First Finish For 2006

Happy 2006!!! I've got my first finish out the way for this year. It's called Fear Not and it's by my favourite designers, Shepherd's Bush. One of their small kits, it only takes two days of stitching to do (maybe only one if you want to spend a full, solid day at it!). Easy to do and a little cutie.
I haven't had much luck with some of the larger pieces I've started in the past, so I think I'll stick to the smaller ones for now. At least I'll feel as though I'm accomplishing something.
Lately I've been looking at eBay for the earlier SB designs. Been successful in buying a few of them, so I'll post a listing of them all when I get them in the mail. The Internet is such a great resource for things like that. A good list for Tina's (SB) earlier work is www.crossstitchcorner.com/sb/index.html where there's a section called Vintage Tina. Some of the listings have links to pictures, to give you an idea of what they look like. I've had a look at that site many a times.
I'm keeping my SB stash list up to date as I get more, too. I recently purchased some items in a sale from The Silver Needle in Tulsa, USA. They had a 25% off everything in stock sale over the New Year. They have such a great and detailed website http://www.thesilverneedle.com/ so take a look at it when you can. I really should put some links for the needlework shops I buy from. Definitely will do that in the near future.
I try to buy my needlework when there's a sale on. Just keep an eye out on the net for them on a regular basis. We don't get the sales in Australia like they do in the US. Plus the items are so much dearer out here.
So my stash keeps growing, and I'm not stitching fast enough to keep up with it. I keep thinking of when I'll retire, and have all this time on my hands to stitch all day long, how often I like. I'm afraid though, that's too many years away, so I'll have to keep at it for now, and do what I can, when I can.