Happy Halloween!

The kids all dressed up and ready to go out and scare up some treats! Liam actually made the little boy from across the road cry when he answered the door to them. I gave him an extra treat and he was soon happy again :)



Tikki got in on the act as well! Ken put my lit-up pumpkin headband on her - I'm not sure that she was all that impressed actually - lol! I think if Caitlin and her friend, Nadia, weren't there she would have bolted!!

New Look ...

Yes, I've decided it was time for a change :) I came across this wonderful template at Final Sense - I think it works well. Hope you all like it too!

Some Progress

Here's where I got up to with Verdure over the weekend. Blogger Photos is down so I've had to use Webshots.



As I predicted in my last post I didn't really get a whole lot of stitching time. Well, actually I could have spent pretty much all of Saturday stitching away as the kids were out all day but I ended up washing and ironing instead! Need to work on my priorities!! Anyway, some progress is better than none, right?

Next up is my progress on QS Plum Gothic:



I had plans to work on her yesterday for the QS SAL but was tempted away by my Mystery WIP (which shall remain unnamed for now). I'll try to spend some time with my Plum girl over the weekend, and maybe get that second page finshed.

HAED BB October Challenge SAL Weekend

This weekend is the October edition of the Yearly Challenge SAL and Verdure comes out to play.

Here's my before pic:



I'm not sure how much stitching will take place as the Eid al-Fitr holiday started yesterday and the kids are off school until Tuesday. I'm sure it wasn't all that long ago they were on summer holidays!!

Quick Stitch Wednesday

This is Plum Gothic before I start working on her for the HAED BB Quick Stitch Wednesday SAL. I have spent the last couple of days working away on her and I'm really pleased with what I've achieved. It might be a bit ambitious of me but I'm going to see if I can get the second page finished. I'm not sure that I will but hopefully I'm come close :)

This upcoming weekend is the HAED BB Yearly Challenge SAL for October and Verdure will come out to play. I'm hoping to get a fair bit of progress done on her too :)

14 Years Ago ...

DH and I were married. The day is a distant blur in my memory but I do remember it being cold and wet, I think it even hailed at one point! Just the sort of ingredients you need for a garden wedding :) Thankfully, we had a Plan B and the rainy weather went away long enough for photos to be taken.

Sorry about the pic - it is a photo of a photo - so not very clear. Gosh, we look young and DH had a lot more hair than he does now - lol! My dress, veil and head-piece were way more fancier than I'd intended too! So not me! But I guess that's what happens when you ask for your parent's opinion and you're their only daughter! No way was this wedding going to be the simple affair DH and I were hoping for - lol!

I guess that's why we don't usually do much for our anniversaries plus DH has in the past usually been away working for most of them. This year however he wasn't so we went out for a very nice lunch :)

Oh, and in response to a couple of comments from my previous post - I did buy them all - lol! I just want to START them all!! Although I think I've narrowed it down to four now - Green Dragonfly, Purple Dragonfly, Butterfly Dream and Guidance - lol!

I'm in a dilemma!

There have been some new Ching-Chou Kuik Quick Stitch releases over at Heaven & Earth Designs recently and I've fallen in love with almost all of them (!!) - Butterfly Dream, Crystal Magic, Green Dragonfly, Magical Spread and Serene Dawn. I think Green Dragonfly would go lovely with Purple Dragonfly so they are at the top of my list to start next BUT Butterfly Dream and Purple Silk Mermaid are also calling quite loudly! To make matters worse Guidance is also starting to make itself heard. Sigh. Plum Gothic is on my stand at the moment so I think I'll try to keep on with her for a bit and then perhaps I'll go back to Dream of Purple for a bit to see if that will quieten the Kuik callings :)

Wish me luck!!

I have been quiet!!

Received a reminder from Nicole* today that I hadn't blogged in a while - she wondered if I was still stuck behind the ironing board - lol! No, ironing is pretty much up to date (thanks to our maid who caught it up for me while watching the kids one night a couple of weeks back). I've been a bit restless and just haven't been in the blogging frame of mind. Anyway, thanks for the push, Nic, I seem to be getting into the groove of things again now :)

Okay, so what have I been up to since I last posted? Well, let's see I've continued to read a lot. I discovered The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan, the Heather Wells mysteries by Meg Cabot and the first of JA Konrath's Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels mysteries, Whiskey Sour, all of which I've enjoyed. I've also started Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, from DS's bookshelf, which is also looking to be a good read :)

I have also been stitching. There was a New Start SAL on the HAED BB at the beginning of the month which is all the encouragement I needed really :) I chose Ching Chou Kuik's Dream of Purple.

My progress ...

I also participated in September's edition of the Yearly Challenge SAL with Verdure and managed to complete the first page plus a little of the second page :)



This past weekend was the Background SAL on the HAED BB and I chose to work on Molly Harrison's Fairy of the Sea. I had moved over to the top right of the chart and started on the background there a little while ago.

Before:

After:

I'm way behind on my PhotoHunt entries, so much so that I think I will stop participating in it for now. Maybe I'll just do my own random pic of the month type of thing or as and when I take a memorable or amusing pic.

Like this one ...



DS was home sick a couple of days this week with pharyngitis. On Monday, his first day off school, he'd come downstairs to talk to me but I was outside hanging out a load of washing. This is what I came back inside to :) Tikki decided she needed her rest too - lol. Oh, and DS is fine now :)

Right, time to take DD to her tennis lesson!

~o00o~

*If you haven't done so before go and check out Nicole's awesome progress on her St Nick in his Study WIP. The detail is just amazing!

The things I do to avoid the ironing pile :)

After lunch yesterday afternoon, instead of catching up on the ironing, I decided to sit down and organise my duplicate skeins of DMC embroidery floss (which is what you see in the pic above). I'd made a vague attempt at trying to sort them out not long after we arrived here two years ago but most of them were still in the original shopping bags from where I'd purchased them. So I dumped them all onto the living room rug, ran down to the local shop and bought a couple of large boxes of sandwich size ziploc bags, came home and bagged them up. I then went and entered them into a spreadsheet on my computer so the next time I kit up something and the colours I need are not in my master set, I can then check there before I go out and buy any!! It took me all afternoon to sort that mess out but it's done now :)

Next on my list is to get my master set, which is stored in a series of large floss boxes, organised. I have a bunch of bobbins from projects that have been done or I've unkitted which need to be put away. After that I can see what needs replacing and either get them from my duplicates stash or put them on a shopping list.

Unfortunately, I cannot avoid the ironing pile any longer as the kids go back to school on Tuesday and I need to get new uniform items ironed and labelled, and I guess DH would probably like some shirts and trousers for work this week too :)! I'll have some stitchy pics next post hopefully!

Back from holidays!

In fact we've been back for nearly two weeks but we've been kind of busy during that time - mostly with unpacking and laundry and playing chauffeur for me and catching up with friends and snowboarding camp for the kids.

We had a great holiday - went away with three suitcases and came back with five! Mostly stuff for the kids (games, books, clothing, etc) plus a heap of books and DVDs for me that I can't get here. In Hong Kong on the way back home we spent a day at Stanley Markets and bought ski gear for all us - good quality stuff and very cheap! We are planning to go to the French Alps during the winter break hence the need for the ski stuff.

It was nice to catch up with family and friends while in Australia and I got to meet my nephew for the first time too. He's a cutie and a livewire and is certainly going to keep his family on their toes!! My niece has grown considerably taller and is getting more beautiful by the day. She is only nine years old but is now as tall as her 12yo cousin (DS) and me (which isn't very tall really!).

I managed some stitching (mostly on a mystery WIP which is going to remain a mystery for a little while longer ... because I'm evil - lol!). The lighting wasn't very good in the holiday apartments we stayed at, so I mostly stitched early in the mornings before everyone else got up. I did buy one of those little itty-bitty clip-on craft lights and it helped a little to stitch at night but we were quite busy socialising so I mostly read.

I joined the RBL Summer Mystery Reading Challenge earlier this summer and so far have managed to read nine books! All by the same author, Kerry Greenwood, an Australian author, who I read about on the RBL site. Our apartment wasn't quite ready when we arrived in Adelaide so we went for a walk down the main shopping street (five mins away from the apartment complex) and the first store I came across was a book store - lol! The kids and I walked out with an armful of books and several dollars lighter in the purse! Anyway, getting back to Kerry Greenwood (I am easily distracted!!), I picked up the first three books of the Corinna Chapman series - Earthly Delights, Heavenly Pleasures and Devil's Food plus the first six books in the Phryne Fisher series. Wonderfully light and quick reads - I really enjoyed them. I have two or three others on the go but whether I will manage to finish them before the 31st of this month remains to be seen - especially since the kidlets are still on holidays. A little over a week to go!

Okay, children need to be feed so I'll sign off for now. Hopefully I'll get a chance to catch up on my blog reading over the next week or two although I suspect that that may have to wait until the kids are in school. I also hope to have some pics next post too - just need to download them off the camera :)

And now for something completely different ...

a stitchy update!!!

First up, my progress on Plum Gothic QS. One full page is complete and I've made good progress on the second. I have put her aside for now. We head off on holidays in a couple of days so I probably won't get to her before we go. I shall pack her in my suitcase and hopefully I'll get some time to work on her while we are away - depends on the lighting in the holiday apartment too I guess.



Next, is my progress on Verdure. It was the monthly HAED BB Challenge SAL this past weekend so it was her turn to get some attention. The SAL runs until midnight tonight and although I didn't get any stitching done on her yesterday, I am hopeful of getting some in tonight. Entirely reliant on whether I have gotten all the jobs on my list for today done or not though!!



Speaking of today's list, back to sorting out clothes to pack!

Up to date!! This week's PhotoHunt - "Shadows"

Leaf shadows cast on to my entry way wall from my palm - I struggled with this one!!

PhotoHunt Catch Up Part 2 - "Sweet" & "Fake"

DS's deliciously "sweet" cupcake birthday cake from his recent birthday :)



My "fake" camels :)



My apologies for the small pic!

PhotoHunt Catch Up - "Hair" & "Shiny"

I'm covering both topics with one pic here :) This is a photo of my son with some of his friends in their very "shiny" robes with their teacher at their recent graduation from elementary school - he's the "long haired hippy freak" (as my DH lovingly calls him *grin*) on the right without the mortar board.

Oopsie!

I had no idea it had been so long since I'd blogged!! The kidlets started their 10.5 weeks summer school holidays on June 21 and have kind of contributed to me not being on the computer as much. We will be heading off to Australia later this month for a few weeks so that should break things up a bit (I hope!). Nothing as exciting as our trip last year but still its a break from this constant heat!

I'm behind on my PhotoHunt posts so I'll have to try and find some time to catch up on them this afternoon. I've also got some stitching progress to report as well but I haven't got much time to do it right now so that will have to be another post.

Thank you everyone who left comments about my framed pieces - I still haven't hung them yet but I have decided on a spot! All we need to do now is get the house painted inside and out then they can go up :)

Bounce!

DH picked these up from the framers for me this afternoon!!


Snowflake QS


Girly Gothic QS

I'm really happy with how they've turned out!! The pics aren't great, sorry, but I was trying to avoid flash reflection on the glass. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to hang them yet but I suspect DD will want to snaffle Girly Gothic for her room!!

I managed a dozen or so stitches into Verdure last night but my plans to spend the better part of today stitching on her didn't happen. Let's hope I get a good chunk of time on her tonight!!

Summer Mystery Reading Challenge

I am and have been since I was a young child, a real bookworm. I love books and will read just about anything! My favourite types of books to read though are mystery/crime and fantasy and I enjoy discovering new authors, so it was no wonder this challenge caught my eye while reading Nicki's blog recently :) Since moving here I have found that I read a LOT during the summer months - over the four weeks we were travelling last summer I read three of Kathy Reich's Tempe Brennan series. It may not sound like a lot but when you factor in playing tourist etc I thought three books wasn't a bad achievement. We are not playing tourists this summer so I should be able to manage to read the six books required for this challenge.

Anyway, today I was scheduled to drop off DH at the physiotherapist (we are down to one vehicle at the moment, DH had a minor accident in his a couple of weeks ago and it is in being repaired), then I was going to pick up Snowflake and Girly Gothic from the framers nearby. Unfortunately, it turned out they weren't going to be ready till this evening so I had some time to fill in before heading back to the physio to collect DH. As luck would have it however there was a nicely stocked book store close by and of course I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to go in for a browse - lol! I didn't leave empty handed either (I never do!) - for the mystery challenge I picked up "Death of a Red Heroine" by Qiu Xiaolong and for fun, "The Devil Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger. I might have to schedule a trip to Borders sometime this week and have a browse through their Mystery section and see what else I can add to my challenge reading list :)

I haven't managed a lot of stitching so far this weekend - tomorrow is looking like a quiet day so I'm hoping to spend most of it making some progress on Verdure. I'll post my progress, however minimal it may turn out to be, tomorrow night.

PhotoHunters "Shoes"

I'm sure the shoes in this house breed - we always seem to have huge colonies near every main entrance door! We bought shoe cupboards to try and combat the problem but I think DH and I are the only ones who seem to understand its purpose - lol!!



Okay so the sandals are mine but I always leave a pair near the back door because I am constantly going in and out and the ground is too hot at the moment for bare feet! But they do get put away at the end of the day. The other two belong to DD. Normally there would be at least another three pair in that spot - DS and DD's Etnies (skate shoes which double as school shoes) and DH's flip-flops - but the kids are wearing their Etnies and DH had put his flip-flops away.



Put away where they belong!

HAED BB Yearly Challenge SAL

I didn't participate in last month's SAL because I didn't want to stop working on Snowflake but I don't have that excuse this month :) I'd really like to get the first page finished this weekend and maybe even a good start on the next one. We'll see. Weekends can get fairly busy around here!!



My before pic :)

PhotoHunters "Art"

Just in case you weren't aware, I like camels (no, really!!??) so when DH and I were browsing for some pictures to put on our very bare walls and came across this, there was no way that I was going to leave the shop without it!



Before I go, Happy Birthday, Mum!!

PhotoHunters "Colourful"

London cabbies aren't just black anymore - check out the bright pink one on the right!

A big thank you for all the wonderful comments about Snowflake - they are very much appreciated :) I spent a couple of days working on Fairy of the Sea but will wait until after the next time I work on her before sharing a progress pic. I picked up Plum Gothic yesterday so will spend a few days with her now.

May I present ....

Snowflake QS
Original artwork by Selina Fenech
Charted by Michele Sayetta of Heaven & Earth Designs
Stitched on mystery 25 count hand dyed evenweave from CountryStitch
Started: Mid September 2005
Finished: 24 May 2007

There were many months where I didn't stitch on her at all because I kept getting distracted by other shiny sparkly things!! Anyway, she needs a nice warm bath and an iron, then I must get her and Girly Gothic framed!!

Thank you again for the comments everyone :) I'm off to dig out a very neglected Fairy of the Sea from WIP box and work on her for a bit. I did plan to spend a bit of time with Verdure but I need a break from detail stitches for a couple of days!

Another page down!

Thank you everyone for stopping by and leaving your lovely comments - I appreciate them :)

At the risk of being boring here's another Snowflake QS update :p This is pretty much all I'm stitching on right now so until she is done there won't be much else to show stitching wise :) Hopefully the next progress pic of her will be the last one!



I finished page 2 a couple of days ago (I'm not doing the pages in order) which means I have one small page to go. I may be a little ambitious in my thinking but I'm hoping to have that final page done this week ... we'll see, there's a bit of detail stitching in that area :)

Thanks for looking!

QS Wednesday

It's Quick Stitch Wednesday on the HAED BB and I will continue to work on Snowflake. Here's my current progress ...



It was the HAED BB Challenge SAL for May this past weekend and I was supposed to be working on Verdure but I'm so enjoying Snowflake that poor Verdure didn't stand a chance! I think I may stick with Snowflake until she's either finished or I get bored with her, whichever comes first :) I will make up for lost time on Verdure then.

It is starting to warm up quite considerably over here now - ick! I have a feeling this summer is going to be very hot!!

PhotoHunters "Five"

The five men in my family!

PhotoHunters "Childhood"

I finally got my act together last week and joined the PhotoHunt - it is something I've been meaning to do for ages! Anyway, this week's theme is Childhood.



**I've been having real problems with Blogger Photos and some sites on the internet in general - probably my ISP being pernickety! Thank goodness for good 'ol Webshots!**

I love this pic :) DD had a couple of friends over for a sleepover a couple of weekends ago and they were being silly (as girls can be!) during breakfast when I took this photo.

By the way, it's Nutella on DD's friend's nose :)

TGIT (Thank Goodness It's Thursday)!

Thursday afternoon signals the start of the weekend for us and I am so very glad it has arrived this week - I'm tired and am looking forward to a nice quiet (and hopefully, stitchy) weekend.

Thank you also for all your lovely comments on my recent WIP progress pics - they brighten my day :) Details on what thread I'm using for St Georges (as requested by AnneS and Fudgey (glad you found my blog, JM!)) - I'm using one strand of Gloriana silk, colour "Red Clay" over two threads on cream 40ct linen.

Yesterday was Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand and I had a marathon baking session making Anzac Biscuits (cookies for my non-Aussie friends) - I made a batch for each of the kids to take to school plus some for DH's office and home plus another lot for a friend as a thank you. Said friend only managed to eat one and the rest she shared with her co-workers so tomorrow (I am all Anzac'd out today) I will make another batch exclusively for her :) Then I think that will do on the baking front for a while!

All is quiet in the house right now - DD is playing next door and DS is not talking to me because I nixed his sleepover plans for tomorrow night *sigh*. He wanted THREE friends to stay over and I am so not up for that this weekend! I have been at school nearly every day this week helping his group out with a major class project which is due next week - I have had my fill of 11 year old pre-pubescent males this week! I may concede and let him have ONE friend over although that will depend very much on his attitude between now and tomorrow morning!!

I guess I will go and make the most of the peace and get some stitches in - what's the bet everyone will start bugging me the second I get comfortable?!!

Playing Catch-Up!!

Firstly, many thanks for the lovely comments on Snowflake - much appreciated :)

We have visitors at the moment hence the lack of posts recently. I have managed a little stitching however although not as much as I would like. I've been getting up at 5.45am to walk the dog and by the time I sit down in the evenings I'm just too tired to stitch much.

Last weekend was the April instalment of the HAED BB Yearly Challenge SAL so it was time to bring Verdure out for a bit of attention. I was hoping to finish the first page this time around but of course I forgot to factor in that I would have visitors and so that didn't happen.

Anyway, here is my progress ...




Sorry about all the threads etc - it was a bit of a "drive by" shot so I didn't think to tidy up the ends etc before I took it :)

Next up is my progress on Long Dog Samplers "St Georges" - I remembered to bring it in from my truck this afternoon which is where I mostly work on it while I'm waiting for the kids to get out of school. It is coming along nicely I think.


Blogger Photos is being contrary at the moment so I'm using Webshots for this one.

My SIL is staying with us at the moment just until she finds a place of her own. She arrived just over a week ago to take up a short term job contract. The kids are enjoying having their "action aunty" around :) My parents-in-law arrived to visit a couple of days after SIL so at the moment I have a house full!! The PILs leave on Wednesday to continue their travels so it will just be me and my doggy shadow again during the day - I'm never lonely :)

Well, it is way past my bedtime and I have another busy day tomorrow so I'd better sign off and head for bed!

Happy stitching!

Another page is done :)

Finished page 3 yesterday and have made a start on page 2 (I'm going down then across) although I will put her aside this weekend as it is the HAED Challenge SAL for April. I'm hoping to get Page 1 of Verdure done over this SAL but I'm not sure that will happen. My SIL arrives to stay with us on Thursday (she has a job here) and then the parents-in-law arrive early hours of Monday morning so I'm going to have a house full! Hopefully I'll have some time in the evenings.

Thank you to those that drop by and leave comments - they are always appreciated. It is nice to see some new visitors too - welcome :)

Snowflake is back!

And so it would appear is my HAED stitching mojo - yay! It left me for a while there after I finished Girly Gothic but Snowflake started calling me earlier this week and she is pretty much all I've stitched on.

Anyway, here she is ...



I've been busily filling in holes this past week and have finally managed to complete page one (out of four, but two are really only half pages) of the chart. There is an Easter Creature SAL going on at the HAED BB this weekend so hopefully I will be able to fill in pretty much all of those holes you can see on page three - we'll see :) At least fill in those empty holes around her nose and mouth 'cos she looks kind of weird - lol!

Anne L, to answer your question, we had the opportunity to buy the villa we rent here and given that DH still has at least two more years of his contract to go we decided to go ahead and buy. We like the community here, the kids have made friends, it is close to their school and well, we didn't want to move :) If we decide to head back to Australia after DH's current contract expires then we will either sell up or rent it out. Where we live is a popular location so I don't think we'll have too much trouble with either of those options :)

On that note, I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Easter - I've just finished playing Easter Bunny and it is time I called it a night :)

Personality Blogthing :)

As seen on Kim's blog ...

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISTP)

Your personality type is reserved, methodical, spirited, and intense. Only about 6% of all people have your personality, including 3% of all women and 8% of all men You are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

I have been stitching away on St Georges but tonight I think I will pull out something different - not sure what yet though. Will take a dive into my WIP box and see what leaps into my hands :)

Oh, and Tannia, St Georges is being stitched with one strand of Gloriana's "Red Clay" silk over two threads on cream 40 count linen :)

A long overdue update!

Good grief I didn't realise it had been so long since I'd posted! I have been a bit preoccupied lately, mostly with health issues of close family members back in Australia, secondly with the new Sims2 expansion pack and most recently with the purchase of our home here!

Anyway, I have been stitching and have even managed to catch up with Lisa a couple of times. Every time we get together we say we will stitch but to date that hasn't happened - lol! Too busy chatting - maybe next time, Lisa?!

Okay, some pics ...

First, is my current progress on Verdure - I kept working on her after the March HAED Challenge SAL weekend as I wasn't happy with the lack of progress I made during that SAL.



Second is my current progress on Long Dog Samplers "St Georges". This is my car/travel project but I have been working on it the past few evenings as well. It doesn't require too much concentration and there are no colour changes so it is a pretty easy stitch.



I'm currently being harassed by the dog (she has her head on my thigh and is staring at me with her big brown eyes!) as she hasn't been for her morning walk yet so I will sign off for now :)

March HAED Challenge SAL

This was my effort after the SAL weekend just gone. Not a lot but I think I will continue to work on her for a bit longer :)

For Alison's DD (Sims 2:Seasons stuff) :)

Alison, tell your DD I'm not sure how I got my Sim to spontaneously combust :) I was playing Leod McGreggor (one of the new Sims that come with Seasons). His temp was in the red when I started playing him. I think I made him drink tomato juice too, which I have since read, warms Sims up. So does drinking hot chocolate. He also got sick with the flu so that may have had something to do with his high temp too.

Anyway, she could always make them wear their winter overcoats outside in summer - hee hee, drink tomato juice and hot chocolate and warm himself by the fire (if she has one) to see what happens. Oh, and baths and showers tend to raise their temperature too from what I've noticed. Sounds like she is having as much fun as I am playing it :)

Tannia, a couple of my son's friends think I'm a "cool mum" because I play computer and PS2 games - lol. DS does too most of the time - doesn't like it when I crank the stereo up in the truck and bop along to the music on the school run though - ROFL! I have seen Rollercoaster Tycoon and some of the other Tycoon games - haven't played them though. Will have to check them out next time DS has his guitar lesson - there's an electronics store nearby that I tend to wander around in while I'm waiting . Not good for the purse sometimes!!

I'm back to stitching today so should have some stitchy pics to show later :)

Having fun with Seasons :)

Just a couple of replies to comments from my last post - I am having a blast with this latest Sims2 EP!

Alison and Trish, yep you really can get killed by lightning - lol. You can also spontaneously combust if you overheat (one Sim I was playing overheated while sleeping and his butt caught on fire!), and freeze if you are outside in winter too long. I haven't had that happen yet although I have read that if an adult Sim freezes you can get another adult Sim to unfreeze them with a blow dryer?! If a child Sim freezes you risk a visit from the Social Worker! You just need to keep an eye on their thermometer (a new feature with this EP).

The gardening feature is cool too ... and that is saying a lot from a non-gardening person like me :) Overall, I love Seasons - my stitching could be taking a back seat for a little while longer :) !!

Seasons :)

I got my hands on Seasons, the latest expansion pack for The Sims 2, the other day hence the lack of posting - lol! Of course, there hasn't been a whole lot of stitching happening either!! Should be back to regularly scheduled stitching when I'm all "Seasoned" out :)

An Open Heart

Here's my progress to date. Despite the grief the drawn threadwork band was causing me, it has turned out rather nicely. I really only have two major areas to stitch and then it is on to the borders. Dare I jinx myself by saying this could quite possibly be my first major finish for 2007?!!



Thank you all for your really nice comments on AOH too - they helped me get through that reweaving!!!

Now to comment on a couple of comments :)

Alison, the beaded purse pin measures 2.54cm x 5.72cm (1" x 2.25"). It is probably not something I would wear but I could probably make myself very popular with my Bratz loving DD and her similarly minded friends by making a bunch of them without the pin. I'm sure their fashion loving Bratz would love them :) Good luck with An Open Heart - you will probably breeze through the reweaving :)

Tannia, all I can say about your recollection of soylent green cereal from the old film is eeewwwww! LOL! Actually, your comment made me curious so I went searching and found this - again, at the risk of sounding like my 9yo female child - eewww!

Rightio, on that note, I'm off to make a dent in the next band of AOH before the kids come home :)

Blog quiz ...

Mel -- [noun]: A brand of soylent green breakfast cereal 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Mmmm, oookaaayy?!

Let's try my full name ...

Melissa -- [noun]: A hermit living in the big city 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Ha, that's more like it - lol!!

Courtesy of WhizGidget :)

A beady post, with a little bit of stitching too :)

I made this a few weeks ago and have only just now remembered to take a photo of it! The pic isn't great, sorry, but this one was the best one of the lot :/

It is "La Heather Ice", a Mill Hill La Petite Purse Pin kit that I found whilst rummaging through my bead stash. I wasn't in a stitching mood so I went looking for inspiration :) It was my first experience with the Mill Hill Magnifica beads and I must say it was fun (so much so that I've ordered a couple more kits - lol) and it only took me an afternoon.

It also makes it my first finish for 2007!

Thank you for your lovely comments re Sea of Roses. Michelle, to answer you question, yes, I do find it easier to stitch one colour first then the next. I've tried parking and it just confuses me (I'm blonde - it doesn't take much - lol!). I must admit I do chop and change the way I stitch my HAEDs. Sometimes I'll work in 10 x 10 columns like Verdure (although you will notice from my last WIP pic that I've started going cross country on that) but mostly I'm a cross country stitcher within a page. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I've put her away for now and moved on to DT's An Open Heart which is causing me a little bit of grief at the moment. There is a band which requires you to cut and withdraw threads then reweave. The instructions are excellent and I don't have a problem with the actual process, it is the linen that I'm having trouble with. I am using the recommended linen (34ct Cafe au Lait Legacy Linen) and up to this point I've had no problems. However, though I'm taking this particular band slowly and with great care, the linen is weak and breaks very easily which is so not what I need when I have to reweave the threads! It is also fluffing and just being very difficult to handle.



You can see the section in question - with the green honeycomb hem stitch (please don't look too closely though - there is a slight boo-boo which I'll need to fix somehow). I've got a section of plain cross stitch and then another band of the drawn thread work. I'm expecting it will be a pain but I will soldier on :) As far as I can tell that's the only band with that technique so it should be smooth sailing from the next band on!

Sea of Roses

This is my progress on Sea of Roses which I started for the HAED BB Valentine's SAL. I started in the top left corner which is mostly background and part of her tail so there really isn't much to see yet. I've added a little more since this photo was taken but I may take her off the stand tomorrow and work on something else. It's Quick Stitch Wednesday tomorrow so I may just dig out Plum Gothic or perhaps even Snowflake (gasp!) or I may just even go non-HAED for a few days :)

Oh, and for those interested, Sea of Roses is being stitched on 25 count Light Rose lugana with DMC threads and Petite Treasure Braid for the sparklies :)

Not a happy little Vegemite!

Australian readers will understand my angst ... we ran out of Vegemite two days ago and, unusually, none of the usual places here I can get it from have it in stock!! As Captain Jack Sparrow would say - not good! After trying to sell me Promite (shudder!!) the other day, and being told very quickly that it does NOT taste the same, the head honcho at my local store has promised me he will have more Vegemite in stock "very soon, madam" :) He also probably thinks all of us Vegemite loving Australians are quite mad - lol!

I think I might get mum to send over a couple of tubes for emergencies, and DH can bring back a one kilo jar with him since he'll be in Oz next week :)

I've been stitching away on Sea of Roses as part of the HAED BB's Valentine's SAL and will try and upload a pic of my progress over the next day or two. It doesn't look like much at the moment though.

Okay, the dog is resting her head on my thigh and staring at me with those incredibly huge brown eyes of hers and I can ignore her no longer - it's walk time :)

HAED BB Challenge SAL

Remember, Linda Ravenscroft's Verdure? Long time readers may, newer ones won't :) It's been a while since this project has seen the light of day. Anyway, this weekend was February's SAL for the HAED BB's Challenge SAL - a year long SAL on a chart of your choosing. It can be an existing WIP or a new start and I decided to dig out my Verdure WIP. The chart cannot be changed during the year unless you finish one and start another (like that's gonna happen!!). We can stitch on our chosen charts any time we like, but at least 10 out of the 12 months we need to sign in and participate in the SAL weekend (the 2nd weekend of each month Fri thru to Mon).

What you see above is my progress. I managed just under 800 stitches but I only worked on it for one day (yesterday). A huge improvement from last month where I only managed about 100 stitches! I am hoping to see some significant progess on this by the year's end.

There is a Valentine's SAL starting up tomorrow on the HAED BB and I have been going through my charts/WIPs to see if I have anything remotely near the love/romance theme (I am not the romantic kind as you will see towards the end of this post!). The closest thing I have is Sea of Roses by Selina Fenech. I haven't had a new start this year and probably don't need another one but well, what can I say? I have no willpower and the joy for me is not so much in the finished product but the actual stitching of the piece :) I have had SOR kitted up for quite some time so today I printed off the chart, prepped the fabric, gridded the outline and organised bobbins. I am actually thinking of starting it this afternoon since I will be out all day tomorrow (the rescheduled field trip that was cancelled last week).

I have made progress on DT's An Open Heart - no progress pics yet as I want to finish the band I'm working on before taking it off the Q-snaps.

Thank you for the comments about the passing of my nan and the new look of my blog :) I'm so glad I found that photo - it really turned out well considering I took it from the car. I'm not sure if you can tell but the second camel rider along is actually waving to me :D.

Told you I wasn't romantic ... LOL!

Your Candy Heart Says "Get Real"

You're a bit of a cynic when it comes to love. You don't lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: is all about the person you're seeing (with no mentions of v-day!) Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic What turns you off: romantic expectations and "greeting card" holidays Why you're hot: you don't just play hard to get - you are hard to get

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

New beginnings ...

As you can see, I'm playing around with my blog again. I briefly thought about moving my blog elsewhere but decided to stick with Blogger for now. However, I've managed to import a pic I took of a camel train quite some time ago into my header and I'm gradually changing the colours around to suit. It is not finished but given that it is now 1.30am I'm calling it a night and will continue playing tomorrow. Oh, and you will also notice I've changed the name of my blog (I was never happy with it!) as well. I love camels and although I don't stitch with the real living, breathing kind, I do have various forms of them about my house :)

Anyway, bed is calling!

Phew!

There are days when I really really dislike Blogger!!! It ate my post and I'd just hit the Publish button too! Mutter, mutter ....

Anyway, the gist of my eaten post was that An Open Heart has been found - thank goodness! Even though I had looked in behind the drawers of the robe in the guest room I decided to try again. I put my hands in to feel around as well as getting more up and close and personal with the drawers than before - lol - and sure enough there it was. It had slipped underneath the bottom drawer.

So it has been found and I am rewarding myself with an hour or so of stitching before starting on dinner!

Oh, and Cathy ... thank you :) I like your new blog "home" :) I have been a little anti-social lately and haven't been reading many blogs. I am in the process of rectifying that though :)

The Case of the Missing WIP

Sorry for not posting for a while - a few days after my last post I learnt that my nan had passed away. She was 94 years old and hadn't been well for the past few months so it was her time to go but still, it is sad.

I still haven't been able to settle with my stitching - managed a few stitches in Arabian Woman but then I wasn't really enjoying it, so I moved on to Night for a bit. Have put a few stitches in here and there but nothing worth taking a pic of.

I was scheduled to go on a field trip with DD's class today but it was cancelled at the last minute (probably due to the rain we had this morning) so I found myself with a free day. I had a strong desire to stitch on An Open Heart (Drawn Thread) and since it is the first time in ages that I actually wanted to stitch, I set about locating said WIP.

Well, do you think I can find it?! I have searched high and low and so far it is nowhere to be found! It has to be in this house somewhere (at least I hope it is!) but it is not where I thought it was. I have a box next to my stitching chair that contains four or five WIPs that I actively work on (when I'm stitching that is!) - that seems to be as many as I can handle at the one time. The rest of my my projects/stash are stored in a cupboard downstairs along with fabric and threads. I also have a couple of projects in the wardrobe (one of my "overflow" cupboards) in the guest bedroom and a couple in the bottom of the wardrobe in the master bedroom. I also have a suitcase full (mostly of yarn) on top of the wardrobe in the guest room. I have looked in all of these places and still no AOH. I've just gone through my box and the cupboards downstairs again, pulled everything out, looked in pattern folders, fabric boxes (discovered I have quite a bit of fabric!!!), the suitcase, even behind the robe and cupboard, still with no luck. As soon as I finish here I will head upstairs and go through my wardrobe again but I am at a loss as to where else it could be. It is a mystery, and a little disconcerting!

Hopefully I will be able to report in my next post that I've found it ... fingers (or toes) crossed!