June Pie and Stitch from Stash

Time for the end of month round-up and statistics.  June was the focus month for my Chatelaine Gardens of London.

Here is where I left it at the end of April:

And here is where I am now:

stitched on 32 count Cotton Clouds Belfast by Crafty Kitten

Here's a close-up of the Garden, the blue Queen's Stitches don't show up too well on the blue fabric but once I get the rest of the Garden filled in they will be more visible.  All the spaces in the centre are for beads and there are more speciality stitches in the border. 

The Chatelaine part of the rotation finished on 25th June and I picked up my spooky conversion of The Enchanted Alphabet by Lavender & Lace to stitch the rest of the X I started for The Longest Day Marathon:

stitched on 32 count Tiger Lily Murano by Sparklies

Here's the whole piece, only 2 letters to go then it will be time to add some more spooky motifs:

The Longest Day Marathon did take a day off my rotation and combined with some extra work shifts meant I only managed to stitch for 10 days on my Chatelaine.  Here's the full pie for June:

I did actually spend some money this month.  I needed some charms for my Just Nan Smalls and got 6 bags for the price of 5 from an eBay seller.  You've seen the butterfly used already on the Small SAL post.  Then I needed some DMC replenishing so an order was put in to Lakeside Needlecraft.

June
Charms eBay	£10.25
DMC	£18.03
Total	£28.28

The first period of Stitch from Stash is finishing now and the second starts 1st July.  This is designed to give people who have zero self-control a fresh start and keep them interested LOL.

My biggest expense so far is magazines but I have cut my subscriptions down to two - Just Cross Stitch and Cross Stitcher (which is a legacy subscription from when I got Cross Stitch Collection).  I pay £8.72 for 3 issues rather than £22.39 for 6 issues.  You can see why I won't cancel at that price!

I did manage to avoid spending money on any of the five re-released Mirabilia charts.  If Touching The Autumn Sky had been one of them I would have gone for it.  Seaside Kingdom was tempting but to be honest I'd rather save my money and get both of the Royal Games cards charts.  I have asked Dawn to put my name down to the Cameo design.  I like that one and it's not Limited Edition.

Finally, there will be a Summer Blog Hop this year.  I will be returning to the Postcard theme.

Each person emails me a photo of something they have stitched which is suitable as a postcard to a fellow stitcher along with a short message of the kind you write on a postcard.  I will forward the photo to another participant who shows it on their blog.  The photo can be anything Summer themed, beach themed, holiday themed, you get the idea!   It can be a new piece or something from your archives.  The Hop will run over the whole of the Summer with a few cards going out each week.  Final deadline will be the end of August, just in time for Back to School!  If you'd like to take part then leave a comment or send me an email.

Entry into this Blog Hop also counts as another Peak for my Five Peaks Blog Hop Challenge I am running all year.  If you participate in or comment on all five Hops this year you will be entered into a draw at the end of the year.