Random act of kindness, nominated for British Craft Award and a small giveaway!

Hi everyone,  here is the secret piece of stitching that I have been working on for the past year or so, tah dah!!!!!

Stitching and good news

Before I tell you about the Old Navy Man I  just wanted to say thankyou to all of the people who have nominated me for the British Craft Awards 2017 for Best Cross Stitch Blog of the Year, I am thrilled!

The last time this category was part of the awards was in 2015 when I was runner up in the category, however, there was a small problem with this, the letter failed to arrive to inform me of the award ceremony and I did not get the chance to attend, I only found out about it when a kind blogger in America told me about 12 months later that I had won second place. 

I was a little disappointed that I did not get the chance to enjoy what would have been a wonderful day out, but now at least I get another chance to attend as all nominees are invited! Yay!!!!  

So, if you like my blog and you would like me to win than please vote for me, there are so many talented nominees that I really don't expect to win but to be part of that day will be exciting enough.

There is an award ceremony in Birmingham UK next February and I can't wait to go and join in the fun!

Anyone can vote from anywhere in the world but if you live in the UK there is an opportunity to win a prize for voting. Voting is here  just click on the cross stitch category and the list of nominees will show up after answering some questions.

Thankyou to all of the readers of the cross stitch magazines that voted for me, I am truly thrilled, again! 

Giveaway

EDITED : Now closed 

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning a pattern designed from a photo of a member of your family or your beloved pet please read the bottom of this post for how to enter.

The Old Navy Man - A Random Act of Kindness

Have you ever read a blog post and been so overwhelmed by the words of another that you felt compelled to stitch something? Well this happened to me one day in 2014, I read a post on Pat's blog Bird Nest On The Ground, I was moved to tears when I read all about her husband that she loved so much, he had passed away and she was writing about her loss.

I felt compelled to stitch the photo she had posted. Normally I ask if I can use photos that have been published on blogs but I knew I would be forgiven if I sneakily "stole" the photo for my stitching.

I uploaded the photo into my cross stitch designer and the pattern that was produced was just like the photo, I was thrilled with the pattern. I looked at all of the 13,000 stitches on the pattern, took a deep breath and started to stitch. At first it seemed overwhelming will I ever get it finished? 

I did my self a favour, I never told Pat until it was nearly completed, that way I never put myself under pressure.

The Old Navy Mans face started to appear and I sat wondering what this man was like, I am sure he was a kind lovely man as Pat had said herself. 

The more of his face appeared the more I felt compelled to stitch, I did not work on it every day, just when I was in the mood, finally I had nearly finished and that was when I told Pat to expect a gift in the post.

The day arrived for me to carefully wrap the Old Navy Man into tissue paper and place him in a box   to send him on his way across the pond to America, I held my breath hoping he would not get lost in the post!  

He has finally arrived at his destination after many hours of stitching and Pat was thrilled, you can read about Pats reaction in this post on her blog here

If you are thinking of doing a random act of kindness for anyone, trust me, it was worth every moment, I really enjoyed it.

It was a pleasure to stitch this for you Pat, I am so pleased you liked it so much, may you and your family have many years of happiness looking at the Old Navy Man, he will always be in your hearts. 

Here are  some more photos.

           

There are a a lot of different colours in the hat and the brickwork, a bit hard on the eyes when stitching.

Here is a picture of the card I designed for Pat using my Craft Artist software

Giveaway

Would you like to be in with a chance of winning your own pdf cross stitch pattern of a member of your family or beloved pet?

All you need to do is leave a message on this post telling me about a special photo you have that you would like converting to a pattern, no later than Saturday 5th November and I will announce the winner on Sunday 6th November.

The winner will need to send me a high resolution photo and I will run it through my cross stitch designer and see what we get, then you will receive the pdf for you to stitch yourself. 

Don't forget, if you like my blog, click on the image below to vote.