Trick or Treat and Taxes

It's that week - the last big push to get all the taxes filed.  People are grumpier than usual.  I don't see too many people this year with smiles on their faces showing that they will be getting an unanticipated refund.  I have seen a few looks of shock on faces showing that they will be writing some unanticipated checks.  It's really too bad because aside from paying huge sums of money to the government or being reminded of the huge sum of money you paid all year long, this is really a nice time of year.

While getting my camera ready for a quick trip, I realized that I have photos on my camera that I meant to post back in October.  I must have skipped over them when we experienced "Snowtober".

Here's a quick shot of my stitched Boo Club from Lizzie Kate.  This pic is clearly before ironing.  I think it is before the little buttons were added as well.  Over the next week or two I hope to put together the other pics and create a quick tutorial on finishing a bellpull/banner.

Home automation

So I've decided to automate my house.  Not in a creepy way like all those low-budget horror movies from the '80s.  Just in a minor way.

We have a Roomba which goes about its business vacuuming our family room 3 times a week.  It works pretty well except when someone leave wires on the floor from computers or earbuds or the like.  Other than wires, or a dead battery in a lighthouse, nothing really seems to stop "Rosie" the Roomba.

Now I want to automate the heat.  Actually I want to make the heat a little less automatic.  Since I don't have a schedule that is set in stone, having the heat kick up or down at the same time everyday doesn't always work.  So now we have a thermostat that I can control from my phone.  When I leave the house I set the heat down.  When I am almost home I kick the heat up.  So far it is working really well.

Now I would really like to automate vacuuming the stairs.

My Poppies

Here's an update on my Faby-Reilly Poppy biscornu.  I just picked this up again last week.  I hope to have it done before the poppies should really bloom.  They will replace the real poppies that I would have in my garden if I could actually grow poppies.

Happy Stitching!

Plans

Happy New Year!  

Still no stitching to show.  Way back at the beginning of November I injured a finger.  After many bandages, antibiotic and tetanus shots and many weeks of healing it is much better than before.  But strangely, it is still super sensitive.  So sensitive in fact that it hurts to have 32 ct linen move across my finger.  Holding the needle is very uncomfortable and as you can imagine, if I wear a band-aid while stitching the needle keeps slipping out of my fingers - very frustrating.  I am grateful that my fingertip has feeling because the doctor wasn’t entirely sure how well that would heal.  But this is a little too much.

So I have spent my allotted stitching time organizing my stash and surfing the internet for inspiration for when I go back to stitching.  A little while ago Nora Corbett released Merchant Mermaid.  As usual, some stitchers loved the mermaid in a commercial advertisement design and others hated it.  But, like most photographs of stitched models, I think the photo on the front of the chart doesn’t do this design justice.  Just looking at the material list tells me that she is just dripping with sparkle - she uses 9 different packages of beads from petite beads all the way up to pebble beads.  In addition to all those beads she is decorated with a number of glass roses and amethyst crystals.  Not to mention that she uses 5 skeins of beautiful overdyed silks from Caron Collection.  How could she not be gorgeous?

Mirabilia Merchant Mermaid

I found Stitchitandie’s blog with her start on Merchant Mermaid and she really is beautiful.  Please visit her blog for a better look.  She is an incredible stitcher and her blog is just full of beautiful work and inspiration.



I am going to pull together the materials and do a floss toss and pick the perfect fabric.  Hopefully I’ll be able to stitch soon and it will be all ready and waiting for me.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  I hope that everyone celebrates safely and I wish for health and happiness for all in the coming year.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  It was great having my mother visiting for Christmas and we all had a great time.

Things are slowing down now and I hope to have time to sit and peacefully stitch this week.

Enjoy your holidays everyone.

No phone, no lights, no motorcars

After a week without power, we finally have lights, heat, internet, phone and cable again.  Since October 29 when we had a freak early nor'easter before the leaves fell from the trees, we haven't had power.  And we've been lucky - twenty percent of the folks in our town still don't have power.  The kids will finally go back to school tomorrow - but they have already had 8 snow days for this school year and it isn't even winter yet.

Unfortunately, I spent a good part of the week with a nasty cold - otherwise, there probably couldn't be better stitching time.   Just before this whole hullbaloo Nora Corbett released her new mermaid - Merchant Mermaid.  I know some people don't care for the new design but she has grown on me.  I think maybe if the lower advertisement part were either bigger and more clearly in the advertising style or that the upper 'MILL Hill' were smaller so that the advertising portion could be completely removed, more people would be interested in her.  The beads and treasures on her and the silk threads are exquisite.  I plan to stitch her starting with the main part of the mermaid.  I'll see how I feel about the emblem when I get there.  In the meantime I'll keep an eye out for other Merchant Mermaid Works in Progress to see how I feel about her.

She really is beautiful.

Here's hoping that the rest of the folks still in the dark have there power restored today!

Happy Stitching.

What an artist can do with just six shades

Isn't it amazing what an artist can do with just 3 shades of red and 3 shades of green?  This is the Poppy Biscornu from Faby Reilly.  It's actually really and easy and quick stitch but I haven't put much time into because I have some gift stitching to finish up.  So really this is all I can show.  I truly love the poppies in this design and I haven't even beaded or backstitched yet.

We're just starting to see some color in the leaves here.  We've been warned not to expect too much red and orange this year due to all the "extra" rain from Hurricane Irene and the storms that came afterwards.  While i hope the forecasters are wrong, it does look like a good number of leaves are just turning yellow and falling off the trees.  Still, it hasn't gotten cold yet so maybe we'll get lucky.

Speaking of the forecasters, I've seen the squirrels running around with giant hickory nuts - some even bigger than the squirrel's head.  I am thinking that this cannot be a good sign regarding winter.  The squirrels always have a better handle on the season ahead and they seem to be busier than usual this fall.  I better beef up my stash for those snow days at home.  There's nothing like getting your cup of tea, your music and your project and finding that you're short one skein of silk or one package of beads and you won't be getting out or getting mail until you've shoveled out of the most recent snowstorm.

Here's to enjoying the warm weather this week and planning for the coming season.  Happy Stitching everyone.

Cross stitch on a Pumpkin

I came across this while surfing around yesterday - Cross Stitch on a Pumpkin from the StitchPunk blog.
Creative!

My Poppy Biscornu

Here's an update on my Poppy Biscornu from Faby Reilly.  I really like this design.  The spiderweb roses came out nicely.  Faby Reilly recently released some new designs - We'll get the Violet Biscornu and the Plum Orchid Needlebook up at NeedleartsGallery.com real soon.  I just love these pieces.

Time to switch back to Moonlit Kitties or they won't be done in time for Halloween.

I know it isn't normal to get excited over fruit - but these pears are from our very own pear tree.  This is the first year that the trees produced well.  I knew I liked pears before - but pears from your very own pear tree are just soooo good.  They won't win any beauty contests but they are mighty tasty.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  The water here is receding.  I wish we could send some of it (much of it) to places like Texas where it is so badly needed.

We saw many of the memorial services for 9/11 today both local and televised.  I feel like I have spent most of the day in tears.  My prayers still go out to all of the people who lost loved ones on that day and to the friends and families of those first responders who are suffering illness today as a result of their heroic actions on that day.

Back to Normal

Phew!  Back to normal.  The kids went back to school this week - and only 1 day later than planned.  Due to the visit from Hurricane Irene, a few schools were without power on the originally scheduled first day so it was postponed.  Most people in town have had their power restored.  We have been much luckier than so many other people affected by Irene.   My prayers are with the folks who have lost so much from this hurricane.

I've been stitching away and kitting up even more stitching projects.  The Halloween Collection book from Just CrossStitch has been out for a week or so now.  It has some great designs from well-known designers.

My favorites so far include Knock Knock designed by Marie Driskell from Blackberry Lane Designs.  It is the piece near the bottom of the cover picture stitched on the orange hand-dyed linen.  You can't really see it in this picture, but there is a black cat inside the Jack O Lantern.

Another favorite is A Spirited Mandala designed by Tracy Horner from Ink Circles. This is a section of the design - I love the pumpkins, ghosts and spooky trees incorporated into the mandala.

And a must-stitch for me is the Penelope Pumpkin Witch design from Brooke Nolan of Brooke's Books.

I love the little broom made with Kreinik ribbon.

These will be fun to stitch.

Happy Stitching.

Poppies Poppies Poppies

Hurricane preparations are complete.  We have tons of tuna and chef boyardee, all the gas cans are filled, and we've got batteries.  There was no bottled water to be had.  We'll be brushing our teeth with seltzer if need be.  The gas station ran out of gas - and the storm isn't supposed to be here for another 30-36 hours.

We pulled in all of the potted plants.  I am thinking that we may have too many.  But they had to come in because we don't want airborn tomatoes.  I hope the lack of tomato plants will make the chipmunks pack up and go elsewhere.

We picked about 50 nearly ripe pears and nearly 50 nearly ripe apples.  I'm not sure how they would have fared if we left them out in the storm but I couldn't bear to lose all of them.  I think the pears were close enough to ripe that they'll soften up somewhat and if they aren't sweet enough, we'll poach them.  The apples aren't as sweet as we would like but they should be good for pectin.

I needed a break from stitching on paper.  I didn't realize that I missed stitching on linen so I started this little project.  I'll go back to Moonlit Kitties in a bit.

This is my start on Poppy Biscornu from Faby Reilly.  These designs are beautiful.  We'll be adding more to the Needlearts Gallery website next week.  I have not been able to find the little poppy button in the center of the biscornu model, but I would bet that I can make it with FIMO clay.  I'll have to look for a good color match and give that a try.  Here is what it should look like when it is complete.

Happy Stitching.  Stay safe.

Ready for Beads

So, I think my Moonlit Kitties is ready for beading.  The stitching took a little longer than I expected.  It's hard to see, but there is a good amount of blue stitching on the blue background which isn't difficult - I just didn't realize it was there when I looked at the photo of the model.

Moonlit Kitties Buttoned and Beaded kit from Mill Hill

It is finally raining here (without hail or tornado warnings) and cooling off.  Tomorrow the boys and I will brave the giant weeds that have grown up near the tomatoes in the garden and have at them.

I hope cooler weather is in store for the countless folks who have been dealing with 100 degree days for weeks now.

Look! It's Hogwarts!

It has been a big Lego summer at our house (and beyond).  Both of my boys went to camps with Legos this year.  My younger boy built Bash 'em Bots with Lego Technics while my older boy built a whole list of robots with Mindstorms.  They both had a great time and it seems to have re-kindled an interest in their Legos.  So, without further ado - Hogwarts.

It probably needs more mist and fog but it's hard to find that around here lately.

The Great Hall still needs building and that will probably happen on the next nasty hot day - likely tomorrow.

Stitching pics tomorrow.

Stay Cool as best you can!

A Little More Progress

Here's a little more progress on Moonlit Kitties.  I really like how easy it is to stitch on the perforated paper - especially if you need to grab your work and go.  It has been really convenient - although I guess that will stop when I get to the beading.  Otherwise, I envision tiny little beads all over the car.

While sorting through some charts today I found some Brooke's Books charts for Fauna the Fairy Witch, Trixie the Halloween Witch and Polly the Pirate Witch.  I found an even older Gwendolyn the Great chart as well. I think I'll start on one of these next.  They're all really cute though I'm leaning towards Fauna or Gwendolyn.

Kitties and a bunny

I've finished the Garden  Bunny Buttoned & Beaded piece stitched by my friend, Phyllis.

Once the piece is stitched, you have cut it out from the perforated paper square.  I always dread this part.  I am one of those people who tends to hold my breath when I'm cutting something.  If there is a lot of cutting involved, this can lead to some serious light-headedness.  I just have this feeling that I can really damage something when I cut it.  It's not like stitching with the wrong floss where I can just frog my stitches.  Cutting the paper - and even worse, a thread - is way more permanent than making a few stitches.  You should see me working on a hardanger piece.  At least I don't turn blue-ish any more once I learned that you can weave in threads if you make a mistake.  But, it is still nerve wracking.  Using a serger is likely to kill me.  Sewing and cutting the fabric at the same time!

So, all that being said, I find that it is easier to cut while looking at the back of the piece.  The distraction of beads and buttons is not on the back of the piece.  I have also tried cutting the paper on my own pieces after the stitching is done but before the beading.  It worked well on the pieces I have done, but I can see how it might make the beading tougher on some pieces where it would be nice to have a little extra material to hold on to.

Garden Bunny after going through the Xyron

The new cartridge for my Xyron finally arrived and I was able to get the back of the stitching good and sticky and apply the light blue felt.  I stitched right through the felt to attach the little bowtie.  Then I added a magnet to the back rather than the pin backing that comes with the kit.  I think a lot of people are more likely to use these little pieces as magnets than as pins.  Isn't he cute?

Garden Bunny all done

It's been a busy week so I've made only a little progress on Moonlit Kitties.  Now there's a moon to go with my spectral kitties.

Moonlit Kitties

Still need to squint

You still need to squint to see the cats, but I've made some progress on the moon.

I like this design.  It reminds me of cool fall nights (or the cool full moon with clouds floating by that we saw after the Harry Potter movie this weekend).  Given how hot it is here now, those cool fall nights are looking pretty good.

This Moonlit Kitties kit and a whole bunch more are available at NeedleartsGallery.com

You have to see this! Cross stitch iPhone case

I just had to pass this along.  It's a cross stitch iPhone case - the back is much like plastic canvas so you can personalize your iPhone case.  They refer to it as the iPhone 4G case so I am pretty confident that it won't work with the older iPhones, but someone out there can probably figure out a way to make one that works with other phones.  It does come in other colors besides pink.

If you squint...

If you squint, you can just about make out my two Moonlit Kitties.  This is another Buttoned & Beaded kit from Mill Hill.  There are a lot of beads in this design so the image won't look complete until the beads are added but it is coming along nicely.  I love how easy it is to stitch these designs - stitching on the perforated paper doesn't require a hoop and it is easy to pick up and stitch a couple lengths whenever I get a few minutes.  I have the navy blue frame ready and waiting for this when the stitching is done.

Here is what the piece will look like when it's complete.  You can see more of the Buttoned & Beaded designs at NeedleartsGallery.com.

Yep - another rabbit

This time the rabbit is French Country Rabbit from JBW Designs.  This is also stitched by my friend, Phyllis.  I'll get this one finished off as well.  We have to work out whether it will be a pillow or an ornament.  Either way, it will have some nice coordinating dark red fabric as a backing and some cording or trim of some kind.

Isn't he cute!

Happy Stitching