Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Paw Printings, Prairie Schooler, Shepherd's Bush

Into the Night

Thanks to Shepherd’s Bush sending me replacement threads recently, I managed to put the final stitches into one of my favourite projects tonight.  Sadly, though, the photo is totally washed out thanks to a late night photo taken under the bright Ott-lite lamp – I’ll try to take another photo next weekend during daylight, if I remember.

Shepherds Bush-Into the Night
“Into the Night” by Shepherd’s Bush (kit)
stitched with kit fabric and threads

During the last week I’ve also managed to start and finish a couple of other small projects … I think perhaps my stitching mojo is returning properly … it’s certainly been helping me to keep my sanity in recent weeks.

Paw Printings-Penguin Hugs 2012
“Penguin Hugs” by Paw Printings
stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Jobelan
with recommended DMC threads, but without the Kreinik Blending Filament
(this is the 2nd time I’ve stitched this one, and still love it to bits!)

Prairie Schooler-Fall Fields Mallard duck
“Duck” by The Prairie Schooler from the leaflet Fall Fields
stitched on 32ct Shell Belfast linen
with recommended DMC threads

Celebrities, Corin Nemec, Entertainment & Activities, Jim Beaver, Misha Collins, Richard Speight Jr, Supernatural, Traci Dinwiddie, TV shows

Hanging out with the “Idjits” (picture heavy)

Yesterday I spent the whole day at the Supernatural Convention in Sydney – my 2nd time in the last 3 years (I missed last year).  I was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to have my photo taken with two of my favourite characters and actors, and it’s taken ages for me to come down of my high from yesterday 🙂

The first photo I had taken was with Misha Collins – truthfully it was a last-minute splurge on the credit card to have photos taken, but I’m really glad I did it as it’s possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.  We saw Misha for the first time at the 1st convention, and it was even better seeing him the 2nd time round … he is a very entertaining guy and a real pleasure to listen to (plus he was a little more risqué this time with his language and anecdotes … I loved it!).

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I have to say that Jim Beaver in particular is the most lovely person in real life!  After stuttering how lovely it was to meet him in the flesh after being a FB follower for a while he replied that it was wonderful to meet me too … such a gentleman 🙂  Here is my photo with Jim (aka Bobby Singer from the show, and the reason for the “idjit” comment in the subject heading, as he’s always calling the 2 main characters idjits).  He was one of the main reasons I signed up for the convention, seeing as I didn’t get to see him last year … it was oh so worth it!!

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The other three guests were Traci Dinwiddie (who plays Pamela Barnes the Psychic), Richard Speight Jr (who plays the Trickster) and Corin Nemec (who plays a Demon).  They were all really interesting to listen to on stage, although I didn’t get photos taken by them.  I have to admit I’m not a huge Trickster fan, but Richard was wonderfully entertaining and has a really big personality – he had us all laughing our heads off.  Traci plays one of my favourite female characters in the earlier seasons, I was sad to see her character get killed off so early in the piece, although of course that was when Castiel first came into the season and we were treated to seeing Misha Collins on a regular basis afterwards, so that more than made up for it! 😉

P1060183 P1060187P1060190 P1060192P1060196 P1060199P1060202 P1060203P1060204 P1060211P1060212 P1060213P1060216 P1060219P1060225 P1060233P1060222 P1060236P1060238 P1060240P1060241 P1060242All-in-all a most wonderful day … I went on my own and took stitching and books to keep me entertained, but I didn’t end up needing any of them, they played blooper reels and favourite episodes on the big screen during the day, then the Q&A sessions went on for quite some time with so many guests.  I ended up not staying for the final autograph signing as I’d already blown my budget, but my memories will serve me well for many years to come 😀

The other great news is that Jim mentioned writers are working on Season 8 as we speak, so hopefully that means there WILL be a Season 8 to look forward to.  Even though I think Season 7 wasn’t as good as other seasons due to not having a really gritty underlying story (other than the leviathans), I’ll still always be a fan and will tune in regardless (at least while Jared and Jensen are in the show anyway) … I just hope they manage to keep Bobby in the show as well … even if he’s not ‘living’, I’ll be happy 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Needle Maid Designs

Short stitching nightmare is over!

Before heading out to the Supernatural Convention I managed to get a wee bit of stitching completed over the last few days – I can’t show the first finish I have, as it’s likely to be used for my upcoming exchange piece (I can’t decide yet so I’ll stitch one or two more and then decide on the final one to be sent).  The subject heading, though, is in relation to my next finish – while this one glistens and glows in the light due to all of its metallic floss and shiny gold beads (MH 02011), it is a real PITA to stitch … actually I should clarify that statement, and say that the DMC metallic floss was a total PITA to stitch!!  Geez I really hate that stuff, how it shreds and frays – and I used a bigger needle to try to cut down on the friction and rubbing.  Sadly I couldn’t find my Thread Heaven to help out, but I think even that wouldn’t have made the stitching any more enjoyable.  Unfortunately I didn’t have any Treasure Braid or Kreinik in the same colour green to use as a substitute … oh well, at least it’s now all finished!  And I have to admit I really love it now it’s finished, while it sits all sparkly and shimmering gold in the light of the daylight bulb – in saying that, though, I never want to stitch it again!! 😉

Needle Maid Designs-Golden Partridge and Pears
“Golden Partridge and Pears” by Needle Maid Designs, Inc
(from 1998 JCS Christmas Ornament issue)
stitched on 28ct white Jobelan
with recommended DMC threads (cotton floss and metallic floss) and MH beads

I was originally going to send this as my exchange piece, but I opted not to do so in the end … now it’s time to settle in for another few episodes of Supernatural on DVD while I stitch another possible choice for my exchange – after yesterday’s experience I’ve had the urge to go back and watch all 7 seasons again, starting with Season 1 😀  Photos to follow from the convention first though 😉

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Works in Progress

I’ve been Framed!!

Well actually some of my projects have been framed!! 😀  Last weekend I had some of my old energy levels back again, and I put it to good use doing some old jobs that have needed to be done for ages … one of those jobs was to get some framing completed.

There was lots of this happening last Sunday … lacing, and more lacing …

A couple of home-made frames were put together ready to be filled (but not done yet, as I need to cut mats for one of them and it was getting too late at night to do that safely):

Then a few el-cheapo bought frames were given a lease of life with some projects popped inside of them … first up my Tiger Reflections piece – it took me ages to decide between a black frame and a brown wooden one, but in the end I decided the brown one brought out the tiger colours the best – this now sits next to my stitching chair in the lounge.

Next up was a well overdue project – Katie’s Christmas present from 2010 (oops!) – it finally became officially finished in this plain black frame that I picked up in recent sales at Lincraft.  Katie is moving out of the flat in about 6-8 weeks time, so I thought I’d better hurry up and finish it so she can take it with her because I probably won’t see much of her after she moves out (not that I really see much of her nowadays even when she still lives here).

Next up was a frame that I bought from a framing shop a while ago – it wasn’t big enough for the project I had in mind for it, but then as I was picking through my finishing pile I came across “Gold” by The Victoria Sampler and it seemed to fit perfectly.  Unfortunately the photo doesn’t do this one justice – it just glows with all the metallics and the frame suits it beautifully.

Lucky last were two more small projects popped into simple cheap plain black frames … a great pair of finishes to top off the framing session – I especially love the Halloween one!

Then today I managed to fix up one of Mum’s lovely stitched ornaments – she’d accidentally missed one row of stitches in the border, so I grabbed the 3371 and popped the last row in to allow this to go into the finishing pile.  That also means that I also score it t go onto my tree – that’s my payment for finishing it into an ornie haha.

I also stitched another Christmas ornie myself this week, but it’s likely to be used for an upcoming exchange, so I can’t share until I decide on the project that I’m going to send away.  Lucky last I’m currently stitching another ornie that I swear will be the death of me – it’s from the 1998 JCS ornie issue and uses that dreadful old DMC metallic floss (DMC 5282 and 5269) – it’s seriously doing my head in, and I’m amazed just how long it’s taking me to stitch this one little ornie (the entire day today, and I’m still not finished).  I was determined to not put it down until it was finished, but I think it’s finally got the better of me tonight, and I’m quite grateful it’s now bed-time so I can forget about it for a while.  I’m sure I’ll love it when it’s finished, as it really does glow and sparkle in the light of my Ott-lite already, but I just wish it was already finished!!  Just all the metallic leaves left and then all the beading and it’ll be finished … eventually …

And on that night I’d really better switch off and get some sleep, as it’s almost midnight and I have to be up relatively early tomorrow to head to the Supernatural Convention to listen to some of my favourite character actors from the show (Jim Beaver as Bobby Singer and Misha Collins as Castiel).  The Convention is being run by Hub Productions once again this year – which is where I borrowed the below screenshot from.  Feel free to visit their website for further details on the convention.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Halloween, Ink Circles

Halloween finish

It’s been a challenging week this week, so I’ve tried to make an effort to put a few stitches into fabric when I can in the evenings – I came across this ornie kitted up in my suitcase (which I still haven’t finished unpacking – oops), so it’s had a lovely trip around the world and back … I decided to just stitch it up rather than trying to find space for it in my WIP/kitted up ready to go pile.


“By the Full Moon” by Ink Circles
stitched on 32ct Pearl Grey Belfast linen
with GAST as charted, with the exception of Onyx being substituted with Anchor black

The rest of my day today was spent doing the laundry (my normal Saturday chore), and cooking up a big pan full of beef stew, along with a little batch of Chocolate Banana Brownies (of which there isn’t much evidence left – my elderly neighbour had some and I made a huge dent in the rest … more-ish doesn’t remotely cover it!!).

And on that note I’m starting to go cross-eyed with tiredness, so it’s time to fall into bed for the night – I have loads of things in mind to get completed tomorrow so I’d better rest up to have some energy to tick that list off!

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Lizzie Kate

A teeny tiny finish

I seem to have got my old energy levels back once again today … I started the day off with spending an hour chatting to Mum on the phone for Mother’s Day, which was a wonderful start to the day.  Sadly, though, the phone call revealed that Dad has had another turn, and possibly has had a mild stroke, but we’re waiting for test results from his recent overnight trip to the hospital before we know 😦

The main part of the rest of the day has been spent doing housework – starting with the dishes, then cleaning the bathroom sink, bath and shower grouting … then I popped across the road to pick up some milk and basic essentials after dropping the bags of rubbish off to the bins.  While I was as the shops I noticed a huge cauliflower for $1.99 at the local fruit and vege shop – that sent me on a mission to make a very cheap meal … I ended up spending the rest of the night making a nice pot of Cream of Cauliflower Soup, which I just sampled for dinner … mmmmm, yummo 🙂

During the day I also managed to put a few stitches into a new start in-between cooking phases, and managed to get another little freebie chart finished up, with the final stitches going into it this evening after dinner.  I’m enjoying doing a couple of really quick stitches before going back to my larger WIPs … actually it’s been really wonderful getting my stitching mojo back in general!

LizzieKate-Peace Joy Love
“Peace Joy Love” freebie by Lizzie*Kate
stitched on 32ct Flax linen
with Crescent Colours Spinach and Apple Fritter and DMC blanc

This freebie is still available on the Lizzie*Kate website here.

Cross Stitch, Finishes, Prairie Schooler, Stitching Smalls

Mini finish

Over the last two days I’ve managed to start and finish a small freebie called Coffee Break – such a cute little design, that’s for sure!  It’ll eventually be turned into a scissor fob when I have a finishing frenzy weekend … some day …

Cross Stitch Happy-Coffee Break
“Coffee Break” freebie
stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen by Wichelt
with recommended DMC threads

The freebie is still available from Cross Stitch Happy blog here 🙂

I also managed to find my ornie photo on my laptop, so I can update with that too 🙂

Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Exchanges, Finishes, Prairie Schooler

Prairie Schooler ornie received

For the life of me I can’t find the photo I took of the “finished” ornie, but at least I have one of the stitching to hand – Margaret has let me know that it has arrived (albeit very very late) safely across the oceans, so I can now reveal my other stitching finish for April.

Prairie Schooler-Merry Christmas from Santas and Snowmen

“Santas and Snowmen” leaflet by The Prairie Schooler
stitched on 32ct Pipi linen by Countrystitch
with recommended DMC threads