Defeating Photo-Eating Computers!!

Tee! Hee! Hee! Suddenly, I'm having a mental picture of me on my white charger (hmmm ... maybe a Clydesdale would be better to cope with my gym-skipping butt!!!) dressed in chain mail, sword in hand, riding off into the sunset to do battle against some dastardly creature that gobbles up innocent photos. Hmmm ... sometimes reality can be a tad less interesting! Tee! Hee! Hee! Yes ... I am fairly sleep-deprived at the moment, which explains most of my funny mental pictures! :0) (perhaps not all, but that's a whole nother story!!!)

Onto my post before Chookyblue gives up in disgust! :0) Actually ... speaking of Chookyblue ... I had a lovely phone call from her the other night. It was a wonderful surprise and can I just say that even though she may be Queen of the Short Blog Post, on the phone (or in person!!) she's just as chatty as I am, so it wouldn't surprise you that, after we'd been chatting for almost two hours, Mr Chooky wanted to know who the heck she was STILL talking to! Tee! Hee! Hee! Blogging buddies are so much fun! :0) And since Chooky and I are swap-buddies for Fee's Advent Swap, today was the day I FINALLY got to delve into that tempting box of goodies she sent me ... I had been a good girl and waited for December 1!! :0) Now, she had told me during our chat that day one's gift was a "Christmas season survival kit". As Alice would say ... "Curiouser and Curiouser!!"

But all was explained when the little parcel was opened. OOOOOHHHH!! There's some Christmas cards for me to send, some cute little Santa pegs to hold any cards I might receive, one of Chooky's SWEET little stitched Christmas cushion ornaments (or a Festive pin cushion???) a CUTE  bear hugs stitchery ... already traced with pelon on the back and ready to stitch, with the favourite-colour green embroidery thread. Oh ... and some tasty treats to keep up my strength for all the Christmas run-around! :0) The first of those packets is being munched and crunched as I type! Tee! Hee! Hee! Thanks Chookyblue!! What a lovely way to kick off the countdown to Christmas ... even if I AM firmly in denial about it being less than a month away - EEK!!

OK ... I've also re-taken the photos that the nasty computer ate a few days ago. First thing to show you so you can drool over admire it, is a bundle of yummy fabrics I bought at a recent sale at my Home-Away-From-Home ...

I have been eyeing these off ever since Marion got them in. They're from the "Etchings" range by 3Sisters for Moda. I particularly love the one second from the right in the top row ... its a map of Paris ... yes, I'm still on my French kick and considering some of the exciting plans I'm hoping to implement next year, I will be for some time, so you'll have to live with my obsession! :0)

Another pretty that I have to show you is a sweet prize I won from Lisa at Button Bliss. Lisa has the CUTEST range of laser-cut timber buttons on her website, but she also added some handy (and cute!!) thread organisers to her range and ran a competition with a couple as prizes. Lisa asked us to leave a comment describing our perfect spring day. My response was ...

"The perfect spring day ... well ... my FANTASY perfect spring day would be spent in a gorgeous cottage garden, sitting at a pretty wrought iron table with some equally pretty stitching friends to enjoy a 'high tea' picnic with lots of tasty treats, tea drunk out of vintage china cups and some stitching. Now I just have to find that garden ... shame mine doesn't match up! :0)"

The prize I won when mine was one of the names chosen my Mr Random ...

Hmmm ... perhaps I needed to take it out of it's packet, but I wanted to leave it in there to protect it from the general mayhem of my sewing room. It actually looks like this ...

(photo borrowed from Lisa's blog)

Thanks Lisa! My first thought when I saw these sweet thread organisers is that they would be a great idea to use to do up a kit as a gift for a stitching friend ... choose a stitchery pattern, pick out the threads to make it, pop in the thread organiser and your friend is ready to stitch. You could take it a step further and do what Chookyblue did for me ... trace the design and attach pelon. Your friend would be smiling and stitching in no time, guaranteed! :0)

Last on the list of re-taken photos were two fun projects that I made for my sort-of-sister Tiffy's birthday. (one day we'll just have to adopt her and make it official and easier to explain her place in our family! Tee! Hee! Hee!) I designed this project especially for Tiffy and really enjoyed stitching and making it up ... it was just one of those projects that came together beautifully the first time! :0)

A set of two lingerie bags ... ooh la la!! :0) Yes ... there's still a bit of a French influence there ... couldn't help myself! :0) Now, you may be asking why I've made TWO lingerie bags for Tiffy. Well ... there's a REALLY good explanation ... my Mother suggested it and it's ALWAYS wise to do what your mother suggests! Tee! Hee! Hee! Nah ... well ... YEAH ... but that's not the only reason!! You see, Tiffy is looking at doing some travelling overseas next year and the idea of two lingerie bags is ... one for your CLEAN knickers and bras and one for your WAITING-TO-BE-WASHED knickers and bras when you're packing your port (bag, suitcase, backpack!) so that they don't get lost amongst the rest of the stuff in your port (bag, suitcase, backpack) and if your port (bag, suitcase, backpack) happens to open while you're travelling, there are no red faces over revealing your lacy knickers! See!! I TOLD you my Mum has good ideas! :0) That's why I used two different coloured variegated threads ... so Tiffy can tell the difference so she always knows she's following HER mother's advice to always wear clean underwear ... that's what all mothers tell us, right?!?!? I'll be releasing this pretty and practical design as part of a bigger project next year ... but the cat has to stay in the bag for a while longer ... sorry to all you cat lovers! Tee! Hee! Hee!

OK ... that's me caught up for now. I'd better go start doing some blog-hopping to collect OPAM finishes ... so don't forget to email Sweet Peg or me and update your list of finishes on your sidebar list. And while I blog-hop, I shall enjoy the sound of rain on the roof ... Aaaaaahhh!!! Not a bad way to spend an afternoon ... and if I'm REALLY lucky, there might be a rainbow! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS