Howdy Stranger!

No, I have not departed the planet.  I’m still here – just up to my eyeballs in stuff – work mostly, but other things as well.

 

My job has been unbelievably busy this past month and I’ve been traveling hither and yon with my van full of stuff.  I’ve managed to drop my worms twice (causing them to hide and be invisible for *days* – I thought I’d killed them!).  However, the octopus, squid and flounder (named Freddie) have all managed to survive their journeys and are resting peacefully (if somewhat stink-ily) in the freezer. 

 

And naturally, after having spent the entire month surrounded by the 3-5 year old set, I got the requisite cold that is presently making me miserable.  I have discovered though that coughing makes a great ab workout.  I don’t recommend it as a regular form of exercise…..  I have a this week off and then all hell breaks loose again for May.  I’ve only managed 4 days off for the entire month.  I’m going to be tired!  Hopefully I won’t get sick again, but I’m not holding my breath.  I love playing with the Kindergarteners, I just wish they weren’t so germy sometimes! 

 

I haven’t stitched much lately as I’ve either been too exhausted after work or too busy getting things ready for the next day of work….  I miss my needle and thread and fabric!

 

But, my travel project has seen the light of day and I’ve made some good progress on it:

(sorry for the truly crappy pictures today – I’ve been waiting for a nice clear day to snap pics for the last 3 or 4 days – but all it does is rain, so I gave up!)

 

This will become a biscornu when I’m finished stitching the bottom.  It’s from Seba Designs ‘Biscornu Too’ pack.  The fibres are from the lovely gift package I got from Karin a bit ago.  Here’s a close up of the block that I finished:

 

I’m enjoying the ‘spring-y’ feel of this piece.  The colours always make me smile.

 

I did attend the Spring CreativFestival, although heaven only knows why – it was pretty bad as shows go.  By about 3 o’clock on the day I went, you could pretty much bowl in the aisles they were so empty.  The vendors didn’t seem too pleased either.  I did try to buy at least one thing at each of the needlework booths that were there….  First I picked up this:

 

This is a new design from Northern Pine called Earth Sprit.  The photography on the front is so washed out in comparison to the actual stitched piece!  The colours are rich and vivid IRL and I am simply in love with them.  It’s not my usual colour palette, but I love it anyway.

 

I then wandered over to Ruach Crafts and picked up some things that I wanted at the Fall CreativFestival but I didn’t have time to pick up:

 

I grabbed two of the Stitch & Zip cases – one eyeglass size and another change-purse size.  These are great little take-along projects since I don’t have to juggle a pattern while stitching.  Plus, they look neat when they’re done.  I got the Victorian Lavender tuffet (biscornu) too as I just really like the design.  Sadly, the kit contains Aida, so I’ll have to swap it out for linen.  The little Mill Hill kit was just too cute to leave behind….

 

Grantham Books was in attendance as they often are and I picked up some interesting books for my growing library:

 

I wandered over to Dove Stitch and actually felt a little sorry for them – they had a very large booth and very little traffic!  I keep picking up their fabrics and touching them but they still feel more like sandpaper than anything.  I decided to grab another one of their linen packs to try again as there were some interesting-ly dyed pieces in the pack.  I found a few other things too:

 

Not all of this is from Dove Stitch….  The fabric was from Sew Sisters.  I actually bought more fabric than what is pictured, but that fabric is already in use for a project for work.  The beads I picked up at another booth that I’ve forgotten the name of…  One pair of scissors (the gold-tone ones) I found at Dove Stitch – I have no idea who made them, but they’re very pretty.  The purple scissors are from Dinky-Dyes and I found those at Xs and Oh’s booth.  The trim-like things at the bottom of the picture are some braids and cords and trim pieces from Dove Stitch.  I think some of them will work well for finishing ornaments.  They’re quite pretty IRL.

 

I guess I did my bit to support the show!  I’ll be surprised though if the Spring Festival continues.  I think it’ll die again as it has now twice in my memory.

 

This past weekend I was rummaging in a drawer in my china cabinet as I was looking for a platter to put a dessert on that I was taking to my in-laws….  And look what I had forgotten about:

 

Flower frogs!  They’ve become quite the trend to use to store scissors in and seeing as my scissor collection seems to be growing exponentially, I think I may put these to use.  These frogs are quite special as they belonged to DH’s grandmother.  When she could no longer live on her own and had to move into a nursing home, my MIL gave these to me as she knows I often arrange flowers for fun.  I had put them in the drawer and forgotten their existence.  Now I can think of a really good way to get them out of the drawer and into the light!  I just need to find pieces for the frogs to sit in….  Another day!

 

This weekend will bring much excitement to my small little world – I’m heading to Gananoque for a stitching retreat!  It’s a working weekend for me as I’m helping out with the running of the retreat, but it’ll do wonders for me to hang out with other stitchers for 3 days!  Now that the brunt of work for it is finished, I can start looking forward to the actual event.  I leave on Thursday!

 

I’m off to my cutting table to cut some fabric and get back to work on my sewing project for work.  Once I get it all finished, I’ll share what I’ve been up to!

 

Stay warm & dry if you can.  Me?  I’m wondering if I’ll need to start building an ark…..

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April TUSAL

Well, times does fly when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?  I have been having fun lately – just not with my needles, floss and fabric…  Work has gone completely insane and outside of weekends, I haven’t had a day off in 3 weeks.  After having had the entire month of January off and only working a few days in February, this has been quite the adjustment!  It’s hard to mind though – it’s fun playing with kids all day.

 

The calendar has indicated that today is the New Moon, so it’s time for a picture of my TUSAL jar.  I realized I needed to tamp down the flosses a bit as my jar was looking fuller than it really is…..  I did add a bit to the jar this month – mostly greens as that’s what I’ve been stitching on the model I’ve got in hand.  I’m battling a case of startitis too – I found a stunning biscornu pattern on-line that is singing its siren song….  I’ve even gone so far as to kit it up….  I fear needle will hit fabric on it before long….  I’m hopeless.

 

Anyway, here’s my picture:

 

I had a school cancel 12 workshops so my April has gotten quieter than I originally thought – although I’ve already replaced 5 of those bookings at another school…..  I’m still out some $$$$ with those 12 cancellations, but what can you do?  I can’t *make* a school have me come and play with their kids and teach them about Science….

 

I need to get back to preparing for next week – lots of ankle-biters to play with again! 

 

And as a total aside – why do folks have to gossip?  I am *so* tired of being gossiped about by a certain faction of people.  Worse, no one has bothered to verify the truth of said gossip with me (I mean, really, I only chose to stop doing something because I was forced to it due to of the lies of another person…..my desire to be involved, or not, had nothing to do with it).  It’s driving me somewhat batty….  *sigh*  I guess there’s nothing to be done about it though – c’est la vie, partout!  (for the french-impaired it means that’s life, after all)

 

Back to work!

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