Hello 2017!

Hello there stranger! It’s been such a long time since my last post!

I didn’t mean to stop blogging. I love my little blog and I love the community I have built up with it over the last 4 years. I’m made some amazing friends and I love looking back at old posts that have captured some wonderful memories. Somehow, life got in the way however, and we drifted apart a little. A lot of the faces have changed since we last caught up, and I’m sad to have lost touch with some of the amazing bloggers I got to know, but with the New Year I am looking forward to a new challenge and meeting some new faces.

2016 was an amazing year for me. I got to travel to San Francisco, Orlando and Seattle. I became an auntie, I changed jobs to become a Business Development Manager. I have thrown myself into voluntary work, including completing my 5th blood donation and spending my Christmas with an isolated elderly person in addition to my weekly volunteering with the Royal Voluntary Service. I also ran three 10k races for Macmillan Cancer Support. Oh, and I discovered a love for geocaching (but more on that later…)

As you can see,

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23 Before 23 – The Review

For those of you who have been with my blog for a while, you will know that for the last few years I have done a challenge every year, setting the same number of goals as the age I will be on my next birthday. Last year I turned 23, so after my 22nd birthday, I set my 23 before 23 goals. As we all know, 2014 was absolute chaos for me, so I didn’t end up dedicating any time to my goals at all! However, I am going to review them all the same, but I’m not expecting any spectacular results!

1. Make a dress – This one is still on the list! I’m ashamed to think of how long I have had the supplies ready and just not made any progress with it! It is a little more tricky now, as never having made clothes before, I want my Mum to help me through the steps to make sure I’m doing everything right (Mum’s know best of course!) but now that I have moved out, we haven’t yet managed to arrange a day when she can come over and help me through it! I’m hoping to get a day arranged soon though so I can make a start on all of the dressmaking projects I have in mind!

2. Complete 10 cross stitch projects – Looking back at this, ten projects was probably rather ambitious! At the beginning of the year I was on a bit of a roll and manage to complete 4 projects, which you can see in my 2014 Project Gallery, and at the end of the year I went on to finish my Once Upon A Time Sampler and my Liberty kit, which can be seen in my 2015 Cross Stitch Projects post. I don’t think I completed anything in between that I haven’t included, so I’m going to say that I managed 6, which I don’t actually think is that bad! This year there is no way I will achieve 10 as the projects I am working on are so big. However, if I can finish all of the projects that I have got planned for this year, I will be very happy to call that an achievement.

2014 Photo A Day Challenge – April

Here are my photos that I took throughout April as part of my Photo A Day Challenge. I hope you enjoy them!

On my last Photo A Day video, a reader commented that they wanted to know the story behind the photos, so I have decided to post my Instagram captions below for you to read if you feel like it 🙂

2014 Photo A Day Challenge – March

Here are my photos that I took throughout March as part of my Photo A Day Challenge. I hope you enjoy them!

#100happydays

Ok so, I know I’m really slow on the uptake on this one! I have seen so many of the #100happydays photos around on various social media platforms, but I have never really looked into it. After spotting a few blog posts about it recently, I decided to look into it some more and what I discovered is really interesting!

The point of #100happydays is to get us to appreciate the little things in life that make us happy. In a world where we spend all of our time rushing around with busy schedules, people seem to forget to be happy. The most shocking fact of all…

Canvas Design Giveaway Winner!

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who entered my giveaway! There was such an overwhelming response! I had 49 entries in total! So good luck to everyone who entered.

And a reminder the prize; your photo on a canvas by Canvas Design!

 

To enter you had to follow my blog, and leave me a comment saying what you would like on your canvas. Unfortunately the giveaway was only open to UK residents.

To pick my winner, I numbered each of the comments 1 to 49 (excluding my replies and comments from international readers.) This left me with 49 unique entries, which I entered into a random number generator.

List of entrants!

And the winner was…

2014 Photo A Day Challenge – February

Here are my photos that I took throughout February as part of my Photo A Day Challenge. I hope you enjoy them!

If anyone is on Instagram and wants to keep up to date with my progress, you can follow me here: http://instagram.com/hannahfa91

If you missed my January compilation, you can see it on Youtube here!

Now Closed – Canvas Design Review and Giveaway

Since James and I are planning on moving in a few months time, I have been collecting house items. Most of them have been essentials, such as kitchen items, which aren’t that thrilling! We haven’t been able to pick too many items for decorating yet, partly because we can’t afford it but also because we haven’t found a house yet so we don’t know what colours etc. we will need. However, when Canvas Design offered me the chance to review one of their canvases, I couldn’t resist! 

2014 Photo A Day Challenge – January

As part of my 23 Before 23, I set myself the challenge of taking a photograph every day in 2014. I have been using Instagram to share my photos every day, but I have put together a short video of all of my photos from January for people who don’t use the social media site. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you have a favourite photo too…I’d love to know what is popular!

My 23 Before 23!

Happy New year! I hope you all had a great one 🙂

Right, I have finally finished deciding on my 23 items to complete in the year before I am 23! It seems an apt time to share them since everyone is sharing their resolutions at the moment! Here they are:

1. Make a dress.
Yep, this one is a hangover from last year. I have already got the fabric, the thread, the zip and the pattern, the only thing that I am lacking is time! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this one will come off this year!

2. Complete ten cross stitch projects.
I’m aware this may seem strange, as it is more ambitious than one that I didn’t complete last year! Last year I wanted to complete seven cross stitch kits to clear through some of my stash, but I didn’t manage it. This year, however, I am not just limiting myself to ‘kits’ but to ‘projects’. I have an abundance of patterns, books and magazines that I have never used, so I have cancelled my subscription with the intention of spending my time stitching the designs instead of just admiring them! I haven’t picked 10 specific projects for the year, I will just stitch what I fancy although I already have a few in mind and in progress. I have also gone through all of my magazines and put sticky notes on all of the designs that I want to stitch! But those will keep me busy long after 2014…

3. Read 20 books of my choice.
Last year I amazed myself at how well I did with this one. Not that reading 20 books is the challenge…it is finding time to justify reading 20 non-university books! This year my teaching finishes in May, then I officially leave university in September (eek!) so it won’t be long before my university reading is at an end forever, which might help me get a little closer to my goal this year!

4. Learn how to knit socks.