Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all my Blog land friends!! I hope you all have a peaceful Christmas and find lots of cross stitch in your stocking from Santa.

Terry is home today so I will be busy with family stuff for the next 8 days. Lots of pics of Christmas pressie sewing I can share with you then.

Love to all

Lucy

Llandudno

Hello My friends

I thought I would share with you some pictures of where I live.....

This is Llandudno....

Image no 1 is the promenade in the snow, No 2 is the bay from the Great Orme and No 3 is the West Shore from Marine Drive (Great Orme).

Llandudno is on the North coast of Wales and the town is found between two headlands - the Great Orme and the Little Orme. The town grew mainly as a Victorian tourist resort and many of the buildings are Victorian although there is a bronze age mine on the Great Orme.

The name Llandudno is a Welsh name Meaning Church (Llan) of St Tudno. It is pronounced with the welsh double ll which doesn't easily translate into an English sound but is somewhere between L and Cl.

Most of the attractions here are summer based for the tourists and tend to be traditional such as a Punch and Judy show and cable car rides, but there are more odern additions which J really enjoys like the Ski slope and the Taboggan run.

All in all, I love it here and I hope you have enjoyed having a peek into where I live - I challenge you to do the same.

J is 5!

Look at my lil chap! With his fifth birthday appoaching I decided to take Jacob, his friend Adam & Adam's sister Chloe to Anglessey Sea Zoo to celebrate. We had a lovely couple of hours looking at the sea horses and little sharks, browsing the gift shop and playing on the bouncy castle.

Jacob was 5 on November 18th - Happy Birthday son!!!

Exchange with Ronel

Hello My Blogland Buddies

Here are a couple of pics of the piece I stitched for my recent exchange with Ronel and the bits I sent to her.

I made a needlebook and decorated it with blackwork using a pattern from Just Cross Stitch magazine. And most of the goodies I sent were charts as Ronel had said it was hard to get hold of charts in SA. I also included a customise match box kit as I know Ronel likes papercraft too and some mini hama beads.

Apologies for the picture quality - my camera was poorly and I was borrowing mum's which I didnt find very easy to use.

The Wanderer Returns

Just letting you know that TERRY is home for a few days so I will not be about in blogland. Will return soon with pics of 2 more finishes and J's 5th birthday x

Exchange from Ronel

I was having a bad day on friday until I opened the door to the postie and received this....

I 'met' Ronel via blogging this year and not only was I impressed with her stitching but also her gorgeous photo mosaics which she uses to display her work. These are her images - shamelessly stolen from her blog.

I received a lovely fat parcel full of goodies including silk thread, a rose scented sachet, heart charms and a pink tape measure but pride of place are this needlebook and scissor fob. They are so perfect I actually had a little cry. This is my first needlebook. I have made a few but always for other people so now at last I have one of my own. See the initials - I have been LE for so long but I got married almost 3 months ago and I am now LC and this is the first time I have anything with my new initials on.

Ronel Thank You. I hope the parcel I sent for you arrives soon. Please forgive the stolen pics and I hope to be able to exchange with you again.

PIF and a posting

Hello My Friends

Thank you to Lindylou and Nika for signing up to my pass it forward. You will both receive something from me in the next 12 months. Please email me your postal address or leave an email here and I'll contact you.

There is still one more vacancy so if anyone is interested please let me know or the third stitch piece will be offered as a giveaway on here.

And note to Ronel - hun your exchange piece is on its way

x

Pass it forward -2 days left

Anyone else interested in receiving a stitched piece made by me?

Pass It Forward

For the first time ever I have been chosen as a PIF recipient by Ronel - I am so excited!! Thank you Ronel.

Anyway as part of the deal I now have to offer a PIF here. How it works.... if you would like to receive a hand stitched item made by me sometime in the next year please leave a comment on this posting. Hopefully someone will comment.... anyway I'll draw three names on october 30th and they will receive a stitched treasure from me. But if you are chosen you must make the same offer and continue to 'pass it forward'

Happy Stitching
x

Wedding Pics

Wedding Day!

Hello

I'm getting married today!! I promise to be back in blogland very soon. We are moving house on tuesday and I hope to be internet connected within a week of that. Sending love to you all

Lucy the Bride!! XXXX

Back Soon

Hello my friends

Just to warn you I am off to Wales for a week or so but I will be taking my sewing with me and will show you what I've been up to when I get back.

xxxx

New Wedding Date and New Friend

It turns out that it is extremely difficult to get married, blessed and to move house all in the space of one week. And sneaking through into the following week isn't going to prove possible either as J has to start at his new school several days earlier than expected.

So we have taken the plunge and moved the wedding date and the big day will now be (drum roll) August 20th. So far all cast and crew have been able to cope with the change of date except my hair and make up lady Jo. And it means that its only about 40 days til I DO!

Also I have a new friend through cross stitch and blogging. Hello Ronel and I am looking forward to our exchange. If you haven't already visited her blog please have a quick look because her work is lovely and so inspiring. 5 mins on her blog and I'm just itching to stitch.

And finally here is yours truely hard at work.....

'Challenge for a Finish' Finish

Here is the Challenge for a Finish callenge piece for july. The challenge was to make anything but use only 1 colour of variagated thread so my challenge piece is officially the scissor keep as the needlebook uses othe colours.

The home sweet home design is a freebie from here

This is just a repeating blackwork pattern.

And a matching little needlebook.

All are returning to Algeria with Tel for his friend Mohammed to give to his wife so eventually they will find their way to Egypt. I really enjoyed making them.

Pet Service

Here is the crazy spaniel all dressed up for the pet service at church. Sadly he wouldn't stay still for the pics so they aren't terribly good. The T Shirt says Jesus Loves Me and was made especially by the lovely Chrissie at kissiboo. You can find her at kissiboo.com and on ebay.

My News...& I DO I DO I DO!!!!

Hello my friends in blogland.

Tel has gone back to work in the desert today so I am sad and missing him. He is away for 7 weeks this time which is less than last time but still seems I have a mountain to climb. But to keep me going through this rotation I have a little job to do... I have a wedding to plan!!!

Yup! Tel and I are getting married on August 26th. Its only going to be a small wedding with maybe a dozen guests at the local registry office, food in our local and a blessing a few days later with our 'church family' but I am still really excited.

And we are relocating - moving to North Wales near where I grew up. That should happen very early September.

So I may have 7 weeks ahead but I do have lots to keep me busy.

And my message to Tel - I love you. I can't wait to marry you. You are the best daddy J could ever have and I know you are going to be the best husband too. Thank you for loving us and chosing us to be your family. XXX

A Gift for Tel

Copyright Marie Auriau

http://ravenelle.over-blog.com

Cream 28 ct linen

2 over 2

I love the fact that my bloke is a stitcher. And he happened to comment one day that I made things for other people and for exchanges but had never sewn anything for him. He was right - so to put that in order here is the little needlebook I made for him.

The design is a freebie from Ravenelle and I think its a wonderful pattern. I have omitted the flower border from the bottom.

I've not been making these smalls for very long and every finish is a bit of an experiment and on this ocassion I have added pockets front and back. The front pocket is to tuck the blades of his scissors into. I have added some tapestry needles on the felt and the pocket at the back holds a little pack of sharps for any running repairs he needs to make while out in the desert.

So my babe, this is for you, with love xxxx

Alphabet Exchange

Trilogy - Happy Heart Day

1 over 1 on sage linen

The June exchange on exchange heaven was a piece to include the whole alphabet. This little cushion was the piece I made for Lorna.

I made a tiny pocket on the back and edged in lace to match the design. And as a little bonus I popped in a lavendar aromator. Hope you like it Lorna x

Biscornu

I have finally taken some pics of my first biscornu - only about 6 months after I made it! I do have the excuse that it now lives on my mums dressing table 235 miles away but.... Anyway it was so much fun to sew and the design was from the internet but alas I cannot remember where so if anyone recognises it please let me know so I can give the designer credit. Colour choices my own.

Exchanges Received

Wow what a lucky girl I am.... two exchanges received today. Firstly from Rachael on Exchange Heaven.....

Its a scissor keep - the scissors held on the central ribbon, with places either side for pins and needles - which Rachael kindly included. Beautifully stitched over a single thread it is having pride of place in my work box. Thank you Rachael!

And this lot is from Ann (izzieann) on the crafty natter birthday exchange. My fingers are just itching to get playing with this scrummy set but I must must must finish my exchange piece first. Thank you very much Ann

Welcome Home!

Terry the best Daddy in the world, with J

Terry's first rotation has almost finished and after nine long weeks without him, I am looking forward to welcoming him home tomorrow. Then I have almost three weeks with him, so I may not be in blogland very much for a while.

And here is a bit of backstitch appearing on the Bothy threads sewing sampler.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Huge CONGRATULATIONS to my darling Tel on your promotion and rise! I always knew you were fantastic at your job and its great that you are finally with a company that can see that too. I've been and bought you a nice bottle of champers and it's cooling in the fridge ready for you to enjoy on monday. I love you babe xxx

Progress Report

This Is the Bothy Threads sewing sampler which Tel sent as a pressie a few weeks ago. Its lovely to do as all the colours are so bright, but its a bit vague in some places until I manage to get some backstitch done.

My Waxing Moon design hasn't been worked on this week.

And look who has had a haircut?!? Poor Monty was really suffering in that hot weather so I sent him for a clip. Doesn't he look posh?

Lots of love to Tel. Only 8 days til my knight in shining armour returns from the desert. Can't wait!

The Latest from the Sahara

This oak beamed cottage is next to the car Terry was working on before. Can't wait to see it in person and only 15 days to wait. Yippee!

Exchange Fob Received

A big thank you to Lorna who sent me this lovely scissor fob as part of our fob exchange on exchange heaven. Its such a sweet little fob that will hopefully stop my scissors disappearing down the side of my chair. I'm delighted with it.

And for my fellow spaniel lovers here is a pic of Mont enjoying the sun yesterday