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Friday, 8 April 2016

Five Years Old Today!


It's my Fifth Blogaversary today.  The photos were taken on my Fifth Birthday at my Nana's house.  We had recently returned to England after an army posting to Singapore for several years.  Do you see those strange white things on my feet?  Socks!  We had to wear socks and shoes all the time in England.  And long sleeves.  And cardigans.  My first memory of England was standing on the railway platform wondering why it was so cold when I was wearing all these extra clothes!  It was August too.

We brought back an enormous amount of stuff, several packing crates worth but my dolls' pram had to be left behind.  So I'd been promised a new one as soon as we got back.   It was a beauty, a twin pram with a hood at each end, you can just see my two dolls sat at either end.  I still have the pram, it lives in a cupboard now waiting for my grand-daughters to arrive!  It has been played with by various visiting children but not often.

Some Blogaversary stats:

*
5 years,
542 posts,
565 followers
10,690 comments
381,887 page views
WOW

To celebrate my Fifth Blogaversary we have a very special Happy Dance - Nora Corbett's J is for Joanne:


She was a gift from Justine and started on Day 30 of the DUCJC2015.  I restarted her on 17th March, 2016 and finished her on 5th April, 2016 having put in a total of 9 stitching days.  The beading took up two of those days!

She is stitched on 32 count Love-in-the-Mist Murano from Crafty Kitten.  The same fabric as her sister E.  I used most of the Crescent Colour threads but substituted Blanc for the wings (one skein of Cloud was not enough to do four sets of wings on four fairies) and some of the greens.  I blended 3362 and 3363 instead of Desert Mesquite.  I also changed the backstitch colours to 356 for the skin and green for the dress.  I did all the scrolls in Kreinik too.


Yoga Fairy!


Bling!

Flash photography to show the bling

Action shot to show the beads!

There are a lot of beads in her.  The large flower beads in her hands look great too.

Here are all four fairies together:


I don't plan on stitching any more of these at the moment.  Unless someone has another daughter unexpectedly!  The temptation to stitch all 26 is quite overwhelming at times but I will resist.

While I think of it - Happy Birthday to Calamity Jr and Susan Yellow Flower Meadow too.

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Finally I am celebrating a Big Zero Birthday in September and have planned a BIG BLOG HOP for the event.  My plan is to attempt to get one Person per year of my life and allocate each person a year.  I will give you a Fact About Me from that year and ask you to base your post on that fact.  So you might get 1971 - "I am five years old and I start school".  Your post could be about you being five, you starting school, you in 1971 (if you were born by then) or some world event which is relevant to you from 1971.

I will ask you to post a photo of something you have stitched which will appeal to me!  I think you all know my tastes in stitching by now and I'm looking forward to some eye candy and probably some stash acquisitions too!  Got to have something to spend that Birthday money on.  So if you want to be in the Hop, please leave a comment or email me.  Because we need so MANY participants for this one, please feel free to share it on your blogs and invite your friends to join in.  The more the merrier!  We can always share eventful years or skip the dull ones depending on how many people we get.

Over the weekend I am going to try get an image we can all use to advertise the Hop and maybe set up a separate page with a linky.

54 comments:

Annie said...

Happy blogoversary! You sure were a cutie:) Beautiful finish, too!

KimM said...

Happy Blogaversary! Love the "J" fairy - stunning! Please count me in on you ginormous blog hop ;0). I'll post about your celebration on my blog when I return home.
Hugs

Vickie said...

Happy Blogaversary Jo! What a cool doll pram you have! Your fairy is gorgeous.

Mii Stitch said...

Happy blog anniversary and congratulation on a very beautiful J finish!!!
I like the yoga fairy :D

Preeti said...

Happy Blogaversary, Jo!! Your photos are cute:)
Congrats on the J finish, she is so gorgeous and so much like you - balancing so many things together with ease :) Great work with all the beads and photography too!

Jacqueline Morris said...

Happy happy happy blogoversary!! Wow!! 5 years! Awesome! Lovely stitching, Norma Corbett designs such lovely things. I too come from the military life.. And lived abroad all my life... Such fond memories.
Oooooh your BIG BLOG HOP for your up coming birthday sounds like it will be a lot of fun, I would love to join in... I will say yes now, but if anything crops up, oh you know like hospital admissions?! I will let you know!
Big happy smiles :)

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

Happy Blogversary Jo.
Your fairies are gorgeous.

Ariadne said...

I love the fairy!All that green looks lovely!Congrats on the blogaversary.AriadnefromGreece!

D1-D2 said...

Happy Blogversary Jo :) My mom used to make me wear socks with my shoes as well when I was little. I used to hate it lol. I love how creative you got with your fairy

Rachel said...

Many many happy blogoversary wishes Jo and here's to the next 5 years! What a fascinating set of statistics too. I wonder how many of your 565 followers are still active? Please count me in for your Big Birthday Blog Hop. If I don't commit now I never will! :)

Southpaw Stitcher said...

Happy blogaversary! Love your fairies--they're very glamorous. Please count me in on your birthday blog hop. It sounds like fun.

Unknown said...

Happy Day. 5 years - you have a wonderful blog I look forward to your posts. Celebrate in a big way. You are spreading Joy and Wisdom with each post your write

Kerryp77 said...

Happy Blogversary Jo! Those are quite some stats. I always look forward to reading about what you've been stitching. J looks amazing. It's my favourite out of the 4. All that beading gives it a stunning effect.

Count me in for the blog hop. Sounds like fun.

Jan said...

Happy Blogaversary Jo!! Love all your fairies they're so sparkly!

Gillie said...

That was the bit I disliked, when Mum, with a determined look in her eye, pruned my belongings......oh, the books.......don't get me started!

Opposite for me with the pram, it was left in a very damp cellar in Worcester, the hood fabric rotted 😢

Well done on the beautiful stitching, Jo.

Mouse said...

ohhhh love that pram ... and have you got accustomed to wearing socks yet ..lol gorgeous stitching and has yours got a 5 in it this year too or just a 4 ..lol would love to join the hop :) love mouse xxxxxx

barbara woods said...

congrats

Linda said...

Happy Blogaversary Jo. Your stats are pretty amazing. Congrats on another stunning finish. All of your fairies are gorgeous.

Linda

Daniela Bencúrová said...

I congratulate you on the fifth anniversary !!!
Many health and load!

Solstitches said...

Congratulations on your blogaversary!
Your finished fairy is gorgeous and I can quite see why they might be so addictive.
Lovely pics of you from way back when. How neat that you still have the dollies pram for your future grandchildren.

Beth in IL said...

Happy blog anniversary! Look forward to the blog hop. Love the fairy. I think I have done one and have at least one in my stash.

CalamityJr said...

Thank you for the birthday wishes; I'm having a wonderful day. There's something to be said for these milestone numbers, though mine is 15 ahead of yours.
Your stitched J is beautiful. I haven't attempted anything with so many beads yet. They don't scare me, I just haven't gotten there yet. Who knows? Maybe you just inspired me. Let's see, I'd have to start with 2, an M and a J...

Barb said...

What a cute little five year old you were! Congratulations on the blogaversary!

Claudette497 said...

Stunning work! It happy dancing with you - for the finish and the anniversary!

gominam said...

Congrats on the blog milestone, love how you put in those stats, impressive! J is so beautiful, I think that's my favorite among all your gorgeous faeries:)

Cathy said...

Happy Blogaversary! I've enjoyed your blog, hops, etc. for several of those years. Congratulations on finishing those letters. The J is extra blingy.

Bea said...

Congratulations on 5 years! Great pictures of the younger you - must have been a little culture shock there. Love, LOVE those fairies and you have done them so beautifully.

jocondine said...

Happy Blogaversary! The "J" is gorgeous, great pics, such a nice gift from Justine. About your super blog hop : count me in, as I'm older than you I have plenty of years for your allocation ;) xxx

Mini said...

Congrats on your 5th blogaversary Jo! I'm not surprised by the number of followers and page views of your blog,you have one of the most interesting blogs.
I like how you show us your birthday pics on your blogaversary. And I didn't knew you lived in Singapore.
J looks fab, I may stitch it someday when my planned gifts are stitched in next 20 years ..lol

Julie said...

Happy blogoversary, congrats on 5 years.
It's always amazing to see the facts written down, you are a popular blogger and there is always something nice to see when visiting here.
J looks wonderful and looks spectacular

A Patchwork of Crafts said...

I like the actions shots and the with flash to show off the beads, I will have to remember that. Only been to Singapore for a 4 day stop over however, my Uncle was posted there (air force) so he and my Aunt and cousins lived there for some time. When we were there it rained at 2:45 for 15 mins every day.

Shebafudge said...

I can't believe you have only been blogging 5 years. I feel like I have always known you!

Letter J is stunning, well they all are in actual fact but she looks so sparkly. I love her!

Sally said...

Happy 5th Blogoversary Jo!

Wow your letter J is stunning!

Lili said...

Happy blogoversary, Jo!! How pretty photos of you! :)
"J" fairy is so pretty!
Hugs,
Lili

Clare-Aimetu said...

Happy Blogoversary Jo - amazing J stitching :)

Kaisievic said...

Hi Jo, Happy Blogaversary and I must say, how important your blog and your friendship are to me. You are such a lovely person and an inspirational stitcher and blogger. I am so glad that I won your giveaway of a stitched card all of those years ago, it was the start of something very special to me - our friendship. Your J is amazing - such beautiful stitching and beading and the E turned out so well, too (so glad, as it is sort of for my mum, too, as well as the lovely young lady you stitched it for). Please add me to your birthday blog hop - sounds like a wonderfully clever idea. lots of hugs, Kaye

Kaisievic said...

P.S. Such cute photos of you as a five year old!

FlashinScissors said...

Happy Blogaversary, Jo! I'm so glad I found your blog, and although I only found you a short while ago I have enjoyed following your blog hops and even joining in with the recent Valentine's Day one! You have so much "happening" here I would love to join in with your birthday blog hop celebrations too, if I am not too late!

Oh, I nearly forgot, your fairies look lovely, and especially the bestest one ..... the J.

Again, Happy Blogaversary Jo!

All best wishes, Barbara xx

Christine said...

Happy blogoversary! The J fairy is gorgeous, and you stitched her up so quickly too

Anthea said...

Congrats on your blogging milestone Jo... that sure is a LOT of gorgeous stitching being shared & lots of friends made too!

Brigitte said...

Congratulations on your fifth blogaversary! And wow, your statistics for the five years are more than impressive. That sounds like many many new friends in the blogging world.
Great to see that you finished your personal fairy just in time. She looks stunning with all her beads and bling. I love the picture showing the four of them together and I can understand that you sometimes feel tempted to stitch the whole alphabet :)

Leonore Winterer said...

Congrats on your blogsaversary! Five years is quite a long time, and I'm really glad that after all this timeyou're still going strong and having fun with your blog.
J is stunning, I'm glad the one meant for yourself turned out so very pretty :) I'm having a hard time deciding which one is my favourite, great work on all of them!

Amy said...

Happy belated blogaversery! And oh my goodness, the J is stunning!

Katie said...

Happy Blogaversary. I've so enjoyed following your blog and look forward to the next many more years. J is beautiful!! Congrats on the finish!!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Congrats on your blogoversary! That's amazing. And another gorgeous fairy finish! :D

AnaCristina said...

Happy Blogoversary Jo!! and thank you for sharing!

Sheryl said...

Another beautiful fairy. Congrats on your fifth blogaversary Jo.

#HeatherMakes said...

Happy Birthday and congratulations on ur 5th birthday :D Great blog too :D
Heather

@xstitchchick


Heather said...

Happy blogaversary! Congrats on the beautiful finish!

Stitching Noni said...

Happy 5th Blogaversary!! What an amazing 5 years it has been..... you never cease to amaze me with the gorgeous stitching you do (as we can see again today - that J is to die for!!) and your posts are always fantastic to read... and I haven't even mentioned the fantastic blog hops you organise! Thank you for 5 years of great times and great stitching... here to lots more years to come!! :o)
Seeing as you appear to have been born in the same year as my younger sister (which means I am just a couple of years older than you unless my maths is way off!!) how could I not be joining your birthday blog hop - it sounds like it is going to be amazing! Can't wait :o)
Hugs xx

geeky Heather said...

Happy blogiversary!! Congratulations on finishing Norah's J...it is simply stunning!! I would be thrilled to participate in your blog hop if there's room!

The Crafty Princess said...

HAPPY HAPPY BLOGAVERSARY!!! Woo hoo 5 years and going stronger than ever. You're a celebrity in the cross stitch world Jo! I adore all you fairies and my fav pic is that amazing action shot of J fairy. LOL you crack me up. Looking forward to the next 5 years xoxo Alicia

The Crafty Princess said...

Oops sorry I meant to let you know how much I admired your pram. That totally rocked and I would be one of those (big) kids that would play with it when I visited (if I was allowed or course). You look so cute and elegant with your socks and shoes. Bless xo Alicia

♥ Nia said...

Happy Blogversary sweetie :D
Those pictures are adorable!! Amazed how you kept them along the years :)
Looooove your fairy! Another gorgeous finish, I've seen her on a different post.. catching up on my reading ;) Was waiting to read which one would come next... really... not another friends around to stitch one more and delight my eyes? :p hahahhaha