Randomness, Spilt Wine and Tumbles

~ I miss you guys more than you can even imagine!!

~ Life has become even busier...as if that was even possible.

~ I've been super social since I last posted. I spent a weekend up in Healdsburg in an amazing house. Where I managed to spill wine on my pants and fall down twice. I suppose I was having a little too much fun? My last tumble resulted in a sprained wrist, bruised knees, chest, shoulder and other various bruises throughout. I was more concerned with my glasses than anything else and seeing as they were ok, I felt ok too. My wrist is finally feeling back to normal...three weeks later. Let's see, what else...I've gone to Music in the Park, Sing Along Grease (so much fun!), Happy Hours, Fillmore Jazz Festival, more jazz and Film Night in Union Square to see The Artist.

~ Spilling red wine seems to be happening frequently...I'm spot cleaning my pants more than I would like but thankfully I've avoided any stains.

~ I've got some good things going on which I'm very happy and hopeful about. Think good thoughts and if the good things continue to go good, I'll have some fun news to share.

~ I've only stitched 300 stitches (at most) in the last three weeks. I'm at a loss of what to do. There just isn't the time and I am having too much fun to worry about it too much. Eventually, everything will become a finish...right?

~ I caught up with blog reading...for about a day. And then, suddenly, my Google Reader jumped to 700 posts! You all need to stop writing and stitching so much. I cannot keep up. I'm back down to 400...so maybe...if it doesn't become all crazy this week, I can finally catch up. I hate being this behind!

~ I really miss you guys. Oh, I already said that. Well...I do.

~ Seeing as I haven't stitched and I haven't found my Cayman photos, I don't have very much to share except this pretty thing that landed in my mailbox last week.

Remember when I finished my Shepherd's Bush Sadie Stocking? I knew I would never find the courage to finish it myself so I sent it off to the amazing Deb and she did a wonderful job on it...don't you think?! I love it! Will be wonderful to hang it at Christmastime.

Well, the dishes, laundry and mail are calling to me. Wouldn't it be nice to just twitch your nose like Samantha in Bewitched? *sigh* Some girls can dream, I suppose.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Until next time...

IHSW and TUSAL

Hello lovlies...how's it all going?

Things, as you can imagine have been busy busy. I don't think there is any other setting at the moment. But let's see if I can remember what I've been up to lately. There hasn't been much stitching going on. At least I don't think so...

I did finish two motifs on Mary Wigham and she is going to be put away for a little while. I can't believe I am still on Part 5 (of 9)! One more motif and over 1 wording (yuk!). It's going back in the wip basket for a spell. Oh, the two motifs I did were the big "Ackworth School" and the gold bird to the right of that one.

I also finished the stitching on Shepherd's Bush Little Eggs Pincushion. I finished before Easter but it took me until this past weekend to finally attach the buttons. I have to look in my stash to see if I have a suitable Easter or soft print to use for the backing.

I started some finishing I can't show yet. I am as slow as molasses when it comes to finishing so of the 3 pieces I wanted to finish, I only managed to complete 1.33 of them. Guess finishing will continue throughout the week/weekend although I am itching to get back to Fairy Moon now.

And lastly, the TUSAL report. I thought I would take a complete shot of what the top of my tv looks like. It has my TUSAL jar, some ranunculus that I picked up at the farmers market along my with roku and cute japanese figurines.

Wow, I am loving the new blogger template! Why did I wait so long to upgrade?! It puts pictures where they are supposed to go and I don't have to go into the html (which I don't even understand) trying to fix things. Awesome! I hope it continues to work this way!

And I thought I would request something that is a total longshot. If there is anyone out there who has Stitchmate scroll rods that they don't like or don't use, please contact me as I may like to purchase them. My order for rods was unfulfilled and I have to figure out another solution...besides qsnaps...or borrowing rods.

Well, I think that's it for me. Until next time...

Fairy Moon - Week 3 and IHSW

Hi Everyone!

I hope that a nice weekend was had by all. I have to say that some of my plans fell apart but it was a blessing in disguise. From Friday night to Sunday morning, I hermitted at home in my jammies. I think I just needed quiet time to myself after a busy week of family. I caught up on shows, stitched, snacked, relaxed and enjoyed the solitude. It was bliss!

IHSW was a total success! I had a finish, a start and more progress on Fairy Moon. Yay!

First, the finish! I finished my ornie! It's Primrose Needleworks Windows of Faith, Hope and Peace from the JCS 2010 Ornie issue. I love it. I have no idea why it took me over a year to finally finish.

Secondly, the start. I made a start on the Shepherd's Bush Little Eggs Pincushion. It's such a soft Easter design. And it looks like it will be a quick stitch!

And lastly, my progress on Fairy Moon. I'm torn between feeling like I accomplished a lot this weekend and that I didn't do enough...because the wings are massive! There is so much blue stitching to go!

That's it for the stitching news today. I did have a couple of questions and was wondering if anyone had any input.

1. Has anyone ever done a dietary cleanse before? I realize this sounds a tad hippy granola but the idea of doing a food cleanse has appealed to me for the last couple of years since I hear it restores energy and helps with digestive issues a person may have. I think the one thing that may kill me is to give up coffee for a week. I can handle anything in life...except maybe that. I've been drinking coffee since I was five. I also wonder if coffee is why my brother and I are spazs and my sister is more mellow and even keeled since she switched to decaf eons ago. Although, the lack of coffee is a huge explanation of how she can nap anytime and anywhere. I don't have that gift. I don't want to nap. I just want more energy and less digestive issues. Feel free to email me (sidebar) if you'd like.

2. Is anyone thinking of going to a stitching retreat this year and if so, which one(s)? I am doing my little bit of research and trying to figure out where I want to go should finances allow. I'm sure I don't know about all of them. The sad thing is most retreats are midwest or East Coast so it's a journey for me to go but I'm willing to make a vacation out of it.

Well, time to get a few stitches in before hitting the hay. Hope you all have a nice start to the week. I'll be back for my TUSAL report in a couple of days!

Until next time...

Fairy Moon - Week 2 and a Finish!

Hi all...hope you are having a wonderful week. I can't believe it's half over already. It's been busy in my little corner of fogland...which should be renamed super rainy and windy land. Wow has it been pouring buckets the last couple of days.

My sister and her family have been visiting and it's been nice to spend some time with them. I haven't really been able to stitch on Fairy Moon this past week since I haven't been home very much.

On Saturday, a friend invited me to her house since she was hosting an all day stitching get together. I was thrilled to be invited and it was fun to hang out and stitch with other fun ladies. I managed a small finish that night and finally completed Shepherds Bush Merry Be.

A heads up to those who prefer 2 threads over 2 on 30 count...you will run out of two colors...Ruby and Olive Grove. I was lucky to have Ruby in my stash and a kind lady answered my plea on a message board for enough Olive Grove to complete 75 stitches and some backstitching. I just love it when stitchers come to the rescue so a finish can be had! Now to finish-finish it.

Since I still had time to spare, I pulled out my Faith-Hope-Peace ornament that I started in February 2011. I can't believe I forgot about it! At least I am getting closer to finishing it!

Thank you Liz for hosting such a fun, fun time!

And here is my Week 2 progress photo for Fairy Moon. It's a slightly bigger purple blob to signify the shawl. Since this photo was taken, I managed to finish the purples and have now moved onto the wing which is various shades of light/silvery blue. I think the wings will take me a while. They seem massive! We won't even discuss the dress yet...

This weekend is IHSW! Woot! Go and sign up! I do have quite the weekend planned so I won't have too much time to stitch although that may be all dependent on this crappy weather. If it's rainy, I may just bail on everything and hibernate. It's no fun taking the bus throughout the city to celebrate St. Patty's Day Irish-style in the rain. I'd love to see more progress made on Fairy Moon or even get to some finishing that's piling up. I haven't forgotten about you Catherine!

Well, better get going, Final night of family visiting but I wanted to post before the week got totally away from me.

Happy (almost) Friday!

Until next time...

IHSW and TUSAL

So this past weekend was IHSW. It ended up being a busier weekend than I had planned. Of course...doesn't that always happen?! I did go to stitchy group on Saturday and it was great to see all the ladies and gab, gab away. When I wasn't gabbing, I was stuffing my face with dessert first and healthy stuff later. But I did get a little bit of stitching done on my Merry Be.

I decided to stitch this with 2 threads over 2 which means I am running out of a couple of the colors. It just seemed like 1 strand over 2 was too skimpy on 30 count linen. I really have to remember this when I buy these Shepherds Bush kits!

I pulled out Merry Be because Jingle All the Way was throwing me off. I got the reindeer stitched but when I went to the sleigh, I was stitching with orange and lime. See picture to see what I'm talking about.

Um...orange and lime sleigh. I don't get it. When I look at the cover, I know that the designer tea dyed it after stitching but I'm not sure how I feel about tea dying lakeside linen. So I am left with doing substitutions which I hate doing especially when I'm all frazzly. I did see a photo of it finished with what looks like the recommended threads and I liked it. Maybe I just need to get over it? What do you all think? I'm going to sit tight and ponder it a little more.

Here is the cover photo as a comparison:

It was also TUSAL report time. My little jar is filling up little by little. The threads from this month were from the two projects above.

Just a quick post today. I'm still peeved about the things I discussed in my last post but I'll get over it. The weather is beautiful and it's FRIDAY! I'm trying to keep things quiet this weekend and just stitch, relax, do laundry and see the Oscars (and not get annoyed with any stupid men). I'm hoping that I make it to the gym. I've fallen off the wagon and am sooooo unmotivated and I find every excuse not to go.

Hmmm, maybe if it's quiet enough, I can actually write another of the many posts that are only residing in my head at the moment.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Until next time...

Sadie and Hope

La speranza è l'ultima
cosa mai perso.
Hope is the last thing ever lost.
~ Italian Proverb

So it's no secret that I went through a rough patch for a long while. I don't believe in hiding my feelings on this little blogspace of mine and I've laid it all out there for the world to see. I don't regret it. In fact, I'm kind of proud of myself about that. Honesty is huge in my world...especially after wasting so much time in the most dishonest relationship I have ever been in in my life. This does mean that I say things people don't want to hear. That I may be blunt and to the point. I don't say things to be hurtful though. I say things with my eyes and heart wide open...all for the sake of truth. Life is too precious to waste on lies and innuendo.

I may be a little jaded but I always have hope. I carry a lot of hope around with me every day. Some of it feasible and simple; some of it ridiculous. I hope I make it home in time to watch my shows tonight. I hope that bagged salad in the fridge is still fresh and I don't have to eat top ramen. I hope I meet a fantastic guy who is fun, loving, honest, successful enough (i.e. job, place, car) and worthy of my time and affection. I hope I win the lottery so I can retire! I hope I meet some wonderful new friends this year. I hope my parent/sibling relationship improves. I hope to develop a better support network. I hope to always be treated how I deserve to be treated. I hope to find my patience again.

If it were not for hopes, the heart would break. -Thomas Fuller

When I went to the Shepherd's Bush Retreat in 2010, I knew I wanted to get a stocking kitted up. My heart was set on Anna's stocking. Mainly because of her red dress. But when I arrived to the shop, they were sold out! Retreat was the same time they released Sadie's stocking. It was fresh and new and completely stocked! She was cute. I loved all the snowflakes and the sheep and the tiny sheep and the little village. I'm surprised I did buy her because I am not a pink person and her dress is pink but I guess "nutmeggie" was ok. And her simple message? "Hope"

Sadie and her reminder of hope spoke to me that day and she has been a joy to stitch on in the last month. Tiny sheepies, little village, soft colors, snowflakes, pretty basket.

The beads, buttons and charms weren't as fun to stitch on since I don't like that part of stitching but they bring a lot to the piece. The one downside to stitching a Shepherd's Bush stocking is that they don't reflect the placement on the chart itself so you have to follow the cover photos and this general guide they type up on the label of the charm pack. When I opened the charm pack, there were a few things I wasn't too sure where to place because the cover photo didn't show the very bottom of the stocking. Like the bunny charm, pink flower buttons and the green glass flower. A BUNNY CHARM!! Finding that charm in the pack just solidified the fact that Sadie was the stocking for me. And since I didn't really like the green glass flower in the meadow, I decided to be unique and put it on one of the big sheepies. What do you think?

Sadie's stocking was stitched as kitted up. 18 count natural linen with DMC, Weeks and Crescent Colors Perle 5. This makes huge x's!

I started a new project on 40 count this week. Holy Cow! Them x's are teeny! How did I stitch on 40 count before?! This is going to take a bit of adjustment.

This little post is all about Sadie and just how hope prevails in my everyday. It's been very hectic lately and my weeks and weekends have been a blur with little stitching. I'm hoping to have a quiet week/end next week so I can just relax, stitch, get to the gym and catch up on my backed up posts.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Until next time...

IHSW, TUSAL and a Winner!

Wowzers! Thanks so much for the lovely, uplifting comments on my photo. I know...it's taken forever for me to post one but deep down at the core, I am a shy, private person. As a kid, I hid from the camera. Most of my childhood friends have pictures of me with something in front of my face (book, hand, hair) to prevent the photo.

Natalia said I have to post more photos so I am posting one more...super cheeser of a photo.

***

International Hermit and Stitch Weekend (IHSW) wasn't as successful as I had hoped. I did manage to stitch quite a bit on Sunday but didn't finish the stocking. So close though. Here is a photo of how far I got.
I only have one small band of flowers to stitch at the very bottom and then to sew on all the charms and buttons. I am close! I adore the little village and the meadow. Look at all the little sheepies! So cute.

It's also TUSAL time. It's amazing how many threads I have in my jar already. All the orts are from Sadie's stocking and the perle cotton sure does take a lot of space in my ort jar.
But that's all I managed to do. I didn't even do any finishing.

***

Yesterday was the last day of the Year of the Bunny. It was a good year. I found clarity. I found my smile and myself. I made some wonderful blog friends. I shed some of my shyness and most of my sadness. I realized I am happy to be single and even happier to make friends instead of dealing with an endless string of first dates.

I have great hopes for the Year of the Dragon. New friends, lots of fun, good health and a someone to love. We'll see what happens. You never know.

Now to the winner of my surprise. The winner is Catherine! Catherine, I think it's your lucky weekend. Go buy some lottery tickets! Please email me with your address. I hope you don't mind waiting a bit because, uh, I never got to finishing this weekend and next weekend is already going to be insanity. I'll make it worth the wait, ok?!

Well, that's it for me tonight. I need to veg with the tv a bit before hitting the hay. I've got a busy couple of days at work. I don't even think I'll get much stitching in!

Until next time...

Busy Weekend and a Surprise

Hello my lovelies! Hope you all had a nice weekend. And a quick welcome to my new followers and commenters. Things have been pretty busy of late and I haven't had a chance to get back to everyone to say thanks and welcome the newbies. Thanks for stopping by my little blogspace.

The weekend was great! I took an extra day off so I had a four day weekend and go back to work in the morning. I will have a lot of work cut out for me. Lots to get done in three days.

I managed to try a few new foodie places this weekend. No wonder the scale is yelling at me. I tried Nopalito after wanting to for the past couple of years. It was tasty and fresh trendy mexican food. I'd go back but it didn't fulfill that craving for artery-clogging refried beans loaded with melted cheese and Spanish rice. Hmmm, this is probably why the scale is screaming at me. I've been having really unhealthy cravings lately. Chicken and waffles anyone? The next foodie place I tried was Bar Tartine for brunch. I had buckwheat speatzle with trumpet mushrooms and fried eggs. Yum! I really need to try this place out for dinner. And lastly, Tanpopo for ramen. Probably the best ramen (except for NY) to date. Ugh, I think I better load up on fruit and veggies this week.

I watched two movies. The Iron Lady which was fantastic! Seriously...don't walk...run and see it. I didn't know very much about Margaret Thatcher but the movie was enlightening and Meryl Streep seriously did a fantastic job. She was very deserving of her Golden Globe this past weekend. I also saw Hugo in 3D which was different than I expected but very good all the same.

In between all the eating and movie watching, I fit in a 4-mile hike around the city and nursed a sore back. I also went to a restorative yoga class that then did wonders for my aching back and made me realize I really need to start up with the yoga already. At least with the restorative classes until I can build up the stamina for the 90 minute vinyasa yoga classes. 90 minutes of fast paced asanas can really kick you in the ass when you're out of shape.

Today, I went to a photo shoot. I had bought a deal for the hell of it and with the intention to get some new, fresh photos of myself. I don't really like having photos of myself taken so this required a lot of self peptalking. But I did it and I am hoping I have a couple of decent photos. I'll find out in a week. But I think the little ego boost was being asked out on a date by the photographer. I'll wait to see how the photos come out first! But it was nice to just be asked out at random in a real life situation instead of the annoying online dating scenarios I've placed myself in.

In between, I've stitched some on Sadie's stocking and it's really coming along. I'm hoping to be finished by the end of the week or the weekend at the latest.
I don't feel like taking it off the scroll bars to take a full photo but that will come soon with the finish! The bottom section is my favorite with the little village and the tiny sheep grazing in the meadow.

***

So I said that when I reached 200 followers, I would have a little surprise to celebrate and ring out the Year of the Bunny which ends on Sunday. Here is a terrible photo of a sneak peek.
The prize will be a finished pincushion and floss tag which will happen when I finish the above. I stitched iStitch Sew a Brown Bunny last year hence the 2011 already stitched on it but will leave it in since 2011 was in fact, the Year of the Bunny. It's been stitched on 40 count Antique White (or Ivory) Ricamo with CC Secondhand Rose and Cocoa Bean. I'm hoping to use IHSW to do the finishing but please don't be upset if you are the winner and it takes me a bit longer to finish and send it on. I will find a couple of other goodies in the stash to send along as well.

To enter:
1. Please comment,on this post only, saying you want to be entered;
2. Be a follower or regular commenter;
3. Do not post about this on your blog as it's for regular readers and followers;
4. Tell me what your favorite candy is!

Easy Peasy! I will draw a name on Sunday, January 22nd after 5pm PST.

Ok, time to head to bed and prepare for a crazy end of week.

Until next time...

Busy, Busy!

Hello my lovelies!

Can you believe I was off for 10 days and my apartment looks the same and I'm running around like a chicken with her head cut off?! Some things just never change. I do have to say that I had a wonderful time off from work and it was mighty hard to drag myself into work Tuesday morning.

In the last days of my furlough, I managed to:

~Go to the Walt Disney Family Museum and learn more about the man behind those fantastic movies I loved as a kid (who am I kidding, I still love them now!) and Disneyland. It was wonderful.
~Tried chinese soup dumplings which I'm still on the fence about.
~Saw The Artist which was fantastic and I recommend highly is you like classic films, the silent era and/or black and white cinematography. Loved it!
~Had a facial and was told by the estetician that I have nearly flawless skin and who was shocked that I was 36 because she thought I was 28. God, I loved that! I'd keep her if I wasn't so loyal to my Russian estetician who I've been seeing forever.
~Read a book...The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. It was a good read but I preferred The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose.
~Made a pot of soup.
~Saw My Week with Marilyn which I was pleasantly surprised over. Michelle Williams did a great job exuding the spirit of Marilyn and the insecurities she must have felt during her rise to stardom. Fantastic and I recommend this one too!
~Had a nice visit with an old friend who has the knack for making me believe the things I don't from other people. You know, the comments about being beautiful and having a lot of things going for me and being a good person. It's rejuvenating to hear and I've decided to listen for a change, hold it close to my heart and allow it to carry me through. I feel a little spring in my step and feel better than I have in ages!
~Saw The Descendants. Sad movie but well done.
~Met up with a friend who's starting a new relationship. I hope I imparted some good wisdom. "Don't change because they want you to. Change because YOU want to. Don't lose yourself. Be true to who you are." I'm hoping I don't lose another male friend due to female jealousy and insecurities but only time will tell.

So you can probably imagine that I haven't gotten as much stitching done on my furlough as I had hoped. And I did not start my Fairy Moon BAP on New Year's Day. I've decided to carry on with my stocking until it is done and I need to start a small project that a fellow stitcher was kind enough to lend me the chart for and can be my "carry around" project since I can't take the stocking with me anywhere. Once I finish the stocking, I'll start Fairy Moon and it will obviously have to be my "at home" project since it's so big!

In the meantime, the stocking seems to stitch up fairly quick and I am about halfway done!

I somehow need to find the time to put away Christmas and drag a tree down three flights of stairs! It's much more fun to put up decorations than take them down!

I noticed that I am about 6 followers away from hitting the 200 mark. I'm planning a little surprise for when I hit 200 followers and to also say goodbye to the Year of the Rabbit. The year wasn't how I had dreamed but it was a good year for me nonetheless and I'm incredibly grateful to put that terrible streak of bad luck behind me. It will be time for the Dragons to have their fun. So if you're not a follower, become one! I'll have a little surprise worked up in the next couple of weeks or so.

Until next time...

Quick Fly By

Just a quick post today to show my progress on the Shepherd's Bush stocking. It's really coming along!
This is the first time I've used 18 count linen and perle cotton. It kind of feels like I am pulling yarn through burlap. The "x's" are huge! It's a fun stitch though. I've been jumping around a little because filling in the dress is a little tedious. I will work on it through tomorrow and then have a new start on NYE. Well, at least that's the plan!

Yesterday was one of those lazy days where you wake up early but still lounge around in bed for hours afterwards. You know, complete with tv remotes, laptop, a book and the phone nearby. When I finally felt a surge of energy, it was too late to run my errands since I had to meet up with some friends for afternoon tea, english style. It was nice to see each other, catch up and stroll around my old neighborhood of 10+ years ago. Some things really don't change that much! All the important things were still around.

I'm off to get ready for another urban adventure. I'll tell you all about it in the next post!

Until next time...

IHSW Update

Well, I had grand plans for my weekend. I think I jinxed myself saying it would be quiet but the best laid plans oftentimes go awry. I had a little bit of a floor stand malfunction.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I decided to baste my fabric to my scroll rods so I could start my Shepherd's Bush stocking. I didn't want to do qsnaps since I can't really hold one larger than 8" for long because my neck and shoulder will lock up. And it took me two days because I've been so busy!

So on Thursday night, I finally attach the sidebars and clamped it into my Stitchmate and wouldn't you believe it...my scroll frame fell right out of the clamp and onto the floor! Since I don't use rods often, this was the first time I tried to use scroll rods with my Stitchmate since I got it and I didn't realize I needed to use Stitchmate rods/bars or have some ADP adapter. The only size Stitchmate rods I had were 16" and I needed 19" rods for the fabric. Ugh! Oh yea, and as I was doing all this, the band that keeps my q-snap adapter in place snapped so I couldn't even pull the fabric onto bigger snaps since the adapter wouldn't stay in place.

It put a complete halt to my plans! So I switched gears and just pulled out Shepherd's Bush Merry Be and got a few stitches in. I think I prefer the look of two threads instead of the called for one thread over 2 on 30 count. I am debating whether to continue with two or switch back to 1 thread for the daintier look. I always have this dilemna with their kits! Here is my small start.
But I didn't stitch on it long because my friend Mary came to my rescue! She said I could borrow whatever rods/bars I needed to help me stay on track with my projects. I passed by her house, got what I needed and of course, in my excitement put the rods into the sidebar backwards but whatever. It works, the frame stayed in the clamp and I was stitching. Here is my small start on Sadie's Stocking which will soon become Valerie's Stocking!

Since so much time was wasted, I didn't make much progress on my starts. I don't know how you serial starters do it. I can't stand everything you need to do to start a new project. Once it's started, I'm fine but I'm a spazz case before that.

Oh and here is my Hallow Eden finish. I love it!
I did run into a little issue when I took the qsnaps off. I was lazy and never took them off or put felt between the clamps so I have qsnap marks and the fabric got grimy where I was holding it. Since it's Lakeside Linen and Crescent Colors, I am worried about getting the fabric wet. So I'm debating what to do and how to get it finished. Snug frame...or cube finish. I guess no matter what, the scuzzy section will be hidden or cut off since it's not the stitching itself that is dirty. Any suggestions??

Well, that's it for today. I haven't had much stitching time so far this week but once Monday comes along, I plan to have a few "stitch ass" sessions since I will be off until January 3rd! Happy dance....happy dance! Woo!! I plan to relax, do things I don't get to do on the weekend and stitch my heart out!

Until next time...

Scattershot

Oof, it's been a busy few days. The vacation sped by and I'm back to work. I feel like things have been eventful but it all revolved around running around buying/pricing modems, installing Comcast and finally getting my phone, internet and Tivo back up and running in time to go back to work. I'm just happy it's working and that everything isn't in various stages of influx or broken. The apartment is a mess since I now have to figure out where this new surge of cables is supposed to go but it's all working and that really makes me the happiest.

Since I'm on the topic of technology/electronics, does anyone happen to have a Roku and if so, what do you think about it? I'm intrigued since it allows you to stream Netflix and Hulu onto a tv. I can totally broaden my tv viewing obsession by seeing things on demand. Is it a good product?

And on top of that, I had arch shades installed...finally. It's been a year in the making. The light isn't as bright in my front room anymore but things have been getting really faded since the sun streamed right in full-force. I also have more privacy since the people who live across the street no longer have an uninhibited view right into my living space. I can actually walk around in my undies if I want and not worry about giving the old men across the way a show. Here's how the windows look now.
The sun would stream through those arches and shine on the wall above the tv. I have plans for that wall...I can't have any fading happening!

***

On the stitching front, progress has been slow on the things I should be stitching. I'm in a quandry. There are so many projects I want to start and I have been planning and envisioning certain projects hanging in particular spots in my apartment. The thing is that I am not currently working on any of these projects and I am dying to start them all and they are all BAPs. I already have 2 BAPs, one medium and a couple of small ones in the hopper and just that amount of WIPs is stressing me out. I can't start another BAP! I'm having enough of a problem juggling the ones I have. What to do?! I don't want to stop working on my current projects altogether since I may never pick them up again. I think I have to buckle down and try to make some headway.

I hope this will help! Two handed stitching is much haster than one handed!
I ordered myself a Stitchmate and it arrived during my vacation. Please forgive the terrible photos but it is a fantastic piece of craftmanship. Back in March, a wonderful lady let me borrow her Stitchmate. That in itself floored me. Here's this lady I've met a handful of times who goes "you can borrow mine to make sure it works with your chair before you go and order it". Took me a bit to pick my jaw up off the floor and even more time to accept her offer since I'm one of those "oh, I couldn't possibly put you out" type of people. But I borrowed it for TWO weeks and fell in love. This is actually how I managed to stitch and finish Part 3 of Mary Wigham. I am so happy to have my very one! Now, a Stitchmate is pretty pricey but I am pretty sure this will last me forever and so I just couldn't deny myself any longer. Plus, I have a million BAPs to stitch and I'm hoping this will make it scads easier.
**Please note that the chart holder placement is different than it should be. If I had it as directed, it blocks my ott-lite. I'm glad I got the extended arm! I still need to play around with that part a bit.

So I have pulled out Mary and will try to get another section completed while focusing on my smalls and my medium project which is Where My Heart Blooms. Maybe by the fall, I'll be in a better space and can start on the "art" I want on the walls.

During vacation, I stitched solely on Blue Snowman when I had the time to stitch. I think it should be called Blue Snowgirl. She was a joy to stitch and I love how she looks. My only complaint is the floppy fabric. My stitches just don't lie very nice on 30 count WDW fabric, especially with just one thread but I followed the instructions and just think the piece is full of whimsy. So cute! I just love the stocking and the "tights" she is wearing! I'm not sure what to do with it now that it's done but I think it would be nice as a flatfold or a cube. Something to think about.

And let's not forget my TUSAL report for the month. It's slowly growing but it's hard to tell. There's a mishmosh of threads from Blue Snowman, A Wish For You and my Tiny Garden Fob.
While taking my TUSAL photo, I tried to stage the jar with some anemones I bought at the farmers market over the weekend but the photo above was better. I couldn't help sharing the anemones though. They are so colorful! I've enjoyed them this week placed in my little owl pitcher.
And finally....my new set of wheels! I remembered to take my camera with me when I visited my folks. Much easier to take a photo in a suburban setting.
I love it so far! I'm still scared to have to parallel park but I'll deal with that when I come to it.

Well, Mary is calling and it's tv night (ok, when is it not but it's Thursday! Grey's and Private Practice). One more day to the weekend! Can't wait.

Just in case I don't make it back before Sunday, I'd like to wish all the moms a fantastic day. Hope you all have fun.

Until next time...

A Little Catch Up

Hi everyone! I hope that everyone had a lovely weekend and Easter/Anzac Day. Thank you for all the kind comments on my last post. It's nice to have such a wonderful support system in blogland. I tried to send out quick replies to the comments if I could but wouldn't you know it, my phone and internet died! I didn't get to everyone I wanted to but please know I appreciate each and every comment.

As far as the phone and internet, well, that's just a pain. I wanted to switch to Vonage for phone service and keep "naked DSL" with AT&T but they just cut me off completely. Thanks AT&T! Good riddance to you too. I am waiting for Comcast to send me the install kit so in the meantime I am phoneless and only have internet because I am "borrowing" it. Shhhh....don't tell anyone!

And to add to the pile, my cable started acting up over the weekend. I can live without a phone and I can even live without internet (I have a Blackberry!) but I cannot live without cable. I've got shows to watch and things to see! Luckily, Comcast sent out a repair guy on Easter Sunday and the cable box seemed to work under the spell of his magic fingers.

So I hit the trifecta. I have all the luck.

But the exciting news of the weekend is that I bought my new car! I haven't got a picture of it though because my garage space if very dark and tight. I traded in my 15 year old burgandy Nissan Altima for a 2011 Honda CR-V in charcoal grey! It's very exciting and scary! Exciting to have a shiny new car...with keyless entry...and a working stereo...with leather seats...and a working sun visor...and a little spot to put my sunglasses. Ohhh...so exciting! Scary to be indebted to the bank for five years though! Yikes! So I see a lot of budgeting, road trips and stitching from stash in my future. That's ok though...I have shiny new car! I'll take a photo soon.

I've been stitching but somewhat halfheartedly. I wasn't really feeling my projects and I decided I needed some whimsy. So I pulled out my Tiny Garden Fob kit by Shepherd's Bush and stitched it up. It had a pretty good message for me...
I love this cute design!It just makes me smile. I still need to finish it up into a fob and hope to do that by the end of the weekend.

And then I pulled out Blue Snowman by Shepherd's Bush too. I love the whimsy and have been missing it. It's my usual stitching style. I obviously haven't gotten very far on it though. Hopefully it will grow some today. It will be my main focus for the evening.
White blob on blue fabric. I warned you I didn't get far!

I have been working on A Wish For You on my Anniversaries of the Heart. I love this block but it is draaaaging! The house is cute and I love the quirky two-tone brick but it took me forever to build it! Forever!
I still need to stitch the over 1 verse and I am dreading it! I am changing the verse a bit and omitting any personalization so I have to make sure that it will fit in the space allotted. I do NOT want to frog over 1. I haven't had the brain for math lately so I have been putting off this part. There's only 3 more days to April so I had better get moving and finish it already.

I am on "vacation" this week. I had to "use it or lose it" so I've been sleeping in til 1030am and catching up on much needed sleep, eating lunch at 3pm at the little eateries in the neighborhood and relishing in the fact that I can wear yoga pants in the middle of the day. It's already Wednesday! It's going by too fast! I should have asked for two weeks off! lol

I do have another finish and things to share but that will have to wait until the next post. Again, thanks for the comments and hanging in there with me through the whine and the hard times. *hugs*

Until next time...

Finishes and More Finishes

Hello my lovelies...it's been a while hasn't it? It's been busy in my little corner of the world. Busy, busy...yet when I reflect at the end of the week, I can barely remember what kept me so busy. Anyone else relate?

Anywho...I've lots to share so you all might want to get a cup of tea and a snack. Don't get those crumbs in the keyboard though!

A while back, I was talking about finishing and how I actually got a couple of pieces finish-finished and off in the mail. Well, they've been happily received and now I can share. I shared this finish earlier. It's Blackbird Designs Bluebird stitched on a scrap of 32 count Lakeside with GAST Brethren Blue.
I made it up into a pinpillow. Very simple...filled with crushed walnut litter. I found a black safety pin lying about and thought it would be fitting and made simple pins. I bought terrible glue and those crystals were sliding. I am just hoping that they finally set. I backed it with some of my favorite blue batik shown below.
I mailed the pinpillow to my penpal Belen in France and I can only hope that it cheered her up. She recently celebrated her birthday and I felt a cause to make her something handmade. 2010 was an unkind year to her as well and unfortunate circumstances made her a widow way too young. She needed a little cheering. Blue is one of her favorite colors and she wrote me to tell me that she liked the gift and the goodie I included. I am so glad!

2010 was an unkind year. I am glad it's in my past but there was one outstanding piece of business leftover from last year...my blogiversary giveaway. I'm not sure what the mental hangup was. The finishing or the fact it was what I was stitching on when everything imploded. I'm not one to owe anyone anything though and I finally sat down and did the finishing. It was all I had to do. I am embarrassed that it took me so long to finish and send on but I am happy it's been passed onto it's new owner. Sharon won my giveaway many moons ago and she was happy with the gift and the goodies. I stilled the Shepherd's Bush 2009 scissor fob and included a pair of silver Ginghers. Here's the front.
And the back. It was charted to say "All Is Fine in 2009". Ummm...yea. So I changed it to say "Stitch and Be Happy" because that is true to a stitcher 100% of the time...well...outside of any major frogging.
I used the kit supplies and filled the fob with crushed walnut litter as well. It was my first time doing this finish with the ribbon and despite it being fiddly and poking myself with a beading needle multiple times, I am really happy with it! Now I need to stitch it for myself! Sharon posted photos of the goodies I sent here. I was in such a rush to send things off that I forgot to take photos of the goodies. I had a runner up winner for my blogiversary too and made good with Lisa and sent some non-stitched goodies off to her too. I am not doing that again. Next time, I will have the stitched goodie done *before* the drawing. Yeesh...guess that means I better get busy again and quick!

I also finished the first Blackbird Designs Bonus Pattern for my Anniversaries of the Heart! I know...I'm shocked myself. But that pre-stitching for my class drove me bananas and I needed something to keep me sane so I decided to get a head start.
I am SALing with Lisa and Sally. Their AotH projects look great! Here's how mine looks so far.
I am really enjoying this project. I don't seem to want to stop stitching on it but I am going to try and take a break from it for the rest of March so I can devote a little bit of time on my Mary Wigham and some smalls.

Now for the stitching that was driving me crazy! The pre-stitching for my class. The stitching itself didn't seem like a lot but it was very time consuming and fiddly...you really had to pay attention. My class was with Sandie Vanosdall of The Sweetheart Tree though the Bay Area Sampler Guild and the pre-stitching was for the M'Lady's Quadreille. I was hoping to be a super stitcher and finish all the stitching and backstitching before class but I only managed 1/2.
I had to frog a good portion because I found a counting error and had gotten sidetracked with my AotH. Sandie only wanted us to do the first side of the quadrille and all the outlining anyways so I was ahead. The class was nice and we covered specialty stitches I had never done before. Finishing this quadrille will be a challenge but seeing as I stitched the date...I had better get this done this year. We were also given Lady Dunmore's Sampler kit which I think is stunning and the main reason I signed up for this class. It has the same stitches as the quadrille so if I can master this quadrille, I can definitely tackle the sampler! Strangely enough, The Sweetheart Tree isn't really my usual thing but this really caught my eye.

Here's a close up of my 2 completed sides of the quadrille before any specialty stitches.
I will have to add this to the rotation for this year so I can complete it!

And finally...my TUSAL for the new moon. My jar is rapidly getting full. I guess I've been getting a ton of stitching done. Amazing how it never feels like enough. All the projects I want to do play like a slideshow in my head!
I have a new little friend to help me display my jar this month. Isn't she cute?!

Well, I better run. It's the Southland finale!

Until next time...

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy Night

Today was just that type of day...the one where you get up, think it will be great and it ends up being crappy. It started with me forgetting my cell phone at home and ended with me forgetting my purse at work. Apparently, I wasn't all together!?! I guess not...Plus, I felt like people beat me up all day. It was a whirlwind and by the time I got home, I needed a glass of wine and a cuddle but had to go back to work due to forgotten purse! *The boy* was very nice and had my glass of wine, cuddle and snack waiting for me when I got back and dutifully listened to me vent about the bad day and all the *stupid people*!

Since I was obviously out of sorts, I didn't get much stitching done. I tidied a bit and got my stitching stuff together but really...no stitching. But I did finish Wishful Sheep by Shepherd's Bush! Woo! Happy Dance! It came as a kit so I used the materials provided in the kit but stitched it 2 over 2 as I didn't like the coverage of 1 over 2. That meant that I ran out of two colors doing it this way and had to order more silk in order to finish off the birthday cake. I left off the pink backstitch *frosting* as I liked it better without. Sorry for the poor picture but it has been rather dreary here the last couple of days...gloom, fog and mist. Should I be surprised...these are the type of summer days that Mark Twain wrote about.
*The boy* kept complaining that the sheepie didn't have any eyes. I had to keep reminding him that people close their eyes when they wish upon a birthday cake! How could he forget...his birthday was barely two weeks ago!

I have plenty to be stitching on. Since I was out of sorts, I pulled out my Bent Creek Snappers and frogged another 3 months length of bottom border *sob*! Well, it has to be done if I want to finish it the way I want. The rest of the week will be QFRR and exchange stitching. I am hoping to make decent progress!

Oh yea, my dear friend Claire is pregnant. I mentioned it before I think and she is due in October. I am having a really hard time finding a birth announcement I would like to stitch that would suit her. She isn't traditional and neither am I really...but I also don't want over the top cutsie. I have some old Dimension kits in my stash from way back when but I think they are rather large. I'm just in flux about this. Maybe someone has a suggestion...something not mainstream that isn't all over the standard cross stitch sites. I definitely should make a decision in the next couple of weeks.

Hope everyone is having a happy week!

Until next time...