Checking In

This week has just flown by...what with working, stitching new designs, getting Christmas gifts finalised, specialist visits with hubby and checking in on my mother in law who has hurt her back, I haven't had much blogging time....so I thought I'd quickly check in.

This afternoon I'm stitching up a Christmas gift....

While I 'babysit' Mum-in-law.  Using some gorgeous Cottage Garden threads....just love how they stitch out!  Off to prepare lunch....hope you're getting lots done 

Xox sugary hugs :o)

Wendy 

FNSI winner

It’s time…. and I realised I hadn’t shared the prize with you yet!  That’s what happens when you work 6 days in a row and then spend the seventh day pressure cleaning the outside of our new Artspace building. My brain has just been all over the place.

So here is what the winner of this month’s FNSI will receive…..

…..this gorgeous Orange Daisy damselfly stitchery kit along with a handmade butterfly button by Nikki Tervo Designs.  Both perfect for the last days of spring, don’t you think? (well it is here in the southern half)

Have you had a chance to go visiting all the FNSI-ers yet? There were 50 of us participating and I’m sure there were loads of Christmassy surprises being made.  Make sure you pop back HERE for everyone’s links….so much inspiration and you never know, you may just find another blog to add to your favourites list.via The Crafty Creek

Margaret from The Crafty Creek managed to finish the hem on this gorgeous chiffon Gabriola skirt she’s been working on….whilst Josie managed to stitch down a couple of Stonefields blocks, after not sewing for some time……

got a giggle from her helper too….

via Dilly Dimple

via the House on the Side of The Hill

Melody managed to finish another of these beautiful aprons for Christmas….isn’t she a clever chicky?  But who is our November FNSI winner?  Here’s a clue….

Our winner this month got to play with a particular love of mine……Fig Tree….and she got a whole heap more done too….a very productive night for Kim…..congratulations!!!!  I’ll be in touch and thank you to everyone for joining in.  Hope you had as much fun as I did.

Next month will be the last month for the year and our last FNSI for 2014.  We’ll have to make it a special one!  Any ideas?  Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could do a pot luck dinner and trot around to each other’s houses and eat and stitch and laugh and stitch and eat some more? 

Hope you enjoyed our FNSI….  Next month’s is on Friday 19th, a week before Christmas so it’s last minute Christmas things if you’re slow like me!  Don’t forget to jot it down in your diary.

xox  sugary hugs :o)

FNSI tonight….don’t forget to join

Looking forward to tonight with all of you.  We’ve got 38 signed up so far…..let all your friends know so we can have a HUGE night!  

If you haven’t signed up yet……link ups are HERE 

Have you made your chocolate bliss balls yet? 

yummo

And before I head off to work, here’s a couple of new posters I’ve designed to put a smile on your dial….

Can’t wait till tonight!

xox Sugary hugs :o)

FNSI nibblies

I did tell you I’d have ‘healthy’ and ‘chocolate’ in the same recipe didn’t I?  Well, I forgot to tell you there would be some ‘scrumdiddlyumptious’ in there too!

How would you feel if I told you the recipe was for some CHOCOLATE BLISS BALLS ?  mm mmmmmmmmmm???

These are so easy to make and full of protein and fibre, you just can’t feel bad about eating them. *wink*

This recipe makes 10 serves, one ball is one serve and you can keep them in the fridge or freezer to snack on as you wish.  But be careful, you will only need one or two with a glass of wine or hot beverage as each ball is packed full of 100 calories (420kj) of goodness.  As they say, every good thing in moderation!

CHOCOLATE BLISS BALLS 

Ingredients:

• 67 unsalted almonds
• 90 grams pitted, dried dates (approx 13)
• 11 grams  cocoa/cacao (approx 2 3/4 tspns)
• 3/4 tspn coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 tspn chia seeds
• 2/3 tspn  vanilla extract
• 1/4 tspn cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon desiccated coconut

Method:

• Place almonds in a food processor and blend until ground well.
• Add dates, cocoa, coconut oil, chia seeds, vanilla and cinnamon and blend until well combined.  If you need to adjust quantities of ingredients to reach a consistency that’s easy to roll into balls, then do so.
• Roll mixture into 10 bite-sized balls and roll in desiccated coconut.
• Refrigerate to firm up a little.  Can be frozen.

Nutritional Information:

Energy:  420kj/100cal	Fat:  6g
Protein:  1.6g	Saturated Fat: 1/5g
Carbohydrates:  7g

mmmmmm….can’t wait till Friday

xox Sugary hugs :o)

FNSI Sign ups

It's nearly time!  Friday Night Sew In.......can't wait!  You know how it's my favourite time of the month (well, only slightly ahead of Friday Night With Friends FNWF held on the first Friday of each month and hosted by the lovely Cheryll)!

I haven't chosen a prize yet.....I'll choose after work today, but I have got a fabulous recipe in mind,

via google images

 quick and healthy,  that you can nibble on as you sew with your favourite 'tipple' (and yes, it does involve chocolate!)... but I'll share that tomorrow too.

Sooooo...here it is....sign ups for this month's FNSI.  If you haven't been here before......

WELCOME

You can find out more about the FNSI on the FNSI tab at the top of my blog if you're unsure what it's all about, or you can email me (wbert4(at)gmail(dot)com).

I'm really looking forward to spending my Friday night with you all!

xox Sugary hugs :o)

Christmas beauties

Yesterday was spent on the computer for most of the day, writing a new pattern for a magazine commission…..

it was hot, so the blinds were drawn and the lemony water was on hand.

So now that’s finished, it’s time to turn my thoughts back to Christmas gifting.  I’ve designed some new Christmas ornaments which I just L-O-V-E, and I’m stitching them up at the moment.  Here’s a quick look…….

This close up makes it look like I’m stitching on hessian, but I assure you it’s a beautiful soft linen and you’ll just love these!  I wonder if you can guess what they will be?  I should finish them this week, set to release the pattern next week, in time for you to be stitching for Christmas.  They are quick little decorations but very sweet (if I do say so myself!)  Keep an ear open soon.

I’ve come across this cute little free snowman stitchery in my bloggy travels and thought I might share it .  Would be great as a quick gift for a teacher or friend.

picture borrowed from htp://fortworthfabricstudio.blogspot.com

You can download the pattern HERE.

Still lots of secret sewing happening but I’m making some big plans for what’s going to be happening in 2015 here in Sugarlane House.  All I can say is Watch This Space.

IN the meantime, I have definitely made plans to stitch up this gorgeous quilt over the Christmas break, whilst I catch up on old Christmas movies and of course, the tennis!

Jenny has just released the last of the blocks today, which you can download as a single pattern, or if you’re like me and have been collecting them week by week and putting them away for ‘a rainy day’, there are individual block patterns.  I’m so looking forward to making this, I even have the fabric chosen and put away with the patterns in their folder, waiting patiently for the Christmas holidays.  What better time to stitch up the Lord’s Prayer?!  You can visit Jen and read about them HERE and then go and visit her Craftsy store to download the forever FREE pattern/s.

You can also read about her new Stitchery club you’ll want to be a part of…..

Here are just a couple of projects from this month I just know she won’t mind I share with you….

just a couple to whet your appetite.  Heaven knows, I’m drooling!

YOu can either subscribe HERE to receive each month’s patterns automatically, or purchase the month’s you want in Jen’s Craftsy Store .  I don’t want to miss a single one so I know which option I’ll be taking!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for sign-ups for Friday Night Sew In…..the second last for the year….loads of fun, if you’ve never joined in before…….everyone is welcome!

xox Sugary sweet hugs :o)

Here to inspire you

The last few days I’ve been having a bit of a play with creating inspirational posters and I’ve found I really love it!

People who know me well call me a ‘word’ person…..I love my words and positive sayings and this comes through on my stitchery designs too.

Sometimes in the busy-ness of each day and with the negativity that bombards us, we just need to stop and reflect on the miracle we have been blessed with in the glorious gift of life.  So I guess it’s only natural for me to start developing some of these……

I use all my own photos that either I or my hubby have taken,  so no worries about copyright and then  play with some photo editing software.

Sometimes, I just use the photo editing programs and the words that inspire me…..

I will be adding these to a new tab soon so you can download them and use them where you like, but please remember, in the spirit of bloggy friendship and legal Copyright Land,  to please acknowledge me and link back to my blog.

have a wonderful blessed day my friends

xox Sugary hugs :o)

 

shneaky, shneaky!

There has been a lot of busy-ness going on here in the Sugarlane household, preparing commissioned projects for magazines, writing patterns (not my favourite thing), and stitching birthday and Christmas swap gifties, along with designing some new designs. 

found on Google Images

I’ve been like the proverbial duck above water, all calm and cool but below the water, gee those feet are a-flappin’!

But I can show you some sneaky views……

Some machine applique, some hand embroidery, some cross stitch, some piecing…..it’s all been happening here!  And the only one I can share is Jeanette’s birthday block.  I made it for her to add to the others she’s been receiving from all around Blogville to help her celebrate her 50th next year! 

Ooh, and the hexi swap from our craft forum this month…..

love this one I received….and would you believe it?  I forgot to take a photo of my one!  duh!

Well it is the mad time of year, isn’t it?  I’m off to do some faaaabulous pattern writing (bleeeech!)  can you tell it’s my favourite!?  It’s not really that bad I suppose but I’d much rather be stitching. 

So then I’ll reward myself with stitching up some new designs……they should be finished soon…..sweet little Christmas ornaments……..but can’t show you yet!

shneaky shneaky!

xox Sugary hugs :o)

 

FNWF

Didn’t get a lot done on Friday night, as my puppy wasn’t feeling the best.  I thought it may be because his hair had grown so much and the summer heat has hit with a vengeance, so I decided to give him his haircut during the evening as it’s cooler…..

……after which I found the culprit that has been making him feel sick….a tick had buried itself in his ear fur…..I’m so glad I checked. After dabbing a bit of antiseptic and Vaseline onto it to smother the tick, I gently pulled, and it released itself.  He is still not 100 percent, but is loads better. 

So that took up about 2 hours of stitchy time, but after vacuuming up all that hair, I did manage to get a little bit done…..some work on a Christmas swap gift (so only a little blurry peek!)

 

…and I started designing another magazine commission (nothing like leaving it till the last minute!)

I’m working some more on it today, so I’ll show progress pictures soon.

Thanks again to our FNWF hosting mumma Chez…..I love our girly nights together.  Have you seen what everyone else got up to?  Worth a visit to check them out!

xox Sugary hugs :o)