Christin's Ramblings

Slow

2012-02-13T16:39:00.003-05:00

Progress on stitching has been very slow, for some reason I can't seem to settle.

I have gotten a little done, not as much as I was hoping:

Here's to better luck this week.

I Can Take A Hint

2012-02-02T19:04:00.000-05:00

It appears that merely mentioning that I'm working on the green monster is not enough, some people require pictures as well.

So I dug out my last picture, there's a bit more done then here but close.

Hope that's better.

Goodbye January

2012-02-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

Here we are, the start of a new month - one that oddly has 29 days (woohoo more stitching time!) I thought it would be good to do Goals.

January Goals

Start Four seasonal mandalas SAL Yes, started Winter
Finish Earthdancer (stitching)Yes (finally!!!)
Work on PL A little

February Goals

Finish wedding row
Work on winter
Work on PL
Do an ornament

Hmm these might be lofty goals, but what the heck let's dream big.

Shocking

2012-01-31T17:48:00.001-05:00

Here we are the last day of January :) And I managed to squeeze in an other finish.

Assisi Circle

Kincavel Krosses

32ct Joblean

321 DMC

Can you believe it? I actually managed two finishes this month.

Have a heart

2012-01-30T17:04:00.002-05:00

This weekend I finally started a wedding gift for a cousin... who got married last June. Opps. I'll spare you the long winded reasons why (although I will say finding silver fabric is a pain).

So here is my start on Wedding row by Bent Creek:

I also realized on the weekend that I hadn't started an ornament for January; so much for the idea of doing ornaments throughout the year.

Take Flight

2012-01-24T16:47:00.000-05:00

Last night I put the final stitches in the butterfly:

Tribal Butterfly

c. Sparklies

Stitched on hand-dyed Opalescent 32 ct. fabric

(I think Grape sparkle)

with 550 DMC

January TUSAL

2012-01-23T16:57:00.000-05:00

I decided to try TUSAL this year, not sure how creative the pictures will be.

The weather has certainly been good for stitching - who wants to go out in the ice and snow?

Here is a closer look. You will see a lot of purple - I've been working on the butterfly. Oh and Kathy - please note there are green threads in there.

Winter could kill a butterfly

2012-01-16T18:44:00.001-05:00

Weekend where did you go?

I did get a little stitching done, but didn't focus on one project. So I got some done on tribal butterfly:

And did a little more on Winter:

I also had the green monster aka PL out but no progress pic (opps)

Off to find something to stitch

I Heart Buckley's

2012-01-10T19:36:00.000-05:00

I have been a bad blogger. I was suppose to put together this post on Sunday but it didn't happened.

First, the BIG news:

The regular stitching is DONE on Earthdancer. Yes you saw right, she is now ready for a bath and all the specialty threads and beads. I was beginning to think it would never happen.

I also realized I didn't share my stitchy Christmas gift from Dani:

Aren't they pretty?

I have been having a hard time deciding what to work on now that I don't have to focus on Earthdancer. For some reason last night I decided to be purple and go out tribal butterfly. One wing is now finished, and I'm tempted to work on it until it's finished.

You may be wondering about the title of this blog post:

on the weekend my head suddenly filled in, I could hardly breathe, my throat was sore and I started to cough. I broke out the Buckley's and am feeling human enough to string words together into sentences - something I couldn't do yesterday. I may heart Buckley's but I hate my cold :(

Close Yet So Far

2012-01-06T19:33:00.000-05:00

Before the month gets away from me I should do Goals:

December Stitching Goals

Stitch Christmas ornament Yes, finished and delivered to Aunt
Finish Earthdancer (stitching part) Nope, the trees ended up kicking my ass

January Goals

Start Four seasonal mandalas SAL
Finish Earthdancer (stitching)
Work on PL

Work or Play?

2012-01-05T19:29:00.001-05:00

During the holidays I said to myself "Self," I said, "wouldn't it be nice to have a nice clean stash closet with all the new stuff put away to start the new year?"

So I did.

I emptied out the stash closet and spent most of a day sorting everything out. Here it is all done:

The stash closet does share with some other things, but things fit a lot better now.

And I thought I'd share a little progress on PL.

New start for a new year

2012-01-01T21:32:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012 everyone. Here's to a new year with lots of stitching and more blog posts!

I started the Four Seasonal Mandalas this morning. I decided to start with winter seeing it was the first one released in the Just Cross Stitch magazine. Here is my progress for today:

Doing What?

2011-12-31T20:39:00.000-05:00

The Christmas craziness is over for another year. I have eaten way too much, discovered it is not a good idea to have my nephew pat the cookies before baking (though it is fun to see if they will flip over when when you slap them), was spoiled by Santa and have been trying to figure out where the year has gone.

Alas, I have not figure out where 2011 went and here we are in it's final hours.

I managed to get some work done on Earthdancer - and discovered the trees are ugly when being stitched and a bit of a pain. They are almost done now, that will be one of my first goals of the new year.

Once again I have been talked into doing a SAL (yes, Kathy I know PL is still not done - working on it... did some border on the train last week).

This year is Four Seasonal Mandalas by Ink Circles.

I have the fabric cut and the threads for winter pulled. I have decided to stitch each season on a separate piece of fabric rather then all together.

I will be starting in the morning though I know some people are staying up and starting at midnight.

You may have noticed that I made some changes to the blog - I'm still working on it.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

I would like to wish all my reader's a very merry Christmas. I hope this holiday is filled with family, friends, laughter and joy.

Everyone to bed!

2011-12-24T20:00:00.000-05:00

That's right - one last sleep - Santa comes tonight. The tree is up, first big dinner eaten, kitty freaked out, and A Christmas Carol ready to watch....

Hope you're all ready

Snowman Hugs

2011-12-13T20:01:00.001-05:00

I have managed to finish the ornament that I was working on:

Heartfelt Harvey
c. Imaginating, Inc.
Just Cross Stitch 2008 Ornament Issue
DMC and 32ct mystery fabric

Now that I found the pictures for my brother's Christmas present I can find something to stitch before bed.

ED Progress

2011-12-06T16:23:00.001-05:00

Opps, I totally forgot to post this weekend's progress on Earthdancer. There was a lot of filling in places so it really doesn't look like I got much done. Good news is that the two halves matched this time so no frogging :)

Good For A Laugh

2011-12-01T18:56:00.001-05:00

Now that's it's December it's time to look at the November goals

November Stitching Goals

Work on Earthdancer (finish hair) yes - coming along not badly
Work on PL yes (but not as much as Kathy would like)
Work on Butterfly a little bit, was hoping to finish half

December Stitching Goals

Stitch Christmas ornament
Finish Earthdancer (stitching part) - okay Dani stop laughing

Glad That's Over

2011-11-30T17:05:00.001-05:00

Here it is, blog readers, the last post of NaBloPoMo 2011. Thank you all for enduring a post a day for November. I hope you weren't too bored :)

To wrap up November I thought it would be nice to see Earthdancer's progress from the beginning of the month:

To the end:

Woohoo progress!

To Kit Ir Not To Kit

2011-11-29T18:53:00.001-05:00

Given the option, would you rather buy a chart and get the material and floss together yourself, or buy a pre-packed kit?

I like buying everything separately. I find that in most cases I end up using a different fabric/fabric size then suggested. It also makes changing colours easier.

Having said that I do like when charms are included as they can be harder to find.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-11-28T17:30:00.001-05:00

Hope it's a good one

So much for the weekend

2011-11-27T20:57:00.001-05:00

Sadly the weekend is over, it always goes so fast.

I did some boring stuff around the apartment and then did some stitching.

Here is this weekend's progress on Earthdancer:

A bit hard to see some of the white, but I think it's filling on nicely.

Done

2011-11-26T15:44:00.001-05:00

I've been busy working on a project during the day for the last few weeks.

One of our old students at work and his wife are expecting their first baby early next year so I decided to make them a blanket - which is now finished.

Bonnie made me

2011-11-25T21:06:00.001-05:00

So Bonnie has been trying to talk me into signing up for TUSAL. So I thought I'd try it and see how it goes.

Does it ever end?

2011-11-24T19:51:00.001-05:00

So I've done a little work on PL and thought I'd share progress. Probably not a lot - this one seems to be taking forever

I got nothin'

2011-11-23T18:56:00.001-05:00

Sorry the blog is uninspiring tonight.

This morning sucked - walked out the door to a snowy wonderland. Boo

Really who wants to go out in that??

Now I'm going to relax and stitch - not sure on what yet.

All Booked

2011-11-22T18:53:00.001-05:00

I'm all ready for Christmas break - well travel/off etc. I think I might be a little late doing all that this year.

Now I think I might stitch for awhile and ignore the weather forecast.

It Still Lives

2011-11-21T19:54:00.001-05:00

My flower at work is still blooming. It's been nice going in to work on having it brighten up the office now that it's getting cold out.

Weekend Progress

2011-11-20T21:09:00.001-05:00

It's Sunday night (boo) and I have a progress picture of Earthdancer:

Sorry - not the best picture.

Knot or Not

2011-11-19T17:35:00.001-05:00

How do you secure your thread when you begin a new one? Specifically, do you or have you ever used a waste knot?

When using two threads I try to use the loop method

When I can't I run the thread behind the stitches.

I have never used a waste knot - in the end what you're doing is securing the thread behind other stitches but have to do the work of starting the knot and then cutting it out. I'm much too lazy to do that ;)

TGIF

2011-11-18T20:09:00.001-05:00

It's that awesome day of the week known as Friday! So glad it's the weekend.

Thought I'd share a picture of Earthdancer before I work on it this weekend:

What Makes a Good Stitcher?

2011-11-17T19:21:00.001-05:00

I've been told on several occasions that my stitching must require a lot of patience.

I was thinking about it and I don't think I would say that patience is correct way to describe it.

I agree stitching requires patience, without it threads would tangle, large projects would be abandoned, you need to be willing to wait and see a picture grow out of the blank fabric and thread.

But there's also creativity to choose the right pattern, fibers and fabric to use.

There's talent needed to correctly translate the pattern to the finished project.

There's precision to repeat the same stitch over and over again, the same way.

There's a little bit (ok a lot) of stubbornness to keep working on a project for months or years, through the frogs and pages, to stay up til the early morning hours to finish.

What else to do you think is a quality of a good stitcher? Or does it really come down to being patient?

Take Two

2011-11-16T21:18:00.001-05:00

I got out the butterfly to work on. The first half is almost done, a couple more swirls and then I should finish the middle part.

Mom's Happy Dance

2011-11-15T19:48:00.001-05:00

This fall has brought the wonderful news of about half a dozen new babies for family and friends.

Mom has been working on blankets for them. She finished this one for Julie (who loves it)

Starting Over

2011-11-14T17:54:00.001-05:00

Do you have any projects that you have scrapped and startedover? What made you start over from scratch?

I actually re-started Earthdancer. The original fabric that I picked, which was close to the suggested colour, turned out to be horrid.

Looking at the model picture I don't really like the fabric there either so I really should have just saved myself the time and picked a different colour from the start.

The new fabric seems to be working out nicely, thanks to my local group of stitching friends who helped with a floss toss.

Busy Weekend

2011-11-13T21:50:00.001-05:00

Mom has headed home now with a car full of Christmas presents and Shadow is still upset with the whole thing. On the bright side I'm pretty much done all my shopping and I don't have to brave the crazies for too long.

I did manage to get some done Earthdancer this weekend, getting close to seeing if the two sections match up:

Exhausting

2011-11-12T20:01:00.001-05:00

What a day!

Mom and I got up early and headed out for a day of shopping.

We returned about noon with almost all our Christmas shopping and lighter wallets.

We've settled in for a quiet evening after all the craziness.

Lest We Forget

2011-11-11T08:29:00.001-05:00

"I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind." John Diefenbaker

Soldiers during WW2.

Thank you all for your service and sacrifices.

Please remember to take a moment to remember the men and women who have defend our freedoms and continue to do so.

Little and Big

2011-11-10T19:40:00.001-05:00

What's the largest project you've ever done? What's thesmallest?

The largest piece would have to be The Pack. This was stitched for my aunt as a 25th anniversary gift

The smallest was this over one snowman

To Sign or Not To Sign

2011-11-09T21:10:00.002-05:00

Do you always sign your projects? If not, why? If so, do you use your first name, initials or what?

I never sign my projects. Why? I'm not really sure. I guess it's because I figure I don't need to. When I gift a piece I include a nice card that can be kept with it.

Also I guess I haven't figured out why it's important.

Bad Influence

2011-11-08T19:21:00.003-05:00

How did you get started stitching? Was there a person who inspired you?

Yes, I laughed when I came across this question.

If you guessed that I started stitching thanks to the influence of Dani - you would be correct.

She gifted me with a wonderful framed piece (a cat which is the only piece hanging in the apartment) then encouraged me to try. A few weeks later I had a finished Teresa Wentzler Stretch the magic dragon and away I went.

I'm pretty sure she regrets it now ;)

Purple Not Green

2011-11-07T21:18:00.000-05:00

For a change of pace, tonight I got out the tribal butterfly to work on. It's coming along nicely - almost one side done.

I was also looking at the extended forecast for this week. What did I see on Saturday but that evil s word. It's deer hunting time isn't it?

Weekend Progress

2011-11-06T21:43:00.000-05:00

I hate cleaning, it always takes longer then you think it will and in two seconds you have to clean again.

I did do a little stitching this weekend:

You might be wondering where her hand is.... I'm chicken and waiting to see how the rest of it lines up before I do it. Ripping out over one is not something I really want to do again on this.

Gasp it's Goals

2011-11-05T17:27:00.000-05:00

So I thought I'd be nutty and actually set stitching goals for this month. It's been ages since I've done this

November Stitching Goals

Work on Earthdancer (finish hair)
Work on PL
Work on Butterfly

I also need to clean, Mom is coming next weekend for our annual girls' weekend. If nothing else I figure I can throw everything in the closet and close the doors ;)

I tried

2011-11-04T17:12:00.001-05:00

Really I did.
My plant at work has been barely hanging on - thought that I done it in a couple weeks ago but no!

It lives!

Not only does it live - it has pretty flower

Better luck next time I guess.

Oh Kathy

2011-11-03T19:03:00.001-05:00

Someone asked me an interesting question today: "Do you think this week has dragged?"

Yup. It's been a long week - but at least tomorrow is Friday. I prefer not to think of the cleaning I have to do this weekend.

I did managed to get a little done on PL:

I should be able to put it away for a couple months now right?

Pretties

2011-11-02T18:29:00.001-05:00

I almost forgot to share my new scissors. So silly of me.

On the right: Canada scissors by Dinky Dyes. I'm thinking of finding a maple leaf and making a white and red scissor fob for it.

On the left: the new "Tessa" scissors from Gingher. I thought the scissor fob Bonnie made me for my birthday would be a good fit.

So pretty.

Where did I put....

2011-11-01T20:02:00.003-05:00

Wanted: If anyone has seen my Canada pin for my poppy and my extra geek stick please let me know.

I used most of my stitching time tonight to edit pictures. Good news is their done and I can get out stitching - bad news Kathy I'm getting out Earthdancer. I'm inspired seeing the hair is going well so no PL.

Just some pretty fall colours.

Hair Raising

2011-10-31T18:37:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's the end of October - really when did that happen.

I was goofy and dressed up for Halloween at work today. Red shirt from Star Trek was awesome. Heeled black boots sucked - now I remember why they were at the bottom of the closet. Won't be doing that again.

I was good this weekend between other tasks and got a bunch done on Earthdancer. Getting her back to where she was before the great hair ripping:

Silence! I...

2011-10-24T17:30:00.000-05:00

After badly ignoring PL during the stitching weekend at Rebecca's I felt bad and pulled it out to work on for a little while:

Also I pulled out Earthdancer to start working on her again. The hair drama continues but it seems to be moving in the right direction now.

After the last frogging

New progress

Last night Jeff Dunham was in town with his Controlled Chaos tour. It was an awesome show, even taking into account the snort-laughter behind us.

I, unfortunately, have picked up a completely stuffed sinus/cold thing that is making the area around my eye numb which drives me nuts.

A break in the craziness

2011-10-16T18:34:00.000-05:00

It was pointed out to me a few days ago that my poor blog is stuck in August. Nothing's wrong - I was just busy and didn't really have anything to blog about.

A lot of my crazy projects are wrapping up or have become slightly less crazy and I should be getting back to my regular schedule.

My work projects are all running well and on time, and things are going well enough I actually had time to clean my desk. Of course it didn't stay that way long.

On the 2nd I took part in the CIBC Run for the Cure, I walked the 5k route in about an hour. Luckily I managed to escape this year without my picture being taken :)

One of the really big projects I have been working on is a photo/family book for my aunt and her kids. I have finished all but some last minute touches which I will be adding to the parents over Christmas. I have given them a pre-view and got a big thumbs up.

Last week I visited the parents for Thanksgiving. While I was there I took this picture of some baby blankets that she's been working on. We seem to be having a baby explosion - so she's going to be busy for the next little while.

This weekend I headed off to Rebecca's for her stitching weekend. It was a lovely weekend of eating (always lots of food :)), and stitching.

I managed a happy dance today:

The Prairie Schooler, Inc.

DMC threads on Lambswool fabric

This is for one of the Brighton stitchers who is planning to make a quilt of these alphabet squares.

Now that this is done I can organize projects... and hopefully have more to blog about.

Awesome Stitchin' Weekend

2011-08-27T16:43:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday was Ann's annual open house at Knowledge and Needles. According to Ann, its the 11th one and it's getting bigger and better every year. We even had a gentleman stitcher join us (gasp).

It was an excellent day of stitching, chatting, eating and shopping.

Here is a small selection of the wonderful stitching. I was brain-dead and completely forgot that I should bring finished pieces.

Dani and I arrived Friday afternoon and I was able to check out the shop. I found a few things to spend my birthday money on:

I was able to find a piece of grey fabric for the wedding piece I was suppose to have done for June. For some reason finding/getting a piece was next to impossible. Really, I should have just talked to Ann.
Also check out the cool piece with the little snowflakes - no idea what I'm doing with that.

Last year at Ann's I found a piece of purple sparklie fabric and thought it would be neat to do this tribal butterfly from Sparklies. I had decided a couple of weeks ago to start it - I wanted a project that I might be able to finish in a reasonable amount of time. Worked on this on Saturday. Almost half done:

Seeing I was with Kathy she wanted to know where PL was and why I wasn't working on it. So Sunday I pulled it out and worked on it. See Kathy - progress

Thank you Ann for a wonderful day - I so enjoyed taking the day off and relaxing.

Off to work on my mile long to do list, just wish it would get shorter.

Yes, I'm Still Here

2011-08-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. Where did the time go?

Work has been crazy, the desk is a little cleaner now because now I have a spot in another area I've put things. I have three big projects with big deadlines in the next month - I may have a freak-out.
On the bright side this past week I had 0, that's right zero, meetings. I actually managed to get things done.

I have managed to do a little stitching but nothing really to take a pic of.

This weekend I went to visit the parents. Dad bbq'd me a lovely steak dinner for my birthday (which was Monday). Mom took me shoe shopping - I needed new shoes for fall and wanted to start looking early. I found a pair so I should be good to go.

Next Saturday Ann of Knowledge and Needles' is hosting her Annual Open House - any and all stitchers are welcome and non-stitchers too. Lots of stitching, shopping and food. I'm so looking forward to it.

There's a desk - I swear

2011-07-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

This is a totally useless post.... a little snap shot of the craziness that is my desk at work right now. Cleaning it is on the to do list for this week, assuming I don't have too many meetings.

Right side

Left side

Oh, and no Lynn I wasn't anywhere outside yesterday during the storm. For those who don't know the main stage at Bluesfest collapsed during a major thunder/wind storm at about 7:30. Everyone injured has already been released from hospital.

Rock and Roll All Night

2011-07-17T11:22:00.000-05:00

Well it's been a busy week.

Tuesday Dani and I went to Bluesfest to see Three Days Grace. Despite it being very hot they put on a great show. See Dani's blog for some great pics - shockingly one of me. It was a great time - and I added to my t-shirt collection.

Thursday night Dani and I had plans to go to Bluesfest to see Theory of a Deadman and Billy Talent. Much to my displeasure Theory had to cancel at the last minute due to illness. We went anyways to see Billy Talent. The show was excellent but my curse of people walking into like I'm not there was in full force so I spent way too much time avoiding being stepped on. I so don't get this - it's not like I'm hard to see people! Grr

Friday Dani and I had a relaxing morning of shopping and then lunch on the patio at Lonestar. It was such a nice way to end the week.

I finished Dani's quilt squares last night:

Work was busy last week with like a zillion meetings so I'm hoping there will be less of those so I can get to some of the hundred and one things I need to get done. I thought summer was suppose to be quiet?

Happy Canada Day

2011-07-01T07:37:00.000-05:00

July 1 1867 - the enactment of the British North America Act and the creation of Canada.

I have decided today to go nowhere near downtown - it's crazy enough but throw in Prince William and Catherine and it's just not a good idea.

July 1 almost marks the half way point of the year... really? Where did the year go?

Oh well - will just have to have more fun and stitching in what's left of the year.

Everyone have a Happy Canada Day - or 4th of July - and stay safe.

Happily Ever After

2011-06-30T18:22:00.000-05:00

What a crazy week, I'm so glad it's the weekend.

Speaking of weekend's, last weekend I spent at Kathy's. Dani and I headed to her house after work on Friday and stitched (and ate) all weekend with her, Bonnie and Beatrice. It was wonderful. Thank you Kathy.

One of my co-workers is getting married, and I decided to stitch her a little something. For a change it's done before the wedding!

Happily ever after

Dimensions kit

Converted to DMC

420, 422, 318, 762

on 28 ct. African daisy jobelan

I'm hoping this weekend I can get a bunch of stuff done off my to do list and relax. And of course stitch :)

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T14:55:00.000-05:00

to my wonderful Dad who has done a million and one things for me...

Thank you for being such a great dad - not just today but every day.

PS sorry about your hair :)

Turtle Turtle

2011-06-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

Let's see...

Last weekend I went off to a family wedding. I intend to stitch something for the bride but I've been waiting for the right fabric since March. It hasn't helped I'm being picky about what grey I want to use. It was a fun weekend and I see no reason to bore you with pictures - though I have a few good blackmail ones.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to visit Shelia at Georgian Bay. Thursday after work it was into the car for the 6 and a half hour drive. Along the way we kept seeing turtles on the road side.

After arriving just after 11 it was unload the car and have a brief visit with Shelia, her husband Jim, Beatrice and Kathy who had arrived earlier. Friday we spent most of the day on the deck visiting and stitching... and enjoying Shelia's fab ice cream cake (to die for)

I over did the sun on Friday and now am a bright shade of red - I think my left foot got the worst of it.

Friday afternoon Rebecca, Rebecca's mom, and Bonnie joined us. Jim kindly bbq'd for us and we stitched into the night. Saturday Barb, Ann and Claire also joined us for a day of stitching and eating. We had dinner at a lovely restaurant by the water. Unfortunately the service wasn't very good- they had one waitress for our tables of 18. I also didn't get my food - she forgot me.

Yesterday we stitched until just after lunch before it was load up the car and the 7 and a half hour trip home. There is a lane reduction at Brockville that no one seems to understand they don't need to slow down for - thankfully the truckers soon sorted people out. We also saw more turtles - hence the title of this blog. One must things to amuse themselves with on road trips :)

Kathy talked me into working on PL - here's the progress. I was even good and worked on the border in the car on the way home.

I also started on some quilt squares I'm doing for Dani - 2 more to go.

No picture but I also started a wedding thing.

This week I'm in full learning mode as I have been given a huge project at work and must learn Microsoft SharePoint to do it. I'm a bit panicked about it, I may have a freak out.

Sob

2011-05-25T19:50:00.000-05:00

I was going to Blog on Monday. I was all ready but....

First though had a wonderful time at Dani's for a stitchy weekend. Saturday Dani, Bonnie, Rebecca, Kathy, Beatrice, Lynn, and Dani's friend from work Amy and I all had a great day stitching and having wonderful food.

The kitties entertained all weekend.

I was good and even got PL out for awhile.

This past weekend I went to see the parents to celebrate Mother's Day and Dad's birthday which is this week.

I had Earthdancer out and was working away... and noticed something wasn't working....

After Dani's weekend:

Monday afternoon:

The mistake I frogged in March? Yeah that wasn't the problem it was over more. Sob. I haven't been able to make myself pick it back up after all the ripping was done.

Must always make Dani check before ripping out huge chunks. Sob.

Did anyone see April?

2011-05-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

I meant to blog last week. Honest. It was there on my to do list. Yup, not doing very well with the to do list. Makes me wonder why I have one...

I got some stitching done though....

Just for Kathy I got out PL - got a little bit done:

I also got more done on Earthdancer:

The Easter Bunny thought I needed something besides chocolate this year and got me this: A salad kit - the lid is an ice pack and the cup for dressing is built in. As you can tell I haven't tried it out yet.

Let me see, I have been doing some genealogy work the last week or so. I have some information that wasn't in my program and wanted to get that in. Oh and sorting through some old pictures. Still trying to talk mom into letting me burn all my old pics... so far no deal... will keep trying

It's a bead, it's a frog

2011-04-11T18:36:00.000-05:00

I've been working away on my to-do list. Funny thing about that is the more I do the longer the list gets. Bummer.

One of the things I managed to get done this weekend was the fobs for the new scissors I got.

Yes Kathy that is a frog on the scissors you sent me. I needed something to go with the green :)

And now back to my to do list... or to do novel as the case may be

And A Good Time Was Had

2011-03-27T07:38:00.000-05:00

Time flies when you're having fun. It also flies when you try and pack a lot of stuff into a short amount of time.

Most of what I've been up to lately is not stitching related. Which is totally wrong and must be stopped. I also must learn to be better organized about all the stuff I don't like to do so it doesn't pile up so much.

Also, it would be helpful if I stopped getting sick.

Last weekend was the totally awesome March Stitching Retreat at the Timberhouse Bed and Breakfast that Ann arranges for us. This year I took the train on Thursday and spent the night with Bonnie, her DH Blair and the cats. It was a nice way to start the weekend.

Then it was 3 days of Stitch, Eat, Sleep.

And FROG!!!

I discovered Friday that I had to rip out all the white I had put on Earthdancer and all the hair to the right. It was NOT pretty. I spent the whole weekend putting it back in.

I do have a few pictures:

We had a wonderful fire to stitch by - once they got some smaller pieces of wood

We had a wonderful lunch Saturday that Dan prepared. Followed by some stash shopping at Knowledge and Needles

Some of the wonderful stitching on display

Earthdancer at the end of the weekend. I thought I'd spare you all the pain of seeing her with her hair ripped out.

Last night I met the gang from work for a "farewell" dinner. One of my co-workers has accepted an offer to move to one of our Regional Libraries in another part of the country. It's a wonderful opportunity for him but we'll miss him at our location.

I did a "little" stitching this week.

Viking

World of cross stitching no. 172

I'm waiting for a piece of fabric so I can start the wedding piece. I hope it will be here this week. Once it does arrive then that will be my focus as the wedding is fast approaching.

Before I head off to do the thousand and one things I should do today a birthday wish to Dani:

May you have a year of friends, fun and smoking needles. Happy Birthday :)

Hangs Head

2011-02-22T19:45:00.000-05:00

I have been a bad, bad blogger.

Where should I start?

First, I talked Bonnie into ordering me a stitch bag. She oh-so-nicely did so and Dani was able to pick it up for me when they saw each other.

I know - shocking that it's blue.

Then I got the most excellent surprise in my mailbox from sunny Arizona. Kathy sent me these lovely scissors

They're in my scissor frog now but I'll have to make a fob soon. Thank you Kathy :)

I've been trying to do some "professional development", and have been using precious stitching time to work on a course about project management. Yes, I know I'm crazy. But the first part is almost done.

I went last week to see the ice sculptures at Winterlude - and they were closed. Despite the fact the weather had turned cold they had closed the exhibit and wrapped everything - for the final weekend. So no cool pictures this year. I was not very impressed (and at the time also cold).

I do have a little stitching done. I strained a muscle in my hand a couple week's ago on the bus so stitching was slow/not happening for awhile. It seems mostly better now so I can pick up again.

Here is Earthdancer:

It's kind of hard to tell, but there is a trail of white down the left side. In fact the white is the very edge of the design.

I managed to get a little done on CdC

I received a wedding invitation in the mail this week, which means a new project. I spoke to the bride in June and she picked the piece. Wedding row by Bent Creek. Her colours are silver and navy/midnight blue. If any wants to suggest fabric or thread let me know.

Now that I've bored you all with that - I'm off to study - then stitch.

Happy Dance

2011-02-05T20:23:00.000-05:00

... too bad it's not a stitching one.

For Christmas this past year I made my Mom a memory book about her Mom. She loved it - and showed it off to her 7 brothers and sisters. I'm not totally sure how it happened but by the time I left for home from the holidays I had agreed to do one for each of them.

So I did....

As you can probably guess it took awhile to get all the pages done. But I got them all done, the books assembled and on their way. I haven't heard anything as yet.

I still have to add a few things to Mom's that she asked for and I haven't done one for myself. But I'm scrapbooked out for the time being.

Now I should be able to get back to stitching related things - which is much more fun.

Sad

2011-01-24T19:57:00.000-05:00

Here is this week's progress on CdC. Didn't get a lot of stitching done this weekend - I did a bunch of stuff off my never ending to do list... and hide from the bone chilling cold.

Also this weekend brought bitter-sweet news.

A co-worker who works in one of our Regions last year discovered she had cancer while pregnant with her first child. She and her husband were blessed with a healthy baby boy in September. Sunday she lost her fight; leaving behind a husband, step-son and baby Luke.

Rest in peace Amanda

Pretties

2011-01-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

I got some pretties in the mail this week... After looking at my poor scissor collection my awesome new flower frog I realized it was lacking... so I decided some designer Ginghers were necessary... I ordered a pair of Sonia and Ella and they arrived this week.

I'll make some scissor fobs in a bit.

Friday night I saw Bonnie, her DH and his cousin for dinner. She delivered this awesome project envelop from Beatrice.

How cool that it's one of my favorite things and in my favorite colour. Most cool. I have a project in mind for it.

Kathy was asking about PL progress and here it is...

Not much to show on CdC this week. I spent the day yesterday at a work related workshop and then had dinner with my boss and visited with the baby. So no stitching yesterday.

Here's hoping that this week is a little less crazy.... and we don't get all the snow they're calling for.

A B C ... of me

2011-01-11T18:34:00.000-05:00

I noticed this on Dani's, Bonnie and Kathy's blogs and thought I would give this a try

A - Age: 36
B - Bed size: Double but I want a Queen
C - Chore you hate: Any kind of cleaning - mostly the kitchen
D - Dog's name: Not since I was a kid - more of a cat girl
E - Essential start of the day item: Probably a shower.
F - Favorite color: Blue
G - Gold or Silver: Gold

H - Height: 5'6
I - Instruments you play: Does the radio count?
J - Job: Library and Information Technician - mostly cataloguing and acquisitions
K - Kids: Don't have any kids - unless you count the cat
L - Living arrangements: One bedroom apartment, on a dead-end street
M - Music you love: Dani converted me from Country to Rock a few years back -- have to say right now Nickelback, Shinedown and Three Days Grace get the most play time
N - Nicknames: Chrissy/Chris most often
O - Overnight hospital stay at hospital: when I was 10 or 11 because of the Bell's palsy
P - Pet Peeve: People who let their kids wander around without watching them

Q - Quote from a movie: Resistance is futile (yes it's from the show but it was in the movie too)
R - Right handed or left: Right handed
S - Siblings: Older sister who died before I was born and an older brother

T - Time you wake up: 4:45am (ish)
U - Underwear: Umm yeah
V - Vegetable you dislike: turnip ... and others

W - Workout Style: Don't have one - whatever's easiest on the knee
X - X-rays you've had: dental and before mentioned knee
Y - Yummy food you make: most in demand: cookies and butterscotch marshmallow squares but the lasagna's pretty good too

Z - The best place to visit: I love to visit with my Stitching friends!!

A Day Late... Or So

2011-01-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

I meant to post this last night, opps!

Here is this week's progress on CdC -

I was most happy to finish filling in the circle despite the fact I had a couple visits from frogs.

And here is last week's progress on Earthdancer - still working on the never ending hair

A Whole New Year

2011-01-01T21:13:00.000-05:00

Happy 2011!!

Wow, time flies. Sorry I've been sick and of course all the Christmas craziness. I felt better when I got up this morning, finally.

On the 22nd the holidays started with a concert. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra played Scotiabank Place. It was a pretty cool show - a few too many vocals and story telling but the second half picked up. Yeah and one point they were playing pretty much over our heads.

On the 24th I headed off to the parents for the holidays. We had dinner with my aunt and her kids on the 25th and of course Santa visited. Mom really liked the scrapbook I made for her (happy dance). She did ask that I add a few things so I'll get those ready for next time I'm there.

Unfortunately, it was about then I came down with a sore throat which developed into a cold. I'm just getting back to feeling human now. So not how I wanted to spend the holidays. And all my plans for re-organizing stuff in the apartment have to wait. Might try and get some done tomorrow but my Lord of the Rings marathon might get in the way.

I got the coolest Christmas gift from Dani Tuesday night after dinner with her and Kathy.

A scissor frog! Okay it's a flower frog but who's going to tell? I think I might have to get more scissors now ;)

I got a bunch done of Earthdancer - although I'm beginning to think her hair never ends.

Here's also my poor, poor pitiful progress on PL

Today I started a new project, a SAL with Bonnie. Cirrque des cercles by Ink Circles. The fabric is Lemondrop lugana and the floss is DMC 4240.

And now back to CdC before bed.

Til next time

Yumm Cookies

2010-12-19T18:32:00.002-05:00

Ah that time of year that mean much baking of cookies. I broke out the cookie sheet and made some cookies for our work parties.

So I made ginger cookies, snickerdoodles, melting moments, frogs and haystacks. It smelled awesome in the apartment :)

I have finished adding beads and framed the baby thing. I even managed to get in a visit to deliver it and get it up on the way. It turned out very well and Julie was very happy.

So I've been having a hard time getting into the Christmas mood. Seeing it's less than a week away I don't have much time left. I got all my cards sent, and I did a bunch of my wrapping today.

I did a little more on Earthdancer, her face and head are coming along :)

Hope everyone's Christmas preparations are going well.... only 5 more sleeps!

Here a bead there a bead

2010-12-05T19:20:00.003-05:00

I hereby declare victory over beading of the baby thing. Not only is it beaded it's nicely in it's frame and ready to be taken over to baby.

I was going to go yesterday but people there were sick so we decided to re-schedule. I'll post a picture of it once it's in her room. Hopefully the visit will happen before next year.

Mom was here last weekend for her yearly girl's weekend. We had to push it back due to a family wedding and my nephew's Christmas. It worked out to be her birthday weekend. I took her to see the latest Harry Potter on IMAX and out to a super nice dinner. Then for brunch the next day. We had a nice visit and she went home loaded down with Christmas stuff.

Once I finished the baby thing I pulled out Earthdancer. It's the only other piece I'm doing that has a deadline.

Think I'll do the Christmas cards later and work on her some more....

I Ate Too Much

2010-11-15T20:45:00.002-05:00

I spent the weekend at the Parents. My nephew was visiting to have his Christmas early due to his schedule this year.

Saturday we had a huge meal and enjoyed watching him rip open his gifts and then playing with everything.

When I was helping getting things ready I did stitch.

I worked on PL only to discovered I had missed a couple of rows and had to do some un-stitching. Grr - so it pretty much looks the same as before.

I added more hair to Earthdancer as well as a few beads to the baby thing. No pictures as of yet.

But a moment

2010-11-11T06:41:00.003-05:00

On this day I shall remember those who served, those who were left behind, those who never made it home... and the ones that did....

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price.
Benjamin Franklin

A B C

2010-11-07T19:09:00.003-05:00

know I know my A B Cs... next time won't you sing with me?

Or should I say stitch??

Yes, I have finally finished the alphabet on PL. Shocking isn't it?

Not sure what I'm going to work on next... I can't decided...

It Lives

2010-11-02T19:54:00.003-05:00

Some of you might remember this:

The gang at work gave it to me a couple of years ago. It's been sitting in my office with no flowers and browning leaves for a few months.

Today when I water it I saw this:

Yup - new leaves... so I guess this means I haven't killed it yet. I'm kind of hoping for flowers in January.

To have a plan

2010-11-01T18:48:00.003-05:00

It being the beginning of the month I thought I'd set myself a goal for the month.

Given that my to-do list and goals the last few months haven't gotten anywhere near done I think the simpler the better.

Having said that the goal for this month will be to...

finish the baby thing - adding beads, stretching and framing - and if possible deliver to Athena

Start over

2010-10-27T19:37:00.002-05:00

Well, I've been working on the finishing of the baby thing.

I was looking at it on the weekend and decided I didn't like it and ripped it all apart to start over. I have a slightly bigger frame so I'm going to add more beads and try again....

Because I've been playing with that and my new phone I haven't got any stitching to show right now....

But I am working on stuff - hopefully there will some progress to show on the weekend

Happy Persons Day

2010-10-18T17:17:00.002-05:00

Here in Canada today is the anniversary of women being recognized as people under the British North America Act, until then women had no independent legal identity in Britain when the BNA Act was passed in 1867.

In 1929 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England, then the appeals court for the Canadian Supreme Court, ruled that women were in fact persons.

To find out more check here: http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/gg/case-affaire-eng.html

Thanks Rebecca

2010-10-17T18:12:00.004-05:00

I'm back from a lovely stitchy weekend at Rebecca's.

Dani and I headed down Friday night, and after a brief stop for dinner and shoe shopping we arrived at Rebecca's where her Mom and Bonnie were already to start our weekend.

Saturday we were joined by Kathy, Beatrice, Barb, Trista and Beth joined us. We had a great day of food, talking, laughing and stitching.

I worked on PL seeing I actually remember the pattern and the floss this time. Also I decided that I really should have started at the top with the alphabet. What was I thinking again?

Now I'm off to get stuff ready for the gym in the morning and the work week

The Day After

2010-10-12T19:55:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had a good Turkey Day here in Canada.

This weekend I made the trek to the parents where there was much food. I think Mom was trying to over feed me or something. Although the cookies were my idea...

I took PL to work on... only to find that I had forgot the correct page of the pattern so I couldn't work on that. So I was "forced" to work on Earthdancer.

I discovered I was out a few stitches on the neck area so I spent part of Saturday afternoon ripping out the over one tan and tan. Then I put it all back in and finished up the face/neck.

Then it was on to the hair. Clearly I would have gotten more done if it wasn't for the eating.

Now that my cold is getting better I think it's back to the gym tomorrow to work off the weekend.

Pink

2010-10-03T13:10:00.005-05:00

October... the leaves are changing, it's getting colder and it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Once again this year I signed up for the CIBC Run For the Cure, the 5K Run/Walk to raise funds and awareness for this disease.

This morning it was bright, clear and cool as the Run got underway, it has been raining so often here that I was a little worried about having to go in the rain. Yuck. But it was sunglasses and a new playlist on my shuffle as I lined up to start my walk.

I wasn't the only one as you can see here - there were a few people. The local paper has an article up - around 9 000 people came and raised about $1.6 million.

I managed to cross the finish line in about 56 minutes - I had to stop and retie my shoe at about the 2K mark - it wasn't tied tightly enough and was causing major calf issues. Dani came back and walked the last 5 minutes or so with me - thanks :)

Here we are: The Fat one (me) Todd and Dani after the Run.

Unfortunately this year breakfast wasn't very good and we all agreed not to return to the restaurant we chose.

Congrats to Dani for reaching her goal- and an awesome Run.

Now I'm off to work on a some chores around the apartment and to start framing "The Baby thing".

I'm not the only one

2010-09-28T18:31:00.002-05:00

So this morning I got on the bus after dodging rain and puddles for 15 minutes (why did I walk again?)

Anyways, I got on the bus and made my way to the back to get a seat and as I go what do I see??

Someone stitching! Ha, I thought to myself, I'm not the only one! Excellent

That being said - I've been working on stuff with nothing to show. I have the baby thing pretty much ready for the finishing, just have to add some final touches and get it stretched.

Stupid Camlocks

2010-09-10T20:55:00.004-05:00

What is a camlock you might ask...

This is a camlock

It's suppose to make furniture easier to assemble and stronger. What they are really is a pain in the ***

What was I doing with the camlocks? Putting this together:

I was tired of tripping over books by the bed and when I spotted this I thought it would be good for books and storing other things. So I put it together after beating the camlocks into submission and briefly misplacing the screws for the back (don't ask).

Shadow thought she should be able to sleep in the basket area -- didn't work out too well for her ;)

Last weekend was the Long weekend here - guess this means summer is over and what better way to spend it then with stitching friends??

Friday I went to the school to help the ladies in the office with their last minute craziness.

Then met Dani and we were off to Kathy's. Beatrice and Bonnie joined us for a few hours of stitching before we turned in. Saturday we went to Beatrice's where we were joined by Rebecca as well as several of the local ladies -- much fun, stitching and of course food... we starved can you tell??

Barb brought a couple of pieces from the framers. Aren't they fab?

I, of course, had to be a problem child :)

I pulled out PL to work on .... I had less than half a skein of floss and the extra hadn't made it into the stitching bag when I was packing. Beatrice couldn't find hers for me to borrow Saturday so I had to put it away when I ran out of floss.

I broke out Earthdancer and worked more on her face and neck. It's coming along now:

Sunday afternoon I lucked out and Kathy found me some floss for PL so it was back to it.

We had a chat about how long I've been "working" on this... Kathy thinks it's been too long - it hasn't been 10 years so not that long right?? It's only been since November '07

Also, during the long weekend excellent news: My boss delivered a healthy baby girls Saturday morning after a short labour. She's now home and doing find. Too bad she looks like her dad ;)

This week I've been puttering at a few things. Went to see my hairdresser who decided the red was an awesome idea and wants me to come back to let her play.

Mid week there was a farewell/good luck dinner for a former student who managed to find a job in another city - best of luck D

Paid a visit to the bead store and picked up some stuff to make a few fobs. Then I had to go to the Post Office -- my nephew's Christmas book arrived. We'll be doing Christmas with him in November this year.

This weekend I have to go find jeans and fall shoes. I hate shopping for both of these. Ack. Also, I'm suppose to help a friend do some painting but details haven't been figured out for that yet.

In the mean time I'm going to get the baby thing out and add the last details to it and do the finishing so it can be delivered.

Retreat Time

2010-08-24T19:40:00.003-05:00

This weekend was the weekend that I look forward to all year... Ann's Retreat. She opens her house to stitchers near and far for a day of food, laughter, stitching and as an added bonus shopping!

There were 45 people gathered, taking over the house. The largest group we've had but a fun time was had by all...

There was some awesome stitching on display

I got most of Earthdancer's face done, but no picture yet. I decided to do it over one.

I also pulled out PL and worked a little on that, I made a bit of progress. Progress pictures next time.

I also plotted out about 4 new projects.... why isn't there more stitching time?

Thank you Ann for a awesome time and Beatrice and Kathy for the wonderful day on Sunday. Can't wait to do it again!

Let them eat cake

2010-08-08T17:21:00.002-05:00

It's freaking August!! How did that happen? I was out and about yesterday and there's Halloween things out already. Back to school one isle - Halloween the next. Crazy

August brings a bunch of Birthdays. Yesterday was Beatrice's birthday, today is mine, Kathy's is later this week, followed shortly after by Beatrice's amazing Mom Adrianna. I say we should all have cupcakes.... I started us off and got some two bite chocolate ones while I was out today.

Right now I'm sitting here listening to it rain and remembering Mom said it was a nice sunny day when I was born. It did start out that way - now not so much.

I've been doing odds and ends the last week or so - making some changes in the craft zone of the apartment and some related projects. Once I get it mostly done I'll post some pics. If I wait to be done done pictures will never happen.

I did do a bit on Earthdancer - decided I'd try and give her a head (well some hair anyways)

Sleepin on the moon

2010-07-29T18:17:00.003-05:00

First, I want to know where July has gone. Really? Anyone?

The apartment has cooled off, it's livable again. Shadow has stopped just sleeping in the bathroom. Yup, now she's sleeping in the bedroom and living room again.

There's been progress on the stitching front. I finished the page I've been working on for PL. I'm working on P now.

And...

Happy Dance

Crescent dreams
by Nora Corbett (Mirabilia Designs)
stitched on 28ct Black Jobelan
with DMC threads and Mill Hill beads and charms
Changes: Backstitching on blanket using 3046; backstitching on hat 3822. Face and hands over one

I'm going to give Mom and Dad the option of having baby's name added. Then I'll frame it.

Now I should get back to work on Earthdancer. Where did I put that??

I'm Melting

2010-07-19T20:22:00.003-05:00

I've been a bad, bad blogger. No one has yelled at me yet, so I guess not too bad.

I've been melting in the non a/c'd apartment the last few weeks. Shadow has decided she won't sleep with me anymore. Not sure if that's not a good thing. It's been so hot that I even hit the pool despite the fact that I look totally fat in the bathing suit. The melting hasn't helped there.

I've been rearranging things in the apartment again, I know again. Or still. More like still. Hopefully by the end of the month it will look like something and I'll take some pictures.

On the stitching front I've been working on the Baby thing - Baby is due in September but I think she's going to arrive around my birthday in early August. I have almost all the stitching done (couple of odd stitches around the baby/moon) and have started the backstitching. Then I can add the beads and try and find a good frame.

Hot and Cold

2010-07-05T19:14:00.003-05:00

Well, the weekend went much too fast. Slept in both days much to the cat's displeasure. Had to go out and do some shopping - when did people stop watching where they're going?
Went for a couple of walks. Did some work on a course I'm taking and then did a little on a report I'm writing.
Today it was much hot - 41c with the humidex when I check about 2. So I thought I'd be wild and hit the swimming pool. I haven't done that in ages, in fact I don't remember the last time. It was fraking FREEZING!!!

In between all the crazy stuff I was doing I did do a bit on the baby thing. There were a few frogs though. Someone forgot (coughmecough) to double check when switching from over one to over two. It took awhile for me to clue in, so there had to be some unstitching then put everything back in.
Now I'm going to finish warming up then try and get some stitching in before bed.

143 Years....

2010-07-01T20:19:00.003-05:00

Happy Canada Day!!

I'm working on the Baby things and waiting for the fireworks to start on the Hill. I might even take the camera out on the balcony to get a few shots :)

That was exciting

2010-06-23T19:04:00.002-05:00

I've felt the Earth move.

There I was at work, getting ready to start a report for a new project when there was this loud sound like a semi starting from the stop light. Then the building shook. I was thinking "Crap the truck hit the building" then everything kept moving. So no truck.

My boss was on the phone: "I have to call you back we're having an earthquake. Yes, an earthquake. Pause everyone out right now!" Yeah so we cleared our floor - just a couple people that needed to be encouraged to move.

Then they sent us home until an engineer could give the all clear. So I got to go home like half an hour early. Everything at home was fine when I got back - including Miss Shadow who doesn't seem at all effected.

For those who haven't heard there was a 5.0 quake about 60 kms northeast of Ottawa (where I am), certainly the biggest quake that I've felt since living here - I think I slept through most of the other ones. I'm all for not doing that again for awhile.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T16:45:00.003-05:00

or Dad's Day

This photo of Dad and I was taken when I was 2 months old. Really I didn't believe he had hair ;)
I owe you dinner next time I'm home - or cookies it's up to you

Holes 3 Wardrobe 0

2010-06-19T20:15:00.003-05:00

So it's been busy the last little while.

My cousin got married, the weather behaving its self and not raining. My batteries decided to die in the middle of everything so I didn't get many pictures.

This is one of the bridal party just after the ceremony before the official photos were taken:

This is the couple I did the "wedding thing" for, I haven't heard yet what they thought.

Two more cousins are getting married within the next year. One has asked for Bent Creek's Wedding Row and the other - well no word yet if anything will be stitched for her.

Oh - and the dress. This was also the wedding that lead to all the dress shopping drama. It was a good choice, and the red hair was a hit. Sorry no pic of me dressed up - totally forgot. Might get inspired later this summer and dress up again and have Dani take a pic.

I've been working on the baby thing. I decided to do the face and hand over one. It looks awesome but was a bit challenging to do on the black. Just a little more on the moon and blanket, then adding the beads. Sorry the colours aren't the best - black at night and I don't seem to get along.

The wardrobe story?

So I was going about my day when I noticed that my jeans had a big hole. I was at home thankfully. They aren't savable, in fact I was going to have replace them anyways.
Then at work on Friday I was moving books from my office to shelving when I poked a hole in my shirt with the spine of one of them(plastic). Ack. Now it's not a huge hole in the stomach, in fact you have to know to look for it but the shirt is pretty much done. Luckily I need a shirt to paint in next week so it will work for that.
And finally: my dressy everyday sandals. The sole is gone. Big crack. I was wondering why my left foot was starting to hurt. I replaced those today. I'll wait and do the dreaded jeans shopping some other time.

Are we there yet?

2010-06-07T19:13:00.003-05:00

It was truly excellent weekend.
Thursday night it was in the car after work to Brighton for an overnight with Beatrice and Kathy. Friday morning Dani, Beatrice, Kathy and I shoehorned our stuff into the car for a road trip.
Shelia hosted a truly lovely stitching weekend on Georgian Bay, near Midland, Ontario. There were 13 of us enjoying her lovely view. Friday night her wonderful DH bbq'ed for us. Yum.
Saturday we were all up and stitching by 8. The weather was cool and rainy for most of the day meaning that we really couldn't sit out on the deck. But we really didn't mind. Yesterday we spent the morning doing yet more stitching before packing up the car and heading home.
It was a butt numbing weekend with lots of laughing, stitching and visiting. Awesome!!!!
Sorry to see it end.

I got out PL while I was there and finished the motif I was working on and started the alphabet. You can see progress!

To give myself a break from that I also got out the baby thing. That did really well - mostly thanks to Bonnie saving my butt and having one of the yellows that I had forgotten. I'm pretty much ready to start on the baby now.

This week I have to get the wedding thing out and ready for framing. The wedding is coming up soon.

Can I have a do over?

2010-05-30T18:00:00.003-05:00

Really this past week mostly sucked. Monday was nice, being off and being lazy. Then Tuesday I got sick. It was not pretty. Upset stomach, headache. I really didn't feel like myself until like Friday. Blah - let's not repeat that anytime soon.

So I did stitch on PL - unfortunately this included some unstitching so there's not a lot of progress. BOO.

Yesterday I decided to be even lazier and went to the movies. First I went to see Prince of Persia : sands of time. I liked it for what it was - a mindless action flick. I think it'll be a good stitching movie.

Then I went to see Iron Man 2 - right after. I had like 10 minutes in between. So - I think it stands up to the first one - if you liked it you'll like this one. Also hello set up for the new Avengers movie that's in the works.

I did find something to wear to the wedding. I picked a pair of red sandals to wear with it and I think I might dig out the really cool Chinese dragon purse Dani got me for my birthday a couple of years ago -- it's black with red dragons.

Now off to stitch - or eat I'm not sure which...

Getting Lost

2010-05-23T18:05:00.002-05:00

Well tonight is the last episode of Lost. I'm kind sad to see it end but am looking forward to getting some answers to what the heck has been happening.

I think I'll pull out PL, kinda fitting and hopefully easy enough to follow while I watch.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some stuff done and a progress pic.

How Frustrating

2010-05-15T19:02:00.004-05:00

I've been a bad blogger. I edited photos to post and just didn't get it done. There was good intentions though.

Last weekend I was at Dani's for a very lovely stitching weekend. There was much eating, laughing and stitching. Dani and Lynn both posted pictures - I was bad and didn't get the camera out.

I managed to get Beatrice's Mirabilia RR done. I spent pretty all day beading. There are 5 different colour beads in this little area and three colours of metallic thread. Hopefully this is enough bling for Beatrice

from Angel of the new dawn by Mirabilia

Once I was done with that I decided something easy was in order so I got out PL. It went pretty well, starting to see some progress on this section.

I also thought it would be a good idea to get the baby thing started. Dani and I decided that black would be a good colour choice. We pulled a couple blues but they didn't look right.

Today I went looking for a dress to wear to my cousin's wedding next month. No joy was had, I couldn't find anything I liked. It would probably be helpful if the things I tried on didn't make me look/feel fat. Sigh

Raining again

2010-05-04T19:12:00.003-05:00

Where does the time go? I mean really, how is it May already?

Since Giggles is done I moved on to finding something to add to Beatrice's round robin. I had to discard a couple of ideas because there wasn't enough bling on it. But..

this weekend between visiting with the parents and going to the Cataraqui Guild of Needle Arts "Needle Arts Fair" and shopping with Mom I got a start on it.

Dani and I spent part of Saturday evening and Sunday at Rebecca's stitching with Bonnie. Such fun.

Now I'm off to work on Beatrice's RR, hopefully I can get it done by the weekend and move on to the baby thing. Oh, and at some point I guess I need to clean. Or not.

Giggle

2010-04-24T17:09:00.002-05:00

Giggles in the Snow - Boy
c. 1997 Mirabilia Designs (Nora Corbett)
stitched on 28 ct. white opalescent lugana
with DMC thread and Mill Hill beads

I put in the last stitches last night, which lead Dani and I to this discussion: what is the best music to Happy Dance to?

Not sure when the girl will get done, now it's on to Earthdancer and the baby piece. Oh and a little something for a friend. I'm still deciding on what part to do - cause it has to have bling ;)

Because Rachel Asked

2010-04-18T18:58:00.003-05:00

Dani wanted to know how the concert pics turned out. I'll admit that by the time Nickelback actually came out that the line of sight for pictures was so bad that I didn't even try. I did have a couple of Shinedown. Maybe I should take a pic of the new shirt??

This is the plant in my office. I decided last month it needed to be re-potted, shortly afterward it got new leaves - then pretties!! It's been in bloom now for a couple of weeks with no signs of fading. Awesome given all the beige that's in the office.

This week I noticed this :

There has got to be something wrong when they come out in April.

I've noticed that a lot of the tulips for the May festival have started to come up. Some look like they should be blooming soon. I may do a bit of a walking tour if the weather is nice.

Here's the picture of my red hair. When I first did it the colour was much darker but had started to lighten.

I'm pretty much back to the top on Giggles. I have to add two more snow banks and "snow" to the top before it's done. Today I haven't had a chance to work on it yet, other boring household tasks to do.