Happy New Year!

Welcome to my last post for 2014!
What a year. Where do I start?
I started my blog this year and have to say that I am amazed that anyone decided to read it. Haha. I get giddy when I log on and see that the view counter has gone up or that someone else has decided to follow along with my ramblings. Thank you to all of you out there who read along.

I have big stitchy plans for 2015! I, crazily, joined 5 SALs for 2015! Yes, 5! DUCJC2015, SFS, Glendon Place SAL, Mirabillia SAL and the Aimee Stewart SAL. Phwew. Think I joined enough? Haha. It doesn't seem as crazy when you think that 3 of those will be included in DUCJC as I will start them all in January and work on them throughout the year. The Mirabillia SAL is due to start tomorrow so Sleeping Princess shall be my first new start of the year!

I'm also making a goal to try and post everyday in January for DUCJC. I know, a bit ambitious. You'll have to forgive me if I miss a day here or there. Haha.

Well, before I go, I did promise an update on Belle de Mer but unfortunately I got some money for Christmas and EB games decided to hold a boxing day sale! So after placing my last 123stitch order before SFS I may have picked up a game or two. Haha. Oops. It was nice to have a stitching break before January though ;). Haha.

Well thank you for making it through this text heavy post! I am going to go set up Sleeping Princess so she is ready to go for midnight! haha. Wishing you all the best for 2015!

Nel.

Merry Christmas!

Welcome to my first bloggy Christmas! :)

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you all had a great day and that you all got spoiled rotten.
I unfortunately came down with a stomach type virus on Christmas Eve and haven't quite shaken it yet. But besides that, we had a great day. It was just my Sister, my Son and Me Christmas morning which made it very relaxed and fun. Here are a few snaps of my DS getting spoiled. 

Santa was very kind and brought him that...lovely...ride in truck. Unfortunately Santa and his elves ran out of time and left it up to a poor Mummy to set up on Christmas Eve. So with a screw driver, elbow grease and 4 hours it was complete. Never again....haha.
But to apologize, Santa did leave something for me.

How great do these look? They even come with some patterns. Can't wait for some spare time to try them out.

And lastly, onto the stitching front. I did manage a few stitches between holiday madness and being ill. I've finished all of 3815 on Belle de Mer.

Progress! Haha. I'm going to keep working on her through to the new year and see how much I get done. If I manage a fair bit then I may drop her from my DUCJC2015 and add something else I've had my eye on for a while. ;)

Well that is all for tonight. I will have another post before the new year to wrap up my progress on Belle de Mer and set up a little plan for DUCJC. I want to thank everyone for being so friendly and welcoming. I can't wait to meet more of you and read more blogs in 2015.

Thank you for reading, commenting and following!
Until next time,

Nel.

It's the most busiest time of the yeeeeear!

Hello!
Yes, I am late yet again. Sorry. Haha. I promise that as soon as Christmas is over we will resume with regular posting. At the moment I have an early blooming terrible two year old and my sister visiting over Christmas. So things have been a little hectic. If I go a little quiet for the rest of December then I apologize in advance but promise to be back in January for DUCJC2015, Mirabilia SAL, Aimee Stewart SAL, Glendon Place Dessert series SAL and SFS. Phwew. Think I joined enough SALs for 2015? Haha.

Well...for now, I have managed some stitching in this craziness. I was experiencing some mojo loss and so I was bad and had a new start. It was supposed to be a DUCJC start but now it will be a WIP. Haha. I started 'Belle de Mer' by Joan Elliot on hand-dyed 28ct evenweave called 'Roseglow' from Sew it all fabric.

So far it's just a little work on her tail but she has me excited for stitching again.

Something else that has me excited is Mo's floss. I've had 2 Mo packages show up in the last couple of weeks.

It's all a bit jumbled but these are the Prince collection and Villain collection. If there is a floss you like then just ask and I could let you know what it is.

Well that is all for now. Sorry about everything being so higgle-dy piggle-dy. Christmas will be over soon. Haha.

Thank you for reading, commenting and following! I can't believe there are 26 followers now! Madness!
Until next time,

Nel.

Slow Progress...

 What's this? A post on time?

You bet it is! Haha. Hello again and thanks for coming back :)

Life has slowed a little bit this week and thank goodness for that! Unfortunately though, not a lot of cross stitching got done.

See, I got a bit done. Not as much as I would have liked but that's usually how it is.

Instead of stitching I've been doing a lot of sewing. I'm going for a handmade Christmas this year and I've been making cushions and stockings. I don't have any stockings finished yet so no photo but I can show you the cushions.

Aren't they cute? I love the vintage looking Disney prints. :) Pinocchio is for the DS and Bambi is for his friend who we had stay the night a few weeks ago.

Well, that is pretty much it for now. I hope to get more cross stitching done after I've sewn my way through the pile of gifts. Haha.
As always, thank you for reading, commenting and following. It really means a lot to log in and see so many readers. Thank you everyone.
Until next time,
Nel.

Giveaway @ Gizzimomo's Stitchy Place!

Hey guys, just a quick entry to let you know that Thea over at Gizzimomo's Stitchy Place  is holding a huuuuge giveaway to celebrate 300 followers, 3 years, her birthday and Christmas! All in one! Haha. If you are interested in entering then please check out this post here.
Good luck everyone!

Also there will be a blog post tonight....unless the roof collapses...or worse. Haha.

Thanks for reading, commenting and following.
Until tonight,
Nel.

Aha, late again!

My goodness. I am sorry once again for another late post. Haha.
The universe is against me blogging at the moment. No sicknesses this week but with the silly season fast approaching I've had less and less time for stitching. Not to say that I haven't done any!

This is a Doctor Who sweater pattern found here. It's in chart form so it was super easy to stitch instead of knit. I can't remember who mentioned this pattern. I think it may have been someone on Floss tube. So thank you to them! haha. I've been stitching it in 'Key West' from Mo's Sale.

I've been working on this instead of the Birth Record because I was dying to use some Mo's silk. haha. Which is bad because I don't need anymore projects with DUCJC2015 coming up. Hopefully this one will be done well before the end of the year.

Speaking of Mo's, I had another order come through...eh eh eh.

Ahh...they're all so pretty that I couldn't resist! The left are the regulars and the right are the silks.

The colours in order are: 

Regular - Judy, Hopper, Ursula, Maleficent, Hades, Gaston, Ratcliffe, Frollo, Jafar and Mother Gothel. (Villains!)

Silk - Nonie, Albert, Sea Breeze, Key West, Coal and Lord Grantham.
If you do not have any Mo's in your stash I highly suggest you stock up when her website is up and running. :)

Ok, well to make up for being late I'll show off my son decorating the tree.

He hasn't quite got the hang of it yet but he's trying. haha.

Well that is all for now, thank you for sticking with me as I try and get back on schedule. Haha.
As always, thanks for reading, commenting and following!
Until next time,

Nel.

Bad, bad Blogger...

I'm baaaack! haha.
I am so sorry to anyone that noticed my disappearance. I missed 2 Friday post :| Oops. haha.
Unfortunately my son came down with bronchitis and we had another hospital visit. Once he was over that he suffered an ear infection and when that was cleared up he had an allergic reaction to mosquito bites. Ahh yeah, Mum life! Touch wood that with the weather getting warmer, we'll see less sickness from my little man.

And if all of that wasn't bad enough, I had a wisdom tooth taken out. Haha. My goodness. Yes, it has been full on around here but we're all doing well now. Unfortunately I didn't get a whole lot of stitching done in this time. I did manage to work on the Birth record though!

See, I got something done. Haha. This is really easy to work on and stitches up really quickly. Hopefully now that things have settled I can get back to work on it. :)

Well, that's all folks. Sorry for going MIA, I'll try not to let it happen again.
Thank you for reading, commenting and following!

Until next time,

Nel.

Stash enhancement at it's finest! and a SAL! or two! And some Giveaways!

Hello!
Welcome back. Unless it's your first time here, in which case, welcome! :)

Well, I've been waiting a few weeks for some of my S.E.X items to arrive...hahaha. But today I found not one, not two but three packages waiting for me!

One from 123stitch(large), one form Mo's Sale (white) and the last from The European cross stitch company. Here's what I ordered...

Patterns, fabrics and floss for some of my DUCJC2015. And yes, that is a spool of DMC 310. Haha. I know a few people aren't a fan of the coverage but I don't have any problems with it.

My first order from Mo. They are all gorgeous and I don't want to use any of them. Haha.The colours in order are:

Aurora, Pastel(silk), Cinderella, Blue Lagoon, Belle, Jasmine, Tardis, Reed, Snow White, Patronus, Merida and Jade.

Lastly, these are all of the beads for my Chatelaine! So pretty.

It's safe to say that today was a pretty good day. Haha. Over the weekend I shall sort, wind a kit more of my DUCJC2015 starts.

As far as stitching this week I didn't do any. At all. I had withdrawals. Haha. Until this afternoon when the baby sampler kit arrived in my 123stitch order. I had planned to make this a 2015 start but the friend who I am making it for is due in January and with all the starts going on I thought it best to start it now and hopefully get a lot of it done before the end of the year. Here's my start...

Not a lot. Haha. Hopefully you'll all cheer for me and I'll power through it.

As for stitch a longs, I am co hosting a Glendon Place Dessert Series Mandala SAL with Brenda at xStitchHaven. The details are all listed in the link and I hope you can join. If not I'm sure that Brenda and I will enjoy stitching this just the two of us! Haha,

The other SAL is an Aimee Stewart HAED DUCJC2015 stitch a long. haha. It is a facebook group you can join and is for anyone who intends to start an Aimee Stewart pattern during their DUCJC2015 starts.

And finally the give aways! Santa Nancy is at it again with her 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways! Make sure to enter everyday separately!

Well that is all for tonight, sorry if this post is a bit on the bleh side. My son had a friend stay the night as her parents needed a night off and needless to say I am one tired Mumma right now. Haha.
As always, thank you for reading, commenting and following.
Until next time,
Nel.

Around the World Blog Hop

 Well, I'm late but atleast I made it! And it's still the 3rd somewhere....right? Haha.
Thank you to Rosey of Ishkabibble for tagging/nominating me for the Around the World blog hop. I was supposed to choose 3 people to pass it on to but I think nearly everyone has done it already so at the bottom I may leave 3 random facts about myself instead. Anyway, on to the questions!

1. What am I working on?

Well as of right now, not a whole lot. Haha. I finished MMMM and then I was working on Mystery Halloween Town for Halloween and now I'm not sure if I should start something or try and finish MHT before the end of the year and add something else to my DUCJC2015 list. Anyway, this is where I am up to with MHT...

So, the short answer...nothing. Haha. Hopefully I'll make up my mind by Friday. ;)

2. How does my work differ to others of it's Genre?

Ugh....probably the fact that I don't have a genre? haha. I go with what I feel. I'm not particularly drawn to one style of Cross stitch and I'll try anything once. If anything I love working with colour. I don't think I'll ever stitch a black and white piece.

3. Why do I create what I do?

I love crafting. I use it as my 'me time'. I suffered post natal depression after the birth of my son. It was brought on mainly to the fact that I wasn't able to give birth to him naturally and I had to have a C - section. Well I struggled after that and I felt like a bit of a failure(not anymore ;)) but  one of the things that calmed me down and made me feel better was crafting. I used to scrapbook but that takes a lot of time and space and after finding Debbie's blog I re-found Cross Stitch. Well since then I haven't been able to stop. haha. I still love it when my son has gone to bed (and the house has been tidied) that I can sit down in silence and pick up my stitching.

4. How does my creating process work?

Haha, well...I sit down with a cup of tea, turn on my handy day-light lamp and get going! ;) Haha. I choose designs that I like whether it's for me or someone else so nothing special really.

Phwew, now that that is done I can tell yo three random facts. Ugh....ok...

1. I love Sailor Moon and Disney Princesses. Haha. I am a big kid at heart and most of the time when I'm stitching I have one of the two going in the background. It's good because I know almost all episodes and movies off by heart now and I don't even need to look up from my stitching!

2. I lived in Katherine in the Northern Territory for six years. and I hated it! It's 3.5 hours from Darwin which makes it very remote. I'm a city girl at heart and the fact that it didn't have a craft store drove me crazy.

3. I have been engaged twice but never married. That sounds so weird. Haha. The first time was to my High School sweet heart but it unfortunately didn't last long distance after I had to move. The second was to my son's father and unfortunately he preferred video games to parenting. Fun. For the time being I have sworn off relationships.

Well that is all. Thank you so much for making it to the bottom. Sorry if I overwhelmed you with information. I would like to add that none of this information was given out to start a pity party for myself. I have come to terms with all of the things I have divulged and maybe I can help someone because of it. :)

Well, thank you once again for reading, commenting and following.
Until next time,

Nel. 

Happy Halloween!

Hello again and welcome back on this spooky day. :)
Australia is slowly starting to celebrate Halloween which I think is fantastic. I love the fun of it. So much so that I made some last minute decorations to show people that they could trick or treat at our house.

Nothing fancy just some cut out mask style creatures on kitchen skewers with ribbons. Haha. I placed them around the path to the front door as well as some balloons that I drew faces onto, We didn't have many kids stop by but the few groups that did loved the extra effort.

It's good we didn't have too many visitors because someone found his way into the candy bowl...

Yep, bedtime was a bit of a nightmare after one too many chocolates. Haha. But he did rock his Superman costume.

After he finally fell asleep I got cozy and settled in for my own little Halloween tradition.

I kicked the night off with Haunted Mansion. Yes, I realize it is intended for children but I love it. Haha. I just love the whole haunted house with a back story angle. Stitching is new to this year but I think it will work it's way into my Halloween tradition. I decided to do some work on Halloween Town because...well it's Halloween. ;)

I've been working on part 4 which is the band along the bottom. After part 4 in complete it will go away again for January.

Well this post hasn't been very stitchy related but I thought I'd add some pictures of two of my favourite places.

The first two images are of London Court in the Perth City shopping district. It's ye olde and it's been there longer than I've been around. Haha. It's a great place for a coffee and around Christmas they have snow machines on the tops of the buildings.

The last two are Pioneer Village in Armadale. If you've ever ordered from Colours Down Under then this is where it comes from. haha. It's another ye olde (noticing a theme?) style shopping village.

Now before I leave you to enjoy your festivities I need 3 tributes...I mean volunteers....;) who would like to take part in the Around the World blog hop. I was tagged by Rosey175 over on her blog Ishkabibble and will put my post up on Monday but I need to tag 3 people to pass it on to. I don't really want to just tag people in case they don't want to do it so if you would like to then please leave a comment bellow. You will have to make your post on the 10th of November and hopefully tag 3 more people to pass it along to,

Phwew. That was longer than I expected it to be. Haha. As always, thank you for reading, commenting and following.
Until next time,

Nel.

MMMM Post 5...

Hello once again and welcome back to the end of MMMM.
Yes, unfortunately October is almost at an end and as such we have come to post number 5.
But do not despair because I have some great news!

4 finishes! Woo hoo! I met my goal by getting all 4 of these heavily beaded smalls finished for MMMM. Yessss! Haha. Whilst working on the Snowman I was starting to despair thinking that I was way over my head but here they are all done and ready for December.

Here are all of their stats.

'Joy' by The Sweetheart Tree

32 count Opalescent-Raw Belfast Linen

2 over 2

Started 1/10/14 Finished 5/10/14

'Winter Birdhouses - Keeping Watch' by Mill Hill

18 count white Aida Stitching Band

2 over 1

Started 1/10/14 Finished 24/10/14

Added: Holly Charm at Bottom

'Winter Holiday Collection - Santa and Rudolph' by Mill Hill

14 count Perforated Paper

3 over 1

Started 21/10/14 Finished 27/10/14

'Winter Holiday Collection - Gingerbread Boy' by Mill Hill

14 count Perforated Paper

3 over 1

Started 28/10/14 Finished 29/10/14

So there you have it! 5 posts, 4 finishes and one very happy stitcher. I still have to get some felt and ribbon to finish off my Gingerbread Boy and Santa but as far as the stitching goes I am done! :D

Thank you so much for Reading, commenting and subscribing. I now have 18 followers! :O Unbelievable. Haha. Thank you so much.

Until next time,

Nel.

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe: Jingle as Ye Enter sampler chart give-away, enter now!

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe: Jingle as Ye Enter sampler chart give-away, enter now!

Late again!

Some days I feel like the White Rabbit. Haha.
Hello again!
Sorry for missing yesterdays post. I'm in the middle of helping my Grandma move houses so I've been really tired. But enough excuses. I don't have any progress pictures as I've only worked on my MMMM pieces this past week between moving and I would like to save them for the final post next week. So instead I've taken a pictures of my current stash. It's not a lot at the moment but I think it's a lot seeing as I only got back into stitching a year ago. :\ Haha.

First I have this book that my Grandma gave me yesterday. It's an old sampler book that she had in a drawer. There are quite a couple that I would like to do. Here are some photos...

Now, the bulk of my stash are the 31 projects for January. I'll save photos of those until closer to the starting date.

I hope that no one wants to strangle me but I keep my stash in a plastic tub. Haha. It's not a great way to organize it all but at the moment its all that I have so it will have to do. :)

Here are some of the contents you haven't seen...

Just a kit, charts and some of my specialty threads. :) I have left 2 spaces open in my 31 for DUCJC and I think I will do a poll to get you guys to help me choose the last 2.

Well that is all for now. Sorry that this post is late and not really very exciting. Haha. I can tell you that I finished my most recent finish and will show that on Wednesday. Also, sorry for the glare and poor photo quality. Well, thank you for reading commenting and following.

Until next time,

Nel.