Little Things...

Started "Exotic Orchid" today... About half-way to where I frogged it before... It does look so much better in three strands then two... I'm glad I made that decision... I'll post when I have more progress...

I sorted the threads for "Beguiling Tiger" last night... Took forever... Damn my organizational skills...

Alright, I Has A List!!

No, not a Christmas list, though that would be appropriate... A cross-stitching list, which is just as awesome... I think I've picked out my large projects for 2009... We'll just have to see if I actually get even half of what I intend to do done... It'll be fun trying!


1. "Exotic Orchid" designed by Sheila Hudson... This was featured in CrossStitcher magazine issue # 194...


2. "Spring Break" designed by Dyan Allaine... Kustom Krafts Inc...


3. "Regal Tiger" designed by Linda Rossin... The Gold Collection... Dimensions...


4. "Beguiling Tiger" designed by Tracy Somerville... The Gold Collection Petites... Dimensions...


5. "Unicorn Mystique" designed by Stephen Read... Sunset... Dimensions...


6. "Woodland Enchantress" designed by Ruth Sanderson... The Gold Collection... Dimensions...

Wow... What a list, right? And seeing as how I figure I'm possibly going back to school in September, it's gonna be a heck of a challenge...

Pondering New Year's Resolutions While Eating Cookies...

Whoops... I guess a diet isn't gonna make the list this year... My best friend shipped me some cookies with the Christmas presents she sent this year... Chocolate chip... Nummy...

Actually, it probably will, because I'm talking about my stitching resolutions, not my moral/get my ass in shape kinda ones...

There are so many things in my stash... I've been collecting projects for years... It's going to be hard to choose ones, especially with so many beautiful things... I think I'll try to limit it to between five and ten major projects, with little ones in between/during to keep me from getting too bored...

I'm making a list... And you can bet, I'll be checking it twice...

Probably more...

Freaking Out? Oh Yeah, I Was...

So, I thought I had thrown out my current project... In the trash... Already in the dumpster... Horrors...

Fortunately, I found it... Under a bunch of stuff...

It is now properly put away... Until the next time I almost lose it...

Do you notice I have a nasty habit of misplacing things? First, a pattern, now an actual WIP... I need an anti-anxiety medication...

In other news, finished "Flakes Unite", and now back on to "Joy Kitty"... Unless I lose it again...

*Sigh*...

Just Have To Say...

Why is it that stabbing a piece of cloth with a needle feels like the best way to deal after a long day of handling drug addicts?

It's been a long night, working the back-shift... I am tired of humanity for the moment...

I'm Adding Pictures!!!!

I said I would add some pictures, so here they are... The outlined mouse is from one of the ornaments I'm working on... It's the one where the plastic canvas isn't wide enough... The moose has been turned into a tree decoration for my best friend... I know she'll get a kick out of it... I framed the poinsetta today... There's no glass in the frame... I decided it looked better without it... Now I have a spare mat that I can play with and a pane of glass... And there's my progress with the "Flakes Unite!" plastic canvas ornament that replaced the one causing me issues... That long expanse of white is driving me slightly bonkers...

Drat and Darnation!

So, I have no pictures... Well, I do have pictures, but they're on my camera, and that's upstairs, and I'm being a lazy ass tonight by not going to get it... I worked all day, I'm entitled! (I'll post pics next time, promise!)

Finished an ornament for my best friend... It is from a cross-stitcher magazine... It's a moose... All that's required is the lazer-beam's shooting out of its eyes and it would very much resemble the road signs back home... The person in the magazine who said that it looked Scandinavian (sp) has apparently never been to Newfoundland...

I have a set of three Christmas ornaments... Purchased last year... All on 14-count plastic canvas... I started the first, and the canvas was not wide enough... I sent off an e-mail to dimensions to get new canvas earlier this week... The second ornament is progressing nicely...

I have a small cardinal square, which is from the daydreams collection... Purchased last year... I opened the box to sort the threads to start it and a pile of glass fell out onto my bed and knees... I spent the night vacuuming, changing already clean sheets, and carefully cleaning myself off... The threads are all full of glass slivers too, so, I'm not sure what I'm going to do now... This is the second time I've had the glass broken from these kits... And sadly, both from Christmas projects...

My snowman piece... Purchased last month... (There was no roll to be on, only coincidence)... Have not had time to start it yet... :)

I have relatives coming for Christmas this year... Yay! Aunt, Uncle, and cousins... I look forward to this season...

Goals for the Month of December...

1. Finish all three plastic canvas cross-stitch ornaments...
Flakes Unite - Finished...
Joy Kitty - In transit...
2. Stitch the daydreams cardinal...
3. Start the snowman from the petit gold collection...

Finished Another!

Well, here's the Christmas present for my best friend's family... I nearly went wacko stitching on the beads today though... Note to self, when beading, choose a needle with a bigger eye... I ended up having to split the thread in half... Seeing as how it was a light effects thread, it didn't like that too much...

I think the near insanity causingness of it was worth it in the end... I wish I could see their faces when they get it... :)

Continuation of Poinsetta...

Here's progress...

One Finish...

I ended up ripping out an area of this one because it was one column over and unsymetrical... I was very annoyed when I figured it out... But, all's well that ends well, I guess... It's finished now, and only need to be washed, pressed, and framed...

We'll see how long that takes...

Goals for the Month of November...

I need to list what my goals are for the month, or I may never get anything done... This hopefully will keep me honest in my day to day stitching...

1. Poinsetta on green aida... Finished November 25th...
2. Needlework of blocks...
3. Quotation... Finished November 14th...

Now, let's see how far I get... I'm hoping to finish the poinsetta at the very least, seeing as how it's a Christmas present for my best friend's mom and dad...

Progress... Or, Who Said You Can't Work On Many Things At Once?

Here's the baby sampler all framed and everything... This thing took me forever, just because I started not liking it... This is why I think I'll restrict myself to things I would give myself from now on... One's that I would never like to keep will just drag on into eternity...


I told myself, no... No more projects until I got what I had on my plate done... Will Power! Thy name is not "Carolyn" apparently... Here's progress on one that I started the other night... Maybe tonight I'll finish the saying... I love that quote...

And here's the beginning of the second of my Christmas Projects... There's some Light Effects threads worked in there too, but they're not all that noticeable in this picture... Look! Green Aida!

Distractions, Accidents, and Sickness...

So, I've been procrastinating lately... The baby sampler has been sitting there, about 7/10's done... I've been glaring at it... It needs to be done... I know it needs to be done... I have many other things that I wish I could do before finishing it though... There are no pictures of this at the moment...

Lately, I've been plotting my annual foray into carving... Yup... It's Hallowe'en pumpkin carving time... There's so much out there, and I can't wait until I actually get to carve my pieces... Pieces, plural... I've been making two disposable artworks a year lately... Pictures will follow once they're carved... At the very end of the month, that is... First I have to choose my pumpkins... That's an art in itself...

I've been sick with a cold for the past few days... My co-workers have been avoiding me like the plague, or cringing when I sneeze near them... Hopefully it will pass soon... I am feeling better... I just have a hacking cough now, with none of the phlem that I've been producing lately...

Friday night, I took a flying leap at work (read... I tripped over a chair and fell on boxes), and landed on my arm... Nothing hurt but my pride really... Well, I have a carpet burn on my arm and an evil looking bruise, and I was a little stiff and sore for the following two days, but am generally okay now... WSIB was informed, just in case something crops up later... Doubt it will... Two seconds after I made an ass out of my questionable walking ability, I was cracking up laughing at myself...

Baby Samplers Are Boring...

Clouds and Balloons and Bears... Oh My! Seriously... I am bored with this... I can't wait until it's over, which should hopefully be this weekend... (The bear on the yellow balloon is cute though)... Then all I have to do is wait for the rug-rat to be spawned and do the details...

Then onto my other Christmas project... Then the purple flower for mum... Then, finally something for me! I have no idea what it'll be, but I promise it'll be something damn cool, peeps!

Done Like Dinner...

Finished today! It looks very pretty, if I do say so myself... The cabin looks warm and inviting, and the birds are cute...

Next on the schedule... A friend is having a baby on the 25th (or so they think), so I need to motor through a birth announcement... I was at the baby shower for her yesterday... She is an avid cross-stitcher... So is one of her friends who is now my friend as of the first friend's wedding... We three had some lovely conversation regarding our craft... It was nice talking about needle and thread and not boring someone... Also, another friend is getting married in October, so I might do something for her... I was at her Stag & Doe yesterday, getting drunk off of cheap wine and smoking cheap cigarettes... Okay, not really with the wine and the smokes... But it makes an amusing thought for me... Yesterday was a busy day, with the many of social gatherings...

Which begs the question, really, of when am I supposed to have time for my other Chrismas project? *Pulling hair out in frustration*...

It's Been Awhile...

So, the last time I updated, I had lost a chart and I had been attempting to hand paint a piece of fabric for another design... Well, I scraped the painted fabric for now... It wasn't coming out even coloured at all, and I actually found the colour I was looking for at the local craft store... So, props to me... Also, I received the new chart from Dimensions on the 17th... Well, I guess it was technically the 15th, but it was sitting in the mail box for a couple of days... I took a long weekend up to Ottawa, where I got to experience Ikea and Michael's for the first time... Seriously, they were right next to each other! And there was a Chapter's across the street... ACROSS THE STREET!!!!! I must move there... Immediately... There is no arguement against this...

Ahem... So, progress...

Here's what's done as of today... It's filling out nicely... Probably won't be too long now until it's done...

Annoyances and New Things To Try...

I managed to get this far and then lost the pattern... It must have been thrown out with the millions of newspapers that use the kitchen table as a rest-stop... Good news: I'm literate... Bad news: This effectively puts a stop to working on this particular Christmas present...

Not that I was working on it a lot anyway... I have discovered House and have spent the past two weeks holed up in my basement, when not at work, drooling over a massive amount of sardonic and caustic Hugh Laurie characterization...



So, today I painted canvas for a new cross-stitch... Yes... I painted aida cloth... I have read that this is actually a good technique for getting the colours that you want... It's not like I'm going to find this green in stores anywhere, and the amount of fabric dye around these parts is horribly lacking... It's 14 count white aida washed in diluted green acrylic paint (it turned a minty colour, very pretty), and then overlaid with a generous coating of concentrated paint... It was then dabbed with paper towels because this kind of paint can appear plastic-like if too much is used... And the best thing about this paint? I don't have to worry about it running, because acrylic is permanent... Buahahahahaha...

I used to get top marks in art class for my blending techniques... This will make an interesting addition to my cross-stitch catalogue...

In other news, I have issued a challenge to my best friend... We have to make christmas presents for each over this year... She whined at that, mainly because she's not crafty in the least... (Mainly she tries and doesn't stick with it because she gets discouraged when it doesn't look right at first... She doesn't believe in practice makes perfect)... But she did accept the challenge... I am glad, because it gives me the excuse to make her a giant crochet octopus... Either that, or the box full of tiny crochet chickens... I didn't really need an excuse for this... But it does amuse me...

Time To Start On X-Mas Things...

Yesterday was my day off... I woke up with such a sense of get-it-doneness and purpose that I grabbed one of my Christmas projects out of my craft box and started it... And what a start! The entire front of the cabin and the Cardinal... I didn't think I'd get that far...

This is called "Winter Hideaway" from the Dimensions Gold Collection... The finished piece will look like so... http://www.dimensions-crafts.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=2280#details

More Stuff!

I know... I know... I know... I've posted this before, however, I never did get around to posting it with the adapted eye... I like this version much much better then the previous pictures... It just looks cleaner... And the picture is just a better picture in general anyway...

And then, onto my princess project... Okay... It's not really a princess... But it is a funky letter with a crown of golden beads... And it has the distinction of being the first piece I've made which features beads... I think it came out well...

Here's An Update...

The large purple orchid I started ended up being frogged, because I've decided that I need to do it in three threads and not the standard two... And while I love the idea of doing it, I've been focused on smaller projects, because ripping out that many stitches made me very unhappy...

So, here's the two I've finished in the past couple of weeks... I actually took these on the bus with me a few days, and received some of the strangest looks from people... I've also been working on my Johnny Depp monochromatic, and another project designed to make me feel like a princess... Because I deserve to feel that way, dammit... Pictures will follow on those eventually... ;)

In addition to these, I have my next few projects planned out, including several for christmas that I have to begin soon, as well as a pair of geishas and the purple orchid, culminating with the beginning of "The Fortunate Traveler" in the new year... I already have the evenweave, which makes me nervous, because I have never used that fabric before... However, I understand the over-one and -two threads concept, so hopefully that will go relatively smoothly...

So, here's my "Wish Upon A Star" bear, from a CrossStitcher magazine... It was a free kit that came with the magazine last year, I think... As well as a DayDream's kit I picked up from the Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago... It is currently hanging on my wall... I am quite pleased with how they've both turned out...

Finished! Onto The Next Thing!

Well, we'll see if it's done... Not too fond of the second horse's eye... I will have to see if it's correct or not now...

Regardless, onto the purple flower!

*Eyes Tired*... *Too Many Stitches*...

So, now I have only the back-stitch to do... I look forward to this being done... Seriously...

*Squeals With Excitement*...

I have finally made it to the other side of the pattern... I am relieved that it did not continue into infinity like I had feared...

I hope to finish the horses tomorrow... The sky will probably take me another month... And then the back stitch... Let's hope that I underestimate myself... I wish to get on with my next project soon...

Actually, I think I really am exaggerating the time-line here... A lot of the sky is halfcross stitches... And as far as I know, it's all one colour of blue...

Updating "Sweethearts"...

Job Prospect: Unknown...

Because of lack of actual news, here's an updated picture of my project de jour...

And here's what I saw where I woke up this morning...

It stormed last night... Which caused 'that'... And we had tornado warnings this evening... That is one of the only things I do not like about southwestern Ontario... The bloody tornado warnings...

I Should Be Sleeping...

I have an interview tomorrow... It's for a job I'm really interested in... I want to do well...

I'm very nervous...

Please wish me luck...

Updates and Past Projects...

Here's an update on my latest...

Here's one I finished about four years ago...

And here's another I finished about five years ago...

Progress...

Here's a new picture of my cross stitch de jour... I think I've done quite a bit today...

Projects...

Well, I said I would post some of my past projects, and here they are...

My current project... "Sweethearts"...

The lovely Stargazer that I just finished today...

And that's all I've got for now... My Facebook account has more pictures...

A New Beginning...

This is a new blog for me... I already have two others... Both of them are on LiveJournal... If you ever have any interest in them, then you can search them out using my real name... This I have decided to start because I just finished school... I am now a Pharmacy Technician (though what I've been called for the last year I don't know)... I am also somewhat obsessed with crafting, namely cross stitching... So, I am going to combine these things... Thus, this blog...

You will find that I use a lot of '...'s in my paragraphs... They don't mean that I'm trailing off my sentences... I finish what I say... It's just my writing style... Which is kind of silly, I know...

I will post some pictures of my current and past projects sometime soon...