Words and Blooms

The Art of Fudging

2012-01-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

On this dark, wild and stormy morning, a good day to ya! We've had some snowy weather here last week, then temperatures rose and heavy rains came Friday night and we woke up as if from a dream, all snow gone but rain being our steady companion.

Snow days are good (when they aren't too many) for catching up on things. I actually got caught up a lot on work at home where it was nice and quiet. I think sometimes you have to get away from the office to really get anything done!

On Friday, after my work was all done I picked up my needle again on Margaret Harris. I had to do a lot of frogging, hence, I have learned The Art of Fudging a lot because I just got tired of the rippity-rippity noise!

I am really pleased with my progress since last week but today I will take a break. My neck was sending out warning noises last night so I will give it a rest today. *sigh* Hard to let goof stitching so maybe I shall play with my linens and prepare a few pieces for projects.

Question for you stitchers who make a lot of smalls - where do you go for tutorials? I want to stitch and finish more smalls this year and want to try out some new finishes. (Thanks)

I am getting excited about the Nashville Market coming up next month. Already sneak peeks are starting to show up. I love the sampler that Theresa showed here, and Tanya's Miss Mary Roe (those funky looking people just make me laugh!). I am wondering what the Blackbird Designs ladies will dream up this time! I have so loved their designs of late. Has anything caught your eye? Do share!

Well, must get on with Sunday. Julius wishes you a cozy one where you can snuggle down and dream (or stitch or whatever!).

Thank you for dropping by! Your comments are always a treat. A special thanks to new commentators on the last post. It's always nice to chat with new friends! Take care and have a great week!

Opening 2012 with Gratitute

2012-01-15T12:27:00.000-08:00

It's the middle of January already and I am happy to be here to say:

(1) My back is feeling much better. Actually overall, I am off to a good start this year. With the help of acupuncture (thanks Yael) and the right chiropractic treatments and exercises (thanks Randy) I am feeling very hopeful...

(2) So Stitching I did go! I have been able to pick up the needle a bit at a time. And I have completed the house for Margaret Harris! I feel like I have been stitching with one hand tied behind my back but I'm getting there!

3) When not stitching I am, of course, Reading! I have decided that 2012 will be the year I read more widely, paying particular attention to non-fiction books. To that end, here is my second book finished this year and one which I can recommend highly. Unbroken, by Lauren Hillenbrand. The story is amazing and inspiring.

I am currently reading The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn, subtitled "How a few simple lessons transformed nine culinary novices into fearless home cooks." It's an interesting read. I thought it would be about how to fry an egg, how to chop an onion, that sort of thing - more technique. However, there were interesting bits about our assumptions about foods we buy at the store, and the lesson of tasting (as in compare various brands) everything. As much as I think I am a fairly decent cook, I came away learning a few new things and that's always good.

4) The Joy of Books. For a lover of books, I loved this video. The music that does with it is just great! It is from a bookstore in Toronto. I found the video this morning when I was lurking on Eric Morgenstern's site. She is the author of one of my favourite reads last year, The Night Circus.

5) The Joy of Pets. I haven't been showing you my kitties lately. Here is Mr Julius first giving me Kitty-Love mug.

I caught Miss Daisy giving me this sweet look this morning. Awww.

Here is my newest "pet". Meet Pigeldi! My boy bought this at Christmas Market in Germany and gave me to me for Christmas. Pigeldi is carved from one piece of wood and he's just so cute. I just loved it!

As you can see, I do have a lot of things to be grateful for! Not least of which is this "blog" thing which keeps me going. Your comments and encouragement and well wishes have always kept me afloat.

I've been admiring a lot of your stitching this January - it seems there are lot of new projects springing up all over the place, much to my delight! What's your favourite stitch so far?

Here we are at the end of another post. Thank you for visiting with me. If you have never left a comment here before, don't be shy, just say "hi"! ;-) Take care. Have a wonderful week ahead!

Wrapping up 2011

2011-12-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Doesn't that seem so long ago, and now we are on the verge of turning the page to a new year?

2011 was an interesting year, a bit of a roller coaster ride! A year ago today I couldn't have predicted what was to come!

Stitching wise I started off doing quite well but it really tapered off when we left on our trip. Here's a trip down memory lane...

Lo, How a Rose by Brightneedle

Marlene's Sampler by Romy in Austria

Elizabeth Easton by the Goode Huswife

Good Cheer by the Goode Huswife

The Brown House Sampler by The Middle Road

Permit me not to Stray by Heartstring Samplery

Live in Harmony by Homespun Elegance

Ann Taylor by Hearstring Samplery

The Pinkhouse Sampler by Little by Little

The Garden of Eden by The Goode Huswife

Birdhouse Sampler by Prairie Schooler

School House Sampler by Birds of a Feather

Earth Sampler by Primitive Needle


Silk Sampler by Birds of a Feather

I am not sure what 2012 will look like for my stitching. Due to my neck & back issues, I may have to scale back to smalls or "smaller". I did decide to resume doing some exchanges again as that somehow I just fell off the exchange wagon, so that should be fun!

Since I couldn't do as much stitching this year I have been reading a lot. I logged a record 104 books! To see the list, go here.

Some favourites:

When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Bright Forever by Lee Martin
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Some fun reads:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Revolution by Jennifer Connelly
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

New mystery/thrillers:

The whole Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (The first of the Carl Mork series translated in English.)
The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol & Agnette Fries (The first in the Nina Borg series translated in English)
The Hypnotist by Lars Keplar (The first of the DI Joona Linna series)

Well, that's it for this year. I want to thank you for your visits, your comments and friendship. I wish you all a Happy, Healthy New Year!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2011-12-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

Ooops - it's been awhile since I've posted and I feel very rusty. You know, the longer you put off posting, the more foreign it seems. 'Tis the season for...

...decorations Red and Green

...and reindeer...

...but most of all - Homecoming! Our boy arrived home safe and sound on Sunday and we're hamming it up for the camera!

It's wonderful to have him back. I've been busy baking not only to feed him, but to give cookies and such away for Christmas gifts.

So, you may wonder what I've been up too these last two months. Well, first I had to spend about 5-6 weeks intensively on getting a professional designation renewed. Then I've been taking time out because of my bad back. Time out from stitching I mean. I still did all the usual things, like working!

However, I have been getting some new help in the way of a new chiropractor who gave me, bit by bit, small amounts of "exercises" to do. Along with some acupuncture treatments, all these things have helped me tremendously. So, three weeks ago, I decided to get back to stitching but with a small sampler. Here is Margaret Harris from one of the Blackbird Design booklets.

See the difference between the white flower on the left vs the one on the right? The left one is very faint and is the called for BS Vanilla Pudding. The one on the right is BS Icing which is brighter and the one I will now use instead. The very faint flower on the inside right border is using BS Scarecrow. I'm afraid it will have to come out. It's so faint you can hardly see it. So, I can see substitutions being the norm here!

I have to go slow with my stitching as just 1/2 hr of stitching makes my back start whining! Slowly, slowly I will go!

And here is one last framed piece to show you.

This is my first day off from work so lots of stuff to do before Christmas Eve as I am hosting the dinner! I will be covered with flour shortly!

Thank you for visiting with me now and all through this year. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

PS - Dear Santa: I know All-I-want-for-Christmas I already got with my boy being home safe and sound...but you know, if you happen to have a spare i-Pad at the bottom of your sack, I've been a very good girl this year! ;-)

Cologne (Koln), Germany

2011-10-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Let's load up more travel photos (as I don't have much else to say)!

Here is the Dom Cathedral in Cologne, Germany. You can read more about it here. It is the largest cathedral in Germany and is just awesome to behold. There are loads more information on the net so you can google it to find more information.

Our son walked the 100+ steps up to the bell tower. Here is the view from up high! It is pretty amazing inside and out!

Here is a bridge with an interesting "tourist attraction". Look along the walkway where the people are - see those colourful things along the bridge? No?

Here's a close-up. Thousands of people have put in these locks to proclaim their "love". It was really amazing to see!

Here we are on the Rhine River. There are many boat tours (well worth it).

The view from the boat. In the evening we sat in one of those outdoor cafes for dinner - marvelous!

And here is our little village of Bensberg, about 30 minute by train from Cologne.

Oh, and at the end of the day, we trudge back to our castle (via a hill paved with cobblestones!). What a wonderful place. We were definitely the "Beverly Hillbillies" at this 5-star hotel though!

Some of the beautiful interior...

Finally, as we return from a mellow dinner at the village, here is the site that greets us!

Oh boy, what a time that was!

I hope you've enjoyed these snippets of our travels in Germany! See you next time!

Wanna see more framing?

2011-10-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

What a silly question! Of course you want to see more framing! I always love to see how stitchers frame their lovely treasures. But truth be told, it's because I have not picked up a needle since we got home. I'm very slow to go back to routine! At least jet lag is over!

Here's Miss Olga, by the talented Paulette of Plum Street Samplers.

The frame was a "leftover" piece on sale and when I saw it I knew it was perfect for Olga. The colours of the photo don't do this justice. I'm looking at her as I type this as she is now sitting by my computer.

Next is Betsy by Sheepish Designs. I chose a very simple (read - "inexpensive") frame.

I think I have one more to show but I gotta find it first!

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post. I will try and pull out more photos for another post. I think my mind is still in la-la-land, not quite grounded in "Home" yet. Plus I have been doing lots of reading so maybe that should be the next post!

Well, that's it for now! Take care and have a lovely week ahead!

There and Back Again...a Mother's Tale

2011-10-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

The title is borrowed from a certain Mr. Baggins but aptly describes our absence these past 2 weeks. We have been in the south-west part of Germany visiting our DS, who moved there in late spring to work for 8 months. It was so great to see him and we had a lovely time! Now, where to begin?

My DH is the guy with the camera and once that thing attaches to his arm, he is in action. He took over 1600 photos and videos! I am feeling overwhelmed with how to edit the lot so I just pulled a few to show you, just to get started.

We begin in Stuttgart. It's a small city with about 1/2 million population - just the right size for us to start our adventure. I will start with some photos around the old Schloss (palace grounds).

This is part of the great pedestrian shopping strip (Konigstrasse) which goes on and on! The yellow banners you see in the center announce their own version of the Octoberfest.

This is a section of the Berlin Wall.

This is the famous Mercedes Benz museum. The architecture is really interesting. You walk from one floor to the next like a spiral.

This is my DH having fun with the one and only race car he will ever "drive"!

Here is a very happy mom visiting her boy's place of work.

Here's the drink of Germany! We are at a homey restaurant in the village where our son lives. The restaurant is in a renovated garage in someone's house, right in the middle of a neighbourhood! The food was home-y and yummy!

Here is part of Market Day (Saturday) in Stuttgart. There are many markets on market day. There is one for food as you see here, one for flowers , another for "fleas". The latter two are found in other squares. There is also an indoor "Market Hall", which, unfortunately we missed!

More royal 'what-its'. You know when you are traveled out when you can't remember names of things. This was turned into a museum.

The last photo was taken outside the Chocolate Museum in Cologne. That was another part of the trip but I won't show that here.

I also can't seem to add another line after the photo so I'll stop for now. We are still recovering from jet lag. Thank goodness it's the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and we have a lot to be thankful for. We had a lovely time with our boy. He's matured leaps and bounds and we are so proud of him. The weather was fantastic (in the low to mid 20 C) and the beer was good!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!

A Big Red House

2011-09-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

I've been patiently stitching houses for Mary Gibson.

Here's a Red House

and a Blue House on the left

and here's how she is looking since last week

I am really enjoying stitching Mary Gibson now that I am happy with the colours I've chosen so far. There will likely be more new colours introduced as I move 'up' the sampler. BTW, if I was to order a linen to stitch Mary, I would be inclined to get Vintage Light Examplar from Lakeside Linens. When I look at the antique Mary Gibson that's the linen I see but I used WDW Straw only because I had it in my stash, so I also have to adjust colours to fit.

Thank you for your enthusiastic comments in my last post! I loved reading each one of them! Now, to answer some questions left in the comments last week:

Following along the lines of "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" - Yes, Katrina, I will share my silk "conversion" when I'm finished stitching this piece. As I am stitching only from what I have in the stash, the conversion will not be 1:1 but you can see what silks I did use.
"Do you always start stitching from the bottom left?" Funny how habits form. I used to always start from the top left, then I started seeing how some people would start stitching from the bottom up so I thought I would try it. Somehow it just stuck!
I left the best for last - "What's a BAP?" - Well, the B stands for Big, the P stands for Project, and the A ? What do you think? I used to ask the same question until I figured it out. It's a Big Ass Project, or if you are more p.c. (politically correct) you could say it's a Big Awesome Project. OK? :-)

The weather here has suddenly turned Fall-ish which means lots and lots of rain! So loud it woke me up the other night only because I was so un-used to that sound! We have had such a great August which lingered into early September. It's hard to see the sunshine go!

Lastly, here's Ann Taylor framed. I absolutely adore this sampler. Even though the picture does not do it justice, it's hanging on our living room wall which is a mild mustard yellow. The picture just seems to blend right into the wall, like it bloomed there - amazing. This piece was an absolute joy to stitch.

Well, my dearies, here ends another post. I hope you are well and enjoying a nice start to Autumn. Thank you for visiting. Have a great week!

My first B-A-P!

2011-09-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

Finally, my first BAP. It's 293 x 304 and fits my largest scroll frame with a couple of inches to spare. (whisper - Joy, it has 12 pages!) Here's a peek at my new start.

It's the Mary Gibson's 1824 Sampler from the Haselmere Museum. I decided to stitch it on WDW "Straw" 35 ct linen. I happen to have a lovely piece hanging around and decided to use it. It's much more gold than what shows up in the above photos. I am also using silk from my stash and this trial-and error approach has caused a lot of frogging when I am trying out colours to use! A bit frustrating and time consuming but I am happy now how things are looking.

As you can see, it's gonna to take me quite awhile to finish this one! Although I am usually a one project kinda gal, I may be taking breaks from it to do smaller pieces. We shall see how my patience holds up!

Next up, I asked KarenV to finish one of my small pieces for me. The next two are her photos. She did a wonderful job and I just love it! Thanks Karen!

More framing! Actually, this next one is a re-use of an old frame. I had something stitched in aida, and when I saw that this Prairie Schooler piece fitted so well, I got my framer to do the switcheroo for me. Recycle and Reuse!

It's the last day of the Labour Day long weekend here. The weather is gorgeous and it has the beginnings of that lovely Fall nip in the air though still warm during the day. The kiddies, little & big, will be starting the school year tomorrow. Usually we see some traffic chaos the first two weeks of the month until people settle into a routine. Drive safely and enjoy the week!

Thank you for your visits and your comments!

As August draws to a close

2011-08-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

Our summer has fitted snugly into the month of August. I think we might have had a few days of rain but not much. It's hard to believe it's almost the end of August but I must confess I am looking forward to Fall!

Here's my small finish this week - the "Silk Sampler" by Birds of a Feather.

Here is she, quite a handsome piece.

Gabi, you had asked about what silks I am using. They are all Silk N Colour. They are: Finnegan's Fog, Aqua Clouds, and Burnished Gold. I had a lot of problems with this silk shredding on me. I've never had it happen quite so often before. I was thankful that this was a small sampler to stitch!

Now, here is a small piece I had framed. I actually found this frame for $15 and thought it was so funky!

Framed is "Good Cheer" by The Goode Huswife. I thought it was just perfect for the frame!

Daisy: Hey, look at me! Take a picture. Aren't I cute?

Daisy: OK, you can go now. I'm bored with you paparazzi!

Thank you for your lovely comments from the last post. I want to answer a couple of questions/comments:

(1) The design on my blog header is called "A Very Fine Sampler" by Birds of a Feather. While it's an old design, it's still in print so you can order it from your needlework shop.

(2) The frames I use are ALL wood. I don't use metal frames. Some of the frames have finishes that make them look like they might be metal, but they are not.

(3) I have a little quirk regarding putting together my sampler walls. I keep the frames in each sampler wall cohesive in colour so I won't mix a brown frame with a silver frame, for example. As you can imagine, sometimes it takes me awhile to put together the pieces that I think will 'fit' together.

OK, that's me for another week. Work is keeping me busy but it's ok. It pays for my framing! (I'll be showing more framing but bit by bit so you'll come by, right?)

Thank you for visiting! Enjoy the rest of August, then hello, September!

What do we Stitch for?

2011-08-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

In my case, one of the biggest satisfaction from stitching, is to be able to compose my work in a "collection" for exhibition, otherwise known as A Sampler Wall! So, in addition to the framed pieces I showed you last week, I'll start off with two new framed pieces.

The first is the "Soweth" sampler, by Birds of a Feather.

The next is "Live in Harmony" by Homespun Elegance.

Now, I'll start with the left side of the sampler wall, then the rest is self explanatory.

Here is the finale! Drum roll, please!

Yes, I have been doing the Happy Dance! This is in our TV room, with the TV just to the right of this picture. This means that when I am watching TV I get to enjoy my sampler wall as well! O joy!

Now it's time to announce the winner from last week's giveaway of the Earth Sampler. The winner is Gillie - congratulations! Can you please send me your mailing info please and I'll get the chart out to you. Thanks to everyone who participated.

But wait - there's more! (Isn't that what those Infomercials always say, trying to make you buy their stuff?) I will have more framing to show you next weekend! I seem to be on a roll as I've been finding some sale items and the timing seems perfect to get a few things framed.

The back-to-work this last week has been rough on the princess-on-vacation. It wasn't anything bad, just very busy. When you go from a leisurely pace to go-go-go, me little brain and not-so-little body just get quite "annoyed". So, having the framed pieces to pick up and completing my sampler wall has been just the thing to put a big smile on my face!

Well, time to go and get caught up with lovely things like Laundry! Thank you for visiting and even if I don't respond to all the comments, rest assured I love reading them! Oh, Gabby, when I have finished the BOAF Silk sampler, I will list the silks I used in my post.

Have a great week!

Day 10 - Finish Line!

2011-08-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

Yahooo! I made it! 10 days of daily postings with something stitchy in each one. I'll probably never be that crazy again! Well, ok, it was kinda fun, and I thank you to those who visited with me and commented every day - it meant a lot to know someone is out there reading and enjoying the posts!

OK. Stitchy stuff - well, I pulled a WIP that I'd put aside at the end of 2010. Here it was then:

And here it is now.

This is "Silk sampler" by Birds of a Feather. I'm glad it's a small design so I should be able to finish it soon.

I'm back to work tomorrow so today has been busy just getting things tidied up again.

Remember, if you are interested in the giveaway of the Earth Sampler, go to yesterday's post and leave a comment.

Have a great week. I'll be back next Sunday to announce the winner, and also to show the new framing and, hopefully, another new sampler wall! See you later, Alligator!

Day 9 of 10 - Rabbit out of the Hat

2011-08-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I pulled the rabbit of the hat and have a finish to show! Yeah, I've been stitching and stitching trying to get this one finished up! I'm a nut, I know. I put more pressure on myself than anyone else does I think!

Here is the very fun-to-stitch Earth Sampler, by Lisa Roswell of the Primitive Needle. This is in remembrance to her and a thank you for all her great designs! Also, a big thanks to Nicole who passed this onto me two years ago!

This was stitched on 32 count Reindeer by Lakeside Linens, 2 over 2. I used the recommended floss and added a few of my own to work with the linen. I also swapped out the design of a hand that's in the lower right hand corner, and put in a carrot and a lady bug - a very good friend to have in the garden!

Julius usually gets the limelight as he's such a character. To give her her due, here's our shy, sweet Daisy enjoying a mid-afternoon snooze by the open windows! What a good life these cats have!

If you have read to the end of this post, here's something that might interest you. I am going to pass the chart along. If you would like to stitch the Earth Sampler, please leave a comment saying so, along with your email if it's not in your blog profile. I will draw a winner by end of day Aug 20 and post the winner's name on Sunday, Aug 21.

And tomorrow, the last day of the 10 day challenge! Who knows what I will be up to tomorrow? Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Day 8 of 10 - Cheer up!

2011-08-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call from my framer's day - bad news: framing won't be ready till next weekend. Boo-hooo, boo-hoooo, what shall I do? I said I would post something stitchy every day! So close to the completion of the challenge so I dug around and found this - Good Cheer, by the Goode Huswife. I finished earlier this year and found a cute little frame that should fit it. Now I just need to put one into the another!

I'm going to show you a few more touristy pics. This is driving back from Chinatown last Sunday, and driving towards downtown. You can see our rapid transit train, then those spikes to the top left corner - they are part of a new retractable roof that's being built over our sports stadium.

We are driving over the Burrard Street Bridge, heading away from downtown. The shoreline is to our right.

Here's a postcard shot looking north. The high rises you see are in an area called the West End, with gorgeous beaches. That tiny green blob to the left of the buildings is part of Stanley Park. Then, of course, our mountains!

Here's a shot looking westward, out to Vancouver Island and the Pacific Ocean!

Have I exhausted you by now with my daily posts? I don't think I could do this every day, even if I wasn't working! Two more to go then I meet my goal!

Enjoy your Saturday! Thanks again for stopping by!

Day 7 of 10 - Rerun

2011-08-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

I finally spent some time in the garden this morning weeding and dead heading the blooms. When I first went into the front garden I thought smugly "yeah, no problem, I will have it all done in 2 hours..." Ha! What was I thinking? I needed another 2 hours. I do this every time - far too optimistic or maybe, hopeful!

Here are some shots from the garden:

This funny plant is from the campanula family and it's called Octopus or something like that. If you ever see it and want to buy it, beware that it's very vigorous which means it will spread wide and quickly! I ended digging it up and putting it in a pot and it still wants to grow legs out of the bottom of the pot and spread!

The purple rose is a David Austin's called "The Prince"

This is a David Austin's "Abraham Darby" rose. It's one of my favourites!

Now for the "Rerun" referred to in the title. You may remember this one. I got this framed last year but it's finally going to go up in the new sampler wall. This is Sarah Salter, by Sheepish Designs.

Ho, hum. I wonder what I'll have to show you tomorrow if the other framed pieces aren't ready for pick up...we will just have to wait and see!

Garden chores done for now. Posting done. Time to play with thread, needle & linen!

Thanks for visiting!

Day 6 of 10 - Garden of Eden framed

2011-08-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's 9pm and I almost forgot to post!

I really enjoyed the comments from yesterday's post where you reminded me that women today still torture ourselves for fashion's sake. Examples included high heels, which are stiletto these days. You can really use those for weapons, can't you? Then there are the control undergarments - modern day corsets I suppose. Then someone mentioned the tweezing and waxing. Ouch!

Oh, I've digressed. Today's post - yes! Garden of Eden, by the Goode Huswife.

I really love this one turned out. The frame was very sweet and simple.

Well, that's it for another day! Short and sweet post, just the way you like it, right? ;-)

Thanks for visiting again. See you tomorrow!

Day 5 of 10 - A new finish!

2011-08-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

Just to shake things up a bit, no framing to show today but I have a new finish. Do you know how hard it is to stitch with a bandaged thumb? The needle either keeps sticking to my bandage, or it slips entirely out of my grasp. *ppfffft (that was an expression of exasperation!) However...

This was a really fun stitch and perfect for summer - all those hot happy colours! The colours are a lot brighter IRL.

The School House Sampler

by Birds of a Feather

used recommended floss on 35 ct WDW Confederate Grey linen

Now I will show you more photos from my visit to the Dr Sun Yat-Sen garden. Here is a scholar's room, complete with those brushes used for writing. Yes, it's a whole art to that calligraphy.

Here is a display of an embroidered and beaded jacket, and some masks.

Notice those teeny tiny shoes (more like red booties)? Women used to get their feet bound - a form of torture that was regarded as a thing of beauty. Why does it always involve pain though? Think of the European corsets!

A silk embroidered screen.

These "windows" that provide different "vistas" when you walk through the garden.

We were lucky that it wasn't very busy when we went to visit on Sunday so it felt quite serene.

Well, I'm halfway through my 10 day challenge and I'm hanging in there! Thanks for coming to visit me every day!

Are you looking forward to seeing what will come out of the Baltimore Needlework Market? I am really excited about the new book from the Barb & Alma (Blackbird Designs) and who knows what other new creations they will have! What have you got on your must-have list?

Day 4 of 10 - Marlene's framed!

2011-08-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

I've had one of those rare but doozy of a headache today so this will be a short post to show you Marlene's Sampler by Romy in Austria. This is the first time I've used this frame and I love it!

Goodnight for now!

Day 3 of 10 - Playing Tourist

2011-08-07T19:10:00.000-07:00

We decided to play tourist in our own city today. We haven't done that in so long and it turned out to be the perfect day for it. We went out to Chinatown, where there is the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. It is the first full-scale classical garden constructed outside of China.

Here is a snapshot of a photo when the construction first began in 1985. As you can see, it is right in the middle of the city!

Here you can see the high rise buildings that have sprung up around the garden! (like weeds!)

A 52 member team of experts from Suzhou, China, spent a year constructing the garden.

Note the amazing flooring that was laid outside in the courtyard.

The garden has buildings but also ponds that flow through the garden. There are frogs amongst the lilies...

...and we counted eight koi fishies! We were lucky enough to witness their once a day feeding. Sorry I have no photo here but a woman comes out with a gong which after she rings it, she dips it partly in the water so that the vibration of the gong calls the fish for dinner! It was really neat to see!

There are many of these carved "windows" throughout the garden. Each will point your eye to see something unique. I love this photo. (DH took it.)

This is a good time to stop the tourist photos! We took 168 so we've had to really edit it down. Tomorrow I will show you a few of the interiors and some interesting exhibits.

Now, the stitchy part. Eh voila, "Be Kind & Be True" by the talented Brenda Gervais.

Hope you've enjoyed the photos! Now it's time to get on with dinner. Yesterday I had an unfortunate incident with a peeler which cut right into my thumbnail! Ouch. I did a pity party dance afterward which, at least, made my DH laugh! (The pity party part, not the accident.)

Back with more tomorrow! Thank you for visiting with me!

Day 2 of 10 - Book Heaven!

2011-08-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

I was so pleased with all the comments you left for me - thank you! One of the reasons why I was sooooo confident that I can post daily with stitching is I've gotten some framing done! OK. I really cheated, didn't I? I still have some framing to come so showing you bit by bit will work out nicely. The end result, hopefully, will be a new Sampler Wall by end of the 10 days!

First, I will tell you why the post is titled "Book Heaven". Regardez le haul from zee librarie! (pardon me for ruining the French language here!)

My goodness I was spoiled today! Six holds came in all at once. Add that to some I had already taken out and it's a heap. And that's not ALL the books I have either. A lot of these are very new so I'm thrilled to bits! Now...how to read them all within 4 weeks?

The next two photos are of two unusual (to me) butterfly bushes that we have. The first has orange ball shaped blossoms which we had purchased eons ago. Funny thing is the lilac coloured one is one that just appeared in our garden. I think there was some natural cross pollination involved. Both of these are really tall, reaching hard for the sunshine. I took the photos with my arm pointing up to the sky! The bees love them and I am happy to do something to please the bees!

Finally, the good stuff! Here is "Lo, How a Rose" by Brightneedle, all dressed up! (oops, the middle photo is a bit fuzzy, but the one following should make up for it.)

She is such a pretty piece - all young girl with pink flounce, don't you think?

Summer appears to be finally here in our neck of the woods and the grumpkins seem to have left town! ;-)

Thank you, dearies, for visiting with me! Please come again tomorrow!

The 10-Day Challenge

2011-08-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

Hello! It is Friday evening here and the start of a week off. The time off was very last minute and it was made just because work slowed right down to a grinding halt. Hopefully it will pick up again in a week's time. Meanwhile, I thought it would be a great time to catch up on a lot of things! One of them is to post! Then I thought, why not try posting every day for 10 days until I get back to work, hence, the 10-day challenge!

I promise you will see some stitching EVERY day, at every post! So, to start...

The Birdhouse Sampler

by Prairie Schooler

This was stitched with the recommended DMC on 40 count Days Gone By linen which is a very pretty linen. I enjoyed stitching the design but it was a strain stitching on 40 count!

The next 2 photos are of a David Austin rose called Fragrant Dream. You can see the lovely colour when in bud, and how it fades as it is in full bloom. We have had this little rose for years and it has moved house with us.

We bought a pot of white lilies this year and planted them. They did really well.

Did you collect these little Hallmark birdies? They came out many years ago and I collected Christmasy ones and so on, but this one is near and dear to my heart! Somehow I think it embodies my whole philosophy of Life. lol.

Well, that's it for this post! Will you come back and visit me every day? Oh and a comment even to say "hi" would be cool. I'm collecting those!

See you ta'morra!

Rain Rain Go Away...

2011-07-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

There's not much I can do about the rain Outside, but thankfully I have my own Garden of Eden inside. Here it is - finished!

Garden of Eden

by The Goode Huswife

I used the recommended DMC floss, with a few additions of my own. Here are the other colours that I used - WDW Baked Apple, Celadon, Confederate Grey, Chestnut, Havana, Purple Haze, and DMC 3773 which I used for the center of the tulips. I stitched this 1 over 2 on 35 count WDW "Linen" linen. I sprayed a bit of "Distress It" on the linen before I started stitching.

I love how it turned out! I used the recommended DMC floss as the basic palette, but added my own colours here and there to just add a bit more brightness to the design.

I finished stitching it last Saturday and it took a few days to figure out what to stitch next. I will show you my current WIP, but first, a few other things.

The next photo is art imitating life, or vice versa. I had snipped some astrantia flowers for the vase, then noticed how similar they seem to be to this Blackbird Design finish - the name escapes me at the moment.

Here is another purple-y flower - a butterfly fly bush so aptly named as it attracts butterflies. Usually we don't get one as striking as this one that visited us last week (when the sun was out!).

Now, I have to show you this new acquisition - this wonderful bunny pincushion was made by the very talented Cathy at The Cheswick Company. When I saw this post from Margaret, I wanted a neat pincushion too! I love how this bunny turned out.

As I have said before it took me days to figure out what to stitch next. Then I remembered that I wanted to stitch designers I haven't stitch before, or for awhile, so I browsed through my Prairie Schooler and decided since I am in the Garden mood, there are a few band samplers I would love to stitch!

And Guess What? I am trying stitching on 40 ct! I can see why people would love it as the stitch comes out so delicate. However, my eyes are warning me this is not something they will allow me to keep doing!

This one is the Birdhouse sampler from the Garden Samplers book. If you have stitched this one, you'll notice that I have made a big boo-boo in the bottom right corner. However, instead of frogging I will somehow fudge-it! We'll see how it turns out!

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post, and your helpful advice re planning the trip. I have gotten more information so we shall see how things end up!

I hope you are having a good summer. I hear either it's dreadfully hot, or like here, too cloudy and wet! Whatever the weather, Daisy and Julius enjoy chilling out on their window seat! Thanks for visiting. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a good week ahead!

Look who's in my Garden!

2011-07-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I would try to go with the gardening theme that's running through my life right now and stitch something Garden-y. Look who popped in!

I really like this funky tree!

Here's my progress on the Garden of Eden, by The Goode Huswife.

I am using the recommended DMC floss on 35 ct WDW "Linen" linen. I am also adding a few WDW floss here and there just to brighten up the whole picture. The original floss palette is very much beige, yellow, and browns with a splash of a brownish red.

Now I will show you more photos from my real life garden. The first one is the David Austin rose called Abraham Darby.

This is Purple Tiger (Jackson & Perkins) rose we purchased this year - so striking!

This is the rose Double Delight, in the full bloom stage. When the bud first comes out, it's cream with edges of deep pink, then it opens and fades to this ruffled glory!

We have an old metal trellis in the backyard and there are all sorts of things growing over it. Some things survive from one year to the next, some not. We found this pretty pink clematis which we have never seen before! How lucky are we!

There are masses of honeysuckle over this trellis too. The honeysuckle is called Mandarin Lights.

Now here is a photo I am quite fond of. DH took it and I love how Julius is looking out into the back garden. There is a mesh screen over the window that's why it's so muted looking.

Lastly, summertime always makes me want to find some good summery reads. This is my favourite one this year. (And yes, that's a little dried rose from my garden.)

Thank you for your visits! I haven't been very good with visiting and commenting. My head and my heart are all over the place right now!

By the way, I have a question that may seem silly but I thought I would ask. It's been many, many years since we've traveled overseas. We would like to go visit Europe (especially Germany) in the fall, any advice on "how to plan your trip"? The concept of a brick-and-mortar travel agent seems so extinct now!

Thank you again. Have a wonderful week ahead. To my US friends, Happy Fourth!

Bz..Bz...Busy!

2011-06-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Gosh, Life has fast-forwarded again to Busy but it's all in a good way. Gardening has taken the front seat, and stitching the back. On top of that, suprising to me, a job came calling one day and I went back to work a couple of weeks ago. It's just part time for now but I say that's a pretty good deal for the summer!

So, I'll catch us up first with Gardening, then Stitching. Fast forward if you just want to see my latest finish.

In the second half of May we started doing some heavy duty garden renovations. Put it in a more humbling way - it was just a lot of weeding and cleaning up the garden beds. In the spring I had found that moss had taken over one bed so badly that it was choking out some of my plants! Henceforth, with lots of time on my hand, I got out there with the head gardener (DH) and we got down and dirty wrestling with moss, weeds and all sorts of lovely organic things! Now, garden photos!

Let's start with a David Austin Rose, Golden Celebration. This bloom is about the size of my hand! And it is so fragrant!

This is another David Austin Rose, Leander. It is very vigorous and full of blooms every year!

Hmmm, I guess I like David Austin Roses. Here's Pat Austin (named after his wife) - an absolutely stunning orange-coppery colour!

Pink Peace. This bloom is about the size of my hand as well!

The following is a shade loving plant with lovely blooms - Astrantia.

Here's a shot of the backyard from our deck. That bed you see was filled with moss and weeds and now looks very neat and serene. I must say that the plants have thrived since we did this work. Not loving the ivy on the fence but it's from the neighbours - not much we can do except just to keep it under control! And those pots - they are still our work-in-progress.

And I tried my hand with potting a lot of newly purchased succulents. Eventually they should grow and overflow out of the pot (or something like that!).

OK. That's probably enough garden shots, eh? The garden obsession thing has got me this Spring!

Now, finally, stitching!

The Pinkhouse Sampler

Designer = Little by Little

used recommended DMC floss on 35 ct WDW "Parchment" linen

This was a lovely, fun stitch! I think this is the first time I've stitched a "Little by Little" design even though I have quite a few of Cynthia's charts. One of my goals for stitching this year, it turns out, is to stitch designs by different designers and so far I've done eight!

Before I forget - someone asked me in my last post how long it took me to stitch Ann Taylor. I never keep track of hours but I thought I would give it a guess. It took me about 23 days elapsed from start to finish but I know I did not stitch every day. A good guess would be anywhere from 60 - 80 hours.

I'm a bit hyper these days trying to fit so much fun into my day. I include work in that, believe it or not. I'm working with a bunch of nice people I knew from a few years ago so that's a bonus. Besides that I have a stack of library books to read! Yes, an embarassment of riches and a blessing indeed!

Thank you all for visiting and as always, love your comments! Hope the start of summer will treat you well. (Here we are waiting for some sunshine to return!) Take care!

Ann Taylor 1785

2011-05-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Ann Taylor 1785, by Heartstring Samplery, is finished! Here she is in all her prettiness!

I love her! Ann Taylor is stitched using the recommended DMC floss on 36 ct PTP Doubloon linen. The first photo shows the colours best. I have thoroughly enjoyed stitching on her. I want to stitch another of Beth's designs - 1763 Band Sampler. If anyone has this chart and want to trade with my Ann Taylor, please email me.

I finished Ann a couple of days ago but have been faffing about what to stitch next. I might just have to close my eyes and grab something out of the basket!

In the meantime, since my last post, I have been out in the garden whenever I can. You see, we had a bit of sun and dry weather for a few days and I had to get out there and do much needed clean-up. Otherwise, the weather here is pretty much wet, wet and more wet, like it is right now. I can hear the rain outside.

I love these primroses. After they finish flowering I want to finally divide them.

We had such a long cold and wet winter. We've lost a few plants, but some seemed to have thrived. Here is one of our tree peonies. There were about 11 blooms this year! Spectacular!

Some of you have asked about our boy and how he's doing. He's been over in Germany for about a month now. There was the initial settling in (for him and for us!) that took a couple of weeks I think. Now he's doing fine and looks to be quite happy. Thank goodness for Skype!

I am enjoying my time off work just to sort myself out, so to speak. I can say this now but I couldn't see it before. Sometimes it just takes time to unwind, untangle from the every day noise and be in a different place - time to think and see things with a different set of eyes perhaps.

Thank you for taking your time to visit me and to leave a comment. I really do appreciate hearing from you. Enjoy your weekend!

This is what Today looks like!

2011-05-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

Weather-wise, this is pretty much our Spring! This is a page from my calendar. I groaned when I turned the calendar over on May 1 as this picture is a fairly accurate depiction of our Spring weather!

Every time we venture out to get going on the garden, rain soon visits! Oh well. It gives more time to indoor pursuits such as stitching!

A new start - Ann Taylor by Heartstring Samplery. This is an oldie but goodie. I'm destined to stitch a lot of Beth's designs I think!

I am stitching with the recommended DMC floss on 36 count PTP Doubloon linen. I am stitching this with 1 strand over 2.

The Doubloon linen is a new colour and it is absolutely perfect for this piece. At first I had a piece of ready prepared linen that was the right size, but it was a pale grey. I decided to check around my stash and I'm so glad I did because this colour combination is just wonderful. The photos don't do it justice!

Now I have to show you more wonderful stitching from my friend Nicole in Belgium. You will recognize Frances Eden of course! I love sharing her work with you!

I have been catching my breath the last week or so. I lost my work due to budget cutbacks about the same time my boy left home. It's not actually a bad thing in the short term for me to have a break, just hoping it won't be a long one!

Thank you so much for visiting and thank you once again for your kind words and support! They mean a great deal to me! I will leave you these lovely red and white tulips with my thanks!

Until next time...Happy Stitching!

Live in Harmony

2011-04-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sneaking in a last post for April. Here's my latest finish and a really fun stitch.

"Live in Harmony"

by Homespun Elegance

I really loved stitching this piece. Instead of using DMC, I used various overdyed silks I had in my stash. There is no direct correlation though. It was like painting using whatever crayons I had on hand. I finished this last weekend, then jumped right into stitching this... Garden Glade by Carriage House Samplings.

Golly, there is a LOT of filling in! I had stitched the stag over on the right hand side but frogged it out. Maybe you can see a faint outline. Why did I have to frog? Well, I was trying out an overdyed silk and ended up with a stripe-y result. I went back and forth trying to justify not frogging, but in the end I'm glad I did. It really offended the eye!

I think I have learned a big lesson with the overdyed silks like Belle Soie. I like them when used in small bits of design, like with "Live in Harmony" above, but anything with bigger continuous surface can get the stripey look.

Thank you so much for your kind comments left in my last post. Things are still somewhat bumpy but at least one hurdle is out of the way. The boy has flown the nest yesterday and now safely (we think) in his new home in Germany. Here's a photo of DS with DH at the airport.

It was a pretty tense day yesterday. Thank goodness the Royal Wedding provided a good diversion all through the day. I love this photo of the two sisters and their dresses.

It was a beautiful wedding, wasn't it?

Here's some stitchy news for you - I received a newsletter from Carol at Em-li's this month where Carol said she has purchased the inventory and copyrights to Sheepish Designs! I don't think I've seen this announced anywhere so I am not sure what this means in terms of seeing all the designs listed, etc. If you are looking for these charts, you should email Carol.

Thanks for your visit! Now I'll do the disappearing act again! :-)

Hello there!

2011-04-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile. I will catch up with you in "sandwich" style. The top layer - the important stuff - stitching, of course; then the filling - why I've been away; lastly - more stitching and other photos. So, here we go!

We begin with 2 lovely pink flowers...and an angel. I love the pink. It's stitched with GA Rhubarb.

A Gold Tulip? I've never seen one in real life, but it sure looks pretty. I like the bluebells too. And those other balloon like flowers remind of me Chinese Lantern flowers. I love that funky striped bird!

A Lion and a butterfly under some dreamy purpley flowers (wisteria?)

The infamous couple with the snake hovering above. Oh, I just realized, there is no apple in sight! Well, we have a cute bunny and a peacock.

And now the whole thing - "Permit Me Not to Stray" by Heartstring Samplery. It's quite a luscious design, don't you think? I did replace the over-one verse with my own - "Into this Life, the Journey Begins". This phrase did come to me, very easily, and I was thankful for it because I could bypass the over-one stitching. Honestly, I have to get the Mighty Bright magnifier lamp that some of you have mentioned to me in the past.

Now comes the filling - why I've been away longer than usual. I've been living a Charlie Brown life, or Life has been Bumpy.

To keep things in perspective, everyone is healthy. Check! However, life has just been throwing me not only curves, but boulders in my path. Now, I think we all agree that we've been taught to "overcome obstacles" by preservering. But sometimes I think that when the boulders keep landing in your path, it might mean "get the hell out of the way coz a landslide is coming!" Yeah, it might be a good idea to look for a different route.

So, I've been in a hunker down mode which usually means I keep life as simple and quiet as possible. Staying offline is one of the things I do. I know I owe people emails so please accept my apologies for being quiet. I hope to remedy the situation soon.

Stitching the A&E was tough going. It wasn't the design, it was just me feeling the stitching love leave me too. I don't know what I will stitch next or maybe take a wee break. What do you think? I have some big samplers I want to dive into but this might not be the best strategy for me.

Enough of the pity party. Now, onto more pictures.

I made a new stitchy friend via my blog about a month or two ago. Nicole is from Belgium and doesn't have a blog. When she started sending me some photos of her stitching I immediately said to her that she should start her own blog! I am sure you would agree. In the meantime, here is a small example of her lovely stitching and finishing!

Oh my! Isn't her work just beautiful? I love her display as well. I have to think about copying her idea with the glass dome!

Next, the pink flower is a camellia we bought last week. Can't remember the name though!

Then a Christmas Rose still in bloom. Our Spring is about a month behind schedule this year.

Last night my husband said "come quick and see this!". At our kitchen door were two young racoons (you can only see one in this photo) wanting to come in! Julius was sooooooo curious and they were having this mutual curiosity staring contest! Daisy hid!

Well, my dearies, that's it for my catch up post. Thank you for your visits, your comments and emails! Have a lovely weekend!

My First A & E

2011-03-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

Posting on a Monday is unusual for me, I know. I'm actually home, trying to get some rest so this bug doesn't get any worse. Hopefully an afternoon nap will help later. This will be a short post!

I didn't stitch much during the week since I went back to work, but I did spend a few hours yesterday catching up. I am stitching my first A&E! It is Permit me not to stray, by Heartstring Samplery. It is full of flowers and lovely colours, which unfortunately are not really coming through in my photos due to the dull day.

The first photo shows up the colours much better. It is stitched on WDW 'Parchment' so the linen is a soft yellow-brown. It's another one with a border! Hmmm, I think I will have to make sure to do my next project without a border. It's a lovely stitch though.

I will now try and follow my kitties' example and get some rest! Oh, before I forget - go and check out this video on Heidi's post. It's great, especially if you are a knitter!

Thank you for visiting!

Frogs, Houses, Farmgirl and Chickens

2011-03-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

Frogs - since my last post there have been lots of frogging going on around here! Frogging out the stitches from the too-small project that didn't work out. Thankfully, the linen survived unscathed. Then more frogging as I tried out different projects, having a hard time settling down to anything!

Finally, I settled on this House:

The design is The Brown House Sampler by The Middle Row, a very old chart. I made a few changes as you can see:

I made the Brown house Red and spiced things up a bit. Hope that looks ok.

That border was what caught my eye about the design, but oy, I paid the price for it! It was not what I would call an "even" border in that sometimes the design was a stitch + or - here and there. I've never frogged and re-stitched so much as on this piece! But I suppose it was worth it in the end!

Don't ask me what my next project is as I'm still trying to figure that out. In the last two weeks I waited for my silks and/or linen to arrive. Nada. There's something wrong with the mail system somewhere as things seem to be getting stuck. I figure it must have something to do with the winter weather.

Now comes what I think is the fun part of this post.

First, I have to get you prepped. Imagine yourself in your Farmgirl (or farmboy) outfit, in your country kitchen. Got that? Me - I am dressed in a country dress with funky flowers, with worn cowboy boots and surrounded by some feathered friends.

Ready? Sing it with me now!

OH, Chick, Chick, Chick, Chick

Chicken, Lay a Little Egg for

ME...Chick Chick Chick Chick

Chicken, I want One for My

Tea. I haven't had an Egg

Since Breakfast, and now

it's 1/2 past 3. SO! Chick,, Chick

Chick Chick Chicken, Lay a

Little Egg for ME!...

Isn't that brilliant? The pillow comes from designer Kate Toms, and is featured in page 14 of the February 2011 issues of Country Living (British Edition). I thought it was so cute, except I was browsing the magazine at bedtime so this little ditty, that I put to music in my head, just kept playing in my head and I had a hard time going to sleep!!!

Also, I dedicate this little song to Barbara and her gang, feathered and otherwise at Chateau Chaos. If you have been following her blog then you know her adventures with her (growing) flock in the last year. Visiting her blog always put a big smile on my face.

As I've said I've had a hard time settling on a project. I can blame waiting for supplies to arrive in the mail, but I think it may be a hint of waiting-for-spring fever. We had some snow last week but it's gone and this weekend has been brilliant. The snowdrops are all out nodding in the sunshine.

Last bit of news - I'm back at work! Since mid week I've got a new assignment and even a new location! Downtown! How cool is that!? That will be fun as the weather gets nicer and I can go on exploratory walks at lunch time. The dangerous part of working downtown, of course, is all the opportunities to eat out, and also to shop! ;-) Ah well, it will be a test of willpower.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a good week ahead.

The Good, the Bad and the Downright Disappointing!

2011-02-20T11:31:00.000-08:00

Let's start with THE GOOD part! Elizabeth Easton is finished! Here she is - the only word I can use to describe her is "Handsome" what with all those colours reminding me of tweeds and Fall.

My favourite part is the top of the design, with the big bird and the flowers. You might wonder "wow, how did she manage to do it that quickly?" Well, that's because I haven't worked all last week, waiting to hear from my client whether there is more work for me.

Which leads me, obviously, to THE BAD - still no word from them even though they said they would let me know one way or another by end of week (two days ago). Ah well, I'll head into the office tomorrow and see what's up. You know, it's the "out of sight, out of mind" syndrome.

Now comes the DOWNRIGHT DISAPPOINTING! And I'm only saying that to be polite. I've been dying to stitch a red project and I have one that I have been slowly kitting up for quite sometime. Last night I was all ready to go, started stitching the border and slowly realized there is something wrong! The size printed (count) on the design is completely wrong and I couldn't fudge it. I have to start all over with a bigger size of linen.

Oh man, I was mad. Oh Fudge Oh Fudge Oh Fudge (you can insert the right expletive here)!!! It was a "hold your head in your hand and howl" type of frustration. We've all been there at one time or another. I sometimes double check the count on the charts but not always. Well, that's one lesson learned. The size of my disappointment was in direct proportion to the size of my keeness to get started with this project!

Now I will hunt around for another project to stitch while I figure out what to do about the linen - substitute something from my stash, or order another piece. It's Vintage Pearled Barley too and it was just perfect for the project.

Enough about that. I now will ask for help. I need some Good Cheer.

This is an oop chart called Good Cheer, by the Goode Huswife. I would love to stitch this one! If you have it and want to sell or willing to lend, could you email me please? Thank you.

Lastly, I will close on a positive note. I happened to be by a charity shop about a week ago and while I did not find any glass flower frog, I did find this pretty little bowl.

It's a small bowl to hold coins or something. But what's cool is that I think it's handmade and all those little designs are a bit uneven. It's so sweet and really spoke to me. At $2, you can't go wrong. It's now holding little odds and ends I need while stitching.

Thank you for stopping by and thank you for your comments of support! The sun is shining outside today and that can only be a good thing. Have a good week. I hope some sun is coming your way too! Take care!

Shut Up and Stitch!

2011-02-13T10:10:00.000-08:00

...says Tweedle Dee to Tweedle Dum. That's been my little mantra every time those inner stress monsters get too noisy with worries. Thank you, by the way, for all the lovely comments of support in my last post. They mean a lot to me!

OK, onto stitchy stuff - Elizabeth Easton, by the Goode Huswife. Here's how the chart looks:

Here is where I left it mid-November last year:

And here is where she is this morning:

Woo-hooo, I've made a lot of progress and the majority of the grunt work is done. By that I mean, the "filling in". As much as it's easy, it can also be mind-numbingly boring. Sometimes it feels like you'll never get there! Such is it also a metaphor for life - sometimes it feels like we'll never get to where we want to go, but if you have a goal in mind (the finished picture of the chart), then keeping going is a bit easier.

I am really looking forward to doing the vine and the flowers, and of course, that big bird in the middle! But I have to confess, yellows and browns are not my colours! That was also part of what was not a happy stitch for me. I am more a pinks-reds-greens girl!

So, Nashville Market is almost upon us. What are you craving this year?

For me, I do {heart} Ann Grant by Shakespeare's Peddler, and the new BBD book (of course!) and maybe one or two reproduction samplers from Cardan Antiques and Needleworks. The latter are new to me but I am quite liking the A&E piece!

Oops, almost forgot, this post isn't all about ME! The winner of the Marlene's Sampler is -

Nancy from Lovely In Chocolate, who said:

Marlene's Sampler is gorgeous! You really did a beautiful job of stitching your sampler. I would love a chance to win this pattern, so please enter my name.

I'm sorry you're feeling a little sad about your son going to Germany. All of our daughters are close by, and sometimes it is still hard to let go completely. I always try to remember the saying "the best gift you can give to your children is wings". On a positive note this will be such a wonderful experience for him.

Thank you kindly, Nancy. Please email me your snail mail address and I'll get this to you next week. I'm sure you will enjoying stitching her as much as I did.

Well, that's it for me this week! Thank you for visiting and taking the time to write to me! Have a wonderful week and a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Marlene's Sampler

2011-02-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

I thoroughly enjoyed the comments from the last post. Thank you for the advice / opinions about the floss for the alphabet, and also how much you enjoyed the tune playing through your head! (tee hee)

I did frog the almost-invisible alphabets and replaced them with WDW 'Pebble' which I had left over from stitching Lo. I quite like the effect. Here are a couple of photos of Marlene's sampler.

I am quite happy with the results! Note that I did use the almost-invisible floss to stitch in the year, which worked out perfectly for that purpose.

Now, what next? I just finished stitching this yesterday afternoon. I'd decided to pick up an UFO from last year - Elizabeth Easton. However, I am feeling a bit ambivalent about it. Not feeling the love, you know what I mean?

Maybe it's just me. I've been out of sorts due to a couple of things. One being my project at work might get canceled which might mean I could be out of work. However, that's not as big a bother as the fact that our son will be moving to Germany!

Yup! Without invading too much of his privacy (I hope), here's the scoop. He's in third year university and has applied for a co-op term. To those unfamiliar with this term, it means you will go to work and get school credit for the time you work. The companies work with the university to 'qualify' to be the right sort of work for the faculty (eg commerce, science). In his case, his field is very narrow but there exists a lot of great opportunities for him ...in Germany. He'll be gone for 8 months.

*sigh* Moms - you know how that'd feel, right? I am very happy for him and it's a great opportunity but my heartstrings now have to loosen ...and loosen so I can string it across the miles, across a continent and an ocean. That's the tough part but as parents, we all have to go through that time when the little birds leave the nest.

All details and paperwork still need to be worked out. We have probably at least a couple of months to get ready. But oh, I'm just so scattered these days. So, if I haven't answered your email, please forgive me.

Lastly, if you have stuck with me through this post AND you want a chance to receive Marlene's Sampler, please leave a comment on THIS post only. I will choose a winner next Sunday, Feb 13. Please don't mention this on your blog as I just want this to be an opportunity for those who regularly comes to visit.

I remain...scatteredly yours,

Have a great week!

Oh so Pretty!

2011-01-30T12:06:00.000-08:00

Stitching this sampler just makes me want to break out in song!

I Feel Pretty

Oh so Pretty

I Feel Pretty and Witty and Bright!

The sampler is Marlene's sampler by Romy in Austria. Here is my progress.

See what I mean? She is not a very big sampler (127 x 127) but she is packed with stitching and lovely colours! I have a tiny floss dilemma. Compare the first photo with the next photo which is what the finished piece should look like.

The alphabets are stitched in OWS' Cats Eyes. The problem is my floss does not have much of varigation in it so the letters just disappear into the linen (see lower right). I didn't really notice that until I turned the OTT light off! So, I'm not sure what I will do yet. What do you think?

Oh yeah, and while you're comparing the photos, note the basket in mine is not all blue. *sigh* By the time I noticed that the basket was all done in that light brown and I did not have the heart to frog it all out. Instead I made up for it by filling it in with the blue.

Here on the home front it's been a weird week. Sometimes life hands you some worries and one has to ride them out! We have some sunshine today which is a good thing! We have signs green sprouting everywhere!

Thank you for visiting with me. Your comments are always a gift! Have a wonderful week!

January Rose

2011-01-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

Hello, all you winter bunnies! I hope you are keeping warm and dry. We've had such cold, chilly weather that we all started to get the sore throat this week. So far the bugs are being held off with garlands of garlic (not really) but not sure how long will last.

I have my first finish of the year!

Lo, how a Rose

by Brightneedle

from the book "A Cross-Stitch Christmas - Celebrations in Stitches"

by Better Homes and Gardens

I'm very happy with how it turned out. It's stitched on 35 ct WDW "Linen" linen, with recommended WDW floss but I threw it a few odds and ends colours from my stash. The colours in real life are actually brighter than what the photo is showing.

Now, because you were all so kind with your compliments about my sampler wall, I'm going to ~~torture~~ show you another photo which I was able to take without all the glare. I didn't realize the previous shots I took were also a bit fuzzy too.

That's a bit better!

Now, I just started my next project last night, not much to show. I will do that next week. I won't even tell you what it is because I might change my mind! I'm thirsting for colour though! And the colour I want is RED!

Red Samplers I heart:

Ann Rayner - broke down yesterday and ordered it, complete with silks from Attic
Ann Grant - waiting for the release from Nashville Market
Jane Tindall - have the chart, now I got to get silks and linen together
Sarah Elizabeth Brookes - this is one that the talented Tanya showed as the lovely early Christmas she got and may be reproduced one day soon! Yes, please!

Yes, you can see a common theme here, can't you? Tanya, a very talented stitcher indeed and now that she has gotten into reproducing old samplers, aren't we all the better for it? Check out her latest - Maria Tilley. (I just realized that sounds like a marketing plug or something but it isn't!)

Anyway, dreaming of these Red samplers keeps me going through the dull days of winter!

Now, a couple of photos of cuteness.

For some reason, Julius always go on the man-chair, and Daisy, my chair! Oh, I need to learn how to relax like those kitties!

Thanks again for stopping by! Enjoy the last week of January!!!

New Sampler Wall 2011

2011-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

I picked up 2 more framed pieces yesterday. Then the fun began trying to put together another sampler wall! Here we go with the photos!

The above frame is just lovely and really complements the stitched piece. I just love my framer! This was quite an expensive frame but she gave me a great price on it.

The above is the 're-purposed' frame that I had shown you last week. I'm very happy with it. It only cost me $10 labour so that was a great deal!

The creative process of putting together the right pieces for the sampler wall, placement etc took us yesterday afternoon and this morning. We played with the arrangement on the floor first. My DH has now become quite an "art director" when it comes to arranging the pieces together, with definite strong opinions! ;-) I believe he quite enjoys the process too!

Then finally they went up on the wall with a slightly different arrangement than what was on the floor. I'm very hoppity-happy with it! (I'm glad I took the photo of the arrangement on the floor as I couldn't get a photo of the wall without any reflections showing!)

Starting from the top left hand corner and ending with the piece in the center:

Hanna Lovin Joslin 1856, from book "Honeysuckle Manor" by Blackbird Designs
Tis the Season, from book "Joyeux Noel" by Blackbird Designs
Mary's Best Handwork by With Thy Needle and Thread
Birds of a Feather by Blackbird Designs
Quaker Graden by Blackbird Designs
Isabella Johnstone 1854 from SANQ summer 2010 issue
A Very Fine Sampler by Birds of a Feather

Here is my progress on Lo, How a Rose. It's getting close!

Thank you for your help with the magnifiers. It was interesting to read about what you are using (or not needing to use - very lucky). I will hunt around locally and see what I can find.

For all of you who joined the Crazy January Challenge - congratulations and many thanks for posting on your blogs. It was great fun to see all the different designs, many of which I've never seen before! I know, it was very tempting to go and buy something new!

News of Nashville Market releases are starting to come through. I read in one newsletter that Paulette will have a Noah themed design "The Flood" to complement Paradise Lost! Won't that be exciting?!

Here it is Sunday evening (raining, raining) and it's almost time to start getting dinner ready, then wind down... just to get wind up for another busy work week.

Hope you are staying well and happy! Thank you for dropping by! Have a great week!

Let there be Light!

2011-01-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

Good Sunday morning! It's a beautiful sunny morning here and there's snow in the forecast. Whether it will happen is another matter. We have had a full week of rain though. Whether that was conducive to returning to work, I don't know. What I can tell you is that on the first day of returning to work, Tuesday, everybody was in a daze. It was really funny and we all laughed about it. But by Wednesday, everyone woke up and realized how much work we had put aside and that there is major catch up to do! Ahhhh, can't have some fun without some payback!

Meanwhile, a bit of stitchy progress to show you.

I started adding in some other colours yesterday when I realized the linen I picked was on the 'blue' side and therefore wasn't very good for the warm tones of the pinks and greens that were on the recommended list. You may not be able to see the difference in the photo but I could and it bothered me. Finally when I swapped in some brighter colours that was in tone with the linen, I felt better. Funny isn't it that we can feel when a piece is just humming along, or when something isn't quite right?

Some of you asked me where this design comes from. It's from a book called "Better Homes and Gardens A Cross-Stitch Christmas, Celebrations in Stitches". It's out of print but you can check amazon.com here and find copies.

The next photo is of an old framed piece that I found in a drawer when I was going through tidy-up in December. It is from 1994, on aida.

Although it's a nice design, I am going to re-use the frame for something current. I did a re-use last year of another frame and it turned out really well. Funny enough it's from the same framer! You can tell I'm very loyal once I find someone I like! Hopefully next week I will be able to show you the new piece, along with another something else I took in which I'm very excited to see!

During the Christmas break, I was saying to my husband I wanted more light in the room where I do stitching, yoga, whatever. We were looking to get a brighter light in the ceiling but it turned out I got a good table lamp at Home Depot, of all places! Here is a photo and you can see how it throws light above and below.

Having this extra light in the room has made a huge difference! You hear about some people having a difficult time in the winter months due to lack of sunshine. Now I can begin to understand what that means!

Now I have a question for you. Do you use a magnifier of some type when you stitch? I am thinking of getting a good one for when I have to stitch "over one". Please let me know if you have something that works for you.

Thank you for your well wishes about my neck and returning to work. The week was busy but not too bad. I find now that I'm trying to do things like stretches/exercise to keep my neck/shoulder/back issues at bay, that I have to change my schedule and my habits! The latter being the more challenging but I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to wake up and make changes before things get so bad that I can't!

That's it for this week. Thank you for visiting! Have a wonderful week ahead.

A New Start for 2011

2011-01-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

Hello, all you happy and crazy stitchers! Crazier still if you are in the January Crazy Challenge, or some variation of it. I'm enjoying seeing all these wonderful starts. It's a real test to the ole' willpower though because I am seeing lots that I think I want to start! Noooooo!

I did start on a new piece - Lo, How a Rose sampler by Brightneedle. You can see Lee's beautiful finish here.

Gosh, now that I look at Lee's, my version looks so faded! I am using the recommended over-dyed WDW floss, on 35 ct WDW "Linen" linen. The colours are a bit brighter than the photo is showing. I am enjoying this one.

Even though I've had 2 weeks off work, I've scaled back my stitching and even computer time. My neck and back are feeling better just because I've given it rest and not driving and sitting on the computer all day helps too. Slowly, but surely!

Speaking of which, back to work tomorrow (collective groan here) which also means lots of stuff I have to do today! I will leave you with a couple of photos of the kitties over the holidays - Julius, snoozing happily and Daisy doing what she loves best - hiding!

Hope you are enjoying the start of a new year! Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful week!

Year end Review - 2010

2010-12-30T21:27:00.000-08:00

In keeping with what is now tradition, it's again time for the year end review! My first year blogging was 2008, so being new I didn't include photos. In 2009 I knew better. Click on the dates and you can see the previous years' work. Here we go for 2010:


My Bethrothed Sampler by Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather, by Blackbird Designs

Be Kind and Be True, by With Thy Needle and Thread

A Very Fine Sampler, by Birds of a Feather

Hannah Lovina Joslin 1856, by Blackbird Designs

Mary's Best Handwork, by With Thy Needle and Thread

Salinda Dunwoody, by Sheepish Designs

Betsy, by Sheepish Designs

Olga, by Plum Street Sampler

Tis the Season, by Blackbird Designs

Isabelle Johnstone 1854 (SANQ, Fall 2010 issue)

Wash Day, by Carriage House Samplings

Soweth Sampler, by Birds of a Feather

Monogrammed Pinkeep, by Stacy Nash Primitives (Exchange for Goldie)

for exchange with Annemarie

I also have 3 items I just sent off for gifts so I can't show them here. Since the last post, I did sneak in the Soweth Sampler. It was a fun stitch.

After 'Soweth', I started the Silk Sampler by Birds of a Feather. Here's the progress.

Another WIP I will take to 2011 with me is Elizabeth Easton, by the Goode Huswife.

I've really enjoyed the pieces I stitched this year. One thing that's been painfully obvious to me as the year wraps up is that I have some physical issues to tackle in 2011. I will let you know how it goes. I am committed to getting better because I want to keep stitching, pain free, for many years to come.

For 2011, I hope to stitch mostly from my stash. I know I will buy new things but I will focus on kitting up existing charts. To that end, I will de-stash and sell some charts and linens so watch this space.

Some projects on my immediate radar are: CHS Garden Glade, BN Lo, How a Rose, PS Boris, SP Sarah Woodham. I hope to stitch more Carriage House Samplings, Goode Huswife, and Prairie Schooler in 2011. I do want to stitch at least one reproduction sampler... One thing I do know, however, is I change my mind all the time, so who knows? ;-) That's half the fun!

Lastly, I want to thank you for another wonderful year playing here in Blogland, all your wonderful support for all the ups and downs, and all your efforts with your blogs and stitching as well. Wishing you Health, Love and Happiness in the New Year! Cheers!

A Bath before Christmas!

2010-12-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

The birdies are having their bird bath and getting spiffed up for Christmas!

Wash Day

by Carriage House Samplings

I want to thank Deb for showing this design on her blog in the first place and enabled us to ~~harrass~~ convince Kathy to sell it! I just love this sweet design. I used silks from my own stash. I modified the design slightly in that I didn't stitch the alphabet.

If you want to see how it 'should' look, as per designed, go check out fabulous Cari's blog. She also just had it framed, along with other beauties, by Jill Rensel so they are all pretty awesome! See them all here.

I received a sweet and beautifully decorated ornament from Anna this week.

Wow, so pretty. Thank you Anna! I was amazed it arrived unbroken as well. Anna said in her note "if it arrives broken, just eat it! " ;-)

How are your Christmas preparations going? Ours have been very low keyed this year due to various reasons, which is just fine with me. We just went out this morning to get some groceries in our neighbourhood and the traffic! Oy, just let me get home and away from the crowds!

Thank you for all your visits, for those who leave comments and those who are too shy to (maybe next year?). I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season! (Now, please excuse while I indulge in a nap!)

Paperwhites

Pictures Happiness

2010-12-20T09:26:00.000-08:00

While dealing with the neck/back issues and being generally miserable, lo and behold, a phone call from the framer's just perked me right up. I don't know about you but I always wonder at my choice of frames while I wait for the pieces to be picked up. This time, I was just jumping with H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S!

I shall start quietly and let the crescendo build up! First is a very appropriate piece for the Christmas season.

Tis the Season

by Blackbird Designs

The next piece was framed in quite a different way than I had intended. The original in the magazine was framed in black and many of you have done the same and they look beautiful! When I went to my framer's and tried to find a black frame, she gave me the "are you sure?" look so we played with other frames and I am so happy with what we came up with.

Isabella Johnstone 1854

from SANQ

I love how the roses on the frame echoes the roses in the sampler! Love it!

Next is my framer's favourite and I must admit we took a long time trying to find the right frame and when we did, we knew it instantly!

Birds of a Feather

by Blackbird Designs

Oh my oh my, I just love the frame. It's like an old piece of tin, if you know what I mean.

Last, my absolute favourite piece of all time. If a piece of stitching was to represent me, this is it! I have wanted to stitch this piece since it was first published, which was probably 10, maybe even 15 years ago? I was always intimidated by the size but my confidence level has slowly increased in the last 2 years and I'm so glad I was able to finish it this year!

A Very Fine Sampler

by Birds of a Feather

I love it, love it, love it! I can sit and just stare at it and it makes me feel happy! Here it is hung up and will be the centerpiece of a new sampler wall that I will complete in 2011.

I will sign off now. I'm careful about how much time I spent on the computer and stitching. Right now my shoulders are yelling at me to quit it! ;-)

Thanks so much for visiting and your kind words about my health. I will be back with another short post before Christmas. I do have a new small finish to show! Take care and stay healthy during all the pre-Christmas rush!

Muddling my way back ...

2010-12-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

...to Stitching, that is. After my last post, I took a week off stitching and did some very gentle stretches for my neck, shoulders and back. That seemed to help so I thought I could get back to stitching. Within the first half hour, my neck was complaining again! So, it's been a see-sawing of ease off, ease back on.

I decided to take a break from Elizabeth Easton and stitch some smalls for gifts. At the same time, I finally stitched this freebie for myself which I have wanted to do for over two years. I love this design and wish I could attribute this to someone but I had printed this off ages ago and I don't have the link. So, if anyone can help out as to who made this I will publish this here. (Edited to add link - Thanks to the ever talented KarenV, you can find this freebie and many more wonderful designs here. Look under "Other". Many thanks to the wonderful designer, Isabel Grancedo!)

As you can see, I only did the Reindeer part. I think the top part of the design would make a nice skinny pincushion, don't you? I used the Belle Soie silks left over from stitching Isabella Johnstone. I really love the colours! They are Teddy Bear for the reindeer, Tortoise Shell for the bottom border, Attic Tea for the leaves and Poison Apple for the flowers.

Not sure how I will finish my smalls but I'd better get going if they are going to be Christmas gifts!

I've seen on many blogs the crazy winter weather that's already hitting the northern parts of Europe, and the US. We had a week recently with two snowfalls, which was unusually too for our area. Fortunately the snow is gone now.

I took some pieces in for framing so I will show them on my next post. It's true, isn't it, that we stitchers can measure our days by our stitching? Somehow the break in my stitching has made me a bit muddled as to what I should be doing with my time! I read more, I suppose, but I missed my stitching. Hopefully I will get back into it when the Holidays arrive and get a good long break.

Well, that's it for me. For those enveloped by the snow, keep warm and cozy! Thank you for visiting and your greetings! Have a great week!

Stitching and Reading

2010-11-14T10:49:00.000-08:00

Let's see how brief I can make this post. My neck and back have been really complaining so I'm going to have to put a pause on the stitching and start back on some exercises to fix the problem! (Does that happen to you?)

The new start - Elizabeth Easton by The Goode Huswife.

I am using the recommended DMC floss on 36 ct PTP "Legacy" linen. I love the linen which is just lightly mottled.

A wonderful quilt design on sale here. I borrowed the photo from Bloom's site so you can see it. I did a bit of quilting many, many years ago and while I no long quilt I still admire the many quilts I see on the blogs.

I just love the colours Roz used on this quilt.

Now, for reading.

Into the Blue, by Robert Goddard. I had heard about this book a long time ago. I found the audio version at the library and really enjoyed this mystery - all the winding backwards to get to the truth, and at the end, the philosophical question that is posed upon the reader.

Room, by Emma Donaghue. This was was recently nominated for the Man Booker prize. It didn't win but what a story! Once upon a time, a 19 year old girl was abducted and kept as a prisoner for 7 years - I'm sure you will recall similar headlines in the last year or so. This story, however, is told entirely from the voice of a 5 year old boy named Jack, who was born during this 'captivity'. It begins on the morning he turns 5.

I could write lots about the book. If you click on the link you can read more reviews on Amazon. I'm just amazed at the talent and insight of the writer. It's like a photographer can aim his lense at something and show entirely new views you hadn't imagined. I like stories that make me think as well as feel, long after the last page is read.

I apologize for a very curt post. I'm in some discomfort and sitting at the computer doesn't help either! I will leave you with a photo of some of my roses, dried. I think they are equally beautiful, all their essence condensed before the petals completely separate.

Thank you, as always, for your visits and your lovely comments. I hope I will return next time in better form! Take care and have a good week!

Post and Boast

2010-11-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

Let's catch up and boast to my heart's content! ;-)

Boast 1 - Survived a hectic work schedule the last 3 weeks and our project completed successfully last weekend! Hooray! Now I feel like I've just finished a marathon - tired but happy.

Boast 2 - Isabella Johnstone is finished! Here we go with lots of photos!

Isabelle Johnstone 1854

stitched with recommended Belle Soie silks

on 35 ct WDW Parchment linen

This is a very pretty sampler and will be one of my favourites, I'm sure! I really love the reds in this one.

Oh, before I forget, I pondered the question as to whether only male 'cows' have horns. Thanks to Terri who cleared up the "mystery" for me:

In answer to your question....the sex has nothing to do as to whether or not a 'cow' has horns. It's the breed.

Boast 3 - Meet the new guy in my life - Sam, my Snowman Postman!

Isn't he a handsome fella? He is the creation of Cathy or the wonderful Cheswick Company. Cathy made this one for me, but you can buy the pattern or kit to make one up yourself! I wasn't very confident that I would be able to do a good job, and since I was working hard I figured I deserved a custom order! (warning - spending $alert$ - the site has many wonderful things!)

Here Sam has already brought me a lovely chart from my friend Nancy (no blog). She also sent me all the threads needed so all I need to do is find the right linen! Thank you Nancy! I love this design! It just says "Home Sweet Home" to me!

Boast 4 - Roses in November!

Our Fall has been fairly mild so a lot of my roses are still blooming. The bowl of pink roses are arranged using a flower frog nextled in a bowl. You can use them for flowers as well as for storing scissors!!! ;-)

Boast 5 - the cute kitties. One minute wide awake. The next, snoozeville.

Cats know how to Chill, don't they?

Well, that's it for this Post and Boast! Maybe another time it will be Post and Roast. Then there's the possiblity of Post and Toast. What other rhymes can I make with Post? Post the Most? - No, definitely not!

Oh, one last Boast #6 - the fact that you visit and leave me such wonderful comments, often with a little cyber hug to lessen the load of my sometime heavy work schedule! That's so nice of you! Thank you!

I have a 3 day weekend so I will catch up on my blog reading and emails too. So sorry I've been very quiet there too. Mostly, this will be a quiet weekend to get a nap or two in and putter inside - doesn't that sound like just the thing on a blowsy, rainy day?

Thank you again for visiting! Have a lovely weekend!

Just say "MOOooooooooo"

2010-10-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Does a cow have horns or not? Because I thought this cow was a girl, hence "Betsy, rather than a boy "Benny. As I was stitching it, I realized this cow has near invisible horns (stitched in that beige again). Interesting. I thought (silly me) I would look in wikipedia for a quick answer. There is never anything 'quick' in wikipedia because it has more things than you ever thought possible to learn about the cow!

Here's "the red beast" in Isabella Johnstone:

So happy to have gotten to this part! I am using Belle Soie silks - very yummy. The leaves on the trees / shrubs call for Wheatgrass but I found that too light so I used Scarecrow instead. Isn't this a beautiful sampler? I just love it!

We've been having a very mix bag of Fall weather. Fortunately this weekend has been sunny so I've finally gotten out to do some garden clean-up. As a result, I brought some flowers indoors.

The yellow flower in the first photo is a dahlia. The pink flowers are schizostylis coccinea, or kaffir lily. I love this fall-flowering beauty. It also comes in a medium red colour. One note of warning about planting these - they spread everywhere! As pretty as they are when in bloom, they can look messy (grassy) when they peek up out of other plants where they don't belong. So, I've dug them up and will put them in a big pot so they can grow happily "contained".

I'm keeping heads down these days. I think there are two more weeks to this "madness" at work then maybe I can breathe a sigh of relief! :-)

Thank you as always for visiting my little corner of the world. Take care!

A little bit more of Isabella

2010-10-11T12:58:00.000-07:00

These days my mind is a bit scattered as work has taken over the little grey cells. With the long weekend, thankfully, I have been able to get past the beige-on-beige stitching that was so hard on my tired eyes in the evenings. Here's my progress on Isabella.

See what I mean?

Blink and you could miss all the beige lettering! I'm glad that part is done and I can start on the cow soon, which I will fondly call Betsy.

I will also show you some stash I received last week from Wendy of Pineberry Lane. I really like her latest sampler, the Rising Harvest. It has a sweetness in its simplicity.

OK, that's all for today, short and sweet! (You can always tell when work has taken over my life as I don't have much to say!)

Thanks for visiting, your comments and good vibes! I can always tell that too! Have a good week!

Winner of Giveaway

2010-10-08T17:59:00.000-07:00

A quick post to tell you the winner of the Giveaway is:

Sylvia of Running with Needles & Scissors!

Congratulations! And thank you to everyone who participated and also left comments on my last post. I loved reading about what you are doing!

It's the start of a long weekend here - Canadian Thanksgiving. I hope to get some R&R as well as some stitching in! Hopefully I will have something to show you by Monday.

Enjoy your weekend!

Busy Busy Busy!!!

2010-10-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it was bound to happen. Someone found out I've been having too much fun (e.g. stitching) and pressed the "Work" button so all of a sudden this past week I've been barely keeping my head above water. I'm ok - it's just like having had a relaxing vacation then returning to work trying to catch up. So, very little stitching this past week so I won't bother to show anything. However, keep reading because something good is coming.

First off, the winner of my Blogoversary giveaway is Lois - Congratulations! Lois has just finished a really cute Chartmaker design so go check out her blog. She always has lovely things to show.

Now, since you were all so very kind with your comments on my blogoversary post, I thought I should have another giveaway. (Also because I have nothing stitchy to show at the moment!)

This is Mary's Best Handework, which I finished stitching in August. You can see it here. The giveaway will contain my chart and I will include a piece of HDF 35 count linen.

If you are interested in the giveaway, please leave a comment specifically saying you want a chance to win it. Please be sure I can contact you via email.

If you are not interested in the giveaway, you can leave me a comment too! I would love to know what October is like in your part of the world. Also, have you seen any new releases that you really must have?

For me, I've mentioned a couple of designs in my previous posts (Boris & Jane Tindall). This past week I've also seen some really cute new charts by Chessie & Me. Theresa of Shakespeare's Peddler has all three in her Basket so if you scroll down you can see them - so cute! I haven't bought them yet but I'm sure I will!

September closed with fine weather (cool mornings and evenings, t-shirt weather during the day) which is continuing through the weekend. This means I will have to get out to the garden tomorrow to do clean-up and hopefully take some photos too. To tell you the truth, I've felt exhausted this week but I think some sunshine, fresh air, and physical work will do me a world of good.

I just saw this cute new freebie today at gazette94. I don't know the owner of the blog but she has some great designs on her site!

In closing I will show you a photo of my kitties. Daisy on the right is practicing her spooky Halloween cat look with her glowy eyes while Julius does what he loves to do at night, which is to crawl behind the curtains and look out the window.

Thank you for stopping by. Big hugs to you for leaving me such great, supportive comments! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Tis the Season

2010-09-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

...to be Joyous because I have finished this sweet design.

Tis the Season

from the Joyeux Noel book

by Blackbird Designs

I made small changes. The original design has "Tis the season to be jolly". Now the word "jolly" conjures up a Santa Claus with a great big jiggly belly. As much as I love Santa, I thought the word "joyous" more appropriate to this elegant design. I also added those 3 little diamonds at the end. I tweaked a few small things but generally the design stays true to the original. I used the recommended Belle Soie silks on Pear linen by Lakeside. I did substitute "Butterscotch" for "Scarecrow" in the silk as the latter wasn't showing up very well against the linen.

I am happy I have one thing done with a Christmas theme!

Next up is this - any guess?

You can see a beautiful framed piece on Tanya's post. When I saw it, I knew I had to stitch it. This is 1854 Isabella Johnstone sampler, in the Summer 2010 issue of the Sampler and Antique Needlework (SANQ) magazine. I am using the recommended Belle Soie silks, some of which are leftovers from Tis the Season project above, on 35 ct WDW Parchment linen. I am really enjoying stitching this piece but will probably have to put it aside soon as I wait for the full order of silks to arrive in the post.

I am always inspired by what Tanya is stitching. Therefore, I am really excited that she has reproduced Jane Tindall 1864, which you can see on her post here. A photo of Jane appeared in the same SANQ issue as Isabelle above, in an article talking about cows in needlework! Even back then I had loved this sampler so I was so happy that I get to stitch it now!

Thank you so much for your compliments about my blog. You were all so gracious! They really made my day and encourage me to keep on going!

A reminder that the blogoversary giveaway ends tonight, so please go to this post if you have not already done so. I have a busy week with work deadlines coming up so you may not hear from me till next weekend about who won the giveaway.

In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful week ahead. Happy Stitching!

This Baby is Two!

2010-09-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

OK, my darlinkskis, let's make this short and sweet...

Two years ago today, I started this blog and it's become an amazing treasure in my life. I've met wonderful people and the experience has also supported my stitching tremendously. So, in return, a Blogoversary Giveaway of course!

Rules:

Please leave a comment on this post only.
Please tell me what you'd like to see on this blog in the future (e.g. stay the same? more/less of something). No promise of any changes but I am just curious to see what you think.
Entries close as of end of day Sunday, Sept 26.

Here's the giveaway.

The Polly Whitmarsh Sampler KIT. You get the whole works, even a needle!

There may be other prizes but I haven't figured that out yet. It's late and my little brain is fried.

In closing, I'll leave you with a hilarious cross stitch my friend, who is in art school, sent me this week. She designed it! What do you think? Cool, huh? Does this classify as 'subversive' cross stitch?

Back to another nutty day at the office tomorrow! ;-) Perfect for Fall (which began today), don't you think? Fall - Squirrels - Nuts, get it? *groan* Yup, it's time for Bed!

Till next time, happy stitching!

Next Up - a Red Bird

2010-09-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Last time I finished a cat (Olga) so then I thought I would follow the animal theme and stitch a bird - a red one.

Many of you will recognize this as "Tis the Season" from the Joyeux Noel book by those talented ladies of Blackbird Designs! This was the first project I've had using Belle Soie silks. Oh, stop me, but I'm getting so spoiled stitching with silks! It's like once you start, it's hard to go back to cottons!

Thank you for all your comments on my last post, especially letting me know that Paulette has a companion to Olga, and that's Boris! I Love Boris and he will be definitely on my to-stitch list.

I don't have much to say in this post. It's been rainy buckets. I think the seasonal blues may be hitting me already! So, I just stitch-and-show!

Thank you again for visiting, your comments and your uplifting words! Have a great week and please come again!

You Talkin' to Me?!!

2010-09-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know why but this face grabbed me from the moment I first saw this design.

She reminds me of the look my cat Daisy sometimes has - the "I am not listening to you" look! The design has lots of lovely colours, like this tulip.

Altogether I am astonished that I finished this piece in a week!

Olga

by Plum Street Sampler

on 36 count Vintage Tarnished Silver using CC floss (all recommended)

This was such a fun stitch. What helped was listening to this audio book - Bloodroot, by Amy Greene. While the story was depressing, it was engaging and the book was read / performed by a wonderful cast. Having an absorbing story really helps my stitching. After finishing this book, I tried listening to three others which all got tossed into "another day" pile before I settled on The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, by Alexander McCall Smith. I am currently listening to The Wild Things, by Dave Eggers.

In my last post I showed photos of a group of unframed samplers but I neglected to name each piece, so I am here to remedy the situation.

From top to bottom:

Love of Myn, by the very talented Barbara of Mainely Stitching
A Very Fine Sampler, by Birds of a Feather
Mary's Best Handworke, by With Thy Needle and Thread
Be Kind & Be True, by With Thy Needle and Thread
Birds of a Feather, by Blackbird Designs
Salina Dunwoody, by Sheepish Designs
Hannah Lovina Joslin, from HoneySuckle Manor booklet, by Blackbird Designs
My Needle's Work, by Little House Needleworks
Winter, from Prairie Seasons (I'm just guessing as I can't find the chart!) by Prairie Schooler

I don't know when I will get these babies framed since I'm not working much. Instead, as you can tell, I am on a stitching binge. (Happy Happy Joy Joy!)

It's been raining incessantly, or so it seems, since the middle of the night. It's a very good excuse to stitch some more!

Thank you for visiting me. I especially appreciate the comments on my last post. It's fun to hear how each of you thinks of September. Some laments the loss of summer weather, some loves September as the 'real' start of the year,, some looks forward to Spring! I loved hearing it all!

Now...what shall I stitch next? Come back next week and find out!

Have a wonderful week ahead! Happy Stitching!

Please welcome - Betsy and the Wooley Girls

2010-09-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

...and one bad boy black sheep

As you can see, I did make some changes with Betsy but she's ever so pretty! Here's what the other side looks like.

And the entire piece dancing ever so happily together.

Betsy by Sheepish Designs

Stitched on 36 ct R&R Straw, using HDF silk conversions

While I am very happy with the finished piece, the stitching experience was not so good. I have used HDF silks before and R&R linen before but never together. Somehow, the two do not seem to mix well together. The silks seem to snag on the linen a lot and I had far more knots than I ever remembered when I stitched these silks on Lakeside linens last year. I will just have to remember that in the future.

I have had the last week off work so it was great to finally have some time to sleep in and also get my home life more organized! I think we never really realize the mess until we dive in and put things right, and in my case it was baa-aaa-d (as the sheepies above would say!). But never mind, a few days of chaotic reorganizing and all feels much calmer! I also got the time to do something I've been meaning to do for awhile - take a photo of all my unframed work.

That was fun! I've seen other stitchers do this with their unframed work and I've wanted it to do the same for awhile.

It is a rainy Labour Day Monday here. The weather has been lovely up until last night when the rains started. Tomorrow, back to school for the kiddies, and back to work for me. I am feeling more rested, which is always a good thing, and this almost feels like a new year starting!

Later this month will be my second blogoversary so watch this space. I'm also looking forward to seeing what new goodies will come out from Market this month. More fun.

As some of you have noticed and mentioned, my stitching mojo seemed to have returned. Yes, true! There is a direct correlation between my capacity to stitch and my workload at my job, but I've noticed that I seem to stitch more too when the weather is cooler! ( We don't need a scientific study to tell us why, do we?)

I used to loathe September when our son was in school, only because of the chaos of school schedule and activities schedules AND the fact that my DH coached a soccer team so there was coordination to do and the phone ringing a lot at our house. Now, many years later and with none of that to contend with, I like September a lot. Is it a sign of getting older, mellowing out? It feels like a sign to "batten down the hatches" so to speak and snuggle inside and do cozy things like stitch and read!

Tell me, what does September mean to you?

Well, time to go and get more done for my last day of "rest". Thanks for stopping by and thanks for all the lovely comments! Have a wonderful week!

Fall is in the Air!

2010-08-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

It seems overnight the weather has cooled and there is a hint of Fall in the air. The days are still bright, book-ended by it being darker in the mornings and an earlier "lights out" in the evenings. I like this slow transition. You know the cold, dark months are coming but you can still enjoy the bright days. It also means it's easier to stitch with a drop in temperature! I think heat just fogs my brain. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!)

I have one finished piece to show you.

Salina Dunwoody

by Sheepish Designs

AVAS silks on 35 ct WDW Parchment

One thing I've learned with the older Sheepish Antiques designs - there are mistakes so expect them and double check the chart against the photo. After you accept that then it's not so bad. I did end up changing the colours around a bit to suit myself. I really like this one and I'm definitely hooked on her designs! So, naturally, the next project is...

Betsy! I'm stitching on 36 ct Straw but using the HDF silks conversion. While I have enjoyed stitching with HDF silks in the past, I regret getting this conversion. Others have warned me that sometimes the conversions don't work out very well. In this case, the colours of the border vine, leaves, stem should be dark, medium and light green. Well, they are blue-y grey. It didn't dawn on me until I had stitched quite a bit (remember, I blame the heat?) and then I pondered what to do. Since I did not have anything in my HDF stash close to those colours I decided just to leave it.

Overall, the colours are much softer than what shows on the chart photo. Oh well. It is a fun design to stitch. (Sorry for the bad photo by the way!)

Not much else to report. September is just around the corner - how insane is that? I leave you with a photo of my kitties while we still had our heat a couple of weeks ago. It was hilarous how they were trying to stick their heads out of the window to get some air!

Oh, to be able to just chill out completely like these cats!

Thank you for your visit! I really appreciate your stopping by and reading your comments just make my day! Enjoy your Sunday and the rest of ...August! Take care!

The Spell is Broken

2010-08-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

I was on a reading binge, enjoying the Millennium Trilogy, as you saw on my last post. Then all it took was a couple of not-so-great books and the reading spell was broken. I couldn't find anything that could keep my attention, despite a stack of books available. Oh well, that just opened the window back to stitching. And back to the needle I went!

Here's the silver lining:

Mary's Best Handworke, by With Thy Needle and Thread. Finished! Ta-da. It took me two months to finish it and I'm so happy it's done!

After that I got back some of my stitching groove, so I went back to an older piece from May. This is how I left Salina Dunwoody, with a bunch of stitches to be frogged.

And here is how Salina looks today - much much prettier!

Hmmm, I just noticed the photos look very different in colour. I would say the first photo of Salina shows more of the colours in real life.

And if you are thinking "Gee, she must not be so busy at work if she is stitching again", you'd be absolutely right. "Feast or Famine" as they say when you are doing free-lance work.

Last time I showed you photos of Daisy. Now, I must give equal time to Mr Julius. He is a pretty rumbunctious cat and the first one shows him in true form. The other two, well, you can't blame a cat for wanting to chill out in the summer heat.

The photo above shows three of my favourite things - Mr Julius, cross stitch and books.

I love this last photo even though it's a bit fuzzy. Julius is tucked in under a chair in my room, in his little Buddha-cat pose. So sweet.

That's all for now. Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful week ahead!

Reading Binge

2010-08-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hello, my friends! It is a local holiday here which means a wonderful 3 day weekend. And how did I spend it? Well, unintentionally, I tapped into a great trilogy and have had my nose stuck in these 3 books.

If you haven't heard of them, it's the Millennium Trilogy from Stieg Larsson of Sweden. It's the latest best selling phenomenon out there. This news article out this past weekend talks about the books.

I bought the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, about a week ago, thinking I would give it a try. It was a bit tough going at the beginning because the author was jumping around trying to set the stage for the story, but it soon settled in and woo-hooo, the roller coaster ride began. By Thursday I asked my DH to pick up the second book for me, knowing that I would jump right into it on Friday. By Saturday morning I was half way through and said to my DH that we have to go to Costco and buy the third book, which is only out in hard cover. Boy am I ever glad I did that. I finished the third book late yesterday evening. Yes, I'm a fast reader but I also did nothing but read!

What a luxury that was!

The books are dark, violent but oh so good! The characters are well developed and it was just really interesting to read it from book 1 through 3 all in one go. At the heart of it is the theme of violence against women and political corruption. The three books individually could be viewed quite differently. The first is more a mystery, the second an action thriller, the third a crime/political thriller but they all tie in beautifully. It was also interesting to read something from Sweden, a country I've never been to. These books will wipe away any squeaky clean "IKEA" images of Sweden.

It is too bad that the author died, at 50, shortly after he delivered the manuscripts for all 3 books. There's a lot of buzz around the author too, making the books all the more interesting. There are loads of stuff on the Net about these books (and movies) so there are better words than I can conjure up.

I have hardly done any stitching since my last post, but that's how it goes. Sometimes as hard as I try to look for books to interest me, I cannot find any. Now, I have a huge stack from the library to devour! "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" and all that...

This morning, I visited some blogs. I always love to visit Barbara's as it's always full of great fun with her family. On today's post on Barbara's blog, Annemarie left a comment, which I'd like to "borrow" coz I loved it so much. Annemarie said:

"I found a sampler ‘verse’ on a website a couple of days ago and it had me in stitches: ‘Patty Polk did this and she hated every stitch she did in it. She loves to read much more.’ Speaking of subversive cross stitch! I am determined that one day, I will build a little sampler around these words"

Annemarie, I hope you don't mind me sharing that. I love that verse because sometimes I just want to read much more than I want to stitch! And I hope you do stitch it up one day!

Now, with all my working I haven't been able to stitch much but the flip side is, I can buy some stash. Here are some recent releases:

If I can't stitch so much, at least I can stash-and-dream!

Again, I close with flowers and with thanks for visiting and commenting. As a reader, you know how much I enjoy your words! By the way, how did we get to August so quickly?!!!

Summertime Summertime Sum-Sum-Summertime!

2010-07-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

Cue the Summertime music, the heat is here!

If you're a cat like Daisy then lounging by an open window is the thing! She likes to stick her back feet out the window to catch the cool air!

Today I was in the garden and got a lovely bunch of white hydrangea. These are so pretty and lacey they remind me of a bride's dress. Then I had these pretty scabiosas in bloom. Aren't they perfect together? Although this bundle is large, I can just see a smaller version for a bridal bouquet!

I planted these lilies as bulbs in the spring. They are so unusual! I hope they come back next year. Sorry can't recall their names at the moment!

I have made some progress on Mary's Best Handworke! Eh voila... three little sheepies!

And a shepherd and sheep dog, watched over by ... a cupid? It's supposed to be an angel, right? Give it a bow and a heart and a cupid is in the making!

The bigger picture...

OK. Not the nicest photos are they? This piece does look brighter and sharper in real life and I really like the reds in this piece. Now I have a good chance of finishing this before summer is over! It's been a struggle I tell ya. I haven't been stitching a lot but besides working, I have got myself back into some reading.

A new book that I really like is Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson. If you like an English village type of story you will like this. But it's not 'light and fluffy'. There is some wonderful writing, and the Major is such a wonderful creation.

A detective series I have come to love is Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. I have read it in paper form and also listened to audio versions that have been wonderful. The setting is post WWI England, in the 1930's. The books have such a lovely quiet, calm atmosphere and Maisie is such an intelligent character.

I want to thank you for all who visited my blog last time and left comments. I am grateful for your kind words and encouragement. Otherwise I think it would be very easy for me to stop stitching and blogging for awhile. A thousand thanks!

And I want to thank those who are visiting this post now. Even if you don't leave a comment, please send some good vibes my way, OK? I can use any positive thoughts these days!

I leave you with some alstromerias from my garden. I hope you are enjoying your summer or keeping cozy in winter!

Friends are Angels in disguise

2010-07-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

By now, you know my life has taken a left turn somewhere and it does not seem to include much stitching or blogging. It happens to all of us at one time or another so my philosophy is always "go with the flow"... or at least pretend I'm doing that!

On Wednesday when I got home from work, tired and in need of sustenance, a mirage appeared on our hallway table. It was a package that had arrived in the mail. From the distance of just getting in the front door, I racked my brains to see if I had ordered something and had forgotten about it. Nope. Then as I approached, I found a familiar handwriting in the return address - Terri!

Oh, my! My first thought was "I hope it's her (now famous) strawberries!" YES!!! Look what that sweet girl sent me!

Not only did I get the strawberries, and the pincushion, she also included a beautiful new-to-me magazine! You're so sweet, Terri! Thank you so much. Your handwork is just beautiful. The gift just lifted my spirits. I had passed on a chart, Be Kind and Be True, when I was finished with it never expecting something in return. And that's what I mean by 'Friends are Angels in disguise'. If you haven't visited Terri's blog, please do. It's a wonderful place to visit and reflects her generous and fun personality!

I have also received some emails from stitching friends wondering how I am doing. Thank you for that! I'm fine just busy with other things at the moment. I have been stitching a little bit here and there. Here's some progress on Mary's Best Handwork.

I do love all the reds in it. As you can see, it's been taking me awhile. After I get the pasture done, it will be faster I think. Stitching all that grass in the evenings just lull me to sleep!

I've also been watching the FIFA World Cup games when I can! I love 'football' as most of the world calls it. It is, indeed, a Beautiful Game! I've loved watching Germany and the Netherlands. I think they will be the final two duking it out! I watched the Germany vs Argentina game this morning and the Germans were awesome to watch - poetry in motion!

I will sign off with a bunch of white lilies in bloom. I had planted them in the spring for the first time and they are stupendously gorgeous! But I cannot remember the name of the bulb at the moment!

I hope you are having a good summer. Here it's not so good but it's not the worst that we've had weather-wise. To my American friends, enjoy a Happy Fourth of July!

Thank you for coming by and I love the comments and emails! Take care!