Monday 28 December 2015

Star Wars Sampler Finished and Other Photos (Donna Nook and from around the Estate)

Well here is the Star Wars sampler by Cloudsfactory finished:

Original stitching
I thought I'd try out one of the effects of my camera - colour pop! I love how vibrant the colours are :)
Colour Pop effect added


I'm back to working on the JE SAL...hoping that I can get one more finished.

This week, I'm going to start prepping for planned projects next year so that it's all ready to go, I've gotten half way but have come across a snag. The fabric for the owl project is big enough for the design but not enough for framing, instead of 3 inches of fabric there's 1.5.

Here are some photos of the field trip to Donna Nook, it was great to see seals up close but damn they are lazy animals!






We had snow a couple of weeks back so I took a walk around the estate and the fields behind it...








I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas for those that celebrate it and I wish you all a Happy New Year!


Thursday 17 December 2015

Cross Stitch Crazy 2016 and other plans

Hello everyone ^_^ I've decided that I'd like to set out some clear goals for next year.

Cross Stitch Crazy 2016

  1. HMS Victory
  2. Map of France
  3. Field of Remembrance
  4. Trio of Owls
  5. Lady on the Balcony
  6. Page of a HAED
  7. Hollyhock Cottage
  8. Vegetable Basket
  9. Page of Dark Force
  10. Little Frogs
I haven't decided on the other 5 yet so will update this post when I have.


Most people work on each project for the first 15 days of January but I'm going to do something different (as usual :P). As the first 5 on the list are gifts for birthday presents next year, I'll work on one of those each week of January and will write a post at the end of the week. Then how it goes after that will be random.

I'm running my own SAL next year - Daily Cross Stitch SAL. There will be a post on the last day of each month for this. I've set up a facebook group as well for those that don't have blogs but do have facebook.

I'm also taking part in a mermaid SAL on facebook and for this I'm going to work on the mermaid that I purchased for the Love Thy Thread SAL that or one of Joan Elliott's mermaids.

Saturday 5 December 2015

Small stitching update

Wow, I've got 61 followers...when did that happen? Thank you everyone!

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I had done some secret stitching and here it is:
L*K Good things...
I stitched this for Steph's birthday using 28ct evenweave that she dyed for me. I asked for a huge amount of fabric for a big project so there was plenty left over once I omitted that piece.

For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to participate in a couple of exchanges/challenges...maybe not such a good idea with uni in full swing. I did manage to do the stitching for the exchanges, I just need to make them up now. The santa below took me two weeks to do!
Just Nan
I didn't get the Star Wars sampler done in time but it is looking good...4 more characters to go! I'm just going to put it out there that I think Battlefront is a fab game!


I treated myself to a new camera, I've been wanting one for a month or so now. Mainly because I have some field trips coming up in the next half of the year and wanted to take photos. We'll be going to Donna Nook next week to observe specific behaviour in Grey Seals. It just so happened Curry's had a deal on a few including one of the ones I had bookmarked. I got the Nikon D3300 and it came with two lenses 18-55mm and 55-200mm.

I've only used auto mode for now and the photos are beautiful but I'm going to read around and start messing with the settings. Here are some photos that I took using the new camera :)

Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral
Durham Castle


Thursday 3 December 2015

Bucket List Friday - Never visited vacation destinations to see before you die

I'm sorry this one is so late, it's been half written since last Thursday. There's not much to say so I'm sorry if it's lacking.

1. Canada


Probably Ontario. To be honest some of the things I've read and seen, I wouldn't mind living there never mind just visiting!

2. Italy


I'm open to going anywhere in Italy.

3. Cornwall, UK


It looks so beautiful and peaceful there, it's just a bit of a trek from the North East.

4. Yellowstone National Park, USA


I'm studying Biology so this would relevant never mind fascinating to see!

5. Galapagos


I struggled for a fifth destination but then I thought about all of the nature documentaries that I have watched and decided on this. It would be such an experience although I'm not sure I could handle all of the creepy crawlies.