Little Happy Dance....

Despite feeling vaguely like my head is submerged in a bucket of water, I managed to accomplish what I thought wasn't going to happen. I finished my little biscornu that will be given away in a gift exchange tomorrow. I'm finished a whole 24 hours ahead of time. That never happens.

Before they were whip stitched together:


Side view:


Top view:

Freebie from Aurelle can be found here.
Stitched on 32-count opalescent Belfast, over two
with Dinky-Dyes Pilbara, beads by Gecko beads

I'm so happy I managed to finish this. I always give something stitched each year and I'd be very sorry if I hadn't managed something this year.

Now I just need to finish baking cookies - 6 dozen down, 4 to go. I'm making Chocolate Pinwheel cookies - the same recipe that my mother made when I was a little girl. And my kids fight over who gets to eat the ends of the dough (you roll up the dough jelly-roll style then slice & bake) just like my brother and I did as kids. :-)

Off to drain the sinuses.....

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Things I've Learned.....

1. Having two part-time jobs and a bad case of over-volunteerism leads to illness. I've got a nasty cold and am really not feeling up to snuff. Hopefully this will pass soon.

2. Going to the Needlework Festival is mucho fun. I had tons of fun hanging out with old and new friends and stitching my little fingers off. Here's a couple of projects I've got underway or finished since the show:

This is Jennifer Aikman-Smith's Needle Wizard Needlecase. Isn't he darling? Hopefully I'll get him made into a needlecase soon. Maybe I'll finish up TW's needlecase from 2 years ago at the same time. Two for the price of one! :-)

Next up:



This is TW's 'Delightful Dragon Scissor Fob'. The border is stitched over 2, but the inside is stitched over 1. I still have to backstitch this little guy and finish up the back, then he'll be fob-ized. Eventually.....

There are more projects that I haven't gotten back around to just yet, but they're all sitting next to my stitching chair just waiting to be picked up and stitched. So many pretty projects!

3. Halloween came up much too fast after the festival and I barely got the decorations up before the trick or treaters came.... We did manage to get our annual Pumpkin picture of the boys though. They each designed and carved their own pumpkin:

They're growing up so fast!

4. Just because I kit up a pattern and *know* just how I'm going to stitch it, it doesn't mean I'll *remember* when the time comes. Case in point:


This is that really cute kitty asleep on a pumpkin from the JCS Hallowe'en issue. I fell in love at first sight. Kitted it all up and then left it for a couple of weeks as I was busy with the Festival. It was only after I stitched it (over 2 on 25 ct.) that I realized it was big. Really big. Much too big for an ornament, as I had originally intended. So, where had I gone wrong? Oh, that's right. I was supposed to stitch this over 1, not over 2. Of course, I realized this once I was over half done. So, now I've got one big honking cat on a pumpkin. Don't quite know yet what I'll do with it, but I'm sure I'll think of something. It's disappointing when my memory doesn't function. *sigh*

5. I learned that just because everyone thinks it'll take 3 *years* of fundraising to get enough money to build a play structure, it doesn't make it true. In 2 years about 530 families have raised enough money to build a play structure. Construction will start soon. Way to go kids! (And as an aside, I'm sooooooo glad I don't have to spend another year raising money for the bloody thing! I've spent the last 2 & 1/2 months working on this project - day in and day out. I'm not sorry I did it, but am looking forward to not having to do it again next fall!)

6. I've learned that the house is cold and my kitties are finding their own solution to keeping warm:

They rarely cuddle up together, but in the last couple of weeks I keep finding them snuggled up to one another. Of course, every time I sit down I have an instant cat blanket too.

7. I've learned that I can no longer say that I never win anything. I've been winning way too much and it's time for me to stop entering contests of any kind. It's getting downright embarassing. Here's my latest win:


It's a gorgeous Swarovski crystal spray of orchids. I won this at the banquet during the CreativFestival. It's beautiful and sparkly and I still can't believe I won it. It doesn't yet have a permanent home in my house, but I'm working on it. When the sun shines on it, it's simply dazzling.

8. Just because I have less than a week to stitch a present, it doesn't stop me from trying. Never mind the fact that I'm also trying to bake about 12 dozen cookies at the same time. The proof of this:




It's a freebie from Aurelle. I'm just stitching a bottom for this now and then it'll get made into a biscornu. Good thing I can stitch fast. Now if only I could bake cookies as fast.....

9. Remembering why I fell in love with a project in the first place often leads to some progress:


I've finally gotten myself back to work on my Lizzie*Kate double flips. Only two more words to go and it'll be finished. I'm enjoying this piece immensely, again. Hopefully there will be a finish in the next little while. I just need to get some other stitching finished *first*.....

10. Stitching models on tight deadlines is fun - despite a little stress. Here's one I stitched for Dragon Dreams for the Festival:

AFAIK, this will be released in the new year over on Patterns On Line, but don't quote me on that - I'm just the model stitcher. :-)

I did stitch another model for the show, but as far as I can tell, I didn't take a picture of it. Clearly deadlines turn my brain to mush.

11. Lastly, I've learned that I really need to post more often so I don't leave them with the world's longest post. If you've stayed with me for this long, thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

I'm going to lay down now. I'm not feeling too hot.

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Tippity, tappity, skippity, hoppity....

Model #2 done and dusted (actually done a week ago, but life interferes). Pattern notes and corrections sent. I'm wiping my hands of this one.

The only down side?

I'm sorry it's over. It's so pretty. I want to keep it. Can't I keep it???? Guess not. The students in the class would miss the model.

But, I'm happy to return to some stitching for me and I can finally relax and look forward to the CreativFestival coming up in a week. 5 days of no kids, a needle in my hand and some very good friends to hang out with. Doesn't it sound like heaven?

I still need to get ready for Thanksgiving this weekend (for us Canadians, that is). I need to make buns (from scratch), pumpkin pie and who knows what else I'll decide upon... At least I don't have to make turkey this year. Don't be surprised if I start gobbling come Tuesday, though!

Hopefully there'll be some pictures next post - I'm working on something small (well, kind of small) but I'll wait 'till it's finished to show.

I think it's past my bedtime. *yawn*

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I got nuthin'...

I'm working madly on models at the moment so I've got nothing of stitchy-interest to share. I'm happy to report that one of two models has returned to the designer and she's busy doing the finishing. I can't wait to see the finished product on that one. It'll be beautiful. The second model is coming along swimmingly - it'll be a fast finish. I'm hopeful to finish it in the next week. Cross your fingers in the meantime!

Here's some random entertainment, just to fill the space:

Your Psyche is Violet

You are spiritual, intuitive, and serene. People trust you to rescue them from bad situations, and you usually come through. While you are quite enlightened, you find that your path is very lonely. When you are too violet: you can't connect to ordinary life or ordinary people When you don't have enough violet: you lack wisdom and can't learn from the past

What Color Is Your Psyche?

And just for a giggle:

Your Autumn Test Results

You are a dynamic, vibrant person. You aren't afraid to pursue your passions. When you're happiest, you are outgoing and expressive . You love celebrations, and you enjoy showing off a little. You tend to be afraid of change. You are never ready for things to be different. You find love to be the most comforting thing in the world. You feel at peace when you're with your loved ones. Your ideal day is active and full. You like to keep busy with your favorite things, and you appreciate a routine. You are very impatient. You spend more time waiting for something than actually enjoying it.

The Autumn Test

Enough silliness for today! Off to stitch.

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Pardon the dust....

...just that time of year to renovate the template....

Will be back with something far more interesting soon.....

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Life, Interrupted

Somehow that just about describes how I'm feeling right now.... Ever since the boys headed back to school I feel like I've been running non-stop. My friend and I started asking/collecting prizes for the school's chocolate fundraiser the day after school started. We're very lucky that the retailers in our city are so generous. We haven't counted up the tally yet, but I'm sure we're closing in on 50 or 60 different small prizes for our students. We try to do a daily draw once the kids start selling chocolate in order to get them to bring the money back sooner. We're hoping to end up with around 200 prizes (there are about 650 students in the school, from JK to Grade 5) so that the kids have a pretty good chance of winning something. Last year we were able to get donations of 205 prizes. This year we've started earlier, hit more retailers and are getting a lot more interest. It's a lot of work, but it's fun work and heck, who doesn't like spending someone else's money??? (most retailers are giving us a small gift card that we use in the store to purchase prizes).

Then just to throw a wrench into the works, I had quite a surprise the first week back to school. I had applied to be a Presenter with a group called Scientists in School quite a long time ago. At the time that I applied, I got a politely worded 'we're not hiring now' letter and figured that was the end of it. Last week they called for an interview and I got the job! It's perfect for me right now as it's only part-time with such flexible hours it's amazing. I get to go into schools and present a wide range of science-based topics that are tightly tied to the school curriculum. It's perfect for me and going to be a ton of fun! We're still working out just who my team leader will be and what workshop I'll be learning to present first and I have to get another criminal record check done too, but it's all in motion! I'm excited and can't wait to get started. It'll be perfect to show my inner geek (whoops, is that my Math degree showing????). :-)

So, when I haven't been at an interview or running around town spending other folks' money, I've been working on the two models I've got on the go right now. I had expected to be completely done one of them by now, but some small problems have slowed me down. I should finish this weekend, especially since the weather is supposed to be crappy! Then I get to do the fun model (although truth be told, they're both fun!). :-)

However, I *do* have something stitchy to show. I was very fortunate to win a blog drawing over at inside number twenty back in August. The postman finally agreed that I could have it last week, and I'm finally getting around to showing the kindness I've been given:


I actually won the Lizzie*Kate Snippet "Praise Your Children", but when I opened the envelope, the JBW design "The Singing Bird" also dropped out. Aren't I just the luckiest thing? Thank you so much Monique! I can't wait until I have time to stitch them both.

We're off to spend a little time at our local fall fair today - hopefully the rain will hold off until at least we've managed a bumper car ride!

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Vacation Memories.....

So this is how things looked as we prepared to leave on Aug. 16:


I started wondering just how long we were going away for..... But apparently that was everything we needed to spend a week camping..... I was worried that at some point we'd hear a big 'bang' as we were driving along, but we did make it to our campground in once piece.

We were camping at a place called The Pinery. It rests on the shores of Lake Huron and is a fabulous campground for kids. There are tons of manicured bike trails to ride bikes on safely. There are hiking trails to wander through (mind the poison ivy though!) and if you're lucky, deer to see. And best of all, in the kids' opinion - a wonderful beach with great sand for digging in and shallow water to play in.


We also celebrated some birthdays - one of my nephews turned 8 and my FIL turned *ahem* well, we won't say how old he turned. He had a birthday though! :-)


It was neat to actually get a picture of all 8 of my IL's grandchildren - it's hard to get them all in one place at one time and many are still too young to really pose well for the camera. They range in age from 2 & 1/2 up to 12. They're all growing up so fast!

We were lucky that the weather held for the most part - it rained twice and of course one time was the night before we were packing to leave.... So, I'm still finding dirt, mud, muck and mess just about everywhere. The tent has to be set up to dry out, every dish, pot & pan has had to be washed and my house still vaguely resembles a camping store explosion. Thankfully I've got a DH who has pitched in sooooo much - he's managed to do almost all the laundry, put a good portion of crap away and scrub out the van carpeting (we had a little cooler leakage...). I'm sure there's more he's done too but I've gone and forgotten already. He's a good guy.

Oh, and last night I finally managed to sit down and finish (yes finish) Poppy:

Poppy by Nora Corbett
Stitched on 32-count Antique White Linen from Zweigart
using DMC, Kreinik and Mill Hill Beads

I so loved stitching this piece - it was an absolute obsession to get her done. She still needs a bath and some ironing but I couldn't wait to take a picture. Isn't she pretty? I just wish I was a better photographer so I could more accurately capture the colours and sparklies.... Oh well, you get the idea, right?

I'm still waiting on my models - I know one had fabric issues and I think the other is still in transit. I'm kinda glad nothing was waiting for me when we got home so I could finish Poppy. Maybe I can squeeze in a little time on my double flips before they arrive. :-)

Time to drag the kidlets out for some back-to-school shopping. I'm going to brave The Mall. I hate malls. They're full of people. *sigh*

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Back and packing to leave again....

Well, I'm back in my little corner of the world, but we leave again on Saturday. I'm squeezing this post in between laundry and preparing food for camping and packing and wondering where the blinking tent has got to and..... You get the idea.

I have managed to stitch a fair bit since I last posted, although not nearly as much as I'd like. We did get a lot of rain up at the cottage last week, but I spent much of that indoor time playing games with the boys. We had a lovely time in between when the rain let up too.

While rummaging in my stitching bag, I uncovered this little kit. I have no idea where it came from or when I purchased it, but it appeared and I thought its sentiment appropriate at the cottage as it seems at times that all we do is work! I started and finished this in just 2 hours. It now rests proudly on the cottage fridge (which is really, really shiny, so sorry for the glare!)....


The picture is dark because the lighting at the cottage is the pits in the best circumstances and IIRC, it was raining when I took this. You get the idea though....

I managed to squeak out another Double Flip - I'm down to the final four now:



I'm sure I pulled out and re-stitched that flippin' E at least 4 times before I finally got it right. I'm having trouble following the pattern because the symbol for the navy colour is a / and for reasons that make no sense, I can't seem to see them all. I've got it figured out now though and I'm sure the rest of the word will flow better. At least, that's what I'm hoping!

Oh, and then there's Poppy. She's been coming along just perfectly. I finished all the cross-stitch and gaily embarked upon the backstitch and beading. Here's where I am right now:


All that's left is to backstitch her wings and some curlicues around her wings and add the beads. Why haven't I finished it yet??? Here's why:

Having the intelligence of a gnat, I failed to realize that I needed to backstitch the wings and the curlicues in the silver metallic. So, I've run out. I just about pulled my hair out when I realized how badly I messed up, especially this close to the end.

One mad dash through my stash later, I realized I had no more of it. Then I realized it was Sunday. My LNS is closed on Sunday. And on Monday. Now on the verge of tears I realized it would be almost 2 whole days until I could get fibre. Then I realized Tuesday was jam-packed with obligations. So Wednesday found me haunting the door of the LNS, praying desperately that they had metallic braid (despite being a large LNS, they just don't *do* inventory, so at any given time they have no idea what they do or don't have!).....

....and the stitching gods were smiling. I have my metallic. I just have no time to stitch. *sigh*

(BTW, the solid white line on Poppy's right is just my Q-snap - I didn't unmount her for the picture....)

Now, if you're still with me here.......

I was beyond floored to receive this from Jade. I've never received a blog award before. I don't quite know what to do with it.


Of course, such an honour does have some strings attached, but ones I'm not sorry are there:

1. Put the logo on your blog;
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs;
4. Add links to those blogs on yours;
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Let's see, 1 & 2 are covered. On to 3. I'm sure these folks have already received this award as I'm coming late to the party, as usual, but I'll nominate them again (in no particular order). Sorry to be boring about it!

1. The Sparklie Things Blog
2. Rebel in Ontario
3. Just Another Flamingo On The Lawn
4. Ladyhawke's Tales
5. Wendy ~ Home at Work
6. The Twisted Stitcher
7. Arthemise's (Mostly) Stitching Blog

Now to run through folks' comment boxes. :-)

Finally, I found this picture of my 3 guys hiding in my camera. They all look so good, I have to post it, so please forgive the gratuitous family shot!



I'm really hoping to finish Poppy before we leave on Saturday as once we return, I've got one model to start and soon after another one will appear.... They're both such scrumptious projects though, I can't wait to start. But I'm not telling who they're for or what they are. :-)

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I'm still here!

Since my last post it's been a busy 3 and a half weeks. We first went up to my parent's cottage to spend a week working on a variety of DIY projects. We painted the living area and the upper cupboards in the kitchen. It took the better part of the week to accomplish (we had to prep, sand, prime and paint everything), but I'm glad we did it. My parent's summer home now looks much more attractive and up-to-date. Since we left my parents have had a new kitchen installed (lower cabinets) and a new floor put down. We return to the cottage later this week and I'm looking forward to seeing all the changes.

It wasn't all work and no play though - we did spend time on the nearby beach and paddling around in the kayak. The boys had some fun with sparklers and I played with the camera and got these neat shots of the kids:


After the cottage we had a quick 3-day stop at home to do laundry and prepare and pack up for a camping trip. In the middle of that we had DH's annual family golf tournament - it's comprised of DH's father and his 5 brothers and all of their respective families. Not everyone manages to attend each year, but we do get most of the crew out - I think we had at least 35 or 40 people here this year. DS#1 decided to play regular golf this year (most kids just play a round of mini-golf) and won the award for Most Honest Golfer:


There is a trophy for the mini-golf winners too, but neither DS#2 nor I qualified this year. We had fun playing mini-golf anyway.

We left for camping two days after the golf tournament and had a relaxing time of it. We mostly stayed at the campground and had fun playing ping pong, tennis, basketball, horseshoes, shuffleboard and bingo. We sunned ourselves liberally on the beach and just generally enjoyed hanging out together. On the way home from camping we stopped at a museum that was having an Egyptian themed Lego exhibit. There were all kinds of different Egyptian images made out of Lego - they were stunning:


I believe the Sphinx took almost 24,000 Lego bricks to build. There was an enormous re-created of King Tut's burial mask, another large copy of his sarcophagus and lots of scenes depicting Egyptian life and belief systems. The boys got a free Egyptian education along with looking at the cool Lego.

In between all the fun, I have done a little stitching. Here's an update on Poppy - I'm just working on her wings, then it'll be time for beads and backstitch:


I wish I had more hours in the day to spend with Poppy. She's just so darned pretty!

I've been working on an ornament too, but had to stop for a while - stitching over one in a moving vehicle isn't the brightest idea I've ever had..... But now that we're home for a few days maybe I can polish it off.....


No, your eyes aren't deceiving you - I've just got the ornie mounted in the Q-snap funny. It really is straight. Really. I mean it. :-)

Well, I think I'd better go battle the laundry demon and try to find the kitchen again - I think it got buried under camping stuff when we got home yesterday!

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Happy Canada Day!


Go read the Yarn Harlot's post about Canada - I could never say it as well:

Oh Canada

Off to see my yearly quota of fireworks...

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A Month? It's been a Month?

I had no idea just how long it's been since I posted last. It has been an eventful month - mostly filled with end-of-the-school-year stuff and I haven't had gobs of stuff to say. I've been a good stitcher though - or well, I've been trying......

I've taken a couple of classes since I last posted - one that had me digging into that mysterious tin that I posted about a while ago, another was a great canvaswork class at a new-to-me shop. I'll have to post the details on those later though as I can't find the pictures I took! I must have offloaded them somewhere in my black-hole of a computer.... Meanwhile....

Here's an update on my Lizzie*Kate Double Flips - I haven't been devoting a ton of time to this lately, but it's calling to me again:



I have to admit that lately, Poppy has been calling to me more than anything else. Here she is so far - she was much further along, but I discovered that having a Math degree doesn't enable me to count. Therefore, I had a fit of frogging and I'm in the process of catching up again:


She's just so pretty. I am looking forward to getting back to her.

I stopped working on Poppy and the double flips to stitch a biscornu for DS#2's teacher. It turned out really pretty. But, my camera doesn't like to focus, so it took an almost impossible to see picture. It's so bad I daren't post it. I even took more than one shot and not one of them is fit for the human eye. I really need a decent camera. *sigh* Trust me when I say it looked pretty???

One picture that *did* turn out was a picture of the flowers that I did for the teachers and crossing guards. Every year I try and do up a bunch of fresh flower arrangements for the various teachers that touch my son's life. Here's what this year's bunch looked like:


DS#2 wrote all the thank-you cards on each bunch of flowers too. They're always well received and appreciated by all. They smelled heavenly too. Six arrangements in all and the best part is - I get the leftover flowers for myself, so the kitchen is smelling pretty too.

I am so glad that the school year is over. Today we all just lounged around the house and were complete slugs. I don't believe we did a single productive thing all day. 'Tis good for the soul! Although I imagine tomorrow I should goad the children into dealing with the mess created by bringing home all their school stuff. I feel a paper flurry coming on.

For now though, I'm off to put needle to fabric....

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Done!

It feels like forever. It was a battle waged with needle and evil DMC metallic thread. The battlefield was black Lugana. The good have emerged victorious. Two, count 'em, two models done! Done! Done! Done! I'd show pictures, but they won't be published for another month or so. But they're done. Did I mention they're done?

As a reward to myself for emerging victorious, I started this:


Preplexed? Well, I've dubbed it the Big Red Blob (to go with the Big Grey Blob). It's really Nora Corbett's Poppy. I am so in love with this piece. I started it at midnight last night after putting the last bead in the last model. Did I mention the models are done?

Over the May long weekend (May 17 - 18 for the Canucks) I took my Lizzie Kate Double Flips with me instead of the model as the cottage isn't necessarily the best place to stitch on black fabric. I made some good progress:


I've now received the rest of the patterns to finish this piece. Now that the models are done (just in case you didn't notice that they're finished), I can devote some more time to this piece. It's such a nice uncomplicated stitch. Pretty too.

My friend and I are still plugging away at the Creativ Festival Sampler too. We missed a couple of weeks in there due to sick kids (they took turns so she missed one week and I missed the next), but we're still moving forward:




Please pardon the fat cat tummy. Callie decided she needed to be in the picture. I'm not sure of her choice of anatomy though.....

Off to stitch something that isn't a model. Did I mention I'm done the models???

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Happy Birthday To Me....

Today is my birthday and I realize I'm not a kid anymore - I'm really not that excited about them. But, it was awfully cute to find adorable cards from DH and the kidlets this morning and to have both of the Grade 2 lunchrooms that I supervise sing me Happy Birthday. I just could have done without the 'Are you 1? Are you 2? Are you 3?.... ' part. I told them to stop because it would probably take the entire lunch time to count that high! ;-)

It'll likely be a quiet day today, seeing that it is Monday. However yesterday we had a birthday party for both me and my Mom - her birthday was April 30. We were also celebrating her finally getting her cast off. She's still swollen and sore, but happy to be able to scratch again.


Today I'm also left thinking about my other mother - the one who hauled me around for 9 months and made an astonishing choice - to give me up for adoption. I'm so sad that I've never been able to meet Ellie (my birthmother) and tell her how grateful I am for her choice. She gave me to two people who wanted me so much it's hard to believe. I recently finished reading this book:


It details the stories of dozens of women who in the 1950s, 60s and 70s relinquished children for adoption. After reading it I think I have a little better idea of just what my birthmother faced when she got pregnant out of wedlock.

So, today, I miss her and am sorry I can't meet her or talk to her.

I am blessed though by her brother and his wife who have gladly welcomed me into the family and who remember my birthday, every year since I found them.

Stitchwise: I'm living in the land of the never ending models, so nothing to share today. I'm still resisting the urge to open my mystery can, but barely. My friend and I are getting together on Wednesday, so I imagine we'll fall to the urge then. It's hard though. It just sits there on the bookcase, taunting me. Can't you hear it? Evil bit of goods that is.

I think I'll go kit up Nora Corbett's "Poppy" that I picked up a couple of weeks ago. There's just something about it I can't resist - and maybe that's just what I need for a birthday treat to me.

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CreativFestival Goodies...

My friend and I tossed our respective children to our DH's for the day (kids were in school for most of it, so they did get off easy) and spent a wonderful day at the festival.

We wandered, we shopped, we mused on crafts we weren't into, we visited with friends, we sat in on a lecture, we took a workshop, we did a make-it-and-take-it. Basically, we had mucho fun.

Here's the stash acquisitions:


I bought the 'Crabby All Year' series from Raise the Roof - it's the ultimate antithesis to all the monthly series out there right now. It says things like for February - Love Stinks or for April - Taxes or November - Relatives.... You get the idea... :-) I also picked up a copy of TW's Fantasy Collection because it was shockingly cheap - too good to leave behind, even though I know I own at least 2 of the charts in the book already. I also picked up a kit that makes a little tuck away pillow. I've made tuck aways in the past, but the instructions with this kit are better than some I've seen as scaling the pillow for different sized designs is clearer. At some point I'll give it a go.

More stash:


I found a cute little needlepoint canvas of a ladybug with all the fibres for a good price, some fat quarters for as yet undertermined things, a bobbin holder that's purple, and some Piecemaker 26s. The Piecemakers were astonishingly cheap - and I bought them from a sewing notions booth. Happy days all around.

Let's see - class & make-it-and-take-it:

On the left it a little bit of the Thunderline Brocade that was a 45-minute workshop that we took. It was taught by Anna-Marie Winter and happily used one of my favorite fibres, Silk Mori. The stitch is really pretty and will make a nice background or filling stitch. I enjoyed it, plus, I got to break out the new tacks I found at the dollar store - they've all got happy faces on the ends and pretty colours. I'm so easy to please it's stupid.

In the middle isn't a class, but it's stash. I found these little zippered purses in a booth - they were cheap, well made and will make great little fibre pouches. On the right is a make-it-and-take-it class - I made a little hexagonal box. Very cute, very easy, no sewing. It isn't completely finished as I have to stitch a little design for the top (the design was included in the kit) and stick it on. It was lots of fun. ;-)

My new toy:


This light is from the Daylight company - and get this - it runs on 4 AA batteries!!!!!!!! Is that not the coolest thing? It is very light, gives a really bright light (comparable to my OTT floor light) and can clip on to a stitching frame (it has a little lead that goes from the battery base to the clip). It has an AC adapter too, but it'll be amazing to take with me to classes - I won't go blind and I won't be tied to sitting near an outlet anymore. This is good. This is very good. Added bonus - we got an amazing deal on it, so it didn't bankrupt me either. I like new toys.

My last acquisiton of the day:

What's in the tin, you ask? Well, I don't know. One of the shops at the show was selling these tins. The catch? You have to go to the store for a class that will use the contents of the tin. We won't know what we're making until we get there. It sounds like a lot of fun, but I doubt I'll be able to wait until the end of May (when I'm taking the class) to open the tin. We'll see how long I hold out. :-) Watch this space for when I decide I can't wait anymore.

Off to play with my new toys!

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Ahhh, that feels better...

Well, finally got back to my new template and mokeyed around with it until I'm happy. I think it'll do - lighter anyway since Spring seems to have arrived finally!

No pictures today - just working on the models.

Tomorrow the CreativFestival opens and I'm spending the day with a friend at the show. I'm looking forward to it, but know there will only be enough happening to keep me interested for one day - the spring show isn't much to remark upon, but I'll see what I see.....

I will answer a couple of SBQ's, since I'm here 'n all.....

From April 3:

Suggested by Terri (http://stitchwraith.blogspot.com/)
What items do you consider essential to your needlework that you keep in your stitching bag?

The permalink to this post is:
http://blog.blondelibrarian.net/archives/2008/04/sbq-the-essentials/

Let's see, for me it would be needles, two pairs of scissors (one for metallics, one for other fibres), a dololly, 6 inch ruler, laying tools, pen, highlighter & clear post-it flags. Magnets too if they're currently unattached to a project....

From April 10:

Suggested by Jennifer (http://sweetpeastitches.blogspot.com)
What is the most complicated piece you've ever completed?

The permalink to this post is:
http://blog.blondelibrarian.net/archives/2008/04/sbq-complications/

Well, this is a complicated question! I guess it would be any piece that I've done that involves more than just basic cross-stitch. I've done lots of different stitches on lots of different pieces. I can't really say any one screams out 'most complicated'. They all have their challenges, don't they (even if it's just finishing them)?

And finally, from April 23 (coincidentally, my 14th wedding anniversary too...):

Suggested by Christine (http://coffeecupthoughts.wordpress.com)
How do you handle blended threads? Do you kit the blends up before you
start a piece, or do you grab what colors you need and blend when the
need arises? If you kit up the blends beforehand, how do you store
them? Do you have another option for blends to share?

The permalink to this post is:
http://blog.blondelibrarian.net/archives/2008/04/sbq-blends/

Hmmmmm - well, let's see... I guess it would depend on the complexity of the piece overall. For a large TW, I imagine I'm likely to pull the blends together before starting as best I can and I'd likely wind them on bobbins and label them for ease of use. For something small though, I'm more likely to just blend as I need to - although I may pull out a magnetic needle card and leave a needle threaded with a blend (and labeled appropriately) just to make things a little easier. I guess it would just depend!

Well, off to wrap a birthday present for a birthday party DS#2 is attending tomorrow evening, then maybe I'll catch ER before bed!

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....blog undergoing renovations, please be patient!....

When Life Intervenes....

...my blog seems to go to pot. I am still here, I am still reading blogs and I am occasionally commenting on them. Really.

So, what's been going on??? Well, let's see.... Just after my last blog post my parents returned from a holiday in Cuba. They had seen enough snow (they live about an hour North West of where I live right in the middle of something called the Snow Belt - trust me, they get snow!) and wanted some sun and sand. Well, they didn't get too much of either - on the 4th day of their trip, my mother slipped and fell in the bathroom of the hotel, breaking her left wrist in two places! A trip through the Cuban medical system had four people holding her down while the doctor straightened and re-set her wrist. Can you say ouch??????

She returned home upset, weepy and in a cast that went from her armpit to knuckles. She has never before broken a bone and was just really undone by the whole experience. I made her go to her own family doctor for an x-ray and sure enough, her wrist was not set straight. So another week passes before she gets an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. I made the drive up to my parent's house and drove them both to the surgeon (my dad doesn't see very well and isn't the best at driving in unfamiliar places - my mom wasn't driving anywhere, so that left me). Luckily the surgeon felt that he didn't need to re-break and re-set her wrist but instead took off the monster cast, straightened her wrist to his satisfaction (a somewhat painful experience for my Mom, but it beats surgery) and set her up with a handy, dandy fibreglass cast that ends a couple inches below her elbow and leaves the knuckles on her hand free.

It was a stressful experience all around, but Mom is on the mend now and will get her cast off in another week or so - then she'll have a splint for another week or two, then off to physio most likely.

Anyway, don't go to Cuba.

In more stitch-related news - I am working on two models right now, so my time is mostly spent there. However, I did manage to squeeze in some time on a few other projects, so here's the skinny:

First up, Nantucket Rose or The Big Grey Blob:


She's coming along nicely and I'm enjoying her, but I'm really getting sick of 5 shades of grey. I'm heading into greens next...

I started to lose a little of my stitching mojo after I got to this point on NR and realized that I really needed to do something that doesn't involve little x's. Don't mistake me, I'm still a cross stitcher, but I really needed a change of pace, so I picked up one of my class pieces from last fall. It's called Triangulations and it has been designed by Anna-Marie Winter:


I was strongly reminded about why I love Japanese-style embroidery. It's just so *pretty*. The dark blue is stitched in Kreinik Silk Mori - and believe it or not, all the little squares are stitched with the same fibre. I used 4 strands of Silk Mori and my laying tool and a good chunk of time. It was heaven. The lighter blue is Silk Serica which is a pain to work with (if it happens to catch on the canvas it frays and goes bad, very, very bad) but I do like the finished effect. I'll go back to this one the next time I'm fed up with little x's.

My friend and I continue to progress on our sampler from the CreativFestival:



Now, before you hit comment - no, I did not spell Creativ wrong. No, it doesn't need an E on the end. It is the name of the Festival - CreativFestival - no e. Does it drive me loopy? Yes. Am I tempted to add the e? Yes. Will I? No, because then I won't be describing the festival. The proofreader in me squirms every time I see it (I'm the proofreader for A Needle Pulling Thread). Someday I'll get over it, right? (Sorry for how wavy it looks - I haven't got it mounted straight in my Q-snap and didn't feel like fixing it!)

And finally, because I have the resistance of a gnat, I had to start this:



I have to give this one points - it stitches up fast and easy. It's my reward for when I've spent some time on the models. I think it's saving my sanity there - more black fabric.

Off to work on the models for a bit - then maybe I can make that thing say Love instead of Lov. :-)

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