turtle Trot BAP 7

Henry VIII and his six wives by DMC (kit)

Turtle Trot BAP 8

The six wives of Henry VIII by Primitive Hare

Turtle Trot BAP 9
My beloved Cinderella - can I finish her this year?

Turtle Trot BAP 10

Kings and Queens of England (Bothy Threads)
 

January TUSAL report:
Top pile is home orts whilst the two lonely threads at the bottom are my train orts!

For 2014, I am going to keep them in this lovely vintage coffee pot which used to belong to my DMIL.

Friday Night With Friends

Last night I sewed like mad on my Day 10 Crazy January Start: January Cat (TraderVic and I were watching "The Return of the King" so I had plenty of stitching time!) and I was very pleased with how far I got.

This is a freebie from this site here.

Well, I will let you all go now, "Phew" I can hear you say - lol!

Off to Water aerobics now and then more stitching tonight after I make a yummy frittata for dinner.

hugs, 

Crazy January Starts Days 7 and 8.... plus a surprise Christmas gift!

Day 7:  Day 7 happened to fall on a Tuesday so I had to start a Tudor design to fit in with my Tudor Tuesday SAL. I chose "The Queen's Sampler" by Plum Street Samplers.

Sorry, no ironing:

Day 8: "Winter Silhouette" by Diane Arthur

And look how lucky I am - a surprise Christmas gift from my dear bloggy friend, Shirlee, I had admired this piece on her blog and she sent me the pattern. Thank you so much, my dear, I love it!

hugs,

Crazy January Cross Stitch Challenge 2014 update.......

Day 4 Start: Ravenmoon Hall by Praiseworthy Stitches. Stitched on 32ct Haunted Linen using suggested threads.

Day 5 Start: "Home at Last" by JBW Designs.  This will be finished as a small pail.

Day 6 Start: Merry Cat'smas by Terri Carl.  Stitched on 29ct Charles Craft white linen, using various floss from my stash.

I am really having fun with this.  Off to stitch some more on Day 7's start and a bit on my Joan Elliott RR piece.

hugs,

2014 - here I come!

Happy New Year everyone!

May 2014 be a fantastic year!

This year I intend to get lots of stitching done - in 2013, despite everything going on I actually managed to get 42 finishes (mainly smalls and ornies but that is okay - there were lots of new starts and progress on bigger pieces, too - hopefully I will do as well this year with at least one or two WIPs and BAPs finished as well as lots of smalls and ornies. So, my aim is 45 finishes this year - wish me luck!

I must thank darling Jo from Serendipitous Stitching for nurturing in me a love of smalls - such an inspiration to me! (and a great help in getting so many finishes this year!)

So, what are my stitching plans for this year?

1. I will be continuing with my SALs with Linda and Debbie - Prairie Schoolers "Santa's 12 Days of Christmas", Diane Arthurs "Fall Welcome" and the Cut Thru Castle, which has a FB group as well.

2. And my SAL with Evalina and Amanda - "Quaker Christmas II: Songs of the Season" - See Sidebar for a pic of what it will look like when it is eventually finished! But this is my latest progress pic for now:

3. I will be finishing off my Joan Elliott Round Robin which I started last May - this should finish some time in the first half of the year.  I do not know whether I will ever do another RR.  I love the idea of it but I find the deadlines a challenge to meet - especially with all the drama I had last year and the fact that the person who sends to me is in Canada and whilst she always posts on time, for some reason the parcel always arrives weeks late!

4. I am also taking part in the 2014 Turtle Trot SAL - a new venture for me.

It is very simple:
Rules (copied from the BAP Attack blog):

1. You must have a blog, because you'll be posting links to it. If you don't have a blog, you can still work on those old projects, lol. You just won't be eligible for the contest.

2. Pick 10 unfinished projects.

3. Take a picture of them and make a blog post by the 10th of January.

4. Each month, by the 10th, post whatever progress pics you have.

5. Post a link to your progress post here.

I haven't yet decided what my entire 10 for 2014 will be - what I will know by the 10th January. My first is, of course, my first start for this year - Snooty Parrots Sampler:

5. I have also signed up for the Snooty Parrots Sampler SAL (see pic above) - which is a cool FB group - follow this link to check it out.

6. I couldn't resist joining up for the Crazy January Challenge again, which is another FB group.  I love groups on FB - so easy to update your progress pics and get inspiration from everyone else.

So, of course, my Snooty Parrots Sampler is my first stitch for that for the year, too!  (See, I am getting clever - everything is starting to fit in together! Ha! Ha!)
Here are my Days 2 and 3 starts:

Snooty Parrots Fob:

Alphabet Heart (freebie from DMC), you can get it here.

7. I am taking part in Cheryll from Gone Stitchin' Valentine Initial heart swap - that is what my Day 3 start above is for.

8. I am also taking part in the Australia Day Swap run by Jewells.

This is taken from her blog post - I hope that you don't mind Jewells:

"Aussie Aussie Aussie ... Oi! Oi! Oi!

G'DAY!

Australia Day is approaching (26 January) and I feel, as an Aussie, I should host an

AUSTRALIA DAY SWAP.

I sometimes feel that us Aussies aren't as patriotic as we should be and I want to play a part in some sort of good old "mate ship" and show some kindness to a fellow person and give some lovin'.

The way I thought we could "celebrate" is to send 9 items to a fellow swapper.  Now the way these items are to be chosen are – they have to start with each letter in "Australia".

For EXAMPLE:

A – Australian Made item (you could make it)

U – Utensil, Ugly fabric

S – Sunflower seeds, Smiley fabric

T – Tea Towel, Trims

R – Ribbon

A – Apron

L – Lilac, Lavender, Lolly

I – Ink pen

A – Apple fabric

That is just some ideas I have come up with on the spur of the moment… but I am sure you all can come up with others."

9. I will continue working on Tudor Tuesday, which is the Day/Night on which I try to sew all things Tudor!  This has a FB group, too (only a small group so far).

10. Plus, of course, all of my other many, many, many (too many manys!) WIPs, BAPs and UFOs.

11. I am also taking part in Vicky's Grow your own blog party on January 25th (see sidebar for the link).

12. Lastly, this year is going to be the Year of the Cat for me - I have lots of cat designs I want to work on. I found two cool series of Monthly cats - one is a Retro Cat which I want to stitch each month on the Cyber Stitchers website  You can check out the link here.

Well, that must be it for me now - off to start my Day 4 Crazy January piece - Ravenmoon Hall by Praiseworthy Stitches.

hugs,