It's been a while...

I admit it. I'm embarrassed.

It's been many, many months since my last update, and I'd been doing so well...kind of...

A lot has happened since my last entry so here's a brief run-down on the personal life:

1) I was made redundant on a Monday
2) I found a new job by the Friday
3) My rather gorgeous boyfriend asked me to marry him
4) I accepted

Ummm...that's pretty much it...as you can see, it's been a quiet few months... ;-)

Past readers may remember that when last I wrote, I was seeing a graphic designer - and yes, he is the very same that wants to make an honest woman of me :-) I am sickeningly happy and insufferably smug, but my friends assure me that it is allowed for the moment...(I plan to make the moment last a long long time... A.)

Other highlights have been the news that my sister is due to be married this September (which has led to a request for a wedding sampler) together with the realisation that the golf club job is not exactly compatible with the other things I want to do! The money will be sadly missed but it will give me a lot more time to concentrate on my stitching and designing, which sad to say has been a little neglected recently.

Following my redundancy, I am now the Operations Manager for a recruitment agency - it's a very busy and enjoyable position covering everything from finance to marketing, but combined with the golf club, has left me little brain power for working on my designs in the evening. I handed my notice into the club last week and I'm looking forward to reclaiming my evenings! Obviously my sister's wedding sampler takes precedence for the time being, but it is a variation on a theme so I am hoping to complete it well before the event...it will take me quite a while to decide how to frame it... ;-)

I have been busy working on a couple of projects over the past few months so here are a few pictures to entertain the masses!

The Sampler Guild Challenge 2005

House & Garden Huswif
Copyright 2005 - Katie Trendall, Charlotte Smyth, Vanita Roberts, Barbara Jackson, Bethany Woods, Laura Meir.
All rights reserved.

This is a collaboration project between me and four other designers for The Sampler Guild:

Border & Layout - Katie Trendall (from "an Elne of Lynnyn...")
House (centre panel) - Charlotte Smyth
Summer (left of centre) - Vanita Roberts
Autumn (right of centre) - Barbara Jackson
Spring (far left) - Me! (as "Blue Coppice")
Winter (far right) - Laura Meir

As you can see, I've not got very far! Autumn has been released but I've not started that section yet, and there's still a lot of work to do on the other sections...Winter is the only one left to arrive, and I expect to receive that in the next couple of weeks.

I've been working on my favourite material (Antique White 32ct Belfast linen) using a combination of floss: mostly DMC cotton, but the house has been worked in DMC linen, the door in GAST, the water in Rajmahal vicose and the tiny goldfish which are hiding in the pond have been worked in DMC rayon. The rabbit has been cut from wool felt and stitched in place. The picture below shows a little more detail and some of the stitches I've used - as you can see, I've not just been using cross-stitch!

Angel of Love
Copyright Lavender & Lace (Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum)
All rights reserved

The angel was my January project - she gave me a break from my own designs and I really enjoyed working with the rich wintery colours as a change from the pinks, blues and greens of Honeyapple Meadow. She's now been tucked away ready for next January but I'm pleased with the progress I made - only another couple of years before she's done!!

At the moment, I'm working on the sampler for my sister's wedding - I'm hoping to finish it by early summer to give me time to make a decision on the frame...and that may take some time...