Dilemma!

Blogger is driving me crazy!  I can see my blog in read-only mode but can't get at the Dashboard.  I have to go into someone else's blog, leave a comment to log in to Blogger then I can edit my own blog!  And my Picasa photo album is having a tizzy fit too and won't load any photos.  I have to add them to my blog then move them into the relevant photo album then delete them from the blog.  aaaaaaaaghhhhhhhh!

Anyway I have a decision to make about thread colour.  I want to stitch this fairy for my great-niece who is due any time.  I have a piece of raspberry aida to stitch her on but can't decide on thread colour - magenta? pink? purple? a total contrast?  Any ideas?  I want to do a plain colour not a hand-dyed but other than that I'm not sure.

The fairy is a Passione Ricamo freebie, there are several different fairies on their site.  If you click on "X stitch brand line" on the left hand side of the screen it will bring up the link to the free charts.

I have finished a cute Japanese Beckoning Cat design by Joan Elliott this weekend and framed it in a bargain frame.  The bric-a-brac people left a box of bric and brac in our Toddler Group hall and while I was moving it to a safe place I couldn't help but notice three picture frames.  I was told everything was 10p so I generously gave them 50p for all 3!

The cat is known as Maneki Neko (or Beckoning Cat) and more information can be found here.
招き猫 These are the Japanese characters for Maneki Neko which I might try stitching along the bottom of the picture.  Alternatively I might find some oriental braid and fix that along the bottom.  I found a great shop in town recently which sells lovely trimmings.  The shop is at the grotty end of town and is a bit tatty on the outside.  Inside it's a jumble sale but they do have some great finds if you don't mind rummaging.