#3 of 50 and a Special Visit

Two reasons to celebrate today (3 if you include the fact I only have one more 5am shift left this week woohoo) ... I can cross off project #3 from my 50 Projects Challenge - and the final product (with those very very expensive beads LOL) went to the lovely Katrina today :D Yes, it's true, we got to meet each other face to face today, and she's even lovelier in person than on her blog, if that's possible! :D It was awesome that we got to meet up and spend some time together before she flies home - and she says a big "hi" to everyone!! She sneaked in a quick blog reading session while visiting family at the weekend, but no doubt will be catching up properly when she gets home again :)

I had originally planned to stitch Katrina a self-designed needleroll, but my creative juices just didn't come together in the end with my health issues etc, and the final design still needs a bit of tweaking ... a quick glance over Katrina's wishlist and I found the Cherry Blossoms Fob by The Sweetheart Tree hiding in there, which I had in my stash all kitted up for myself ... it became the perfect solution. I'm still disappointed my needleroll didn't come to fruition, but I liked how the little fob turned out, and will definitely stitch it again for myself (even with the pinks LOL).

Unfortunately dopey me forgot to pack my camera to take with me today (my brain doesn't really function at 4am - it's even slower than it normally is, and that's saying something), so I couldn't take a photo myself, but Katrina had hers, as did her Mum, so you can look forward to one down the track when Katrina gets home hopefully :)

I couldn't bring a photo home with me, but I did get spoilt rotten and given a beautiful gift from Katrina too ... this is a design I've been ogling for a while now, but haven't gotten around to stitching it for myself yet, and now I don't need to - I now have a gorgeous pinkeep to have on display, and it will always remind me of our first meeting, so it will always be treasured ... I just love it!! But that's not all, I also got a needleroll chart by Forever In My Heart, who I'd never heard of before ... this chart is so versatile as you could use just about any colour combination, and I'll definitely be stitching one of these soon (in fact my mind was ticking over with the thread possibilities as soon as I had it in my grubby little hands). I just love everything, thank you so much, my friend - and it was such a wonderful treat to meet you! {{hugs}}

Unfortunately it's now onto very mundane stuff, after all that excitement, as I have to get all the housework done tonight ready for a workmate arriving tomorrow evening, then tomorrow a lot of the prep needs to be done ready for Saturday night's dinner banquet here ... can't say I'll be even looking at a needle, never mind using one, before Sunday (if that). When I do, though, I'm thinking of throwing my rotation out the window until I get the Dratteds done completely ... I would dearly love to get the Dolphins stitched by year end, and my new idea is to stitch 10 hours on them, then stitch a Christmas ornie or needleroll (just something small and quick) or do a spot of finishing, then back to 10 hours of the Dratteds and so on, until they're finished. If I do that, I'm hoping to have them finished by the end of October, especially if I can really put some serious work into them on my days off ... well, that's the plan anyway ... but you know what they say about the plans of mice and men ... ;) LOL.

So in the words of Looney Tunes' Porky Pig ... for now, "th-th-th-th-th-th-that's all folks!" ;)