Author: Anne S

Brightening my life one stitch or one card at a time, and sharing my joy of needlework and card-making.
PhotoHunt

Photo Hunt – Broken

Anne S

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This week’s theme is ”Broken” and the first thing that came to mind was my many broken things from my move to Sydney – here are a handful of photos compliments of Dodgey Bros R Us … aka Greater (mutter) Hunter (mutter) Removals (bloody mutter!!).  All I can say is DO NOT TOUCH WITH A BARGE POLE unless you want belongings in tatters and a truck driver demanding a couple of grand in cash before he will hand over your belongings.  Yes, two whole years later, and it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth … although this time you actually get the company name so you know who caused us such heartache and stress.  Don’t you just love the two-legged table and what looks like a hatchet job in the back of my (albeit cheap) bookcase!  Bah humbug!! 😦 

Beading, Cross Stitch, Erica Michaels, scissor fobs, Works in Progress

Final fobs, Thanks, and a New Start

Anne S

A quick note to thank everyone that bought fobs from my original request to donate the proceeds of sales to wee baby Timothy – I managed to send almost US$90 over to Coral towards his medical costs, so I thank you for enabling me to do that for them 🙂

And the final group of fobs today are brought to you by the colours Brown, Wine and Purple (unfortunately these ones didn’t photograph as true to the colours, so I think I’ll have to re-do them before I upload to ArtFire).

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And to finish off the post for tonight, here’s my new start for the evening while Katie and I caught up on a tiny bit of TV with Criminal Minds, Biggest Loser and Bones … alas I had a frog attack on the left hand side group of hearts and bottom border, but I quickly frogged the stitches and redid them, and I’m back on track once again.  If I don’t manage to get this piece finished tomorrow night, I should definitely see another wee finish on Saturday morning 🙂


“Random Hearts” by Erica Michaels
being stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen in
Carrie’s Creations thread “Scarlet”

Beading, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Mosey 'n Me, scissor fobs

New Scissor Fobs and a Wee Finish

Anne S

First up is the tiny wee finish I completed tonight – I started this on Sunday night, and did a bit more stitching tonight, putting the final stitches in about 1/2 an hour ago.  As per normal at this late hour of the night, without being taken under a daylight bulb, the photo is appalling … but it’s a finish all the same 🙂

“Love February” old freebie by Mosey ‘n Me

It’s also my very first EVER Valentine’s finish … and also the first finish from the pile that I kitted up over the weekend 😀  I almost swapped the cream inner border with the pale pink from the rose, but then decided last minute to leave it … in hindsight the cream really does blend into the background of the fabric, so the pink would have been much much better … but I don’t love it enough to bother unpicking it all.  Not entirely sure how I’ll end up finishing this one – perhaps I’ll just add a ribbon hanger and turn it into a hanging ornament … maybe … 🙂

Next up is a bunch of scissor fobs that I put together weeks ago, but never showed.  Eventually most of these will be going into my ArtFire shop for sale … when I get the time to upload them all and type up descriptions etc – but that is unlikely to happen for another couple of weeks thanks to my impending trip home.  As there are quite a few new fobs, I’ll just upload a few tonight, and add some more over the next few days.

Tonight’s fobs are brought to you by the colours Red and Pink …

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Other than that, nothing much happening out here really … I’m heading out to the Blue Mountains this Sunday to pick up all my stitching I’ve had out there on loan for the last couple of years.  There are personal reasons for my doing this, which I won’t share on my blog – but I must say I’m really looking forward to having them home again … and those that are still unframed will be framed by me some time over the coming year as finances allow … so watch this space 😛

Cross Stitch, Stash, Wishlist

Thanks … and stash

Anne S

First of all, thanks so much for your offers of getting the thread I need for Sapphire Star, it’s greatly appreciated.  I have decided, however, to make a small order with Stitching Bits & Bobs as they are showing the thread in stock (or at least they sell it, can’t say it’s actually in stock really).  As I have a couple of Rainbow Gallery threads that I need, I thought I’d order the others that SB&B stock plus a few bead kits while the Superbowl sale is still on (at least I hope it’s still on!) … and I just might have to fall off The Wagon for this little beauty, compliments of Nashville new releases … OMG, I’m drooling all over my keyboard!!!

This is Snow Queens Slipper with Accessories by Carolina House Designs … {{sigh}} 

I’ve decided that seeing as I’m not really celebrating my birthday this year (although I may decide last minute to go to the movies on my birthday night) I thought I’d make myself a little birthday gift of this little beauty … well, I have to make the postage cost worthwhile right? LOL.  Then it’s back on the stash wagon once again (there really is no hope for me, is there?) 😉

Thanks also for your comments about my fabric cutting experience over the weekend – I had a blast, and have started stitching one of the little freebies already.  With luck I should get it finished in time for Sunday … maybe …  I should show you a list of the other projects that have had their fabric cut up for a while now (when everything went into storage 2 1/2 years ago) – there are some stunning projects in there, and over the last two years with a small number of exceptions that’s what I’ve been pulling my stitching from.  There are still loads in there yet (um, probably twice the number of the list I added over the weekend), but some of the projects are quite huge and time-consuming.  There are also loads of needlerolls, so I really should get back into gear and start stitching some of those up – I have the fabric cut up for pretty much all the Sweetheart Tree needlerolls, and they’d look so pretty in a basket with my others … ah, so much stitching, so little time …

And on that note, I’d better jump in the shower so I can go do that thing that makes an occasional stitching stash enhancement possible … work!

Cross Stitch

Cut up fabrics galore…

Anne S

I now have two piles of new projects that have their fabrics all cut out ready for stitching … I have to admit I really enjoyed the process of getting all the fabrics out of the drawers, picking out a ‘few’ charts, and attacking everything with the scissors.  Of course it’ll take me forever to stitch everything, and I already have a few drawers of projects semi-kitted up from when my stash was all in storage … but now there are even more yummy projects to choose from, including some sweet little freebies.

The projects that have now joined the semi-kitted pile are:

  • Anita Diamond (GoS) – Quaker Flowers Strawberry Emery
  • Blackbird Designs – Strawberry Garden
  • Cherished Stitches – A January Box
  • Cindy Valentine – Arabesque needleroll
  • Cmon Monde – Ma Boîte à Trésors
  • Cmon Monde – Trousse aux Fleurs Bleues
  • Country Cottage Needleworks – Cherry Hill
  • Country Cottage Needleworks – Little Ballerinas
  • Elizabeth’s Designs – Hummingbird
  • Erica Michaels – Random Hearts
  • Handblessings Patterns – Christmas Tree Quilt Ornament
  • Heart in Hand – Christmas Bird
  • Heart in Hand – Valentine’s Bird
  • Indigo Rose – Four Little Strawberries
  • JBW Designs – English Plum Pudding
  • Just Nan – Dragonfly Scissor Purse
  • Just Nan – Ladybug Santa
  • Just Nan – Pretty Wicked!
  • Just Nan – Scream Girls
  • Little House Needleworks – Acorn Hill
  • Little House Needleworks – Blossoms & Blackbirds
  • Little House Needleworks – Gourmet Garden
  • Little House Needleworks – Moon and Stars
  • Lizzie*Kate – Christmas Flip-It
  • Lizzie*Kate – Fall Crazy
  • Lizzie*Kate – My Favourite Time
  • Northern Pine Designs – Blue Bayou (canvaswork – although missing one thread again!)
  • Serendipity Designs – Beaded Easter Egg
  • Shepherd’s Bush – Christmas Treat Bag
  • The Cat’s Whiskers – Happy Holidays
  • The Drawn Thread – Joyous Christmas
  • The Prairie Schooler – Autumn Leaves
  • The Prairie Schooler – Boo To You
  • The Prairie Schooler – Christmas Eve
  • The Prairie Schooler – Fall Fields (just the Duck one)
  • The Prairie Schooler – When Witches Go Riding
  • The Sweetheart Tree – Blackberry Fob
  • The Sweetheart Tree – Butterfly Scissor Fob
  • With My Needle – Maidens of the Sea
  • With My Needle – Quaker Samplings I

Plus a few online freebies and one chart for a gift 🙂

Of course I haven’t put a single stitch into fabric all weekend, but I had an absolute ball, and it was just what the doctor ordered 🙂

One other thing I managed this afternoon was to set up my old TV in my bedroom with a DVR – my old DVR in the lounge died about 6 months ago, and I replaced it a few months ago … the only problem is that it’s the same brand as my DVD player in the lounge and every time we switch on the DVD player the DVR switches on as well, and when we pause a DVD it switches to the other player and it takes forever to go back again … I’ve been wanting something in my room to record those shows that Katie doesn’t watch, so I can watch while I’m stitching in bed, and now it’s all set up and a few shows are ready for taping … The Mentalist, Cold Case, Medium, House, and So You Think You Can Dance – I’ve missed loads of The Mentalist since we didn’t have enough recording options when my last DVR died (and I had no TV in my room), so now I can start watching those old favourites again – yippee!! 😀

And now I’m off into the kitchen to sew on a couple of muslin strips to my little bits of fabric, then dig out the necessary threads, and then I’m ready to start stitching a couple of seasonal pieces of my new semi-kitted stash 😀

Cross Stitch, Exchanges

Exchanges are back in fashion

Anne S

It’s been a while since I participated in any Exchanges, but I decided to join Becky and her group of followers in a Pin Pillow exchange, mailing date 1 April.  I just received my recipient’s name this morning, and the first thing I did was to check out her blog to see what sort of designs she likes and if I could find her favourite colour – anything to help me choose something that he/she is more likely to appreciate. 

Anyway, this got me thinking about anyone who doesn’t know me who has my name in an exchange – it would be difficult for them to find the same information in my blog … especially as these days that I’m not stitching as prolifically.  So, I decided to uplift some of the information from my RAK Registry post, and tweak it a bit, and have now added that as an extra page here – my “Likes” page.  Hopefully this will help any future exchange partners to find the information they need! 🙂

And now I’m off to continue cutting up some more fabrics for the two dozen or so new projects that I dragged out of the stash pile last night … I won’t kit them up with their DMC etc yet, or I might find myself in trouble, but at least the fabric will be cut up ready, as that’s my usual drawback when I’m starting something new … of course it will take me the entire year and beyond to stitch them all, but at the moment for me the fun is in the planning 😉

Canvaswork, Laura J Perin, Sapphire Star, Works in Progress

Sapphire Star Update

Anne S

Alas, I probably won’t get too much further once I finish the outside border until my missing thread is ordered and arrives.  The only other blocks I can probably complete at this stage are ones that have long-ish satin stitches, and I’d rather leave those until the very last to make sure I don’t snag them.  In the meantime, though, I still have a wee bit of border left to go yet, so that’s OK.  Here’s the progress as I left it last night:

Laura J Perin-Sapphire Star 05Feb10

I must say, though, I have got a SERIOUS case of startitis … I have a major urge to start many different designs at the moment, all relatively small ones though – I’m quite honestly thinking of giving myself the rest of the month to just pick and choose and start what the heck I like … I’ve opted to have a low-key birthday this year and not celebrate (to be honest, my mind is more on the sadness of the memorial service and not my birthday beforehand) … so perhaps this can be my birthday treat to myself – and on that note, I just may spend the rest of the weekend throwing fabric and threads together and kitting a few things up 😀

In the meantime, though, I have to now hit the road and drive my elderly neighbour to a travel agent … long story, but this is certainly the better option than the alternative 😉

I also haven’t decided yet whether to bother doing the Photo Hunt today … the theme of “average” leaves me feeling … well … “Average” 😛

Home & Family TO BE FIXED

Stitching? What’s this thing called stitching?

Anne S

It’s been a very stressful week at work this week … management have decided to add a new element to ‘my’ current big project two weeks prior to launch date – and the department that are requesting all the changes decided they shouldn’t have to write the specs for the technical build team, so that all ended up on my desk, which has taken me 4 days to complete around other tasks … gotta love being able to plan your time prior to launch! mutter mutter mutter.  So, it’s been a few 10-12 hour days again this week, which means no real stitching done …

I did, however, sit down last night for an hour or two and dragged out my Sapphire Star again … all excited, I thought I’d fill in some of the inside blocks to give me a change of pace … only to find that I’m missing one thread type … and of course is HAS to be a Rainbow Gallery thread that is like bl**dy hens teeth to find this side of the pond … which means I’ll have to order it from the US … which also means I can’t justify the postage for one card of thread … which means I now have to break my resolution not to spend on stash (charts anyway) for this year.  Not to mention I have a tight couple of months financially … but I just can’t not finish my Sapphire Star, ‘cos I’m really loving working on it … oh, pooh, bum 😦

Part of the financial deal is to buy a plane ticket home – I’m off back across the ditch again next week, this time not for pleasure.  It’s finally time for Erin’s memorial service and we have to say goodbye for ‘real’.  While I’ll love seeing everyone again, I just know it’s going to be really emotional and I’m dreading that part … but at least we get to honour her memory, which is great 🙂

And on that note I’d better run away and get to work, ‘cos I’ve just seen the time … yikes!!! 😮