tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88966897145289767822024-03-06T00:31:20.075-05:00One Stitch Closer to NirvanaJennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-43535857335667846432018-12-24T20:30:00.000-05:002018-12-24T20:30:35.637-05:00Wow, it's been a whileAfter having my gorgeous girls, stitching time has been heavily reduced. BUT I have actually finished a few select pieces.<br />
I'll try to do a better job tracking my craft journey.<br />
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My girls turned 6 earlier in December! Of course I had to make some birthday related craft to celebrate them with.<br />
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The sign is a Sweetheart Designs kit and the candle mats is a felt kit from Bareroots. The Bareroots kit was generous enough to make two mats from, but the seed beads are not included.<br />
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This is a tablerunner from Aqufactum. I bought the kit directly from Acufactum's online store in Germany. It was a bit scary to do the appliqué of the candles, but it worked out. Next time, I'll be more careful with the doubleadhesive interfacing - my machine was not a fan! Lots of goop on the needle and frayed sewing machine thread. I added the girls' names on each end of the runner. It's so much prettier in person! </div>
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-49830136158591567452015-09-22T06:57:00.001-04:002015-09-22T06:57:51.573-04:00Heart in Bloom Sewing Tray <h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
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Random post time! :-)</div>
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I was fortunate enough to take
this class at the Shepherd's Bush 2010 retreat in Utah. We made the
beaded pins in class, which was a lot of fun and really pretty easy.
The little pin-cushion was made by picking our own favorite motif and
colors from the sampler.</div>
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I added scrap booking paper coated with adhesive film on the bottom to make the finished look nicer.</div>
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Thanks for looking and Happy Stitching!</div>
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-2173921532583826582014-01-16T22:06:00.000-05:002014-01-16T23:07:47.085-05:00The First Few Finishes and Adventures of the YearAs always, thanks so much for visiting my blog and for all your kind and encouraging comments - you're the best!<br />
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I hope that you have been lucky enough to get cold and snow without any major power outages or other inconveniences. It has been wonderful here in my corner of KY. I got to break out my Swedish winter clothes and that only happens every 5 years or so. I had a great time, but at the same time, I was glad that it didn't last too long. We have had some nice snow flurries the last couple of days, but nothing has really stayed on the ground. The falling snow is so pretty and calming to watch though.</div>
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I have had a lot of fun stitching on my Hillside Samplings Folk Art Sewing Roll. It has actually been close to done for a few weeks, but all of the sudden I decided that I was too unfocused to make all those French knots that make up the sheeps' furry bodies. Well, I finally rolled up my sleeves yesterday night, and waddaya know - it took 20 minutes, tops! Easy-peasy. I have even started the assembly process - it really shouldn't take that long; the instructions are great, very straight-forward and there is nothing odd about the construction. I'll give it a go as soon as I log off! :-)</div>
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Here is a close-up of the sheep running amok in the star-lit fields. </div>
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I did also manage to finish (complete with personalization and all! I hate charting personalizations!!!) one of the girls' birth sampler. I turned out great, if I may say so myself... :-) I have even started the second one and it's coming along nicely (the photo is a bit out-dated, I am actually a bit further along).</div>
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Here is a closer look at the angel and the tulips and all the filled in leaves. Even though the colors are nowhere close to what the kit's cover photo showed, I am still really pleased! I am not even dreading stitching the sampler one more time.<br />
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A few photos showing the progress: </div>
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So, you may wonder what the red running thread is all about. Well, let me tell you - the chart was missing a vertical row of stitches on the right side - this drove me nuts, since this is supposed to be a symmetrical piece. Luckily, I noticed the error very early on and made some mirror copies from the left (correct) side. Of course I kept forgetting to look at the mirrored charts while stitching, so finally, exasperated with all the 'reversed stitching' I had to do, I marked the sucker. <br />
It wasn't until after I pulled out my second kit that I noticed that the
covers looked different. Wouldn't you believe it - the kit on the
right is a 'new and improved' version - the chart has been fixed and is
larger and easier to read. I could only roll my eyes heavenwards and
smirk once I realized that Murphy's Law is applicable to cross-stitching
too. Blargh! lol<br />
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All in all, a very enjoyable stitch though! </div>
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I managed to finish my "lunch project" right before Christmas, a beautiful 1827 reproduction Biedermeier sampler from Permin, which for some reason is really hard to track down here in the US. Note the burn mark on the left side of the linen border - ugh! I hate ironing! I burnt the edge of both this sampler and the birth sampler above (same side even). Shows up that the stem function had died. Sigh... I did find a link online claiming that it may be possible to get the burned stains out, but I am doubtful. I'll give it a try and if it doesn't work, I guess that I'll have the matting cut with a smaller opening.<br />
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Needless to say, I am now a proud owner of a brand new iron! And from now on, no ironing without a thick pressing cloth....</div>
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I am itching to stitch more Permin samplers:</div>
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<b>1854 Celle Museum Soroe Reproduction Sampler</b> </div>
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<img alt="1854 Celle Museum Soroe Reproduction Sampler" border="0" src="http://www.wye.co.uk/download/pictures/Permin/1854_Celle_Museum_Soroe_Sampler.jpg" /> </div>
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<b>1859 Anna Theis Reproduction Sampler</b> </div>
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<img alt="1859 Anna Theis Reproduction Sampler" border="0" src="http://www.wye.co.uk/download/pictures/Permin/1859_Anna_Theis_Sampler.jpg" /> </div>
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<b>Meyer Reproduction Sampler</b> </div>
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<img alt="Meyer Reproduction Sampler" border="0" src="http://www.wye.co.uk/download/pictures/Permin/Meyer_Reproduction_Sampler.jpg" /> </div>
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The two latter are patiently waiting for me in my stash. I guess that I need to dig one of them out and bring it into work. :-)</div>
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Here are some other fun craft projects that I have been entertaining myself with:<br />
The tiny oval penny rug kit, here displayed with Liberty Hill's latest creation. (The kit comes in an <a href="http://www.thewoolenneedle.com/images/pennyrugs/OvalPennyMat.jpg">off-white as well as the midnight-blue</a> center that I picked.) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDE2nkenbvpctHXZNBzPw6XBplkZWvdPK0i5C43Xj-F6okDf6Y3JqK5NmBjLVW816Fb7El4QpLwNDcZrj0AacTieLqoxA942UKIfov0_Nkn-zLozIrNfqjGCiPU1ekWe5PMkUqeYMt_ck/s1600/100_8084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDE2nkenbvpctHXZNBzPw6XBplkZWvdPK0i5C43Xj-F6okDf6Y3JqK5NmBjLVW816Fb7El4QpLwNDcZrj0AacTieLqoxA942UKIfov0_Nkn-zLozIrNfqjGCiPU1ekWe5PMkUqeYMt_ck/s1600/100_8084.JPG" height="240" width="320" /> </a></div>
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I must say that I do enjoy wool projects. </div>
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Quick and fun - instant gratification (at least for a miniscule size like this...)! </div>
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And I went totally over-board when I happened across the instructions for how to make these easy Christmas ball swags on Pinterest. Especially since I happened to fall in on Michael's 60% off all Xmas decorations sale just a few days before Christmas. As you can see, I had a lot of fun!</div>
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Hallway:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6WUiBoBTnZwCQU4oSEkuh16voH35DzWv_NfoElbPrIVTrQ8ixrWUNLB68czYExIp_gtLV_WzG5QxzYT428bUQXhledaDdtrXC5-ouB0HLYi2BFDSsTlmb1zUjiRtKnoaJ13nYb-07sBg/s1600/100_8017.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6WUiBoBTnZwCQU4oSEkuh16voH35DzWv_NfoElbPrIVTrQ8ixrWUNLB68czYExIp_gtLV_WzG5QxzYT428bUQXhledaDdtrXC5-ouB0HLYi2BFDSsTlmb1zUjiRtKnoaJ13nYb-07sBg/s1600/100_8017.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Guest bath:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoeCnDtLoYrPma5qTb-CMDkSaU8BggZ8LX-B_X8G9sgR6XoChHO263IckRp41mjWq-bN-6OXySDjbXHlSyZx2ddQVoFzmPrbSNJsvk6-pzqcui6RfB5rNiJLifFCaFhNZ6rAsLI6KvP4o/s1600/100_8025.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoeCnDtLoYrPma5qTb-CMDkSaU8BggZ8LX-B_X8G9sgR6XoChHO263IckRp41mjWq-bN-6OXySDjbXHlSyZx2ddQVoFzmPrbSNJsvk6-pzqcui6RfB5rNiJLifFCaFhNZ6rAsLI6KvP4o/s1600/100_8025.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Living-room (note out chic fire-place screen... lol):</div>
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It just struck me the other day that I haven't showed off my super-sweet & up-graded stitch room to the world yet, so you have to bear with me. This is what you get when you spend hours and drop some dough at IKEA followed by some serious assembly lines together with hubby for a weekend. </div>
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I now have a work-bench:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTOrP1GYQxntoxxGNcDembBQHRV7u-VBdE9UCnn92oS6MCYW71-MCsDoOWLajuXUXOagJQekn_9x9N4prkyKxoan_ypPs7XMgMt1rocYCEAib3Mfiwq4z9t9rLdPKR9UJROtEws3Yq0alD/s1600/100_6845.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTOrP1GYQxntoxxGNcDembBQHRV7u-VBdE9UCnn92oS6MCYW71-MCsDoOWLajuXUXOagJQekn_9x9N4prkyKxoan_ypPs7XMgMt1rocYCEAib3Mfiwq4z9t9rLdPKR9UJROtEws3Yq0alD/s320/100_6845.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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A great bureau that swallows a LOT. Contains fabrics, kits and more kits...</div>
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Just for fun, close-up of Hillside Samplings hornbook: </div>
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Three additional bookcases filled with patterns, magazines, and .. uh .. more kits. lol</div>
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All these white pieces are from IKEA's Hemnes line. Looks a little Shaker inspired, I think. </div>
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Let me insert here, that if you haven't seen this before and you are as much into shoes as I am, Hemnes shoe-cabinet is a must. Stylish, sleek, takes pretty much no room, but you can stuff that sucker, let me tell ya'! (We have two of the left hand option in our narrow entry hallway at home.)</div>
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-427" src="http://media.scraphacker.com/2011/09/IKEA-HEMNES-from-catalogue.jpg" height="320" title="IKEA HEMNES as featured in catalogue" width="270" /> <img class="irc_mut" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyvHIJdz2_DiaLHTpJVJ8le6Wl4M-MGfclVwf8Ied19_HCuPpLmmURiSsNasS6hTlb9a0Mxoybu2JN-m_VABdZYzy2F4-_PWndhOOJX4ETpb_gnt5MmJioYlr16ZGPhunwRpi8ODYnP0Yy/s320/OrganizedEntry1.jpg" height="320" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="213" /></div>
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Back to the stitch-room: A perfect nook for my pattern file cabinet:</div>
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I am not quite done organizing and storing everything yet. </div>
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Note the handy walk-in closet with even more storage space - hurray! </div>
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And finally ... it begins (*shudder*): "Pssst! Sis!" </div>
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"What!?" </div>
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"I think we're busted..."</div>
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"Uh-oh...." </div>
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Have a great day, thanks for stopping by and Happy Stitching,</div>
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Whoa - it feels like it was just April and here we are, very close to the end of the year! I can't believe that I never showed off my finished EMS Antique Sampler, especially since I actually did finish it before the end of the year - as in 2012. I even got a cheery cherry-red mat and a frame for her, but I haven't gotten a chance to lace her in quite yet. If I get a couple of minutes to myself one of these days maybe! I am not placing any bets on that though.</div>
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Since the arrivals of my precious "smalls" I really have not had a whole lot of time to do much of anything. I mean, some days during my maternity leave at the beginning of the year, I was happy just to get in the basics, like a shower, food, drink and bathroom breaks. Somewhere around week 6, the girls actually started to sleep in shifts, so there was absolutely no breaks whatsoever. Getting back to work was a piece of cake - all of you stay-at-home parents; I have no clue how you do it! Good job!</div>
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Since sewing often is significantly faster than stitching is, I did have fun with my sewing machine and my piles of fabric. I found a perfect freebie pattern and tutorial for this adorable <a href="http://thecottagemama.com/2012/04/tulip-petal-sun-hat-pattern-and/">Tulip Petal Sun Hat</a> and managed somehow to swing a coupe together for the girls. The hats are good sized, so the girls will be able to wear them for a couple of summers, I hope. (Pardon the fact that Little Miss O doesn't wear any pants below...)</div>
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This is little sister, Lilla L.</div>
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Posing together!</div>
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I had a lot of fun fuzzy cutting out the fabric so that the birds would be lined up beak-to beak and tail-to-tail around the rims.</div>
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Other than that, not a whole lot of crafting going on at home. I did start a new WIP the other day; Hillside Samplings Folk Art Sewing Roll. I have finished the easy (and boring) border, so I get to start playing with colors now - yay! I think that this will be a pretty quick stitch, but I am not sure here I'll find the time to do the finishing work... :-)</div>
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I am still really lucky to have a group of crafty friends at work, so I do get to stitch for a while over lunch every day. Earlier in the year, I finished up this Blue Jay Silken Wings kit from the Crossed Wing Collection. They have a bunch of different bird silk & gauze kits available, but for some odd reason they are not displayed on their web-site. I had no problem picking from quite a selection when I called Paula to place my order and she was happy to send them to me. I am excited about stitching the other ones sometime in the future. As always with Crossed Wing, the designs are just perfect - delicate, realistic and detailed. The only drawback is that the mat-boards that the silk gauze has been pre-mounted to varies in color between kits, so they won't look like a unit if hung together. I guess that it is always possible to mount on a different mat.</div>
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Lately, I have been stitching a lot of Scandinavian monochromatic designs. </div>
The Christmas bell-pull below was a fun stitch and is a Handarbejdets Fremme design. I need to hem it and find some suitable bell-pull hardware, but that shouldn't take too long. My favorite panel is the center one. it reminds me of traditional Scandinavian embroideries on the ladies blouses back in the days. <br />
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<b>*Baby Break*</b></div>
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This is a recent new start for me - my very first wool penny rug. This is a total cheat.. everything was pretty much pre-cut and ready to go in this kit. The only thing I have left is to attach the pennies to each other and to the center piece and it's done! Quick and fun! Now I just need to figure out where I can display it where chubby, sticky fingers won't get to it... lol<br />
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These super-cute and small mono-chromatic Christmas pictures are from a Swedish hand-craft society. They are pretty hard to come by, so my mom sent 15 of them as gifts. The society gives out a new design each year and I believe that the first one was published back in the mid-60s. The kits have the most generous amount of floss that you can ever imagine - you can easily stitch the picture 3 times over and I bet you'd still have lift-over floss. So far I have finished 5 and I have started on my 6th, but I haven't kept up with my photography. The plan is to make a red-and-white quilted wall hanging to hang in our entrance during the holiday season. </div>
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The grand plan is that I'll finish (I guess I'd better start it first...) this kit I bought from French General, Mansion de Garance, and I'll hang that in the same spot during the rest of the year. Grand plans, but a girl can dream! :-)</div>
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Speaking of French General - I did also pick up a couple of Odile doll kits. I have cut out all the pieces and embroidered my girls' monograms on the apron pockets. One of these days I'll get the sewing machine back out - I can feel it!!!</div>
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Photo curtsey of <a href="http://lesliejanemoran.blogspot.com/2013/09/bonjour.html">Leslie Jane Moran blog</a>.</div>
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Well, I'd better run, but before I do - </div>
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Happy Halloween everyone!</div>
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Happy Stitching,</div>
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-25051876910502524332013-04-17T22:11:00.003-04:002013-04-17T22:12:25.660-04:00Christmas in April!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello everyone! Long time, no blog. I swear, I've have had all these Christmas photos uploaded on blogger for at least three months now, but I finally got some time to write a couple of words while DH is entertaining the girls.</div>
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I managed to finish up all the stockings on Christmas Eve and I was really pretty pleased with how they turned out, even though a lot of people can't really see the reindeer in the deer stocking. Oh well... The finishing was super easy (sewing machine), but I do confess that I did not use the instructions that came with the patterns. I opted to use an on-line tutorial instead. It is so much more easy to follow photos than words, don't you agree? </div>
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The stockings were stitched the called for Caron Collection's Watercolors hand-dyed perle cotton (on 20-ct linen), which was a true joy to stitch with. It is fun to experiment with large fields of the same color over-dyed too; you never know how it'll turn out until you are done. If you have less patience with cross-stitching and are more skilled with sewing than I am, the designs are also available as applique patterns (check out <a href="http://caron%20collection%27s%20watercolors%20hand-dyed%20perle%20cotton/">this link</a>). </div>
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I really like SamSarah and if I had more time, I would probably tackle
the perpetual calendar that she is designing. I am not a big fan of
stitching on perforated paper though. I like to crumple my linen while I
stitch. :-)</div>
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Back to the stockings: I love stockings! We didn't use them in Sweden, so it is one more American tradition that I am embracing in the fullest! I love all the BOAF stockings and I will find out a reason to stitch them sooner or later as well (Special Delivery and Snow Day can be checked out<a href="http://www.summerlouise.com/albums/stitching/designers/boaf.html"> here</a> and here are <a href="http://www.123stitch.com/pictures/02-2831.jpg">Angel of Peace</a> and <a href="http://123stitch.com/pictures/02-2118.jpg">Wish Upon a Star</a>. </div>
And one can always dream.... Mary Beale's stockings (insert dreamy sigh here):</div>
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I love Mary Beale's designs and she is yet another designer that I have stitched way too few pieces from! (The first 3 pics taken from <a href="http://www.marybeale.com/gallery.html">Mary Beale's Gallery and journal</a>, the 4th from <a href="http://loudounsamplerguild.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/my-true-love-gave-to-me-11-stockings-hanging/">Loudoun Sampler Guild</a>, the 5th from <a href="http://plumstreetsamplers.typepad.com/plum_street_samplers/2010/12/inspired.html">Plum Street Samplers blog</a>, and the last photo from <a href="http://kimberlylanham.blogspot.com/">The Life of Miss Pants blog</a>.)<br />
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Over "Christmas break", I did also work some more on trying to finish up my Blackwork Angels and Starry Night ornies. I got this idea for a new way of finishing in my head that took a while for me to get up the courage to test out. I am doing the classic rectangle using cardboard, but I am doing two "backing" pieces that are slightly larger than the stitched design., The thought is that the "front backing" will frame the design. I think that it'll end up looking great, but it takes a lot of cardboard, backing fabric, batting and thread to finish all of them.<br />
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After I am done with these, I'll try to start stitching PS' Redwork Santas and maybe even Cranberry Christmas. I love the simplicity and elegance of the sparse coloring that PS uses, even though I am a little less in love with the green/red combination of the Santas than I am with the black/blue/gold of the angels.<br />
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One set of ornaments that I did not have time to finish was the baby Christmas name plaques. I really like how they turned out and I have even been thinking about making a few more from the other PS alphabets. (I wish that I had picked a khaki linen instead of a white one, since I had to switch the white details, such as the angel's wings and Santa's beard to grey in order for it to show up. Next time, I guess...) <br />
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If you haven't seen it yet, you have to check out the little banner that <a href="http://threadinhand.blogspot.com/">Amy</a> stitched for her grand daughter. How adorable is this!? She even has some finishing tips on her blog, <a href="http://threadinhand.blogspot.com/">here</a>!<br />
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So, since this is a Christmas themed post, here is a photo of Scrappy, enjoying the Christmas decorations.<br />
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I also have to show off these small and totally adorable boxes that I picked up at Michaels. I use them to keep ornaments and finishing supplies organized. One of them contains the PS Xmas ornies and the other one is packed full of the CEC Thanksgiving acorns. One of these days I <u><b><i>will</i></b></u> finish them all! :-)<br />
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Before I log off, I just have to post a couple of photos of my baby girls. As you can see, they like bath time! They are 4 months and 1 week old today and I am still in heaven (and still exhausted!). I started working again a few weeks back and I promise that I have never found work as relaxing as I do now. When Monday rolls around, I am ready for a break! LOL<br />
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Well, take care everyone and I hope that you get a lot more stitching in than I do!<br />
Happy Spring!<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-88608676664697720172013-03-02T01:00:00.000-05:002013-03-02T01:00:15.816-05:00Stitch Retreat & Class with Lauren Sauer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Finally - here is the first post about needlework, you know the ones
that I have been promising to share for an eternity - or at least since
September last year. :-)</div>
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Back in October, a quartet of us ladies pulled off the annual Tiara Retreat at Higher Ground Conference Center, Indiana. </div>
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We
had a good time planning the event - the part that is always the most
fun is planning the give-aways and the door prizes. I stitched up a
couple of pillows with a pattern that <a href="http://indigo-rains.blogspot.com/">Big Dog</a> found. The pattern is pretty much as made specifically for our little group; <a href="http://www.patternsonline.com/Patterns/LPat.aspx?P=4563">Oops, I Dropped My Tiara</a> by Bobbie Ashley. I enjoyed myself picking out the linen, floss colors and beads. I chose the <a href="http://www.windhamfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=373">Williamsburg Sampler</a> fabric from Windham Fabrics.</div>
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I
stitched up and finished one girlie pink pillow and one in pale
lavender. If I had started this little project on time, I would have
finished the edges with something sparkly-glitzy, but as always I
was running late... I was lucky to finish these on time as it was! If I get the time end energy, I might even stitch up one for myself one of these days.<br />
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Bzz*Bzz Bee and another lady made a couple of super-sweet gifts for all the participants! As you can see, we have a mason jar made into a fall pincushion with the help of apple print fabric and the jar contains a fabulous home-made soap. The other gift was a full kit with an very pretty original design to be stitched in rich fall colors. </div>
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We do also frequently enjoy exchanges of smalls and such on our retreats & meets. This year we decided to make a "whatever you want" theme, where people got to pick whether they wanted to stitch a fall theme, or maybe a Thanksgiving or Halloween themed small. </div>
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Since I have been getting more and more enthralled with Just Nan, I decided to stitch this <a href="http://www.justnan.com/jn218-owl-winder-pocket.html">sweet little pocket</a> designed to hold an owl thread winder. (I learned that the thread winder is stamped, so the back is nothing but a "hollow" surface. Maybe not the best quality item to wind thread around, since the edges seemed a bit sharp.) I did have some trouble with the cardboard that was included for the pocket to be mounted around. I seem to recall that it was too small, so I believe that I cut some mat board to a better fit instead. As always with Just Nan - a fun stitch, pretty quick, with about a million color changes! :-)</div>
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- A quickie insert here! Speaking of Just Nan - have you seen her new series with gingerbread critters? After scouring the Internet, I was lucky enough to get hold of the mouse right before Christmas. I found a decent color scrap of linen in the linen box at home and I did even get a little bit stitched before the girls started to take more of my time. I hate to waste linen, so I decided to stitch up the mouse three times. Two of them will have to do without the fancy tail included in the chart pack. I am really impressed with Just Nan - how does she keep coming up with all her adorable ideas? I especially like her 3D designs; they are just so clever.</div>
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As you may already know, three more gingerbread critters are to be released during this year, with the next one being an adorable <a href="http://www.justnan.com/limited-edition-designs.html">bunny</a>. Silverneedle has an auto-ship sign-up for the remaining critters and you can get the linen cuts through them as well (scroll down on <a href="http://cloudwww.thesilverneedle.com/justnandesigns.html">this page</a> to check it out). -</div>
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All right, so back to the retreat! I got really lucky in the exchange. A couple of ladies had decided to make "surprise" their theme, and I decided to take a chance and go for it (we made the exchange a "brown paper bag exchange" with the theme written on the top of the bags.). I got this adorable needlebook and scissors-fob (scissors included!) set - how sweet are they!? They are stitched on 40-count, I guess, and the stitches are <i>tiny</i>! I just love the colors - my jaw literally dropped in joy when I opened my brown paper bag. And the scissors are awesome - I use them all the time now.</div>
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A few weeks after the fall retreat, in early November, I drove up to Cleveland for a wonderful weekend. It started off with a fabulous class with Lauren Sauer at Rose's. We got to learn about and stitch Lauren's latest wonder, the exquisite (and very, very long) band sampler "Mistress L's Sampler of Bands, Emblems, and Motifs<span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">".</span></span></span></span> Lauren mentioned in class that she just kept designing until she ran out of space on her linen cut. </div>
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Here is a close-up of Lauren's initials - don't you just love the colors!? </div>
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A couple of additional views - both of the sampler itself and Rose, Lauren and me. Check out my impressive belly - and keep in mind that in this photo, I still had over another month to go.... </div>
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Lauren treated us all by opening up a shop with her high quality and sought after kits. It was hard not to run amok in the store. I got the very pretty Drawstring Beach Bag kit (I am a sucker for black-work) and a fairly new design, Anniversary Roses, which is another gorgeous band sampler kit. You can see Rose's finished sampler <a href="http://westernreservesamplerguild.blogspot.com/2012/02/2012-january-meeting.html">here</a>, if you'd like to take a peak (8th photo from the top - Rose got Western Reserve Sampler Guild's Members' Choice Award First Place for her finished sampler - belated congrats on your win, Rose!!!).</div>
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Lauren is one of the sweetest ladies you'll ever meet (as are all the ladies that I have met at Rose's). I have probably mentioned before that the first time I met Lauren (and the only time, up until this class), was back in 2007 at CON. When she learned that I was Swedish, she sent me her Lucy design as a gift a few weeks after the class. Such an incredibly thoughtful gift. Lauren has Swedish heritage as well, so that was a real neat connection.<br />
This time, she spoiled me again with the Mister Snow companion piece - can you believe how generous she is!? I can't wait to stitch them up. I would love to finish them as stand-ups, if possible. I may pick a lower count linen, to make them a bit larger and they can stand and guard our Christmas tree! If I could only find a stitch store that sells time and I would be all set! <br />
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After class, my MIL and SIL treated me to a fab family baby-shower! This is an even more special treat for me , since we don't do showers in Sweden - when all was said and done, I had gotten three showers! The theme for the shower was Sweet Peas and the decorations were so pretty! SIL painted these wooden letters - aren't they precious?</div>
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Here are a few on the ladies with SIL on the far left and Grandma-In-Law in the front. Cousin Kelly next to SIL had a baby just a few weeks after I had mine. These are the first great grand-babies on this side of DH's family. This is a great bunch of chicks to hang out with - they are absolutely crazy and some of them have a knack for saying things that make even me blush.... totally hilarious!</div>
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Check out the decorations!!!</div>
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And check out the loot!!! We did almost not get all of the stuff into my pretty sizable car when I was ready to drive back home. I am probably the most spoiled mom ever!</div>
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And just for fun - this is DH and me exactly one month before the arrival of the twins - pretty impressive size belly huh!? (Nothing compared to the day of the actual birth, though. It felt like I was dragging my belly on the ground...)</div>
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At this point in my pregnancy, people unbeknown to me (you know, people in the grocery store, the car wash and on the beach.... wait, scratch that last one, LOL) started blurt out things like "about to pop any day now, ain't you!?" (add the KY accent here for full effect) and other similar types of 'encouragements'.... Yeah, that's right - pick on the pregnant lady who can't even get up out of bed on her own anymore (which wasn't really a problem, since at around this time I was already sleeping sitting up).... LOL</div>
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Well, that's it for now. I hope to get back with another post before too long. Maternity leave ends on Monday and I will finally be able to eat one meal a day in peace and quiet and maybe even use the rest-room when I need to. Oh, happy day! ;-)</div>
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Gotta run, someone is complaining!</div>
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Happy Stitching!</div>
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-84846148987092912612013-02-13T17:50:00.001-05:002013-03-02T01:00:34.537-05:00The Happy End of a 36 Weeks and 4 Days Long WIP! (Not a stitching post....)<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy Valentines Day!!!</div>
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I can not believe that my last post was written back in September - wow, I am slacking! I have so many things to share with you since then that I decided to split it all up into a few posts. I begin with the most important one - presenting to you Little Miss O and her sister, Little Miss L.<br />
Here they are at 5 days old:<br />
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As you may be able to tell, they are not identical twins, but they do look similar, I guess. In the beginning I was super worried about mixing them up - how embarrassing would that be!? As a matter of fact, after they came home with us from the hospital we kept the ID bracelets on them for another three days before finally feeling confident enough to remove them. <br />
Everything has been going really well - the twins are like their parents, not patient at all, so they decided to come out three days earlier than scheduled. The three of us went in for a regular check-up and just a few hours later they were out! (Early onset of preeclampsia, so I got the nasty meds and the "leg pumpers" and all that good stuff for about three days after the C-section....)<br />
The sound of their first cries is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. I was lying there, no feelings in half my body (thank goodness for that!), surrounded by medical personnel (I bet there was at least 8 professionals in the room with us - one team per child. Can you imagine the circus it must have been when Octomom gave birth?), and I was laughing and crying at the same time. It was wonderful!<br />
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Getting ready to meet our girls: </div>
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Holding the girls for the first time - oh bliss!!!</div>
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Meeting my girls for the first time sparked a strange mix of absolute joy and deep sadness. Joy that DH and I finally got doubly blessed after eight hard years of our more and more desperate attempts at becoming parents - I was finally done with pills, shots, surgeries, and the pain of hope that never seemed to want to die away. Joy at the perfect human beings presented to us - absolutely beautiful and healthy - working hearts and lungs. Joy at their small noses, fingers, toes, eyelashes, pink almost transparent skin, hair and their breathtaking blue eyes.<br />
Sadness at the knowledge that I will do anything and everything that I can possibly do to protect my girls, but that it won't be enough to shield them from life. I recalled all of the poor decisions I have made in my past and I know that I won't always succeed in protecting the girls from themselves and what is out there. Sadness at the knowledge that they will turn away from me once they become teenagers. Sadness at the pain they will have to go through; trying to find friends, incompatible boy friends, getting their period, being pushed by media and society into looking a certain way, behaving a certain way, and weighing a certain amount, giving birth and becoming mothers on their own with the same worries. I know it sounds strange, but that is how I felt.<br />
The sad feelings have subsided since, so maybe it was just hormones going wild and crazy.... :-) The joy is still with me every day!<br />
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Luckily New Daddy seems to be his calm and laid back self....</div>
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Here he is napping with his girls. </div>
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(Oh, he has decided that they are allowed to date when they turn 30. Poor, poor DH...)</div>
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The baby girls turned two months a couple of days ago and they are doing great! Growing, gaining weight, eating, sleeping, you know the drill....<br />
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Christmas was fun and everyone was happy!</div>
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The grandparents are excited!</div>
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DH's mom and dad visiting from Ohio: </div>
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My parents visiting from Sweden:</div>
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Bubba is confused... "What the heck <i>are</i> those things!?"</div>
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Well, I'd better get going! MIL is visiting and has offered to take care of the girls tonight while I get to go to a birthday/going away party for a good friend. Next post will be about craft, I promise!!!<br />
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(4 days old below!)</div>
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Happy Stitching and talk with you in a bit!<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-73652910410824600962012-09-06T16:40:00.000-04:002012-09-07T07:54:08.457-04:00Excuses.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hi everyone! I hope that all of you are doing well and that life has been a good to you as it has been to me this year.</div>
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I know that I have been a bad, bad blogger and a very bad blog follower for the last months. I am not even going to begin trying to apologize for my long absence - but I do have some terrific excuses - I promise! </div>
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The photos below have been uploaded and ready to go since October 2nd... blush, blush.</div>
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So, let me move on to my List of "Grand Excuses"... </div>
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1) <u><i>A wonderful excuse:</i></u> We bough a new house in a neighboring town last week and we moved our entire household over the Labor Day weekend! I love the new house and I will be even more thrilled when we get all the boxes unpacked and all our stuff stored away. The kitchen and the master bedroom and bath are pretty much taken done now. Bubba and all the birds are moved in and Bubba is thrilled about our fabulous sun porch! </div>
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(DH told me that he was on the verge of crying every time he saw a box marked XS tough... I don't think that he realized the extent of my stash collection until he had to move it out.. Luckily, he had help from 5 friends, so everything went smoothly. </div>
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Oh, and I am turning 40 today, so yesterday we picked out my birthday gifts at Sears; a brand new washer and drier from Whirlpool in a yummy cranberry red. I can't wait for those babies to arrive!!!! Not until September 25th, unfortunately.... :-(</div>
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2) <u><i>A sad excuse:</i></u> Work has been very turbulent yet again and we just went through another gruesome mass-layoff - the third one since I started working here 7 years ago! I was lucky enough to be safe this time again, but watching colleagues and good friends getting laid off is a terrible experience. You can't help but worrying about them and feel really guilty about still having a job.</div>
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3) <u><i>A pathetic excuse:</i></u> I have been enjoying reading a stack of books on my iPad lately. It started off with Hip^Hip tipping me off about <i>50 Shades of Grey</i>. I loved this trilogy and not only for the s-e-x, I promise (- seriously)! (Don't judge me! LOL) </div>
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All right, I know that a lot of readers could not get past all the "kinkiness", the poor and very inhomogeneous language, or the parts that seem less than realistic - like the heroes young age, unlimited assets (money and "other things", ahem), his looks, and that the heroine is supposedly "plain" (an a virgin, of course...), etc, etc - but I still loved it! There is definitely a love story behind all the "action" and the main characters do evolve and mature immensely throughout the books.</div>
That said, I do agree with the less than impressive use of the English language (heck, I think Ithat I write better in English and this i only my 2nd language!) and how many young American females say "Oh my" to themselves several times a day? Just wonderin'...<br />
So if you have read <i>50 Shades</i>, you may, just as me, still find it hilarious to read the reviews at Amazon (the favorite being this reviewer: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Shades-Darker-Book/dp/0345803493/ref=cm_cr-mr-title">cupcake</a> on top - I love the "I gave this 4 stars. Don't judge me." comment) and I also found <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/29/victoria-coren-fifty-shades-of-grey">this article</a> that made me laugh til I cried. I tried to read it to DH, but I was laughing too hard for any of it to make sense.... "public transportation", oh wow!<br />
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4) <u><i>A tired excuse:</i></u> I was really torn up and drained about losing Princess for a good week or two. I could not stop crying and anything would set me off. I never cry at work and now I found myself running for the rest-rooms or locking my office door, crying my eyes out. I would cry while driving to and from work, while eating breakfast and lunch and dinner, while trying to go to sleep, while putting on make-up (that really did not work at all...). After I had cried the worst out and a few weeks had passed, I suddenly realized that I was smiling when I thought about Princess instead of crying. Bitter-sweet, but still, a warm feeling in my heart. Bubba was confused for a while too, but she seems to be doing really well now.</div>
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5) <u><i>An ecstatic excuse:</i></u> So, something that DH and I have been working on together for almost a decade years finally happened! We are going to be parents! We are celebrating our 23rd week of pregnancy today, so I am starting to feel safer and safer for each week now. I can feel them kick - yes, them - paternal twin girls! DH is thrilled and I am starting to get relaxed enough to enjoy myself too!</div>
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Well, after all of my jabbering, let's get on to what really matters - stitching!!!! ;-)</div>
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I could not pass on the adorable needle-roll from <i>Just Nan</i>, <i>Lady Scarlet's Scissor Roll</i>. It looks like it sold out within just a few weeks, so I was lucky enough to grab one early. It was a quick and easy stitch/finish and really very enjoyable. I also appreciated that this "half-kit" called for DMC floss and not super expensive silks - always a plus in my book!.</div>
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This is the out-side:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwLBtCiFrc2C73ZRIF2WQTd2orLhoNcZtgKzE_cpZClERDoD8c7etb4q9VdwVvqJfUAIQnSDMuWwUwyTzv4epbfJ0qxcDSmHYHRudD5liiVKnu_mzBnH3cl-_jkVDN3abMWrVJ4xdwetn/s1600/100_6681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwLBtCiFrc2C73ZRIF2WQTd2orLhoNcZtgKzE_cpZClERDoD8c7etb4q9VdwVvqJfUAIQnSDMuWwUwyTzv4epbfJ0qxcDSmHYHRudD5liiVKnu_mzBnH3cl-_jkVDN3abMWrVJ4xdwetn/s320/100_6681.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here it is rolled up - it looks tiny because it is!</div>
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Another view of the roll-up:</div>
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Last rolled up "side":</div>
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Here is the stitched and freshly ironed part waiting to get finished. The photo is clickable, so you can get a better view, if you would like. I love those little panels - they are just adorable!<br />
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This is another really fun, small and super-cute small; the <i>Frog Pin Keepe</i> kit from <i>Schoolhouse for the Needle</i>. It was another quickie, even though the finishing took a little bit longer for this one.<br />
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Front:</div>
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Back:</div>
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Here they are together....</div>
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Remember this piece from my crazy post about crows and pears? I finally stitched it up and it was a joy to work on. I used hand-dyed chenille for the trim and I picked all the WDW floss randomly from my stash, as well as the linen cut. The leaves are felt applique, which was not as hard as I feared, so one less intimidation on the "i-list"! :-)<br />
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Here is the back. I finally tracked down crushed walnut shells to fill the pillow with, so it has a nice weight and feel to it.<br />
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The third stocking got stitched up as well. I did finish the fourth one yesterday - I am happy, since they are not real "fun" stitches. There is a lot of areas to just fill, fill, fill and fill.... I think that the finishing will be a breeze though. (If I ever find a backing and lining fabric, that is.)<br />
So, now I have one each for the twins and for DH and myself stitched up! Good, since the twins are due on December 20th! :-)<br />
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The latest part of the EMS samples has been downloaded & printed and is waiting for me at home. I tell you, it is just so hard to get started on each new part!!!! Only 4 more sections to go - almost there!<br />
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And last, here is a photo showing why I have to throw so many of my Vera Bradley purses in the laundry machine repeatedly... This is apparently the place where the cool birds hang out. Some of them even get in to the purses and sit there until discovered and chased away by someone mean (=me!). Sigh! (This is why I don't own any crazy expensive designer purses....)<br />
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Well, I know that I have talked your heads off, so I'll let you go! I'll try to post and keep in touch after we have the computer up and the Internet running at the new house.<br />
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Take care and Happy Stitching!</div>
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-81592213860422697342012-07-24T08:02:00.000-04:002012-07-24T21:22:15.620-04:00RIP Princess<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We will all miss you so much!</div>
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Your kisses and your great happiness. </div>
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Your ears, always standing up, no matter what. </div>
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Your white fluff, that flew everywhere.</div>
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How I wish that you were still here so that I could hold you again. </div>
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I love you, always! </div>
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</div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-27694827676019810482012-07-17T09:32:00.001-04:002012-07-17T09:32:10.588-04:00The Happy TV List (and some stitching updates)Thanks for all your wonderful comments, it is always so nice to hear from all of you. I know that I have been terrible about visiting all of you lately, but I have been pulled into the craziness of life yet again... ;-) I hope that I'll be able to make up for the neglect during the next few days - I am really curious to see what you all are working on!<br />
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I did get a question a couple of weeks ago from Bird Cages: "Did you teach yourself all of this or did you originally learn from a class or someone else?". Well, I learned the basics for cross-stitch in Swedish elementary school - reading a chart, keeping the back neat, making sure that all the legs are slanted in the same direction and so on. The more advanced stuff I learned through some great designers and kits, and I was really into the designs by <a href="http://www.drawnthread.com/chartsandkitsdt.html">The Drawn Thread </a>for a while, learning a lot of specialty stitches. <a href="http://www.thesilverneedle.co/hillsidesamplings.html">Hillside Samplings</a> had some really good kits back then too and her instructions were fantastic. Thanks to Hillside Samplings, I got over the fear of finishing.<br />
As I got more advanced, as in got more skilled in other counted work than cross-stitch (pulled, drawn, Hardanger, etc), I also invested in a few really good books (if you don't already have <a href="http://www.hoffmanmediastore.com/best-sellers/the-proper-stitch-softcover-edition.html">The Proper Stitch by Darlene O'Steen</a> - get it! Seriously!) and used the internet more to check on particular stitches.<br />
I did also take a number of classes, but in all honestly, I think that very few stitchers take the classes I have taken to learn new techniques, but rather to get their hands on some fabulous projects, get away from the everyday grind, make new stitching friends and meet up with old ones. (The exception is probably the <a href="http://patrickswoods.com/designs/85-lucet-and-lucet-passementerie">Lucet class with Sherri Jones of Patricks Woods</a>, where we learned how to make lucet cord. That was a lot of fun!)<br />
Speaking of Hardanger, check out this fabulous <a href="http://sinister-craftiness.com/2012/05/07/dress-progress-its-done/">Christening gown</a> adorned with Hardanger lace over at the Sinister Craftiness'. Wow, oh wow!<br />
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Well, time to get down to the good stuff! LOL The big update for this week is the progress on the EMS sampler. Here it is complete with part 7 all stitched up. (I did my usual cheating and stitched up the repeating cherry border... patience? What is that...? :-)) It is getting closer - almost 2/3rds there!<br />
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Below you can see a close-up of the latest additions. The puppy and the sweet cherry border were by far the easiest stitches, while the two flower clusters to the right took some time and concentration. I really do like how the flowers turned out; they look so delicate and transparent (you can probably see it better if you click on the pic). The white flowers are part of a larger motif, which I am real anxious to spend some more time with in a couple of weeks!</div>
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<img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmg0ht8Kq6dTFdXAe958Qvv_YiInZ1JhYE1vzJc-cldxnk2wiuXry8OGkv8Kkwv2qBHTM0n1MSU8HUuQvrnz_YE-v1HylCeDQaWqxMIYdUyDhF5DuMcIZlukA-YQ9WByEz1bUMaN1rsIzu/s640/100_6653.JPG" width="640" /></div>
Can you believe that there are 23 floss shades in the small flower motif!? All of the DMCs have been lined up next to the chart so that you can see how incredibly detailed these Biedermeier motifs can be. I have a hard time grasping that I actually keep working on this sampler, since I am normally not a fan of switching colors every 30 seconds. It is well worth the exception though; it is so much fun to see the motifs and the entire sampler slowly grow together into one large beauty! It definitely helps that it is broken up into a bunch of smaller segments, or it would probably already have hit the UFO pile somewhere.... ;-)<br />
Next assignment will be a quickie, so I am already looking forward to that part to come out.<br />
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The reindeer stocking did also get some TLC this week. It sounds like all of you are in agreement that the red rounds are indeed their noses. It was a fun stitch, even though it was a bit tricky to stitch with the overdyed floss so that the dark and light shades worked well together. I am pleased, even though it is not as pretty as the original is. I think that the stockings have turned out to be a great counter-point to the fiddlier switch-floss-every-second-stitch type projects, since there is a very limited amount of changing floss at all. I think that the reindeer design required a total of 4 different floss-colors!<br />
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Perfect timing on the finising too - the next couple of socks in line to be stitched arrived in the mail-box the same day as the last reindeer nose had been completed. I think that I do need a quick break from the stockings for now, but I'll try to get back to them in a week or two. I am pretty excited about scavenging for some fun and matching cotton fabric for finishing. I saw that the local Hancocks Fabrics just started displaying some of their Xmas fabrics, so I may have to go on a shopping trip pretty soon... LOL</div>
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The stitching focusing problem hit this week again. This is the beginning of Just Nan's Lady Scarlet's Scissor Roll, started yesterday. It has been a fun and pretty quick stitch so far, so it is hard to put away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80THjKVLx6PFd7XtYs1K7mgx2quDiLnUk7Hmx3Ol3ZLn0FM-TklqPXUO0kULgwaqydgEIchzBT7eSJ-204qSn1EchlGOoeVuyiXG1J1zbwBjCq-acC-Y-pXQojxmso5DCD4WzZsfCPrb2/s1600/100_6654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80THjKVLx6PFd7XtYs1K7mgx2quDiLnUk7Hmx3Ol3ZLn0FM-TklqPXUO0kULgwaqydgEIchzBT7eSJ-204qSn1EchlGOoeVuyiXG1J1zbwBjCq-acC-Y-pXQojxmso5DCD4WzZsfCPrb2/s320/100_6654.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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And I did get something finished-finished too. Here is the set of Sweetheart Tree's seasonal welcomes hanging together on the wall. As always, the idea in my head looked so much better than it ended up being in real life, but it is now on the wall! All of it is simply pinned together, so it is not too late to get a better idea sometime in the future.....<br />
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Here are a couple of us chicks hanging out and discussing the latest news on the net and various TV shows. Henny and Griffin are not picky; as long as there are no cats or prey birds on the screen, they really don't care a whole lot. Meanwhile, mommy has watched a lot of positive TV shows lately, and even came up with a list of the current favorites.<br />
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<b><u>The TV-Shows-That-Make-Me-Happy Top 5 List:</u></b><br />
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<ol>
<li><a href="http://abc.go.com/shows/secret-millionaire/">Secret Millionaire</a> - I love it! This show makes me cry, but that's all right - it makes the millionaires cry too.</li>
<li><a href="http://nymedshow.com/">NY Med</a> - I was lucky enough to catch the first episode and I really liked it! Not all of the patients stories end well, which makes it even more inspiring and makes you think. Supposedly it is just an 8 episode series, but we'll see abut that. Dr Oz is one of the stars of the show and I must say that I got a whole new respect for him after this show.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.nbc.com/the-biggest-loser/">The Biggest Loser</a> - talk about inspiration! Nothing is impossible! </li>
<li><a href="http://abc.go.com/shows/extreme-makeover-home-edition/">Extreme Makeover - Home Edition</a> - it is so much fun to see the look on the faces of the receivers! It is also good to learn about what other people struggle with in life; it definitely sheds a different light on the difficulties in my own life...</li>
<li><a href="http://www.fox.com/dance/">So You Think You Can Dance?</a> - By watching this show I have learned that I don't get nearly as moved by song as I do by dance. The talent pool in this show is simply incredible.</li>
</ol>
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They are all great alternatives to the celebrity gossip, the negative news and the outrageously bad talk-shows (like Jerry Springer and Maury. No offense to the fans out there, like my DH...).<br />
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Anyway, those are the shows the chicks and I decided is what we think is the good stuff. Any other tips about positive TV shows out there? We are collecting! LOL We don't have cable or satellite though - but we do have Netflix! (Speaking of, thy just added 4 more seasons of Hercule Poirot - I am in heaven!)<br />
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Well, time to get back to things here. Take care and Happy Stitching,<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-49473436706187530492012-07-09T06:20:00.000-04:002012-07-09T07:14:53.895-04:00Early Monday Morning...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Another Monday and life is good! We got a splash of well-needed rain yesterday evening and it has finally cooled down a tad, so it is a great beginning of a new week. The incredibly hot weather has forced us to sit indoors most of the time (I am not crying about that.. LOL), which means that a lot of weekend time has been spent stitching on a variety of things.</div>
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The In-Laws were down for a visit from Wednesday to Friday and we had a really nice and laid-back visit together. I took the last couple of work-days off from the lab, so I feel well-rested as you can see. DH's and my new life-style involves "going to bed at a reasonable hour", which meant that I could not get back to sleep after waking up at 5 AM this morning... He is happily snoozing away though.</div>
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I don't know what to do with myself, but the reign of unfocused random stitching continues. I decided to pull out the new partial kit I got from Scholehouse of the Needle, Frog Pin Keepe. It really is a quick stitch (tent stitch, say no more) intended for 35 ct linen. Since the LNS doesn't carry any 35 ct I opted for a small cut of 36 instead.</div>
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Here he is - ribbit!</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWXPnM5gK9QDGLFYNvehBzEjiL6LypOx-LiYOxetaey97oeo66zPtVngVeuZxXn2TILAWERjOpnu0csD-VB5I9FbnQzKVvWapsZ1sonBm5ZSXq_p33deBF2wurv_oaVWZgsZPc0SFD2l2/s320/100_6623.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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WIP:</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij47aRnC4bFnD7Uervn9JgbH6dyPhLijPMBXC5u9ydM7XxldxOSxWayGUFEdtfpeejK6nhl5lN-V9EBIQKPK3x2yOjf7jtl7bw2qh8VyiqyRDNEcpE37-3U1_uBbjV2Ez8NXhyphenhyphenbmelUUu0/s320/100_6617.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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I love the back of tent stitched pieces, don't you?</div>
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There is a back-side to stitch up too before assembly, but it should be even quicker; just year, initials and a couple of simple dragonflies. Very cute! Scholehouse of the Needle's designs definitely reminds me of some of the old and OOP Historic Needlework Guild pieces (especially the Tent Stitch Etui and some of the ornament patterns).<br />
(Next time, I'll throw in a quarter in the photo too, so that you can get a better feel for the size.) <br />
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We have been productive during out craft-lunches at work too. The word is spreading and we have recently expanded to include no less than three crocheters. It is odd how the dynamic of a group changes completely just by adding a few more people and stir. It is really cool that so many crafters want to join, but it is no longer just a group containing my closer friends, which I know I'll miss. On the other hand, it is always fun to hang out with new people!<br />
Anyway, I finished the Spring piece from Sweetheart Tree last week. I have really enjoyed stitching on this series. I think that all but one was stitched during lunch breaks at work.<br />
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As for the winter piece, I changed the text from "Welcome Friends" to "Welcome Spring". I also found the birds long beak pretty peculiar, so it got shortened - it doesn't look like he minds. I like the small packets of bling that come with the SHT kits and this time is was small cherry-blossom beads. Fun, fun, fun! (And time to stat thinking about what to stitch on at work next.)</div>
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I did also finish the first SamSarah stocking! I am getting used to the fact that all the pieces are a lot darker colored in reality and I think that I have almost gotten over it.. LOL I do have the button embellishments and we decided that this one will be DH's stocking, so I just ordered the alphabet buttons too.</div>
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfoBd4JODOrrqhoL0UiM27Dzf5j4uLTeo_Sj0BvRBr6rXw80cVJYRk1VSwcwcFDwFoFfpHSKMqf1ys6GjvSQGr7vH7KqzvIQ0BBrFZev7TU7JYlLPnZx2AjESDiZXJnGzYFPXAsi3njYCF/s320/100_6614.JPG" width="240" /></div>
Here is the progress on the reindeer stocking. It is pretty interesting; about 50% of people I have asked claim that the big red "balls" in front of the reindeer are ornaments, while I am in the other camp - I totally believe that the red balls are supposed to be their noses (see the cover pic in the upper left corner for a better view)! Thoughts on that out there?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsbbZvatOYPL7LXh2jmhMqv0A5p_Euy5h5mBbkWDFd_itvBxLLyDQ5NJ49gb0mMH67mlSpt6-cJrSGKayFAKGCqqE9d-x9dw-8NIYc814GkdDuWb2uazLfaFHBW47TEkZuJOYkNWp5SIuJ/s1600/100_6615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
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Yesterday evening I pulled this old Acufactum WIP back out. It got thrown into the "don't wanna' stitch on this anymore" pile, since all that is left is about a billion French knots. I got maybe half of them in yesterday and it won't be put away until the rest is done. See the bird on the left below? He is holding a sprig of dill... The dill crown is waiting for Fk in three different colors - all pretty much on top of each other. At least the wings of the birds are now dotted!</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-mfFzejO4kTLmHA8Z94K7HtxGd7iXOMPQSJC-n24NLzeWrzYDI5u4F9cuklN3AdrlSCy79kPdvjbHrDdd8HDTxoyG4jbACLrT58F_1oFTOxS0897i4cp4tibl3OjAhBSjp9cEyCSStCa/s320/100_6630.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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Dot, dot, dot...</div>
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So, I had great plans for this piece - it was supposed to magically become this adorable cafe-curtain with a polka-dot ruffle and pretty ribbons for ties. Well, we have been looking for a new house lately, so I am thinking that I'd better hold the creativity back until I know how my future windows will look...</div>
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Finally, despite DH not giving his approval of posting this photo - here are a couple of snuggle bunnies - Alpha Bunny and Bubba. Sometimes it is really good to be a small, black rabbit.</div>
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As always, thanks so much for following my blog and for all your wonderful comments. It means more to me than I can express!<br />
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Take care and Happy Monday everyone!<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-60826322710892971222012-07-02T00:16:00.002-04:002012-07-09T06:01:24.934-04:00A Wonderful and Relaxing Stitching Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Happy Monday, everyone! I hope that your weekend was as fabulous as mine was. </div>
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I drove up to Indiana to hang out with <a href="http://nansneedleworknotions.blogspot.com/">Nan</a> and <a href="http://everybodylovesclark.blogspot.com/">Bzz*Bzz*Bee</a> at Nan's for an entire weekend. Traffic was crazy on the Friday afternoon. Road-constructions, accidents and holiday traffic galore extended the driving time from 3 hrs up to 5! It was definitely worth it, no question about it.</div>
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Here is the hostess stitching away on a beautiful piece, <a href="http://www.needleworkfool.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=88_1_245&products_id=4642">Animal Zoo by Blue Ribbon Designs</a>. She picked the perfect 40-ct linen and a gorgeous over-dyed floss. This is really pretty sampler and it was a lot of fun to see it close-up. She did a great progress too and even got time to stitch on a couple of other project over the three days we worked diligently in her basement.</div>
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Here is Bzz*Bss stitching away, almost lying down. She did also get a bunch stitched, including a good portion of her <a href="http://www.123stitch.com/cgi-perl/itemdetail.pl?item=CSS-0101">I Sigh Not for Beauty</a> SAL. She is almost there! She also brought us a bag each of absolutely wonderful gifts, a needle-threader and my absolute favorite being her home-made hand-scrub with a mint scent. Yum!<br />
We got spoiled by Stitchaholic too - she gave us a beautiful pair of scissors in a super-sweet scissors case. I will try to remember to post photos next time.<br />
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Aaaah - this is life!</div>
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Yep, we got spoiled rotten plenty over the weekend... I have to
specifically mention the awesome food, the comfortable beds, the gorgeous surroundings and our
supportive and absolutely adorable stitching buddy, Nan's puppy (who is 12 years old). He is just the sweetest! Here he is posing for a pic before getting a snuggle from mom! <br />
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We dis also get a great lesson in how to finish stitched pieces into box stand-ups. Bzz*Bzz brought a sweet piece and some pretty backing fabric that this efficient but easy technique was demonstrated on.<br />
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Ironing with a smile!</div>
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Measuring styrofoam.</div>
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Ta-daaa - isn't this adorable!?</div>
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We have asked Nan to post a tutorial on her blog, so I am crossing my fingers and hoping that she'll get a chance to do that.</div>
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I stitched away on the stocking and got a few more fields filled in. This feels like such a slowly progressing project, but I do enjoy working on it, so it's all good. DH and I agreed that the <a href="http://www.thesilverneedle.co/includes/templates/SilverNeedle/images//samsarah/samsarah-9004SnowKidsStocking400h.jpg">Snowman</a> and the <a href="http://www.thesilverneedle.co/includes/templates/SilverNeedle/images//samsarah/samsarah-9005-Ornament-Stocking400h.jpg">Ornament</a> stockings are cute too, so after the Reindeer stocking has been stitched up, it'll be time to order a couple of additional charts and sets of supplies. I hate when that happens! LOL</div>
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I did also show DH all the BOAF stocking charts I have and he likes all of those as well, so I may have to stitch a bunch more than we need and just use them for decoration. Does anyone else stitch Xmas stockings? Which ones are your favorites?</div>
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I did also manage to whip out one out of five parts of Merry Cox's class project Victorian Carrier. I love Merry's design style and that her pieces look so intricate, but that they are not as complex to stitch as they look. So much fun! Four more sets to go!<br />
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We enjoyed drooling over Nan's stitched pieces that were displayed on walls and shelves. This is probably my favorite - isn't it pretty? The designer is La-D-Da:</div>
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I loved this display with all the boxes, box stand-ups, and flat-folds in Nan's stitch room (which is a wonder of organization, let me tell you). </div>
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Look at the wonderful finished finishes!</div>
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As mentioned before, the surroundings were just breathtaking. </div>
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This is the serene view from the walk-in basement. Nan's pond is full of large, white cat-fish and we saw a big turtle, a couple of deer and plenty of bird-life - sweet, sweet hummingbirds and goldfinches. </div>
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When I woke up in the mornings, this was the sight that greeted me - a green and softly swaying corn-field. It can not get any better than this! (Well, yeah, I forgot that we all need rain really badly!)<br />
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We had a bunch of fun. We watched a vast assortment of different TV-shows - some of them better than others... I can recommend against ever watching the "reality show" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Repo">Operation Repo</a>. I hope that the show is not really reality, because this poor team seemed to screw up more than they actually fixed. It was hilarious, but sad at the same time. In the name of diplomacy, I will point out that we only watched one episode before we gave up. It may be a great show, who knows? LOL <br />
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After a long trip back home, greeted by DH passed out on the couch :-) and a couple of great stash delivery envelopes - wonderful!<br />
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Well, it is probably time to get to bed here. You get exhausted having a great weekend, filled with hours of stitching, chatting, TV watching, food, and sleep. Happy sigh.<br />
Back to reality tomorrow morning - lab at 7 o'clock! :-)<br />
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Take care and have a great week with plenty of stitching!<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-82216710061753751742012-06-25T22:40:00.002-04:002012-07-09T05:59:34.408-04:00A Quick Breather<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Work, work, work. I got in to the lab this weekend to finish up an experiment. The computer is here at home tonight, since I need to write a mastodon presentation due Thursday. I just needed a quick break and I figured that I'd stop by and write a quick hello to everyone. Sorry, no blog-visits until Friday, I'm afraid.</div>
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Last week was pretty productive. I am slowly getting the CRC acorns together and learned a few tricks on the way. Here is the first trial acorn: Rest. You can see all the pieces ready to go - batting, mat-board pieces, felt caps, stitched fronts and cotton backing. I think that cutting out the mat-board is much more painful than all the sewing that goes into finishing up the ornaments in the end. LOL</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHeoJBl6-7_m-kylkRRt3JIf-neLq944UpMCpTVibYMw0vT4D0L0H9rIOk-rvKsIlqqQpCGq-rJRxNKxfP_ACPNW_7wQ1fpsbLuLqt1665DY5QtyRllKMSyBFB_VrAPQqRdo1tahEn7kW/s320/100_6542.JPG" width="320" /> </div>
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A pile of acorn fronts waiting patiently for their backs. I love that Vickie always tries out fun linen colors, even though it can be tricky to gather all of them. </div>
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Finally - fronts AND backs are done. Now I just have to figure out what I want to use for the hanger and the edging. I did not find anything that got me real excited in the home stash and you know what that means - time for a shopping trip. Maybe on Friday....</div>
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For the hangers I am contemplating using some pretty, brown, shear, wide ribbon and use it to tie the ornaments to the display (whatever that will be... LOL) rather than use a loop to hang them. I figure that it will be easier to get the ornies to face the way I would like them to. Plus bows would be so pretty!</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjr3QOMuLXDbArUllKAvTQQJKMQrPS4eROiaQGoF-K1BlzmmkT5DSdy_sxqKsc6akpzgngLDX-m5sqli9EU-rkyDKohoUeCuWhnazX-Pcod7PvbT6-EuokMV8W9CDOdb9DoibF677g_qB5/s320/100_6575.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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Our work crafting group is expanding and we are having a great time. It is so relaxing to get in a few minutes of stitching in the middle of the day, while catching up on life, news, science, books and everything. Today, we were all pretty somber since it was Monday and we ended up laughing hard after just 15 minutes. It was great!<br />
We do also get a lot crafted. Hip^Hip is working an a very pretty Scarlet Letter sampler (I think <a href="http://www.scarlet-letter.com/samplers/penn.php">this</a> is the one) - amazing, since she just started stitching about a year ago. She is a quick stitcher and she is fearless, a great combination!<br />
Road Runner is crocheting baby blankets galore - she pretty much has a manufacturing process going; she is really pumping them out! They look great.<br />
The Barbarian hangs out with us and solves puzzles. That is probably harder than crafting, as much as we chit-chat while we all hang out.<br />
The Boss is stitching a beautiful, large fraternity crest for her son. It looks really good. She has also been working on a really involved book-mark for her daughter, so she has a couple of projects going at the same time.<br />
I tend to stitch smaller projects at work. I had been working on <a href="http://thesweethearttree.com/cgi-bin/detail.pl?SV-Q03-">Sweetheart Tree's Halloween Quadrielle</a>, but I had to take a break. It felt like I was ripping out as much as I was stitching... To avoid getting completely depressed, I put that to the side and started on Sweetheart's<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chickadee Winter Welcome instead. It showed up that was a good switch, since I got it done in about two weeks. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is the stitched piece </span></span>(You can click on the photos to have a closer look on and drool over all the beads and sparklies)<span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: small;">:</span><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeeifhNWb_Uu0fI44mBua2wpsPkQfIhoITWgeLolFSH5ahXDWT-lP_W7X084fHJUVg0EH_17tQgqcfTyngY5YT7iMoB6BkZj06V-o9eC7W3VunAVEHn6AenrnOP0JTGz37pfIMeqwMqD8/s1600/100_6568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeeifhNWb_Uu0fI44mBua2wpsPkQfIhoITWgeLolFSH5ahXDWT-lP_W7X084fHJUVg0EH_17tQgqcfTyngY5YT7iMoB6BkZj06V-o9eC7W3VunAVEHn6AenrnOP0JTGz37pfIMeqwMqD8/s400/100_6568.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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I did one small change to the design; I switched out "Welcome Friends" for "Welcome Winter". </div>
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Here is the linen piece mounted on the precut mat-boards together with the mounted backing fabric:</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuf1gP1uo1k0Cyo3sBdi3CFQhyphenhyphenek7NhuktisKuEPW5AlYWpCrnTikV2pWwXwtVi26idMloB9XmfZixeb_7iK9OBDZMh2VKD49_KSz9Kg83JsaQGeoJaPctT_NLvLsAHT-8s7RCXzjUxbmj/s320/100_6571.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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Finally - the winter chickadee is hanging out with the autumn pumpkins and the summer sun-flower. I started on the <a href="http://thesweethearttree.com/cgi-bin/detail.pl?SV-TK62-">spring kit</a> on Friday and it is coming along pretty quickly (knock on wood). I will change the "Welcome Friends" to "Welcome Spring" for that one. I think that I will try to display all of them together hanging on a ribbon - it looks great in my head, but time will tell. I am excited though!</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYLTUUzrf8U5d0-bPgfVHUuBNNGh5q17Go5hyphenhyphenzwcPrG0u7MV-ajkqoWdBS06ElP3_Uoh9EEXx8IJE9THbiXPTkMCJ2kRpMVDoo8LT-2nSp0pUsZ4-2KwC63jhB06sQyezDkCMEVNQb39m/s320/100_6572.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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On the home-front I still keep neglecting Fremme's "blue sampler". Instead I decided to stitch on a Samsarah Xmas stocking. It is a lot of fun and it is honkin' HUGE. Look at the small leaflet up in the left hand corner - that is a letter size booklet! It is stitched on a pretty coarse linen; 20-ct Guacamole WDW linen. The floss is Caron Collection Watercoulors. This floss is cool; it's a three-ply hand-dyed cotton. One ply is about the same weight as
#5 pearl cotton or six plies of cotton floss.</div>
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I am, however, getting a tad tired of cover pics that have completely different colors than how they show up in reality. Since I am really looking a lot at color when picking out designs, the cover pics that are not showing me the truth makes me tired.... Anyone else out there having the same problem? for this design, I loved the soft pistachio green of the linen, but that is not quite the shade of the cut I got.</div>
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjcqZNjafrc2Xw8Y4tdFCMNFJy-WnJVWq-XtZpvHYuZBL_hGsk9gaTD1U3jejkVctwUTSBCcNaMqhOHbACN8J389LUaIkApldL2Q8L8ZVeewPMnJnoMKhjCM0UnNY1VUbN7S4xGqRQuFT/s320/100_6573.JPG" width="240" /></div>
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Here is a close-up showing the effect of the variegated floss. I love how the greens turned out - just wish that the red had shown the same beautiful shading.</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WUFWeJ2PdcJyNWo2YE1jVXCjT31P9PlKlZ4qRZX7Et_S8nKDYru-KdrKl8Gm8t3pnDcEe5zTKX6m3rgRcagcbMPNQRjLMPEdrC2OFV2JQ7vsLy9jCbrvqnLMYGDUOy4DC8tmBIrNBqeQ/s320/100_6574.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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Other than that, we really need rain badly here. They have the record for the wettest summer in recorded history in Stockholm, while we haven't gotten a drop for over a week now. Everything is wilting in the garden - no surprise, since our temperatures are up in the 90:s and flowers and leaves are getting burned into smithereens. We have been promised a cold-front, but nothing noticeable has come by yet.<br />
I did take some garden photos one early morning last week. I love the lazy looking passion flowers!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFVvPN4-jaJpTYv7VBXXQjdIK-obX3hOcJ-qlMPPuKJreVkU9NqbG-p2qvFFCa2hfLPIKWIk7Hg5DMO9_Vm54Hwf_wG0xzkiNhbjGE0wWGCwV8PUt7XRtyXA6TZGPTa3JNHfH8HRzebfS0/s1600/100_6567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFVvPN4-jaJpTYv7VBXXQjdIK-obX3hOcJ-qlMPPuKJreVkU9NqbG-p2qvFFCa2hfLPIKWIk7Hg5DMO9_Vm54Hwf_wG0xzkiNhbjGE0wWGCwV8PUt7XRtyXA6TZGPTa3JNHfH8HRzebfS0/s320/100_6567.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLOMdW-8h6X1cycFQ8YC4rj1ibMCSAL2Li9Yu3gOdlYk5c3nJK_sIqFaRmuRc8E08TABMEAvp-c7XKb5zlXJ08RvV2JW1O4r_hd2sYeHJZlGV-eyK7ADuoYKNLhlpJzftxDHaQsnoF0S0/s1600/100_6561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLOMdW-8h6X1cycFQ8YC4rj1ibMCSAL2Li9Yu3gOdlYk5c3nJK_sIqFaRmuRc8E08TABMEAvp-c7XKb5zlXJ08RvV2JW1O4r_hd2sYeHJZlGV-eyK7ADuoYKNLhlpJzftxDHaQsnoF0S0/s320/100_6561.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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DH took about 20 photos of this little bunny that hangs out around our house. He is quite a bit smaller than Bubba and Princess.... So very, very cute! I love the good-bye waves by his little white tail when he takes off.</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_i5T-FzQIwQbYiNYI1BFxBLFbGp5Jhslcw1FESL2iewmk867uhe3zybH0G9W4UwXCSrurVJXQZZe2OX6yds5kKme5neZNSndxYrnGJgBl6C_M7QNHkpkvXTlM3s4oef2LlUgqnxVjci53/s320/100_6548.JPG" width="320" /></div>
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Well, I'd better unpack the work-computer and get a few slides written before bed.<br />
I hope that all of you are doing great! And thanks so much for all your sweet congrats on my last post - that really meant a lot to me.<br />
Take care and Happy Stitching - I really hope that I will be able to visit all of you soon,<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-582186282608285102012-06-21T08:05:00.002-04:002012-06-21T08:05:41.224-04:00Excited!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbWysbaft4VOw9p_x7N95YYPcwkiUPeW9Sk4daayydj87DwnH7HmNlC69QwIR1YbxiP_y7_JIb6_zzyQvjPceSAzDRW-GqIgd5g8joonHuyV0A9LNyooNu-h3H9PgsFT95W4tYnw_UY6W/s1600/craft-corners-logo-norm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="69" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVbWysbaft4VOw9p_x7N95YYPcwkiUPeW9Sk4daayydj87DwnH7HmNlC69QwIR1YbxiP_y7_JIb6_zzyQvjPceSAzDRW-GqIgd5g8joonHuyV0A9LNyooNu-h3H9PgsFT95W4tYnw_UY6W/s320/craft-corners-logo-norm.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I am super-excited to share with you that I have been featured in <a href="http://craftcorners.com/">Craft Corners</a> "<a href="http://craftcorners.com/best-of-the-web-no-25/">Best of the Web</a>" segment!<br />
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In this edition (#25), Susan of Craft Corners shows us paper cards from Apple & Pears Cards, fabulous quilts by Cindy Needham, mixed media art by Kim, and stitching by me. <br />
Guess if I feel honored and humbled to share the spot-light with three such talented artists and crafters!<br />
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Craft Corners is a cool site that not only features crafters across the web, but you can also find new craft ideas, plenty of inspiration, and tutorials here.<br />
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Well, back to my robot!<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-58269661060527515712012-06-17T23:24:00.000-04:002012-06-18T09:51:53.355-04:00A Quick Sunday Evening Post<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This new design from Lizzie*Kate totally cracks me up - and it's TRUE too! I will have to stitch this one and give it to Alpha Bunny. I wonder if he would be brave enough to hang it at work.... LOL</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAKg9v38vsqOuaEwO7s-O8ukYz4KqaHI1p2pJCWrJ2JbSJipzrqxzQL7lSTRdxlGkMdLiubziRRwGRv8x-ogXn69zXwgJGxe7WI1CuKPwEQFdX6HpztAaAw7qHjpDoXJAMOUiwSaU2kR_/s1600/lizzie-S103DoWhatYourWifeSaid400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" pca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAKg9v38vsqOuaEwO7s-O8ukYz4KqaHI1p2pJCWrJ2JbSJipzrqxzQL7lSTRdxlGkMdLiubziRRwGRv8x-ogXn69zXwgJGxe7WI1CuKPwEQFdX6HpztAaAw7qHjpDoXJAMOUiwSaU2kR_/s320/lizzie-S103DoWhatYourWifeSaid400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I hope that all of you had a great week and that you had an even greater weekend! My week was wonderful - the robot at work is finally starting to listen (it's out of the teenage phase now, I guess) and the evenings are still filled with naps, stitching and some rounds in the garden with the watering can and the trowel for digging up weeds. It is starting to look a bit more decent in the front yard now - the back yard is still very much in a state of neglect.<br />
For once, I did remember to harvest some lavender before the season is over. This small bouquet is hanging on the wall in my lavender colored stitch room. It smells fabulous! The scent is much more similar to cinnamon than to lavender, oddly enough... Of course I already have plans to stitch a small adornment to go with the bouquet. LOL<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8XjsK21TqvizwsHHcpvTJ9GQyYcc23gCqpqhXUu-U4unlXbUoiyVUf3A46m45YiBn33ugwjuthAdtGwNSdYuuL7koJ0JD7kGjfZBeM_sEYROwK84Ly0KNjuxhjyM6S16wjyWbu5aT4Dz/s1600/100_6533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8XjsK21TqvizwsHHcpvTJ9GQyYcc23gCqpqhXUu-U4unlXbUoiyVUf3A46m45YiBn33ugwjuthAdtGwNSdYuuL7koJ0JD7kGjfZBeM_sEYROwK84Ly0KNjuxhjyM6S16wjyWbu5aT4Dz/s320/100_6533.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I was bad about stitching on my Fremme sampler this week again. I had way too much fun working on the silk gauze sampler and it is finished and hanging on the wall! No more excuses this week - back to the blue sampler!<br />
Well, here below is Be Mine by Heart's Content (all photos should be clickable). I only changed one thing and that was the color on the inside of the crown. I was thinking of changing all the pink flowers to green for them to look like clover leaves, but DH didn't agree with that idea, so I let it be.<br />
Here is one solo pic and one photo showing Be Mine and her wall buddy (Random Threads by Erica Michaels). I also learned something really cool about this design; <a href="http://totstitch.blogspot.com/">Chris of Tot Hill Farm Stitches</a> stitched the cover model for Maureen's kit!! I can tell you that the cover photo saved me many times!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuecbVJa-ZmkK6mIOv6LASIGq_fBplrECb1w7VLYbZxfk2g5vRm-lXw53n6Sze80Avfle5wmJbe7bTD-eUMEo26-_5Kuw2fteGZka4IKHJpDk0XPZ9_cWGdUj7MCM5y7IuyTW_fuWxli8/s1600/100_6534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuecbVJa-ZmkK6mIOv6LASIGq_fBplrECb1w7VLYbZxfk2g5vRm-lXw53n6Sze80Avfle5wmJbe7bTD-eUMEo26-_5Kuw2fteGZka4IKHJpDk0XPZ9_cWGdUj7MCM5y7IuyTW_fuWxli8/s320/100_6534.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisn9UN-0ig-oLpKHa1fb2ehKyrrT0KecghYbEsQt8lroZLESKI4cL3d5X-X0PMuhE551ORP-v62oW9K6uFcC04OpyVPg90cTxcWc7ffwCb3Fy3nWVdG0CJkr_0LSdpi4tSqYafyM9KGoZ/s1600/100_6538.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisn9UN-0ig-oLpKHa1fb2ehKyrrT0KecghYbEsQt8lroZLESKI4cL3d5X-X0PMuhE551ORP-v62oW9K6uFcC04OpyVPg90cTxcWc7ffwCb3Fy3nWVdG0CJkr_0LSdpi4tSqYafyM9KGoZ/s320/100_6538.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I had really hoped that this weekend would be a finishing galore weekend. I have so many projects that are waiting patiently to get finished up. It is high time to reduce the ever growing pile of "almost finished" projects. I did get a minute part of the pile done - both projects are Patrick's Woods pieces that I finished stitching back in May. Here are the back and front of Hare Lines, containing a little note-book, and the little violet pin-cushion (sorry, too lazy to go check what the piece is called...)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Ak2SCeXbw6yl1qdLVeauyr1XZ823PpC6VVFTlEhL_XJrzouRLLVrDvupS5HghyMWDy1hRorN0QK2zb4PZq1Fkd9zhmUiWMlhKAGLOBT7kMu64FpFSTrLquH3WeCTacjqaANA4GKS8atK/s1600/100_6539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Ak2SCeXbw6yl1qdLVeauyr1XZ823PpC6VVFTlEhL_XJrzouRLLVrDvupS5HghyMWDy1hRorN0QK2zb4PZq1Fkd9zhmUiWMlhKAGLOBT7kMu64FpFSTrLquH3WeCTacjqaANA4GKS8atK/s320/100_6539.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Un-8pGDd8uJT3hHBfAEJ3yUb6uxboXpN8P5VmDwEMbSMC5eAULgKzp-j89xDwCkrzoI1XxBb089lZqTdcccBgLTKiQPnUDfB9b-6XnkNwgw1QLgwNgykKOfMircuqmE1MpLHZOCxBVTL/s1600/100_6541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Un-8pGDd8uJT3hHBfAEJ3yUb6uxboXpN8P5VmDwEMbSMC5eAULgKzp-j89xDwCkrzoI1XxBb089lZqTdcccBgLTKiQPnUDfB9b-6XnkNwgw1QLgwNgykKOfMircuqmE1MpLHZOCxBVTL/s320/100_6541.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The greatest surprise of the weekend was how long it takes to finish up the acorn ornaments from Cross-Eyed Cricket! My goodness - this will take eons! The shapes are odd, so you really have to manipulate the fabric a lot (= a lot of lacing thread and time) to get it to finally lie snugly and correctly around the cardboard. I did at least make sure that all the batting is cut out and ready to go.... The caps and the cardboard were cut out a long time ago and have been waiting in one of those storage boxes that always seems to disappear as soon as you get the urge to roll up your sleeves and start some serious finishing work! I bet most of you have at least one of those around, am I right?</div>
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Well, I did get 1/2 ornament finished. I still haven't figured out whether I will use twisted cording or not. Twelve ornaments all in all - not sure that I have the patience to twist for all of them. :-)</div>
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I guess that I am trying to compensate for my snail speed finishing work by buying more stash... rational thinking, right? Here are some pretty and very girly linens together with ditto and sparkly flosses. These will be a couple of door prizes for a retreat in October. I'd better get hopping if they are to be finished by then! I am looking forward to stitching some real girly stuff.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFnPmocH8p3q6YDQT1gFXvKSqj_SvhS-v7zQa9AeNCoJQMCKbTRHQ5WAI_vR1q9vzqhUgPuJ_H5XNaSjCRLcfOmycmejG_rf7EPM-UmJ5ejR19K8qruWWaQHXWjHRTQm2NblrAGa9H68a/s1600/100_6528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFnPmocH8p3q6YDQT1gFXvKSqj_SvhS-v7zQa9AeNCoJQMCKbTRHQ5WAI_vR1q9vzqhUgPuJ_H5XNaSjCRLcfOmycmejG_rf7EPM-UmJ5ejR19K8qruWWaQHXWjHRTQm2NblrAGa9H68a/s320/100_6528.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
I also found this other great chart from Lizzie*Kate; Oh Baby at the LNS. The chart contains bunches of baby motifs, all of them the same size and style. This makes it real easy to pull together a simple and personalized baby sampler, stitched with any color your heart desires. I think that I will have a lot of fun stitching from this as well!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9CmsivizYGTQ6SpyaJgcqb1BafjhaTCL_n44ClYp4xJOwrZwpNuj6v9ns6KMJUkryCHrGJFJOAey5MKuqVbUDK5ciPyQkMphKOxqNJY0506LGkWCB5ghZWJbySNObK7geCNIYmzwgyJy/s1600/100_6529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9CmsivizYGTQ6SpyaJgcqb1BafjhaTCL_n44ClYp4xJOwrZwpNuj6v9ns6KMJUkryCHrGJFJOAey5MKuqVbUDK5ciPyQkMphKOxqNJY0506LGkWCB5ghZWJbySNObK7geCNIYmzwgyJy/s320/100_6529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Well, other than that, I think that I managed to watch at least half a dozen animated movies this weekend (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Caste, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Over the Hedge, The Incredibles, Coraline, Bee Movie, and so on), so it''ll be real interesting to see what I dream tonight. <br />
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As always, take care and Happy Stitching! I hope to visit you all real soon!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-s9BDzVZhcoas0Y4nyVq09ZinDH377CSMM1-ZbQa9J9D5HMgAHwD6hTPVYor-MF5zAi3r2JuYPKhqt_ph6-9gnqKPB00tqKlEzNyRppI_qWgjUX9pCPjM6Kt7AgMTUiChOuOGaW4nZTG/s1600/Jenny.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-s9BDzVZhcoas0Y4nyVq09ZinDH377CSMM1-ZbQa9J9D5HMgAHwD6hTPVYor-MF5zAi3r2JuYPKhqt_ph6-9gnqKPB00tqKlEzNyRppI_qWgjUX9pCPjM6Kt7AgMTUiChOuOGaW4nZTG/s1600/Jenny.gif" /></a></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-29675382552585808972012-06-11T15:09:00.001-04:002012-06-11T15:10:15.096-04:00Rain, Glorious Rain!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Happy Monday everyone! It is a great beginning of the week here - it is finally raining! The KY clay really needs a good soaking. What is even better about the rain is that the ground, which hardens into brick during the dry spells, will get soft enough to dig in. This is truly great, since DH and I picked up some assorted perennials this weekend. The timing could not be better!</div>
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I am still totally in love with the new hobby; napping! In other words, the needles are not exactly racing here. I did stitch this adorable design by Barbara-Ana (Quoth the Raven: Nevermore)) and I like the raven so much that I had to stitch up a mini-version too. As you can see, he is itty-bitty. I was thinking about finishing the tiny one into a pin, but he may be too small. The design is intended to be used as a scissors-fob, but I think that it is way too large! I'll have to come up with something else to do with it. I am also contemplating making a third version for an exchange coming up this fall - he is just too cute not to share.</div>
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You can buy this pattern either from <a href="http://www.creativepoppypatterns.com/">Creative Poppy</a> (they'll send you the pdf and a pass-word pretty much instantly) or printed out on paper (I got my hard-copy from <a href="http://www.abcstitch.com/designers_php/designers.php?page=3&category=Barbara+Ana&isparent=&">ABC Stitch Therapy</a>). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSqLJUwlyzSWGpOdMlwdvBtzhK4RQlooSUGSsqV2H2hCjCkpGHBnls2LhSGfxy5rGb17TvEmg-mdmKI-eeL0BnhdNW0Z6Z5hnbgaSgAtp1ky9kzsXL0cvNrQb7RUB-9Hb2rcYP99uGVGF/s1600/100_6493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSqLJUwlyzSWGpOdMlwdvBtzhK4RQlooSUGSsqV2H2hCjCkpGHBnls2LhSGfxy5rGb17TvEmg-mdmKI-eeL0BnhdNW0Z6Z5hnbgaSgAtp1ky9kzsXL0cvNrQb7RUB-9Hb2rcYP99uGVGF/s320/100_6493.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Barbara Ana has a couple of additional - equally adorable - Halloween designs; Owl-o-ween Scissor Fob and Trick or Treat Scissor Fob:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4eECkU4W8cIBMNS_zJ6hGETc1KYYcwNczZwYuNWezxUoQ0jE1_niDssHAQT1dNR5OKQmRNklTXUd6jwJdKFelMYtv-sdnnlLweKWjWISx_11quVzdXzmjrbpvJ_zO21t669-CTUti1Sg/s1600/726817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4eECkU4W8cIBMNS_zJ6hGETc1KYYcwNczZwYuNWezxUoQ0jE1_niDssHAQT1dNR5OKQmRNklTXUd6jwJdKFelMYtv-sdnnlLweKWjWISx_11quVzdXzmjrbpvJ_zO21t669-CTUti1Sg/s200/726817.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOabjLlf6BUfJ5e39AM-wS5JqOaevGigQGOWCTkkSYKzZvdSuu1hoD70QTDOuU7-wq1BmM6CQilOZ-gqvlLGsAlFOlf3gdDbdLOZxOBvtngd-Ot_dtRaPkNNSiPgIx3hyEFfB-aqizQsI/s1600/736783.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" fba="true" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOabjLlf6BUfJ5e39AM-wS5JqOaevGigQGOWCTkkSYKzZvdSuu1hoD70QTDOuU7-wq1BmM6CQilOZ-gqvlLGsAlFOlf3gdDbdLOZxOBvtngd-Ot_dtRaPkNNSiPgIx3hyEFfB-aqizQsI/s200/736783.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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I have also fallen back into the dangerous habit of browsing e-bay every now and then.... Sometimes, I really do manage to get a great deal that I am really pleased with, such as this silk-gauze kit (frame included!) from The Heart's Content for less than $25. Three of the letters had been stitched by the previous owner, but I ripped them back out and started from zero. Here are a few progress pics:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYLT8MOJjKMC77MtZaDrcvZXCpBFyiVkAT-p7iPsk8HAJKxEWlwmc_OtJFsCJlILXrkapkqjTdFyyeMKACnrTw6G4We8j4cdVp9AsB7ADzGLxgqolIBGDtkJVSbmvNGQQce-FkZiC0Oi_i/s1600/100_6521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYLT8MOJjKMC77MtZaDrcvZXCpBFyiVkAT-p7iPsk8HAJKxEWlwmc_OtJFsCJlILXrkapkqjTdFyyeMKACnrTw6G4We8j4cdVp9AsB7ADzGLxgqolIBGDtkJVSbmvNGQQce-FkZiC0Oi_i/s320/100_6521.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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As you can see, I am working on filling in the background right now. It takes time, but I enjoy it - since everything else is already stitched there is no need for counting. Very relaxing... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFK89PKli69xDHY8JlHeIAkD3mgrjoEMHiZf7wJG5NeQasza-Y2wORYGYeDuRl3bXXG6VrFUPCVtOtGrzEEqp1Fy35-ffbCIMnxfQvMPzQsrXtIIjneijbuAJPT-_3FnnXvUOw-aIyb_Kc/s1600/100_6525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFK89PKli69xDHY8JlHeIAkD3mgrjoEMHiZf7wJG5NeQasza-Y2wORYGYeDuRl3bXXG6VrFUPCVtOtGrzEEqp1Fy35-ffbCIMnxfQvMPzQsrXtIIjneijbuAJPT-_3FnnXvUOw-aIyb_Kc/s320/100_6525.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I would love to find the companion piece <a href="http://www.stitchesnthings.com/detail.cfm?ID=14248">Love Thyself</a> one of these days... ;-)</div>
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The new sampler is coming along slowly too, but it is all right since I really enjoy working on it. The problem is that I try to tell myself to switch between the projects every other hour or so, but then I get so engulfed with what I have in my hands that I forget everything else.... Oh well, there is just too much fun to have!</div>
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Did I show you the sweet little scissors keep from <a href="http://www.rovaris.it/">Rovaris</a>? I am becoming a big fan. I was really impressed with the "<a href="http://www.thesilverneedle.co/includes/templates/SilverNeedle/images//rovaris/rovaris-initial-necklace-combo600.jpg">Stitched Initial Necklace</a>" that she came out with a few months back (here is the back of <a href="http://onestitchcloser.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-am-still-alive-and-stitchin.html">mine</a>). This is the latest sweetie from Rovaris: <a href="http://needleworkshow.com/cgi-bin/detailc.pl?561-rovJ10-26">Scissors Fob Kit</a>. All the parts spread on top of the sofa:</div>
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After a very quick and easy assembly:</div>
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While browsing the net to find the link to the necklace, I happened to run across another of Rovaris' beauties: Wreath What a gorgeous design!</div>
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Speaking of beautiful cross-stitch, check all the photos of Forget-Me-Nots in Stitches at <a href="http://www.barberryrow.com/gf/gf.html">Barberry Row</a>. Many of these designs are older and not posted on any US stores or on Lauren's web-site, so some of them were new to me.<br />
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Well, other than that, not a whole lot going on at the stitch front. The garden has finally gotten some TLC, so I can post some photos without weeds! :-) Here is an oak-leaf hydrangea, planted last year, and she seems to be doing well.<br />
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The other day I saw a robin take a drink form the sunflower bird-bath. That made my day! :-)</div>
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The hardy hibiscus are doing really well this year too. I discovered that one of them already started blooming this morning. (Please ignore the clover.... LOL)</div>
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Another hydrangea, also planted last year. I love the shape of the flower clusters on this one!</div>
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Lavender - what is not to love!? They really take care of themselves, smell wonderfully, and are a bee and butterfly favorite!</div>
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Our new flowerbed is starting to look a bit "bushy"...</div>
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More lavender.</div>
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And the older hydrangea is sporting both pinks and blues this year.</div>
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The bunnies don't want me to log off before they say hi. Princess has some tummy problems right now, but I think that he'll get better soon.</div>
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Well, time to get going!</div>
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As always, thanks so much for all your wonderful comments and have a great week full with fun stitching time! I hope to pop over and see you all soon!</div>
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Happy Stitching,</div>
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</div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-78280777488584582292012-06-03T00:33:00.001-04:002012-06-06T16:58:32.510-04:00Halfway There!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am thrilled to show you the progress on the EMS 2012 Antique Sampler freebie - it is halfway completed. </div>
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I got a really nice surprise on May 31st, when I popped over the the EMS web-site and realized that the June assignment had been posted one day early! Woohoo!!! Friday was devoted to more green confetti stitching than I am thrilled enough about to describe in detail... say no more. :-)</div>
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It was worth it in the end.</div>
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As you can see, I decided to carry out some smaller changes to the original; I changed out the mushroom motif for a bunny and the small flower sprig for my initial (not sure whether I will switch colors later on, but at least I like the placement after re-locating it a couple of times).</div>
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I have been a fan of Biedermeier style samplers for several years, so back when I was still (very actively ;-)) building up my stitch library collection, I invested in a couple of the books by Rafaella Serena. These books are not real cheap, but totally worth it. She has published three books (I believe) shock full of old Biedermeier plates, both from her own collection and others. Quite a few of the motifs are charted in the back of the book. Even if you never get around to stitch any of the designs, let me tell you, these collections are true historical eye-candy and they could serve as very nice coffee table books.</div>
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Since I wasn't thrilled about the mushrooms, I decided to flip through the animal themed volume to see if I could find a small motif to use for a substitution.</div>
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This is the wild-life inspired bell-pull where I finally spotted a perfectly sized bunny. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpfOvq8jDCpXpLlXp7i0FlxF3sNGWiKdvCREbm3bZuzdgHoqSNDkQVQMwIL_uTGku3u1Z1X3kntEP80xFuVcOXGqN-xcXBUNrFCxQJMuW7tJ7MS5cdsBgB3MTr4IoPyMO6HTDek6AbEwsA/s1600/100_6489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpfOvq8jDCpXpLlXp7i0FlxF3sNGWiKdvCREbm3bZuzdgHoqSNDkQVQMwIL_uTGku3u1Z1X3kntEP80xFuVcOXGqN-xcXBUNrFCxQJMuW7tJ7MS5cdsBgB3MTr4IoPyMO6HTDek6AbEwsA/s320/100_6489.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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After that came the tricky part - substituting the motifs and to do that, I used the master chart. I scanned the bunny, used Photo Shop to mirror her, and enlarged her to the right grid-size (the last step was by far the most frustrating one. A 100% "real life" view on the monitor does not necessarily show up the same size after printing - blargh!). </div>
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A bit of tape, filling in the grid-lines with a pen and voila!</div>
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcU9sD0-luulQWFRC9dAc7qqQpVrsb0QV9AcFhIfdtPJ4jrvIRJF9kJdR9ZkgK3uevBt8ee3PiyjDMTcPyrT0U1HX9duX5AmLsu2YVr4h6YbfKA0NrGUqrjUqMxo20OXm9kPo1jf_oluA3/s320/100_6485.JPG" width="240" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArCiZHhdtiBFC6uFWyqYIpcwmv46IXINjArP-ikNZg4urUJm0-LZbocr_rXfkh0G_bbfLIWs47vqCV47U5bMsWjUIktnCbMS3hc7GOYE4BHRyCNWWW2U2N4F2J1IxhinEm_QIcMEFjWga/s1600/100_6486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArCiZHhdtiBFC6uFWyqYIpcwmv46IXINjArP-ikNZg4urUJm0-LZbocr_rXfkh0G_bbfLIWs47vqCV47U5bMsWjUIktnCbMS3hc7GOYE4BHRyCNWWW2U2N4F2J1IxhinEm_QIcMEFjWga/s320/100_6486.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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While flipping through Rafaella's book I found one plate that was especially intriguing! </div>
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Do you spot it?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjutiGo466_fczyhwiOL1bVeMkavh-Jf2ePyDRvtXk_r9UGbB2qkVQr0h5-TV2N-WSBBe5MeqLOhPCItzpZEZPk7SlJkWBj45h1Mfq8dn6rRexll_YqYlP2vyP9N6R-KBojaV_7f-rQony-/s1600/100_6488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjutiGo466_fczyhwiOL1bVeMkavh-Jf2ePyDRvtXk_r9UGbB2qkVQr0h5-TV2N-WSBBe5MeqLOhPCItzpZEZPk7SlJkWBj45h1Mfq8dn6rRexll_YqYlP2vyP9N6R-KBojaV_7f-rQony-/s320/100_6488.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The peacock and the sparrow motifs in the EMS sampler have been taken from this particular antique Biedermeier plate (the pic is clickable for a better view)! Ellen changed out the colors in a truly fabulous way. I really wish that I was as skilled with colors as so many of you out there are!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEBrHIYKgKE5_h9R2A6zVf9wHp9e-LQ1rmXn5J6MRSIqE2pOMhk-ruDYz0qhman5VoLLoeCXhwPYm0M76iwTiVvH95mwjB8BcpM47q1bVQGUEATiNZR24g-ZCAaR2uoGBtuXJN7Wm7sXb/s1600/100_6487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEBrHIYKgKE5_h9R2A6zVf9wHp9e-LQ1rmXn5J6MRSIqE2pOMhk-ruDYz0qhman5VoLLoeCXhwPYm0M76iwTiVvH95mwjB8BcpM47q1bVQGUEATiNZR24g-ZCAaR2uoGBtuXJN7Wm7sXb/s400/100_6487.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
I picked from all the browns that had already been used throughout the design, free-handed the greenery (nowhere near fabulous, but it works) and that was it - easy-peasy! The close-up below shows the newest additions; the bunny, the grave stone, and the beautiful little rose and violet bouquet. The colors in the bouquet are quite a bit more intense than the rest of the colors, so it will be interesting the see if it will be balanced out further down the road.... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vpb0KlJzNE24O2UQrZMoU7pS6QDA0xBix1IkK_vHrn8VCaTRlp3CATm3Vdx5ZyZkhsI0EjlIVvTLia6qTh30w7Vb8JWzOpFb3k5OZPmmxohYCwxRQmk4hhGluuLJsMly8sENU-22h3_9/s1600/100_6514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9vpb0KlJzNE24O2UQrZMoU7pS6QDA0xBix1IkK_vHrn8VCaTRlp3CATm3Vdx5ZyZkhsI0EjlIVvTLia6qTh30w7Vb8JWzOpFb3k5OZPmmxohYCwxRQmk4hhGluuLJsMly8sENU-22h3_9/s320/100_6514.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is a close-up of the tiny bunny wiggling its nose good night!</div>
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As always, thanks so much for stopping by and all the comments you
leave when visiting! It is so much fun to hear from you and I really appreciate the extra time you take to leave a greeting!<br />
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Take care and, as always, Happy Stitching,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNKZLIZw5l3c2mH0-wLC8XRywf-B4J0JFzaV0ftbiqFiErCYqrtR1LnJE0QQbao6RjGAzYuoQPMJejpxWCK8i7oos757hsIjiTlGJu0DvYC-kiisHy31jx-YLYNZPnD0u0W8t-Kkomcrq/s1600/Jenny.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNKZLIZw5l3c2mH0-wLC8XRywf-B4J0JFzaV0ftbiqFiErCYqrtR1LnJE0QQbao6RjGAzYuoQPMJejpxWCK8i7oos757hsIjiTlGJu0DvYC-kiisHy31jx-YLYNZPnD0u0W8t-Kkomcrq/s1600/Jenny.gif" /></a></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-36298854969311212012-05-29T10:24:00.001-04:002012-05-29T10:24:53.569-04:00It has been a while.... :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, after almost three weeks of silence here at Nirvana, I'd better roll up my sleeves and start typing! Part of the reason is that I really haven't been stitching all that much lately - I have discovered a new hobby; napping! LOL I should feel a little bit ashamed of myself - the photos have been loaded and ready to go for about two weeks now... Well, here we go!</div>
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As you may remember, my parents were here for 10 days earlier this month, so I didn't get a whole lot stitched then as you can imagine. We did get out on adventures pretty much every day - Andy was working nights all the week through, which complicated things a bit (don't even get me started on his crazy schedule - sigh! I just about had it!!!!).</div>
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I did work a tiny bit on the new Prim Sisters kit, which turned out to be much sweeter than I thought initially. A quick stitch, so I got a bit done while my parents were here and it was really fast to finish up after they left for Sweden.</div>
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I did some smaller changes to the back by adding my initials and the year (+ accidentally picking the wrong colors for the heart...) and I have decided to finish this piece into a zippered pocket instead of the gigantic needle-book that it is intended to be. This time, the kit included a bit more fabric to do the finishing work with, so that gives me all kinds of freedom - yay!</div>
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So far, this has been a great club and I am looking forward to the next set.</div>
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Last weekend (I think - time flies), I was participating with a booth at the Founders Craft Fair here in town. Since my camera batteries were dead, there are no photos to show from this year, but if you'd like to get an idea about how things look, it was very similar to <a href="http://onestitchcloser.blogspot.com/2011/05/founders-day-with-carft-booths.html">last year's event</a>. We did have a slight lesser number of booths indoors this year, but it did feel like a lot more people came by.</div>
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The two main-questions I got this year were different versions of "Oh, you are doing needle point?" (how come that everyone is familiar with needle-point, but not cross-stitch, I wonder?) and "How much are they?". I had to explain quite a few times why the items in the display were not for sale and people seemed to be genuinely surprised (you know the blurb about stitching time and material costs, yada-yada). It is funny; nowadays so many of us assume that everything is for sale; in this industrial era we don't ever stop to think about how much time it actually takes to make things by hand. It also seems that many of us think that the ultimate goal is to make a profit out of what we do, not to find joy in developing a skill and and the feeling of peace of mind.</div>
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Well, while interacting sporadically with people (it was still far from being packed), I did get time to work on two Patrick's Woods pieces. The first one was the little Hare Lines kit that is a small note-book accessory to go with the<a href="http://onestitchcloser.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-am-still-alive-and-stitchin.html"> Hare Pyns set</a>. The only thing I really had left to do was the border, which was a little bit tricky, and the initials but I did finally get it done and I do like the way it turned out.</div>
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I did also start on this sweet little mattress-style pin-cushion, which I am looking forward to doing the finishing work on. Sherri printed the vintage violet girl on some muslin type fabric and created a lovely design in purples (tent-stitch over one, so not too bad). I finished the stitching in the evening and now it is lying on the ever growing finishing pile at home. The purple felt will be cut out into a double heart shape and used for a little needle holder.</div>
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Note the pretty wooden cutting board below. Andy and I picked that up at Shaker Village when we were there with my parents. I'll show you the photos from that excursion in my next post.</div>
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I did also pick up this sweet little picture at Shaker Village - Oh, how I wish that I would have bought many, many more to share! Note the text written in cross-stitches - just adorable! It will probably get framed and hung somewhere in the house one of these days.<br />
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Other than that, not much to report right now. I have gotten a few shipments of stash lately, which has been fun. The Halloween Fob in the picture below was an E-bay find and the charts were a draw of luck (or rather, a draw of suspicion or "covering my a$$") a few weeks back.<br />
Remember when Guilia Punto Antichi came out with the adorable <a href="https://www.stitchingbitsandbobs.com/cgi-bin/Store/showimage.cgi?GiuliaPuntiAntichi0ShabbyChicPendant1600">Shabby Chic Pendan</a>t earlier this year? Well, suspicious as I am, I read through countless kit descriptions at several needlework stores on-line, but I could not find anything that clearly informed me what the kit really included.<br />
My feel was that if the button did not come with the kit, it was a waste of a pretty good deal of money. And you know the deal about exchanging patterns - not gonna' happen! I even made a few phone calls to various stores to be sure, but none could give me a straight yes or no (that should have been my first clue, LOL). <br />
Well, I finally placed the order with Stitching Bits & Bobs but sent Bobbi an e-mail where I stated that, unless the button came with the kit, I was not interested.<br />
Lo and behold, a couple of weeks later, the "kit" showed up in my mail box and it was nothing but a chart pack - for $16! I mean - wow, that is a bit hefty in my humble opinion!!! Luckily, when I called Bobbi and pointed out that I had sent her the e-mail (which she admitted to not have read), she exchanged the chart for a store credit so I got the three charts below instead! Not bad at all... Two of them I have been wanting for a while, so that was like Xmas!<br />
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The EMS sampler is coming along all right. This is not the latest update I have, but it took longer to stitch this time. I did struggle with the mushroom motif which I had already decided to switch for something else - the question was what!? I will show you how that turned out next time, but I have to say that I am pretty pleased. I am anxiously awaiting part 6 - only a couple of days more!</div>
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And finally, this is a new sampler that I just started stitching for someone very special! This secret person does not read my blog so I will be able to share the progress with you. This is another kit from my favorite design house, Haandarbejdets Fremme in Denmark. This piece is also a bit further along, but I'll have to share that progress with you next time as well. </div>
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This sampler is only stitched with five colors and as you can see from the photos below, it is stitched in Assisi style, which is one of my favorite styles. Close-up here:</div>
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And this will be the size of the sampler, once finished. I am having so much fun stitching on this one! I really like the quality of the Fremme's designs and kits! (That may be the reason why I have a drawer packed full of Fremme kits at home.... )<br />
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Well, time to get back to the robot here in the lab.<br />
Have a great week and wishes of many hours of Happy Stitching! (I owe most of you a visit, so that is on the top of the to-do list now, even before napping!)<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-69330148213782325152012-05-03T23:34:00.000-04:002012-05-03T23:34:22.466-04:00One more day til' vacation starts - woop, woop!Happy Friday all!<br />
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This is a quick drive-by post - the parents are on their way in (less than 24 hrs - yay!) and I really should be cleaning my house instead of getting stuck in the net... <br />
Anyway, I figure that I will be out of touch for the next 10 days while my parents are visiting, so here is a quick Hi and Hello!<br />
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Speaking about cleaning, instead of focusing on what I really need to get done, I had bunches of fun with the second Rosenstand bell-pull. It is completed and I love them together - below a photo before it hit the ironing board. The piece on the right was stitched back on 2010 - I have done worse than a 2 year gap between companion pieces in the past, I kid you not~!<br />
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Here below they are hanging in a door-way so that you can get a better feel for how tall they really are. I am looking forward to hanging these babies in the house, but not so much to the hours of hem-stitching...<br />
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Here are a few close-ups, just for fun. The birds were a real joy to stitch! They look so content and relaxed, don't you think?</div>
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I did also manage to start on the fourth segment of the EMS SAL 2012 sampler. I haven't gotten very far yet, but I am taking my time with this section, since I am contemplating some possible changes. It'll be interesting to figure things out, I am sure...<br />
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I am not sure about the small flower swag thingy at the bottom... they look a bit blah compared to the rest of the motifs. DH comforted me by saying that it'll probably look better when all the other motifs are in place. I am not positive that will help with making the relatively bland colors pop. Oh well. The berry branches are so sweet and I enjoy working on them.<br /><br />
After a longer dry-spell in the mail-box, I "accidentally" got in some stash this week. First I got a package from Australia with a few stump-work kits from <a href="http://www.janenicholas.com/">Jane Nicholas</a>. Stump-work is something I dream of making one day, but I don't think that day will be tomorrow... LOL<br />
Her designs are so, so, so pretty! Well, since the parents are almost here, the bunnies had to move from the guest bed-room to the stitch room, so I can't dig anything out from there, no matter how much I want to show you. Poor, poor bunnies... ;-) (And poor, poor bunnies' mommy... sniffle)<br />
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...so ... I'll show you the newly acquired stash on-line instead - I got the tiny <a href="http://www.janenicholas.com/products/Bumble-Bee.html">Bumble Bee</a> kit, the fun looking <a href="http://www.janenicholas.com/products/Scarab-Beetle-Pouch.html">Scarab Beetle Pouch</a> and the large & absolutely gorgeous <a href="http://www.janenicholas.com/products/Fritillary%2C-Fennel-and-Scarab-Beetle.html">Fritillary, Fennel and Scarab Beetle</a>. Splurge!! LOL I love the Snake's Head Frittilary, so this one was a must.<br />
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Today I got a couple of neat surprises, that have not been "locked in" yet. First off, here is the second kit from the Prim Sister Club. Maybe not quite as cute as the first kit IMO, but still a real sweet design.<br />
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Second, a few charts, charms and linen cuts from the Woolly Tyme Club from Homespun Elegance. I have kicked myself for not signing up to participate at the time, but I wasn't really into prim yet... On the plus-side, the prices are significantly better now ... So far, I have managed to scrape up 9 out of 12 months which isn't all that bad. (Still missing November, October, and July.) I am planning on making a bunny to display the blankets on, instead of the sheep that they were intended for. Any thoughts?<br />
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Before getting back to the bathroom scrubbing, I just need to share a photo of a real snuggle-bunny with you. Back when we got Princess, he was such an itty-bitty thing. Bubba was really very mean to him, but he is kinda' like the nice dog in UP! - he just did not get that she didn't adore him! Well, they did become really good buddies after a while, which is lucky for Bubba; Princess has grown to become twice Bubba's weight since. He is now too large to fit in the largest size igloo that the pet-store carries. That tiny ordeal does not stop him from visiting with Bubba, nope. Here he is, with his head in the igloo, probably getting licked by Bubba, while the rest of him has to stay outside... like Alice after drinking form the wrong bottle...LOL He is just too funny and still very, very sweet as you can see!<br />
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Well, back to the sponges and buckets with me!<br />
Have a great Friday, an even better weekend and don't forget to stitch! ;-)<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-86001728326277444712012-04-30T09:06:00.001-04:002012-04-30T09:06:11.923-04:00Drumroll please....<br />
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Huge Congratulations to the 100-Nirvana-Followers-Giveaway winners, Chris from <a href="http://totstitch.blogspot.com/">Tot Hill Farm Stitches</a> and Jo from <a href="http://serendipitousstitching.blogspot.com/">Serendipitous Stitches</a>!!!<br />
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About three things that make Chris happy:<br />
"1. I saw the first hummingbird of the season<br />2. I had some time in the evening to stitch and have Binx sleep on my lap<br />3. My husband, my best friend :)"<br />
Chris was drawn to win the Sit and Stitch from With Thy Needle and Thread, complete with thread pack! Congratulations Chris!<br />
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And Jo says:<br />
"My three things which make me happy are: My Boys, my online stitching pals and shiny pennies. I work in a bookshop and I love it when we get a new bag of pennies from the bank and they're all shiny and pretty."<br />
Jo is the lucky winner of With My Needle's April Word-Play .<br />
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If you send me an e-mail with your addresses, I will send you the new stash ASAP! :-)<br />
Thanks so much to everyone who signed up for the drawing - you made several of my days! It was so enjoyable and really inspiring to read about what makes all of you happy! Happiness really comes in the simplest packages, don't you think?<br />
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This week, I am happy about something special that doesn't happen very often. My parents are coming to visit for 10 days! The will arrive on Friday evening after a long journey from Stockholm. This year the weather is cooperating here in Kentucky, so we will have plenty of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.<br />
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Thanks so much again and have a a wonderful week! I may be able to squeeze in a stitching post later this week, but I foresee a lot of house cleaning in my near future... LOL<br />
Happy Stitching,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQZcQ36W5VHQHpRCImuH36xROEPxu8Ze2-APJ8hvI6Sze7Ypj9mXei31W8fkV4pD3q7OXxUKdmWw4AZBCGAAsZgP3R6yiDLd2UsUkjIWdnEgjLkjvntfluDWHfG1BFBt8kdJRvhDAYw91/s1600/Jenny.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQZcQ36W5VHQHpRCImuH36xROEPxu8Ze2-APJ8hvI6Sze7Ypj9mXei31W8fkV4pD3q7OXxUKdmWw4AZBCGAAsZgP3R6yiDLd2UsUkjIWdnEgjLkjvntfluDWHfG1BFBt8kdJRvhDAYw91/s1600/Jenny.gif" /></a></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-33870383301687296482012-04-27T14:03:00.001-04:002012-04-27T14:09:46.875-04:00The best thing I ever did!Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'll show you a quick stitchy-update and after that I will tell you about how I got help to improve my overall health in a pretty dramatic and unexpected way. I think that many of you will find the read pretty interesting and I definitely think that it is a story well worth sharing. Maybe my story will give you or someone you know some help, who knows? <br />
<br />
Anyway, back to the "important stuff" - stitching! ;-) <br />
I finally put the last stitch in the Scarlet Letter shepherdess and actually surprised at how pleased I am with them. The colors were a bit less exciting than they showed up on the kit cover-photo, but all in all, both of them turned out pretty cute anyway. (LOL on the sheep/pig/horse... and the black critter is a what..?)<br />
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The photo below shows the state before all the hundreds of filling stitches... I decided to use a riskier strategy and stitched the white critter and the year Assissi style to avoid that the white stitches would be "drenched" in the grass. It did work out nicely and it also made the actual stitching process a bit more interesting.<br />
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The kit came with a dark-blue velvet to mount the pieces on. I am thinking of trying to find another color velvet. The thing with velvet is that it doesn't necessarily like to be folded, stuffed into a bag and set on a shelf for a number of years....<br />
The piece I have looks a bit sad now... The "midnight blue" is also more of a dusty blue and I would like something closer to a gem color, like dark sapphire or emerald. Any suggestions? (I know that the "midnight blue" looks black in the photo below.) I have already decided to do a simple hem-stitching around the pieces and I am actually looking forward to that - I have problems, I know... LOL<br />
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I did also finally get myself in gear, looked through my long 2012 WIP list and decided to work on the second Rosenstand bird bell-pull. There are still many leaves left to stitch on this one, but it is fun and I really enjoy working on it. The chart is so easy to read, which is a wonderful break after the shepherd and shepherdess. It is divided into four large pages and the photo belows shows a tad more than a quarter stitched up. The top-part is the busiest with the "leaf tuft" at the top (I am stitching "center up" and will start on "center down" as soon as the top part is completed). It will be so much fun to stitch the sweet little bird, so that is something I really look forward to!<br />
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This piece and its already finished companion will also be hemmed along the sides before making them into bell-pulls. After this project is complete, there will be a hemming party at my house... :-)<br />
I picked out a couple of bamboo bell-pull hardware sets to use with these designs - can't wait for these to be done! I even know where to hang them!!! :-)<br />
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I don't think that I have shown you the companion before, so here it is (should be clickable!):<br />
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All right! On to the health part of this post, so feel free to skip! :-)<br />
A few years back I started to feel like I had no energy whatsoever. I slept badly, it never seemed enough and I was really more passed out than sleeping (I can not recall ever dreaming during this time). If a colleague so much as sneezed in the same room as I was in, I could pretty much sit back and wait to get sick too and for a really long time - it never failed. I was eating healthy, exercising regularly (as high impact cardio at least 4 times a week) and I tried to get 7-8 hrs sleep a night. Yet, something was really not right.<br />
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I finally decided to invest in myself and try to get some help. Instead of going to a doctor that would either give me pills or tell me to change my busy life-style to a slower pace, I went to a holistic medical doctor, recommended to me by a female colleague. (DH calls her "The Witch Doctor" - LOL) This doctor is fantastic! First of all, the doctor was a female, so she could relate to what I was talking about on a whole different plane than any male MD can.<br />
Within meeting her the fist few minutes, she already had a pretty good idea of what was going on. She told me that I probably had an inflammation in my intestines that had changed my hormone levels, specifically <a href="http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm">cortisol</a>. She explained that the change of the cortisol level will affect everything else that goes on in your body - all the other hormone levels will get out of whack automatically, with all the problems that follow. Furthermore, she explained that she is not a magician, but that this is a really common problem among women and that she had seen it countless times before.<br />
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I won't bore you with too many details, but after meeting with my MD about 4-5 times and running a number of (pretty costly, paid out-of pocket) tests through a company called Geneva Diagnostics, it was determined that<br />
- my cortisol levels were completely out of sync with the day rhythm it is supposed to follow. This explained why I was dead-tired every day at 10AM, but ready to play at 11PM. <br />
This test is called <strong>Rhythm Plus Profile</strong><br />
- the intestinal inflammation was caused by a number of <em><u>delayed</u></em> allergies to a vast assortment of foods. Delayed allergies are just what they sound like, they show up hours or even days after you have been exposed to the allergen and are there really tricky to pin-point.<br />
The list of foods that I was allergic to was very long and a bit over-whelming at first, but the MD assured me that I only had to carry our detox for 6 months and I would be back to feeling a lot better again. Just a few examples of things that I was allergic to were (are) corn (this is the one I am very allergic to), cow milk, coffee (this is pretty interesting and may explain why coffee has always made me sleepy rather than perky), sugar, chocolate, yeast, a number of fruits and veggies, all sea-foods including shell-fish, turkey, all seeds, rice, potatoes, and the list goes on. She informed me that most of her patients do not have the will-power to cut all of the foods that they are allergic to out of their diet, but I did manage stick to it for the half year to come. It was half a year of not eating out, not eating anything processed, and a lot of time spent reading labels in the store. (If you think that it is hard to live with gluten allergy, try to buy anything, ice-cream, yogurt, you name it, that is made without corn syrup or corn starch here in the US... )<br />
This test is called<strong> IgG Food Antibody Assessment</strong><br />
- I had about 0% protein in my body and I was told to eat more meat.<br />
This test is called <strong>Optimal Nutritional Evaluation</strong> or <strong>ONE</strong><br />
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After the 6 month detox, I did notice some significant and very nice changes:<br />
- My immune system finally got back on track and I could stay healthy - even when co-workers dragged all kinds of stuff in to work<br />
- I had a lot more energy and my sleep pattern started to change - I started remembering dreams, I was awake during the day and I got tired in the evening<br />
- I lost a bunch of weight (not strange, since there was not a whole lot that I could eat)<br />
- My skin improved - finally - after struggling with acne since I was 12!!! more than 2/3rds of my life! (Lots of heart-ache there, let me tell you...)<br />
- My pain resistance levels went down. This may sound bad, but in my case, my body could override and "walk off" pains that most people can not function with, which is not a good thing - we are designed to feel pain for a reason.<br />
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If you think that this may be something that I may have imagined or changes that were very subtle, I can tell you that I had never ever gotten a compliment on my skin until after I did the detox. People that I don't really talk with on a regular basis would tell me how nice my skin looked and ask what I had done!<br />
If you feel like I felt a few years back, this may be something to try out. It is no fun going through life feeling drained, you should not have to live like that if you do! <br />
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!<br />
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Well, time to start working again.<br />
Take care, have a great weekend and Happy Stitching,<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-44248296630707069562012-04-18T16:31:00.002-04:002012-04-18T16:31:42.972-04:00Cool StitchingDo you ever feel like using cross-stitch to rebel against all conventions? You know, like when a large crowd of knitters run up to a bus and cover it in a humongous shawl? (Pic borrowed from <a href="http://www.cphkids.dk/cph-kids-news/autumn-activities-by-quinee-balsov/">this</a> blog!)<br />
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I do, quite often. Working as an engineer and following (what feels like) 10,000 rules per day, some corporate rules, other rules of science, I sometimes dream about doing the crazy, expressive and unexpected in stitching instead...</div>
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I am also a total web-addict and "picture hoarder", so I have been gathering up these links for a while. I thought that you may would enjoy some "craft outside the box" as much as I do, so here we go.</div>
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I found one site that has a lot of various craft anarchy pinned; Urban Thread's blog <a href="http://www.urbanthreads.com/blog/">Stitch Punk</a>. The name says it all, I think. Here you can look through pages of really cool and rebellious craft - or rather, craft taken to (post)modern art. Here are just a few examples:</div>
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So that is cool, but here is the stuff that I really love - cross-stitch!<br />
Easter eggs by Forostyuk Inna, the folk master of Luhansk region in Ukraine. Materials used are goose eggs, and acrylic floss.<br />
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Or these discarded every-day metallic objects, cross stitched by <a href="http://www.severija.lt/">Serverija Incirauskaite</a><span> - isn't this just the coolest!? Now I want to go down to the basement and borrow Alpha-Bunny's drill....</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwXa2GLfeVxzQ6PewEI2lOnxhtuOdGP0_79a2_Og9iS1BIjeS_5zACo_ORakMT2KzzL4N0F0M31kUnYCat3BbQNuLUfsROL11fSYfYA-7xdF28JvVviUluoeZtmA3KHD6mQhLXcMouEglK/s1600/Severija_exhibition-thumb-610x863-171016-520x735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwXa2GLfeVxzQ6PewEI2lOnxhtuOdGP0_79a2_Og9iS1BIjeS_5zACo_ORakMT2KzzL4N0F0M31kUnYCat3BbQNuLUfsROL11fSYfYA-7xdF28JvVviUluoeZtmA3KHD6mQhLXcMouEglK/s320/Severija_exhibition-thumb-610x863-171016-520x735.jpg" width="226" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wzDbmrptyWFze2a8bvM9TVqVTOhYmocrFlOyPrpGPuTFSMxSUvB6S-CUwZvDQXDI692B4O3kvQisIP-D86pm5gFxE-uKXw_48UacEatDV-1XmcFD33d2vPKZgTklMvAuTNIRx0RH2HuG/s1600/eggs-and-bacon-225x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wzDbmrptyWFze2a8bvM9TVqVTOhYmocrFlOyPrpGPuTFSMxSUvB6S-CUwZvDQXDI692B4O3kvQisIP-D86pm5gFxE-uKXw_48UacEatDV-1XmcFD33d2vPKZgTklMvAuTNIRx0RH2HuG/s1600/eggs-and-bacon-225x300.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1WPqLXS0Pm5xrGVT-AbK8ip3rkkHamaZgyyKKbaOgI6Z9Xv1J7OjsTgXPakCdZl8GyMciP9EzUQ2Ms_udUKPA7Smw2z72p-UtXabUDhnVjHpg5Gxei1tTTEpckdN10M-DFlQM_isSgV2_/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1WPqLXS0Pm5xrGVT-AbK8ip3rkkHamaZgyyKKbaOgI6Z9Xv1J7OjsTgXPakCdZl8GyMciP9EzUQ2Ms_udUKPA7Smw2z72p-UtXabUDhnVjHpg5Gxei1tTTEpckdN10M-DFlQM_isSgV2_/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3h2QzV8rVCoSmwQ_ep-OHKCMJmZajy2Sbh258nTI-Cq11y5H4yzF-EQ2A-YiQV23UffwK6p0PPX9vUVbamriDhFJJ33VvQqmIjcHGmlPVXGD20GlbazW33Nv391vrfA_8aOCeEOfVI3A/s1600/untitled.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3h2QzV8rVCoSmwQ_ep-OHKCMJmZajy2Sbh258nTI-Cq11y5H4yzF-EQ2A-YiQV23UffwK6p0PPX9vUVbamriDhFJJ33VvQqmIjcHGmlPVXGD20GlbazW33Nv391vrfA_8aOCeEOfVI3A/s320/untitled.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63StEdFDALeSLiL2AUWvW1JluTrO780N7ICNs3nUb8_6a1KzQnVF5-tpZdBJDTqdRpv69mdETmhjcL6FeTvkWllRGTmaxVHykCexO585NIHLOL69BiSFXUQcL9MFNBn1v34S0-RLoE1un/s1600/xstitchcar2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63StEdFDALeSLiL2AUWvW1JluTrO780N7ICNs3nUb8_6a1KzQnVF5-tpZdBJDTqdRpv69mdETmhjcL6FeTvkWllRGTmaxVHykCexO585NIHLOL69BiSFXUQcL9MFNBn1v34S0-RLoE1un/s320/xstitchcar2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkXG-XeQbY6W01O3H-WO0fVdtPVbGNbPzQH5Vug15z0vCYujqUaJ_E1nOF1rqeACgkEMT8Wp_BfL9GPDgWipS4ldOMuWh2ZCBLBZ4-vBpN4ujFVAjPh9LQ1ISnGsRCd2RJyaTy_H_WRfB/s1600/xtitchcar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkXG-XeQbY6W01O3H-WO0fVdtPVbGNbPzQH5Vug15z0vCYujqUaJ_E1nOF1rqeACgkEMT8Wp_BfL9GPDgWipS4ldOMuWh2ZCBLBZ4-vBpN4ujFVAjPh9LQ1ISnGsRCd2RJyaTy_H_WRfB/s320/xtitchcar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiieTCHVgLJ2vAx7n8c0V56nFH9CiGkZZ8RltLiF1psq-G600_yo59Zs71c7Elf9IX6Nzs5Uu3nKtOZF-r0IocU7WiGcHkd0qpDtavQMaHAlZHgRaivEIYAANhy2_qgu_pjFkHgfb3zShYh/s1600/3568708386_2469741232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiieTCHVgLJ2vAx7n8c0V56nFH9CiGkZZ8RltLiF1psq-G600_yo59Zs71c7Elf9IX6Nzs5Uu3nKtOZF-r0IocU7WiGcHkd0qpDtavQMaHAlZHgRaivEIYAANhy2_qgu_pjFkHgfb3zShYh/s320/3568708386_2469741232.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
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Her art reminds me of this sweet bracelet by Corina Reitveld (if you live in Europe, you can buy these <a href="http://www.pandurohobby.co.uk/Catalogue/10-Jewellery-Accessories/1015-BraceletsRingsEarrings/101510-Metal/1/701529-uff-for-cross-stitch">pre-drilled cuffs from Panduro Hobby</a> - pretty sure that's a Swedish company btw...)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8oL4o7uWAzjwHbHvDtF_-AY68OTPu_-DCpHYNqVluO7doINjMcwEicMY-_rfaHXv501qhTxhePO1KTt44NV9nzkLVQbJZJMP0FLhCddauoMRiPrpA7UXEYvMvLN-VFbMrjMArdlRFmTL/s1600/emb_bracelet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8oL4o7uWAzjwHbHvDtF_-AY68OTPu_-DCpHYNqVluO7doINjMcwEicMY-_rfaHXv501qhTxhePO1KTt44NV9nzkLVQbJZJMP0FLhCddauoMRiPrpA7UXEYvMvLN-VFbMrjMArdlRFmTL/s320/emb_bracelet.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Here are some other neat XS items, iPhone covers from <a href="http://connectdesign.co.kr/front/php/product.php?product_no=170&main_cate_no=26&display_group=1">Connect Design</a>. If you click on the link, you will find a bunch of different covers and patterns that you can use for other stitching adventures as well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4sdpwBcIvuOQM1yF4DHqw7JVL1BeN467UZr8rIDJ2UM1b9m5g38mATxPd1TbB8YD9PjjXCsJlBkwwbpykVh46Sg3ZrEkQ5Jyb8sxGPpgZluCnX2RyONgGMrqw1gvVLrgDlO-sPmQLGQI/s1600/cover.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4sdpwBcIvuOQM1yF4DHqw7JVL1BeN467UZr8rIDJ2UM1b9m5g38mATxPd1TbB8YD9PjjXCsJlBkwwbpykVh46Sg3ZrEkQ5Jyb8sxGPpgZluCnX2RyONgGMrqw1gvVLrgDlO-sPmQLGQI/s320/cover.bmp" width="319" /></a></div>
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And finally, more traditional but still pretty cool, are the pillows, tea cosies and place mats from the Danish blog <a href="http://tulipantomat.blogspot.com/">Tulipan og Tomater</a>. Here are some really pretty ways to combine patch-work with smaller XS designs into something useful and really wonderful:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTB8dypx3wqWz8TpcrZ0UBTtbG3pcGFqFRt208Z2Revmrx5yBEITWDTBxdJkg9JLHXWd8NdKpgbWLZOfuzpdeyTwMlvnj-AC868zIxvE9Y4pOU0A-7GfrOHQMMfDqiXHA0hK3-fA57imk/s1600/butterflies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTB8dypx3wqWz8TpcrZ0UBTtbG3pcGFqFRt208Z2Revmrx5yBEITWDTBxdJkg9JLHXWd8NdKpgbWLZOfuzpdeyTwMlvnj-AC868zIxvE9Y4pOU0A-7GfrOHQMMfDqiXHA0hK3-fA57imk/s320/butterflies.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwzxOwurHtUqeVbw5wRr-ynaC7e-8mnmiGXTVG_XIeTsP4rOFIP7KKprKg1qx42gHJZ6CL8wzbEHb9L0Yz2asnCk6R7DP7sb0jHvHHrOV-TTa7Z5msOTk_pcSL2nBqyGzxcb3oFJUZcEt/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwzxOwurHtUqeVbw5wRr-ynaC7e-8mnmiGXTVG_XIeTsP4rOFIP7KKprKg1qx42gHJZ6CL8wzbEHb9L0Yz2asnCk6R7DP7sb0jHvHHrOV-TTa7Z5msOTk_pcSL2nBqyGzxcb3oFJUZcEt/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOrf4c2jCGmRaYG-ObfXc_icxsXQjMzmyjvd41i3kFLRWHrgUjYyejKW0LLhnOKNwQUIaQC-s274lGGOdi19XgJ1MMR12VIkbz88v5JyLTWxp6JpaitW_w1lnTmkmnujCKesJRTObCMhOh/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOrf4c2jCGmRaYG-ObfXc_icxsXQjMzmyjvd41i3kFLRWHrgUjYyejKW0LLhnOKNwQUIaQC-s274lGGOdi19XgJ1MMR12VIkbz88v5JyLTWxp6JpaitW_w1lnTmkmnujCKesJRTObCMhOh/s320/005.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
I am guessing that the blog owner buys up bunched of vintage cross-stitch pieces that none wants anymore and she turns them into unique items that she sells in her store or at fairs. Now, that is a clever concept and right with the times too, reuse, reduce, recycle! (I am pretty much 100% sure that the butterflies patterns can be found in one of Fremme's old XS calendars.)<br />
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Well, that's it for now. Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway!<br />
Take care and Happy Stitching,<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNKZLIZw5l3c2mH0-wLC8XRywf-B4J0JFzaV0ftbiqFiErCYqrtR1LnJE0QQbao6RjGAzYuoQPMJejpxWCK8i7oos757hsIjiTlGJu0DvYC-kiisHy31jx-YLYNZPnD0u0W8t-Kkomcrq/s1600/Jenny.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNKZLIZw5l3c2mH0-wLC8XRywf-B4J0JFzaV0ftbiqFiErCYqrtR1LnJE0QQbao6RjGAzYuoQPMJejpxWCK8i7oos757hsIjiTlGJu0DvYC-kiisHy31jx-YLYNZPnD0u0W8t-Kkomcrq/s1600/Jenny.gif" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-30156945731569549682012-04-16T21:42:00.003-04:002012-04-16T21:42:43.412-04:00Reporting In! (... after days worth of napping... )<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I hope that your Monday was as all right as mine was! I think that my Monday was so good partly because I have been doing a lot of well-needed resting lately.</div>
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In all honestly, to say that I have been taking it easy is an understatement; the weekend was filled with one nap after the other. As most of you probably agree with, things tend to all bundle up and happen at once and last week was one of those crazy "perfect storm" times. What was nice was that the vast majority of all the craziness was very good such. The outcome could not have been better for any of the events either, so not only am I napped out and "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" as one of my friends always says, but very pleased with life in general as well. </div>
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On the other hand, there is not a whole lot of stitching to show off. I did manage to finish the third part of the EMS 2012 SAL and I "cheated" and worked ahead a bit on the second blue-bell border. It is turning out pretty, if I may say so myself. I am a tad nervous about the next assignment, since there seems to be an awful lot of confetti stitching in the flower bunches... I am really not a fan of confetti...</div>
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So, I finally managed to iron the sampler before taking a shot. Next time I'll try to remember throwing a ruler or something in there, so that you can see how small it really is. (The pics are clickable, if you'd like to see some close-ups.)</div>
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<img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZt2EekYApHE92YUZ83szyQPTS1xtrfKcIoniL1SOo8uNgCagJwrEDQsrU9Z0zgRpZ4-S-VErTb_lSHJGeNKMOP2dcPwE4SJi3UlppiJEqUTpFzkeoWsY5lls572LEMwOdw_LDXUcDdcH4/s400/100_6383.JPG" width="400" /> </div>
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Here is a close-up of the last couple of motifs. I love the little brown bird perching on the budding rose branch. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_6i4Gj7XvpVEnHhiLfXm2KtwxhIF4QVqRulrcgFKZTClWFWtGsC_qf8hLdsNg0Y7REFlszYgH6h06IMqqcOnxy8QrDRu_YgwEoyWZtAjN8741fF5UzE4shTDl6ho9Q1qVI9obXJ4tBVS/s1600/100_6385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_6i4Gj7XvpVEnHhiLfXm2KtwxhIF4QVqRulrcgFKZTClWFWtGsC_qf8hLdsNg0Y7REFlszYgH6h06IMqqcOnxy8QrDRu_YgwEoyWZtAjN8741fF5UzE4shTDl6ho9Q1qVI9obXJ4tBVS/s400/100_6385.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I did manage to pull this Scarlet Letter shepherd together too. This
one is stitched over-one and let me tell you, after stitching the green
hill that he is resting on, I am done with both green and over-one for a
while. I assume that the critter dancing to the pipe is a dog...or a very small horse..? LOL</div>
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I have started his shepherdess companion, but not gotten very
far (as can be seen from the pic below). I am excited about her, since she has a pretty brown skirt with
pink dots on. I think that she will be cute! </div>
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<img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrU47z7cLfW9JbQE6V1KvejcXWrPkw5Xc5hInxQFRoOIMUkN_8gzm7WJwYh-nrBd6JVhw49zIPdyE_gaR9DetJ9uQ0Lu6bzLkEo0RK1aWlaHg2MLvxJ2fs8KLLuxIohtllcAp8HuBwooB/s400/100_6392.JPG" width="400" /></div>
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Finally, here is a framing (gasp! - You know that very rarely happens here.). This is the Goode Huswife bunny framed in a cheap standard Michaels frame/mat kit. I added the bunting scrap-booking stickers to the matting to give the arrangement a happier and more spring-time celebratory feel. He is standing together with all the Easter carrots on my mantel now.... after all that Easter stitching, Easter is not over in our household for a while yet! :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmRQc130VJRQjtqArpOPelSFEEHJwg0F7zb2VtRa9uaIFOKW4cgswoKIBMpW5L9FAdAmnLdb6Lnf4uCH7WsRuY-XdRKy_KyXCouloIZLMKboUX2c5LV2XLmvTvszjY6tAep1qY7pYU8Ha/s1600/100_6386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmRQc130VJRQjtqArpOPelSFEEHJwg0F7zb2VtRa9uaIFOKW4cgswoKIBMpW5L9FAdAmnLdb6Lnf4uCH7WsRuY-XdRKy_KyXCouloIZLMKboUX2c5LV2XLmvTvszjY6tAep1qY7pYU8Ha/s400/100_6386.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I did take a number of photos of spring flowers in the garden this morning, but I feel another nap coming on, so I'll have to show you those some other time... ;-)<br />
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Take care, Happy Stitching and don't forget to <a href="http://onestitchcloser.blogspot.com/2012/04/giveaway-time.html">sign up for the giveaway</a> if you haven't already done so! Oh, and speaking of; thanks so much to the 18 followers who have left comments so far. Your lists of three things that make you happy are so uplifting! I have a feeling that I will go back to re-read your "happy" comments many times in the future!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNKZLIZw5l3c2mH0-wLC8XRywf-B4J0JFzaV0ftbiqFiErCYqrtR1LnJE0QQbao6RjGAzYuoQPMJejpxWCK8i7oos757hsIjiTlGJu0DvYC-kiisHy31jx-YLYNZPnD0u0W8t-Kkomcrq/s1600/Jenny.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNKZLIZw5l3c2mH0-wLC8XRywf-B4J0JFzaV0ftbiqFiErCYqrtR1LnJE0QQbao6RjGAzYuoQPMJejpxWCK8i7oos757hsIjiTlGJu0DvYC-kiisHy31jx-YLYNZPnD0u0W8t-Kkomcrq/s1600/Jenny.gif" /></a></div>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-19187659523924348262012-04-12T16:40:00.001-04:002012-04-12T16:40:19.372-04:00Giveaway Time!Wow, over 100 followers, I am speechless! I never even dreamed that could happen back when I started blogging on New Years Day 2011.<br />
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Thanks a thousands of times to all of you for following this "just-for-fun" blog! I am so glad to have met you and I appreciate each and every comment you leave for me! I get inspired by you every day - I try to keep up with all of your blogs and take a peak at what you are crafting, how you are doing and what is going on in your lives. Even though I may not always leave a "hi and hello" for you, I am there and I know that the same is true for you!<br />
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I may have written about this before, but I am not a real super-duper-happy person in real life. Don't get me wrong; I would not label myself as a pessimist as much as a realist (spoken like an engineer, I know...). BUT, I have noticed that since I started blogging, I have gotten happier. I may even have gotten up-graded from realist to "cautious optimist"... LOL.<br />
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Just as stitching has, blogging has pulled me through a couple of less than fabulous times, but even more importantly; it has also given me the opportunity to share thoughts and ideas, joys and wonderful events, content and general silliness (oh, and 15 parrots, 2 bunnies and 1 alpha bunny). <br />
By writing down and sharing, I have discovered that these positive and fun experiences get reinforced and thus their impact on my life gets even larger. <br />
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The difference between stitching and blogging seems to me that the former is a "solo flight" while blogging is a gigantic cruise with thousands of huts, each one with it's own party but you are welcome to all of them. I think that is really cool! <br />
I believe that <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work.html">this entertaining and interesting TED talk</a> by psychologist Shawn Anchor may explain why I have noticed some positive side-effects from blogging. Blogging can help cover two out of the five suggested tools to a more positive outlook on life; give three thanks a day and keep a diary. (Thanks to Hip*Hip*Happy for sharing the video with me!) However, I do believe that one important tip was omitted; crafting! I know that for the vast majority of us in the stitching community, stitching has played a major part of our well-being, or what do you think? <br />
(Oh also, I stopped watching the news years ago. I may now be a lot more ignorant now than I was in the past, but I am more filled with bliss...)<br />
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While we are going down the life philosophy and development path, I have to tell you about a really interesting statement that was made to me a couple of years ago and which I have carried with me ever since. <br />
One of my colleagues has a girl-friend who works as a life coach. (I have not really asked her a whole lot about her job, since every time we meet seems to be a formal event, but I am real interested to learn more some day.) The thing she told me that really stuck a chord is that "we work on developing our strengths during the first half of our lives, while we work on improving our weaknesses during the second half." I really do believe that this is true! What do you think? <br />
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Well, 'nuf with the blah-blah-blah and let's get on with things - we have much more important items to cover today - giveaway time!!!!<br />
Just yesterday, I stumbled across this really cool design to drool over. This adorable little piece is called Sit and Stitch and was designed by Brenda Gervais from With Thy Needle and Thread (click for a larger view):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrErznnPAS5FkeQwdLC65k3eV0dTmiTzAa9LOwNO0CcvFnxEhLscUh6Mg9WRzNwRXXsGjCdbvtqRgVxVv9aFAdr8I2vDWDUtpdZ4BjjHMvqCDvn3Abx4Zab38JjRCTY1CmwyGajnpuEWLx/s1600/cs86+sit+n+stitch+cover+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrErznnPAS5FkeQwdLC65k3eV0dTmiTzAa9LOwNO0CcvFnxEhLscUh6Mg9WRzNwRXXsGjCdbvtqRgVxVv9aFAdr8I2vDWDUtpdZ4BjjHMvqCDvn3Abx4Zab38JjRCTY1CmwyGajnpuEWLx/s320/cs86+sit+n+stitch+cover+3.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
This is what Brenda writes on her <a href="http://withthyneedleandthread.blogspot.com/">blog</a>: "SIT & STITCH is a cross stitch chart for a fun little sewing box chair
that you construct from linen-covered cardboard. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The seat cushion lifts up, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>revealing a little box<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to keep all your sewing needfuls in!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This 9" chair <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has a crisply box pleated ruffle and her little
wooden legs are old wooden thread spools... how cute is that? All letters of the alphabet are included so you may
personalize your chair! Also included in this pattern is a sweet coordinating pincushion,
complete with cross stitched motifs, old mother of pearl buttons and antique
ticking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>" <br />
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I have decided that this chart together with the thread pack from <a href="http://www.anitalittlestitches.com/">Anita's Little Stitches</a> will be our first prize. If you are intimidated by finishing work, I will be happy to do it for you (you will have to scrounge up and send over the finishing materials though)! I have ordered one chart and one thread pack for myself too, so it may be a tandem finish...<br />
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The second prize is another With My Needle chart; April Word-Play - the bunny in the cart is just too cute to say no to.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyZMBLbwslvZUaEd_gd4QJBs1jZmR6P1eHmBVd4JeXKuUDy8PPPPPSLjuHYZvBpM7g7_C7VmBkyIhAx7VhCKoQ-EwFUUvt5k3uMvdrvxwhzrWRvX377TPldSSenDgjoowOcuJ0m3AzrTr/s1600/cs80-april-word-play-cover-big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyZMBLbwslvZUaEd_gd4QJBs1jZmR6P1eHmBVd4JeXKuUDy8PPPPPSLjuHYZvBpM7g7_C7VmBkyIhAx7VhCKoQ-EwFUUvt5k3uMvdrvxwhzrWRvX377TPldSSenDgjoowOcuJ0m3AzrTr/s320/cs80-april-word-play-cover-big.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Again, I ordered one for myself too. That bunny needs to live with me!<br />
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I hope that all of you find these charts as adorable as I do!<br />
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Oh, and give-away rules:<br />
1) You have to be a follower<br />
2) You have to leave a comment on this post before the end of Sunday May 29th<br />
3) In your comment, you have to share 3 things that made you happy today - we wanna' share your joy!<br />
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Again, thanks bunches for visiting me today! That is definitely one of my 3s... :-)<br />
Happy Stitches,<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896689714528976782.post-65595050992771361622012-04-09T00:48:00.000-04:002012-04-09T00:48:02.206-04:00Happy Easter Stitches<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I hope that you had as wonderful of an Easter as I did. It was very relaxing and we did the usual things - cleaning bird cages and working in the yard in the fantastic spring weather. </div>
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On Saturday, we had our annul garage clean out... say no more.. Well, I lied - I will keep on talking about it! I love DH and he is perfect in all ways, with the exception of one. He can not, to save his life, put away things after he is done with them. That includes trash! Needless to say, the annual garage clean-up is not fun. After it is done, I always say one of those things that many of us have promised ourselves never to say: "Can we keep it like this for a while now?". Yep, I have turned into my mother and I don't even have kids. (This year I was a bit crankier and threatened him that I will make him help me sort through my mess in the the stitch room! He declined... LOL) </div>
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Anyway, the cleanup reminded me about a funny story that a friend told me the other day. She took her three young sons through the Wendy's drive-through to get them milkshakes. She was driving her husbands car for the day and he pretty much uses his car as an rolling garbage-can. For some reason, one of the lids popped off one of the milkshakes in the back-seat, so she pulled into the parking lot to clean up as much of the mess as possible. As she opens the back door, empty soda-cans and a large assortment of additional trash falls out, whereupon her 5-year old pipes up: "This car is a hoarder!". Hilarious and what a great excuse! I asked DH if his garage and my stitch-room are hoarders. He seems to believe that our mail box is a hoarder, since we keep getting a bunch of packages... Hmmm </div>
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I have no good segue here, so without further ado, here is my finished Easter display. </div>
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOfLvnExL9qhXzcD2fYsEIA5Lv7FPGIIJ6Qs_9hvAkXbjVssPE7_G7lJQ91Z_Vet99tAbP2SmCUQl_HXUy4bENNJ-o_mXoSpAcCYwbe9iMBxOSo8XBRUhrzWF_R-UOuzLlcm_r9ZeFDET/s400/100_6364.JPG" width="300" /></div>
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It feels like I have been looking for a nice dowel-tree or other "non-Christmasy" display tree for ages now. I would like not to pay $150 and up either, which seems to make the hunt even more interesting (= dragged out). </div>
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The branches I ended up using can be seen as a homage to the traditional Swedish påskris, even though it is pretty much always made up from pussy-willow branches. We often decorate the branches with painted eggs and dyed feathers.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi382T09bS0-BsmeUL3xcmTXjGWTde2QCXKT3J0REFiy9RoMED-dghLG5nNZda2qQO8J9LgeOU1dT49BwM2E54f9pFpFr9H4xqWNZZOJxdt9HrmYszi_dnrCwvSNdfIpJwVEsPwMa86S0ei/s1600/IMG_7847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi382T09bS0-BsmeUL3xcmTXjGWTde2QCXKT3J0REFiy9RoMED-dghLG5nNZda2qQO8J9LgeOU1dT49BwM2E54f9pFpFr9H4xqWNZZOJxdt9HrmYszi_dnrCwvSNdfIpJwVEsPwMa86S0ei/s320/IMG_7847.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAihkAjj5cXJ4W3MmksDvtyt8KARy1Geb_l9XH-wWAxP6mWrSC8-TjXDO6mxhJJvWRk-c76Lk82GbMa9Tt2aN_uCCAr3xfTLgw7EYr6S6XfHAADk0U79GqJcYDvWgMbEMg4Trm2HiwSBmz/s1600/mars+2011+507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAihkAjj5cXJ4W3MmksDvtyt8KARy1Geb_l9XH-wWAxP6mWrSC8-TjXDO6mxhJJvWRk-c76Lk82GbMa9Tt2aN_uCCAr3xfTLgw7EYr6S6XfHAADk0U79GqJcYDvWgMbEMg4Trm2HiwSBmz/s320/mars+2011+507.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A close-up of a few of these neat little designs. CEC is such a great company and I adore pretty much almost everything they publish.</div>
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Have I mentioned before that I love to assemble rounded ornaments? The curves make finishing really quick and easy. <br />
If you have not tried it our before, here is how it is done: Simply cut out front and back from acid-free mat-board (I get mine from Michael's). <br />
Used the cut-outs as templates to snip out light-weight iron-on interfacing in the same shape for both the stitched piece and your backing fabric. The interfacing not only gives some additional stabilization to the fabric, but also helps center the design over the mat-board. <br />
After that, simply stitch a running stitch between your seem allowance and the interfacing (make sure that thread ends on front of fabric/linen). Pull thread-ends so that fabric snugs up around the back of the mat-board and tie a knot. Lace piece for an even snugger fit (or if the shape is more complex). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCwWch97o9QmIjHYpG7F5fBXfT_-OHFqxJlo6CujXzKUwCTnaqjVtg348aUkOMPj4dXQEXTgBGT86jUiNbE9YQXNjaiELRMTt8g_6fcqcxf5GEzhtAnJioFu6xzWTWsQHEDxZQJaELRF6/s1600/100_6354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCwWch97o9QmIjHYpG7F5fBXfT_-OHFqxJlo6CujXzKUwCTnaqjVtg348aUkOMPj4dXQEXTgBGT86jUiNbE9YQXNjaiELRMTt8g_6fcqcxf5GEzhtAnJioFu6xzWTWsQHEDxZQJaELRF6/s320/100_6354.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Pieces are ready for final assembly!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8-Mheg1xgKKKG9hbmrr_85riLNHCTvYfMH8GEmpjKbvKMUwgCLNYomaTKIWVTTP0yJgBzNnv1shMek7pqmcjoQ1WkD_q5ldt3DHDsot6oCW9ytUQsI_UvcZmn0CVp3G4cOFGScvcBss4/s1600/100_6355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8-Mheg1xgKKKG9hbmrr_85riLNHCTvYfMH8GEmpjKbvKMUwgCLNYomaTKIWVTTP0yJgBzNnv1shMek7pqmcjoQ1WkD_q5ldt3DHDsot6oCW9ytUQsI_UvcZmn0CVp3G4cOFGScvcBss4/s320/100_6355.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I cheated by hot-gluing ribbon cuts to the back piece. I found some cool ribbons and stuff at Hobby Lobby, so I had a lot of fun adding the hangers made from plain ribbon together with some extra cuts from ribbon with an interesting structure for the greenery on top of the carrots. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIxBjJpGkV9osDZtIUOVxBVLlu_zCE2-IjbtsdJrdvabtzE7HK1k5N_6MaB7aFHSkchEsiq7MaBlYVHILntiyWfFfUC0P5dXjGamEx9P0DDLAWiX33N7sQPlF2L5F-83yVQVpIJRPa8F5/s1600/100_6361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIxBjJpGkV9osDZtIUOVxBVLlu_zCE2-IjbtsdJrdvabtzE7HK1k5N_6MaB7aFHSkchEsiq7MaBlYVHILntiyWfFfUC0P5dXjGamEx9P0DDLAWiX33N7sQPlF2L5F-83yVQVpIJRPa8F5/s320/100_6361.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Even better - I found beaded trim! I had wanted to use beads for my edging, but I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of beading ten ornaments.</div>
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZk6acJ2qcOm7O9PyDuLZOHEKxiiWCn0ChKM71IybueYiR_XX5yJM40An38L8v4drEolWDgloykgRQz1-2KUgr66tt9rVM6UHaVekh7I_oKlp9JpWw_Y4yNSH9zEDCzQsjrim2SDZbKXE/s320/100_6362.JPG" width="320" /></div>
Below you can see the result of the beaded trim whip-stitched to the ornament during the assembly step. I made things easier by adding a glob of hot-glue in the very center between the front and back. That way, I did not have to make sure that the pieces were properly aligned while concentrating on stitching and there was still give enough between the pieces that I could hide the ends of the trim. Easy-peasy!<br />
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I treated myself to this fabulous wind-chime on Friday. I am still going through a period in my life where relaxation has ended up being is one of my highest priorities when I have time. What makes time slow down in a more relaxing way than a wind-chime? I wish that you could all hear the deep and vibrant sounds generated by this mega chime. It is gorgeous - like meditation on a hanger!<br />
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On Sunday, after a successful cage cleaning session, I finished a sweet little quickie. This is The Easter Rabbit Sampler by Goode Huswife. Isn't he cute!? I think that he deserves framing, so I will have to go searching for that when get a chance.</div>
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<img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHVchyyD_pW3At8vKPUh882fhH5FvICMlyN061Xa3UE2-rYjMg1idya5P6_adR_I42wWUNx3qYBggOcoJ24Fe6GsRoOMLdg_xruzE84xEmI-4vYe5IctfZdctfeolGhSi3fnMBrrZZsvt/s640/100_6382.JPG" width="640" /> </div>
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The inspiration for the design comes form the adorable painting below. This is one of the earliest American portrayals of the
Easter rabbit. It is a reward of merit completed by Johann Conrad Gilbert
(Southeastern Pennsylvania active 1775-1810). With a low estimate of
$800-1,200 it sold almost twenty-fold to Winterthur Muesum for $23,700. You can read a bit more about this sweet delivery bunny <a href="http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/TradeTalk/2011-04-26__09-34-55.html">here</a>.</div>
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Speaking of bunnies, our Easter beasts are pooped! Here they are hanging out behind the couch after a hard day filled of naps interrupted only by and munching breaks. Oh, to be a bunny! <br />
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Take care and Happy Stitching til' next time!<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06230891840459730672noreply@blogger.com11