French Rose Monogram finish!

Got around to finishing the stitching I did on yesterday's post. Here are my notes again, plus the timeline, which I did not give in yesterday's posting.


Design: Rose Sampler (http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u314/pelintezer/?action=view&current=AlphabetSamplerChart.gif)

Designer: Pelin Tezer

Fabric: unknown 28 count natural evenweave

Fibers: Anchor 001 and 102

Frame: Q-snap

Needle: 26 Platinum tapestry needle by John James


Began stitching: Friday, May 29, 2009

Completed stitching: Saturday, May 30, 2009

Finished project: Sunday, May 31, 2009.

Thanks for looking! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,

C.

End of the Month

Been busy here lately, however, after I felt really bad about beating myself up so bad over so many new starts, I took an 'inventory' of how many finishes I had for 2009. I had a total of eight completed works:


January: French Monogram 'designed' by me (it's really bits of 2 charts together)

February: French Monogram for Amber (same as January) and Queen Bee by LHN

March: Easter Chocolate Box by Erica Michaels and Love Cats by Brittercup Designs

April: Hare Line by Bent Creek, Cottage Garden by CCN, Necessities Sampler by LHN



This is when I realized I did *NOT* have a finish for May. I have tried to have at least one finish a month, and I really wanted to have something for May. So, I checked in my freebie 'To Do' folder on my computer and found a French type monogram that I stitched up in about 24 hours.


Here's the results:

Design: Rose Sampler (http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u314/pelintezer/?action=view&current=AlphabetSamplerChart.gif)

Designer: Pelin Tezer

Fabric: unknown 28 count natural evenweave

Fibers: Anchor 001 and 102

Frame: Q-snap

Needle: 26 Platinum tapestry needle by John James

Had a mini stash buying spree. Everything was on sale, so I got some good deals. Floss for two projects, new scissors, fabric for a project, and some other goodies.





I also got Country Cottage Needleworks 'Summer Retreats'. I cannot wait to get started on that one, but I've promised myself that I cannot until I clear some other things out first. Ah, well. :) I have the charts and the fibers are all DMC so i do not have to worry about specialty thread companies going the way of the dodo bird. :P


Well, I am off for now. I spent three hours this afternoon cleaning out me and DH's walk in closet and I'm exhausted. :)


Hope everyone is having a good weekend! :D


---


Respectfully submitted,

C.

Stash Aquisition and a Rant

Had an absolute blast of a weekend this weekend. Weekends like this are rare, so I enjoyed and savored every moment of it.

Friday: SPA DAY!!! :D Got my hair cut, manicure, pedicure, and had a one hour aromatherapy massage. Absolute heaven.


Saturday: Napped and shopped for stash. DH Gave me a bit of spending money and I had the hardest time choosing what exactly I wanted! :P


Sunday: Yoga class in the AM and a hike in Red Rock Canyon with DH in the late afternoon.


Here is what I purchased on my stash spree:


The July/August 2009 Just Cross Stitch magazine, Blueberries kit by Little House Needleworks, Bee Sampler also by Little House Needleworks and the two Crescent Colours needed for the Bee Sampler, Bean Sprouts and House Wine. I can't wait to get started on the Bee Sampler, but it will have to wait, as I seem to have gone on a starting free for all spree again, and I'm not completing a damn thing. While I enjoy the process of kitting things up and starting things fresh, not finishing sometimes pisses me off to no end. Not completing due to bad charting, horrid directions, crappy floss/fabric, mistakes that cannot be found, multiple froggings, etc are all very valid reasons not completing a project.


However.


I would guesstimate that a good half of my WIP/UFO pile is due to just plain not wanting to finish it, laziness, and/or being seduced by the shiny.


/sigh



I really do need to stop that crap. Honestly. I hate that about myself. If I make commitments to my family and friends, why do I not do that to myself, even if it's just finishing a stupid project that's been sitting around since God was a child? No wonder I can't make any dietary lifestyle changes for any length of time! (In case you were wondering what brought about this rant, it's my big bins o' shame. )


FFS. /grrrr




At any rate.....



My newest start.

Design: The Joy of Christmas

Designer: My Big Toe

Featured: July/August 2009 Just Cross Stitch magazine Ornament Preview issue

Fabric: 14 count ivory aida

Fiber: Access Commodities Soie d'Alger number 2936 (DMC equivalent 816).

There are times when I loathe my lack of discipline in following through on my projects. Mind you, I have probably completed about 200 projects in my 13 years of stitching, however, I have way too many WIPs to feel comfortable about having that many.


I suppose if I wanted to be kind to myself I would tell myself that as the Buddhists say: Chop wood, carry water.


After enlightenment... chop wood, carry water.


Guess it's time to chop some wood and carry some water.


---


Respectfully submitted,


Cindy

Seasons change

I was passing by my stitching area and I noticed that I still had the 'April' Lizzie Kate design on the stitchy area walls.


I paused.


What's the calendar date again?


Oy!


Ok, stop whatever it was I was doing, get the step stool, get out my seasonal stitching. Decide what to put up and if I have enough frames to be able to change everything I want up.

Now, at this juncture, I would like to add that my idea of 'seasons' are different than what most people follow timewise. Most folks have seasons broken down thusly:


Spring: March, April, May

Summer: June, July, August

Fall: September, October, November

Winter: December, January, February


I, on the other hand, have known farmers, gardeners and other folk who follow a different type of seasonal calendar:


Spring: February, March, April

Summer: May, June, July

Fall: August, September, October

Winter: November, December, January


This makes more sense to me, somehow. I guess to me, it makes more sense that the 'seasons' are like this timewise, due to planting, growing, and harvesting of the stuff I eat. I mention this only because when I changed out my seasonal wall, everything is summer related. Temps are rising at a rapid rate here in Sin City, so it quite frankly feels like summer anyway.



Country Cottage Needleworks 'Summer Strawberries'.
Fabric: Dyeing 4 You's 'Sandy's Sunshine' in 16 ct aida.
Threads used: Crescent Colours Spinach, Cupid , Pink Champagne, Granny Annie. White thread by DMC in B5200. SanMan Strands in A New Leaf.

Began Friday, June 27, 2008; 9 PM PST. Finished Wednesday 07.30.08.









Design: Sunshine Sampler #117

Designer: Lizzie Kate

Fabric: 28 count natural pearl

Fibers: DMC and Crescent Colours

Began: July 2005

Ended: July 2005

Stitched piece during trips to the beach Summer 2005 with Amber.






Design: Strawberry Sampler

Designer: Needlecraft (UK) magazine

Fabric: 28 count natural linen

Fibers: DMC

Start and end dates unknown. Probable 1996 or 1997.






Design: Cottage Garden

Designer: Nikki Lehman of Country Cottage Needleworks

Source: August 2006 Just Cross Stitch Magazine

Fabric: 28 count white Monaco

Fibers: DMC 153, 155, 156, 157, and 420. Weeks Dye Works thread in Pecan. Crescent Colours Joshua Tree, Tomatillio, and Summer Spray.

Misc: Decided to skip the outer border as I could not find a nice enough color that would compliment the color changes I made and let's face it, I'm lazy as hell. Ran out of the WDW Pecan and I did not want to buy another skein as I find WDW threads to be thin and have a propensity to shred, so I just substituted DMC 420 and went on with life. The difference is not that stark and I wanted this one just plain finished instead of it languishing in the UFO pile.

Began: (approximately) Friday, March 20, 2009

Completed stitching: Thursday, April 30, 2009





Design: Bless the Breeze (former freebie, not for trade or sale)

Designer: SanMan Originals

Fabric: 14 count white aida

Fibers: DMC and Six Strand Sweets

Began: Friday, January 14, 2004

Completed stitching: Tuesday, January 25, 2004






Apparently, I didn't upload a pic of the one above 'Cottage Garden'. Stitchy notes to follow:


Design: Joyful Heart from the leaflet 'Seasons of the Heart 2"

Designer: Erica Michaels

Fabric: 28 count natural pearl linen

Fibers: DMC

Began: Monday, February 21, 2005

Completed stitching: Saturday, March 12, 2005



Newest WIP:


Design: Home of a Needleworker (2003)

Designer: Diane Williams of Little House Needlework

Fabric: 28 count natural pearl linen

Fibers: DMC in B5200, 355, 356, 450, 429, 729, 869, 3051, 3052, 3371, 3828


Began: Monday, May 4, 2009





Closing for now with a picture of Ozzy and Ushi pacing themselves:



It's a rough life, but someone has to do it!


Hope everyone had a good weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!


---


Respectfully submitted,

C.

Surprise Trip

Early in the afternoon on Friday, my DH sent me a text message telling me to get packed for a few days, we were going out of town. I sent a reply asking how I should pack. He told me to pack for Flagstaff, AZ. We almost didn't go, as when we looked up the weather, it looked like it was going to rain literally everywhere on the planet, with the exception of Toronto, Canada and Cairo, Egypt. Ugh.


We decided to go anyway, figuring that even if it rained, we needed to get out of the house, and get out of town for a bit. We live in a fairly crowded house, so any time alone is precious. We left Friday afternoon a bit late, about around 4:30 PM. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel in Kingman, AZ (closest one!) and arrived in Flagstaff at around 9:30 or so.

We got up a bit late the next day, but to be fair, we really did not have a time schedule for anything. Just go when we felt like it, eat when hungry, sleep when tired sort of thing. We drove to the Grand Canyon and hiked along the southern portion of the Canyon. It's gorgeous. I can't wait to go back. I took a lot of pics along the way. We hiked about 5 miles, and that was not including the walking we did in Flagstaff when get got back.

Flagstaff is a really neat town and I really do wish we could have stayed longer and/or moved there. It's kind of quirky and artsy and we really like it there. Only downside is the housing market is weird out there and we don't have any way to support ourselves. :( Bummer.

On the way back, we managed to catch some of the Gumball 3000. (The Gumball 3000 is an annual 3000 mile (5000 km) international rally which takes place on public roads, with a different 3000 mile route around the world each year. 120 cars participate, often driven by their owners. Now in its 11th year the event has grown into an established fixture on the popular culture calendar annually attracting household names from music, film and sport to participate, including David Hasselhoff, Adrien Brody, Johnny Knoxville, and Tony Hawk. Although set up as a rally with no official timing, or prizes for reaching checkpoints first, during the rally, some participants have been fined for speeding and other traffic offenses by the police in countries they passed through. Cars participating have also been confiscated by the authorities of countries they pass through. The Gumball 3000 was founded in 1999 by Maximilian Cooper. Cooper invited 55 of his wealthiest friends to take part in a 6 day 3000 mile drive around Europe, partying every night.) It was really neat to see all of the exotics like Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porches, BMW's, a Jaguar XJ220 and even a Bugatti Veyron. (Whoooooooooooooooo!!!)

I managed to snag this pic while we were crossing over the Hoover Dam:



I took some completely random shots of the Hoover Dam as we were passing by. I basically just stuck the camera out of the car window and clicked until I got something. :D Here are some of my efforts:


I would have had some cooler pics of the Dam itself, however, it was 7 bucks for parking and we had no cash on us. :(. Oh, well. It's half an hour down the road and it's not like they are going to move it any time soon. :P


Here is a link to more pics: http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d27/Archangelcin/Travel/Flagstaff%20Grand%20Canyon%20May%202009/


I hope everyone had a good weekend!


---

Respectfully submitted,

C.

Whew!

The stitching blogosphere had a heart attack yesterday when the much appreciated and much favorited blog, LagattaC, suddenly went black for no apparent reason. When I went to this Blog of Awesomeness, it said CLOSED in big red letters. No one was able to ascertain the reasons why she elected to close down her collection of freebie links from around the web. I had speculated to friends that perhaps she grew tired of updating the million and one freebie sites from around the world or just found something else to occupy her time. Thankfully, when I logged on this morning to update this blog, I found that she had posted an update. Here is the translated text via Babelfish from the original Italian:

From some time I reflect sull' opportunity to close the blog. When I began in the 2006 c' they were little sites that they published " freebies" regularly, the spread of the blogs has widened the creativity of the lovers of the embroidery, and also my engagement. The beautiful season then tries to me with the walks in the forests and on mountains, all' leisure under the warm beams of the sun, the reading all' shadow of the trees in garden. They are elsewhere. To close definitively the blog is not necessary, leaves l' opportunity to continue to consult it even if from today in then I do not guarantee that the modernizations will be regular. Thanks to those who they have written to me, with calm I will answer to all, and thanks for the collaboration offered ones, of it I will hold account. Good day!

Whew! Well, I can't say that I blame her. I'm sure that with the proliferation of blogs and just plain 'regular' folks taking a stab at designing and posting their works for free out on the intarwebz, updating a blog with links to said freebies is probably a full time occupation. I, myself, have been spending a bit less time on the computer and choosing instead to take my stitching to the community pool and stitch poolside, rather than being cooped up in the house. It's getting warmer by the day here in Sin City and it's nice to be out by the pool stitching.

And in other news....

Had 2 finishes yesterday and started yet another project. It was nice to get some things wrapped up and start one I've wanted to start for a long time now. I am hoping after this next finish, I get out an older WIP/UFO and finish that up. Maybe rotate new starts and finishes, to clear some old stuff out and get to the stuff I have put off for so long and really want to stitch. Pic of the finishes plus the new WIPs. Stitchy notes attached! :)

Finish number 1:

Design: Cottage Garden

Designer: Nikki Lehman of Country Cottage Needleworks

Source: August 2006 Just Cross Stitch Magazine

Fabric: 28 count white Monaco

Fibers: DMC 153, 155, 156, 157, and 420. Weeks Dye Works thread in Pecan. Crescent Colours Joshua Tree, Tomatillio, and Summer Spray.

Misc: Decided to skip the outer border as I could not find a nice enough color that would compliment the color changes I made and let's face it, I'm lazy as hell. Ran out of the WDW Pecan and I did not want to buy another skein as I find WDW threads to be thin and have a propensity to shred, so I just substituted DMC 420 and went on with life. The difference is not that stark and I wanted this one just plain finished instead of it languishing in the UFO pile.

Began: (approximately) Friday, March 20, 2009

Completed stitching: Thursday, April 30, 2009

Finish number 2:

Design: Necessities Sampler

Designer: Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric: 28 count antique white either lugana or jobelan

Fibers: DMC 420, 739, 869, 924, 926, 928, 936, 3011, 3013, 3371, 3768

Began: Saturday, April 18, 2009

Completed stitching: Friday, April 30, 2009

And now on with the WIPs! :D



WIP number 1:

Stitchy notes:

Design: Bee Pinkeep

Designer: Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks and Nikki Lehman of Country Cottage Needleworks for The Gift Stitching magazine, Issue 12 January 2007

Fabric: 28 count natural evenweave of an unknown type (I need to figure out what it is, cause I'm really digging on it!)

Fibers: DMC 437, 761, 3011, 3012, 3371, 3712, and B5200.

Began: Thursday, April 30, 2009


(Photo removed by Webshots and I do not have a copy)



Hope everyone is having a good day out there in cyberspace!


Respectfully submitted,

C.