Sunday 23 August 2009











August seems to have been one of those months with a non-stop succession of visitors! All very welcome, but there has been a slow down in craft progress. However, I've managed to complete a number of things, so here's an update. Firstly, you remember the baby sampler I wanted to take to the show? Well, the weather meant the show was cancelled, about five days before the big day, as the ground was so wet it would have turned into a quagmire. Naturally, I was very disappointed, especially as the framer has done a really wonderful job (I went with the framer rather than simply putting it into a bought frame, at Andrew's suggestion ). From the same little book as the sampler design, I stitched a card to welcome the new baby. As you can see from the attached pic, I added a few green seed beads to the border, and mounted it into a little aperture card, with some adorable "girly" ribbon attached. Since I started the card, the baby arrived, and is a healthy little girl called Amelie. The sampler and card are being dispatched tomorrow after Andrew has carefully packed them.

Secondly, my dear great-aunt (92) has been in hospital with a foot problem, so I attach a get well card I made for her. A narrow pink base card,with pink and green papers layered above. Then some of the new die cuts added and a little bit of glitter added via some Stickles (glitter glue). Very simple but very pretty.

Thirdly, I have started out on Christmas cards for the greyhound shop. First batch, made and bagged up are pictured. There are about 20 here. I usually aim to make a couple of hundred.
Fourthly, I attach a pretty anniversary design (which would also work for a wedding) by Joan Elliott, that I stitched for Andrew's parents. Not surprisingly, I added some clear seed beads to the design, and it looks lovely mounted up in its card.

Finally, my auntie has been staying with us this past week, so we had a nice bit of "crafty" shopping. Went again to the new Hobbycraft and a visit to Inkspot, our local favourite craft store.

Sunday 2 August 2009




Firstly, I've finished the baby sampler. Photo attached. I am very pleased with it, and will be going down to Ikea to buy a simple frame for it later this week (we're fortunate to have an Ikea in Cardiff and I enjoy shopping there for homewares). It will also need to be pressed very gently before framing too. Then it will be ready for the show and then onward dispatch as soon as the baby arrives - which should be within the next ten days -although first babies seem notorious for not arriving on schedule. The sampler was a pleasurable stitch - small enough to make progress easy and an excellent compromise on blocks of colour. Enough variety to make it interesting but not so much that progress is painfully slow and makes you feel like you are stitching an outbreak of measles.

I also attach two cards I made this evening. Since we moved back to Cardiff, I've wanted to invite my friend Penny up for lunch and to meet the hounds - she lives down in Carmarthenshire with her two lurchers on a farm. Due to Penny's work commitments (medieval re-enactment with horses and weapons) she works a lot during the summer and it's always difficult to find time in her schedule to meet up. However, by great good fortune, I've been able to find a Saturday in about a fortnight when she's free and is coming up for lunch, along with another greyhound friend, Paula who lives round the corner from us. Paula and Penny know each other and get on well, so it should be a really lovely day. I thought it would be nice to confirm the invitation by post and so made these two cards. The beautiful die-cuts are from K & Co, I bought them yesterday down at Hobbycraft when I went there to top up on clear cellophane card bags. My annual Christmas card making will begin in earnest very soon, both for the greyhound shop and for selling on the greyhound stall.