Finally Fully Finishing Fun for July

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This new SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

It was a little bit of a quieter month for fully-finishing owing to me working two out the four Sundays since the last link-up.  Sundays seem to be a good time to FFO!

I completed another scrapbook page for a Just Nan small.  This is Butterfly Lace so I added some purple lace trim around the edge and some butterfly stickers:

It shares a page with Dragonfly Summer, renamed Butterfly Summer as I didn't have the dragonfly charm:

I also managed a slightly more complex finish.  The Christmas Joy Bellpull by The Sweetheart Tree is now a padded ornament to match the Christmas Noel Bellpull:

I found the ribbon I had saved and even remembered which two colours I combined to make the tassel!

If you are a Fan of Fully Finished pieces (and who isn't?) then have a look at my People's Choice this month which is all about finishing and some of the different techniques I have used.  Plus we have people linking up to show their's too.  While you are there, don't forget to leave some idea for the Poll for the next choice.

Finally, I will be sending out the first postcard in the Summer Postcard Blog Hop this weekend.  So keep your eyes open to see who receives it.  There is still plenty of time to sign up and take part this year.  Just leave a comment letting me know you would like to join in.

May Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

For this SAL I am showing the monthly project for the Christmas Ornie Blog. I am choosing from the back issues of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Specials. This month we could chose any ornament from the 2001 issue.  Owing to a slight mishap with the years last month, I stitched the 2001 Dragon Dreams design in April, so I'm stitched the 2002 in May instead.  No-one will notice if you don't tell them!

stitched on 32 count green linen

The words originally read "Peace on Earth" but when I was stitching I kept singing "Peace and Harmony" which all parents of young children will know is a song sung by Madame Gazelle in Peppa Pig!

My Hallowe'en "small" is to add some small details to my spooky conversion of Lavender & Lace's Enchanted Alphabet.  This month I added pumpkins:

stitched on 32 count Murano in Tiger Lily by Sparklies

I had one finish for my Just Nan-a-thon, this one took a lot longer than most of them but it is done now, ready to be scrapbooked:

Just Nan -Butterfly Lace

stitched on 32 count Lavender Evenweave

Once this one was finished I moved on to the next one in line; Butterfly Needlebook.  I decided to stitch the whole turquoise border on both parts of the design first:

stitched on 28 count hand-dyed pink linen

And each day I stitched one length on one of the 32 designs started for Stitch Maynia last year.  Here are the last 7 designs:

Finally, I'll be back later with my Pie and Stitch from Stash post!!

April Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

For this SAL I am showing the monthly project for the Christmas Ornie Blog.  I am choosing from the back issues of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Specials.  This month we could chose any ornament from the 2002 issue.  I am a big fan of Dragon Dreams so I went for this cute little design of a baby dragon cuddled up to a sparkly Christmas Bauble.  This is Not a Creature Was Stirring:

stitched on 32 count green linen

added metallic threads to the bauble 

I have just realised that April was supposed to be the 2002 design and this was the design from 2001.  ooops!  Never mind, 2002 is also a Dragon Dreams design so maybe no-one will notice!

I also added some stitches to my Spooky Conversion of the Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace.  This month I chose some bats from here Brigitte Dadaux:

stitched on 32 count Murano in Tiger Lily by Sparklies

I started a new Just Nan Small and have almost finished it.  The white is the perfect thing to stitch on my Crafty Coffee Mornings.

Just Nan -Butterfly Lace

stitched on 32 count Lavender Evenweave

The Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop was the perfect time to squeeze in another small.  This was a beaded Mill Hill kit which was passed on to me as just the chart.  So I stitched the DMC conversion on 16 count yellow aida:

Finally, thank you to everyone who took part in the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop and everyone who has hopped around to visit the blog and guess the mystery phrase. All the links go direct to the posts now so you have plenty of time to try and guess the phrase. Happy Hopping!

8th Blogaversary on the 8th

It's my 8th Blogaversary today!  Where has the time gone?

That's me when I was 8.  Once again you can just see my little brother to my right wearing pink and green.  That was a very fetching mustard and green knitted tanktop,  My little sister was at the other end wearing a brown/orange toned dress with a blue ribbon trim.  In the 1970s it was All The Colours For All The Children.  None of this pink/blue nonsense we have now.

We'd had a fairly stable homelife that year.  I moved into the Juniors at School and Mrs Butler's class.  I actually saw her earlier this year and recognised her so it was nice to let her know what an influence she had been.  I read my first Charles Dicken's story in her class - A Christmas Carol.

How has the blog done over the past year?   Readership has held steady, my pageviews have increased but comments have decreased.  I suspect that this is connected to the way people read blogs now.  It's much harder to comment using a mobile device.  If you are a regular silent follower, why not make this post your first comment?  It would be amazing to push those comments to 20,000 by this time next year!

Here are my blog stats:

*

8 years

865 posts

645 followers

17,952 comments

1,000,909 pageviews

WOW

Yes, I burst through the 1,000,000 mark this week!

I'd also like to wish my Blog-Twins Susan and Calamity Jr a very Happy Birthday too!

What have I been working on recently?  I had a quick look back at last year's Blogaversary post and all the pieces there have been finished which is encouraging.

So far this month I have worked on my Hallowe'en and Christmas pieces.  The Christmas piece is very close to a finish but here's a photo when I had just started:

This is a Dragon Dreams design and the fabric is actually Reed Green not grey.

I added some bats to my spooky conversion of The Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace.  They were a freebie found at this blog - Brigitte Dadaux

I took this little Just Nan Butterfly Lace along to my Crafty Coffee Morning last week and got the purple finished and all this white border too:

stitched on 32 count lavender linen

Having worked on my Christmas and Hallowe'en pieces for 3 days each, this is where I would usually pick up my Chatelaine but I decided to do something different this month and work on another of my "19 in '19" choices. As we are close to Easter I chose Gathering Eggs by Nora Corbett.   The first picture is with my TUSAL jar so I can link up with Daffycat for this month.

I worked hard on her hair and face for two days.  The frog had attacked her last year so it was nice to get this part finished.  Lots of different colours and blended threads too.

stitched on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha

Hasn't she got a sweet face?

Last year I asked you all what was your favourite blogging or stitching moment of the last year so it seems like a good idea to revisit that question this year.  Leave a comment and let me know.

A new blogging year also seems like a good opportunity to launch a new blog.  I've been showing my painted rocks recently and everyone seems to enjoy seeing them so I thought I would start a specific rock blog -  Serendipity Rocks UK.  It's still a work in progress, I'll be adding posts over the next two weeks so make sure you follow using a Reader so you see them all, or just pop back from time to time.  I decided on a blog rather than Instagram or Facebook because I can add Labels to the posts and find specific themes if I want to.


Finally, I will be hosting my Annual Easter Treasure Hunt on Good Friday the 19th April. If you would like to take part this year, just leave a comment here. The week before Easter I will send you a letter of the alphabet which will form part of the mystery phrase. On Good Friday you will post that letter along with a photo of something seasonal that you have stitched (could be Easter or Spring or just something cheerful and sunny or floral). We all hop around like little bunnies to find the Mystery Phrase!