Always look on the bright side......

Hi friends! It's been a while I know - but I'm finally back!

Excuses aside, I just haven't been in a good place to post recently - my mind has been elsewhere, but hopefully I'm back now and will try to post more regularly. I've had a few health issues lately, and have discovered that the older you get, the more pills you seem to have to take! Luckily as an OAP I can claim free prescriptions!

What's been going on stitchy wise? I decided that I needed a break from large pieces at the moment. My stitching mojo took a walk somewhere and didn't reappear for a while, so I took some time for other crafts. I finished off those hearts I had completed in December. Here they are with my new candle bridge which we bought this year. (Along with that new tree!)

I finished knitting the pieces for my cardigan - it's all sewn up and awaiting the buttonband to be knitted so I may get it done in time for the final arrival of Spring. I altered a few bits from my wardrobe which had been lamenting in my sewing pile for months. Nothing really worth photographing here though.

In Britain, we have had some severe weather over the first few months of the year. Luckily in the East of England, we did not have the terrific downpours of the West of England and Wales, or even just west of London, where some communities were up to their waists in water, and even entire villages had to be evacuated. However we did have some strong winds and on two separate occasions we had to have fence panels replaced in our garden. On the second occasion we even replaced those which had not been damaged, so now we have completely new fencing on both sides. I would take photos but at the moment it's a bit of a mess out there as I didn't get round to finishing my autumn tidy-up, so when I finally manage to get out there again I'll post some new photos.

As we celebrated our 39th anniversary this year, we took ourselves off on another Hawaiian cruise - the same one that we have done before, although this year it was on a different ship - the Star Princess from Princess Cruises. Nothing like a spot of sunshine to refresh the soul - and the body eh? While away I finished 2 cross stitch pieces - a free Shamrock design from Brooke's Books - scroll down past the alphabet to get the pattern for this. It's actually stitched in a dark purple rayon thread, so it shimmers a bit when you see it.

And the other piece I stitched from a colouring book page. I hope to make this the centre panel of a wall hanging for my GD Jessica. Last year while we were away I bought her an alphabet wall hanging from Hawaii. So I'm thinking that I should try to make a number one to complement it. I was thinking 1 airplane; 2 suitcases; 3 swimsuits etc to tie in with the holiday theme of this piece. Jessica loves anything with Hello Kitty on it, so I should be on to a winner here!

Just before we left on holiday, I noticed that Brother had released a new cutting machine which also operated as a scanner. In the UK the only distributor is Create and Craft, so after we came home I treated myself to a complete set-up. Here is the page to see what I'm talking about if you have missed the hype about it all. The machine arrived last Friday afternoon, and I've been spending a bit of time getting to grips with it. Like all new technology, it has a learning curve, but I can see it being so useful in all areas of my craft. It will be very useful for cutting all those appliqué pieces for Jessica's number quilt! I foresee more on this little beauty in the months to come! 

Well, if you have stuck with me so far, I'll wish you all a good afternoon. I need to get the dinner on, and then I can settle down to try and sort out that buttonband on my new cardigan while I watch Hawaii Five-0 tonight on Sky One. (We did drive past their studio in Honolulu but didn't have time to stop and see if they were filming!)

Until next time

Take care

Sandie