Crafting Mojo has returned!

Hello again!

Just a quick drop in post to say hello and to let you know that I am still on the planet Earth and breathing....
Most of you probably think I have dropped off the planet seeing as how I have been very quiet on the blogging front lately.. but no, I am still here!

As I have previously mentioned, not a lot of crafting has been done around here... but Friday I did manage to get hold of my little crafting mojo and hang on to it for a couple of hours and actually get some stuff done!

Firstly I made some more counting pins with some of the new beads I bought recently.  I tried out a different glue this time - Glossy Accents.  So will be interested to see if they hold as well the beading glue that I normally use.  I decided to use some red and green beads so that I can have some as Christmas gifts.

New beaded counting pins

I also managed to finished off my next kitty card for the Craftbubble birthday exchange.

Finished kitty card for CB Crazy for Kitties exchange

Last weekend was the IHSW and while I didn't manage to get a lot of stitching done I did actually get around to starting my card for the Margaret Sherry Yahoo group Christmas card exchange that I am taking part in.

Christmas Mouse
Designer - Margaret Sherry

I finished stitching this little mouse on Friday as well.  I now need to turn this into a card... which I will try and do this afternoon all things being equal!

I also have to start stitching my next Margaret Sherry design for the MS Lovers Blog Winter/Christmas ornament exchange.  Design is all picked out and threads are all ready to go... just need to start stitching!

Now before I go I will leave you with a picture of the most delightfully yummy blueberries that we picked this morning!  We have been having fresh blueberries for the last couple of weeks but this is the biggest haul we have had so far... yummy!

Fresh blueberries from the garden :o)

Well, that's it for now from me!  I must go and do some crafting and get my next card finished so that it can go in the mail this week.

So it is bye bye from me, and bye bye from Mitzi.

Til next time, happy stitching

Totally Useless SAL - New Moon 15 October 2012 Update

Oh my goodness... here we go again!  Another ORT report and another month has by without a post from me....  No excuses just one little itty bitty reason -

Mitzi!!

Nothing much seems to get done around here since a certain puppy arrived... no stitching or crafting, no blogging, no housework!  But we wouldn't be without her.  She is an absolute delight.  Slowly but surely she is growing and every day a little bit more of her brain is delivered.  For the most part she has got the toilet training right although every now and then we have a wee accident indoors...  Oscar is Mitzi's new best friend, but Felix is a lot more reserved and is still not quite there yet.

Now down to what this post should be about... the ORT report!

ORT's, Dragon and Pumpkin

Seeing as how it is October and the other half of the world is going into Autumn and is pumpkin mad, I thought I would take this month's photo with the last of our pumpkin crop from earlier in the year.  Our new crop of pumpkins are just starting to put their little heads out of the ground so hopefully we will have another great crop this season.

The ORT's jar is filling up slowly.  I have almost finished my Margaret Sherry Cool Cat #3 (Spring) but have had to put him away for a couple of weeks as I need to get some stitching done on a couple of cards and an exchange piece.

While there hasn't been a lot added this last month to the ORT jar, I did manage to finish the stitching of my kitty card last night.

Colourful cat designed by Jane Henderson
Cross Stitcher magazine, April 2007

Well dear readers, that's it for another ORT report.  See you all again same time next month... Pop on over to Daffycat's blog if you are interested keeping in touch with what is going on with the 2012 TUSAL.

Now before I wander off to bed.... struggling to stay awake after being woken up at 4am yet again this morning by a beautiful puppy....

On Friday I went to a "Meet the Author" event to meet one of my favourite authors - Monica McInerney.

Me and Monica McInerney (R) after she signed my book

Monica is currently back in Australia doing a tour promoting her latest book "House of Memories".  She is a lovely lady and it was wonderful to hear her talk about how her writing and also how she got the idea for this book.  I am always fascinated by people that can write wonderful stories... how amazing it must be to have a idea that grows and evolves into a story that people like you and me then sit down and read and have hours of enjoyment while lost in a book.  The "House of Memories" was a wonderful story... I started it on Wednesday before going to the event and finished it Friday night.  I just couldn't put it down on Friday... if you haven't read it yet... try and get a hold of the book - it is such a wonderful read - happy, sad and every emotion in between.  Can't wait til Monica's next book comes out... which will be a couple of years away though.

Til the next new moon on 13 November 2012, happy stitching and may your collection of ORT's keep growing!

New Moons - 2012

13 November

13 December

Totally Useless SAL - New Moon 16 September 2012 Update

Finally I am here again!  Only a week late - well, not quite a week but almost!

The New Moon was last Sunday 16th September but time waits for no one - especially not me!  A week has gone by and I just haven't managed to get near the laptop to do a post.

I don't really have a lot of news to tell you for this ORT report as there hasn't been a huge lot of stitching going on this month.  I did manage to clean up a few little things that have been hanging around in the stitching  basket.

So what little raggy ORT's went into the jar this month.....

Winter kitty (Cool Cat - Margaret Sherry)
Crazy kitty (Cross Stitch Crazy design - Durene Jones)
Party Paws Panda (Cross Stitch Card Shop - freebie)
Pin cushion x 2 (Cross Stitcher - freebies)
Bear Hugs (Cross Stitch Collection - freebie)
All Our Yesterdays (The World of Cross Stitch freebie - Faye Whittaker)
Best Buddies (Cross Stitch Card Shop freebie - Adam Prescott)

Gosh, when I list them all it seems that I did a lot of stitching but most of the stitching was just little bits of finishing off.... but I will quite happily think that I was a prolific stitcher this month!!

I have also finished the AOY and Best Buddies freebies over the last couple of days and even managed to start the Cool Cats Spring kitty.  So while I didn't seem to have done much stitching on anything big, I did manage to put some more little ORT's in the jar over the month.

ORT's & Dragon - September 2012

This month's picture finds the dragon and ORT's looking after the material that Hubby is going to use to stitch a little quilt for Mitzi puppy to have on the sofa.  She loves curling up on the sofa but leather is not particularly warm for puppies so very soon she will have her own special quilt and cushion to sleep on!

Last weekend was also IHSW.  I didn't get a lot of stitching done with a certain little puppy stealing all the available time in the weekend, but I did manage to finish off a couple of little freebies that I have been  trying to stitch over the last couple of weeks.

"Best Buddies"
Freebie - Cross Stitch Card Shop, Issue 84
designed by Adam Prescott

"All Our Yesterdays"
Freebie - Word of Cross Stitch, Issue 190
Designed by Faye Whittaker

Well dear readers, that's it for another ORT report and IHSW update.  See you all again same time next month... Pop on over to Daffycat's blog if you are interested in signing up or keeping in touch with what is going on with the 2012 TUSAL, and don't forget to drop in on Joyce's blog to check out who joined the IHSW for that month.

Til the next new moon on 15 October 2012, happy stitching and may your collection of ORT's keep growing!

New Moons - 2012

15 October

13 November

13 December

Here kitty, kitty, kitty!

Oh my goodness, 3 posts in 3 days!!  We can't have that now, can we?!?

Now I promised you a stitching update and here it is...

My latest finish is the second cat from the MS Lovers Blog SAL #3.  As I mentioned in a previous post I started this kitty on the plane going over to Hong Kong.  I am so pleased that I was able to stitch on the flight there and back as I have been wanting to get this cat started and finished for ages!

Cool Cats - Winter
designed by Margaret Sherry
MS Lovers Blog SAL #3

Winter kitty will be finished as a cushion sometime soon.  I bought some material at Spotlight the other day to make the cushion but now I'm not so sure that it's right for the cushion.  But that's ok it can go into the cupboard and be used at a later date for something else.  I will look for something else next time we go up to the quilt shops in Midland.

I also have a finished kitty card to show you.  This is the kitty that I was stitching a couple of weeks ago for the Craftbubble Crazy for Kitties birthday exchange.

Crazy Kitty designed by Durene Jones
Cross Stitch Crazy, Issue 168

The card was a very quick finish as I was late (as per usual) sending it to the UK.  There are 2 birthdays left in 2012 that I need to stitch for and then we will be done and dusted for another year.  The next birthday on the list is mine...

Recently I also finished stitching this cute little panda.  He was a freebie with the Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine.  I'm not sure what I will do with this yet but originally I was going to make him into a card.  May still do that yet - stay tuned!

And one last little stitching finish... a little sampler style pin cushion.  Not finished as a pin cushion yet but think I might have a go at doing that this afternoon....

Pretty Pin Cushion - free gift
Cross Stitcher magazine, May 1999
Designer unknown

Before I sign off, just a reminder that this weekend is the IHSW (International Hermit and Stitch Weekend). IHSW is hosted by Joyce at Random Ramblings, so wander on over and sign up for the weekend and stitch!  I hope that this weekend is a real stitchy weekend for me but I guess that will just depend on a bit on the weather and a certain little puppy.

This weekend is also the weekend for a TUSAL update.  Sunday 16th September is the new moon so we will all be reporting on what ORT's have been added to our little jars.  I have managed to put some in my jar this month which is great...  will have to see where we find the ORT's hiding this month for their photo opportunity.

So that's it for this little stitching update, see you all again after the weekend with the IHSW and ORT reports.

Til next time, happy stitching

Puppy dog tails

Or should that be puppy dog tales!

We have now had our new little lady in our house for just over a week, and what a week it has been!!

Mitzi is the most delightful puppy.  She has been so good and has settled in very well.  The boys have slowly started to come round to having a puppy in the house.  They are not too sure about her when she barks at them and tries to get them to play with her!  The funniest thing is when she is sleeping they both come up and sniff her and check her out... but when she is running around they prefer to keep their distance!

Mitzi loves to chew things - like all puppies.  We have had to barricade off parts of the garden (like the veggie patch) as she thought running around in there was the best thing - all those plants to chew like rhubarb and raspberries or fertilizer!  So now her veggie garden runs have been stopped and she is a bit miffed about that... but better to have her on the other side of the veggie patch than in there eating things that will make her ill.  Bamboo is much safer to chew!  Should have named her Panda!!

And of course what else do puppies like to do?  Dig!!!  There are little holes all around the garden where she decides all of a sudden to dig a hole.  She has found the big holes that Daisy had dug in the back yard and loves running into them and lying down...  but of course she has to make her own as well.  Luckily they are easy to fill in at this stage!

And after a big morning of running around in the garden we just have to sleep.  She is lying on Daisy's old bed - her little mat fits nicely in half of the bed and the other half she lies on when she gets too hot from sleeping on the mat.  We nearly gave these beds away to the dogs home when we took the last of Daisy's food and mats in,  but decided to keep them just in case... just as well we did as they are perfect for a little dog to stretch out on - albeit they are rather large for a little dog!!

Oh, and did I mention she loves the boy's cat grass!  Poor kitties, their life has been well and truly turned upside down by a puppy.  Not only does she bark at them with that high pitched puppy bark, but she also can fit through the cat door into their outside area and then she goes and eats their cat grass!  Yuck dog spit!!  We have also barricaded off parts of the house so she is currently confined to the kitchen, family room and part of the dining room area, which means the boys can go and hide from her in their many hidey holes around the house when she gets too much for them.

I had forgotten how much attention puppies need when they first arrive in the house!  Constantly watching her to make sure she doesn't chew on electrical cables or wee in the wrong spot... but that was last week!  This week she is getting the hang of either going to the back door to go out or heading out the cat door (most of the time), and now that the speakers and my stitching light have been put away there isn't any obvious cables in her play area to worry about.

Tomorrow will be a big day for her as I am going back to work in the morning and she will be home alone with only the cats for company.  I am only working in the morning on Wednesday and Thursday, and will be home on Friday, so it will be a bit of test for her to be on her own for so long.  So far we have only left her for a couple of hours at the most.  But I think she will be ok....  Hubby is at home next week on leave but after that it will be back to the normal routine for us all.  I think she will be ok by then as she has settled in very well and even slept all night last night :o)

Mitzi has already found a place in our hearts and while she will never replace Daisy it is nice to have a dog in the house again.

Stay tuned for more Mitzi updates!!  I will be back in the next day or so with some stitching updates for you.

Til then, keep safe and happy stitching...