Sharing

I am sharing some great finds today.  Kicking off with the best! On a random perusal last night I found that Eternal Maker now stocks Lecien Cosmo embroidery thread/floss.  As far as aI know this is the only shop in the UK to stock the Cosmo.  I have been told by the folks at Eternal Maker that they plan to get a larger range of colours if these sell well and that some colour cards are on order.  I have assisted in this process and ordered one or two or three...

With these threads, I have found a colour card to be essential- the colour you see on the screen can be a very different tone, it will save you a lot of time money and effort.  And what is special?  Finer and silkier than any of the usual embroidery threads, outstanding!
You know I love tea, my usual black tea brew is Ringtons Organic Classic Loose Earl Grey.  I wake up with a massive mug of this, all brewed in a teapot with a cosy of course!  I try not to drink too much tea so I am always on the look out for alternatives and Florence mentioned Teapigs.

I live near a stockist so I bought a pack of Mint and Licorice- and now I am hooked.  I will warn you these are not cheap but they are not the dusty musty stinky usual herbal dust that I associate with herbal tea.  You can see the licorice root and the green mint leaves and the taste is clean and light.  I know Justine is a fan too and has just discovered the same flavour!   For the price of a few high street take out lattes you can buy a selection to test the tastes on the website.  Good for traveling with too.

And a random extra-scented candle suggestion.  I am very sensitive to smells- to be honest I am very sensitive to a lot of things.  I find most scented candles make me urge- I stand in shops smelling them and then saying ughh out loud- not populalr with the staff but I can't help myself.  And then in Waitrose   I found they had a scented candle section (that could only be in Waitrose!) and found these: Wax Lyrical linen and cashmere tealights.

When they are hot the wax turns completely clear which I rather like and the smell is lovely!  They are slow burning so a box of 12 lasts ages.  The holder is by Tord Boontje, a stunning designer just in case you wanted to know.
Random sharing- enjoy x

Threads

I am spending a lot of time  fumbling around with technology.  I just got an ipad, I don't have an iphone so this is instead I guess and sort of like a laptop.  Some of it is intuitive and some of it I spend ages trying to work out using google.   This parcel arrived today, super fast from Lecien- that alone made me squeak but the contents really did make me very happy.  This is Cosmo stranded embroidery thread/floss and it is the first time I have seen any.  It is absolutely beautiful.

Lecien are one of the sponsors for the Zakka Style Sew Along- the latest post for this is over at Amy's blog with a very cute house, or even cottage style zipper pouch.  I haven't had sponsors on the blog here, only on projects that I have been a little part of.  No one has contacted me and I haven't searched for it.  I have mixed feelings on sponsorship.  I do get sent materials and I am happy promoting what I really like to use, like Aurifil- I could endorse that all day long.   I am more than happy to mention the Cosmo embroider thread , it is of the most incredible quality- even though I have no idea where I am going to buy more in the UK, and I am definitely planning on more of this!  If you know of UK suppliers, please let me know!  My turn in the Zakka Sew-a-long is coming soon and the Cosmo will feature in my take on the project I am making. There is an Aurifil giveaway at each Zakka sew along blog post and these little trial packs are a great way to fmailiarise yourself with the different weights of thread and Lynne is hosting chance to win a lot more and indulge your creativity in creating a thread mosaic.  You really should look at these, there are some amazing images in this group.
Meanwhile, the Sew-Ichigo patterns are nearly ready, we are just at the final formating stage and I posted a new tote bag tutorial today that uses three of the blocks from the new pattern collection.

 I have also added an extra bonus quicker stage to the lasso tutorial with a great tip supplied by Alison of Little Island.  And if you have had problems leaving a comment, I have sorted a little glitch that was hiding the comment link.  I changed my blog layout recently so I could get bigger pics and that always creates some invisible hiccups!  Any other problems,  please let me know.