My First Giveaway Win

As you can guess from the title I won my first ever blog giveaway. I feel really guilty about not posting this sooner. I won this at the end of March, but between Cuba and deciding what to get and then waiting for the order...

Leonore of Needle, Pen & Sword had a birthday in March and she decided to host a giveaway for her birthday and for her blog reaching 10k pageviews. I decided to put my name in just for fun, never expecting to see my blog name mentioned as the winner. Leonore, if you're reading this, the best thing about winning your giveaway was the fact it was my birthday as well that week :) So it was like getting an early birthday present. Also, sorry for taking so long to post this.

Now for what I won, a 25$ gift certificate for the shop of my choice. I decided to go with 123stitch. It seemed like the post popular choice and I've never ordered from them. I had such a hard time choosing and not overspending.

Here is what I ended up getting.

I knew I wanted to get a kit, but I still wanted some challenge. This Dimensions kit is a blend of cross stitch and ribbon embroidery and it didn't cost as much as what I really wanted. What I really wanted was Thea-Gouverneur's Istanbul or Glendon Place's Red Velvet Cake, but sadly both were waaaaaay above the limit I set for myself.

I've been needing a new Q-snap. I already have the 6", 11" and 17". All I was missing was the 8". I wish I had it when I was stitching miniature ornate carpet, because my 6" was too small and the 11" was too big. So now I have the full set.

I've also been wanting to try Bohin needles. The stitchers at the Creative Festival kept mentioning how good they were. Unfortunately, there wasn't a single booth carrying them at the festival and no one here has them (or I haven't found them at least). I got an assorted pack for applique work and packs of #24 & 26, which is the needle size I use most often.

As for 123Stitch, they're great. I mentioned in the comment that I was looking for the Nimue Le Clef kit and got an email right after asking if I wanted them to order the pattern. But the very best thing: I didn't get charged import fees. Which means I will most probably order from them again.