Monday, February 3, 2014

Gardens, Colours and More Licking

Hello my lovelies!!

It's a gorgeous day out today and I'm looking forward to a nice walk with the hubby to see if we can spy signs of spring, although it's very cold out and there's talk of snow!

My February display
Out with January, in with February.  I pulled out my pitiful collection of Valentine smalls and displayed them on our drink cart.  I should take a photo of the cart since it's darling and was given to me by my dearest Auntie.

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last few posts.  I think I've caught up with my emails. I visited blogs on Saturday night and still have many more to go through.  As usual, I have been inspired and influenced by many of the posts around blogland and have even purchased some things! Uh OH!! One blog, a crochet blog, has been captivating my interest lately.  Lucy from Attic24 has a delightful blog full of colour and inspiring photos that is a joy to visit.  Spying her colour selection for a cheery granny stripe blanket, I put in an order for 17 yummy colours of yarn!! I can't wait to start this blanket! I'm a sucker for colour ever since I was a little girl.  I remember yearning for the 64 Prismacolour pencil colour set, very expensive back then, and received it from my loving grandparents as a gift.  I was overjoyed and treasured that pencil set for so many years.  I actually used to play with the colours as people...ssshhh!! So I suppose my love for colours hasn't changed much since I was 6! 



Onto stitchy news...this weekend has been somewhat successful, minus all the frogging I had to do on Knotgarden AND JCS 1707.  Two teeny mistakes I had to fix; fixed them, then released I made the same mistake!! UGH.  Once was enough but TWICE?!


I turned the peacock upside down for the photo. 
My Friday night SAL with Maggee was successful.  I stitched for a few hours and am really enjoying this design!




That little mushroom is so cute! My hubby asked what that purple thing is in the bottom right corner and I have to say, I don't really know! It's a tulip like flower but it's in a purple box? Strange but sweet.

I also started LHN's February design, gifted by Cindy.  I figured January can wait for another year!



Thoughts of finishing...I need to get a move on that front.  I looked through my drawers and found a few small WIP's, and about 5-6 smalls needing to be finished.  I can't seem to get into finishing mode at all.  I'm always amazed at those who stitch something, then finish right away.  Very smart I say! Hopefully next weekend I can get my behind in gear and do some finishing. As for Love Birds, I went and bought a frame for it but the frame won't allow for anything thicker than a picture to be put in.  How disappointing :(  I'll have to search yet again for a nice frame for the sweet Love Birds.

Samplers.  I love them.  Can't seem to get enough of them so I bought yet another sampler! I know I don't have time for them but I will be retired at one point so why not stock up for then?!  I just fell in love with this Red Deer sampler and had to get it.  I think it'll look fabulous next to Hannah's Leopard...which still needs to be framed..oi vai! I think I'm attracted to bright reds in samplers with animal and flower motifs...just sayin'!




Just a few days ago, I was an honorary recipient of Mouse's birthday generosity!! She sent me a gift card to 123stitch so I had fun shopping today for some lovely fabrics! Thank you dear!! I feel truly spoilt :D

Onto licking news, while I was taking photos of my WIP's, guess who comes and plops down behind me and starts licking loudly?

TITUS!! That's who!!


Yup, get that fur cleaned Titus and then puke it up!!

Need to groom my soft head

Aaah stretch out that back after a good cleaning
Sigh...loud cat licking can be annoying, especially when it goes on for what it seems an age.

Sign off time...here are a few photos for you to enjoy!!







Anne.........

34 comments:

geeky Heather said...

I love color, too!!! Fortunately my mom always understood that I "needed" the Crayola 128 box even though the school supply list only called for 64. =)

Beautiful stitching, as always!! Is that purple thing with the tulip a seed packet, maybe?

Jacqueline Morris said...

Oh my!! I adore color! It makes me smile and I just love your colors :)

Your stitching is beautiful and your whole blog is very interesting...thank you for sharing. x

Margaret said...

Attic24 has an amazing blog, doesn't she? I tried my hand at crochet a while back because of her. I hope you have fun with that project. Love all your stitching! I so want to buy that deer design -- it's just so stunning!

Barb said...

Really pretty stitching. I couldn't agree more, one can't have too many sampler charts!

Cindy's Stitching said...

The cart looks pretty. I think we all love color. The photos are nice. The cat made me crack up, what a character.

Maggee said...

Great progress on our SAL! And I saw that you won on Mouse's blog--Congrats! That house number is in front of what looks like house remains... what IS that? Hugs!

Meari said...

I always wanted one of those colored pencil sets when I was a kid! I loved the big 64 color crayloas, too.

Your WIPs look great.

Bad Titus puking it all up. lol

Melissa said...

Funny Titus! He sure is a character!

Lots of beautiful stitching, Anne. I love that GigiR chart too - lots of reds! yum!

Yup, deep freeze coming. At least it looks like we'll get sunshine though. Keep warm!

Stitching Noni said...

Great stitching!
I love the new sampler you have invested in for your retirement!!
Your Titus is just adorable even if he is a noisy licker....
Hugs xx

Annette said...

Attic24 Is awesome
I follow her a few year now. Really awesome. I have a WIP of a granny stripe in blue. Awesome What she makes.
You made great progress on your pieces.
We al have too many WIPs.
What Is the White flower on the middel pic blow?

Mouse said...

ahhhhh found another thing in common apart from stitching and furbabies ... pencils and colours ..lol stilll have that obsession heheheh
gorgeous stitching have the SP on in my stash and even could be kitted up ...lol love the red sampler and I am with you on the noise ...lol enjoy your prize goodies :) love mouse xxxxx

Mii Stitch said...

Lovely stitching & I love your collection of sweet Valentine finishes :) I'm the same with pencils, I thing I passed this on to my son because each time I buy it some new ones, it has to be the ones with the most variety of colours!!! :)

Linda K's Stitching Corner said...

I love all of your WIP's...they are coming right along.

I just love your Photos of your Cat...they are so funny and cute. I have a cat too named Railroad.

Enjoy your day
Linda K, Railroad

Brigitte said...

Ahhh, such loevly stitching on your different projects. And don't be too annoyed about making the same mistake twice - has happened to me as well, and not only once, lol.
And I'd say, well done on buying The Red Deer sampler, it's a gorgeous piece and you will have alot of fun with it.
Love your February display.

Shirlee said...

So many beautiful projects my friend! I had to laugh when I read about you seeing the granny stripe blanket on Lucy's site. That's what made me start crocheting again ... lol! My blanket is maybe 1/3 finished. I stopped working on it last year when the weather started getting warmer. I plan to continue working on it again after I finish knitting John's scarf. I also loved colors as a little girl & always treasured a new box of 64 Crayola crayons or a set of colored pencils. I've never lost my love for coloring books : )

Vickie said...

Lovely new sampler you have picked out. Titus is so gorgeous. Tell me about the last picture Anne.

Angela said...

Loads of lovely stitching projects. Great new sampler too!

Carol said...

You've been busy, Anne--so many delightful projects to share with us today! I really like your SAL with Maggee--the colors are wonderful in that piece! And the February start on the LHN design looks like it will be fun to stitch, too. LHN pieces are definitely comfort stitching--just like my beloved PS pieces! No surprise stitches, just relaxation at it's best!

I never used to finish as I stitch until I began blogging and Myra said that's what she does or she would never finish-finish anything! You know--she was right! Since I've been doing that I'm amazed at how many things are finished and out on display. Now framing for me is another story--I tend to just pile up any larger finishes in drawers forever! Not good :)

Titus is so fluffy and soft looking--such a pretty pink tongue, too :) Give him a cuddle for me!

Sarah in Stitches said...

Beautiful progress on all fronts! I don't know why, but I've been into samplers. Yours always look so lovely, but they take so much time and patience! And I'm always afraid I'll get bored of the design by the time I'm done with it :P

Giovanna said...

That's some lovely stitching; enjoy the new sampler :-)

Rhona said...

Ahhh...pencils and colours.....LOVE!! Great stitching and congrats on such an awesome prize from Mouse.

butterfly said...

Lovely post Anne, lots of wonderful stitching.
I love colours too.
Just like a rainbow . I have been lucky today to see two this morning .
Titus is so cute.

woolwoman said...

Great post Anne - glad to hear you've started the JCS - hope it's smooth sailing on it. I would love to see your Auntie's cart - such a sweet spot for a V-Day display - I need to do some more V-day things myself. Time where does it go?? Can't wait to see you yarny stash. Enjoy Mel

Marilyn said...

All great projects.
Sorry you had a visit from Mr. Frog. :(
Funny about Titus. lol
Marilyn

WordsPoeticallyWorth said...

An interesting post that I enjoyed reading.

Good luck with your sewing.

Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

Julie said...

A lovely post. Titus is adorable, he can come lick here anytime!

Beautiful stitching project and I love your valentine display, such beautiful items you've chosen for it.

Chris said...

It takes a lot of work to be so fabulous. Titus is a hoot!
Great progress on your stitching and all of your projects. That little mushroom is very sweet.
I hope that you have some milder weather soon!
Have a lovely weekend.

♥ Nia said...

A lovely February display :)
I've been following that blog for a while, great post and inspiration for color lovers :D
Hahahah Titus is soooooo cute! =) what a joy!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I love your Valentine's display, small but perfectly formed!

I too love coloured pens but I prefer felt-tips to pencils. My Holy Grail was the flesh coloured Doodle-art pen. I still have it!

And yes, what is the significance of the number please?

Valma said...

what a lovely February display :)
I have to think about some smalls too for my seasonal shelf next year ...
I'm preparing Spring display for the moment.
great stitchings again !
really sweet pieces
you're very busy stitching, but enjoy, it makes Winter go faster =D
xxx

Solstitches said...

You have some beautiful stitching in progress.
Love the new sampler pattern and yes, it's always good to have a stash to rely on for retirement years :)
I can almost smell the hyacinth - so pretty.
Margaret

Pam in IL said...

Wonderful progress! The purple flower in the square looks like a seed packet to me.

I too love color. I never got a big collection of colored pencils, but I always got a new box of 64 crayons every birthday.

Karoline said...

Great progress on your projects, they all look lovely.

I love Lucy's blog too, it's very inspiring

Catherine said...

I had those pencils! Loved them! Great stitches ~ and that Red Deer, beautiful! Titus is too funny ~ very proper in his grooming! even if quite noisy!