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 :)