The Secret Revealed

So I'm really wanting to get on and share some pictures from my holiday with you, but one of the downsides of this digital age is that hundreds of photos get taken so it takes a while to find the time to sort through them :)

In the meantime just to keep the blog ticking over something creative. A few months back I mentioned that I was stitching a secret project, a present for a lovely blogging friend of mine in Australia. Well the present has now been received so I know I'm safe to share my pictures without spoiling the surprise.

I made a string of colourful crows using some pieces of felt and lots of odds and ends from the scrap basket. They're based on a project by Kelli Perkins which featured in either Quilting Arts or Cloth Paper Scissors a while back (I'll try and get proper reference when I get home). They were so much fun to make.

They all emerged with their own little characters.

There was nothing really planned about their making, it was just a case of reach in to the scrap basket and make use of whatever was pulled out.

It really is a lot of fun creating in this way, just trying to make use of bits and pieces that come to hand.

I think they make a cute little decoration all strung together hanging on the wall.

I have an Aunt who loves owls who has a birthday coming up at the end of the month, so I might try and adapt the idea and make some hanging owls, we'll see what time allows.

I'm back

Just a quick hello to say thank you for your holiday well wishes.

Am back now, having had an absolutely brilliant couple of weeks. It's been so relaxing I really didn't want to come back to reality. I took tonnes of photos so will be sharing some with you just as soon as I get round to sorting them out.

But just to keep you going, here is a quick shot of Buttermere, my absolute favourite place in the Lakes. This one was taken near the top of Haystacks, a fell that I've wanted to go up for years, and am pleased to report that, yes I made it to the very top :)

Have Suitcase will travel

Will be having a blogging break for a couple of weeks as am off to the beautiful Lake District for my hols.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to share when I get back. Hope you all enjoy the next couple of weeks whatever you may be up to.

Sunshine

We've had some wonderful weather again this week but who knew you could buy sunshine at the supermarket? These beautiful roses were in the reduced section as according to the seller they were past their best. They look pretty spectacular to me and as they are all my favourite colours they just had to come home with me.

Hexagons

Don't pass out but look 2 stitch related posts in just a few days, I know I can't quite believe it myself either.

The border has now been added to the hexagons pillow. I've never worked with a larger hexagon piece and wasn't sure the best way to add a border but rather than go off and do some research, I'm so impatient, I just dived right in.

There are a few dodgy bits and lots of room for improvement but it'll do. Now I just have to add a back. I've seen in a couple of magazines recently the idea of using an old shirt to do a back using the buttons as a fastener rather than having to put in a zip and I fancy trying that out so as soon as I can hunt out an old shirt I'll get this one done.

Hearts in a Vase Bookmark

Finally something creative to share, and a finished something at that :0) My Michael Powell bookmark is done

I really love the design, and it came together quite quickly in the end when I found a few spare hours to sit and concentrate on it. Perfect for marking my progress through this wonderful book that I treated myself to recently.

This design would be loved by the red queen I'm sure :)

Voodoo Union

Over the last couple of months I've been out and about watching lots of live music, as I've been pretty poor at keeping up with things blog wise this is a catch up post with a who array of snaps taken at various gigs. Am still struggling to get any particularly clear pictures in low light conditions with my little compact but it's fun trying. So in no particular order .....

Alabama 3

Mike Dawes
Seth Lakeman
The Last Republic

The Levellers

Voodoo Six

The Union

Secret Stitching Started

Had a day off work yesterday but was feeling a little off colour. Had planned to do lots of sorting and packing but just didn't have the energy. The only thing accomplished all day was to lie on the sofa and do a few stitches here and there on the secret project. Speaking of secret projects the one I was working on a few weeks ago should be arriving with it's new owner any day now so hopefully I'll be able to share that on my blog soon :)

List Mania May/June

• Tyvek postcards - They are started but I'm running a few days behind on the posting deadline, hope to have them done soon though :)
  
• Needle felted postcards - This swap was cancelled


• Siberian Gold - Done
  
• Hexagons Pillow - add border - border is cut and stitching has started, again hoping this will be done soon


• Doll Swap - Done
  
• Cat Cushion - join the squares, have this all laid out, just need to get it to the sewing machine


• Sheep Sampler - the felted sheep is finished :)
  
• Nan's Quilt - Absolutely nothing done on this one

So not much creative happening round here way too many reds and oranges on the list this month, meaning goals are only halfway met or not even touched :( But I did make another start that wasn't on the list - the hearts bookmark.

I'm on holiday for 2 weeks in June and things with my house move are starting to gather momentum so there really will be a distinct lack of stitching time this month. I am planning on taking some stitching on hols with me though in case I get a spare half hour here and there, but I'm going to keep the list quite short this month.

• Babushka postcards - need to be in the mail by 20th June
  
• Siberian Gold - just keep plodding on
  
• Finish Hearts bookmark
  
• Secret Project - this is for my Pay It Forward.

Siberian Gold - May Progress

I've made a fair bit of progress with the Tigers this month, which is great. Mostly because I haven't really worked on much else and this is an easy one to pick up and put down whenever I have a spare half hour. This is where I was at the end of April.
And here we are at the end of May
The top right quarter is finished and I'm now starting to work on the final quarter of the picture. There is a reasonable amount of background in this section and some of that is done in half cross stitch which is why there has been quite a bit of progress.
It feels good to be on the final page of the pattern, but still a little daunting to have so much space left to fill in. My goal is to try and have this finished by the end of 2010. We'll see ......

Lovely Ladybird

I was hoping to do a post about the garden today, was going to share some pictures of the lovely veggies that are growing, but somehow I managed to transfer my pics to the computer and then promptly deleted them from both camera and computer, ooops.



This little ladybird is the only one that didn't get lost so she's all I have to offer today.



Hope you all have a great weekend.

Local Walking - Box

So a couple of my recent 'out and about' posts have been catch up on bits and pieces done over the last few months that I haven't had time to blog about. There are still a few more catch up posts to come but for now here is something a bit more recent.A week last Sunday, on an absolutely beautiful day I took a walk around about the village of Box.

It started with a stroll through a beautiful water garden, which looked spectacular in all it's yellow and green finery, water sparkling in the sunshine.

The water theme continued as the walk took me along river banks, with attractive old farm buildings, long since disused, reflecting brilliantly in the calm waters.

And I loved this fishing sign all overgrown with a tangle of ivy and vines.

Then it was a push on up hill, with these adorable little calves to stop and smile at on the way up.

They were all busy chomping away on their lunch apart from this little fellow who had his eye on me, making sure I wasn't up to any mischief I'm sure.

The slog to the top of the hill was well worth it, for the beautiful view back down to Box and the countryside beyond.

The fields were covered with hundreds of dandelions all in various stages of decay.

The route back down hill was via a very pretty little bluebell wood.

It was so tranquil in the wood, not another soul to be seen. I figured that this might have been down to a rather menacing looking green man that I saw along the way.

Can you see him too? He didn't give me any bother and was amenable enough to pose for my photo, I think he was a softy in disguise. It's so true what they say about looks being deceiving.

Look he even arranged to leave a beautiful blue balloon on the path just for me. :) A fabulous and unexpected gift.