Monthly challenge and stash shopping

Yesterday was reveal day for the Monthly Challenge at Jaynes Attic. This months design was from Windy Willows. I stitched mine on Zweigarts opalescent lugana, using Anchor 1033, 1034 & 1035. As usual there are some wonderful finishes in the album . I finished mine a Christmas card hanger, here's how I did it:-

I cut two ovals of cardboard and gathered and laced the stitched piece over one of them, and a piece of print cotton over the other, lined them up together back to back and stitched around the edges catching the evenweave to the cotton. So far so much like a pinkeep except that at the centre top I caught in a small loop of ribbon for hanging, and at the bottom edge I sandwiched the top edge of a 1m length of sequin waste between the two cardboard pieces. It is quite easy to pierce the sequin waste with a sharp needle so I just stitched right through it as I stitched the front and back together. Finally I trimmed the edge with a length of braid, fastening it onto the front section rather than around the outside edge as you would for a pinkeep. The cards are hung onto the sequin waste with tiny clothes pegs (the sorth they sell for card making).

Oh, and I mentioned stash shopping. My friend and I went to Exeter yesterday for the Stitching and Creative Crafts show. Not a huge amount of Cross Stitch there, but lots of beading. I got some beads, a highly discounted DMC kit (I didn't really want the kit, but it was so cheap it was worth buying it for the nice piece of eau de nil linen that came with it), a pretty pair of Premax scissors with flower patterned handles, and a kit to make a Machine embroidered piece from organza, where you use a soldering iron to melt away parts of the design, which sounds like a lot of fun.

I got some drop dead gorgeous beaded shoes too. Because they were there...

Sunshine and Twilight

What beautiful weather we are having (at last!). Yesterday we spent the morning catching up on some much needed gardening, then in the afternoon we went for a walk along the cliff path,



Follwed by this very welcome refreshment ;D






Not too much stitching to show today. I've finished the Jaynes Attic Monthly Challenge, but I can't show that until reveal day. There is this though. This "Twilight" design was a free gift from Paulette of Plum Street Samplers, and the moment I saw it I knew it had to be stitched for Eloise. The thread is Carrie's Creations' Hearts on Fire by the way, I thought that was kind of appropriate. The only problem is that Naomi is now completely jealous, and I have to stitch it all over again!

Back to school!

The girls went back to school today, and it seemed really quiet without them (they are making up for it now of course).

It was Naomi's first day of secondary school. Where did my baby go????

Note the difference in colour between the nice new school sweatshirt and the one thats been washed a few times. You'd think with what they charged for them they'd wash a bit better than that.

I got stash post today. As soon as Naomi got her eye on this she wanted me to stitch it for her. Well, the chart is horrible! Not only is it in colour, which I hate, but it is a HUGE single sheet (A2) folded in four. I think I'm going to isolate the Kitty motif, stitch it up as an ornie, and forget the rest.

This is me today...

"And what is the reason for your boundless joy?" I hear you ask.
I have just discovered I can buy Rington's Tea online. I have so missed getting my tea delivered since I moved down south, but no more! No more bland Supermarket Tea! No more pining for the Tea Man! No more ringing my mum and begging her to send tea packages! I got so excited I ordered three different types of tea and two caddies (but I was very good and didn't order the caramel wafers).
I've been in a finishing mood today. I got my August Challenge from the Jaynes Attic Forum finished. This month the design was from A Mon Ami Pierre. Mine is stitched in Gentle Art Shaker colours on 32 count raw linen and I finished it as a pinkeep, but there are plenty of much more imaginative finishes in the album. Looking forward to September's challenge now.
I also made up this little pinkeep. This is NOT a frog (honest). This is "Tiny Toad" a free design from The Cricket Collection. He is stitched in random bits of leftover threads, and it is my first attempt at a gathered ribbon trim. I'm not 100% happy with it, but its OK, and I think it kind of suits him.

Back from Holiday

I love Brittany and as usual, I took dozens of photos. Here is a selection of a few of my favourites

And here are a few highlights
Crepes with Cider!

A French Needlework Shop...

and the stash I got there ;)

Off on holiday in the morning

We are setting off for Brittany in the morning (here is a pic of where we are going), I'll talk to you all when I get back. In the meantime, thank you to both Mylene and Karan who nominated me for this award. I'm going to chicken out of nominating anyone myself this time because I need to go pack,so if I've ever commented on your blog consider yourself nominated ;)

Showtime!

I'm repeating myself here as I have shown a picture of this little stitched basket before (it is a previous Jaynes Attic Monthly Challenge piece), but here it is again, feeling very proud of itself because it won Best in Show - Handicrafts at the Village Show yesterday ;D

I also won a "first place" with my driftwood sculpture, another with a Hardanger piece (French Brocade, which I've shown on here before), and a few firsts and seconds in the art, cookery and floral art sections. The girls did very well too. Naomi got a "first" for this "Flower arrangement in an unusual container", another for her chocolate chip cookies, gold and bronze medals in the childrens "flowers and veg mini tray" and "Best in Show - Photograph" against all the adult exhibitors, and Eloise got trophies for her miniature garden, photography, single flower floral arrangement, and, absolutely unbelievably, a first for her handwriting!

Oh and check out her "vegetable animal"!

More general pictures of the show can be seen here: http://www.delabole.com/2008delashow.html