Summer seems to have arrived in the Forest - finally! Long may it last! 
The grey clouds have given way to brilliant blue, the sun is out, but the humidity is high and as a result, it is more like being in a very brightly lit sauna than a 'green and pleasant' England!
It has not put me off my stitching, though - is there anything nicer than sitting in the garden stitching, with a glass of something cold nearby? Bliss! 
One of my 'treats' from the Cross Stitch Guild goodies was a Stitchers Project Case. I had the perfect 'freebie' chart to work on this; 'Bumblebee' by Mirabillia. It used a lot of different Krienik braids, beads, and Whisper thread - and I had to stitch it upside-down because of the contstruction of the case, but here it is!
Keeping on the 'bee' theme (well, I would, wouldn't I? ), here is a gorgeous bookmark that was sent to me as part of an exchange I took part in on the Stitchcrazy yahoo group I am a member of. This one was done by list-owner Lou - thanks Lou, I love it!
And finally, here is an update of Papillon Creation's Mystery Sampler, How Does Your Garden Grow? This is parts 7 and 8 - and I was right to think something might be going in the middle of Part 6, as you can see! I thought it might be interesting to see how adding beads to it made a difference:-
And here's a close-up, so you can see all those yummy speciality stitches!
Isn't it pretty? If you haven't already done so, do go and look on Papillon's website,
www.papillon-creations.com, and have a look at the gallery - this piece has been worked in every conceivable colour combination and miraculously, they ALL look stunning!
A final note; I drove across the country to visit my Mum yesterday to give her Autumn Basket. Well, of course, she loved it! She loves Autumn colours and actually has a dried flower-arrangement on her hearth that was very nearly the same as the stitched piece! It was worth all that effort, just to see her face. Love ya, Mum! 
Happy stitching everyone!
Buzzzzzzing off . . 
28/07/08 @ 12:44