Doll's Musings

Traveling Pattern - Thankful for Ewe!

2012-03-02T17:05:00.001-08:00

Hello my lovelies!!

I am excited to tell you all that I had won the Traveling Pattern "Thankful" from Mouse a couple of weeks ago! I received the pattern and a lovely card from her last Friday, and have finally finished stitching it!! It was such a fun stitch to do and I would love to pass it along to the next person! So please leave a comment on this post only and I will draw a name from those who would like to stitch it. I did not have any of the colours that the pattern called for so I used what I had. I played around with a couple of different colours for the flowers and decided to use my favourite pink. I think you will like the result of my colour choices.

Look at that cute sheep!! He's adorable!!

Started: Feb 27th

Finished: March 2nd

Stitched on 32 ct Lambswool Linen

Threads: DMC Snow White, 938 - sheep, legs, words

Dinky Dyes: Madi's Rose - flowers

Gentle Art Threads: Baby Spinach - grass, leaves Gingersnap - tree, vines

Take a look at Mouse's finish, Gracie's finish, and Tricia's finish. They are all really lovely and unique!!

A quick update on my other projects. I spent most of the day today working on one of the RAK's and am very happy with the result. Just a couple of finishing touches to do tomorrow and I'll send it off. The other one still needs to be worked on and I can't decide if I want to make a pillow or a pin keep...I think I'm leaning more towards a pin keep. Hopefully I'll get it started tomorrow, but I want to finish my mom's ornie. I managed to cut out two circles of mat board today and it took awhile!! I also stitched up Shepherd's Bush's Tiny Garden and need to add the silk ribbon around the edge. Yes, I have been a busy bee today!! I have made a bit more progress on Jane, but I won't show you a pic yet! Eve's been stitched and so she needs her partner before I show you!!

Titus was quite the helper today! Take a look at how he helped me.

My fur adds a nice fluffy texture to your fabric mom!!

If I place my paws here, will this help you cut the fabric?

Peek a boo! I see you!!

There you are mom!!

In other news, I've been very busy with work and with the upcoming strike on Monday. It's been very stressful here for us teachers and the news hasn't painted us in a positive light, which makes my blood boil. Our government is trying to pass Bill 22 which will be highly detrimental to our public education system if passed. It will increase class sizes and there will be no limit to class composition. It will give all the power to the administrators to fire at a whim and replace with lower paid teachers. I could explain a lot more to you, but I will refrain because I'm tuckered out trying to defend my profession to people. Plus I want to keep my stitching blog a nice peaceful place for people to visit and enjoy my stitching and my little stitching friend, Titus!!

Hopefully all will end well and we can move on to the more important stuff: teaching.

Take care everyone! Big hugs to all! I could use some!!!

Have a wonderful weekend! I will be visiting people's blogs this weekend!!

The Blustery Day and Some Stitching

2012-02-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

Hello my dears!

It's a cold, blustery day today. The kind of blustery day where you need to hold onto your hats and piglets!!

I think I need to grab a kite and go fly it with my friend! My hubby and I have a large selection of kites and have been flying kites for the past couple of years. It's so much fun to fly kites!!

In terms of stitching news, I have been stitching only on Jane and not much else. Last night I wanted to start Chatelaine's Knotgarden but realized, after counting my two pieces of "large" fabric, that I don't have fabric quite wide enough for the design. This is usually the case with me not paying attention to the ACTUAL measurements of designs and linen!!! Soooo, now I need to get new fabric! But after speaking to my hubby, since the Chatelaine is for him, he said that I already have a BAP to work on and there is no need to start another one. Well, he does have a point! We'll see how my progress goes on Jane for the next couple of months and if it's moving along quickly, I'll consider purchasing the fabric for the Chatelaine then. Too bad. I really wanted to start it!! For now I'll concentrate on her and my Rak's and other small projects. Speaking of the RAK's, I just got the fabric to finish them!! I think the fabric will be perfect for each design!! I also got some backing fabric for my mom's snowman ornie!! Yay! So close to ACTUALLY finishing it!!

Here's some progress photos of Jane, snowman bling, thanks to Carolyn! And my sister's little pincushion I made for her. She loves it!!


Stitched on 36ct linen, Dinky Dyes Silk in Rain Forest and DMC 152

Finished with a pearl, button and some old fabric my mom gave me

LOVE that flower!! And that tree took me two nights to do! Phew! Tons more motifs and stitching to do!! Wait til you see Adam and Eve. They are a hoot! I love how Jane chose her bright pink threads for the skin tone! You'll have a good laugh!!!

Look at that cute fabric I found! I bought a bunch so I can make some project bags with it. I really want to expand my skills in sewing!!

Sweet Titus posing for me! Right now Titus is playing with one of my eye make-up brushes and tickling my toes with it!!

And last but not least, another cartoon from the thrift find magazine!!

Don't we all feel like that sometimes!!! LOL!!!

Bon soir mes amies!! I will be visiting your blogs later on this evening...I know I'm a bit behind on some blogs but isn't that always the case?!!!

PS: I am slowly switching to gmail and have added my new account to my profile. If and when I use my gmail to respond to you, just make sure you check your junk mailbox cause you might find me in there!!

IHSW Results and TUSAL!!

2012-02-20T18:30:00.001-08:00

Bonjourno!!

A very quick post about my somewhat hermitting weekend. I continued to stitch on Friday night, trying out my new fabulous stand!! I leaped for joy when my hubby finished putting it together!! Literally!! It helps me out so much I don't know why I hadn't thought of this last year!! On Saturday I stitched a bit in the morning then went out to see a comedy show for a friend's birthday. Click on my link Garfield and Oates if you want to watch a funny song by the two girls that headlined the show! I enjoyed them and the other comedians! So much fun to have a good laugh with your friends!!

So without further ado, here are my progress pics of Jane Philpott.

I love Jane's gigantic tree flowers!! The one on the right was a lot of fun to stitch. The flowers make me think of pre-historic Dinosaur times!! The tree flowers are larger than Adam and Eve! Hopefully I will finish the left one tonight and start on more of the trees in the middle. Blech, sorry for the grainy, dull and dark photos. No real sunshine today so bad lighting is what I have to work with.

Other than working on Jane, I managed to finish my sister's gift. No pictures until she receives it though. I'm in the process of planning the two RAK's and am glad I got so many of your addresses!! Thank you! You never know when I will use them...even if it's just a card of thanks! I'm really trying to get organized, can you tell?!!! That was one of my resolutions for the year. So far I think I'm doing not too badly. I organized my fabrics (non linen, stitchy fabrics) in a cute box that I had. Some papers, some threads and a few future small stitching projects in baggies. I'm really lacking space so I do what I can to keep things tidy.

No start on the Chatelaine yet, but I've been wanting to!! It's just Jane got a lot of fun lately and I think I'll keep on her for a bit. I haven't visited all of your IHSW posts yet but I will get to them soon!! I think tomorrow there's a TUSAL post to do. OI! Loads of posts this month!!

Had La La Lemon tea today after I vacuumed the house...it was yummy! Titus hid for an hour under the bed then came out and gave me loads of affection. Such a funny kitty cat!

Nataly from Nataly's Needle Creations is having a wonderful giveaway. Pop over to her blog and check out her amazing stitching!!

Ciao bellas and happy stitching!

I'll leave you with this silly cartoon from one of those old cross stitch mags I found!

LOL!!!!!

Edited (because I'm too lazy to do another post)

Here's my pic of my TUSAL...loads more threads this month!!

Also hop on over to Autumn's blog "The Whispers of Autumn" she is having a wonderful Chocolate giveaway and wants to meet new bloggers!!

Pre ISHW Stitching and Shopping!!

2012-02-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovelies!!

I am happy to announce I just purchased a floor stand from Michael's with a 50% off coupon!!

WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!

My hubby is assembling it as I type!!!!

It's finished! Here's a quick photo.

This will make my stitching life, back, neck, arms, shoulders a lot easier and more comfortable for me!! Not only did I get the frame but I also got a bunch of DMC threads for a new Chatelaine I will be making!! It's a Knotgarden!! Check it out!

My hubby really likes this one so I will be stitching it for him, and well for me too!! I'm in the process of figuring out what fabby to use. I might just use some antique white linen I bought last year for this piece or some other fabric I have around. I will still have to get a couple of specialty threads but that will have to wait awhile until I have saved up some cashola after my craft stand purchase.

Remember that Tiny Rose Garden Mandala I stitched awhile ago? Well I found a frame that was 40% off and so I figured why the heck not? Here it is all framed up. I'm not too pleased with the puckering that is happening between the mat and the back, but I'm not going to be fussy. It's framed. I'm happy :D

Pardon the reflection!
Not only did I get the craft stand, the frame, the DMC threads, I also bought myself a pair of 7 for all mankind jeans. They were regular 245 and I got them for 60!! Nice score hey?!! I'm on a roll today!!!

Although I have a busy Saturday planned, I did manage to get some stitching done last night and this morning. Here are some progress pics of Jane, which I will be working on tonight, trying out the new stand, and finishing my sister's small. I may start on the Knotgarden, but we'll see how the weekend goes.

That yellow glow in the middle is not on the fabby, some weird light thing happening

I don't want to show you all the smalls I stitched for my RAK's (Random acts of Kindness to my lovelies) so they are partially covered up by my new DMC's. Also, could you all send me your snail mail addresses via my email. I may use them in the future!

Hee hee! Just a peek!!!

Oooh, annnnddddd the other day while my hubby and I took a walk, we decided to check out a church's thrift shop and I found some old school Cross Stitch magazines for a donation! Score!!!!

Ooh, I feel a bit hyper after I drank a whole cup of Pure Chai tea from David's! YUMMM!!! Speaking of YUM, I made a most delicious soup courtesy of Joyce, Creator of ISHW and best pen pal gal! It's called Assam Laska and it's a Malaysian soup!! Oh it was good!!! Thanks honey for the soup!!!

Super spicy, and sweet at the same time! LOVE!!

Okay, happy hermitting everyone! Can't wait to see everyone's progress pics on Monday!

Hugs to all!!!

Passion for Fashion

2012-02-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!

Time has slowed for me a bit after that hasty post!! LOL!! I should always remember to "Not be Hasty" like Treebeard says in LOTR!!

Yes, thanks Treebeard, I'll remember!!

Since I can't show my secret stitching, I'll share with you my first love: FASHION!!!

Ever since I can remember, I have loved fashion. As a child I wore a tea cozy on my head, you know, to change things up a bit!! If I remember correctly, I put anything on my head!! My first influences in fashion were of course my mom and my Nana. Both my Nana and I have been watching Fashion File. since I was 8 or 9 years old. I still remember the beginning track: Obsession by Animotion!! Love that song!!

When I was around 15 I bought my very first Harper's Bazaar. We've had a very long relationship, me and Bazaar. I'm still getting the mags today thanks to my hubby who forgets to cancel the subscription! It's the gift that keeps on giving (as we both exclaimed at the same time last night!!) After my hubby and I had a Valentine's udon noodle soup, which was really tasty, I flipped through my latest Bazaar and began to think back to my very first one. I even remember purchasing it at Shopper's in Pine Center Mall during lunch break in grade 10 I think. I was very into grunge and this magazine, and Vogue's, gave me inspiration.

The cover had Christie Turlington on it and it was magical. I even remember the smell of the magazine. The memory of opening up that magazine for my first time is still fresh like it was yesterday. One of the dresses featured I wanted for my grad. I had a seamstress try and remake it. The dress didn't turn out exactly as the one in the photo, but it was still gorgeous and unique! That's how obsessed I was!! Unfortunately, my mother purged my room a couple of years ago and threw out all my old Bazaar's!! I knew that they were taking up space, but I would have loved to have kept at least a couple of the memorable ones.Sniff sniff....

The page after this one had my dress...but alas I can not find it online to show you. That dress holds a special place in my heart. This one is by Valentino and I think Julia Roberts wore it to the Oscars that year.

Fashion and fashion magazines in the mid to late 90's were the best. They had the best models, designers and photographers. Two of my favourite models were Helena Christensen and Nadja Auermann. Nadja had seemingly long legs that went on for miles!! Helena was just perfection to me.

Helena Christensen

Nadja Auermann and her legs!

Then I met John Galliano. I know he is in cahoots right now with the horrible comments he made...just google John and comments and you'll see what I mean. But he is pure genius. Just full of himself....well aren't they all?

The colour of that dress Shalom Harlow is wearing is probably one of my favourite colours hands down. I know the dress is sheer, but the delicacy of the dress is like a moth's wings fluttering in the night.

Here's another gorgeous dress I wanted, by Versace. I'm not a fan of Versace, but this Spring collection, I think it's 1993 and the next few following collections, were some of the best by Versace. Now with Donatella holding the reins, I'm not too interested in the designs.

I could go on forever about fashion...I think I'll do a focus post on some of my favourite designers, models, mags, photographers, shoes, bags, jewelry, etc in the next little while. Although I'm a follower of fashion, I'm not as brave as I once was in my early 20's. I no longer pair up a slip dress with Doc Martens, rhinestone necklace and a faux fur jacket anymore. Instead, I've become rather tame in my style of dress. Mainly due to my profession. You can't be outrageously dressed while teaching kids!! They couldn't pay attention to the lessons if you were!!

I'll leave you with some lovely photos my hubby and I took during our Valentine's walk yesterday. I hope everyone had a wonderful lovey wuvey day!!!!

I love this part of the Fraser River

Some kind of blossom tree that smells like honey!

Rhododendrons already?

New Westminster Quayside

Oops!! Almost forgot to mention how I discovered GOOGLE READER!!! WOOHOO!! I'm caught up with blog reading!! I spent most of Sunday (after canceling plans to take me time) to organize all my blogs I follow!!! It feels awesome! I went through over 800 posts!!! Now, oh, it's at 28. A much more manageable number! How I didn't use this before I'll never know. There were some blogs I would always miss seeing and commenting on for whatever reason. Now I can visit all of you in a more orderly fashion!

PS A Big Hug and Thank you to Carolyn!! She is going to send me the petite beads!! Aren't stitchy friends the most amazing people in the world?!!! Thanks so much darlin'!!!!

Hugs to you all!!

Time Flies By Too Quickly

2012-02-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

Good day to you all!!

I'm finding that TIME is my enemy as of late. Between working everyday, being on transit 3 hours a day, busy weekends, I have little TIME to be crafty or to sit and relax!! I noticed my last post was over a week ago! YIKES!! The blog reading/commenting has also been behind, like usual! This morning I was stalking your blogs when I noticed that over an hour has gone by and I still haven't showered or gone grocery shopping for our home. My plans for baking/sewing/stitching have been dashed!!Then a good friend of mine called and wants to meet for coffee, so of course now that's what I gotta do!! So here's a VERY quick post (I really have more to say and will at some point soon I hope) showing you all a couple of things I did manage to get done the past 10 days. I've been thinking of rewarding a couple of my regular readers and took an evening to take out all my stash and print off a ton of freebie designs and set to work kitting some smalls! What fun that was!! Even Titus got into it!


All my specialty threads

If you notice in the top right hand corner, I have an old Valentine Sampler Girl freebie pattern set up to get sewn at some point. I wanted to get this done today, but no can do. I loved seeing all my specialty threads strewn about when I noticed I have LOADS of Pink?!?!? I'm not even a huge pink fan. What I really need to add to my collection is more Purples and Blues and Reds and, well everything!!

Aren't I cute Mom?

Due to keeping the RAK's secret for now, I can't show any pictures of the little pieces I'm working on, nor will I give a date when I will complete them!! LOL! It will happen in my own time, when I get the time and inspiration to finish them. I also started a cute little small for my sister. I've been wanting to make her a little something for awhile now and am pleased with the chart and the colours I chose for the design. I can give you a sneak peek of it, because I don't think my sister regularly reads my blog (she's a busy radio director).

Thanks to all of you for your lovely comments on the last post about my Dad's moose hat. He was tickled that people loved it!!!
AHH, time, AHHHH....

Okay, quick....here's an update photo of Jane. Got her name in and almost finished the lettering!!

Update on War and Peace: Read 28%!! It feels like I've read more though, seriously, I feel like I've read over a 1000 pages, which I haven't, but it soooo feels like! I have been enjoying the book so I'm okay with that!!
Ack, I really wanted this post to go smoothly, but now I'm panicking for time and my mind is going blank. So silly too because just yesterday I was so creative in creating stories with two intermediate ESL girls and was hoping to share one of the stories I created from a simple sentence!! I'll share it another time!!
Some photos of where I've been working up in the mountains. The scenery is so breathtaking and the pictures don't do it justice at all.

Some signs of spring in my Nana's garden!! YES YES YES!!! Finally!!!!!

Okay! Last but not least, I need some beads. I would like to do a trade!! Remember my mom's snowman ornie I finished? Well, the beads the pattern calls for are Mill Hill Ice Petite Beads Size 15/0 2mm, since it is stitched 1 over 1, you need the tiny beads. I have been searching for tiny beads here in Vancouver and bought some beads I thought could work with the ornament but they are too large. They are Crystal Silverlined Delica Beads, 5 g, and I think 4 mm as the bead lady told me. I put them up to the ornie and they TAKE over the design compeletly. My question is if anyone has some of those petite beeds, they can be crystal, white, whatever, would you like to trade me? I don't want to purchase them from 123stitch because I would need to buy other stuff too and I can't do that right now. My beads I purchased were 4.50 :( The beads online are like a dollar. Just let me know and I would be so grateful!!!

I hope to do a proper post soon!!

Take care and happy stitching!!

Anne

PS: I've tried editing my post quickly before I clicked post and I noticed a gazillion, grammatical mistakes!! Please excuse me if I forgot a bunch!! I really hate not letting the writing flow and focusing on sentence structure and grammar. Sigh.

Curious Titus and Jane

2012-02-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovelies!!

I can't believe it's February already! Whoa, where did time go?! I have been very busy teaching, which is great!! But that leaves me with little time to do what I love to do, stitching and reading/commenting on blogs! That's okay though, I need to catch up on yucky bills and things. I really wanted to make another post for January but it wasn't in the cards for me. I have a number of things to show you so I will jump right to it.

First of all, I forgot to post a picture of my finished reindeer ornament, designed by Daffycat. I made it for my Dad for Christmas and he loved it. Here he is with his special holiday moose hat he always wears! He loves his moose!!!

When I finished the ornament, my husband remarked "It looks like ravioli!" Okay. Thanks my love, now whenever I look at it, all I can see is ravioli :P (He read this part and exclaimed "Hey! Don't tell everyone that!!" HEHEHEE!!!)

Onto the next piece. Last weekend, I quickly stitched up this sweet little design for my friend's birthday (the one who made the tags!) I used Daffycat's ribbon tutorial to finish it and it turned out beautifully!! The ribbon I used is from HDF and when I ordered it, awhile ago, I didn't realize how tiny it would be. It's 2mm!!! I seriously have a problem with picturing measurements in my mind's eye. Anyways, it took me about an hour to get it going. It was so fiddly!! After I got the ribbon edging on its way, it took me another hour and half to go around the design! OI I say! I'm glad to report that my friend has received it and has it already displayed! I made her a card too but forgot take a photo of it. Maybe she will take a picture of it and send it to me so I can show you all how pretty it is. While taking photos of the little scissor fob/ornie, Titus came rolling in to help.

Stitched on scrap of 32ct linen
WDW in Dutch Iris
HDF 2mm silk ribbon in Besooted
Design from Tantes Zolder

Oh that sweet little Titus! He's so sweet and curious! Really curious about my stitching. Yesterday he jumped up on my sewing desk and was smelling Jane! OI that boy!! I had to get him off. This then became a game!! So now I have to hide Jane from my curious kitty. Speaking of Jane, I finally got the DMC thread and actually got the flosses that came before and after the recommended number, just in case! I wasn't about to do another trip to Michael's for a thread! Funnily enough, when I got home and compared the greens, the shades are so completely different I had to take a picture to show all of you.

Crazy hey?!! Needless to say, my TUSAL jar has become fuller with the light green that I frogged. I put in the new green and I am happy with the change!!!

Eh. The sun went down as I was taking these photos. The colours are so much nicer in person.

Well, it's time for me to go. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures of Titus. He really is the funniest cat around. He acts like a dog and is scared of the strangest things. I will tell you more about that another time. It will probably be a Titus only post!!

I'll leave you with hugs and meows from me and Titus!!

ISHW!!

2012-01-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

"Jane Says"

Jane says
I'm done with Sergio
He treats me like a ragdoll
She hides
The television
Says I don't owe him nothing,
But if he comes back again
Tell him to wait right here for me
Or just
Try again tomorrow
I'm gonna kick tomorrow
Gonna kick tomorrow

by Jane's Addiction

This is the song that runs in my head now when I say "Jane," and it's always in Perry Farell's voice!! I also think of Jane Eyre, my favourite book in the whole wide world!!!

This will be such a short post. My last post was way more interesting that this one will be. I got a wee bit done on Jane. I stitched Friday night and had to pop some advils to stitch...but the pain still came through so I had to leave her be. Saturday was a trip to the dentist, YUCK!, and then babysit my little cousins at night. We played "Extreme Uno" which was a lot of fun!! The game can go on forever!! Sunday, I managed to sit down and watch "Persuasion" and stitch. I think I have a thing for Ciarin Hinds. He really is handsome! I love him in Rome too! While I was watching the movie, I felt as though I had watched it before, which is odd, because I felt that way when I read the book in my early twenties. I have no actual memory of reading the book, but while I was reading it, I noticed all these side comments on the side in MY writing when I was teen?!!! Now the movie too! Why is that with Persuasion? So weird.

So here's my progress picture of Jane!!

As you can see, I finished the dark green vine at the bottom of the sampler. I added more of the grass and I couldn't resist adding the two flowers and the beginnings of a tree!! Yay for Jane!! Sorry for the greyish photos but it is horrendous out there...so much RAIN!

A side note, my hubby is watching youtube videos of people driving in the snow. LOL!!

Also, as I have been making my way down my blogroll, there are a number of blogs I can't comment on :( This is because of "embedded" comments. I tried using internet explorer, but that doesn't work either. For whatever reason, this just started recently for me. I takes me to a blank "loading" page and won't let me go back and try again. I've been struggling with this for the past half an hour! I want to leave comments on your lovely stitching and pictures but I can't!!! Hopefully this will be worked out soon!

Giveaway: Sana, from Japan, who is a lovely woman and so talented, is having an amazing giveaway. Her blog is one of the blogs that is giving me problems. I can't seem to open up the giveaway link :( Check her blog out anyways. Really beautiful stitching!!!

Take care!!
Hugs

Anne

Edited: I'm using Mozilla Firefox :D

1st TUSAL! And a Pic of Jane before ISHW

2012-01-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

Bonjour mes amies!!

I hope I find you all well and happy. I have to say it's been quite the week here in the city! I have been working with some lovely groups of children that have made me smile all day. I feel so blessed to be given the opportunity to work with such lovely little souls. Even though I don't have a contract, it's nice to go and teach at the schools you have taught at before because the children get to know me and then I get little hugs!! Sometimes when I leave work I want to skip to the bus stop but stop myself because I'm not 12 anymore!! Although I do sneak in a skip here or there :D

So before I head out to babysit my little cousins, I wanted to show Jane pre-ISHW so there can be a progress pic for Monday. I, ehhem, still haven't replaced that colour yet, but I will! It's just that Michael's is out of my way and I have to make a special trip. It's okay though because I have been putting in some of the grass and just having fun with the sampler!

As for my last query about how the girls made their designs, I found an interesting article about American Samplers (not sure how to upload the pdf file). To sum it up, since it's a large article, the girls were usually taught by teachers in schools. The purpose, as I'm sure you know, was for the girls to practice stitching so they can use their skills to adorn linens, clothing, etc, for their future homes. The designs were either inked on by the teacher following a template, or done by freehand. Then the girls would stitch over the markings. Some may have created their own designs while using templates that the teachers provided them. The materials the girls used varied according to their status. The poorer the girl, the poorer the materials, the richer the girl, the richer the materials, like silks and fine linens. You get the idea! Here is a link to a list of the motifs the girls used in their samplers. It's really neat to read up on what each symbol means!!

The wedding heart is completed and I love it! I should really stitch one for me and my hubby!! It will be framed by next week. The colour is really quite beautiful! Some of you mentioned that I should use the lace for the design, but the pink is a lot more rosier than the pink I used for the design. I will use the lace for something else.

I also stitched a really sweet little design for my friend's birthday but since she reads my blog, I can't post it yet!!
Without further ado, here is my Tusal "jar". I haven't found one yet so I'm using a pretty white dish. I've noticed that there isn't a lot of orts even though I stitched quite a bit. I think it's because I'm very thrifty with my threads!!

Wow. It really looks like I haven't stitched at all?! Those pale pink bits is from the heart, the blues from the snowman and the dark bits are from Jane. Odd. I thought I had more!
Here's a pic of a beautiful candle my little brother bought me for Christmas. He picked it out himself, which is quite amazing! It's handmade in Prince George!!

(I am horribly behind blog reading, but will try to catch up tomorrow!)

Take care and Hugs for all of you!!

EDITED: Oops, just looked at the dates for the TUSAL and I'm two days early!!

A Decision Is Finally Made!

2012-01-14T14:40:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies!!

I am happy to announce that I have made a DECISION about Jane!!! Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. I really appreciated it! I think that after all is said and done, if I'm not completely over joyed with a colour or whatever, go and change it because I will stitching this for awhile!!

After scrutinizing the photo in my pattern and finding the original Jane Philpott's sampler, that pale green that I have is far too light. I also searched for a picture of the green AVAS silk for it and found that it is much darker than the HDF silk. Sooooo, I am going to do the DMC equivalent because I'm not going to wait a month for 1 silk to arrive. I think that I will use the pale green silk in other parts of the sampler, just not the border, and I think little Jane would have no problem with me doing that!! I have also decided to keep on going with the 1 over 2 because I think the coverage is fine, plus I'm too lazy to frog!!

I have to say that while stitching this sampler, I've given a lot of thought to that little girl and how I am amazed at her subtle colour choices. It also got me wondering about how she plotted out her sampler. Did she sketch it before she stitched it? Or did she use a guide, like we do? I would love to research the methods of how these girls created their samplers. I know that they were practicing their stitches, but was there a standard book from what they learned from? Or was it people's imaginations were so much greater back then because they didn't have TV's or movies to watch?! I really love stitching samplers because I feel they tell a story of the past, and being a major history buff with a history degree, I can't help but want to do research!!

I'm making this a quick post because I have to take off fairly quickly. I remembered that I should be posting more than once a week, but hey I do what I can do!!

Almost finished my mom's ornie!! Just need to find really tiny beads now and actually make it into an ornament!

I started another wedding heart for a dear friend who got married in Hawaii on my birthday! I told her now she will have to chose between me and her husband!! I was kidding of course, it will obviously be me!! I should have started this in November, but I didn't so now I am! I'm using Dinky Dyes silk in Madi's Rose. This is one of the loveliest silks I have used. Maybe it's because I'm using two strands of silk instead of one like I usually do, but it truly glides like butter through the fabric!!

I also won a small pack giveaway from Victorian Sampler Motto Shop!! Nancy is so generous and sent me a lovely selection of the prettiest of gauzy laces in a dusty rose colour! I will have to peruse her shop when I have more time (and funds!!).

I really love her black crow spice bags and am thinking it would be a perfect gift for a friend of mine. Too bad her birthday is in two weeks and there's no way to get it and stitch it in time. I may reserve it for next Christmas!!
Speaking of that friend, I forgot to post her gift tags in the last post!! Must be loosing my mind now that I'm older!! She really is quite talented!

I know I haven't responded back to everyone's comments from last post, so I will say thank you here!! My Christmas was lovely, minus the cold I got that I am still trying to shake. The neck and shoulder situation is still an issue, and I've been putting off going to the doctor's (I really hate waiting for hours at the clinic). But I will muster up the courage to go this week and see what needs to be done.

Take care and happy stitching!!

Hugs for all!!

Merry Christmas to all Orthodox Christians!

2012-01-06T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve today!! Getting excited for tonight!! I can't wait to make shortbread cookies and eat one at midnight!!! That and make Polar Bear drinks with my hubby. A Polar Bear drink is Peppermint Schnapps, Hot Cocoa, whip cream and a candy cane...mmmmmmmm!!!

Of course, this isn't the actual drink, just a yummy photo of the Polar Bear!! After the cookies and drinks, we will open our gifts and TRY to go to sleep early...like that will happen! Tomorrow morning we will head for church then break the fast with all sorts of goodies! Then tomorrow night we will have a turkey and ham dinner!! YAY FOR MEAT!!! I've been without diary, eggs, chicken, meat, good stuff for over 40 days and I can't wait to eat all my favourite things...CHEESE!!!! I just wish I was up in Prince George with my family and hubby having the traditional weiner roast outside in the snow, in one of my dad's many fireplaces (he tends to collect fireplaces for some reason??!?!) Next year I think we will make the trip up north since I haven't celebrated Christmas with my family in over eighteen years. It's never the same here in Vancouver, even though my mom's side of the family is here, they don't all celebrate Christmas on the 7th, plus one of my cousin's birthday is on the 7th so there tends to be problems over what to celebrate. What do people do with birthdays on the 25th? Do they celebrate both birthday and Christmas on the same day?? Or do they celebrate the birthday the day before/after? I'm just curious as to what people do with that scenario.

Thank you all for your kind, well-wishes for my health. My shoulder is a little better now, but I still have neck and upper back pain which prevents me from doing my favourite activities: reading and stitching. I still do both but I have to do them in short intervals. I have to say I have been REALLY enjoying reading War and Peace. Tolstoy is truly a genius and captures the Russian people to the 'T.' I recommend reading this classic to all of you if you have an e-reader. It's a lot lighter to hold than the actual book that weighs a ton!!

So this year I have decided to participate in Daffycat's TUSAL! I missed it last year so I was pretty excited that she is hosting it again for this year! I also am participating in Becky's BAP Challenge! I thought it would be good to get me motivated in finishing Jane Philpott this year. Here are the details

Stitch count: 290 x 390
Stitched on (what I think is) 36ct. linen by HDF...given to me by a dear friend...colour unknown but it is a creamy colour
Stitched with: HDF silks
Stitched: 1 over 2
Started January 2nd, 2012

Now here is where I'm stumped. After measuring the linen, I found that it wasn't 40 ct. fabric but must be 36 ct. and I ordered the thread pack for 40 ct. so I decided that if I stitch 1 over 2 I should be good for threads. However, I noticed that the lighter colours don't seem to be showing up too clearly, or perhaps this is just due to the bad light I have in this apartment. I'm really waffling on whether to keep going, stop and frog what I did and order more threads so I can do 2 over 2. Let me know what you think about it. I am the QUEEN of indecision!! My husband thinks it will be fine once it is all stitched and finished. I think it will be okay too, but again I don't know. As of now, I have been stitching with our camping headlights so I can see what I'm doing better!! I also haven't been out to Michael's to take a look at a floor stand to help me with this BAP!!

It's a cloudy, rainy, icky day so the colour of the fabric looks a lot grayer than it actually is!

Titus helping me chart the 10 by 10's! So cute!!

As for Titus, he is quite the munchkin!! He is WAAAYYY to interested in my stitching and almost pierced my Jane with his claws!! Luckily, I was able to move the puncture wounds in Jane around and now the fabric is okay, but from now on, I have to place it far away from any more accidents!!

My birthday was a nice quiet day. My hubby spoiled me with a gorgeous Amethyst necklace and some wonderful black, satin pajamas and an amazing sushi dinner at my favourite restuarant! I actually had a whole soft shell tempura crab!! I didn't know it was the whole crab, until my hubby said, "Don't look down at your plate!! Remember this is tasty!!" After I ate it, I saw what was on my plate, and it was some of the insides of the crab that had leaked out! Mind over Matter!! Mind over Matter!! It was really good, but I think I'll stick to eating just the crab legs and claws thanks!!

My lovely friend from Prince George, whom I've known since Grade 2, sent me a massive Christmas/Birthday parcel. She always gives me the most amazing gifts! I finally sent my parcel to her and I hope she enjoys her gifts too. She is so talented with card making. She sent me the most amazing gift tags that I can use for gifts! Take a look!!

Aren't they lovely?!!

Okay, so I need to go about getting my cookies together now! Thank you for visiting and hugs to you all!!!

HUGS

Anne

Happy New Year! Goals for 2012 and a Look back at 2011

2011-12-30T16:08:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovelies!!

This might be a bit of a long, 3 part post...or 4 part.

Before I begin, I need to let you all know that I am so happy to have all of you as followers and the comments I receive make my days brighter!!

I also want to let you know that I am currently trying to work down the blog roll and catch up on the multiple posts I have missed over the past week. The reason being is not only because it was the holidays, but also because of a horrible accident I had three days ago. CAUTION MY ACCIDENT MAY MAKE YOU FEEL FAINT! (I am somewhat okay as I type this so don't worry please!!)

The Tale of the Toilet
Alright, so the day after Boxing day, I woke up and had the worse cramps in the world (this may make you want to skip ahead). I went to take a wee on the toilet when I started to feel the familiar FAINTY feeling. I have fainted in the mornings throughout my life, not all the time, but on occasion. So, instead of staying put, like a SANE human, I decided to get up and walk over to the couch to lie down. As I passed the bathroom mirror, I saw a ghost. Wait! That was me!!! Next thing I knew, I woke up as I was banging the back of my head on the floor! Serious pain ensues. My husband comes running out of the bedroom to see what was wrong because he heard a massive THUNK. Well folks, I fell flat on my back when I passed out and tried to break the fall with my arm. This is what we THINK happened. The funny thing is the pain of my cramps was winning over the pain in my arm and head and back! We probably should've called 911, but I HATE going to the hospital, so we decided to pump me full of advils. I "slept" most of the day away and by the next day, the pain in my shoulder was so severe we decided to take a trip to the hospital to see if I broke any bones. I won't bore you with the long wait I had to get any sort of help or pain meds. What I will say is how disgusting the hospital was!! It was dirty! We are in Canada?!!! And this is the sort of "help" we get?! We pay over $300 a month in health insurance and extended health so why can't we get a clean hospital with people who aren't overworked?!??!?! Luckily, the Xrays they took showed that I didn't have any broken bones, but I do have some serious soft tissue damage :( My arm will take awhile to heal and this puts a damper on my sewing/stitching plans :( Double sad face :(

The Tale of the Toilet Fainting Episode Ends.

Okay!!! Onto happier news!!

The Tale of the "M" Pillow

So remember that "M" I stitched awhile back? Well, on Western Christmas day, while my hubby worked, I spent the entire day making the "M" into a pillow. The reason being, is that I am not the BEST sewer at ALL!! I tend to rush ahead and cut fabric without really thinking/planning beforehand--this is one of my 2012 goals for myself...more to come on that later. Unfortunately, when I bought the fabric, I didn't purchase enough so the mistake I made in cutting the fabric, I just had to fudge and make it work. After seam ripping the panels twice making sure I sewed straight, I sat down to prep both pieces for the zipper I was going to sew in. LAUGH ALERT!! Soooo, here I am all happy, sewing my two pieces together, loving my straight stitching, when I noticed I stitched the entire pieces together without an opening!!! HAHAHAHA!! How the heck was I to add the zipper when I sewed the pillow closed! Oh My Golly Gee!! So off I went to seam rip this pillow for a THIRD time!! Although it wasn't too bad because I watched the Princess Bride (for the billionth time) while I did it. Needless to say, I finished the pillow, sewed my very First Zipper EVER, and the pillow looked amazing!!! My darling cousin-in-law loves her pillow and will cherish it always!!

Stitching News

My mom's ornie, my sister's and auntie's gifts are still not finished due to my arm being injured. So I will have to finish them in the new year. Here is a progress photo of my mom's ornie that is taking an awfully long time to stitch 1 over 1.

I also received a lovely thread from June from Butterfly Wings. I had won one of her mystery giveaways awhile ago. Isn't the card and thread lovely! Thank you June!!

Stitching Firsts for 2011

Finished Ink Circles Tanglewood-First ever BAP

Finished the Queen's Sampler by PPS--First time using silks...and now I'm addicted!!

Finished Barbi's Biscornu design-First biscornu ever and loved it! Joyce won it !!

Finished Debi's Roses by Chatelaine-First Chatelaine design ever and second biscornu

Finished M's pillow- First time I ever sewed a zipper!!

Finished Hubby's Stocking-First time I ever lined and sewed a stocking!!

Finished Ornies--Everything I made this year was a first for me!!

I feel pretty proud of myself for accomplishing a lot this year. I tackled projects I was scared of in the past, but am no longer scared. In fact I say, bring it on!! Truly though, I couldn't have done it all without the encouragement from all of you. It's like I have a troop of supporters that help me plug along. The blogging community has been so kind and generous. THANK YOU!! HUGS TO ALL!!!

Personal Goals for 2011

1. Slow down. Stop. Think. Plan. Seriously this is a MUST for me. It will save me a lot of headaches in the long run.

2. Stop pointing out the flaws in myself. No one really notices. This has been a problem for me since I was young. I really need to cut it out!

3. Be more organized in all facets of life. I always have these grandiose plans that never get done but could get done if I start lists and focus.

4. Be loving to everyone. I usually am really loving to everyone, but in this big city, sometimes I get cranky in the crowds. I am trying to throw out more smiles to people because you know what, it makes their day and mine too!

5. No more moving around if I feel faint. I just need to sit down and let it happen!

6. Cycle more!! I need to burn off this winter weight I got going on my thighs!!

7. Read War and Peace. This has been on my list for two years!! My Nana gave me her old Kobo so now I can finally take it with me on the skytrain!!

8. Learn to drive. Yeah, I don't know how to but I think I should!!

There are probably a lot more goals that I should list, but I think I should be realistic and keep it simple.

Stitching Goals for 2012

1. Start Jane Philpot's Sampler-Got the kit all ready to go for January 1st!!!
2. Start Bird's of a Feather's Bitter Flower Sampler-Still need the materials for this!
3. Start Ann Taylor Sampler by Heartstring samplery-See number two
4. Start anything Quaker!!!
5. Finish HAED's Tea Bath Fairy--She hasn't been worked on since November...oops!
6. Look for a BIG Chatelaine design and save up for it!!

HDF silks by vicki clayton

If you made it this far, give yourself a pat on the back for me!!! I think I should add another goal: post more than once a week so it's less cumbersome for my readers!!

January 3rd is my birthday and the 7th is my Christmas, so I'll probably post in between those dates.

Happy New Year from me, my hubby and my darling, silly, fat, fluffy, quirky, meowy, Titus!!!!!!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T10:32:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all of you from me, my husband and Titus, who is hanging out with me as I write this!!

Anne

Christmas Stocking and ISHW

2011-12-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovelies!!

Beware! Loads of pictures in this post!! Grab some tea/coffee and settle in!!

It has been quite the eventful week!! I'm pleased to say that I finally finished my husband's stocking!! Yahoo! I received a lot of help from my mom when she came over on Tuesday to fix the tension on my machine as well as give me tips on sewing. It was hard for her to not do the entire stocking herself!! Even though she let me do the sewing, I could feel her wanting to get her hands onto it!! I think she really misses sewing. Although I made a couple of boo-boos along the way, like cutting the batting too small twice, I managed to get it done! Now I have to still make my sisters placemats and my auntie's table runner. Luckily I still have some time until January 7th to finish both projects.

Since we don't have a fireplace or a mantelpiece I decided to prop the stocking on the tree to take a decent photo. It doesn't stay in the tree just so you know!!

I also stitched up my Dad's ornament but still need to actually finish it, which I may do on Monday seeing as I want to keep to stitching this weekend for the ISHW. The design is from Daffycat and if you ask her nicely she will send you the pattern. Please abide by her requests and only provide a link to her site and do not upload the pattern. I really had fun stitching this design and I think my Dad will love it too!

The photo doesn't do it justice cause the colours are really rich and very Christmasy. Oops I forgot to iron it!!

I also started my Mom's ornament and I think I can show it here. I'll just remind her not to visit my blog until she receives the present!! It's from the JCS 2010 magazine and she actually pointed out that it was her favourite ornament sometime ago. Too bad I'm not organized enough to start my ornament stitching in the summer!! Oh right, I was traveling around in the summer....well maybe I should start them in January!! One of these days I will get it together!!

I'm stitching it on some 28 ct lugana that Joyce sent to me and it's 1 over 1 so it will be a tiny ornament!! Thanks Joyce for the lugana!!! I'm loving it a lot!!

Onto framing. So last week I bought a couple of frames from Michael's and spent some time putting some of my old finished pieces into frames. I finally got my geisha girl her frame and guess what?! The backing of the frame barely, and I mean BARELY, closes and looks like it is ready to explode at anygiven moment! I'm seriously frustrated with finding a frame that works with cross stitch. I really can't afford the crazy costs of getting my smaller pieces professionally framed and to find any sort of box to mount the pieces on is also proving to be difficult. Our city is somewhat craft unfriendly! Anywho, griping aside, the Geisha will have to be satisfied until I can find a better frame.

This BBD freebie design I decided to give to my friend for Christmas, along with some linen and threads to her so she can start cross stitching!! This frame wasn't too bad and it wasn't a struggle to get the piece to lay flat and FIT the frame!! She loved it and is excited to give cross stitching a go!! Woohoo to converts!
PS: photo taken on skytrain because I forgot to take one at home...so it's a bit blurry with all the motion.

More fun news to share. Yesterday, while I was with above mentioned friend, we went into the most darling little store that was filled with tons of curios, antiques and the most fabulous Christmas decorations. I also found some antique mini sewing machines but didn't take a photo of them. The machines were going for $500!! The antique lace spools and thimbles were upwards to $100!! Canada seriously???? Why is it that you have to charge SOO much for everything??? Anyways, we did stumble upon some really cool retro baubles that were exactly like my Dad's ornaments!!

I loved those fishing lures!! I thought about getting my Dad one because he's a fisherman, but he is so particular about what lure to use with each fish. I may run back there though and get one anyways. They just look so alluring...hehe! I need to call him up and tell him about the decorations and how expensive they are now!! He will get a kick out of that!!

Okay, nearly done. Just wanted to mention how amazing the Tori Amos concert was!! The string quartet she had with her were genius!! She brought out a lot of her old songs which made us go wild!! I think this is my 5th or 6th time seeing her, and so far it's been one of the best concerts yet!! The venue where she played is one of the best in Vancouver. It's called the Orpheum and it has the most beautiful ceiling and decor. The acoustics is perfect there, hence why our symphony plays there all the time. Here are some photos of the night. One of the photos I took before the show started, included the annoying girl that hooted and yelled at the most inappropriate times during the show. We all sort of secretly wished that the usher would usher her out!! I really don't know why people didn't tell her to be quiet. She was so disruptive! I get that she was excited, we all were, but lets keep the hooting and "I love yous!!!" to before and after Tori sings!!

Wow! I'm finally done!! I'll be posting a little update on my ISHW progress on Monday. Hopefully I will get my mom's ornament stitched!!

Take care,

Happy Stitching!!

Anne

Um, I forgot to add what project I will be starting in January....maybe I'll let you guess!! It's one of the patterns I bought this year. That's my hint :D

Titus, the new Cat and Our Christmas Tree

2011-12-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

Well Hello my lovelies!!

It has been quite sometime since I have posted anything. Reason being is that I have had been pretty busy with work and whatnot, as well as not much stitching to share. But I do have big news to share! We have a new cat!!! His name is Titus, the god of the giants. It also means "saved" in Greek, which is exactly what he is, saved!!! About 10 days ago, we went to meet him from this lovely older couple. The lady is quite ill and was instructed by her doctor to find a home for her beloved cat. It was quite an emotional greet and meet. She adores her cat and was heartsick to have to give him away. I understood her pain, since we just lost our darling Lucy and I am still grieving somewhat from her absence. My husband really wanted Titus and I was still unsure, however, next thing we knew, he was in our home! For the past week, he remained under our bed, only coming out on the 4th day at night to eat a bit of food. I was quite stressed about him and hoping that he would adjust to his new home. We talked softly to him and after the 2nd day, I was able to reach under our bed and let him sniff me and pet him a bit. On the 7th day, he really came out and checked out our bedroom and even our living room! He is quite the big cat! Very fluffy, very purry and very cute!!!! I have started to bond with him and am really loving his quirky character!! He head butts with such a force that he almost knocks us over!! He also does this odd doggie growl, remember growly grey cat? He only growls though when he hears our noisy neighbours walk up and down the hallways, which is really funny. I've never had a male cat or a cat that has had to adjust to us. Lucy just was always ours. I will still miss her, but this new furbaby, is starting to steal my heart!! He is 5 years old, well trained and is called a Ragdoll cat. Can't wait to have him fully comfortable with us!!! Here are some photos that are blurry because he wouldn't be still!

So cute!!!

I promise to get better photos of him in the future. He really is a riot!! I gave him catnip last night for his first time and he went super kooky!! I have a video of him inching around like a worm but I don't know how to post it.

Well, we got our Christmas tree up! We usually have a large Christmas tree decorating party every year, but this year we wanted it quiet because of Titus. So we had a few close friends over and had a wonderful time!! It's amazing how fast our tree gets decorated with 5 pairs of hands to help!! I have quite a selection of special ornaments. Some my mother made for me when I was a girl, and some I bought over the years that are near and dear to me. We have two beautiful golden birds that perch on the branches. In our family, bird ornaments are a must on a Christmas tree! I had to continue the tradition!!

Mrs. Claus stitched by my Mother

My favourite blingy gold stars!

Chippy is up and happy with his nut!!

Our Master Nutcracker!

My first Christmas pillow...I really love it!

Daylight christmas tree..not nearly as pretty as it is in real life

As for stitching news, I have started one of Daffycat's reindeer designs but have not finished it yet because I have to stitch it at the computer!! BLECH!!! My printer ran out of ink and I keep forgetting to take the cartridge out to be refilled, therefore, I have to sit uncomfortably stitching. Now the weekend is here, and I am extremely busy. My mom is in the city and it's her birthday today, plus we have church tonight and tomorrow morning and big dinner for my mom at night! It will be fun but no time to get anything done! Luckily my mom is going to come over next week and help me sew up all my projects so I have it all ready for the 25th. We don't celebrate Christmas on the 25th seeing as we are Orthodox. But I do give gifts to my friends and other non-Orthodox family on the 25th. We celebrate on the 7th of January...so I have some time yet to finish my immediate family's gifts!!

I have almost caught up with my blog reading and am really impressed with everyone's stitching! It's been great to read everyone's Christmas traditions and seeing the lovely trees all dressed and sparkly!!

Don't miss Dearest Cucki's giveaway! She is the loveliest person and is having a generous giveaway!!

Take care everyone and I will post again mid week! I am going to Tori Amos' concert on Tuesday night!!! It will be my sixth time seeing her play live. She is one of my favourite musicians!

With lots of love and hugs!!

Anne

One done...more to go!

2011-11-29T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

I have been debating whether or not to do a post today, sort of feeling under the weather, therefore I feel this post will not be as good as it could be. The other reason is I am really not happy with my blurry out of focus photos. Having a close friend and auntie who are both professional photographers, I feel the need to create half decent photos. I have thought about getting a camera this year, but it is not a complete necessity, so we will look into one sometime in the future. As for stitching, I managed to sort out the frogging issues on both of my Sajou projects and am happy to say one is complete!! I cannot frame it until this weekend because I need a foam board for the backing. The frame I am going to use I found in a thrift shop and it fits the piece perfectly!! I love how that happens :D

I loved how "MP's" turned out!! "M's" will be great as well once I stitch a 1 over 1 crown above the "M" and sew it with that lovely crown fabric I have. I think they will both love their gifts!! As for the rest of the sewing and stitching I need to accomplish, I will begin a couple of them this weekend as well. The reason for the wait is I need to go buy some DMC threads that I don't have. In one pattern, I have only two out of all the DMC threads I have?!!! Seriously, what's with that? Anywho, I'm looking forward to a trip to Michael's. It's always a good time in a craft store!! My husband's stocking is still in parts. I got the proper batting I need but I don't feel up to sewing today.

I've really been loving everyone's posts and stitching for the holidays. I love how our blogging community is so inspiring and kind with encouragement!! Thank you all for taking the time to visit me. I will be barraging everyone's blogs this weekend...it's a bit too hard for me to sit up right now!

Off to eat some borscht...just managed to make some...and here's a progress on TBF (Tea Bath Fairy).

Love and hugs!

Anne

Finishes for ISHW!

2011-11-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

Good evening my lovelies!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend. Over here in Vancouver, we had a fairly decent sunny, but chilly Saturday, perfect for shopping! I had a delightful day with my cousin-in-law scouring fabrics at Dress Sew. She is the best to have around, with all her interior design and sewing experience!! I felt a little overwhelmed thinking about my sewing projects and what I needed to get for them, but she calmed me down and helped me work out what I needed. I don't know why, but for whatever reason, I have to visualize, down to the very last detail, how I am going to make something. Not just the finished product, but the actual motions and procedures of making it. As she says, I make things more complicated than necessary and just to trust my skills and creativity. So true!! It's so good to have an amazing friend!!!! After our fabric frenzy, we marched onwards to H & M. That was a crazy time! The opening of the Versace line had happened that morning, and the store was still filled to the brim with people. I had tons of things breaking my arm, hot, overdressed, not finding anything I wanted...not good. I'm not the best shopper, let's leave it at that. On the other hand, my friend is amazing at shopping. She is like my sister...knows what she wants, goes through everything, finds what she wants, and tackles it with gusto! I tried on some things and hated how they made my back end look bigger than it actually is. Pretty in the front, but horrible in the back. So I left the store with nothing after I felt deflated. As we were walking to the skytrain, I said "Let's go into the Bay! They just opened up a TopShop!" The Bay....I love the Bay. My Nana shops there and I have many fond memories of her and I shopping there. So off we go to TopShop, and lo and behold, it's airy, bright, and spacey! I felt invigorated to try on things again! I grabbed a couple dresses and put them on with renewed vigor!! The first one was waaay too big ontop and made me look odd. The second, a Chinese Cheongsam dress, LOVE THEM!, I couldn't get over my hips...sigh. Then, I tried the most gorgeous teal, blue dress that was quite sassy and it fit beautifully!! Plus it didn't make me look all that bad either! So I got it! Yay for finding a gorgeous dress!

It's a lot shorter and prettier on and in person. Looks great with some opaque black tights and silver high heels with some bling on the neck and arm!! Can't wait to wear it for my friend's stagette!!

Onto stitching news. I managed to do a lot more frogging than stitching. My weekend was the International Frogging Weekend! For whatever reason, I made a mistake on two gifts for my friends. Those Sajou patterns can be tricky and hard to count. I don't have a program that can make them bigger to print, so I make do with the tiny charts I print out. Not good though. I will have to re-look at where I went wrong when I'm not exhausted from teaching/traveling and rethink how I'm going to fix the mistakes I made EARLY on in the pattern.

(Photos are going to be not so good since I took them right now in bad lighting)

Then, after not much luck with stitching, I decided to attack sewing. As I was re-watching the Youtube video for making a stocking, I realized I bought the wrong kind of batting. What I need was polyester thin batting, and what I asked for and got from the lady was "thin" quilting batting, which is still pretty big and kind of hard for me to work with. I was very frustrated with myself for not writing down the correct materials and making things more difficult for myself in the long run. So I figured, why not just finish my other Estonian snowflake and that cute PSS ornament?!! It was a lot of fun picking out all the trims for my ornaments!! At least I'm okay with making them now!! The outcome is fairly good, not professional, but good nonetheless. Then I noticed, hehe, that I actually didn't finish the pattern on the green Estonian snowflake. See if you can spot the mistake!! Now I am going to have to keep the ornament instead of gift it like I planned.

Hopefully by Wednesday, I will have caught up with my blog reading and comments for all the ISHW participants. Again, I love each and every one of your comments and really want to be good and respond to each one.

Take care and happy stitching!!

Anne

Tiny Rose Garden Finished!

2011-11-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovelies!

Today I put in the last few beads in Chatelaine's Tiny Rose Garden Mandala!!! Hurrah! I'm so glad it's over. Beautiful design, but the opalescent fabric drove me mad!! Although the sparkle is divine, the fabric made my stitches all wonky and the thread break multiple times. Next time I get an opalescent fabric it will be linen!

Love that blur!!

Question: Do you make your beads line up the same way throughout a Chatelaine pattern? I found it quite difficult to do in some sections.

Regardless of imperfections, I think this design will look great in a gold frame over my stitching desk. I may embark on a larger Chatelaine project next year...we'll see about that though!

Onto squirrels. Thanks so much for the kind comments on my Chippy. I know the ornament isn't perfect, but it's cute and no one will see the imperfections on the tree!Funny thing is that both Lynn and Carol posted pictures of squirrels this morning. The squirrels seem to be popular! I think they're squirrels are adorable, unlike our city squirrels here. One day, if I'm fast enough, I'll try and post a picture of our scrappy squirrels!

Okay, back to stitching. I have been pretty busy the past week and weekend to actually start or finish my projects. I am rethinking some of my Christmas gifts this year. My mom will still get something stitched, but I think my sister will get something sewn up. The need for fabric and sewing tools is dire! I ran to the fabric store yesterday to get a bunch of materials I needed for projects and came out only with a few things from my list. That means I need to make another trip to the downtown fabric store, to get the rest of my materials. This seems to be the story of my life: running around like a chicken with her head cut off while time runs out! Now my weekends are getting booked fast with upcoming parties: a stagette, a bridal shower, my mom's birthday, our Christmas tree party, etc. Hopefully, I will create a twin of myself and she can go run around looking for what I need!! We all wish that!

This is the materials I have for my hubby's Christmas stocking. He chose the green and the gold/red fabric and he will be drawing his stocking, since he's the better artist out of the two of us. I think it will be a great stocking! Hopefully, I won't screw up sewing this...I am a bit nervous! Must not be scared, must not be scared......

Here's an update of TBF. I will be working on her and other multiple projects this upcoming ISHW!!!!I think this is the last free weekend I have, so let's get hermitting!! You can visit Joyce's amazing blog and enter your details to join us!!

So this past weekend, I went to an amazing craft fair, Circle Craft, with one of my best friends. She and I love to stitch and do crafty things. Funny thing, is we have never done it together! I suggested to her, while we were browsing all the wondrous craft stalls, that we should get together and have a finishing day. She chooses beautiful designs to stitch but has a hard time to getting them into a frame, box, ornament, you name it. I think it would be fun to have a craft day: rum, treats, glue and away we go! Um, the glue being USED for projects, nothing else I swear!!!!!!! Here's some delectable cider jelly from the fair. I'm going to keep the balsamic one for myself, and give the others away!

P.S. Wagapapa is having an amazing first year giveaway!! Click here for the link.

All of you have been so inspiring with your stitching and ornaments, I can't say it enough, thank you!! Hugs to all!!!

Anne

Oops, forgot to mention, I found the perfect fabric for that cute Plum Street Sampler ornie!

I want some wooden buttons, but guess what? I don't have any!!! Put those onto the ever growing list for my hologram to buy!!

Christmas Ornament Finished!!

2011-11-07T09:16:00.000-08:00

Bonjour mes amies!!

I am happy to report that I caugt the finishing bug on the weekend and managed to finish two ornaments!! Chippy is pretty adorable I must say. I really loved the trim that I used. I find that while I am stitching, I mentally choose the trims and fabrics I will use to finish the piece. If it doesn't come to me while I am stitching, like the Plum Street Sampler ornie, the piece usually ends up in my to do pile for awhile. I have to envision the finished ornament before I can make it. Odd isn't it? What is the process that you go through for finishing a piece? Is it before, during, after....?

The red fabric is on the back of the Snowflake

Estonian snowflake stitched last year

Sometimes I don't have what I need to finish, actually, most of the time I don't have what I need to finish a piece!! For example, all those beautiful designs I stitched through out the year, still need frames or boxes or whatever will work to display them. While I was busy piecing together Chippy, I pulled out some of my stitching and tried to find at least one frame to use! Alas! Nothing fit or looked right!! I sadly put my pieces back into storage and I think I heard their sad sighs of dismay. Especially my Geisha girl....insert tears here :( Tanglewood is sad too. Really sad. I really need to save some money and just bite the bullet and get the two of them framed. Sadness aside, I am quite impressed with my mad skillz and gusto for finishing two ornaments. As for the reindeer fabric, I think I will make a couple of gift bags and perhaps a table runner. Good thing we have Youtube!! There are some great sewing tutorials on how to make both of those projects. I'm looking forward to next weekend to sewing up a storm!!

Here's my friend's "M" finished. I still need to stitch the "P" , then I will be done 1 gift. I am trying not to freak out so much. Thank you all for your kind comments and suggestions. It really helped me organize my list and just work steadily down the list. I think that if I stay focused, I will get everything done that I need to do!!

Remember this Chatelaine I started awhile ago? Well I got sidetracked from my list and decided to try and finish it. Nearly done!! Just need to finish the Algerian eyelets, backstitching and beading!! Hopefully by next weekend it will be complete.

I hope to visit and comment on everyone's blogs today. I have to say that there are some of you who are posting everyday, making it difficult for me to keep up!! Even if I haven't commented, I do enjoy reading each and everyone of your posts!!

Take care and happy stitching!!

Anne

Stitching Gifts...Freaking Out!!

2011-11-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

So here we are in November. I am sad to say good bye to October since it was such a lovely month of glorious weather, beautiful colours and not so much rain. I still have high hopes for November though. Yesterday it was a decent day, albeit blustery, but nice.

With November beginning, so does the FREAKING OUT!! Eeek!! I feel as though there are FAR too many things to stitch up in time for Christmas. Yes, I mentioned the "C" word! Maybe I should take a deep breath and focus on one thing at a time. Perhaps I should set myself a schedule so I won't be freaking out!! I want to stitch ornaments for my mom, sister, Dad, friends, and of course for me and my hubby. The problem is every time I want to finish something, I don't have the materials?!! Yes I have some fabrics, like those cute reindeer ones I bought last week, but they don't match with any of my stitched pieces. So what should I do with them? I've been wracking my brain thinking of how to use those darling fabrics. I wish I was a master sewer, or at least have my mom around, since she's an amazing sewer. If you have any ideas for simple/easy sewing projects, let me know!

Ok, freak out done...onto some stitchy stuff. First off, since I didn't post a progress pic of TBF (Tea Bath Fairy) in the last post, here's one now. I've managed to really tackle it over the past few weeks and am pretty pleased with the progress.

Yes! I can see the outline of the cup!!

Seeing as my eyes can handle only so much of teensy stitching, I began to work on two personalized gifts for my girlfriends. I am using two of the Valdani threads I ordered and I really love the deep wine red colour a lot!! The threads aren't too bad, although I do notice a tad bit of fraying at the ends, but what thread doesn't?! I still have to put in an order for HDF threads and I asked my husband if I could buy some more "strings" that will only cost xx amount and he said yes, if the STRINGS are needed for a project...hehehehe!! And I also mentioned that I need a smaller Qsnap frame and if I could buy that too...you know to help out my wrists. He's agreed! I love that he's become more agreeable!!

Valdani and DMC threads stitched on 32ct.Sandstone linen

The above design is from the Sajou alphabet. J'adore SAJOU!!! The second gift I won't bother posting a picture of because it only has a few stitches on it and is basic black on white.

Now I started doing another cute Christmas ornament from the JCS magazine. This one is from Victoria Sampler. It's the squirrel one. Pause for a squirrel story:

Me and Squirrels

Ever since I was a young girl, I have been know as the squirrel whisperer. It takes time and patience to become one and only a few are called to this. (Insert sarcasm here). Anyways, one day, as I was traipsing around the woods behind our home in Prince George, I heard a squirrel chatter nearby. The squirrel seemed to be trying to tell me something. Perhaps a secret he wanted to share with a 10 year old girl? As I strolled back to the house, the chattering followed me from behind. I slowly walked up the stairs, grabbed some of the chickadees seeds and held it in my hand and crouched down low. The chattering stopped. There he was, Chippy. Me: waiting quietly, patiently. Him: unsure, skittish. Slowly he climbed the stairs to check me out. I flinched! He skedaddled!! Sigh...I suppose I'll try again. For the next few weeks, we played this game...but with each day, he approached closer, and closer, until one day, he ran up to me, grabbed a seed and took off!! Serious patience here for a young girl of 10!! It wasn't until the second week that Chippy found his courage and managed to take seeds from me and NOT run away!! I was ecstatic! After a few more days of building trust, Chippy let me pet him! Then, after more days of gently petting, he let me pick him up!! We became good friends, Chippy and me. When I would walk around the house, I could see him following me around. Of course it was just for the seeds I was giving him, but as a young girl I thought he just really wanted to be my friend. Ever since then, I have been able to feed and pet wild squirrels, not the city squirrels that we have here in Vancouver. Those squirrels are a different breed altogether. Like they are part of a squirrel gang called the Tuff Nut Gang. Those squirrels I wouldn't mess with!!

So with that, I leave you with a picture of The Victorian Sampler's squirrel, which I started yesterday and made me think fondly of Chippy and the other cute squirrels I have fed and petted.

Finally, here are my photos of the pin cushion I stitched for Valerie. She posted pictures of her package on her blog, so now I can post mine!!

Stitched on unknown 40ct linen with Waterlilies thread Amethyst

I kind of went NUTS with pictures since I LOVE purple and have a lot of purple things to take photos with!!

Take care and happy stitching!!

Anne

Fabric Shopping, Fibers, Finishes and Fall!!

2011-10-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

Oooh, alliteration... I love it!

Sometimes I try and think of a clever title for my posts, and it never comes to me, so why not go with some alliteration and make it fun!

As the title says, I went fabric shopping with my friend at probably the worst possible time to shop...the Saturday before Halloween. We had to squeeze through the shelves of bolted fabric, often toppling over each other and others! I was looking at fabric 5 inches from my face!! At least no one was testy. Smiles all around, especially when we had to get very close to someone to look at some fabulous polka dotted fabric. After grappling my bolts of fabric, I purchased 3 new pieces of fabric.I have to say my friend has a fabulous eye for fabrics. I'll need to go back with her again cause she picks out fabrics that I would never even consider!!

Some great regal fabric for a project I'm making for my friend.

Onto the fibers bit. My package from 123stitch.com came the other day. My husband picked it up. He didn't say anything....:D Then about a week later, he said "So you got your strings?" Shoot...I thought he wouldn't notice! Ah well, at least he seemed as though he didn't care!! So yes, I got my strings and I am loving them. I am a bit disappointed though with the Valdani spool of thread. I was under the belief it was silk, but it isn't. The spool also looks a lot larger than I thought...maybe I should ACTUALLY read the size of things, and not skim over the details.

Now to finishes!! I've got two to show you all, even though I finished 3. I whipped up Shepherd's Bush's Tiny Garden fairly quickly, once I received my WDW threads. The only thing left to get is some lovely silk ribbon...thinking about HDF silk ribbons. Never ordered from them before so hopefully the ribbons are good. Then I finished the Plum Street Sampler's Yuletide ornament. Still trying to decide if I want to make it into a pinkeep, or a mini pillow ornament. As for the third finish, I can't post the pictures of it until Valerie receives her package, which I mailed today!

I love this design!


Hubby's Grandma's bumblebee pin

I'll leave you with some more lovely fall photos. I can't believe how wonderful it has been this October. Not too many rainy days, which is rare for the Lower Mainland!! About to go on another autumn walk!

Lovely tree lined sidewalk

Chestnuts!! We fed one to a squirrel!

Gorgeous Japanese Maple

This scene evokes the feeling that fairies live here!!

Adorable fluff cat we met along the walk

Until next time, take care and happy stitching!

PS Thank you all for your lovely comments and advice, I love receiving your warm encouraging words!!

Anne

ISHW Progress!

2011-10-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

Bonjour!!

I hope everyone had a successful stitch and hermit weekend! I managed to have a decent one. I did go out on Friday night to a friend's art show opening, which was a lot of fun. It's always good to see all her friends and family come out and support her. Yay for the arts!! Luckily I didn't have any plans for the rest of the weekend, so I got to set up my stitching station and go to it. While I was stitching, I decided to pop in the first two extended movies of the Lord of The Rings. I felt it was that time of year to take a trip to the Shire and travel with the fellowship. I didn't really get to 'watch' the films because I was focused on my Haed piece. It was sort of like radio! A lot of my time on Saturday was spent trying to figure out a mistake I made in the TBF pattern. Sigh...did that take an age to work it out. I had to quickly make little 10 x 10 blocks with thread and count and recount a rather big section. Luckily, the mistake was a small one that I stopped from following me around the pattern. I didn't frog it, since frogging 1 over 1 is not a good idea, so I worked with it instead of fighting it!!

Thanks to all those who gave me tips on whether to wash now or later, and I think the general consensus is to wait till the end. I did test wash a piece of the evenweave and I noticed that the fabby sort of shrunk a bit which means if I wash now, my piece will be distorted. I will also be adding some fabric bits under my Qsnaps so I won't soil the fabric as much as before.

As planned, I started a new Christmas ornament!! I chose "Yuletide" by Plum Street Samplers because I had the threads already! I used a different fabric than suggested though and I think I like my choice better. It is a khaki colour, unknown count, although I think that it must be 36 ct or 40ct. It comes from my wonderful friend who gifted me with all her fabbies that she will never use! So thanks again dear friend!!

To finish off this post, I am happy to say that I found the perfect fabric for Valerie's pin cushion and have begun the process of putting it together. I won't share any photos of the cushion though until she gets her package.

Here's a couple of fall photos I took of me and my hubby's walk around a park on a beautiful crisp, autumn day!

Take care and happy stitching!!

Anne

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-10-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Wow has time flown by! I can't believe it's already time for turkey!! Tomorrow night I will be partaking in some yummy turkey, stuffing, candied carrots and pumpkin pie at my Auntie's house. I can't wait....my tummy is growling right now!! Usually I take off to Prince George to visit my parents and siblings, but since I visited them in the summer, I will have to wait till next year to visit again (plane tickets are expensive!) I really love Prince George at this time of year. All the poplar trees are orange and there's a really nice crispness to the air. Plus the smell of autumn around my old house makes me happy and nostalgic of the times I spent traipsing around the woods as a child. Vancouver is pretty too at this time of year, yet PG steals my heart.

As for stitching, I have been working on Valerie's pin cushion and am loving it so much I think I need to make myself one!! I can't show any pics yet because I don't want to give away the surprise. Now last time I mentioned I wanted to buy some threads--furtively looks around to see if hubby is nearby, phew he isn't!---and I bought some! Woot! I ordered some Valdani threads, just to try them out. One is a luscious wine red which I will be using to stitch some Christmas designs and a friend's present. I also ordered a chart from Birds of a Feather and I can't wait to get it! Now I have been thinking about starting Jane Philpott, and I am having a hard time resisting buying the silks for the sampler. I decided that since it will be an epic venture, I should stitch with the best of threads. I noticed HDF has a Jane set so I may put that on my Christmas list, along with BBD's a Schoolgirls Work. My list is getting large!!

Photo courtesy of theSilverNeedle

As for the Tea Bath Fairy, I've been working fairly steadily on her and have almost completed 3 pages!! I can't believe that I've only stitched half the SAUCER!!! I thought it was the tea cup! I seriously give props to those who have stitched more than one HAED. They truly are intense!

A quick question. If you look closely, you can see my evenweave is a bit soiled from my fingers holding the Q snap frame, even though I'm constantly washing my hands. Should I wash now or after the whole piece is done. If I do, should I use a delicates soap like Dove? I've been using DMC threads, and I think they are okay and won't bleed, but before I do I would like to ask your opinion.

Some filler pics so my post isn't totally boring. Here's a needlework piece my husband's grandmother made ages ago. She passed away two years ago so this is pretty special to him. It's missing a frame and finding the perfect frame for it is difficult. I really love this picture. It's so pretty.

Pretty Sunflower

Here are some lovely giveaways people are having (click on their name).

1. Cucki's giveaway
2. Lisa's giveaway. She's having her 3rd year blogoversary and is hoping to get to 100 followers! So pop over and join her!

Now, as always, I'm behind on my commenting. I was going to do it after this post but I really want to stitch. So tomorrow morning I'll be popping around!

Love in turkeys

Anne

Giveaway Winner!!!

2011-10-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

The Giveaway Winner is...................................................

VALERIE !!!! From Fog City Dweller!!!!!!

Congrats Valerie!

Valerie said : My favorite color is purple but my favorite color combo is light blue and brown. I drink all teas...black for morning, green for the afternoon and herbal like chamomile/sleepytime for nighttime.

So Valerie, I will be emailing you regarding your win and the designs you can choose from.

Thank you again to everyone who entered. It was a lot of fun to print out everyone's names, cut them up, put the slips of paper in my giveaway bowl, and get my hubby to pull out a name. I was excited to see who it was and figure out what colours I will be using. Too bad I don't have 45 sets of arms so I could stitch everyone something!!! I will be saving the comments and colour combos for potential future RAK's :D

Here are the photos of the draw!!

The printing and cutting of names

All the lovelies' names in the bowl!

Hubby mixing around pulling a name

And he picks...........

Valerie!!!!!

I just popped over to her blog and here's the crazy thing: it's her Birthday today!! Wow! What a great Birthday gift!!!

So hop on over to her blog, FogCity Dweller and wish her congrats and Happy Birthday!!

Loves and Hugs to all!!!

Anne

BBD Finish, Shepherd's Bush Start, and a WIP

2011-09-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovelies!!

Yay! I am back at home and reunited with my hubby!!! Sitting on a pug was fun but I felt it was time to let him go. Seriously though, everything went fine,the pug was fairly good, except the excessive snoring and the leaping up onto me giving me bruises!! I'm just really happy to be at home, with my own stuff, my own computer and of course my man.

Hamish

Once I got home, I decided it was time to start Shepherd's Bush's Tiny Garden. Teresa had sent me the chart and Joyce had given me some lovely light bluish grey 25 ct. lugana to use, and since my thread order came, I was more than eager to start. It was such a PLEASURE to stitch on lower count after I have been peering over my HAED WIP stitching 1 over 1. As I was close to finishing one side of the Tiny Garden, I realized I forgot to order 1 Weeks Dye Works thread!! URGH! How frustrating is that?!!! So I laid down my stitching and off I went to 123stitch.com to add that one thread. I then decided to look around at the other threads they have, particularly the Valdani Threads and Dinky Dyes silks. I spent a REALLY long time browsing through all their threads, until 1 am. Oops! I haven't order anything YET, but when I do..hehe...I am going to be adding some Valdani and Dinky Dyes silks just for the heck of it!! I also ended up adding BBD A Schoolgirl's Work to my wishlist cause I am hoping that either my mom or my hubby will get that for me for Christmas. I hope my hubby doesn't read this post because he would state "You have enough threads! You don't need anymore!" This is always his response. Like he knows anything!!

Anywho, stash stalking aside, I ended up finishing BBD's freebie design "Now I know my ABC's". A lovely quick stitch that I am thinking of either framing or finding some sort of box to put it on.

Yesterday before I headed home, I purchased the new Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments Issue and am pretty excited about making a couple of their ornaments. Though I really need to focus on what I have going on now, so I probably won't make anything until the end of October. There is definitely not enough time in the day to make all the projects I want to make!!!

Here are some photos of the Queen all framed and another pretty blue glass object I found at a designer store closing out sale.

Don't forget about the giveaway draw tomorrow! I'm pretty excited to see who the winner will be and what colours I will be using!!!

With Hugs and Pugs!

Anne

Pug Sitting

2011-09-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is what I am doing! Just so all of you know, I am unable to upload any pictures of my progress because I am not at home. My aunt has a fancy MAC and I have no clue how to go about uploading pictures. I don't think my USB gadget even works with a MAC, so you will all have to wait until Thursday for an update unfortunately.

Thank you to all who have entered my giveaway! It's been fun to read everyone's favourite colours and teas!!!!

Happy Stitching!

Anne

ISHW and Update on Gray Cat

2011-09-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

Thanks to all who joined my blog and entered my giveaway. It was fun reading all your colour choices and what teas you like to drink. For those who don't like tea, I can throw in some cocoa or whatever you like to drink!! I added a link to the side of my blog so people can still join by clicking on the picture labeled "My Giveaway". Good luck to all and thanks again for joining in on the fun!!

Okay, onto stitching news. I managed to get some stitching done. I started on Friday night and watched, for some reason, the Notebook again. This movie makes me cry like a baby. I think it's because it makes me think of my grandparents, and their undying love for each other. About 7 years ago, my beloved grandfather, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He was a professor of economics and the most loving, humble man in the world. Now that he is in a home, my Nana visits him daily, making sure he gets his fruit and sees that he is being properly looked after. Her dedication to him is unfailing and I know it pains her to see her husband fade away. So you can see why this movie moves me to tears, especially in the end.

Honestly, this weekend should be called, for me anyways, The International Frog Weekend!! I worked on Tiny Rose Mandala, and I think I did more frogging than stitching!! For some reason, I find Chatelaine designs really difficult to follow and I ALWAYS make mistakes!! Not sure why, but maybe it's the symbols and symmetry of the piece that my brain just doesn't get. I still love her designs, but am worried about trying one of her bigger pieces. They are pricey, way out of my range, and involves an inordinate amount of time. If I started frogging those silks and specialty stitches, I would cry!!

After working on Tiny Rose, I moved onto the Tea Bath Fairy. Guess what I started working with? Kreiniks!! Yay!! Super sarcasm here. It actually wasn't that bad, but it is a slow process so I didn't get as much done as I wanted. It is such a cool design though and I really love how the picture is coming together. Can't wait to start working on the fairy!!

Late last night, I decided to start another small, an easy one!! It's the BBD freebie design "Now I know my ABC's" and it has been one that I wanted to stitch for awhile. I really love stitching the alphabet and making mini samplers. I chose 32ct. Belfast Platinum linen with DMC threads. This is such a soft linen and I wish I had more of it!!

Growly Gray Cat Update

Um, so on Saturday night, as I was a bit tipsy from a night of dancing with my GF, I was walking, in my heels, towards my apartment, when the fellow who lives across from us was going outside for his smoke. I decided to ask him if he has seen the big fat gray cat and if he belongs to anyone. He said "Ya, he belongs to a lady in the building next to us. She works for the SPCA." I replied "Aw that's too bad because we were thinking of taking him." So there you have it. He is someone's cat. I have to say I'm a bit sad about this, because after some thought, I really wanted this cat. He's pretty cool and his growling is the best.

I'll leave you with a few photos of some great thrift finds I bought awhile back.

Blue wine glass to add to my blue collection, found for $1

Hand painted Russian bowl found for $1.00!!

Take care and happy stitching!!

Anne

100 Followers/1st Year Blogoversary Giveaway!!!

2011-09-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

'Allo!!

Okay, I've finally figured out what I'm going to do for my 100th follower/blogoversary giveaway. I'm actually at 112 followers, so a big thank you to those who have joined my blog!!! I've been trying to go through all of your photos and add myself to your blogs, but sometimes your blog isn't linked. Check out my post about how to do this here: blogging help.

Before I go headlong into the giveaway, here's a pic of my not so "small" pillow. It may look small but it isn't, and it's not really big enough to be an actual pillow.

My husband thinks the length is a bit strange but what does he know!! I kind of like it: all oblong like and odd! I'm glad I made use of some of Denise's lace trims that I won awhile back. Thanks again Denise!

Okay....drunk roll (typo and I'm keeping it....not drunk at all by the way!)....

Oof, sorry about the photos. They looked so much better on my cell than up here! Alas, what can I do?
Anywho, I chose 3 fabrics: 27 ct. natural linen, 28 ct. beige linen, unknown count evenweave from my mother's old stash. Both my sister, me and now you will have a piece of this really soft evenweave, perfect for smalls! Assorted DMC threads that I seem to have doubles/triples of and won't use in the near future. Some left over Carrie's Threads from Tanglewood that is somewhat substantial compared to the remaining threads that I have leftover. The colours are: Mud Pie, Double Fudge Brownie, and Blue Dreams. Some pretty lace, cord and pins for finishing. Plus the TBA pincushion and tea!!

Giveaway!!! Rules, yes there are. I'm a teacher so I like me some rules!

1. Be a follower

2. Comment on this post

3. Tell me your favourite colour or colour combo, i.e. blue/green, purple/red, etc.

4. What kind of tea you like to drink, i.e., black, green, herbal, etc.

That's it! No need to post anywhere, just enjoy my blog and spread the love!!

The reason I need your fav colour and tea is because I will be contacting the winner and showing him/her three or four designs to choose from to make a pin cushion that will be in this style: pincushion. Just scroll down a bit and you will see what I mean. It will be faster for me to stitch and sew something simple yet elegant. My friend loves hers and uses it to stick her pins in when she's sewing. I also want to add a super yummy tea to the mix from my favourite Canadian tea store, David's Tea. Take a look through the website when you can and let me know which one you would love to try.

Okay there you have it, my giveaway. I will have this open for two weeks, so you can join until September 30th at midnight. I will do the draw on Saturday morning. I will have my hubby draw for me. Last time it was my darling Lucy who pulled out Joyce's name by her wee wet paw. I guess my man will have to do.

Good luck to all and I will be happily stitching tonight and a wee bit tomorrow before I go off dancing with my gf's!!

Ciao!

Growly Gray Cat, Hums and Haws

2011-09-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Thank you to all who voted and joined my blog! Just before I sat down to type this out, I spent over an hour looking through my stuff trying to decide what was worthy and what wasn't. I have a hard time making decisions, but I think it will be a good one in the end. In regards to the pincushion, since it won the most votes, I will try and make it personalized and have the winner decide from two or three designs I could quickly make. I will give more details next week or earlier when I post the giveaway. Getting to a 100 followers might take awhile so I'm not going to have all of you wait too much longer. Just let me gather a couple more bits and bobs and away we go!!

Onto the tales of the Growly Gray cat. So about a week or so ago, when my brother came into the city, there was this Gray FAT cat that tried to "sneak" into our building. Seriously, could he even try to sneak being that large??? I tried picking him up to take him back out, but he just plopped onto my hand...and boy was he heavy! Like a small child! Anywho, I managed to finally pick him up, without breaking my back, and put him gently outside, giving him a few pats. About 5 minutes later, as we were getting into the car, Mr. Growly Gray started to pick a fight with a familiar Slim Orange Stripey cat. The two went at it, much to my horror, so I jumped out and yelled and clapped my hands, telling them both off for not settling their disagreements like adults...but do adults settle amicably? Needless to say, they took their fight elsewhere, out of my reach and into the dark.

Fast forward to two days ago. I went downstairs to do some laundry and I noticed Growly Gray lurking around the basement. I said "What are you doing inside again? Do you belong to anyone?" Of course he turned on his charm and rubbed my leg. Again, I pick him up...was he getting heavier?...and put him outside. Then another tenant came out and we had a chat about who's cat he could be and why are people letting him into or out of the building. (We had flee problems in the building awhile back from people letting their cats in and out. Since then, our landlord outlawed outdoor cats). It seems to me that he is someone's cat because this cat just seems far too familiar with the building.

Alright now the good part. Last night, as my husband put out a spider in the hallway (we couldn't kill it), Growly Gray sauntered, like no one would notice into our apartment. Seriously this cat thinks he's all stealth-like and sneaky. HA! He walked around our kitchen smelling everything, and growling, literally like a dog. I think he could still smell Lucy because along with the growls, he started to hiss randomly!! We were laughing so hard I think I pulled a tummy muscle! His growls were the best thing in the world! So of course my husband looks at me and asks "Can we keep him? It's fate he walked into our apartment! This must be the cat for us!" I had to tell him no. Reasons why, well, again, we don't know if he belongs to anyone, he's sooooo big and it wouldn't be fair to contain him to an apartment. I seriously don't know what to do. I'm thinking of putting up some posters around the neighbourhood and hopefully someone will respond. If not then I have to call the SPCA and have someone pick him up. Now I know I want to foster a cat, and it does seem like fate, but I really don't know anything about this Growly Gray guy and it would be too much for him, and for us, to be indoors. He needs open space to hunt. He's a mini mountain lion!! Story to be continued.....

Onto stitching news. I've gotten really far on my Tea Bath Fairy and finished my Autumn Crow. I pulled some fabric from Fabricland and am now humming and hawing about how to finish it as a pillow. It's sort of too big to be ornamental, and too small to be a pillow. I can't decide what to do!!

I think I'll go ahead and sew it and just deal with it.

Stay tuned for the giveaway details. I may get organized enough to work it out for the weekend.

PS: Joyce is hosting the ISHW again!! Go and join in the fun!!!

Cheers

Anne

The Queen's Finished and She Looks Good!

2011-09-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

The Queen's Sampler is complete! I really enjoyed stitching this design by Plum Street Samplers. The silks were dreamy and the 40 ct linen wasn't too bad to count on!! I actually really like 40 ct. now and can't wait to stitch on it some more! Here she is in all her finery.

Started March 2011

Finished September 2011

Stitched on 40 ct. Vintage Examplar Lakeside Linen

Used NPI silks

The Queen's Sampler by Plum Street Samplers

What do you think of the frame? It is an old frame I bought when I was a teen down in Gastown, Vancouver. I might want a wooden frame, but since I already have this one and it fits perfectly, why not right?

After finishing Elizabeth, I motored onto With Thy Needle and Threads freebie and am loving how this is coming along!! The stitches just pop out of the fabric and it's a really nice break to stitch on 32ct. The piece of linen I'm using was gifted to me by a VERY generous friend! Thank you so much for the linens!!

I tried to email Brenda, but since there is no email attached to her profile, I will thank her here. Thank you for the lovely pattern!!

Now I am thinking of restitching the letters and making them a bit darker, more in the brown tones. I am finding that the colours are far too close to the leaves, and I really want to make the letters pop, especially of mine and my husband's initials.

I also have been slowly working on Tiny Rose Mandala, but I often need a break from the stiff fabby. It's pretty but hard to work with!

Soooo, I'm nearly at 100 followers and it's close to my blogoversary. I'm thinking that when I hit 100 followers, I might as well combine the two. The problem is, I can't decide what to give away. I have a couple pieces of linen and aida that I could give away, some DMC threads (not many specialty threads that haven't already been used), and some lace bits. So what do you think? Shall I add those plus a pincushion to the mix? I've added a poll to the side. You can choose all, 1, or however many you think would be good.

I'll close the poll a week from today and hopefully I'll be at 100 followers. Psst, pass it on!!!

Take care and happy stitching!!

PS: Going to a union meeting tomorrow, so we will see what happens with the strike. Maybe it will clear up some of my questions!!

Upcoming Blogoversary and a Smattering of Stitching.

2011-09-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

September is here, and I feel the slight change in the weather already. Usually in September, I tend to feel very excited for the upcoming school year. Although I am still a bit excited, I am also a bit worried and perplexed as to what to do. Our teachers in my province are beginning the phase 1 of our strike. I have mixed emotions about this. On one hand I fully stand by the union, however, I also am not in any position to not work. I was just applying to various school districts today, when I realized, hey, we can't communicate with vp's or principals, so why am I even bothering to apply?!? I know I need to clarify this with our union rep, but it's filling me with some anxiety. I shouldn't get into this here for it's very complicated.

Aside from school and searching for full time work, I have had a very busy couple of days. My sister and my brother, with their significant others, stayed with me for a few days although not at the same time. I had a lovely time with them both, and enjoyed the time spent with my younger siblings. Now I am a bit tired and eager to get to stitching, since I neglected it for a few days!

Also, I realized my first blogoversary is coming up!! Wow, a year in blogging! I have come far in the bonny land of stitching blogs and have loved meeting new and fascinating people over the year. I am thinking of a giveaway, but I need to mull over what to giveaway and what to make for the winner. Let me think on it for a bit, and I will post in a couple of days. This maybe a belated giveaway, but I will have one!!

Thank you again for all your lovely comments and exclamations of "YOU ARE CRAZY TO DO 1 OVER 1!!!" Indeed I am, but it will pay off in the end when I can stand back and think "I WAS OUT OF MY MIND!!" yet being pleased as punch that I was nuts!!!

Cat card from Teresa

The cat card came from Teresa the other day and it really made my day. It was so thoughtful of her to send me a little card and some of the beads for Shepherds Bush's Tiny Garden Fob. I love it! I've ordered the threads for the chart, so hopefully it will come soon!!

Happy Stitching!!

New Start on My First Ever HAED!!

2011-08-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hello all!!

I have to give a big warm thank you to all who commented on my Tanglewood as well as those who have given me their condolences on Lucy's passing. It has meant a lot to me to receive hugs, thoughts and prayers from all of you, so MERCI BEAUCOUP MES AMIES! I am still trolling around looking for frames for Tanglewood, but I may have to take it in to a framer to make a frame for me, then I'll do the framing myself. Perhaps. I don't know. On such an epic piece of stitching, I don't want to make any mistakes!!! My indecisiveness can get the better of me.

Also a big hello to my new followers!! I have been trying to add people who join my blog, but sometimes I don't know where their blog is. If you want people to know about your blog, you can link your blog to your profile page:    1.Click on your "Edit Profile", which is beside your picture
                      2. Click "select blogs to display" button
                      3. Add your blog!
Voila! Now I can find your blog and become a follower! There have been some blogs that has taken me almost a year to find and add myself as a follower. Now some people may not want to do this, and this is fine, but I thought I might give out a helpful tip to those who may not know about this feature.

Alright, onto stitching news. After finishing Tanglewood, I began a new big project, or BAP, which I think means Big Ass? Project. I can't think of anything to substitute the A for other than that word, so now its stuck in my head when I see BAP. Now that I think about it, maybe it means Art? Anywho, I began Tea Bath Fairy. Wow. Loads of confetti. Tiny stitches. Endless pages. My eyes hurt. Needle is bending. My husband shakes head. Whew, what did I get myself into?!! That aside, I kind of enjoy the pain of the project. I think I made it more difficult on myself by choosing to do 1over 1 on 28 ct. Evenweave. I fiddled around with different counts and ways of stitching, and settled on 1 over 1. Now I'm deep into it and I can't go back! To top it off, I was looking at starting the Jane Philpott Sampler and thinking of buying 40 ct linen!! I'm mad!! PS, this sampler with the threads and fabric is pricey...may have to save up for it for awhile.

ACK!

A few more thoughts to add here. My auntie was cleaning out her basement and found a never used sewing basket, and guess who she gave it to? ME! I was elated to have this basket as it looks just like my mom's and my Nana's. Yesterday I spent a lot of time organizing the basket and loved that my stash was no longer hanging by the wayside on my sewing desk. I also was given my grandma's retro cigarette bowls, which I use for decoration of course! I love the bright orange colours!!

So beautiful!

Look at it all neat and tidy!

As for the autumn pattern, I found the designer!! Yay!! Its from With Thy Needle and Thread, and I think I'm allowed to post a link to her website. I may have to edit the last post and take off the picture because I'm not really sure about this comment: IMPORTANT ~ this chart is for your own personel use. Chart may not be printed and sold, shared electronically via email, websites or blogs, or used as a free hand out. Hmm. Can someone clarify that for me because I just wanted to find out who the designer was and I don't want to be doing something illegal. I never take a pattern that isn't posted as a freebie from the designer, and I always send a picture of the finished work to the designer, because, well they ask for it and I like to show them what I did with their design.

Some stash I've been meaning to post. Thinking about a quaker design with the threads.

The Jane Philpott 1837 Sampler

I think I have stitching ADD.

Cheers and Hugs!!

Anne

Happy Dance! Tanglewood Completed! Great IHSW Weedkend!

2011-08-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

The epic journey of Tanglewood has been completed as of today. With the IHSW weekend, I managed to finish the clouds off and think about what to do with the stain. So today, I added my name and year to the bottom, and stitched a butterfly to cover the stain. I tinkered with my initials over it but the stain would not have been covered very well, hence why I chose the wee lil' butterfly to float into my Tangelwood! The stain will be a fond reminder of my darling Lucy and not at all a blemish to the piece. I remember all the trials and tribulations I had whilst stitching Tanglewood, and I can hardly wait to find the perfect frame for my first major project!

HAPPY DANCE!!


Started February 2011, Finished August 22, 2011

Stitched on 32 Sandstone Linen with Carrie's Threads

Not only did I complete Tanglewood on Sunday, but I also worked on the Queen's Sampler. The Queen is nearly complete and I only have a few more motifs to add and it too will be finished!

My brain is already over flowing with ideas for new smalls for this autumn and winter. Along with Chatelaine's Tiny Rose Mandala, HAED's Tea Bath Fairy, I think I will start on a cute autumn pumpkin and crow pattern that is a freebie (from where I don't know and if you do let me know!), and start on Shepherd's Bush Tiny Garden. With a massive finish like I had today, I feel the need to tackle more!!

Take care!

Anne

Back from Camping: Two Part Post

2011-08-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Good News Post

My view

Hello everyone! It has been awhile since I have been in blogland. Trying to catch up on everyone's posts, but blogger is being stupid and not updating my blog roll! So I have to go to my dashboard and individually click on people's blogs to see if there are updates! Anywho, technical blogger issues aside, I have come back from a week camping and cycling in Porpoise Bay, BC. My husband and I visited Porpoise Bay last year for our anniversary and loved it so much, we just had to return! This time, we had a whole week to relax and camp and cycle back and forth into Sechelt (which is about a 10-15km ride everyday). When we weren't in town, I relaxed on the beach and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the quiet peace you can't get in the city. Wow could I breathe better!! No stuffed nose!

My Man boy flying kite

I have to say this: My husband is an AMAZING camper!! He is like the MacGuyver of camping!! Not only did he pitch the tent and set up everything, but he cooked everyday, started the fire, fixed bikes with his tools, made a cover for our tent in case it rained with fishing wire and electrical tape, carried massive amounts of weight on his bike (mainly beer and ice), set up a washing line, cleaned the dishes (although I helped) and made sure I was comfortable. Who could ask for a better man?!!!!

Hwaja chilling at the beach

Our friends joined us the following weekend, as well as my Uncle Peter. We had a blast exploring the forests and the salmon spawning grounds. Our friends brought their little Chihuahua named Hwaja and he got his camp on!! He loved every minute of it and was such a good little doggie!
The only thing he didn't like was being told not to wander off to the other cyclists camps. He wanted free range!!

Here are some more photos of my trip.

Witches hazel growing on trees, means the air is fresh here

Salmon spawning grounds

Beautiful boats lined up by the shore at Davis Bay

Hubby riding up epic hill

It was a lovely trip and I am quite proud of myself for cycling all the way there and back. My legs were like jelly when I arrived home, but it felt amazing.

When we arrived home, I had the best mail ever! First, Teresa, from Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches, sent me her Shepherd's Bush chart Tiny Gardens!! How generous of her and I can't wait to start this adorable little pattern! I'm thinking that once I'm finished with the chart, I can send it off to the next person who would love to stitch it too! Make it a traveling pattern?! The next RAK, is from my good friend Joyce, from Random Ramblings. We have developed a lovely friendship and she has been so kind as to send me some of her 25 count lugana for stitch HAED patterns with! I couldn't believe how kind both these ladies are and I hope to use their charts and fabric really soon!! Hugs to you both!!!

Fabrics and chart from Teresa and Joyce!

Also I need to add that Joyce is hosting this month's ISHW!! So hop over to her blog and join in the fun! I won't be able to hermit until Sunday but I can't wait to hunker down and do some stitching.

Okay, onto Part Two: Bad News

After a wonderful camping trip, our beloved cat, Lucy aka Luchia, passed away at my Nana's home. We left her with my Nana, knowing that when we came back, we would have to make the tough decision to put her down. She was 17 years old at least. She could have been much older. I think she waited until we came home to go to sleep. It was Wednesday early afternoon, when she took her last breath. My darling Lucy, you were loved so much and we can't believe you are gone. My precious orange creamcycle kitty, I will miss your purrs, head butts, little paws, your meows, your love and affection.
We are beside ourselves with grief and it is surreal for us to have her gone. Today I have stopped crying because I need to be happy for my friend who is getting married tomorrow. It will be good to distract myself and think of something else.
She is buried under a tree and her little spirit will live in that tree. Here she is a few years ago. I can't post recent pictures of her, because she was so thin and it hurts me to see her like that. I want to remember her like this:

Take care, love your family and animals because we never know when they can go.

Anne

Wedding Heart Framed, Sunshine Coast Here I Come!!!!!

2011-08-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

I arrived back in Vancouver on Thursday and spent the day holding my hubby close to me. We missed each other so much after twelve days, we didn't want to be parted again. After a day and night of snuggling, I spent my Friday traveling on stinky transit :( I really didn't like being back in the city, especially on the skytrain. It made me tense again, trying to jostle in and out of the skytrain, buses, and stores. Because I am so small, people tend to bump into me and actually run me over!! With my shoulders tender, I found my way to Michael's so I could find the perfect frame for my friend's wedding heart that I finished in Prince George. With a lot of humming and hawing for 15 minutes over one so-so frame, I glanced up and saw a gorgeous hanging frame on the side!!! I grabbed it with glee, placed my piece inside to see the effect, and was overjoyed to find that it fight PERFECTLY!!! YAY! With my frame in hand I also decided to pick up the 30 + DMC threads for an HAED pattern that my mother bought for me!!! It will be my first HAED piece ever! I can see the addiction to those patterns and I have already made a wishlist with beautiful pieces that I dream of completing. Anywho, HAED obsession aside, when I arrived at the counter to pay for my purchases, they had a 15% teacher discount flier! Whoohoo!!!

Ashley's Wedding Heart

I added the little heart charms to the pattern for a personal touch. I think they look gorgeous, even though I couldn't manage to lay them perfect, they are charming!

In other stitching news, I did actually throw some stitches into Tanglewood's sky. I'm nearly finished so I will wait til it is all completed to reveal the finished piece. But that won't be until later on this month. I won't be able to keep up with anyone's blog or my own until after August 21st. I have tried to comment on everyone's blog, but I am very far behind! Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post. Your comments encourage me to stitch more and to finish my pieces!! So again thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Tea Bath Fairy, isn't she darling?!

Tiny Rose Mandala by Chatelaine, Freebie

Oh, and I also started another Chatelaine freebie, Tiny Rose Mandala, stitched on 32 ct Opalescent Lugana. I find this fabric very hard to work with because it is so stiff, but I really like the sparkles!!!!

My morning sun on the side of my parents' house, PG, BC

Take care and happy stitching!!!

Vacation, Bec's Giveaway, Mad Stash

2011-07-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Welcome to my new followers! Thank you for reading my blog and deciding its somewhat interesting enough to follow.

Bec from Bec's Cross Stitch Creations is having an amazing giveaway! She is very talented and her blog is always a lot of fun to read, so you should head over there and congratulate her and join in her giveaway!!

So here I am in Prince George, on my parent's computer, which is taking some time to get used to, wondering what happened to the sun? We get a bit of sun, then suddenly RAIN. Like torrential RAIN!! The rain that falls is the kind that comes and goes in a split second. I kind of like it though because it reminds me of my broody teenage years listening to Ani DiFranco or The Cure looking out my window and being all wispy about life. It leaves a wonderful scent on the grass and pavement and is the kind of rain you want to run around in (which I've yet to do but will if it comes again!). Anywho, I am enjoying my visit here but it would be nice to get some more Vitamin D! I wish I could ask the clouds to go visit the rest of Canada and the USA to let all of you cool down a bit. Hopefully soon the heat wave will let up.

Misty chewing on a bone

Now, my mother pulled out loads of old stitching and stash. Some of it was mine, but mostly hers. It was like shopping in my room!!! So much fun going through all her bits of fabric, buttons, trim, threads, patterns and scissors!! I am taking quite a bit back with me and thinking of saving some of the aida and patterns for a future giveaway because neither she nor I will use it and it should go to a good home. I have worked a teeny tiny bit on my projects, but my visit has not allowed me a lot of stitching time.

One of the many Precious Moments I stitched when a teen

Made this for a girl in Uganda who passed away. Very sad.

Red aida and some kind of evenweave

Kreinik, sharp scissors and a box of buttons

A pattern I bought but would like to giveaway, I'll set that up another time

My mom started this, I think I'll finish it as a pin pillow

Nearly done. Contemplating how to do initials and the date

Leaves almost done. Not sure how to cover the stain

Take care and happy stitching!!!

Carving on a tree

An Award, Lace, Lavender, Tiny Progress

2011-07-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

So first up I must give a big thank you to Teresa from Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches for awarding me the most stylish blogger award. I was pleasantly surprised to be awarded anything!! Now since I have been busy like a bee, and blogging takes time which cuts into my minimal stitching time, therefore I have been remiss with following the rules. At the end of this post I will award a few blogs that I enjoy reading because so many of the ones I read have already been awarded! Thanks again Teresa!!!

I also have to give a BIG HUG to Denise from Riverside Stitching for sending me an inordinate amount of lace!!! Look at them all!!!

Now I have to make a lot more smalls and other projects to use all those lovely trims!!

Onto stitching news. Not much to report. Sigh. But I have done some stitching! I started stitching my friend's wedding heart, but frogged out the bit I did because I didn't like the Anchor White that I had in my stash since I was a teen. The floss was really fluffy and didn't lay properly. So I used Gentle Arts Sampler Thread Oatmeal which is pretty much the same as the white. Luckily I had this thread because I only have four choices of specialty threads!! I like it much better because it isn't fluffy and it stitches nicely.

I won't bother with pictures of the 3 or 4 leaves I stitched onto Tanglewood. Not worth showing. I managed to fill up the queen's skirt a bit more than before.

Here's a picture of my TUSAL threads. I decided to follow that SAL along even though it was too late to enter. I kind of like how the threads look in my pretty white porcelain cup.

Everything else

Tanglewood TUSAL

Some lavender that I collected. Lavender is one of my favourite flowers and I can't get enough of it!

I would love to pass the Stylish Blog Award to these blogs.
1. Joyce from Random Ramblings
2. Rhona from Tangled Threads
3. Bec from Bec's Cross Stitch Creations
4. Sana from Tussie Mussie
5. Lesleyanne from Lesleyanne's Life of Stitches
6. Lissanne from Lissanne Creations and Stitching
7. Jo from Serendipitous Stitching

The rules are very simple:

1. Thank the person who has awarded you.
2. List seven things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to 15 other stylish bloggers.

What I really like about the award is learning a bit about everyone. Here are my seven things about myself:

1. Born in city of Vancouver, raised in the countryside of Prince George (got the best of both worlds)
2. Can play piano, guitar but never took lessons
3. Danced Ukrainian dancing from age 8-16
4. I can speak French somewhat and some Russian
5. I started stitching at age 8 or 9 and was obsessed with stitching Precious Moments designs...gave them all away to family
6. I'm addicted to french fries and would take them over chocolate
7. Have read almost every book by a Russian author, War and Peace is still remaining.

There you have it!! Happy Stitching and until next time, I will be up in Prince George visiting my family!! Pray for sunshine!!

Quick Update

2011-07-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

So I have been fairly busy with working at a summer school camp this week. My stitching has not been progressing as much as I'd like, but that's how life goes. Summertime for me is more about being active and being outside, hence why my stitching has taken a little vacation. I also want to say that I haven't been very good lately at leaving comments, but I have been checking everyone's stitching!!! Here's a couple pictures of what I've done so far in the past two weeks...also starting a freebie wedding heart pattern from the Needleprint Blog for my girlfriend who is getting married in August. Since it's a small pattern, I should be able to get it done in time!!


The grey has a slight purple tone to it, very pretty

Outling done!! Leaves in progress!

Tiny progress on Queen's dress

Finally framed for my friend!! Gave it to her and she loved it!!

Until next time...happy stitching!!

Weekend Update and I won a Giveaway!!!!

2011-06-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

I had a fairly productive weekend for stitching. Managed to edge three branches plus stitched two leaves because I was bored of the browns. As for the Queen's Sampler, I managed to fill in the rest of the gold, which took awhile, and finished stitching the saying. I loved stitching the letters on the sampler and am thinking about using my red silk and leftover 40 count to make a French red alphabet sampler. I've always loved the French obsession with red samplers and have thought for awhile about making one for myself. But now I seem to have a lot of projects that need to get started: Dad's xmas ornament, two friends' wedding samplers, a pin cushion for my sister and now my red alphabet sampler. Oi!! Loads of stitching and not enough time!!

I'm still waiting for the postal strike to end and receive my stash that I ordered, send off Joyce's giveaway gift and receive Denise's giveaway that I won! Last weekend I won Denise's generous trim giveaway!!! Look at all those amazing trims!! Whoohoo!! Can't wait to receive them and use for all sorts of smalls :D Can't believe I won such a wonderful giveaway! Congrats to Sherry and Blustitcher for winning her giveaway too!! Lucky us!

Take care!

Anne

Giveaway WINNER!!!!

2011-06-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of summer and my first giveaway.

Drum roll..................................The Winner is...................Joysze from Random Ramblings!!!!!!!!!

Congrats Joyce (I hope I'm spelling your name right!)!!!

Here are the pictures of the bowl I placed everyone's name in, along with their blogs. Then Lucy, my cat, picked the winner! It was sort of unplanned as I had my husband put her paws in there to mix it around (although I mixed them around before because I didn't think it would work with cat paws). Then he had her pull out a name, and it was Joyce!!

Pretty bowl from Anthropologie with the names

Lucy thinking about whether this is her food or not

Her wet paws pulled out a winner!


She's showing me the winner

Joyce!!!! Although I spelled your name from your profile...long day!

So there you have it. My first winner and it was fun! I thank everyone who participated and will be doing another one for my blogiversary in September. I am so happy to have met so many great new stitching friends!!

IHSW Monday Update

2011-06-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

Good day all. This was my first weekend to participate in IHSW and I have to say I loved it! It was nice to get down and just stitch, even though I didn't really start until Saturday evening. I had to run around after the dentist and pick up a few more items for my giveaway and have tea with my Nana at Murchies. I am pretty happy with my progress I made on Sunday. Between doing laundry and other chores, I managed to get the edging done on the biggest branche in Tanglewood and almost finished another branch!! Whoohoo! I decided to plus away at the Queen's Sampler too when I needed a break from all those browns in Tangelwood. It was nice to switch back and forth from tiny count to bigger count. Although on Saturday night, I made an error in miscounting by 1 thread in the Queen's Sampler and had to rip out the letters "ELIZA" the next day. Quite irritating because I wasted a bunch of red silk :( I am looking forward to seeing everyone's progress and will be checking throughout the day.

LAST DAY TO ENTER GIVEAWAY!!

I added some DMC threads to the prize and a special tea from a Canadian company. It's one of my favourite non-caffeinated teas so I hope the winner will enjoy it. I will do the drawing tomorrow night after work so good luck to all!!

Debi's Roses Finished!

2011-06-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

I finished Debi's Roses on Sunday and took it out for a photo session in the park! (Insert laugh here)The photos didn't turn out as good as I wanted them but oh well. I think it was the blinding sunlight. Couldn't tell if the photos worked or not. I wanted to post the pictures earlier this week but have been too exhausted from long days of teaching kids with faaaaaar too much energy to even bother trying to type/post do anything. What is it about kids in June???? Why are they so wacky and nutty??? Oh right, it's almost SUMMER!!! Being a teacher on call I get the worse wacky doodle behavior! I can hardly wait to have my own class. One day soon I hope!

Anywho, I am pleased about finishing Debi's Roses and decided to leave the edges clean too. I kinda started the urge to pick up another Chatelaine design so I began stitching Tiny Rose Mandala. However, I didn't like the linen I was stitching it on. I want to use lugana so I bought some early one morning while my husband was sleeping..hehe. He still doesn't know! Now, our postal workers have shut down service completely!! Ack! This is not good for my stash or my giveaway. I hope they settle the dispute soon. If it doesn't resolve by the time of my giveaway draw, I will keep the winner posted.

Also if anyone is interested in doing IHSW (International hermit and stitch weekend) go to Joyce's blog Random Ramblings and enter your name to join in on the fun! I'm thinking of trying to get more branches done and more progress on my Queen's Sampler.

There's still time to enter the giveaway! Enter your comment by clicking on the post in my sidebar!

Take care and happy stitching!

Silks and 40 Count Linen

2011-06-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

I see why everyone raves about silks. They are the sofest, silkiest, most dreamiest threads to work with!! I decided that I needed to take a break from outlining my Tanglewood branches and beading Debi's Roses to start working on The Queen's Sampler by Plum Street Samplers. I couldn't believe how luxurious the silks are to work with. They almost never get tangled and glide into the fabric with ease. The linen I'm using for the sampler is on eensy weensy 40 count linen. My first time ever using such a high count linen. I am thinking about purchasing a magnifier glass to preserve my eyes!! The recommended instructions in the pattern is to use only 1 strand of floss, however, the picture of the sampler looks like they used 2 strands. I tried using two but it's quite bulky on such tiny fabric. I do like the effect of the 1 strand on the fabric and I would rather save my silks for future projects.

The urn and flower is as small as a quarter!!

Now I have also been plugging away at Tanglewood but there is still a lot of work to do! I thought I was near the end but the outlining of the branches is taking me longer than expected...so no happy dance quite yet! Both sides of Debi's Roses is complete with the beading and I am getting prepared to make my second biscornu!

Don't forget to add a comment for my giveaway! The link is here. I would appreciate people adding it to their side bar but it is in no way a requirement. I am going to add some little extras too for the winner but thought I would keep it a surprise!!

Take care and happy stitching!

Biscornu Finished and a Summer Giveaway!!!!!

2011-06-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! I finally finished my first biscornu and I have to say that I really enjoyed the process. I finished it off with some pretty buttons I found at Fabricland.

As for the giveaway, well I have been contemplating this for sometime and would love to give away my first biscornu!! I do not have much in the way of stash to give away so I purchased some ribbon and fat quarters to make it a worthy giveaway. This is just a way to thank the stitching community for all their help, encouragement and inspiration to expand my stitching horizons, and to finish my projects! I have made many new friends here and cannot believe I have 44 followers!! Whoohoo!! So without further adieu, here are the requirements for entering the draw for my humble giveaway on June 21, the first day of summer:

Be a follower of my blog
Make a comment on this post if you would like to be entered into the draw

That's it! Very simple! Each person who comments will be entered into the draw once, just to make it easier for me seeing as this is my first giveaway. The deadline to enter is June 20 and on the next day I will answer the winner!!!! Now I have to let you all know, that the Canada Postal workers have gone on strike, so I am hoping by that time, the issues will be resolved. If it looks like they will strike longer, I will let the winner know and keep them informed.

EDITED: I can ship internationally so this is open to all! Also I've been getting mail so it doesn't look like the stirke has hit BC yet (fingers crossed!)

Good luck to all!!

Anne

PS I got a new cell phone and I looooove the camera!!!!!

Nearly done Tanglewood!

2011-05-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

I'm very close to finishing Tanglewood and I am happy yet sad at the same time. It has been a lot of joy stitching this piece and a lot of interesting stitching memories have gone into each stitch! As for my biscornus, well, I finished the back of Barbi's design, and nearly done the other side of Debi's Roses. I wanted to stitch them together, however, I was dog sitting this whole week and couldn't find the iron to iron down the edges to make the biscornu. Now I have to run off this weekend for church and work is super busy next week! Hopefully on Sunday night I will have some time to stitch it together. I have decided to leave the edges clean on Barbi's design and bead Debi's Roses. I think both will look fantastic!

Onto other news, Nataly is having an amazing glogiversary give away! Hop over to her blog and wish her congrats. Nataly's stitching is always a pleasure to look at and her finishes are lovely! Click here for her blog: http://natalysneedle.blogspot.com/


The edging of the branches will take awhile!

Cute bird showing off his colourful feathers

Biscornu back, a simpler version of the front

Not Much Progress

2011-05-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

As my post title states, not much progress to report :(

I have been more than sidetracked with life. My sister came to visit after my mother left, so I had her to entertain. I've been working a lot which leaves me tired at the end of the day...kids suck up your energy!!! My husband's birthday was yesterday, so there was that to plan and run around for. Oh, and I made bread for my first time!! Tons of fun to make bread! It didn't look that great, but it tasted amazing. With all of that going, where did my stitching go?? It was staring at me pleading to be worked on!! Especially those biscornus. I have started working on the backs of them but I am really unsure of how I want to finish them. Beading the edges seems to me to take a lot of time and I really just want to get one done. Tassels are not my best friend, and no matter how much I try to make them look good, they never do. So hopefully this weekend will be a bit quieter and I can finally get my biscornu's under way.

Questions on finishing

Suggestions to making beading go faster? Should I stitch up the biscornus then bead with the beading needle if I feel they need a little pizazz? Or just leave the edges clean?

Pics of slow progress. Also a pic of the picture frames I found while scouring the Lower mainland thrift shops. Still no frame found good enough for my geisha girl!

Thinking of projects to fill the frames with

Daffycat's Bunny Arrived!!

2011-05-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

So today when I got up, I raced down to the mailbox and found Sharon's, aka Daffycat, package waiting for me!! I couldn't believe how cute the little bunny fob is with its silk ribbon and tiny beads stitched in along the sides. Sharon your work is incredible! And it smelled of lavender too! My sister is visiting from Prince George and both her and I were amazed at Sharon's finishing skills. I have a lot to learn still and hope one day with practice I can make sweet little finishes like Sharon's and everyone else that I am friends with in blogland.

Thanks again for your gift Sharon!

Bunny Fob made by Sharon aka Daffycat

At home with my stork scissors


This would not load the right way for some reason

I decided to have fun with my sister's camera and take close ups of Debi's Roses, which I still need to finish!

Waiting to be beaded


Only a few more branches to do!


Having fun with the macro setting!

Take care!

Anne

New Stash and Progress

2011-04-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I finally got my first silks ever!! Whoohoo! They sure are soft and silky. I am excited to try them out but I want to finish a few things first. I still haven't finished Debi's Roses. It's taking a lot longer than I thought and I still need to do two more sides for the biscornus. I have progressed on Tanglewood though. I had a serious stitching marathon last night and managed to finish a branch and start another. The q-snap frames are a bit bigger than I had expected (I'm lousy with measurements and estimated the length of the qsnaps). I think I need to purchase the next size down for my other projects. I do like them though! They keep the fabric taught and don't cause creases if I put felt in between the fabric and the frame. I picked that trick up from someone's blog. Whose I can't remember but thank you for the tip!! I also love the new linens I got: Stone Gray Belfast, Antique White and natural linen. Now I need to get more charts!! This stash buying is highly addictive! I want to find a really nice sampler to stitch on my new Antique white linen so I've been browsing samplers and can't decide on the one I want to stitch. I have a couple in mind but I really should finish what I have now then decide later. I hope everyone is having a great day! It's finally warming up here and it is sunny out!

Take care

Anne

Nearly done!

Queen's Sampler kitted up!


First silks!!!

New linens!

Tangle progress in Qsnap frame!

Pascha (Easter) Weekend!!

2011-04-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Post edited because I just won a hidden giveaway from Daffycat, aka Sharon!! Wow! This is my first giveaway I have won and my first piece of stitching from someone else other than myself!! I was just thinking today as I was writing this post about making something to giveaway, however, it would have to be a good finish to even qualify. I'll mull over the biscornus and if they turn out well, perhaps I'll send one off to continue spreading the kindness that bestowed upon me.
Thank you again Sharon for this lovely surprise!

Hello all!

Just wanted to say how amazed I am that I have 36 followers! Wow! Thank you all for joining my humble blog. I now realize I have an audience so perhaps I should update everyone with what's been going on, with stitching and life. I have been pretty busy these past two weeks with working, church and with family. My mother has come down from Prince George for Pascha. Pascha to the Orthodox is the most important time of year, and it certainly is for our family. We have very long services so that has taken up a lot of my time. This weekend we start our Paschal service at 11p.m. and it goes until 1-2 am in the morning. When the service ends we are all joyful and break the fast with diary (yahoo!), meat (yahoo!!) and wine (double yahoo!!!). After 40 days of being vegan you can bet I'm looking forward to my Nana's famous pancakes, kuleech (Russian pascha bread), and syrnee pascha (phonetic Russian spelling of our really RICH AND TASTY cheese spread). We will be busy preparing for the big day with cooking, dying eggs and praying.

So with all of this going on I won't be stitching to much. But here is a few things I have been working on but haven't finished yet. I'm really eager to make my biscornus. I decided to make two. One design is from Barbi and the other from Chatelaine. I will send Barbi a picture of the completed biscornu because she likes to have pictures of her designs. Recently, I have become very interested in Chatelaine designs, but they seem so expensive and detailed that I thought I would try out a little one first before I attempt a larger one. There is a blog of Chatelaine stitchers you should really take a look at. The designs are beautiful and so ornate!

Tanglewood progress

Barbi's design

Debi's Roses from Chatelaine freebie designs


Blurry close up of my first Algerian eyelets!!

Have a wonderful Easter weekend everyone! Христос повышен!!! (Christ is risen!)

Tangled Branch and Cherry Blossoms

2011-04-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

Alright! I got the bulk of the right branch finished today! The outlining still needs to be done, but I think I'll do that after all the branches are complete. I've been still messing around with various different butterfly designs to cover up the stain. I made two but feel they are too geometric for this piece. I searched for a few designs on the internet but found nothing to my liking. I may keep one of the designs I made, we'll see how it turns out!

On to other news, I made a purchase of Q snap frames, linens and my first SILKS!!!!! I am pretty pumped to try out silks for my Queen E design by Plum Street Samplers. I am also thinking of making a few more smalls while I have my big projects underway, that way I won't get bored! My husband wasn't too happy with the purchase though. He says I have enough linens (um only 3-4 plus some scraps!) and threads to make more projects and that I should use up those first before I get anything more! Hmm, we'll see about that! He likes that I do stitching, but doesn't understand the need to have supplies at hand for inspiration. I'll have to work on that with him, hehehe!

And lastly, spring is in full bloom, albeit cold, but blooming nonetheless! On one of our few sunny days, I stayed around downtown while on the way home from work and took some pretty photos of daffodils and cherry blossoms, my favourite tree (along with the magnolia). So many people were taking photos of the trees with great cameras and all I had was my, sigh, cell phone camera. One day soon, after we purchase the rest of our supplies for our bike trip, I will get a new camera.

Take care!

Anne

Cat Post Dedicated to Lucy

2011-04-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a little bit about my dearest cat Lucy aka Luchia, Chia bear. She is around 17-19 years old and is still living the good cat life. My stitching seems to be of a lot of interest to her. I often find her sniffing around my sewing desk area and trying to get into the bag of miscellaneous stitching. She is the culprit that caused the stain on my Tanglewood but I love her still. She is still kooky and going a wee bit senile with her constant howling at night, keeping us up. She is stubborn, like my husband, and refuses to sleep in logical spots. Instead she picks the most illogical spots to sleep in such as: behind the door, on the narrow window ledge (she just fell off again), on top of my laptop, on top of my husband's keyboard (opening up 200 firefoxes), on top of my stitching (but no longer since I put everything up high!) and pretty much anywhere that makes no sense to us!! But she is beloved and sweet and we cherish everyday with her because the day will come soon when we have to make that hard decision. So here are some photos of my darling Luchia.

Stain Faded But Not Gone

2011-04-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

Well, after multiple soaks and prayers that the stain would go away, I managed to minimize it to a small, light purplish blob. I would have soaked it more but the water was running into the other stitching and I had some of my stitches bleed a bit. Sigh. After I came to accept the fate of bleeding threads, I had an idea about what to do with the stain. I am going to stitch either a little butterfly or dragonfly over top the stain, in the direction of the thistles. Not too bad of an idea hey?! I figured why not embrace the stain and work with it, instead of fighting it. I am still mulling over which kind of bug will fly into my Tanglewood, but I think I'm leaning more towards a dragonfly.

Oh and to top off the stain catastrophe, I had to frog out that right branch about three times!! I did read the warnings posted by the ladies stitching Tanglewood on the ICblog about how pesky and troublesome that branch was to stitch. Here I am, stitching along, thinking that I wouldn't screw it up because I was being so careful, yet I did! It was like an optical illusion! I swear!!

Help!! Tanglewood ruined!

2011-03-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow stitchers, I am in need of desperate help. Last night my cat puked up her dinner (while we were out) all over my binder that held my Tanglewood stitching and threads. I took out the stitching and cleaned off the binder and thought, phew, my stitching ok! I didn't really take a good look at it until today when I noticed that some of the threads dyed into my fabric! In a spot that can't be stitched over or hidden!!!! I tried soaking it in water with a gentle soap but it is not coming out!!

What do I do?!

Here is the photo.

The Finishing Weekend!!

2011-03-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Wow! Two projects finished!! I'm amazed I got it all done! Both projects are for friends and I am glad they turned out so well. The first one is a needle book, my first attempt at one and I am happy with the results. The second project was a pin cushion and I really like its simplicity. Here are the photos.


28 Ct Evenweave Threads Desert Dusk Dinky Dyes

The pattern I used for the pincushion is from Aurelle's Blog which has a ton of wonderful patterns for biscornu but I decided that due to limited time, just to make a pin cushion. Next week I will attempt to make a biscornu for myself!!

Take care and happy stitching!!

Anne

Tangled roots

2011-03-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all!!

It's been awhile since I posted anything stitchy but I have been busy stitching!! I finally got all the materials I needed to make a needle book but now I am procrastinating finishing it. This is what my blog is supposed to help me with: motivate me to FINISH!! Of course it is also to meet new friends and share our love for stitching. So why can't I hunker down and finish??? I have the supplies. Maybe its the process of cutting out cardboard that is making me hesitate. I thought about multiple different ways of making a needle book and decided on the cardboard technique. I should have stitched on a long piece of linen and then sewed the needle book together as I have seen some people do. That process would have been easier and faster to do. As I'm writing this I feel the urge to bite the bullet and do it!!!

So I'll be quick with my other update: Tanglewood. I love love love working on this pattern. Though I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of the project. It has taken me three or four evenings just to do the ground and tangled roots of the tree. OI!! So here are some progress pics of my beloved tree.

Sorry about the wrinkles!

Needle book materials

8.9 Earthquake in Japan

2011-03-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was woken up by my brother telling me about tsunami warnings in BC, Canada, so I turned on the news and saw the devastating 8.9 earthquake in Japan. I am sending my prayers for the people of Japan and contacted my friends who are currently over there working and they are okay. Scared but okay. I hope no more earthquakes happen. After the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand, the one in Japan, we have to be prepared for more. I am worried about the potential earthquake here on the coast of BC. I am making an earthquake kit today in the event that it happens. The plates are moving and I fear that there will be more. My heart goes out to all the people who have lost their loved ones.

Stash!!

2011-03-08T17:16:00.000-08:00

Yay!! Finally my threads came and I can continue stitching Tanglewood, since I finished the thistles today. I also got a beautiful needleminder from Kelmscott Designs. It was about time I bought one! I always seem to loose my needles and that's not a good thing when you have carpet that camouflages potential accidents. Yikes!!


Carrie's Threads for Tanglewood


Dragonflies by Kelmscott Designs

Kooky Tanglewood Dog Finished

2011-03-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

Hello!!

I am sorry I have not posted in quite sometime. I have been very busy and have not done too much stitching. What I have done though is finish that funny, kooky tanglewood doggie who is all caught up in a ribbon. I added the grass and thistles and only have two more thistles to finish. I am still waiting on my other threads, the important ones, the tanglewood tree threads! Hopefully my stash will arrive this week because I cannot continue stitching my tanglewood until I do (sad face). So to tide me over until I get my threads, I began a new project. I thought it would be good for me to try stitching a needlebook! I have seen some beautiful examples of needlebooks and am not quite decided on how I want to make it. I used a freebie from the Swappon site and was inspired by Lynn B's blog. She has a wonderful blog that is full of great tutorials and she makes the cutest, prettiest smalls. Hopefully my needlebook will be finished soon. I am the queen of procrastinating finishing! Remember that lovely Valentine's pattern I stitched?!? Well, I still haven't finished it into the little pillow I planned to make. I think I will make next weekend my weekend of finishing!

Take care and keep stitching!

Anne

Kooky Doggie Tangled in Ribbon

Thistles and the Kooky Doggie

The beginnings of my first needlebook

Tanglewood Progress

2011-02-25T10:23:00.000-08:00

I have made some more progress on Tanglewood. I have almost finished the little dog. I love the colours of the dog and how he is tangled in a ribbon!

Started Tanglewood!

2011-02-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

Since the rest of my colours have still not arrived, I decided to start Tanglewood with the colours I did receive. I was too impatient to wait! It's a small start but it's a start nonetheless! I decided to stitch 2 over 2 using the recommended lien, 32 count light sand Belfast. The fabric is really soft to stitch with and the threads are lovely. I don't have Q snaps to work with so I am using my hands a little hoop which I think will be okay to do although Q snaps would be handy to have. Here is my progress!

I'll try and take a photo in the sunlight for the next update (and iron the wrinkles!)

Snowdrops, Jasmine Tea, Radiohead

2011-02-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

I have not been very well at all this week so no stitching was done, except for a wee little bit on my Hobbit Town. So I thought I would write about some things that make me happy, especially today now that my fever has subsided and I'm feeling more like myself. One of the best things in the world for me to see is the heads of snowdrops and crocuses pushing through out of a semi-frozen ground. They are the first signs of spring, a reminder to us that our mornings will no longer be in darkness, the smell of the earth renewed and the flowers in bloom.

Another wonderful thing about today is the release of the new Radiohead album. I have been a VERY big fan of theirs for a long time since their first album came out when I was in high school. This new album does not disappoint. In fact it is just what all of their fans needed: something soft yet still pushes forward.


Thom Yorke dancing in Lotus Flower

My selection of teas

And about tea. I received an amazing selection of teas from my mother for Christmas and I am still working through many of them, savoring each flavour. My favourite is the hand-rolled Jasmine flowers. The tea is very delicate and subtle in flavour.

Add caption

A wee bit of Hobbit town stitched when I was slightly feverish.

PS: the blogger format within posting does not match up what actually gets posted so I am still trying to figure out (fiddle around with) these details so please be understanding and patient with me!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T14:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Unfortunately I got sick yesterday and got called in for work today! It wasn't too bad though because the school had Valentine's activities set up for the whole school and I just had to cover the morning and the cupcake station!!! Plus a number of the kids gave me candies and chocolate hearts, not such a bad day after all. When I got home, my darling husband gave me three roses: pink, red and white. I love him very much and cherish him each day. He loved the heart I made him and wants to sleep with it under his pillow! Haha, he's so cute! I did start to make another Valentine's small but didn't get it finished in time due to feeling not so good. The design is from Sampler Girl. All her designs are adorable and fun to stitch. I'll try to whip it up tomorrow because we have plans for a dinner tonight. I hope everyone is having a good lovey dovey day!

Anne


DMC threads chosen by me, natural 32ct linen, Design from The Sampler Girl

Celtic Scissor Fob Finished!

2011-02-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

So it is done. My first fob ever. Loads of learning experiences this year (and last year). I unfortunately made the twisted cord FAR to thick. It was very difficult to stitch it into my tiny Celtic fob. For the next time, I will use less thread and fill the corners of the fob with stuffing.

Add caption

Beautiful thick cord!

Heart Completed

2011-02-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

A completed heart for my hubby. I have to say that the heart is a very finicky shape to sew. Next heart I sew, I am going to sew by hand. I found that sewing the heart up was the worse part of the finish. It's a bit of a wonky finish, but it's finished nonetheless! I take my hat off to all those ladies who finish things perfectly. Good thing my cell phone doesn't take very good close ups so you could see all the flaws! Regardless of the flaws, my hubby will love it and cherish it (I hope!) Oh, and the little wooden bead I used was a leftover bead from my old Ukrainian dance necklace that I found lying around! I knew one day it would be put to use!!

Finished heart!

Backing fabric

Blurry close up of his initials

My Heart

2011-01-31T13:48:00.000-08:00

Here is my sweet little heart that I am making for my husband. This sweet heart design is from Barbi's blog. She has wonderful patterns on her blog and is a fantastic stitcher. If you do stitch her designs, please send her a photo and make sure you link her blog to your post. I really hope I can find the perfect fabric for the back of this little heart. I think I want to personalize it a little bit with our initials, but I need to get cracking! Only two more weeks till Valentine's Day and I have to sneak in moments when my husband isn't around (like today!) I used R & R reproductions linen in St. Valentine's Blend, how very fitting, with Dinky Dyes Ruby Red thread. I found the ribbon randomly a few weeks ago searching in a drawer and lo and behold, it matches the thread colour perfectly!

Happy stitching!!

Anne

Hearts and Red Robins

2011-01-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

A little while back I stitched a Christmas Robin by The Victoria Sampler for my Nana but never found a frame for it until about a week ago. Originally, I was going to stitch the little robin into a pillow ornament for my Nana, but she requested that she wanted it framed so that's what I did. It was my first time framing a stitched piece ever and I'm happy with the result! Once I find a good frame for my geisha, I will also be framing her myself.

Onto hearts, cause it's close to Valentine's Day. I was thinking about what to do for my husband. I found the perfect heart to stitch and the perfect threads and linen! I got the pattern from a wonderful Barbi's website. I have never stitched a heart before so I've been thinking about the process and how to finish it. It will take me awhile, like all other finishes, because I muse over how to do it for a week or so. Hopefully he will love it and cherish it with his heart, like I cherish him! Before I can post the heart picture, I have to wait for permission from the creator of the pattern. But here is the robin!

Stitched on 32 count Natural Linen, DMC Threads

Geisha Finished!

2011-01-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

Finally! After two years the geisha girl is done! I am very happy it is finished and can't wait to frame it. I managed to take just one picture with my testy camera before it gave out on me completely. Here she is!

Mai by Dimensions Finished 1/26/11

The sticky scroll tape I used glued itself to the top and bottom of the fabric, which I couldn't take off, so I had to cut about an inch of fabric at both ends. Luckily there is just enough room to fold the fabric behind a piece of matte board for framing.

LESSON LEARNED: NEVER USE SCROLL TAPE AGAIN!!!!!

A Mad Stitcher

2011-01-23T09:19:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those nights where all you do is stitch until your neck hurts? Well that was me last night. I decided to pull out my geisha girl and attack all the lazy daisy stitches and backstitching that I have put off. Plus I started a new Dimensions project and made some progress on that. I'm pretty proud of myself that I managed to finish the geisha's obi!! My first lazy daisy stitches were ok, but I got better at them as I progressed.


Look at the lazy daisies!!

Hobbit town as I like to call it

Half a man, buggy, door and horse!

I'm going to try tackling the geisha backstitching and try to finish it today! It was started, eh hem, 2 years ago! That's how much I hate backstitching!