A New Year and the promise of more stitchy tales (hopefully ..lol)

Well hello everybody, Happyy New Year to one and all, I hope you all enjoyed the festivies and got lots of nice stitchy/ crafty goodies :) I have just made a cuppa so pull up your chairs and come and join me , I have lots of cake and yummies left over sooo please help yourselves ....
Well I was rather busy up to the big day with one thing and another but I managed to get the "Seasons Greetings " finished by LHN .... need to decide how to finish finish it but it will be ready for this year .... seems strange to say that ...
I took some goreous photos on a frosty morning we had here at the mouse house just after Christmas of a Robin and Bluetit in fact I got told to make them into either a christmas card or a calender.... so you never know ...lol 
Christmas Day itself was rather a warm one and we spent it rather lazily I must say to be honest and I even watched 3 films and got some stitching in too ...On Boxing day I decided to tidy up my new charts with adding the threads and fabric to them out of my stash pile and I haven't even made a dint in it .. whoops .... I have said to Sally from http://stitchingplace.blogspot.co.uk that I am going to try and stitch as much as I can from stash this year and also try and get some WIPs/UFO's done as well ... I have started well by getting out last years RR and have got quite a bit done on it up to press, so it shouldn't be toooo long before it is finished she says, paws crossed and all that ...lol....
I did do my usual New Year Start ... I chose With Needle and Thread by Samplers Not Forgotten and I am stitching it on a Sparklies fabric called "Before the storm " which is a 28 count ....and I am stitching it one thread over two ... not done that on such a low count before but actually it is growing on me .. I was a bit unsure to start off with as the original was done on 36 count fabbie and I didn't have any that I liked for it or big enough for that matter either ... sooo I chose this one after I changed my mind from another that I originally picked out for it ... well a mouse can change her mind ..eheheheh
DH and I went to the local Iidl for some supplies for New Years Eve and I spied that they still had the Singer Sewing Machines in ...6180 Brilliance ones ... this does 80 different stitches and isn't toooo complicated for me to use, hopefully at any rate ... and it was a bargain at £119.00 ... I had seen them before and checked out the prices of them and they were an awful lot more elsewhere sooooo I snuck one on my trolly and said to DH "here you go my birthday present sorted"..lol (I also got some pennies for Christmas so that will go towards it as well ...)
I am hoping to get more stitching/ crafting etc done this year as I am trying to get organised and have a day for things such as WIPs on a Wednesday , Quilting on a Thursday etc etc and see how things pan out ... I want to blog more too and squeak to you all more as well as I have missed calling round on you all .... 
Well I had better find the photos for you and the get on with some more stitching as tonight is my last night off as it is back to work for me tomorrow ...

Presents from DH ... new charm for Bracelet and the books so I know what I have taken photos of ..lol

beautiful Hardanger Angel from Roz :)

some of my gorgeous handmade cards that I was sent

some lovely goodies from Butterfly

Thanks Bev :) the chocolates lasted for quite a few days ...

from Chris and Wendy

from Chris and Wendy too ... I won't be bored with these to work on :)

Mr Bluetit

Mr Robin

2016 RR chart is a Jardin Prive one ...

My New Year Start :)

 As you can see I got some lovely goodies from friends and family .. that will keep me out of mischief for a wee while ...lol .... that I and I even managed to get the rest of the squares cut for my birthday quilt too sooo guess who's going to try out her new machine with them :)
I think that is all my news for now sooo I shall leave you and wish you a wonderful stitchy week and I shall squeak to you all soon :) take care one and all ... love mouse xxxxxx
 

Harrogate, York, Stitching and Stash ....

Hellloooo everyone ... I can't believe how fast this year has gone and the fact that is is almost over with exactly two weeks until it is too ... Christmas has come tooo fast, even though we know its the same time same day every year it always seems to sneak up on us and I am never ready ... I have got almost all the presents wrapped  and half my cards wrote ... got the ones I need to post done, I hope ...lol and I have  some presents  to make, but time stands still for no mouse, sooo it looks like they will be new year gifts instead ...
any hoooo I digress a wee bit as I haven't told you about Harrogate yet or shown you my goodies etc soooo that will be resolved now :) ooooo hang on first .... the kettle has boiled and I have some christmas yummies :)
On the first Thursday of the show I picked up Chris and Roz and we tootled off off to Harrogate in the mousemobile , it was a lovely day and we did really well until we got to Harrogate its self when we hit traffic ... I told Chris and Roz to get out when we were near the halls, as we were stationary and I would find them once I had gone to park the car up where I was staying  and that is what we did .. and I did find them eventually ..lol I went to TrudyAnn's stall first and passed her the list of my threads I required before perusing all the goodies she had on her stall .. I purchased a few ;) charts that were in the sale bin that I just had to have heheheh along with a couple of others too .. I went to Sparklies and got  four peices of fabric ... I know , I know not my usual amount ..lol but I was on a budget and I still have quite a lot here to use up still ....and then I found the girls and we wandered around to our hearts content until the show closed at 7.00pm ... I lost them at some point near the end of the night !!!! and only heard from them to say that they had got back home safely when I was up at the house where I was lodging for a few days. 
The next day dawned lovely again and I tootled down the road to the show and saw some cherry blossom in bloom ... I know the weather was nice but found it really weird to see itespecially as it was November  ..lol. I had a good look round at all the stalls that we had missed the day before and picked up a quilting ruler that Chris had forgot to go back for ...  I got some lovely fabric for making some more bags with :) along with some buttons and ribbons and a couple of more charts....♫♫♫♫ insert a whistle here heheheheh ... The Nimble Thimble was having a sale on the LHN charts and I just had to partake in it as you do,
On the Saturday I went back to the show to do the exhibits and to look at the lovely work that was on display .. there was a fantastic Game of Thrones figure stitched ... and then went into Harrogate itself before going back to pick my car up and wend my weary way home ...... Master Bentley was pleased to see me back but wasn't happy the next day as both DH and I left to go to York for a couple of days for our 28th Wedding Anniversary ... we had booked a gorgeous BB and the room was really lovely and there was Champagne on ice waiting for us when we got there on the Sunday afternoon ....DH and I went out for a walk that evening to the sights and sounds of the Shambles and the Christmas Market on, we had a lovely evening meal in a local pub with a real coal fire and we treated ourselves to a pudding too ... well we decided we had earnt it ..lol 
The next day DH and I wandered around York and did part of the walls too .. we found a really cool old book shop that Sally would have loved and that had a real fire going in it too ...  I did check out the stitching section while DH perused the history of wars sections. That night we had an indian meal for our supper after we had walked around the town again this time taking my big camera with us ... I even managed to get a bit of stitching done too ... I started on Season's Greetings by LHN ...
The last day DH took me to The Viking Loom which has moved from the town center to Haxby... to a farm that had horses and lots of Christmas trees too ... we were greeted on arrival with do you want a cuppa .... how could we refuse and then I spent a good hour ooooing and aahhing at the stash there too and did get some more fabric ..lol .... DH did then go to a shop just for him heheh ... York Guns was on the way home so we called in there to see if there was something there for him that he wanted ... unfortunately not .... 
Phew .... quick any one else want another brew ????
Soooo onto the stitching part ....I made another stocking this time Harry Potter inspired with navy blue fabric with gold stars on for a work collegues son, stitched Waiting for Santa from this years JCS magazine not once ... not twice but four times in the last two weeks !!!!!!!  I showed the first one to work and they wanted one doing for the hamper so I did ... both my boss and the other office's boss loved it and wanted it for themselves soooo I stitched it again for them both and finished it different from the first one and then got mine done for me Phew ....
I got a lovely gift from DJ too ... she stitched me a wee mouse with a candy can and sent some charms , buttons in a gorgeous book box ...  the box and the stitching are out on my Mantle piece in my craft room ... and yes my fairy has a new place ..... see if you can spot her ....lol
I have changed my craft room round again and I think this way will work better once all  is back where it should be ... it took me three days to sort out ... and my fabric is now neat and tidy ... how long for, is any ones guess hahahah ...
Blimmy if I don't stop now and get the photos up I will have almost wrote a book ..lol

stash haul from Show

ditto

from The Viking Loom

my Robin in my back field

one of the ornaments I did for my bosses

a few of my decorations and you can see my ornie

my fairy found a new home :)

mantle piece all lit up

tidied the fabric up can you tell ...lol

this one went for the raffle prize

geese at the Viking Loom

My ornament exchange from Sally S :)

I have done more to it now

The Viking Loom

the hotel lounge

York Minster

hawk flying over Harrogate

my lovely gifts from DJ :)

Champagne anyone ??

how lovely is our room :)

The Ice Warrior from the Game of Thrones

stunning quilt at the show

These were stitched by individuals from a photo see below

RSN student practising her stitches

TrudyAnn' Stall

can you guess which one this is ...lol

how stunning is that gingerbread house

oldie worldie book store

 I have just re visited the photos and blimmy could do another post with the rest again ..lol ... I am not sure if I will get another visit in before Christmas so I shall wish all those that Celebrate Merryyyy Christmas :) and I shall save some cake and mince pies for you all... take care my friends and I shall squeak to you all soon :) love mouse xxxxxxx