Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Stitching? What’s that???

Alas on my days off work this week I’ve only put a couple of hours into the border of Boo Club – since the last time I posted I haven’t put in a single stitch anywhere, so therefore no stitching update.

I also notice that I’ve also been too busy to put up my daily photos this week – thanks to Mum for reminding me on the phone that I haven’t posted all week!  So, what on earth have I been doing with myself???  After trying to do this on two separate occasions after taking time off work in order to complete it, I ended up failing miserably due to illness the first time and unexpected visitors the second time … so third time is the charm … I’ve been unpacking my ‘junk’ boxes that have still been sitting in my bedroom after 2 years of living in Sydney (ahem, cough …).  Here’s a sneak look at the end result – a few empty boxes (I think I’ve cleaned out 5-6 in total but didn’t think you’d want to see more photos of empty boxes LOL).

I’ve also been clearing out Embroidery & Cross Stitch magazines and patchwork magazines in an attempt to make some room – I’ve been (shock, horror) pulling out pages that interest me and putting them into a ringbinder instead … and scanning the projects into a little mini directory/photo album so I can flick through at a glance to see what takes my fancy (including those that are still intact in their magazines, such as my Inspirations issues) – some things I’m only interested in how they’re finished, but some projects I’d really love to try out … one day before I turn 100.  I’ve already taken one big bag full down to the rubbish bin, and here is another one ready to go down and join its mates!

That’s pretty much all I’ve been doing this week, and have really really enjoyed it.  I’ve been listening to Audiobooks and watching old DVDs at the same time and every now and then jumping online to play a game or three.  Alas, the fun is about to end and it’s back to work again on Monday – and the pile of books etc will be a work in progress for some time yet, but I’ve made a huge inroad to the mess in my bedroom and it should start looking like an actual bedroom by the end of 2010 😛

The other wee job I finally finished today was to re-label my little cottage spice jars – I’ve had these for years and years sitting unused in my parents garage … when I went home for the funeral in February I brought them all home with me, and started filling them up.  Unfortunately there were a number of labels that I just don’t use (such as dried garlic and onion), so I had to wait to buy a pile of batteries for my labelling machine and voila they’re all finished and ready to be used.  The only one I cocked up slightly is the Mixed Herbs label – it’s a bit cock-eyed but it’ll do 😉  I just adore this little set of cottages, and it’s so lovely to finally see them out of their boxes all these years later! 😀  (Haha, I just noticed you can just see a peek of my glass leadlight duck hiding behind it!)

xxx

Cross Stitch, Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Movies

Weeks Dye Works – retired threads

A recent blog post referred to the fact that WDW were discontinuing one of their threads used in a particular design, and that we should look at stocking up now while it’s still available … I couldn’t access the link that was provided as it was to the retailer’s page, so I wrote an email to WDW asking how to obtain the information.  Just to put everyone’s minds at rest, the following is the response I received from Cathy at WDW this morning:

“Good afternoon Anne – we have never discontinued colors but we do retire colors. This means that we just simply take the color out of the main collection of floss. The retired colors WILL ALWAYS be available, they just simply appear on the “retired list.” We are striving to keep the order form at 1 page and in order to add new colors, we need to retire the ones that don’t sell as many as the rest.

I do apologize for any confusion. On our web site under FORMS, there are pages titled “retired colors 6-strand floss” and “retired pearls.”

Please let me know if I can further assist you. But please, do not panic as we have never discontinued any colors in our line that go away forever. Have a great week!”

Yippee, that’s great news I think – nice to know their threads only go into ‘semi-retirement’ 😀

As for my own stitching, there’s not much to show really – I managed to complete a tiny bit more of the Boo Club border last night, and another hour will see me able to roll up the scrollbars to a new section … I’ll hold off taking another progress piccie until I’ve done that and more critters have their little buttons sewn on 🙂  I’m going to continue with this one tonight, and in fact may continue until it’s finished … but who knows, tomorrow is another day 😛

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with an extremely hunky young man (very sexy, but very gay LOL), and we went to get a Robert Downey Jnr fix at IMAX in Darling Harbour – Iron Man 2.  Loved, loved, LOVED it!!!  OK, admittedly part of the fact is that I’ve always been a huge fan of Mr Downey, ever since seeing him blitz the screen in Charlie Chaplin … but I seriously do love these movies.  A blend of humour, great characters, special effects, a fun storyline, and a lot of JDJ – what more could a girl want?  This is another one to add to the DVD collection when it is eventually released – an awesome way to spend the afternoon on your day off! 😀

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Lizzie Kate

30th birthday gift

Obviously the 30th birthday gift isn’t one I’ve received, as I’m an old coot now … but tonight I managed to put the final stitches into one of the gifts I’m giving Katie for her 30th birthday on Wednesday. I still have to get it framed while she’s away, or turn it into a flatfold, but she’ll hopefully come home to it in some sort of finished version anyway!

LizzieKate-Cindarella is Proof
“Cinderella is Proof” by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on 32ct Limestone hand-dyed Lugana by Countrystitch
with DMC threads

I hope she likes it … she’s crazy about shoes, so as soon as I saw this one I knew I had to stitch it at some stage for her.  Anyway, even if it’s not her ‘cup of tea’, she also has a $30 voucher for JB Hi-Fi and a lovely green glass pendant that I bought at the recent craft show with Alison and Amanda, so I’m sure she’ll be happy 😀