Vacation days.

I love being on vacation. The weather hasn’t been good though and it has been raining all this week. I don’t mind though, I stay inside and read and stitch. I have finished two pieces since I started vacation. The first one is an exchange so I can’t share yet, but the other one is this biscornu, made by my mother’s request. It is her sister’s birthday today and she has always wanted one of these little things so off course it was no problem to make one for her.

Fabric: some blue hand dyed opalescent fabric from my stash in 28ct
Thread: WDW Navy
Pattern: Spring Flowers by Debbie Draper Designs – freebie found here.

I started my vacation on Wednesday and have just been trying to realise that I don’t have to be to work every morning. I get up every morning to take my daughters to school and daycare and then I go home and just try to relax. Being a single mom of two sure makes you tired sometimes hehe. I love it though, but having a vacation is great and we try to do something fun after I pick them up in the afternoon. Sumarrós is staying with my parents tonight. Me and Karítas were supposed to be going to a dinner party at my friend Anna Sigga’s house, but Karítas seems to have some stomach bug so we will just stay home tonight.

My new computer came in and it is absolutely amazing! I adore the thing!

Birthday girl.

It is my birthday today 🙂 I am officially 29 years old now. It has been a great day so far and after about 2 hours my family is coming over for a little get together. I am having freshly baked chocolate cake with ice cream and strawberries and cheesecake. And some cheese and crackers and grapes, jam and other yummy things. And off course coffee and drinks :o)

I almost finished stitching the exchange piece this weekend. There is only a little backstitching and the assembly to do. I will have it done in no time. And I start my vacation on Wednesday. I can’t wait! I really need a vacation.

Yesterday me and Rósa went along with our daughters (except my 2 year old since she was at her fathers) and visited my parents. Me and Sumarrós (my 8 year old) ended up staying there for dinner and my mother made my favorite meal, barbequed beef loins. They were amazing! I sat for about an hour and a half just eating! LOL! And baked potatoes with seasoned butter, fresh salad with feta cheese and pepper cheese sauce with mushrooms. I was in HEAVEN!

I better get to it. I have a cake to bake!

Absolutely amazing!

On Friday evening I got a phone call from my friend Rósa. We talk almost every day so getting a phone call from her is nothing new, but always just as nice. This time she said with a hint of tease in her tone ‘Oh I was just wondering if you were busy since I am now holding your birthday present and really want to give it to you’. That little tease! Off course she came over (she lives very close by) and she gave me a wonderful package wrapped in pink and with a sticker from The Silver Needle on it. Exciting! I opened it up and lo and behold! Out came this!

Incredible! Amazing! So beautiful! And for me? WOW!
I have been lusting over ‘Lady Scarlet’s Secret Garden’ by Just Nan ever since it came out but never indulged myself to it. I was so happy when I opened the package that I screamed. Rósa, thank you my dear dear friend! Rósa said ‘I just knew this was something that you really wanted but would never buy for yourself’. How very true. I guess she knows be better than I thought 😉

Here is a close up of the gorgeous Ladybug!

And the tiny little magnet (another thing I have been thinking about ordering but never remembering to do so). I say it is me and Rósa stitching together and we will forever be friends ❤

To Rósa I want to say the deepest thanks. You are an amazing friend and such a beautiful woman. You make me shine with your shine. You give so much and never expect anything in return. When you get something in return you are the most thankful one. I love you so much!

Slow down, please!

I don’t like it very much when my life gets as busy as it has been lately. I haven’t even stitched! And that is bad! I went to a stitching night with my Icelandic stitching group on Wednesday and then was the first time I stitched in about 2 weeks! I started the scissor fob kit from Shepherd’s Bush that I posted about in my previous post. And I stitched a little on it last night also. Slowly and surely, I am getting back to stitching and gently pushing down the brake to slow my life down. Work is mostly to blame, but also start of a new school year etc. The end of summer always seems to be the busiest time of the year for me.

Wednesday evening when my stitching group met, my friend Ágústa gave me an early birthday present (my birthday is actually next Monday the 27th). And what a birthday present! 5 pairs of socks knitted by her especially for me! Aren’t they beautiful? Now I will not get cold feet durring winter. My feet are almost always cold and I just ADORE the socks that Ágústa knits for me. They are the best ever!

I have also been getting some surprises in the mail lately. I love getting mail that is not bills! Haha!

My friend Drífa went to the US and bought these patterns for me as I am helping her translating and drawing up the text on Stoney Creek’s Natures Home Afghan in Icelandic instead of English.

Anette, whom I did the patriotic biscornu scissor fob for, sent me these patterns. Anette, if you are reading this, thank you so very much! I love them. I feel the urge to start the Chicken Flatbed soon! I just love chickens, hens and roosters!

I decided to reward myself for all my hard work at work and in my life recently and went ahead and bought myself a brand new laptop! A Dell Inspiron 1520. And you know what, it is PINK! I haven’t gotten it yet since they were sold out, but hopefully I will have my baby in my hands sometime next week. I am calling the store on Monday and see if they have any new news on when they will be arriving.

So I have a busy weekend planned but it is all dedicated to stitching. I have an exchange due on August 31st and I haven’t even started it yet I will probably get it done this weekend though. It is not that hard a piece I decided on doing and the finishing is no biggie either 🙂  I also want to finish my scissor fob, it is so cute.

I have also been designing a little and want to do a little bit of stitching on that piece also.

Obviously I haven’t been reading blogs. I am so sorry, but don’t think that I have forgotten about you all! Not at all. I miss you all terribly. I feel like when I am visiting your blogs that I get to have a little look into your life and I appreciate that and am very thankful for all the wonderful people I have met through blogging. I probably will not read everything I have missed, I think I just need a fresh start. That is also on my list of things to do this weekend, to pay all of you a little visit 🙂 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am off to make pizza for me and my oldest. We usually always have pizza on Friday’s and she really wanted a home made one now so her wish is my command 🙂

Been MIA

Sorry for the quietness around here but work has been really busy and I have hardly even stitched at all. Today I got an order from Down Sunshine Lane and let me tell you, Amy is wonderful to do business with.

I got 5 pieces of 40ct Newcastle Linen in Antique White, Cream, Summer Khaki, Light Sand and Sand, ‘Trousse aux Fleurs Bleues’ by C’mon Monde (I saw this pattern on Becky’s blog and fell in love with it at once) and Snow Scissor Fob Kit (with cute purple scissors) by Shepherd’s Bush.

I took the Newton’s Law Birth Sampler to my framer today and should have it back soon. Oooh! My boss who just had the baby I made the sampler for was my secret admirer who gaave me the patterns last week! Thank you Bryndís!

I need to get going on a Fall themed exchange over at LJ and also on the Grateful Hearts exchange over at SBEBB. I have some ideas, I just need the time to start. Late next week I am thinking about taking the rest of my vacation days so I should have plenty of stitching time in the near future. I hope you are all doing well. I will try to catch up on blogs soon

Come out, come out, whoever you are!

Like I said before, I took Friday off from work and Monday was a bank holiday so I had a long weekend. When I got here this morning (about 40 minutes ago) there was a surprice waiting for me. Two patterns by With My Needle ‘A Quaker Pattern Book’ and ‘Quaker Schoolgirl Needle Necessities’ both from my wish list. It has a note that says ‘Hugs and kisses from a secret admirer’. Now, who are you? I know you must read my blog since you knew I wanted these patterns! Come out come out so that I can give you a propper thank you!

I love the patterns! Thank you ever so much! *hugs&kisses*

Rose Mosaic Needle Roll by M-designs

I finished this one last night. This is one of my favorite needle roll patterns and I really enjoyed stitching it. I loved how the design was added a lot of dimension when I put the Mill Hill Treasures and beads on it. I didn’t think much of it until they were added on and now I just love it. I am going to keep this one myself 🙂 I just have to do the finishing on it sometime soon, hopefully sometime this week.

Rose Mosaic Needle Roll by M-designs
Stitched with recommended threads (Kreinik silk mori and WDW) and embelishments by Mill Hill
Fabric is 32ct antique white linen

The pattern is now up for grabs. The first person to comment saying they want it gets it. Be sure to leave your e-mail and I will get back to you to get your snail mail address and I will put it in the mail a.s.a.p. I hope you have all had a good weekend. I am now going to try to catch up on my blog reading.

**EDIT** Erla Björk is now the new owner of this pattern. Congrats Erla!

Yet another biscornu for Brenda.

Yup, I just finished another one for my friend Brenda. The fabric really is white, but it looks a little green (at least it does on my monitor) on the pictures.

Pattern: Tiny Little Quaker (links to a .pdf file) – Freebie from Papillion Creations
Fabric: 28ct white Jobelan
Thread: Six Strand Sweets – Apple
Mill Hill beads #00165 in every other stitch on the edges.

Oh! And my patriotic biscornu scissor fob got featured over at the Focus On Finishing blog. Thanks Karen! I feel like a celebrity 😉

I decided to take a day off from work tomorrow, so I have a 5 day weekend ahead since Monday is also a holiday here in Iceland! I plan on getting some serious stitching done. I also have some activities planned with my daughters, but at least I don’t have to get up in the morning to go to work so I will make good use of the evenings to sit and stitch! Woohoo!

Freebie Exchange from Tessa.

I got the most wonderful package in the mail yesterday from Tessa. I am sorry I couldn’t post about it sooner, but I was working until 11pm last night so when I finally got home I just crashed. But here it is!

Tessa really outdid herself with this exchange. I was stunned when I opened it. She stitched a freebie from the Caron website called ‘A Good Vintage’ by Carol Tinson using the suggested threads. Here is the link to the scissor fob and here is the pattern for the pincushion.  The finishing is just perfect. I love all the extra details, like the little ‘made with love’ charm that she added and the beaded edges. It is such a beautiful set! And she added gorgeous scissors also.
And all the extras, where do I begin? There are Tim Tams that Tessa says are an Aussie favorite indulgence, I can’t wait to try them! She also sent me some Kelmscott thread keepers that are stunning! And she sent me chocolate, a notepad and the sweetest letter. And some beautiful threads.

Even my daughters got some treats!

Tessa sent them Bilbies! Bilbies are native Australian animals and very adorable! Tessa, my girls are over the moon with excitement! Sumarrós thought it was so cool to get a package all the way from Australia! I have a friend who lives here in Iceland, but is from Australia so she knows about the country down under from him :o) She sends you kisses! The little one is calling her Bilbie ‘nannína’ which would be ‘kanína’ or ‘bunny’ in english. She is very fond of it and has been running around with it since she got it :o)

Thank you Tessa, you are such a sweetheart!