I just wanted to check in to let you know I'm alive and well and living (more or less) happily in Barcelona! The experience is providing its fair share of stress, but hey, this city has more than enough culture to sink a ship, so I'm not gonna get bored while I'm here!
I've done very little stitching since I got here (maybe 50 stitches total?), and I've been here just over a week, so there're no updates there, but there is a giveaway you should definitely check out!
LindaLee is having a mystery giveaway over at Cross'N My Stitches, and it's open until 26th of September! It's not entirely stitchy, but hey, go ahead and enter anyway! :)
Hopefully the stitchybug will return soon (because I really miss enjoying stitching), and as classes start soon, I'll have a chance to settle back into a routine, and getting stuff done. I do have a tour to organise, though, as well as a a 6000-word research project to start on, so who knows...
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Oh God Oh God Oh God
So, in less than a week, I'm going to live in Spain for 9 and a half months. I'm absolutely terrified about this (which I think is sorta fair enough, especially since I'm going by myself and know only one other girl who'll be at the same university as me.
I'm currently planning what to pack, with the actual packing beginning tomorrow. The big question is, what stitching do I take with me?! My plan at the moment is to take my WIP bag (which has a fair few pieces in it), along with a couple of new pieces to start when I'm there. This shouldn't take up too much space, since all my stitching is in bags, so there are no bulky boxes.
I put about 50 stitches into An Important Flower over my holiday, so there's no real update there. However, I do have a couple of framed pieces to share - and I don't get to keep either of them!
The first, is the Dragon Dreams freebie I was stitching for my grandparents' 80th birthdays this autumn. The fabby is Aurora Borealis by Jodyri Designs, and I've not yet stitched on a fabby I've loved more.
The second is one you'll have seen before, if you've followed my blog for a while. It was a birthday present for my sister's 16th birthday (we frequently tell each other we're adopted, hate each other, are fat, etc.)
Soooo, that's all with me for the moment, except for the stress I've been under for the last week (I didn't recieve a blogging scholarship for my year abroad blog that I would've liked, and I spent Monday crying over that... and then realised on Tuesday that I'd completely overreacted. My emotions are everywhere this week.) But hey, in a week, I'll be in sunny Spain, and from then until my Christmas break I get to enjoy a little multicultural freedom!
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Friday, 30 August 2013
Oops.
I did that thing again where I accidentally neglected my blog for weeks. Thing is, my blogging mojo just isn't quite there at the moment, and that's partly because, when I have heaps of free time, my stitching mojo is at its most shouty. Consequently I've managed to get a few finishes in.
First, though, I wanted to show off my gifts from the lovely Bernadett. I won a giveaway at her blog a month or so ago, and received some lovely bits and pieces...
The mug warmer is currently on the train mug the Other Half gave me last summer (my ORT bucket is there on the left and my Yoda USB stick is sitting behind). The tea bag pouch has carefully been kept away from any tea. It's too nice to get tea-y!
Now for my finishes...
1) Lesbian Love by Austitch. This was a model stitch, and it whilst it looks great, I got reaaaaally fed up of all the black in it. I'd have like to have done the lesbian symbol in a rainbow thread. I think this will be going to my sister, eventually.
2) Shower of Hearts by Anchor. This is one of the first kits I ever bought and I let it sit after the first Tatty Teddy kit and the backstitch was a nightmare, but I changed the needle from the one that was in the kit to a sharper one and it got much, much easier.
3) The unnamed Janlynn fruits kit. I finished the cross stitch on this a few weeks ago but finally did the backstich in an evening.
Passenger Train also came out while the Other Half was on holiday but I had to finish Lesbian Love in the first week, so didn't get as much done as I'd like, and then it went away as soon as he came back. Now we're going on holiday for a week together and I'm bringing a few projects with me.
(This update was brought to you with help from my new Nexus 7 tablet. This is so exciting!)
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Sunday, 4 August 2013
And the winner iiiiiis...
Well, you'll have to wait to find out for just a few lines of text longer!
Sadly my giveaway is over; thank you to all who entered. I don't know when my next giveaway will be, but in the meantime, there are always others going on in the world of stitching...
The Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe giveaway. There are going to be a hundred winners, so go ahead and enter... and don't forget to mention I sent you! [Closes August 14th]
Chris of Always Smiling's giveaway. She's offering two charts AND a beautiful finished pillow. [Closes August 9th]
Also, for those of you who aren't Doctor Who fans, Peter Capaldi was just announced as 12th Doctor, so prepare to be drowned in "OMG DOCTOR WHO YAAAAY" stuff over the coming months.
Okay, okay, so you've all really come here for the giveaway. Thank you to all my entrants...
1: Gizzimomo
2: Lija Broka
3: Lija Broka
4: Bernadett Rauski
5: Bernadett Rauski
6: Stamatia
7: Stamatia
8: Катерина Нуйкина
9: Катерина Нуйкина
10: Daphne
11: Daphne
12: Kaisievic
13: Kaisievic
14: Kim M
15: Kim M
16: Gill
17: Phyllis
18: Eva
19: Monica Silva
20: Monica Silva
21: Katie
22: Katie
23: Kay Eyles
24: inga
25: inga
26: lapappilon
27: lapappilon
And since I have no furbabies or cute children to help me pick the winner, random.org helped pick for me! The winner is...
Sadly my giveaway is over; thank you to all who entered. I don't know when my next giveaway will be, but in the meantime, there are always others going on in the world of stitching...
The Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe giveaway. There are going to be a hundred winners, so go ahead and enter... and don't forget to mention I sent you! [Closes August 14th]
Chris of Always Smiling's giveaway. She's offering two charts AND a beautiful finished pillow. [Closes August 9th]
Also, for those of you who aren't Doctor Who fans, Peter Capaldi was just announced as 12th Doctor, so prepare to be drowned in "OMG DOCTOR WHO YAAAAY" stuff over the coming months.
Okay, okay, so you've all really come here for the giveaway. Thank you to all my entrants...
1: Gizzimomo
2: Lija Broka
3: Lija Broka
4: Bernadett Rauski
5: Bernadett Rauski
6: Stamatia
7: Stamatia
8: Катерина Нуйкина
9: Катерина Нуйкина
10: Daphne
11: Daphne
12: Kaisievic
13: Kaisievic
14: Kim M
15: Kim M
16: Gill
17: Phyllis
18: Eva
19: Monica Silva
20: Monica Silva
21: Katie
22: Katie
23: Kay Eyles
24: inga
25: inga
26: lapappilon
27: lapappilon
And since I have no furbabies or cute children to help me pick the winner, random.org helped pick for me! The winner is...
11. Daphne of Daphne en de Wereld
Congratulations, Daphne! Please email me at breza_juanita@live.co.uk with your address so I can get your gifts sent to you as soon as possible :) To everyone else, thank you for entering! I'm sure there'll be further giveaways in the future - and now I know to go follow your blogs too!
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
End of July Update
First of all, I want to say a huge welcome to all of my new followers. I'm now at 66 followers, and thank you to everyone old and new for reading my blog! I'm sure I've said this before, but I do read your comments and your blogs and I really appreciate your comments and being able to watch you stitch too. I do most of my reading on my phone, though, and the Feedly app isn't great for commenting, otherwise I'd comment more, but I do really love seeing your progress.
If you haven't already entered my giveaway then you have until the end of tomorrow (31st July) to do so! I'll get the drawing done as soon as I can - I've got a busy few days ahead.
Whilst I still have your attention, check out the first ever Snowflower Diaries giveaway which, frankly, looks amazing, and Cucki's giveaway which also looks amazing.
I've been remarkably busy over the past few weeks, particularly for someone who, nominally, isn't doing anything this holiday. I was doing choir stuff all weekend and other various things for the past couple of weeks. Most of it, actually, was stitching, but I sorta lost my blogging mojo. I have more pictures, though!
No update on this one, but this is a better picture than the last. Really enjoying the colours on this one - Jodyri threads are gorgeous!
If you haven't already entered my giveaway then you have until the end of tomorrow (31st July) to do so! I'll get the drawing done as soon as I can - I've got a busy few days ahead.
Whilst I still have your attention, check out the first ever Snowflower Diaries giveaway which, frankly, looks amazing, and Cucki's giveaway which also looks amazing.
I've been remarkably busy over the past few weeks, particularly for someone who, nominally, isn't doing anything this holiday. I was doing choir stuff all weekend and other various things for the past couple of weeks. Most of it, actually, was stitching, but I sorta lost my blogging mojo. I have more pictures, though!
 |
| TARDIS by Jodyri Designs |
 |
| Clematis Bookmark by Textile Heritage |
Started this on a trip down to the beach because it was small and easy to carry in the car with me. Loving the colours!
 |
| Unnamed by Janlynn |
Only the backstitch left to go! I'm putting this to the side for a couple of weeks.
 |
| The Quiltmaker by L&L |
Filled in another chunk of skirt. This one has also been put to the side for a while so I can take Passenger Train out again.
 |
| Lesbian Love by Austitch |
Jody of Austitch asked if I'd do some model stitching for her, so I chose this one to start off with. She has a huge range of amazing and unconventional designs available, and I entirely recommend checking them out! This is done on 18 count cream aida in DMC 310.
 |
| Still Young In Dragon Years by Dragon Dreams |
This will be a present for my grandparents who both turn 80 this Autumn. I was going to start in a couple of weeks by mum started nagging me to get on with it so she could get it framed before she gets out there. Fabric is Aurora Borealis by Jodyri Designs.
 |
| Into The Deep by Passione Ricamo |
I picked this one up again after parts 3 and 4 were released. There's some sparkle in there too now, since my PTB arrived. This is going away for a couple of weeks.
So what now? I've got Lesbian Love and Still Young to finish, and my rotation (yeah, I've tried to reestablish some order to my stitching) for this week is H, so that's what I'll be doing now. As for the rest of my rotation? You'll have to wait and see ;)
Happy stitching!
Heather xx
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
A Few Minor Updates
First of all, I'd like to say a big thank you and welcome to all my new followers! Welcome back to my old followers, too, of course - don't forget you can enter my giveaway, which is open until the end of July and open to new and old followers.
This weekend I ran (part of) the Race For Life, which you can read more about here. I'm (mostly) still in one piece, despite not being a runner. Maybe I'll actually train for next year's, like I'd planned for this year's!
I admit I've not done a huge amount of stitching over the past week - but there's a great reason. I've taken up knitting! I started off by finally finger-knitting the scarf I picked up yarn for during the Great Hobbycraft Expedition of May, and when I had most of the ball left, I figured I'd better do something with the remainder. Here's the finger-knitted scarf...
And I'm making a bear scarf with the remainder. It's a bit of a sampler scarf, by which I mean I'm using it to play around with (and subsequently cock up) stitches and stitch combinations:
Gotta learn to knit somewhere! I saw a free Despicable Me minion pattern which I want to be able to do eventually, so I have high hopes.
Here's what little I've done of stitching recently:
TARDIS, by Jodyri Designs, done on a blue evenweave I had lying around using Dematerialising TARDIS by Jodyri Designs.
Unnamed Janlynn Fruit Piece, done with bits from a kit. There're some marks on the fabric, as you may be able to see, but I'm hoping those will come out in the post-finish wash.
My stitching plans for the foreseeable future are:
1) Finish the "fruits" piece by the end of the week
2) Catch up with the PR Mystery SAL - parts 3 and 4 came out this Monday and I still haven't finished part 2
3) Work on H, in the hope that I might eventually finish it before I start wanting to burn it
4) Continue Passenger Train while the Gentleman Friend is on holiday
5) Begin Still Young In Dragon Years by Dragon Dreams - my grandparents in the US turn 80 this fall, and my mother thought this would be perfect to commemorate it
Hopefully there'll be more stitchy updates soon!
Happy stitching!
Heather xxx
This weekend I ran (part of) the Race For Life, which you can read more about here. I'm (mostly) still in one piece, despite not being a runner. Maybe I'll actually train for next year's, like I'd planned for this year's!
I admit I've not done a huge amount of stitching over the past week - but there's a great reason. I've taken up knitting! I started off by finally finger-knitting the scarf I picked up yarn for during the Great Hobbycraft Expedition of May, and when I had most of the ball left, I figured I'd better do something with the remainder. Here's the finger-knitted scarf...
And I'm making a bear scarf with the remainder. It's a bit of a sampler scarf, by which I mean I'm using it to play around with (and subsequently cock up) stitches and stitch combinations:
Gotta learn to knit somewhere! I saw a free Despicable Me minion pattern which I want to be able to do eventually, so I have high hopes.
Here's what little I've done of stitching recently:
TARDIS, by Jodyri Designs, done on a blue evenweave I had lying around using Dematerialising TARDIS by Jodyri Designs.
Unnamed Janlynn Fruit Piece, done with bits from a kit. There're some marks on the fabric, as you may be able to see, but I'm hoping those will come out in the post-finish wash.
My stitching plans for the foreseeable future are:
1) Finish the "fruits" piece by the end of the week
2) Catch up with the PR Mystery SAL - parts 3 and 4 came out this Monday and I still haven't finished part 2
3) Work on H, in the hope that I might eventually finish it before I start wanting to burn it
4) Continue Passenger Train while the Gentleman Friend is on holiday
5) Begin Still Young In Dragon Years by Dragon Dreams - my grandparents in the US turn 80 this fall, and my mother thought this would be perfect to commemorate it
Hopefully there'll be more stitchy updates soon!
Happy stitching!
Heather xxx
Passing on Some Giveaways
I'm not the only one having a giveaway at the moment - the online cross stitching community is so generous, so I'm not surprised at all! I thought I'd share some of them...
DAPHNE of Daphne en de Wereld is giving away a gorgeous crocheted ice cream keychain and some surprises! This closes July 25th.
BERNADETT of Petite Armoire is having TWO giveaways - one is giving away a notebook and a lavender heart, which look lovely and very summery, and the other is a mug warmer, a teabag pouch and 4 teabags! This one cloess July 31st.
KIM of Wisdom With Needle And Thread is giving away some lovely stitchy treats...
Just Nan's "Queen of the Needle" with embelishments, and a scissor pouch. You have until July 25th to enter this one.
I should really start a "giveaway" box on the side of my blog and just update that periodically - the stitching community is alway so kind to be gifting things like this! :)
Stitching update is on its way...
Happy stitching! :)
Heather xxx
DAPHNE of Daphne en de Wereld is giving away a gorgeous crocheted ice cream keychain and some surprises! This closes July 25th.
BERNADETT of Petite Armoire is having TWO giveaways - one is giving away a notebook and a lavender heart, which look lovely and very summery, and the other is a mug warmer, a teabag pouch and 4 teabags! This one cloess July 31st.
KIM of Wisdom With Needle And Thread is giving away some lovely stitchy treats...
I should really start a "giveaway" box on the side of my blog and just update that periodically - the stitching community is alway so kind to be gifting things like this! :)
Stitching update is on its way...
Happy stitching! :)
Heather xxx
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