and the winner is....

There were 20 entries for my blogoversary draw. I put the numbers in a random number generator (which I have tried and failed to copy and paste here), and the winning comment was no. 11, which was from Kate.

Thank you all for entering, I'll run another one when I hit 100 followers.

Kate, can you drop me an email with your postal address, don't hold your breath though, I'm planning on stitching you something as part of your prize so you won't get it right away.

Monthly Challenge and Playing Hooky

The end of the month seems to have come around very quickly, guess thats a February thing!

Anyway its reveal day for the Monthly Challenge. This month we stitched the Love design from The Stitcherhood. The album can be found here

I stitched mine using various thread scraps and finished it as a little ornament decorated with crochet flowers. 
I did NOT crochet the flowers myself, crochet being a skill I had never managed to master until yesterday, when I found an online tutorial that didn't seem to be written in some form of arcane gibberish, and

Ta Da!

OK, you can stop laughing now, all you seasoned hookers. I'm chuffed with this!
Adorable technicolour blankets here I come!

Don't forget to enter my Giveaway (see previous post), I'll be drawing a winner on Tuesday

Blogoversary Giveaway

Yes, little bloggie is a fantastic four years old today! Sniffle, look how my baby has grown!
I thought that called for a giveaway.
Not sure exactly what I'll put in the prize package, but it will definitely include fabric and threads, a chart or two, and a little something stitched by me.
I don't want to make you jump through hoops to enter, but I'd like to think that if you did enter you'd come back and visit sometimes, so if you want to join in please join this blog as a follower (existing followers can skip that step of course) and add a comment to this post only. I'll draw a winner on 1st March

Socks and Sheep

Strange combination?

There was a Valentines sock exchange on the Needlecraft Haven board. Good plan. Socks are not only lower in calories than chocolate, but they come in a wide range of attractive colours. I recieved my exchange package from Sheila, and not only did I get this most gorgeous pair of hand-knitted socks but also my very own knitted neuron!

Squee! Look at him! Look at his little dendrites! I shall love him and hug him and call him George Neville. (I'm a sucker for alliteration)

And the sheep?  Well sheep are to Barb as penguins are to me, so as it was Barb's birthday earlier this week I stitched this sheep design from Casey Buonaugurio, and made it into a pincushion for her.

I finished the Monthly Challenge too, but I can't show a picture of that until next weekend

Fuzzy Felt, Even More Felt, and a Surprise

Do you remember Fuzzy Felt? I used to love playing with that when I was young.

Having seen some amazing felt creations while browsing around on-line I was prompted to ask my friend if her Cuttlebug machine could cut through felt, and, on finding that it did, without further ado I hurried round there with my gargantuan stack of felt. An enjoyable afternoon later I found myself with a whole new pile of fuzzy felt pieces, and this is what I did with them.

Its official. I now NEED a Cuttlebug!

If you want to see where I got my inspiration, and swoon over some much much nicer examples, check out Beedeebabee's blog.

Even more felty goodness with the arrival from Amazon, hot off the presses, of this wonderful book. Felt Friends from Japan: 86 Super-cute Toys and Accessories to Make Yourself

The little felt animals in here (and they are little, most would sit neatly in the palm of your hand) are so completely retro, and so utterly adorable I could almost squeal with delight. No, thats not quite true. I actually DID squeal with delight. The family think I've gone mad!

Isn't that Babycham style deer the most kitschy fabulous felty thing you've ever seen? I am definitely going to make me one of those.

Last, but not least, a fabulous surprise in the post today when Karan sent me a present of a gorgeous chart, Dandy Dreams by Silver Creek Samplers, and this gorgeous stitched card.

Thank you Karan,  I'm touched by your kindness.

An ornament and a reveal...

...making finishes 3 and 4 for 2011.

The ornament is for the Monthly Ornament SAL and is a portion of the Fancy Work ornament from last years JCS Ornament Edition. It is stitched over 1 on a scrap of linen using left over threads and the shiny beads at the bottom are off a Christmas cracker making it a very economical ornament.

The reveal is for the January Monthly Challenge This months design was by Tra La La and proved very popular, there are lots of wonderful finishes in the album here, there are two pages so don't miss the 2nd one!
The overdyed floss is Chocolates from Carrie's Creations.
My finish is designed to answer the perrenial question in our house "Has anyone fed the cat?" The main part is finished like an ornament, with the hook part of a dressmakers hook and eye stitched in at the bottom edge. The second part is basically a very small ornament with AM on one side and PM on the other, which I finished with a beaded edge to give it a bit of weight,  and which hangs onto the hook.
The whole thing is hanging above the fridge, and the basic idea is whoever feeds Spike turns it to face the appropriate way so the next person into the kitchen can see if he has had his breakfast/tea.
Its kind of working, 75% of us remember to turn it around. Guess who doesn't! (Clue: Its a he)

A flurry of finishes

I must be on a roll this month! You might remember me asking for suggestions as to what to put on my Couer de Chat sampler in place of the charted "bienvenue", well lots of you suggested hearts, and Julie suggested a row of numbers. In the end, as you can see, I went for Julies's numbers idea, with a little heart at each end to fill the gap. I'm really please with how it has come out. Just have to wait for DH to make me a frame for it now.

Design - Coeur de Chat

Designer- Isabelle Vautier

Carrie's Creations - Old World Red on Raw linen

I've also been busy making these :-

A Bouquet of Zip Corsages

I had to stop because I ran out of pretty coloured zips. Time to hit up the chartity shops again!