Robins and prizes

So glad tomorrow's Friday. We have a merger looming at work and lets just say all is not great. The interviews took place for the CEO yesterday and we are so disappointed with who they appointed. Its a bad time to be working in the voluntary sector. Its all about politics and who knows who and who is friends with whom. Unfair and unjust. Anyway, rant over....

Advent day 16 (nearly there)....todays advent activity was to make some robins! LOL. I seen this in the Tesco baby and toddler Christmas magazine. We (or I) only made one, it was tedious and Caleb wasn't too interested. He did like flying it round the room and crashing it into the walls once it was complete though.

I won a giveaway recently on Maggie O's blog. Everything arrived today and it's fab! Thank-you so much Maggie. There's so many lovely designs in this years JCS Christmas Edition. I never buy this magazine over here because its too pricey so it was great to win it!! I really want to stitch that JBW Star.

Off to sit on my butt for the rest of the evening.....after ive wrapped my work secret santa gifts and written my cards for everyone at the office.

Christmas gift from NZ

Gosh it been a long day. We're having crazy cold weather at the moment. I heard its to be -12 tonight. I cant remember temperatures ever being that low here. So, we had another day at home to avoid travelling in the snow and ice. I haven't seen some of my friends for weeks. Thankfully my friend Bev has a little boy the same age as Caleb and lives nearby so we spent the morning at her house. The afternoon has dragged by though and Caleb had a really late nap (as did i) which means he'll be up late tonight booooo. Plus we both have colds. Moan moan moan.

On a less moan-full note, i got a gift all the way from Rowyn in New Zealand today. A lovely reindeer ornament, a chart, linen, fabric and floss. My sister is expecting a baby (boy) in January and i think i'll stitch the chart for her. Rowyn, i love everything! Thank-you so much! The reindeer is hanging up already.

Caleb and I made paperchains as our advent activity today. I didnt take a picture, you know what paperchains look like! All i can say is YAH for Tescos pre-cut self-adhesive paperchains. No cutting/sellotaping/gluing etc etc. We also made 2 more Christmas cards for family and Caleb drew pictures (aka scribbles) in them all.

I very much doubt i'll get into work tomorrow, the weather there is even worse apparently. I can work from home though which is good although never as productive!

Stay safe and warm all! x

Decorated tree

Advent day 4. The Christmas tree was decorated by the 3 of us today. Its Matthews job to do the lights then Caleb and I decorated. We bought a small tree this year as our other one is just too big now Caleb has so many toys around the place. We need a new house!! This place is getting cramped.

I love getting all the decorations out! I forget what we have. We've a few lovely things with nice memories attached...a silver heart we got the first year we were married, an ornament i stitched for Caleb's first Christmas and so on. I love it. Im stitching Caleb an ornament every year with a personal message on the back. You can see last years here. This years is still a work in progress.

One of my favourite things to open is my snowman tin which has all my handmade stitchy gifts inside. I have made some lovely friends through blogging. I have a lovely santa Donna stitched for me which i made into a pillow sitting on the couch, the tin itself is under the tree and was actually a gift from Michele as well as a snowman figurine i display every year, the little pillow under my tree was made by Karen, a beautiful little santa ornament Clare stitched with the most immaculate stitching is hanging on the wall alongside a little set of mitts Kathy stitched for me last year. And Hazel, the gift you made when Caleb was born has been hung across one of the windows in our living room since the day it arrived (nearly 2 years ago!) I love handmade gifts, they mean so much as i appreciate the time and effort that goes into even the smallest item. So thank-you all, for your kindness, friendship and comments on my blog :-)

Winner and Final Christmas stuff

I asked my husband to pick a number between 1 and 27 and number 17 was his choice! Margaret that's you! You have won my blogiversary competition and i will send you a gift before my next blog birthday! If you could leave me a comment with your email address that'd be great. Thanks everyone else, was fun to find some new blogs too!

Now my third Christmas exchange was with Jill and this beautiful ornament arrived the day before Christmas. It really is stunning. Thanks Jill and for all the other goodies too.

I stitched this one for Jill. A Lizzie Kate freebie

Got a busy week ahead. Monday im working, Tuesday is mum and tots at my church and body combat in the evening, Wednesday im working, Thursday another mums and tots and then Caleb starts his swimming lessons in the afternoon and then Saturday is Caleb's first birthday party so ive got food and decorations to buy, cakes to bake etc etc Busy busy!

Christmas Exchange no.2

Isn't this gorgeous? Clare doesnt have a blog but we got emailing when she responded to my Christmas exchange request. It is so petite with totally perfect stitching and finishing, a billion times better than mine thats for sure. I love it!

As well as this little beauty she sent all these goodies too! Look at the hat and mitts she knitted for Caleb. Beautiful!

I annoyingly didnt take a picture of what i stitched for Clare, but it was basically the same as the one as i sent Kathy (see previous post) except it was JBW's Peace, Love, Joy.

Been another busy week in our household. Was away with work overnight which was awful. The usual office Christmas party shenanigans going on...tears, fights, bitchiness, backstabbing, totally drunk idiots saying too much they shouldnt etc etc Was awful, just keeping low and getting on with my job, 2 days a week, surely i can survive that?!

Looking forward to Christmas now. Its fun with Caleb! He was 11months old yesterday.

Christmas Exchange no.1

My 2 nights away were bliss! I arrived thursday afternoon, spent ages in the gym, went swimming, sat in the jacuzzi, had a meal and a glass of wine in the bar then went to my room and watched tv and had a peaceful night! Full English Breakfast Friday morning before heading to the wedding. The wedding was lovely as was another night in the hotel, with another fry up Saturday morning followed by the gym and then home. I would recommend all mums have a get-away overnight! It was great!

I have taken part in 3 Christmas exchanges this year. Ive enjoyed stitching Christmas ornaments for my blogging friends. Here is the first which went to Kathy

Its a JBW designs piece. The ribbon says Merry Christmas and i added a little charm thing in the left corner. I sent Kathy other gifts which you can see on her blog.

Here is what Kathy sent me (blogger just wont let me turn this photo round). The mitts are so cute! She also included chocolates but they are long gone!

I love Christmas exchanges! Thanks Kathy!

Another week another finish!

I finished another piece this week. A freebie from Debbie Draper Designs. I actually started this the night i went into hospital to be induced but havent been able to work on it since because i associated it with hospital/labour etc etc but i managed to pull it out again and finish the stitching off.
I thought i would show some of the lovely handmade pressies ive received over the last few months for Caleb. Starting on the left, my mum knitted Mr Humpty, my friend Becky made the "Caleb" in the frame - the letters and the circles are cut out of material and handstitched on (you cant see it in this picture but his date of birth is stitched in some of the circles), my friend Janet made the lovely photo album and my friend Lori made the fab sock monkey! I love handmade gifts!On the baby front, im so looking forward to Caleb starting food. Not long now..he's so ready i think. Im getting organised anyway. At the moment i am loving pureeing all these different fruit and veggies and storing them in the freezer....the novelty of pureeing will wear off though i know LOL but giving my baby good healthy nutritious food prepared by me is driving me at the moment....but see all those ready made baby foods in the supermarket, they do look so easy.... Anyway, last night i pureed some apples yum yumI ordered my linen for the Mary Wigham SAL last week only to get an email back saying it was out of stock and i'll have to wait a couple of weeks. So disappointed!

Cute

That's one of my favourite pics to date! Cutie! Although i wasnt saying that when we were still awake at 4.30am this morning. Typically he has slept all of this morning but i had visitors and couldnt sleep myself aaaahhh He'll be 6weeks old this Sunday, which is also my birthday.

I received this gorgeous gift from Anna yesterday and it made my day! Isnt the card adorable too? Thanks Anna, that was really kind of you. Such a lovely ornie!

Gifts

Thanks to everyone who has been commenting recently. I love reading them and i have lots of new blogs to check out some day soon when time/baby allows! Thanks to those who gave some breastfeeding advice/support - it is much appreciated!

Now i have to show this wonderful handmade hanging ornie that Hazel sent me for Caleb! I couldnt get a clear photo because its already hanging up. I love it! Handmade pressies mean so much. Hazel, you are so kind! Isnt it great?

And i also received this lovely card from Dawn yesterday. Its my birthday on 1st March and Dawn and i share birthdays. Such a lovely card. Thank-you so much Dawn, it was so nice of you to remember me!

Now i cant finish without posting another Caleb photo! You readers might get bored of baby pictures, but hey, its my blog and he's changing so much week by week i like to document it! Hes doing great, put on another 9oz this week which is so encouraging for me when ive been stressing about the breastfeeding

First 2009 finish

Here's my first finish of 2009! A wee pillow for my friend Lori's new baby girl.It's a Lizzie Kate design. The fabric is kinda eastery but i thought it looked pretty and birth is all about new life etc etc so i thought why not! Speaking of birth, today is my due date! Unfortunately there is no sign of baby, not even a twinge. Although my pelvis is so unbelievably sore that i could barely get into bed last night and walking is incredibly painful today. I do have SPD though so maybe this is it back with baby getting lower. Or maybe its because i walked/trotted to my car too fast last night to get out of the rain. Whatever the reason, i hardly slept because of it last night and cried getting into bed. Woe is me LOL

Here's hoping this is my last pregnancy bump photo! Taken last week

Just want to thank Anna for the beautiful handmade card that just arrived for Christmas along with some overdyed skein of thread. So kind of you! Thank-you. I already have a project earmarked for the thread!

Oh, ive joined the stitch a mirabilia blog to inspire me to work on my Feather Fairy this year. This will be a weekly SAL.

Maternity leave is great

I am loving being off work! I havent been bored at all yet. Its great! On Monday i went Christmas shopping but walking around the shopping centre was totally exhausting and i had to come home and go to bed for 2 hours after it LOL Monday night was our Christmas ladies night at church. On Tuesday i was back in work to finish a couple of things and then they took me out for the afternoon, i got lovely presents and flowers. On Wednesday i stayed home and played domestic goddess for the day and cooked a lovely Shepherds Pie (even if i do say so myself) which was a recipe from one of my Delia Smith cookbooks that ive used maybe once in 2 years LOL Thursday i got my haircut, did more Christmas shopping and went out for my sisters birthday in the evening. Today i was at the dentist, then at my mum and dads for lunch and im just home. The week has passed quickly.

I heard from Carol that she received the Reindeer Games exchange i sent her. Its a design from JCS 2006 Christmas issue by The Workbasket. I made this hanging pillow and found the perfect reindeer fabric for it.

Not the best pictures but you get the idea! I sent along some other goodies too but didnt photograph those.

Excited to put up my Christmas decorations tomorrow!!

Baby shower

Well its been a busy week since i last posted. We've had 2 thanksgiving meals (even though we're in Scotland) and a baby shower. The baby shower was for me (my 2nd one)! My friend Sherri organised it for me and it was really good fun! There were about 18 of us. I dont know if Sherri reads this blog but she is truely one of those great friends who is so kind and considerate and goes out her way to help people. She has a 7month year old already and has been so kind at passing on loads of things i will need when babyT arrives, from maternity clothes to baby baths! She's been great and i really appreciate it! Anyway...back to the shower... i got loads of lovely presents and we played lots of fun games. The funniest moment had to be trying on these lovely knickers that my friend Claire got me for a jokeI hope i'll never need them for real! LOL

One thing i can't get over is just how kind people are! Ive had so many gifts and presents already, our house is filling up as you can see from this picture of presents (apart from the iron and ironing board)I must thank 2 of my good blog friends for their lovely gifts recently; Lesley sent me a whole box of baby clothes which i really appreciate and Michele sent me the most gorgeous scrapbook - i'll take a picture of it sometime! And these are people ive never met -its so kind!!

So the big news this week will be me finishing work!! For those that regularly read my blog you will know that i have been counting down the days for a long time! This thursday is my last day. Im excited to finish but a little apprehensive as well which i didnt really expect. I dont want what ive worked on over the past while to be messed up and on the other hand i dont want my replacement to come in and do a much better job than me LOL can't win!

On the stitching front, i finished my Reindeer Games exchange for the sbebb and mailed it today. I was really pleased with my finished piece so i look forward to posting a picture once its been received!

20 weeks now!

I havent been blogging much recently. But i have been doing a little stitching again now that im not so sick! I stitched this for Nicola as she was one of my blogiversary winners back in January! 2 gifts down (Staci and Nicola), 2 gifts to go (Juls and Michele) - hopefully before my next blogiversary LOL Anyway, i stitched this wee lady from a LHN chart and i hope Nicola likes it!
So as of today i am 20 weeks pregnant! Time sure flies! We have another scan next week which im really looking forward to, although i will be so nervous nearer the time. I can feel babyT move around now which he/she does a lot. Its a great feeling! Heres my wee bump so far :-)

Thanks to everyone who offered to stitch on my RR! You are all so kind! Rowyn was the first to reply - thanks Rowyn, im really grateful!

Baby and Biscornu

Holy Moly 74 comments on my last post! That is amazing. Thank-you to everyone for the congratulations messages. It was great to hear from so many people. I am now 16 weeks pregnant and feeling much better, i havent been sick now for over a week. Still the occasional blinding headache though. To answer a few questions...i dont know if its a boy or girl and i dont know if we'll find out or not, can't decide! Also our surname is Thomas hence babyT.

Still no stitching. Hoping the urge will return. I ordered this the other day from The Historical Sampler Company that i will stitch for the baby's room

So i never did show a picture of my first ever biscornu!! I made this for Staci a few months ago as one of my prizes for my blogiversary contest. It took me quite a while to stitch and finish and it isnt perfect by any means, maybe i'll be quicker with my next one. I took a few pictures seeing as it was my first one LOL

Spring exchange

I received word that Anna received the Spring exchange i made for her. We were doing a Prairie Schooler exchange and i stitched this one. Hope you feel better soon Anna!I won these on Staci's blog the other day and they arrived yesterday! Lots of tins! Im going to use many of these for finishing! Ive never made/received a tin finish before but no excuse now. Any good tutorials out there? Ive never found Altoids to buy over here, so was surprised to see on the front of the tin "made in Great Britain." Very bizarre. I remember reading on Hazel's blog that someone found them in Morrisons once.

Anyway, thank-you so much Staci! Staci won my blogiversary competition back in January so i did laugh when i found out i'd won her giveaway.
Here is my new start! The EMS Rose Sampler which i fell in love with as soon as i saw it! This is a freebie design with a new part released each month. I discovered it late so i am a bit behind! I am using DMC 115 as my main colour.

Well according to my stitching bloggers yahoo group, yesterday was the little known "holiday" of "No Housework Day" and so we were to answer this question on our blogs: What is your least favorite household chore? The only household chore i enjoy is laundry. I love it, very satisfying! Every other chore i hate but my most hated chore by far is cleaning the bathroom. No sooner is it cleaned when you feel it needs cleaned again. Although isnt that the same in every room?! LOL

Off now to tidy the lounge before i start work for the day. Im working from home today which i love!

Happy Easter

A long weekend at last! What are everyone's plans for Easter? We are enjoying being home this weekend. We have got plans this evening and will be at church tomorrow but that's about it. I hope to (maybe) get some painting done, my bedroom needs refreshed, and DH is putting new taps in the kitchen sink. Nothing like a holiday weekend for some DIY! I had hoped to get some serious running in but ive pulled a muscle in my lower calf and it is sore. I really don't want to stop running as im doing really well fitness wise, but i know i should stop training for a few days until it's better in case i do anymore damage. Very annoying!

So i have a few stitchy pictures to share. First of all Carol received the Tea Time exchange i sent her. I stitched one of Tanya's freebies and finished it as a pincushion.

I am also doing a PS Spring exchange with Anna. I am going to post yours soon Anna! Here is what i received this week from her

The chicken is actually a salt shaker! I love it! Anna thank-you so much! I love everything! So perfect for this time of year.

I started a new piece last night which, when complete, i am going to send to my Quilts for breast Cancer group. They are still looking for stitchers if anyone's interested? Or quilters to piece the stitched pieces together.Yes your eyes aren't deceiving you, i am stitching this on Aida!! It's been a few years since ive used Aida (im not a fan of it) but this group says Aida or Linen and i had some Aida of the exact size so thought i would use it up (then never buy the stuff ever again LOL) This is a design that was in the Gift of Stitching online magazine in September 2007. I am using a variagated pink that i received in a previous exchange.

I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend! The sun is out here and im off to enjoy the day :)

Spring has sprung

There is still snow on some of the hills over the River Clyde but apart from that, it definitely feels like spring is here. DH bought me these daffodils the other day. Today has been a beautiful sunny day and seeing as im in training for the 10K, i went for a run. I can just about run 3miles now without collapsing. 10k is 6.2miles so i still have some work to do!

My travels are over for the time being. Our next adventure is down to Bath in April for a wedding. Ive loved being at home this weekend! I finished chart number 1 on my Dear Diary SAL yesterday. This is Hannah Purington, definitely one of my favourites of this DD series

I forgot to post last week that i received a lovely PIF gift from Heidi. She made this crocheted needlecase. This is the first crocheted item i own so thank-you so much Heidi!
After trying to resist for a long time, ive given in and have started to watch Lost. My friend at work gave me season 1. I've heard everyone say that it is hard going and there are still no answers by season 3 but im going to watch it anyway and see how it goes!

The most gorgeous gift!

Im home from Canada. Just been back a few hours so im shattered and dreading work tomorrow! We got back in record time, the flight was only 5hrs 40 mins. The screen said we were cruising at 975 km/hr so must have been a good tail wind. We had a great time and it was so great spending time with our nephew who had his 1st birthday whilst we were out there. I will post pictures in days to come.

Ive just logged on quickly tonight because i came home to the most amazingly gorgeous gift ever!! It was from Marie for the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Club. It's my birthday on Saturday but i couldn't wait to open it. When i did, i was completely gobsmacked. Wow, Marie made me the most incredible gift and was sooooo generous. I couldn't believe my eyes!! I have taken loads of pictures to show off Marie's incredible work

She stitched this PS design called The Needle's Eye (notice our initials at the bottom)

and finished it like this

and included so many other gifts (sorry about the blurry picture) As you can see there were: DMC floss, Dinky Dyes floss, Madeira silks, a thread cutter (will be great for travelling), scissors, 4 PS charts, an Omnigrid, 2 packs of needles, linen (2packs), cards and coffee! I am completely overwhelmed by Marie's generosity. Ive never visited her blog before so will definitely be checking it out soon. I can not imagine how much time and effort went into this gift. Marie, i am so grateful and will treasure your beautiful gift.

My jet-lagged self is off to chill out for a while. Im fighting the overwhelming urge to go to bed right now because if i do, i know i'll be wide awake in the middle of the night!