Reveal Day

Its reveal day for the Stitch and Stash Monthly Challenge. This time we chose the design "Be True" from Plum Street Samplers. Mine is stitched on 36ct cream linen and finished as a pinkeep/hanging ornament, I trimmed it with a ready pleated cream ribbon with a narrow black ribbon over, and green and purple pins. The album of finishes is here.

I've been lucky enough to recieve two blog awards in the last week or two, and I'd like to say thank you very much to the ladies who nominated me. I hope you don't mind though if I don't pass them on to named individuals, because I can never choose just a few blogs, I love so many, for so many different reasons. I'll just say if I read/comment on your blog consider yourself nominated.

Silk painting, Spring and ladybirds

The Art Group I go to had a visiting teacher last week, who showed us the basics of silk painting. I think I may have found a new craft obsession (because I don't have enough of THOSE).

I dyed a scarf in shades of gold, and made this panel. It started out as cherry blossom, but I think it toook a detour into hydrangea somewhere along the way.

I also made this more abstract one, I'm planning to use it as a background and embroider over it. At first I thought beach and sea, but now I'm seeing more dry stone wall in the foreground with fields behind. What do you think?

Its officially Spring now, and someone must have told the garden because suddenly there are loads of flowers out. I've even got one small purple carnation, but I think maybe its a bit confused.

I had a lovely piece of post during the week, when I recieved this beautiful ladybird fob from Mylene. Isn't it just stunning? And yes, the daffs are in the garden

Mothers Day, More Stash and a Sneak Preview

Happy Mother's Day! Hope all the Mums out there are being spoiled rotten. The girls got me these lovely flowers. The slighly odd looking one is a bath ballistic from Lush, it smells all delicious and citrussy and the paper label tied to it is impregnated with wildflower seeds so I can plant it in the garden, and use the stick to mark where I put them. How perfect is that? Got to love Lush (and the girls).

The halo slipped a bit last week and I shamelessly bought this new stash (I have precisely NO will power, its official), left to right: Blackbird Designs - Snow Garden, With thy Needle and Thread - Miss Lapin and Just Nan - Needle Tweets. Well, I can call the rabbit and bird ones my Easter Egg...

And finally a little preview of a new design I just finished stitching. This is one corner of the sampler, now I need to come up with some "smalls" to go with it

Snow in Spring

It is definitely spring here. Look I can prove it, here are my snowdrops and crocuses (crocii?). There are primroses out and the first daffs are already showing their colour, yesterday I even dug the infamous sack of you know what into the veg bed.
Despite all these harbingers of spring however, there was a little snowfall in my house a couple of days agao when this little chap landed on the doormat. Gaynor accidently found herself with two of these charts and was kind enough to offer one on her blog, and I was the lucky winner. She also included the cut of grey fabric and gorgeous threads shown. Thank you Gaynor, so far I have been good and resisted starting him as I have a couple of other things I must finish first, but who knows how long my will power will hold out...