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...