Happy Hallow-EEK HD

Being laid up temporarily has it's advantages, I finally finished Fiddlestitch Cottage's Happy Hallow-EEK after putting off frogging for a month. I managed to put in an off by 1/2 stitch on the linen, something I have not done in ages, not fun at all. I really like the way Tracy's pattern turned out. I substituted glow in the dark threads for the ghost which looks really neat. Tomorrow I'll get to meet up with the 'Friends That Count' and sew it into a pillow.

Jelly Anyone?

This weekend Alex and I headed over to the Northside of the city (and when you live 6km past the southmost limits of the city and then have to back track west due to the location of the bridge it's actually quite a drive) to visit with my grandmother Saturday morning to make some crabapple jelly. We did make a couple pit stops, one to market to pick up some additional crabapples to make jelly for ourselves later as when we made spiced crabapples with my grandmother we only ended up with two bottles, I definitely wanted more jelly than two bottles, some samosas, and a bbq'd sausage for me and some orange juice for little heart broken Alex as Tinsel the clown wasn't there, or maybe he's moved inside for the winter, I forgot to look... I'm also a sucker for punishment as I went into one of the local framing places which I've since come to find out is very inconsistent with their billing, grrr... Why??

We had a lovely morning making jelly and ended up with 6 jars!! I have no idea what we're going to do with the additional crabapples we purchased. Alex is in a phase where he talks from the second he wakes up until the second he falls asleep, and Saturday my head started to throb by lunch so I sent the boys outside and had a good sleep. Mind you if I hadn't of slept soo much this weekend I would have finished the Dragon of Earth.

I did get some decluttering done downstairs too this weekend, babysteps. The craft room is finally starting to shape up. I've even located my fabric to stitch my ornament for the exchange at retreat this year. Hopefully by tonight I'll be doing a Dragon of Earth HD, there's enough tv to tide me over...

Happy Birthday Happy Dance

This has been an awesome birthday week, starting off with lobster on the Miramichi on the weekend, finished the Dragon Dreams JCS 04 ornament, confirmation of model stitching Monday, a successful scrapbooking class on Tuesday and a fun birthday on Wednesday. My brother ordered something from Amazon for me and my grandmother ordered something else in, both of which haven't arrived yet so I'll get to stretch this birthday celebration out even further, yippee!

The only downside has been a rotten cold that's left me pretty tired, stuffed up, with warbled hearing and the occasional swollen eye. Matt thought I must really be sick if I actually fell asleep during our official unveiling of my birthday present, the Star Wars trilogy on DVD. I don't know who was happier that I got it, me or my 4 year old son. It's also cut into my stitching time as I usually am too woozy to accurately stitch, and I've learned that fighting against the cold usually just ends up in frogging. I did find some medication that my body responds to but doesn't get soo woozy with last night which allowed me to get quite a bit of the Dragon of Water completed. I have my fingers crossed that it might be finished this weekend.

Question of the week

Do you stitch small projects one at a time that you can finish quickly, have numerous large projects going at once that you rotate,or both? How does your current system work for you and have you thought about changing it?

I used to only stitch one project at a time but that was before I discovered all of the great little ornaments like the Christmyth series, Just Cross Stitch Ornament Edition and all of the neat little kits from Mill Hill. I always have at least one large project on the go and have dedicated Wednesday nights to working on ones that I just couldn't keep interested in. When I have some frogging to do in my large project I take a break and stitch some on my current ornament (halloween or Christmas) which is hiding out in my purse. I keep it in there so that I can haul it out whenever I'm waiting, at the doctor's office, dentist or even while I'm waiting for DS after swimming lessons. I do break a bit from the normal schedule in August to finish any projects that I intend to enter in the local exhibition at the end of the month though...

Thwarted by DMC 775

We had no plans for last night whatsoever, so it seemed like a great night to start (and try to finish) the latest Dragon Dreams Christmyth ornament. By the end of Big Brother, which I've resolved not to watch anymore as it's way too predictable, all I had left to do was back stitch and stitch in 775 but do you think I could find that colour anywhere?? I searched my floss case, my duplicates, any open kit that I own and nada. So close to finishing in a night yet so far away!

First Stress free Long Weekend in a LONG time

This holiday weekend was great, my parents were in town helping my brother move so we had some great company, the only company I feel truly at ease with in my home. I started stitching the Dragon Dreams Generosity series on Friday and decluttered the basement some more on Saturday.

Sunday came all too quickly and mom and dad headed back to the Miramichi after having lunch with my grandmother for her 84th birthday. The other set of grandparents couldn't make it down Sunday as expected, the joys of working for yourself, so DH and I packed up DS and headed down the the FREX (Fredericton Exhibition).

After a couple of rides we convinced DS that it was time to do something that mommy wanted to do, check out the exhibits, especially as I had some entries in. I had high hopes last year, I thought I was a shoe in (it was my first year and I didn't know what to expect) but this year I had no expectations. As we entered I was elated, I could see my finished Mirabilia's Titania down in the back corner with a nice red ribbon on her. As I went through and checked out the other exhibits that I'd entered I felt connected with my 104 year old great grandmother that passed away this year. She was an amazing crafter, skilled in any handicraft imaginable and wanting to be more like her spurred my passion for learning to cross stitch and now taking up hardanger. Six ribbons later for handicrafts and baking later I knew she would have been proud. Now if I was only half the quilter that she was...

Super Swimmer

Last evening was DS's first preschool swim class. I was very nervous, he loves swimming so much that I always had to drag him out of Aquatots, I was so worried he wouldn't listen to his instructor. Well my mind had made it out to be worse than it was, actually I was one proud mom up in the stands. Not only did he actually listen to the instructor, he actually swam a bit on his own! Wow!

On Sunday his 'big boy' bed also arrived and to date the transition has been smooth. We never pushed the bed issue, he was safe in his crib (didn't climb out) and wasn't sneaking out of the house in the middle of winter (a big fear of mine) and we didn't have another child on the way so we waited until we bought the house and now that we're settled the time was right.

Some people might ask "well why not put a chain at the top of your door if you're scared he's going to go out in the winter?" Well my reasoning is simple, especially in light of a tragedy that robbed DH's family of their home a couple weeks ago...FIRE. I want DS to be able to get out if he has to on his own. I think instead I'll put bells on the doors or something that makes a noise that this light sleeper will hear him if he gets up during the night. DS is very scared of the dark and now 4 so I doubt he'd be as likely to wander out in the night like some of the stories on the news but still...

Last night I got a bit of stitching in on my Mill Hill ornament and attempted making Divinity Fudge, it's a bit sticky (not much though) and tastes pretty good :) I can't believe it's almost September. I had great ambitions to enter a tonne of contests in the FREX, not the case this year ;)

Blue Christmas

Well at least that's what came to mind while I was stitching Cardinal Santa last night. I didn't read the pattern too close when I started and discovered thet there was a very dark blue listed on top of the dark blue, so now I have to FROG, yuck. The evening went fairly smooth, picked up DS and the groceries after work, came home and got supper on the table then rushed out after supper to finish mowing the back lawn (an acre and a quarter sounded like a good idea at the time... thank goodness we have a couple feet of woods at the back). Then after getting DS showered, he was pretty grimy from helping DH rake, and to bed I did my FlyLady laundry check, and put a new load in and organized DS's art supplies before Big Brother.

I really wish I could have gotten more stitching in last night but I was just too tired. I didn't even stay up to watch the conclusion of Cold Case on A&E. I'm getting really anxious to finish this Santa ornament so that I can work on the Dragon Dreams elemental dragons.

Suprise Visitors...

Life is never boring around the house. I went home at lunch to mow our front lawn so after work DS and I could veg, read and stitch. We walked in the door and the message machine was blinking, what now??? There was a brief message from my MIL saying she was driving through town on her way back from helping DH's Aunt's family get setup temporarily in their apartment until their house is rebuilt (burnt down earlier in the month) and wanted to know if we wanted to meet her for supper. Thankfully I follow flylady.com so straightening up the house in case she decided to show off our new home to DH's other aunt who was travelling with the MIL (he has a huge family) didn't take too long and we had a nice dinner at Boston Pizza.

The restaurant just happens to be a stones throw away from the Southside Zellers where I had a parcel to return, so I got the bright idea that I'd go return it while DH picked up supplies for a fundraiser car wash he's doing on Friday. Forty five minutes later the paper work was finally finished and it should be processed today (computers went down). By the time we got home and got DS to bed it was 9:00! Which is late for our schedule.

I did get a good hour of stitching in on Cardinal Santa though, hopefully will get much more done tonight during Big Brother. Then I can start on the Dragon Dreams Elemental Dragons, the fabric came in just the other day and I can't wait!!

Goals Accomplished...and went to bed on time to boot!

Well the framing stop at lunch wasn't as bad as I though it would be, having my pictures assembled and actually picking out the frames don't even compare stresswise, and I even had time to enroll DS in his first preschool swim class (he's been going to aquatots since he was 18 months). It was nice to come home after work and hang up all of my latest finished pieces on the wall, yippee!

Later that night DH surprised me and brought up the rocking chair from the basement so I could stitch in the computer room with him (he's an online gamer) when I'm not watching tv. Little surprises are soo nice. My Mill Hill cardinal santa got a head last night and I got to bed before 10 (much needed).

Framing Anxiety

Last night I temporarily did some of my lacing work up my exhibition entries up in DH's computer room instead of down in the cross stitch room. My was he suprised. The poor guy had no idea that he'd become a sounding board for my frustrations with framers in the area. I haven't tried the guy that is out by our new house yet but the one I've been going to gives me anxiety attacks, but his frame prices are really good. To start there are no framers that specialize in framing needle arts per say. I'd have to go to Moncton for that, and especially if I wanted a custom mat cut. I have learned that if I actually have an idea what I want that I should really lace my piece first before even entering the store, to avoid the here's this mat, that mat, what part of I really don't want a mat is that hard. Also this would avoid the, I have no idea why you lace when you can (have me) pin, speal. My type A personality seems to always get suckered in to the arguing my side. A frustrated me the last time I was there think I might FINALLY have won a point as I asked what type of pins were used and of course they were of the rusting variety. I do understand that this is his profession...well sort of he orders in the frames and simply assembles your work, but it ticks me off when I feel people are misled about how to treat there needle work. And once you learn the proper techiniquest of lacing is really doesn't take hours to do, I laced a Mirabilia last night in under a half hour thanks to all of the tricks I learned at retreat (actually I'm finishing up lacing a piece from Fiddlestitch Cottage as I type). Maybe next time I'll try the guy closer to home, cheaper frames aren't worth this headache :)

Finally Recovered From the Move!!

The move went relatively smooth in May, however due to the Aliant strike we ended up without a phone and spent multiple hours on pay phones trying to find out why we had no phone, and resorted to contacting the media to get some action.

Then there was the introduction of the FlyLady. She's really turned our world upside down (in a good way). We went from 800 square feet to over 2400 square feet and during the unpacking process Eleni and Angela introduced me to www.flylady.com. Well let me tell you, I think we've either donated or thrown out at least the equivalent of our storage room in the old apartment, I'm really not used to having so much floor space! My sewing/cross stitching room still has lots of room for improvement but I'm amazed at how much better our bedroom looks.

Over the summer I've finished Mirabilia's Titania, Ode to a Fiddle Head by Fiddlestitch Cottage (I can't wait to see her button in the JCS ornament edition), Ballerina Bunnies by Dragon Dreams and just this weekend No Late Knight Snacking by Dragon Dreams as well. Now it's time to stitch Cardinal Santa by Mill Hill who's been neglected over the last 8 months.

Stitching Blogger's question of the week

What would you most like your favourite designer to design next?

I'd love to see Dragon Dreams put out The 12 Dragons of Christmas , I'd love to see the folksy dragons in their own little ornament series or in some sort of sampler.

Boxes, Boxes and MORE Boxes!!!

With only 5 days until the big move we've hit crunch time. I promised myself I'd pack everything cross stitch wise but my Lizzie Kate Harvest Blessings as soon as I finished my Dragon Dreams Ballerina Bunnies, which I kept, only to fine I misplaced the pattern. Luckily I left out my Fiddlestitch Cottage Ode To A Fiddle Head so I had to make a quick rush out to the store to pick up a couple DMC colors as the rest were packed, setting me back a whole 2 dollars ;)

The boxes are really starting to pile up, it's amazing how many boxes of books we've managed to accumulate. Took a spin by the house after getting yet another load of boxes and it looks like all the work we wanted is done and the house is empty just waiting for us. I'm so excited to be getting a cross stitch room although it'll need some paint. Go Habs Go painted on the walls will not be getting my cross stitch relaxation flowing ;)

Only a couple of days left!!!

Let The Packing Begins...

Sure enough, you're all set for retreat and have just enough time to finish up your projects and after months and months of house hunting and disappointment a home with everything on all of your family's wish lists comes on the market. What a whirlwind! Good houses at a reasonable price here in Fredericton move very quickly so we had to make our move quickly. Needless to say my normal stitching time has taken a large hit. Thankfully the inspection and all the other running around was completed last night so I'll be able to pack for the retreat in Bouctouche this weekend.

I started packing up my kits that I won't be starting before the move and came across the book mark I'd picked up to stitch for this weekends retreat exchange. I guess I'll have to pass on that part this retreat. On the bright side my stash will no longer be under foot and in about 8 little nooks of space left in our apartment and can finally have a little room of it's own and hidden from Alex's curious little fingers. It's Survivor night so hopefully my DD-Ballerina Bunnies will get some legs tonight!

Countdown to Bouctouche:36 hours.