O Holy Night #28

Last night I finished off the doves and started on the V block.

Today, I've started all my holiday jobs - vacuuming, steaming the floors, dusting, tidying up and so on - so much fun! (not!) Then I decided to take The Triplets alphabet to the framers and use the framing money I got for Christmas. I should be able to collect it in about 2 weeks.

I also decided to finally hang the framed European Bistro and Paris Market in my spare bedroom. Sure, no one uses the bedroom except on the [very] odd occasion, but they look nice above the bed so that's where I'll leave them for now...

I also made a yummy ANZAC slice for my lunches later in the week when I return to work, but I suspect it might not last that long!! 

Now I have to take Clarence for his walk, so until next time...
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

European Bistro & Paris Market Framing

Almost forgot to share this with you all... I picked up the framed European Bistro and Paris Market on the weekend as well and I am super pleased with them. They really look like paintings until you get up nice and close. They have been done in matching frames and mats and look great:

 Sorry for the flash reflection...

The frame is a dark wood with a pale gold inside line - it looks brighter in the picture than it does in real life. The mats are a bright cream with a dark grey inside. The mats go right up to the edge of the stitching which I quite like too.

At the moment they're in my hallway where my Fish City and Noah's Submarine used to be. It is taking a bit of getting used to having these smaller designs in those spots but I'm sure it will be fine once I get used to it. That also gives me another dilemma, where do I now put my under-water designs? They're on the floor in the spare room at the moment but I'll have to get around to putting some hooks in the wall next weekend (hopefully!).

Well, I hope you all like them as much as I do...

Happy Stitching,

Kerrie

Paris Market & Little Owls Movies

So, I didn't get to them last weekend like I had hoped, but I did do them last night - made little movies of these two recent cross stitch projects.

They're basic and simple, but I am very proud of them and think they're quite cute. I hope you enjoy them too...

Now you can see why I've been taking the photos like I have been for the Jingle Bells kit. Hopefully the movie of that project won't be quite so bumpy...

Happy Stitching,

Kerrie

Paris Market #86

Drum roll please...

May I present to you: Paris Market - finished!! My review last night found one missed stitch.

 

Unfortunately, you can't really see all the yellow french knots very well, but there are quite a few of them. I'll forever be indebted to my friend Judith for showing me how to do them properly. This time last year, and I'd have have left them off or substituted with beads. Now it's off to the framers with European Bistro from earlier in the year to get them framed in matching frames.

And I thought, why not something a bit different - this is the back of my work. I'm very pleased with how neat it still is.

This long weekend, we're off to the beach at Aireys Inlet, so I will get a heap more done on The Triplets Alphabet - who knows, I may even finish that too!

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #85

Well, I think I'm done with the cross-stitching and back-stitching now, but I need to do a thorough check over before I am satisfied that I haven't missed anything. I think I've only got the french knots in the flowers to do... Oh, just remembered, I still have to write the word 'restaurant' on the red banner and do the outline of that...

So exciting!!
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #84

I filled in the remaining buildings last night so there is only a little back-stitching to be done in that area and that is done. Now, the only blank spot is in the trees. I can see the finish in sight - maybe by next week...?

The latest Fox Collection catalogue has just arrived and I can't help myself, there are more designs I simply must have so I'll be putting in an order for more stuff shortly. I've sat down twice to go through it and both times I've run out of time before I got to the end as there are just so many beautiful designs to consider.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #83

Slowly, slowly, getting closer to being finished... a few more leaves done last night.

I have to admit, I am almost over this now, I just want it to be done but I don't want to rush it and stuff it up at the last hurdle. There's still a bit of greenery and a bit of buildings to be done and then heaps of french knots in all the flowers - that will be painful but I am sure they will be so worth it!
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #82

So much for having plans for stitching over the weekend, I didn't get any done until last night!

I saw 'About Time' at the movies on Friday night and really enjoyed it. It was a bit sad but also a bit funny and very sweet. Then we had dinner at my sister's place and heard more about their big European trip and then on Sunday we had my Uncle's 60th birthday lunch. Besides that I did manage to wash the floors (after the fridge delivery and oven repair, they badly needed doing) and a few other household jobs. My husband is away this week for 3-4 days so I'll get busy doing a few more jobs from my list before we go to Aireys Inlet for this long weekend - really looking forward to that!
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #81

Thickened up the tree trunk a bit last night.

Our new fridge arrived and is SO great! It fills the space so nicely and now we have water and ice in the door as well! There was a bit of a mix-up with the connection, but once we got the correct bit, we did it ourselves and we are so pleased with it - and no leaks! The photo below makes the old one look tiny.

Have a great weekend everyone! My plans are for gardening (mostly weeding, nothing exciting), boring household chores like washing the floor, maybe some Christmas gift shopping and finally dinner with my sister and her family on Saturday night - and of course, some stitching!
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #80

A bit more of the restaurant on the left got done last night.
Today my new fridge arrives and my oven gets fixed (hopefully!) - very excited about that! Thank you to my Mum for being at home when the delivery and repair people come.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #79

The empty space is getting smaller and smaller! I've almost finished the restaurant on the left now. I think there's still a couple of weeks worth of stitching still to be done. There's no more big blocks of colour, not that there were alot to begin with anyway, and there are heaps of french knots to be done in all the flowers - that should be fun, given that I've only recently learned to do them. More green stitching to be done tonight...


Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #78

I only managed to get a little bit done last night as we had to take Clarence to the Vet - he wasn't interested in his dinner at all and that means something is not right. They couldn't find anything obviously wrong so he's got some antibiotics and a bland diet of rice and chicken for the week. He has perked up a bit this morning which is good and hopefully he continues to improve. So far this week we've had our fridge die, our oven has no heat and now this... it's not going well.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #77 & The Triplets #11

Since I didn't have a photo of what The Triplets looked like last time I did some, I took one before I started this weekend...

 And this is what it looked like before we left...

It is so relaxing getting away from the 'normal' stuff down to the beach house for a couple of nights. It's enough to really refresh myself and face another few weeks of stress at work! Next time we go will be the Melbourne Cup Day long weekend (first weekend in Nov), so we'll get an extra couple of days down there which I am really looking forward to. This weekend was the first time we've been to the beach without a coat - it was in the 30s on Saturday and Sunday - beautiful!

When I got home, I continued with Paris Market...

I still haven't got European Bistro from earlier in the year framed yet - I'm waiting till I finish this so I can get them done in matching frames and then hang them together at home.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #76

It's getting exciting now... but I'm not allowing myself to think about what's next until I get a bit closer to finishing this off. Goodness knows I've got plenty of kits in the cupboard ready to start! Maybe I'll do... NO - stop thinking about it!

Tonight we're off to Aireys Inlet for the weekend, so I'll be stitching the Triplets ABC again. I'm getting close to nearly finishing that off too. I've got a reminder note to take my camera this time since last time my husband deleted the picture from his phone before he sent it to me! My next holiday stitching project is already set up to go - the Dinosaur ABC I started at my last conference a couple of months ago.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #75

Woo hoo! The connection has been made between top and bottom. This is getting exciting - I'm on the home stretch now.
Our fridge is on its way out and we've ordered a new one but it won't arrive until Thursday next week, so until then, we're having orange juice slushies in the morning - the temperature in the fridge is way too cold, despite being adjusted several times, and the freezer is too warm. Good thing about this is we get a brand new fridge - one of those french door ones which I am really excited about. The old fridge is over 14 years old so it's lasted pretty well. The other bonus is that we had to go out for dinner last night as the meat we'd taken out to cook with was still frozen. We might be having a few meals out over the next week - thawed frozen zucchini is not a great thing!
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #74

More filling done last night - little by little it is becoming more and more complete. I just love the colours of the flowers - makes me so happy! Imagine seeing a flower stall like this for real - beautiful.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #73

 

A little more filling in the blanks and some back-stitching on 2 more people strolling was all I could get done last night. I finished work late and then I had to watch last week's episode of Blacklist before this week's episode came on.
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #72

My surprise night away was to the Silverwater Resort at San Remo, near Philip Island - it was a complete surprise and a great night.

Sunday was Bathurst Day and I got as much stitching done as I have in a long time. Very pleased with my progress this weekend! It was great fun watching the race and stitching away, but I have to supress thoughts about what to do next, there's still quite a bit to do yet...
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #71

Here is last night's progress:

Some more filling in and a little back-stitch which defines the people strolling in the street nicely.

Tonight we are off to the mystery location for dinner and a night away for our anniversary, so I probably won't get any stitching done... However, I do expect to make up for it on Sunday when the Bathurst 1000 (famous V8 Supercars race) is on all day - we'll be planted in front of the TV and I'll be stitching away. I'm not a petrol head at all, but I love the Bathurst race.
So until next week,
Happy Stitching,
Kerrie

Paris Market #70

We didn't do anything special last night for our anniversary so I got some more stitching done. My husband has booked a nice dinner and night away for Friday night - I don't know where we are going, so I am quite excited about the surprise; usually it's me who does the bookings, so not knowing where we are going is a thrill!

Last night I filled in more of the gaps - lots of fiddly bits at the moment - one stitch here, another over there, no blocks of colour

Happy Stitching,
Kerrie