Last Day of 2011

This year hasn't been the most fantastic year, it's been a very frustrating year for one reason or another.

I've made quite a few cards, I've stitched small things, but nothing big and my New Year's Resolution never happened - I never managed to hypnotise Sally into stitching all my projects, perhaps it will happen in 2012 ;)

We're going to go out for a few drinks with friends tonight later on, as we've already had our New Year's Dance that we normally go to as the caretaker for this new school refused to come out on New Year's Eve. It was called 'twixmas' and a brilliant night was had by all on Wednesday.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year's Eve and whatever you're doing, stay safe and I will see you all again next year :)

IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY :)

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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MY HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE!

I hope everyone has a very special happy day with their loved ones.

On The Twenty Fourth Day....

I did it, a post with something Christmassy every day for 24 days. YAY.

It's Christmas Eve and this gentleman is already on his travels to all our homes. Mum and I have prepared as much as we can in advance for the big day tomorrow and now we're off to have ourselves a well deserved glass of bubbly.

Have a wonderful Christmas day everyone :)

On The Twenty Third Day....

Mum and I have been out today leaving Marion to 'look after Grandad because he's old'!!! She loves spending time with her Grandad, just the two of them. I think it's because they get away with watching the tv without being told off when there's things to do.

Anyway Mum and I went and got all the last minute fresh bits and pieces we needed, plus some extra cat food and we managed to find our way into Morrisons cafe for a cup of tea and a donut.

Now that's us well and truly done for Christmas and if we haven't got it now tough because I am not fighting any crowds tomorrow. I'm hoping I might get time to do a little stitching, but I honestly think I'm dreaming there.

Oh well off now for a nice glass of vodka and a relax in front of the tv.

On The Twenty Second Day....

A Money Wallet. I absolutely loved making this card and I intend on making more next year for birthdays etc.


This is the inside of the wallet. I'm really pleased with it.

Well my parents are here now and the house was neat and tidy in plenty of time. No panicking and getting hot under the collar. All my craft stuff is up in the loft until the next year and I can go up and sort it out slowly and quietly in my own time.

On The Twenty First Day....

First day of the holidays and we had a little lie in. I feel really tired now because of it.

We just need to get the place tidy today so that we can relax tomorrow and not be panicking like we usually are the day my parents arrive. I want to relax this time around.

I've stitched this Just Nan piece before, but I found this small piece of evenweave and knew that this design would fit perfectly. Just need to put it into a whimzi frame when I find it and I might sell it for charity in the New Year.

On The Twentieth Day............

This morning was such a brilliant morning at craft class. We'd all taken in some food (sausage rolls, cakes, crisps etc)and placed them onto an empty table and then we got ourselves settled in our seats to do some crafting, having a great laugh at the same time.

We made this lovely desk calendar. I coloured the hair blonde so my darling daughter wouldn't moan too much about it being pink (she's not a fan of pink, girls wear pink, her favourite colour is blue).

After we'd completed the calendar we put everything away and got the food and drink out and started the party off. We had poppers and crackers and a really good laugh. Then we got back to some more crafting. I almost completed it, I just wanted to tweak it a little and brought it home with me. Not done anything yet, my back was a bit sore but hopefully I will finish it tomorrow.

I have cleaned the kitchen worktops and the hob and fridge, now all I need to do is sweep and clean the floor but some dopey twit (me) had put the broom outside and it's raining now, so I will do it tomorrow evening when she's in her bed.

On The Nineteenth Day.....

I went shopping today, the crowds were awful and it was just hard work. I couldn't park in Iceland car park and they couldn't deliver at a time that was convenient for me so I had to drag 4 heavy carrier bags to the multi storey car park. I think I trapped a nerve in my right arm, it was shaking and twitching for most of the afternoon after that. It still aches now.

When I got back in I delivered the christmas cards to the neigbhours houses and then had a well deserved glass of ice cold coke and then it was time to go and pick her up from school. When she got in she told me she was going to die (in the exagerated way kids use) if she didn't get something to eat, so I told her she could have some of the sausage rolls I was cooking for tomorrow while her dinner was cooking. I wasn't watching as I was fighting with the tumble dryer that would let go of the throw I'd just washed and dried.

When I turned back again she'd devoured almost all of the sausage rolls I'd cooked!!!! Of course when it came to dinner ready she wasn't really that hungry, but she had it a couple of hours later.

I've wrapped her teachers presents and they're sitting on the ironing board ready for the morning.

On The Eighteenth Day....

It's not been joy for me today, I've had a terrible migraine, so I've been cuddled up in the chair with my daughter watching Christmas films and then Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. The original is the only one my daughter will watch, she thinks Johnny Depps' version of it is complete rubbish and he should stick to being Captain Jack Sparrow.

I had so much planned for today to get the house ready so we weren't rushing around at the last minute when my parents come, but all that has gone to pot. It's not nice getting old, the change of life SUCKS

On The Seventeenth Day......

Lizzie Kate flip it. I found the whole set with the fabric and tucks in the jiffy envelope they came in, with three of them having been kitted up and I'm pretty sure I've had these for 3 years now OOOPS!!

On the Sixteenth Day.....

It was her nativity this afternoon, so I got to the church early to get a good seat seeing as she was Mary. I was in the second pew, as the front was reserved for the kids. I had the perfect view. Year 5 wrote the play themselves, it was brilliant. Throughout the nativity they sing carols and recite poems.

First song was Celebration and she's putting all her effort into it, this is one of their favourites.


Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. The poem these four told was The First Christmas by Elizabeth Fleming:

A star was His night-light
His quilt was the sky,
And soft sang His mother
In case he should cry;
And all the brown cattle
Came close to His bed
To see the small Baby
Asleep in their shed.

His carols were praises
Of love and goodwill,
That rose in the midnight
So clear and so still,
To herald the earliest
Christmas we know,
When Jesus was little,
A long time ago.

She's putting all her effort into the last song of the nativity. It was a lovely play, they all did really well and they should be very proud of themselves.

On the Fifteenth Day......

She's been practising at home for the final time for her part in the nativity tomorrow. I'm getting quite excited, it all sounds lovely and I can't wait to hear all the poems.

On the Fourteenth Day.....

I PANIC....

Because she breaks up from school on Tuesday and a week tomorrow it's all far too late to be doing anything as my parents come up for Christmas.

Why am I panicking? Simple - my Mum.... this year I have no clue what to get her. Usually it's my Dad I groan over, but oh no, not this year I've had his present for about 3 weeks now. I have made her a candle (or rather she's getting the reindeer candle I made a couple of weeks ago) and I always buy her turkish delight or ginger pieces. I have a little Christmas keyring that will go inside the cracker I am forcing getting my daughter to make. It's a kit, all she has to do is colour the pictures nicely, pop in the hat, joke, snapper and gift and then we put them together.

I also bought a kit to make a fabric panel bag, quite a few weeks ago, but I've never had the chance to make it. I know she will love it, it's just whether I can get it done without royally screwing it up in the process.

On the Thirteenth Day....

This morning it was craft class. A lot of cutting involved today, but we all had such a great laugh. We've decided this should be for little Tommy, or rather my daughter made the executive decision that although the other card is alright this is much better for him!!!

Next week is the last one of the year and we've decided to spend an hour longer than we usually do and taking some party food to enjoy as a group. Should be good morning, not to be missed. I did ask if we were going to be making an easy card next week, everyone laughed and Helen just didn't answer!!!!

On The Twelfth Day...

Happy Birthday Sally, hope you've had a lovely day.

This afternoon I was at the hospital with my daughter's school, they had been invited to sing Christmas Carols and they were amazing. 12 carols in total and they sang two of them twice. I started off with the bucket for a collection in aid of the hospital to try and raise £85,000 for a scanner for one of the departments.

On The Eleventh Day...

A beautiful Victorian tree in front of the large staircase. Now that would be my idea of Christmas heaven.

I've spent most of the day trying to get her to write her school christmas cards, she wants to send them, but she thinks I should write them. No I'm having enough trouble trying to find the enthusiasm to write my own. I just can't be bothered this year, probably because she's driving me to distraction with her destructive nature (unfortunately she's inheritted that gene from him).

I've just realised it's Sally's Birthday tomorrow and I'm late with it again. Last year I had convinced myself it was the 17th and it was on the calendar as that date, so I copied it to this years calendar too. I'm really sorry Sally :(

On The Tenth Day.....

This was originally meant for an ornament and through no fault of her own, my little girl snipped off a little too much fabric. I asked her to do it and she cut where she thought I'd snipped. She knew immediately and thought she'd get into trouble, but I just said it was ok I can stitch it again another time and I'll make this into a card.

I'm rather pleased with it.

On The Nineth Day.....

Victorian candles with poinsettia christmas card.

Today was a mixed weather day, sleet and snow with high winds on the way to school, then sunshine for a couple of hours and then for the rest of the day it was heavy sleet and snow.

What I want to do this weekend is get all the boxes from the christmas stuff put back up in the loft and get started on a real good clean up ready for my parents coming up. I don't want to be doing what we normally do, me rushing around like a headless chicken and her ladyship creating more mess to hinder me right at the last minute. I only want to be giving the house a quick vacuum the day they come up and I want things done in advance.

On The Eighth Day.....

Holly berries.

It was raining heavily through the night last night, I think there were hailstones too and it was really dark and gloomy when we got up.

Last night I read through the script for their play and she's Mary and convinced that she only had the 2 lines for the poem and her 2 lines in the play. Well I found another line that is under the name of Mary, not Marion. I checked with her that there isn't a Mary in year 5 and told her to check with her teacher today to make sure whether she's supposed to say that line or not - I'd hate for her to be forgetting about at the show.

I asked her this morning what she wanted for tea tonight, "curry you haven't made me one for oh ages and ages". "OK no I haven't made one from scratch for ages but I have 7 in the freezer from when you took me shopping and if I remember correctly you had 2 last week". "Well that was ages ago, I'm a growing girl, I'm 9 you know". I laughed and then she screamed "t'aint funny" in the same Calamity Jane voice as Doris Day lol

On The Seventh Day......

A beautiful night owl with his stocking hung.

It has been a nasty cold day, on the way to schoool we were hit by hailstones and it was very blowy. She was crying because it was catching her face, but it was far too windy to try an umbrella.

Brownies tonight and usually she and Megan argue or just make a lot of noise in the car when I pick them up, but tonight it was like I'd forgotten them altogether it was so quiet. Both were tired and they're really busy at school learning the carols for the hospital concert and also doing their play, plus all of the school work they normally have. Personally I think it's far too much for them all to cope with (and the excitement for the bearded man in red isn't helping either).

On The Sixth Day....

Free Design from: DaffyCat Designs

Unfortunately the white hasn't shown up too well on this fabric, but I plan on stitching it again and using a different thread for the white bits.

It was snowy again this morning, my daughter had lazyitis and didn't want to go to school, so she yelled at me and I just told her to get a move on or she'd be late and late she was, but not by much. I will be glad when they break up so I don't have these fights every morning, but it will all start again in the New Year. She's a night owl, not an early riser (always has been since before she was born).

On The Fifth Day.....

We've had some snow. A light dusting on the ground at 8am. After taking her to school I walked home in a blizzard and we've had quite a few blizzard showers throughout the day. Looks like we're due for more snow in the coming days, yippee :)


Snowboarding cat for the fifth day of December.

This Tickled Me

I saw this in a card shop when I was going for a birthday card for the birthday skein group on facebook. This just tickled me and I decided to get it.

Happy Birthday Theresa, hope you enjoy the threads aswell as the card.

On the Fourth Day.....

Lots of snow in a snow globe. I loved making this card and Marion loved sprinkling all the glitter into it.


This time last year I spent over 2 hours trying to dig my car out of the snow. It was an impossible challenge and I had to admit defeat, the photo shows how far I'd got after the 2 hours - not very far really. It was the Brownie Christmas Party and although she was upset that she probably wouldn't get to go, she knew it was safer to stay indoors. Luckily the ex-MIL was up that day and she took us and brought us back.

Unless we have 6ft of snow drop on us in the next couple of hours we are safe this year, I do hope that we get snow though, I love snow.

Yesterday the ex-MIL came and this time around it was quite strained and hard work. She made sure to tell us she would be going early because she doesn't like driving in the dark and when Marion suggested we take a drive to Clumber Park, she said it was too far to go and she wasn't staying long enough. So my daughter did her best to stay grumpy and moan at everything. The only thing she enjoyed was giving the ducks a bread roll (only the one as MIL made sure in telling her they were bought for her not the ducks). She asked for a couple of things seeing as she was being asked what she wanted for Christmas and she was told no because Grandma had spent a lot of money (I head Marion mumble 'not on me') and she wasn't buying silly things just for the sake of it. My question is why ask what she wants for Christmas if you have no intention of buying her anything?

Marion is quite right, it's all spent on her cousins. Normally she doesn't care that she doesn't get anything from them, but perhaps because she was asked so many times what she wanted and was then told no - what was the point of it all and that's why she was grumpy. I don't blame her.

On The Third Day....

A cute mouse carry a sack of presents. Today she wanted to put the decorations up, but her Grandma is coming, so we have to spend a few hours with her - no my daughter is not happy and I've come away to seek solace in my blog while she rants and raves about it!!

Perhaps if Grandma goes at a reasonable hour (she won't want to drive in the dark) we can get the tree started, it's in the box in the living room along with the rest of the decorations.

Christmas Giveaway

Cathryn's Place is having a Christmas giveaway. Hop on over.

On The Second Day.....

A snowman holding a broomstick. Cute and simple, but effective.

We didn't win anything in the raffle at the craft fair yesterday. My daughter said it was a wasted pound as she knew we wouldn't win, we never win. Quite a lot of teachers/teaching assistants won prizes, it happens every year.

Year 5 have a carol concert in the church every year, but they also put on a small nativity play that they write themselves. She finds out today what her part is and she's hoping she's not Mary for some reason. She's already been Mary in previous years, so perhaps she wants a change.

On The First Day....

I plan on having at least one Christmas stitched piece showing every day throughout December. I may well have stitched the piece earlier on in the year, but I won't have shown how they were finished off.

So day 1 is this Just For You at Christmas on a Christmas pudding card:



I can't quite believe that it's the first day of December, it doesn't really feel like it, it's not cold enough. Or maybe it's just that this time last year we had 6ft of snow to contend with.

Reindeer Candle

It was craft class yesterday and I was looking forward to it as I knew in advance we would be doing candles.

I didn't feel all that great after a sleepless night and a thumping headache and I had the shakes when I was cutting. In hindsight I should have had some lucozade or a bit of chocolate, but it all seemed like a rush.

This is meant to be for a raffle prize for the Christmas fair tomorrow at school, but Marion says it's too good to give to them lol



We also made a reindeer card, the silver tag has Merry Christmas on it. I think I might give this to my parents.

She's off school today because of the strike, it's the first time her school has closed for strikes, but this time they're out. School was closed on Monday due to an underground electrical fault between the sub-station and school, they were in yesterday and off today!! I suppose we can't complain, this time last year they were off due to the snow.

I'm thinking about taking her out to get some winter boots, especially after yesterday coming home in gale force winds, rain and hailstones and being pitch black at 3.20pm. My feet were soaking, when I took my boots off the water just poured out. Thankfully it's nice today, chilly, but sunny.

Stuffed Robin Card

Too cute, but fun to stitch.

Snowman Iris Christmas Card

I've never done iris folding before, but this week at craft class we made the beautiful star at the bottom left of the card. Once you get the hang of it, that particular fold is relatively easy. I love this card and it's the final one for Tracey's order.

By The Fire Place

I love this card, it's simple but very effective. It doesn't show up very well, but I added glitter to the hat and the penguin tummy.

The house still isn't completely tidy, but we went to a craft fair yesterday and didn't have as much time to do everything, but we do have some tinsel up and that's keeping her happy at the moment. Still plenty of time to get it all done.

It's a Cracker

I loved making this card. I thought it was going to be difficult, but I was proved wrong!!!

It's getting closer and closer to Christmas and I'm still struggling on what to get Mum. I have my Dads and this time it doesn't smell, as that's what I usually end up buying him. I have almost everything for my daughter, just need a couple of small things and some stocking fillers.

Stitching seems to have been forgotten, but I am still doing it. I've treated myself to a couple of things from Down Sunshine Lane, I needed some needles and a couple of Pine Mountain designs fell into my basket, as well as an LHN or Lizzie Kate - whatever it is, it's an advanced order one and I said I was happy to wait for the whole order to be sent together. Something to look forward to.

Kitty Christmas

This is another card for Tracey, for her card order. I have 3 or 4 more to make and then I'm complete.


Look at this lovely card from Australia that I received today. The Australian flag hanging from the candy cane and the koala hugging it. The threads were inside the card.

As it's such a nice day today, not too cold, I'm going to pop out and buy a new pack of gutter hooks (my Dad packed up my Christmas boxes last year and I can't find anything now) and then I'm going to hang my new lights up and put the set round the tree. I didn't get caught out by the snow last year and I'm not going to this year either. My neighbours can moan all they like.

Model Castle

They've been learning about castles at school and had to do a picture, poster or model of a castle. She immediately ruled out the picture and poster and I groaned out loud and complained bitterly, but I didn't get my way.


This view shows the drawbridge and the windows.


An aerial view of the inside and so you can see all four walkways between the battlements. It also shows the picnic table and pond, I did make her a fountain but I broke it :(


I think she did a good job of the Scottish flag. I had no intention at 10pm last night in even trying to do a British flag and we are a Scottish family, so she decided on that.

Design a Christmas Card

Something woke me up at 2am this morning, I looked around the house and looked out the windows to see if I could see anything, but it was nothing but fog out there. At 6am I was still trying to get back to sleep and by 7am I was ready for sleep.

My head has been fuzzy all day and all the running around I've had to do I'm ready for a long lie in.

She had to design a Christmas card. It had to uppy downy (portrait) on a4 card and couldn't be folded. I thinks she's done a good job. That's one bit of homework done, the next is a model of a castle as they've been learning about them for the last couple of weeks. I gave her a suggestion to make it easier on me, but I was shot down in flames - castles were not made of brick, they were made of stone. I've had to go out and find 2 different shades of grey paint (tester pots) and a proper decent sized box.

My Grandad must have passed the artistic gene through and it's come out in her, he was a brilliant artist and designer (he designed and built the runway in the Faroe Islands with his Squadron during WWII when he was stationed there).

White Tree

This is ornament number two for the Ornament Challenge. I haven't made it up yet, this gave me loads of grief and the frog family had moved in by the time I'd finished it. Honestly it nearly went for a trip on the M1 motorway the way I felt about it.

I was half thinking of doing another and putting them together, but I'm not holding my breath on that at the moment.

Winter Houses Card

I like this one, it's a sort of victorian scene for Christmas.

Country Companions Christmas Cards

Another couple of cards for Tracey's Christmas Card order.


I added the glitter to them as they just seemed dull and lifeless to me, they just needed an extra boost.

Peace on Earth Card

I haven't made these kinds of cards for a long time and just decided I wanted to do something different the other night. It took me two evenings to complete and then I put it together today.

Marion had a fantastic time at Disney on Ice last night with Brownies, she was so excited about going.

Bear Snow Globe

This teddy was so cute to do and fun to colour in and has been turned into a snow globe or shaker card. I want to keep it for myself, but it is part of a big Christmas order I've had from a friend.

Poinsettia

I like the way this is a pot plant, rather than just a poinsettia on a card. It was hard work cutting out all those poinsettia's, but well worth it I believe.

She did well in her swimming lesson last night. Normally there is a girl there that expects to go first all the time and gets moody if she isn't and then she annoys the rest of them and they get fed up and stop concetrating. Thankfully she wasn't there and all of them just got on with it and worked hard.