Grow Your Blog Party and A Giveaway

Hello, and welcome if you have come here as part of the "Grow Your Blog" party set up by Vicki at 2 Bags Full
If you are new here you are probably wondering what kind of place you've come to. To be honest even if you've been dropping by for ages you probably still wonder that, so here is a kind of introductory thing:-
I'm Christine, aka Alchymyst in some parts of the internet.
We live in a small village just in from the north coast of Cornwall, where my husband, David, and I run a photography business. We have two beautiful daughters, the elder, Eloise,  is 18 and away at university studying maths whilst the younger one, Naomi, is 16, and in her last year at secondary school.

I'm a very crafty person, by which I mean I'm always making things, I don't want to imply that I am particularly cunning.
I am, I just don't want to imply it.

"I have a cunning plan, my Lord"
(OK, so that probably gives you some idea of my sense of humour too)
My cunning plans often include taking old unloved pieces of vintage tat and transforming them into something new and (hopefully) lovely. Or maybe just slightly trendier tat...
I stitch, knit, sew, paint, you name it, I can't sit still and not be doing something with my hands.
I'm also a Grade A Geek, and an aficionado of fantasy, science fiction, comic books and action heroes. You have been warned.
Oh and I like love shoes. And penguins.

So, what are you likely to find on this blog? First and foremost I'd say this was a stitchy blog, so you're going to see a lot of needlework, there is also quite a bit of knitting, sewing and general crafts. Upcycling features quite heavily too. I try and include tutorials if I think I've come up with something you might want to copy. (There is a new one coming in a couple of days.)
You'll find pictures of flowers and of my garden and general pictures from around Cornwall, pictures of my girls and of our cats, Loki and Jinx (see note above about comic books and action heroes), odd bits and pieces about our lives and the occasional spot of out and out geekery.
I hope you think it sounds like a place you'd like to visit again

In honour of the event I'm offering a small giveaway. This little (about 3" across) springy zingy citrussy corsage is made from felt with a crocheted flower and vintage button centre. If you'd like a chance to win it just leave a comment on this post. That's it. No hoops to jump through. The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere. I'll draw a winner on Feb 1st.
Now, why not hop back over to Vicki's and check out some more blogs.