~ A New Year - A New Look - A New Start ~

Since we are into a new year, my Shadow and I thought we might start the year off with a new look to our blog.

The new year also brings a new stitching start. This year for our SAL, Sandra and I have decided instead of stitching ornaments, we are going to do some bigger projects which will obviously take us more time to complete. As we each have other projects we still wish to stitch , we have agreed to stitch a set amount of hours per week on our SAL and our first project is one from Blackbird Designs ~ Autumn Song

It is a Sewing Box and Pin cushion and one I have wanted to stitch for a long time. The box finishing is sounding a bit daunting but we are hopeful that with the encouragement from each other that we will be able to find our way around it. Watch this space :)

These were two little gifts bags I stitched as gifts for Christmas so I can now show them. They are from a Bareroots Especially For You gift bags. I really enjoyed stitching these and giving them 'an ageing'.

Well, I am off now to sit in the air conditioning and make a start on my Autumn Song. It is scorching here in Queensland..... wait while I check the thermometer outside.....37 degrees!!!!! Wheeeeew, that is hot.

My Shadow and I wish you a Happy New Year

A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.

~Edgar Guest

~ You would have to agree ~

You would certainly have to agree that I have the nicest stitching friends and I just couldn't wait to share with you how they have spoilt me this Christmas.

Dear Sandra and Mary, if you are reading this, it is giving me a chance to say thank you one more time for not only your beautiful gifts but your friendship that has grown out of our mutual love of stitching.

Look at this ....
Back in July, Sandra stitched me a bourse for my birthday and these precious little accessories she has stitched for me for Christmas, go with it. Now I have this beautiful set.

There is a pinkeep, needlebook and a tiny scissor fob which is stitched over one. My Gingher 'Lanell' scissors match this to perfection.

But wait....there is more!!!

Sandra knows I love tins and that I also love fairies and look what she sent me as well ...

Inside these tins was more treasure ~ shell buttons, GAST threads, a thread winder, and a dear little waxer which Sandra had made and is in the shape of an oak leaf. I also received a Cath Kidson carrybag :) Don't you just love those 'Bygone days' tins.

Now as if I wasn't spoit enough with that, look what my dear friend Mary has given me. The beautiful scissor holder she has stitched holds the pink breast cancer scissors of which part of the proceeds from every sale goes toward breast cancer education and research. I just love it and especially what it symbolises.

Mary also gave me a beautiful panel of the Twelve Days of Christmas (similar to the one shown in the photo) You quilt it and embellish it. On a trip to Toowoomba yesterday, I was lucky enough to stop by a beautiful shop called The Quilters Angel at Highfields and guess what I found. The perfect fabric to back and bind it and also a lovely hanger which fits it perfectly so I am all set Mary to hopefully have it ready for next Christmas. Here is a photo of the panel.

So you see what I mean when I say I have the nicest friends.

Ben and his 'bestest' friend Indy had a lovely Christmas too and here they are waiting to give the doggie biscuits their seal of approval.

Until next year..

True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable.

~Dave Tyson Gentry

~ Merry Christmas Dear Friends ~

Warm Wishes from Ben & Chrissie

~ Yummy ~

My Shadow is a dog of many talents. Not only does he model, as he showed you in our last post, he can also cook and yesterday, he supervised me in making this batch of delicious Canine Cookies which he will give to his doggy friends at Christmas.

The Ingredients

The Waiting

The Result

The Lab Test

The Finished Gift

Ben hopes Indy and Georgia like his Canine Cookies as much as he does.

Here is the recipe which Dr Harry shared on Better Homes and Gardens

Canine Cookies

2-3 cups parsley finely chopped

1/4 carrot finely chopped

1/4 cup grated .mozzarella cheese

2 T olive oil

2 and 3/4 cups wholemeal flour

2 T unprocessed bran flakes

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven 180C. Grease or line baking trays. Mix parsley, carrot, cheese and oil in a bowl. In another bowl, mix flour, bran and baking powder. Add parsley mix and stir well. Gradually add water and mix well add more if needed to make dough moist. Knead for 1 minute on a floured surface.

Roll out dough to 1cm thick. Using a small cookie cutter or glass cut out as many shapes as you can.

Bake for 20-30 mins. Remove from oven and leave on wire rack to cool. Biscuits will harden as they cool. Store in an airtight tin and dog proof container.

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

~Norman Vincent Peale

~ Greeting Friends ~

My Shadow and I had a photo shoot the other day and here are some shots of the result. He definitely 'works the camera' well don't you think :)

Greeting Friends

It's Christmas and time to greet you once more,

But what can I say that I've not said before

Except to repeat at this meaningful season

that I have a deep and significant reason

For sending this greeting to tell you today

How thankful I am that you passed my way.

~ A Year of Ornaments ~

Well my year long SAL with Sandra is over. It has been a great experience and thank you Sandra for being a wonderful SAL partner. I am certain the assembly of some of our ornaments has at times been a tad 'trying' for us both and at times we have thought they were destined for 'the bin' but overall, I hope it has helped us learn and improve on our finishing skills. I know I am pretty happy with my finished results and now have 12 ornaments that I wouldn't have had otherwise and without the encouragement from Sandra.

So here are our year long efforts....
These are our five With My Needle designs which make up a nice little needlework set

My version with the background fabric shown as used for the lining

Sandra's version



and the other seven of my versions...




and Sandra's full set...



I have another couple of finishes to show as well. this is from the 2008 JCS Christmas book and is from Blackbird Designs...


and this, my Blackbird Designs 'Pins and Tulip Pincushion' from the Thank You Sarah Tobias book.



so I really have been doing the odd stitch or two :) and now it is time for me to get back to the baby sampler I am stitching for my darling little No 2 grand daughter. Hopefully, I will be able to show you this in the new year.

Until next time.


Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

~Mother Teresa

~ A New Month, A New Season ~

How quickly December has come around. Everyone I speak to seems to says the same thing. The year has just flown by. I wonder if you are like me and remember back to when you were a child and what a long time it seemed to be from one Christmas until the next.

I recently caught up with my DF Shirley, who was visiting from NZ and we spent a couple of lovely days together. Shirley shares my enthusiasm for stitching and crafts and we managed to fit in a visit to this beautiful shop on the Gold Coast Laraine's on Capri

Shirley gave me this lovely gift she had made.

It is a cute angel cushion and a scissor case, red scissors and the cutest little beaded 'humbug' scissor fob. Thank you Shirley :)

Speaking of dear friends, my long-time DF Wendy, also from New Zealand, sent me these photos of her recently completed Christmas stitching. This gorgeous Advent Calendar is quilted and embellished with sequins and beads....

and this beautiful stocking is quilted and beaded. Aren't they great.

Well done Wendy!!!

I have been quietly working on a few bits and pieces for gifts but still won't be able to show you until they have been received.

Lastly, I must show you a very special picture of three little fairies I found in the bottom of my garden they other day. Don't they make a beautiful picture :))) Three very special people in my life ~

"And as the seasons come and go, here's something you might like to know. There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day. So listen, touch, and look around - in the air and on the ground. And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing."
~Author Unknown