Sunday, December 8, 2013

a give-away at Naughts and Crosses

Caitlin over at Naughts and Crosses is having a give-away.. any pattern from her Etsy store!
Head on over quick to http://mangogirl-naughtscrossstitches.blogspot.com/
It ends December 8 (that's today, I hope she means end-of-the-day!)

Saturday, December 7, 2013

VMS - still more floss!

Still more floss.. 25 skeins of the 1795 Sampler Collection colors - your choice, per the generous Ms. Nancy!

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe - 3rd day of Christmas Giftaway

Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is having a giveaway - 10 skeins of new floss colors, how nice!
Go to her website and sign up - drawing is on the 16th!

Saturday, November 30, 2013

oy vey -- has it been that long?

Ack, again!  Has it been that long?  Oh dear, I lost track of time.  I have no new finishes per se to show, just progress on some WISPs and a start or two..

First off (no photo), I gathered more steam on the floral sampler but lost my mojo.. I was very behind and made the mistake of writing to ask if I could still catch up (this was in June I think), and received a reply only in October, of all things.. and I completely lost all interest in it. Also in October, I read the sad news about Cathey of pumpkinpatch and co and I just cried for her.  I 've sent up prayers for her and the little family she left behind.

I went to LA for 10 days to attend my cousin's wedding (my mom would not go without me), and added a  little to my stash. It was a quick visit with 4 families and it was a whirlwind! Unfortunately I started a new cold again within an hour of boarding the plane so the next 6 days were spent with a cold.  This must have been my 5th cold of the year and as I write this, I'm getting over another one which started Tuesday.  Sigh.  Anyway, despite the cold we had a good time but not enough time ha ha.  I did get to visit a LNS with my cousin - Stitcher's Treasures.  Again, no photos because my camera died!  But I did get to take a photo of my new start:


from Lizzie Kate Christmas double flips.  The black line you see peeking at the right outer edge is stray serging from the edge -- my cousin had a serger and serged it!  Yay!  And when I actually started the border over at my cousin's house,  there was more than enough fabric for another banner-type piece, so I'm saving the rest of the fabric for that.  Haven't decided which LK it will be.  I worked on my La D Da "A Bushel and a Peck" too:


A  few bits of border left and 3 more flowers (I've been re-thinking the plan of choosing another color for the other flowers) and I'm done.


And then there's this Z for my nephew's nickname, which will be done as soon as I can get myself to do the backstitch.

Some of the other things I've been busy with (aside from work, and some horrible jetlag which took forever to shake):

doing my nails with some cute OPI glitter polish "All is Glam"..


the glitter doesn't show up here, but it's a silvery one with flecks of green and red.. from last year's OPI collection (from TJ Maxx, where else?)  I decided to be.. I don't know, a bit more girly?.. inspired by my nieces and my cousin's Essie gold flecked glitter (actually the glitter pieces in that polish - which I still haven't found online - were bigger than the ones in this OPI polish).

So between that, work, sleep, I haven't really accomplished much but I hope to, this long weekend.

Anyway..  I hope everyone's doing well or better!

I have the LK and some Harry Potter house crests for the niece and nephew lined up today.   Nice stitchy weekend, all. :-)


Sunday, September 22, 2013

blogworld giveaway from linda lee

for some reason my blogworld giveaway gadget on the side bar isn't working.. so i'll post this instead. ms. linda lee of cross'n my stitches is having a non-stitchy giveaway and i'd like to spread the word... she does lovely stitching and has a colorful garden!  take a peek at her work..:-)

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

an update!

hello, along the lines of "what was i thinking?", i present my latest progress on "Dreams".  everyone else in the SAL is on the homestretch and here am i, plodding on stage 1, lol.
the entire bottom is almost done, with my fabric looking a little the worse for wear:


okay, now what did i do? it says i inserted a jump break, whatever that is...

Friday, August 23, 2013

Well hello there!

I'm still alive! Although you could be forgiven for thinking I'd dropped off the face of the earth.  Lots of things have happened since June.. my nephew and niece's visit (I miss them so much!), lots of work and stress, a frozen shoulder, various minor ailments (cold season and I got it twice!), my mom went off to visit nephew and niece to celebrate my brother's birthday, hair dye trials (ha ha) , a huge deluge, missing kitties, Mom is back,  slow progress stitch-wise, but on a roll, prize-wise..

So, let me show you the goodies...


2 lovely pieces of fabric, I think both some sort of linen and one a Silkweaver one, a Christmas leaflet (sorry it is in my stash somewhere already), a small Ornament booklet, and Carrie's Creation floss!  All these from Kim in Australia.  Check out her blog at http://a-stitch-in-thyme.blogspot.com/

That makes 3 specialty fibers I've got - sample Vicky Clayton HDFs sent together with a purchase of linen from a lady in Canada,  Maureen; one skein GAST from another kind lady- by  coincidence also Canadian, Laurie!

I follow Marlene's blog, and she sent this really lovely stitched piece..


I think this is Sampler Romantic.  When I grow up I want to stitch just like Marlene!  :)  I am stitching (trying to) 2  samplers and it's a toss-up whether I will finish any one of them - Angie only sends the installments when you've finished stitching the parts that she sends out monthly.   Actually it's not a toss-up, I'm sure it's a lost cause by this date but never say die..

Here is where I am now  -- Part 1, still!  haha ha  (that could be hysterical laughter)


Oh hey that's not it, that's the part I finished !


Compare with where I stopped last time  (I think it was mid-May)


and you'll notice I stopped where the repeating motif is, on top, which I find very tedious. I decided to stick with it and finished the repeating border this week, plus the pale green wreath and new leaf.  The right side is a mirror image of the left side, so look for more repeating motifs... border, wreath, leaves, until I reach the medallion again, then I have to stitch UP.  Hopefully I get to start that this weekend.

Other winnings: Lucky me! I should have joined the sweepstakes! Gone for the lotto!  lol


Lavina had two and didn't need the extra one!

And last, a leaflet from Jan - Country Garden Stitchery, Peace Joy and Love:


I was actually aiming for her other giveaway (and sadly I can't remember what it was), and this was what I ended with - it is truly pretty, and I promise to stitch up.

Last, I moved much further along on the little La D Da piece in honor of my dad, brother and nephew..


That border (border again!) which so attracted me has also been my nemesis.  There are still three missing flowers in the piece, which I plan to do in red-orange.  Yes, I know - 2 flower colors on a single plant? Yes!  I think it needs a pop of color.  And last, the initials of my dad, my brother, my nephew.

I also tried a new hair dye -- Herbatint. It claims to be paraben free, and something else free, but one thing it is not free of is the chemical used to make the tint stick to your hair, plus there is so little of it - 2- 60ml bottles of color and developer!  Some people swear by it though.  I had to dye my hair, the little hairs on my temple were coming out white, Horrors!  Although next time, I may just brave the  4-5 hour sit at the salon to get my hair straightened, and colored too, while I'm at it.  What we go through....

Some sad news, a little kitty I had gotten fond of was cat-napped.  She (he?) was one of a litter of 4, and not at all afraid of people - and that may have been her downfall.  I can still remember the little thing closing her eyes when she was being petted.  I'm not a real cat lover, but somehow I got won over by the cute factor.. must be from subscribing to Cute Overload! The rest of the litter perished over the weekend, their caretaker says one ate something that didn't agree with it, the other got run over (he said it was the black one, another kitten I liked - I saw it last week sitting pretty in the middle of the road and ignoring the car honking at it til someone nudged it away) and the last one, caught its death of cold from the water - the torrential rain over Monday night to Tuesday morning that wouldn't stop... they tried saving it, wrapping it in a towel and putting it in a box, but the poor thing didn't make it.  I wish they'd alerted me, I would have gone down with a blow dryer (would that have worked?)

Anyway, in their memory.. my nephew and niece enjoyed watching them play..  these are the two kittens who were not afraid..

This one would close its eyes when being petted.. disappeared 09 Aug

this one, perished between 16-18 Aug, don't know the exact date.

Honestly, what was their mother thinking??  To lose all 4 in the span of 2 weeks.  Sigh.

In other news, I have a frozen left shoulder.. and man, was it painful!   The doctor, a very nice one, demonstrated some exercises to do for a month to see if I get any relief.  If none, it's off to rehab.  The exercises did help, and I did go to see her again.. this time because of a clicking sound made by my left knee.  She said it could be that the fluid or or what not between the joints was wearing out...she recommended losing weight.  I told her I'd been exercising.  She asked what exercises.  I told her squats (from my Jillian Michaels dvds).  She said no no no...!  I mentioned jumping jacks (from the Four-Minute workout, NY Times). She was horrified!  Just walking would do, 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week to start with.  So it's just walking for now.  Can't believe I ever did a 5K (and I did, 4 years ago lol)

The main reason I need this exercise...

I think this is the first time I have seen the Kinder Bueno eggs here:


There was a toy inside, but I forgot to take a picture. It was a DIY toy.  Never mind, next post you'll see what was inside the egg, and the toy I had to construct from the parts.  I still don't know what it's called.  I hope someone will be able to tell me when I post this weekend... something new to learn.

Til then, stay well and Happy Stitching!




Tuesday, May 28, 2013

what i've been doing

Not stitching diligently, no...

Z is for the first letter of my nephew's nickname - this will be a Christmas ornament for him!  Plan to make a little fringe on the edges and glue the center square on some red felt..


Stitching done the previous Sunday


Stitching finished 5 days later..  the red sure pops, doesn't it?  And that is 917 which I always thought looked more like a rust-red.  At that point I still couldn't find the DMC 844..

Anyway.. found the 844  Monday night!
So hoping now I can show a lot more progress.
Stash-y goodness coming up too!
Watch this space!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Sparky

the little Boston Terrier ruling the house..







any tips on terrier care, please share!


The most amazing person

My mom


Happy Mother's Day, mom!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

and upward..

Thank you for your kind thoughts, everyone.. I am positive they helped me through the worst of the past 2 weeks.  When I stop and really think about it, it's not so bad.. I'm not the only one at work affected; everyone feels the same way!  It's the lack of civility and the lowering of the 'tone' in the office (because of a new boss) that has us all demoralized... just praying that this all resolves soon!

Anyhow.. I promised some pics, and pics I do have.

First, my Magicas Puntadas..  I am woefully behind!



  
The first installment was to be finished by February 25, the second, March something, the third by April something.  I am resigned to the fact that I am never going to catch up and will have to buy the chart when she releases it.  I caught a bad case of flu, then had to take care of my mom, then there was my mom's party to plan, and guests at home.  Many reasons, beginning with only getting the fabric a week into the stitching, but I think the chief of them is that I just don't stitch fast.  The first installment has around 8-10 pages of stitching!

Sorry for the blurry pics.  Now the next pic.



La D Da "A Bushel and a Peck".  I've made some progress.. you can see I've stitched all the words and the upper branches and leaves.. and in fact I should have been finished by now if not for some missing floss.  DMC 644 and the rest.. I had 2 skeins and I don't know where they went!  I was on a roll Saturday. just stitching along... looked what feels like everywhere... they were segregated together with the DMCs for the Magicas Puntadas.  No idea where the whole lot  went. Grrr.  


The last one, above,  is Lilacs from a Leisure Arts "State Flower Collection" -- the old leaflet not the one by Jorja Hernandez.  I stitched three from that leaflet, Crocuses and I forget what the last one was... it's around here somewhere.  I will look around and post.  I just love the colors!

No picture of our new pet "Sparky" - a cute 5-month old Boston Terrier.  A really unexpected gift sent to my mom, we are still trying to train her!  Sparky is hugely social and likes people.  We are still getting used to having a pet again; we've had several before but the others were around under my dad's supervision.. we had a dachshund, some Poms, and German Shepherds.. would you believe?  I miss my dad a lot.

I'd like to say again.. thanks for your kind thoughts and comments.. they mean a lot to me!

Til the weekend.. happy stitching!

Monday, April 22, 2013

onward and upward

i'm sorry for the delay! the reason for the request for prayers actually has to do with work, and the situation doesn't look like ending ... readying for another day and praying for strength and fortitude.  need the job badly, but not the added stress we are all experiencing!  thank you for all the good thoughts and prayers..

photo progress later, promise!.. onward and upward!

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Until later..

Thank you everyone, for your good thoughts.. it's a tough month and I'll explain a little bit on the next post tonight..with pics of the dog..!  I do hope you'll continue to keep me in your prayers..

Thursday, April 11, 2013

non-stitchy post

Hi all, thank you for your comments! You've all been very encouraging.

I haven't had much stitching done this past week except for a few stitches on the Italian flower wip (which I had to frog, sigh).  Someone dropped off the gift of a dog, a Boston terrier, for my mom (who's away for a couple of days).  I was so surprised and taken aback. She's a cutie though.  No name yet and I'm waiting for my mom to do the honors.  As you can imagine, being totally unprepared for it we have none of the paraphernalia for dog ownership! Many years ago my dad used to breed poms and German shepherds but that was many, many years ago.. God bless my dad.. so no more fences, carriers, harnesses or collars and definitely no dog food! Anyway, will post pics over the weekend. Any tips for a new BT owner?

On a side note, I've had a few rough days in the office.. so please spare me and the person concerned (see, I think it would help that person too!)  some good thoughts, prayers, white light, if you would! Or in any case, I'd appreciate all you can send over my way  :-)

In the meantime, good stitching!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Pics of my WIPs

You know, as I was transferring some pics, I realized that I forgot to take a photo of the big WIP I'm doing... but I'm too sleepy to take it now.

But before the WIPs.. a better pic of my finish!

Madame La Fee
Okay, now for the WIPS..

La D Da's
A Bushel and a Peck

Peaches by Maria Wrinkler (done with Plums)


Orchids from an Italian pattern (meant to join a quilt, too!)



And some random, stash-y goodness:

PS Garden Samplers, purchased from a lovely 123 lady


Brooke's Books, with linen (the linen is much prettier in person!)

Blogger seems to be going wild on me, sorry for the lack of centering/symmetry!

Oh dear!  I can't get Blogger to behave.
Good stitching to all!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Blogworld Giveaway Goings-on at Ruth's

Sharing with you a giveaway going on at Ruth's Little Leprechauns. Drop in and say hi.. it's her birthday as well!

Hmm.. seems Blogspot won't let me update the little box on the side with the blogworld giveaways!  I can't even delete an old giveaway notice!   Now what?  Anyone know what that's all about? 'Tis a puzzlement!


Happy Easter!

Hi all!

He died so that we may live.. what a profound thought this Easter. "Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Wishing you the Hope that His resurrection brings.. a new life and a new beginning!

Easter should be the bigger holiday but Christmas gets more press.  I guess it's the circumstances behind this redemption that make it more solemn than festive.  I love the Easter vigil mass - you get to feel Jesus' triumph over sin and death.  "We must consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive in Christ Jesus".  When you hear the bells ringing and the festive Gloria being sung.. wow!

These are readings I recall as a lector at mass - something I stopped doing but am going back to.

Sorry to have been away so long.. been very busy with work (think 12-14 hour days), with planning my Mom's birthday bash (a success, thank goodness!),  and with worrying about work...(please do send a prayer or a good thought up for me!) .  I've neglected writing the new learnings everyday and coming back into Blogger, noticed that Google warns that it's discontinuing Google Reader.  Darn, aren't there enough of us using this?  Now for the search for a new one, to be able to keep track of the blogs I'm following..  Any suggestions?

I don't know if I posted this before - it's a bit blurry but I hope it works!  This is a freebie from Madame La Fee and if I remember to do it, it's going off to join a quilt.


If you notice, I didn't stitch in the bee wings - not very good with whites!  Also, I bought Aida specifically for this project..  it doesn't feel like the Aida I used 20 years ago.. it has a plastic-ky feel.  Doesn't feel like cloth at all.  I wonder why?  Is this made in China or something.

Eeeeep, not a very good photo.  I'll see if I can remedy that.  I don't have a new camera yet nor have I found the USB cord for the one I'm using.. instead, I discovered one can use a card reader and plug it into the CPU to download pics!  I'm cheating a bit as I finished this last November.  I have 4 others I'm working on and I'll post those in a while..

Anyway, up there's your Spring picture... hope you like it!

Blessings to all of us!


Thursday, January 17, 2013

a day (or two) late!

Hello!  Okay, I'm a day late but my learning yesterday was something really useful - at least for me and my mom.  It concerns the Touchpad, which is very useful for us to surf with while in bed.  If your screen is frozen or stuck - that is, not responding to your touch, not bringing up the keyboard onscreen -- press and hold the power and home button for at least 20 seconds until the HP screen comes up and voila!  Your touchpad screen is working again!

My learning today is, do at least 10 minutes of exercise each morning (duh, you might be saying, but bear with me). Your body will wake up and you'll feel more energized!  There's something about this cool early morning weather that makes one want to burrow and get back to the zzzzs rather than wake up.   The associated lack of sun - the sky's overcast and the sun doesn't get bright and light until past 7 -- makes it hard to get going in the morning.  I'm not complaining about the weather -- I just wish I had more time in the morning to enjoy it!  lol

I called my nearest LNS and found that they have Lugana, so I am off on Saturday to buy it.  Can't wait to get started on my SALs!  My mom paid for one of them so I have to show some action! :-)

Received some stash from my dear cousin again.  Some things I bought online, and some she gifted me with.. plus a pair of Sofftspots mocs! Yippee!  Stay tuned for photos!  Wish me luck, still looking for the camera USB cord...!

It's my nephew's birthday this weekend; wish we could be there to celebrate with him.. there's just too much work, can't get time off to visit.  Despite that.. Happy 14th kiddo!

And to everyone else, Happy stitching!


Monday, January 14, 2013

ho ho ho and a Happy New Year to all!

Happy New Year!  I thought I'd done a New Year's post and it turns out I hadn't.  I wish everyone a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year, and God's blessings on all of us!  :-)

Wouldn't you know it, two weeks into the New Year and my first post and my first sick leave of the year, too! Caused, in part, by carefree behavior - 2 beers in as many days (but hey the beer drinking took place Dec. 9 and 10, and I've been suffering ever since), and this tipped my uric acid levels over the brink into gout land. Woe is me, how can this be??

As it happens, I want to walk-pain free more than I want to eat, but it's looking more like it will take some time to get back to normal land.. from what I have read, the 'gout diet' does not promise to lower uric acid except over time.. seemingly it will be some time.. boy do I feel like crying!  Lesson learned.

Speaking of lessons learned, I have resolved to write down at least one lesson learned and 3 positives for the day.  Documenting is good (saves you from forgetting).  I learned that if I go barefoot at home my feet won't hurt as much.  I wonder why not?  I learned also that if I relax my feet, it won't hurt as much.

I learned that all the mental planning won't help unless there's some deciding being done as well, not just laying out the possibilities.  This is more stitch-related, as I joined 2 SALs (Pretty as they will be... what was I thinking???) and didn't have enough fabric for both projects.  I was supposed to be gridding from Dec. 31 to Jan.9, and the first installments for both pieces arrived last Thursday..I spent all that time trying to think if I had enough fabric or if I wanted pieces as large as they were projected to be if I used the recommended fabric.. and I ended up not deciding.  So now, a bit late, I have decided to buy other fabric this weekend and then get started, tout suite.  I don't want a finished piece 3 feet across!.

I learned that the "espada" plant is a good indoor plant that will recycle CO2 and turn it into O2... that being so if the CO2 is less then the mosquitoes won't be attracted..

Man oh man, the lessons won't stop coming  It's true that as long as we live, we have the privilege of growing.   :-)

Positives:  have all my floss, ate my vegetables and fish, feel better overall (except for my feet....).. am halfway through La D Da "A Bushel and a Peck".

Here's to learning the lessons of each day well and profiting by them!