Need Some Monday Entertainment? Here it is!

Really funny (in a sad way)...

I will write more about the stitch-retreat later tonight - promise!

Punishment Works ;-)

I did it!  I just finished the last flower box of my Townhouse.  I pretty much just doodled the greens after all the webbed flowers had been completed.  It was actually a pretty nice work session - quite relaxing and no chart reading necessary.  I added a little sterling silver bird, what else, perched on the front fence.  I also discovered that I lost my skein of dark green Vikki Clayton silk floss that I used for the leaved on the from and on the inside of the Townhouse.  I did find another skein of a lighter, more dusty green and opted to stitch with that instead of going insane looking for a skein in a haystack.  I decided that the back of the townhouse is the shade side and that the leaves there just don't get as much sun as the front-side plants do...  that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  So, now I am itching to finish up the piece, since it will only take an hour or so.  However, I do have more urgent tasks at hand; I need to pack for the cross-stitch retreat!

I just wanted to show you a quick pic before I start running around in the house, gathering assorted objects for the trip...  I already know what projects to bring and I even have a vague idea of what to bring for the Show & Tell session.  Other things include packing (and programming) the GPS, decide what snacks to bring (thank goodness for the conveniently located WalMart - about 2 minutes walking distance from work), and think about what to wear.  As a parenthesis, I can mention that DH forgot to pack undies last time we went on vacation.  WalMart came in really handy then too...  On the other hand, he did pack his toothbrush!  He cracks me up! 

I also laughed at the comment from Joysze.  She states that she is a "destination stitcher", which is a new concept to me - I love it!!  I will definitely have to remember that one.

And finally, today (since Sweden is 6 hrs ahead of Kentucky and so it is already January 13th over there), I want to wish my Mom a Very Happy Birthday!

Talk with all of you in a couple of days - no blogging from stitch camp!  :-D

Motivation Through Punishment?

I think that I have mentioned the about 10 projects that have been very close to their completion for months and years in a previous post.  I have told myself many times that I really ought to get most of them done before I move on to something new...   I have also thought a lot about a pretty interesting interview I read a while back.  I can't recall the magazine (it may have been Women's Health, which is kinda ironic in itself...), nor who was interviewed, but the lady in question was an avid marathon runner (I know, I shouldn't curse like that... ;-)).
The journalist asked the runner how she kept herself motivated to get out there, every single day no matter the weather, and just run, run, and run for hours.  The runner answered that she motivated herself by training herself mentally.  If she ever even touched the thought that she was bored, tired or not motivated to run, she would punish herself by adding on five extra miles to her regular distance just for daring to think something negative!  She claimed that this way, she had trained herself never to think anything bad about her running goals.  I think that the concept is fascinating!!!  It seems that the conclusion is that we can essentially brainwash ourselves...

I decided to try this "trick" this week.  I am having a really hard time finishing up the stitching on Gay Ann Rogers' Townhouse (if you have not seen her designs before, here is a link to her web-site).  I think that GAR is a very talented designer!  However, her instructions are very hard to follow for me.  GAR is a needlepoint designer and that is likely the main cause as to why her instructions are very different to what I am used to, making it more difficult to stay on track.
I took the Townhouse internet class last year and was a bit taken aback when a chart-pack consisting on over 50 pages worth of instructions arrived in the mail.  Gasp!!  For weeks, we did nothing but nun-stitches and I have a feeling that we lost a lot of the students already at this stage.  There was plenty of braided stitches and cross-stitches over 1 to fiddle with too, so this means that many hours get poured into a very small object.  Don't get me wrong; I am not whining, just saying that my motivation croaked a bit...  I have picked up the townhouse every now and then an gotten sections done that way.
The only part that I have left to do now are the flowers in the window boxes.  I decided to enhance the flowers by using spider-web stitch, so that has significantly increased the time it will take to complete the flowers (original design calls for straight stitches), but I think that the result is worth it.  Anyway, my "motivation by self-punishment" is that I have told myself that unless I finish up the stitching of this piece, I am not allowed to bring any other pieces with me to the weekend stitch-retreat that begins on Thursday evening...  So far, it has actually worked well and I do believe that I will get'er done!  3 more spider-web roses to go and some assorted greens and that will be it!  Here is a pic of the progress:

Another memory has been rolling around in my head here lately as well.  I recall back about 7-10 years ago when I used to lurk pretty frequently at the Teresa Wentzler Bulletin Board (TWBB).  One of the stitchers confessed to use that she had so many WIPs and UFOs that she did not know what to do.  Her problem was that every time she started a new project, she got the biggest adrenaline rush.  She basically was addicted to starting a new cross-stitch project.  (I assume that if she has not detoxed since, she is having a lot of fun in the Crazy January Challenge this year...)
I have been thinking about what I feel in regards to stitching.  I enjoy the beginning of the project too, but many times I am more worried than excited - will the linen pick work with the floss/did I start in the location/is the linen cut large enough?  I think that the most enjoyable part to me is the growing process.  I like filling in large areas of the same stitch or repeating patterns, since that way, I can let the thoughts wander and just relax my mind.  This is why I tend to skip a lot of designs with confetti stitches.  I also like the very last stitch in the finishing step - when I can stand back, and draw a sigh of satisfaction.
My adrenaline rush is more related to stash enhancement, by the way.  That is probably definitely where I need to do my "detox".

It would be really interesting to hear other thoughts on these subjects.  Do you motivate yourself by punishment?  Which part of the stitching process do you enjoy the most

Oh, and wish me luck, or I won't be having a whole lot of fun stitching this weekend...  ;-}

Another Monday...

Back to work.  We still have snow on the ground here, which helps brighten things up a bit.  I have been sitting at the office trying to concentrate while the thoughts wander...
"What should I bring the the retreat this weekend?"  (Answer: the Anna Maria Clarke-Richmond sampler, Sandy Orton's American Sampler, and A Sailor's Huswife by Needle's Prayse)
"Which project should I finish up next?" (Answer: GAR's Townhouse - I just have to get that one off my to-do list!!!!  Oh, and probably all the CEC acorns from the three "In a Nutshell"leaflets that are waiting for me to get going. )
"What new project should I start on?"  (Answer: Bunny's Garden, Delight, and Big Day ornaments by CEC.  I know that they are ornaments and I promised myself to go back to stitching samplers, but I can't help myself - they are just too cute!)
Very, very important questions indeed.  ;-)

I do have a new finish to show today; the Sweet Little Blossoms set by Merry Cox.  I took this class with Merry last year and it was a lot of fun!  It was actually a finishing class, so everything was already stitched up and ready to go when we got there.  I also managed to finish half of the pieces in class, so I have no idea why I had to procrastinate until now to get the final stitches in....  Since the sewing machine is still living on my kitchen table, it was only logical to get the drawstring bag done.  After that, the lining for the beautiful box was completed, followed by the scissors case.  The very last item was the Hedebo ring on the needle case and snap-snap - done!

Now I can take that photo out under the "WIP" heading to the left....  No worries, I have plenty of projects to add instead!  :-)

There are so many things that are bubbling around in my head that I wanted to write, but I am too tired.  I'd better just make a cup of tea, snuggle with some birds, watch some Netflix, and stitch a bit.

Happy Stitching and hope your Monday was nice too,

Wha-bam!!!

DH claims that "wha-bam" can mean what ever I want it to mean.  Not quite sure what he means by that - he is pretty hard to read sometimes - but that is now today's official title and here we go:

Yesterday's finishes:
1)  I started out by loosing my focus immediately and jumped on to make some matching accessories for my brand new ironing board cover.  Here is a picture of my triangular "scrap sac" (thanks for the idea L-bug!), a long, heavy, emery-filled pin-cushion, and a couple of pin-boxes with magnetic bottoms.  I thought that the magnetic bottoms would work great to keep the pins in, or at least to be strong enough to find & suck up lost pins, but nope.  I found the boxes in Michaels' storage/organization department, where they are sold as accessories to magnetic wall strips.  They come two of the same kind in one pack.  My plan is still to cross-stitch something suitable and insert in the other couple of lids..... (Here is a link that shows you the brands, Studio Decor, and the how the package looks, if you would like to pick some for yourself.  The brand is owned by Michaels, so that is were you'll find them.  Not sure if they sell stuff on-line anywhere.)  This was the easiest finish, just iron on pellon on the back of the fabric, draw the contour of the shape on the pellon and cut out carefully with small, sharp scissors.

2)  Over to the real business at hand - the address book was something that I had to work on in steps over several days.  Lots of gluing going on, something that I am not too comfortable with by the way.  The book came with some plain paper to cover up the linen edges on the back of the front flap, but I upgraded to some scrap booking paper that I had lying around.  (See, this is why I tend to collect things while thinking to myself "you never know when you might need a pallet of assorted Mill Hill beads" or "a mound of assorted paper-clips" or whatever-it-is...  Not good!  Now that I have confirmed that this approach works great, I am more likely to continue squirreling things away.)  Recall how I mentioned DH's and my breakfast yesterday?  Does bacon ring a bell?  Well, as a bonus to-do, I got grease all over the back of the address book and had to cover that up with the scrap-booking paper too.  (I am working in the kitchen, since someone put pallets of Mill Hill beads and mounds of paper-clips in my stitching-room....)  Check out the letters on the address book.  Cool, huh!?

3)  The Halloween Pin Garden was the last finish of the day.  I did manage to squeeze in a small pin-cushion on the fabric.  I used the flowers from the main design and added a small crow or raven from Sandra Sullivan's (Homespun Elegance) free Halloween chart from last year.  This cutie can be found on her blog, here.  Since I ran out of all my emery while making the big ironing board pin-cushion earlier in the day, I shamelessly used a bag of cheap glass beads instead.  It does give the cushion a pretty neat feel.  I have added a pick of the backing fabbie too.  Speaking of shameless, I also "borrowed" some black silk thread from a completely different kit.  This is the second time I have borrowed floss from that particular kit, so I think that I may run into trouble the day that I actually start stitching on that one (a Scarlet Letter kit).

And, since we are on that theme, here is a snap of the "Box of Shame"....

It contains, I don't even know how many, unfinished ornaments, small pictures etc.  Here I have pulled a few out that I really want to finish within a reasonable time period (like 5 years or so...).  I would like to finish up the name sampler before going to the retreat next weekend.  (I'll write more about the retreat in my next post.)

Today, I am fit and ready to start finishing the Merry Cox class.  I do believe that it can be done  However, Sunday is the big bird-cage cleaning day around here.  DH and I spend about 4 hrs taking apart, cleaning, and putting back together 6 BIG bird cages.  Not especially fun at all.

Well, I'd better hop to it or it won't get started.  Talk with you in a bit and Happy Stitching,

One Down - Two (or maybe three???) To Go!

It is a beautiful day here in Kentucky!  We got snow over night and now the sun is out, making everything look bright, clean, cozy.  I started the day off at 9, when I decided to get myself out of bed to shovel the snow off the drive and walk-ways around the house.  Of course, I locked myself out of the house, but I decided to just go on with the work and see what would happen.  This is not the first time I have slammed the door locked in my own face, so I decided to bide my time before panicking...  Luckily DH came home around the time he is actually supposed to come home.  He is on 3rd shift right now so he should be home about 10 in the morning, but with the roads covered with snow in a southern state, you never know.  Anyway, I was quite pleased that I did not have to break myself back into the house.  (I am sure that he was too, since he is the one who mends the house back together after I do what I have to do in order to get back in.)  We decided to get over to the grocery store to get some bird food for the "poor country cousins" (aka "outdoor birds").  They are having a feast out there right now.  We got a bunch of starlings hanging from the suet feeders and life is grand!  Our birds will sit on the couch back-rest next to the window and look at the poor country cousins for hours.  DH fixed eggs and bacon for dinner/breakfast and I folded the laundry - I am so lucky!

BTW, if you are not familiar with the panic snow causes in a southern state, let me tall you.  (Being from Sweden, I guess that I find parts of it pretty amusing...)  First off, the chaos starts already when the weather forecast predicts snow.  Droves of people will actually drive over to the grocery stores and buy up all the milk and the bread that can get their hands on.  Don't ask me why - I mean, in case of a weather related emergency, wouldn't you go for the non-perishable foods?
Then, when the snow finally hits, the school buses stops running and all the teachers and students get "snow days".  As far as I understand, these are not holidays, but the schools will have to make up for the snow days when the summer break begins instead.  This means that everything gets much trickier for parents out in the work force, since you don't have much choice other than to take vacation days to look after the younger kids (unless you are lucky and have family or friends to rely on).
Oh, and traffic gets absolutely insane!  Since people have probably only heard about snow tires and dub-decks but never used them (to be afir, it would not make a whole lot of sense here), everything gets a whole lot slicker.  Some drivers make up for this by driving extra fast, so that they can get out of the mess as quickly as possible.  Generally does not work well.  DH apparently sat out on one of the main roads for 2.5 hrs yesterday, while waiting for a 10 car pile up to get cleared out.  Poor DH - he got stuck about 7 minutes away from our house.  It normally takes him about 45 minutes to get to work; yesterday he left at 9.30pm and got there at 1.15 in the morning.  Not a fun night for anyone involved and I truly hope that everybody got out all right from the accident.
I love it!!!  The snow I mean!  I don't miss the incredibly short winter days back in Sweden, but the snow is quite lovely in mu opinion.

What is less amusing are the ice-storms!  I have lived through (dramatic, I know!) three of them since I moved here and boy, are they a mess.  Generally, we loose power for about 10 days.  You can't even break out of your house or into your car, since everything is encapsulated in thick, thick layers of ice.  You have to decide to live on the edge in order to actually walk half a block.  Last winter, we got hit really bad.  We had no traffic coming in our out of town and the ice-storm was followed by a really cold period.  There was talk about not getting in any gas or food for weeks.  We realized that when the gas stations ran out of gas, we would be stuck and not be able to escape to a better place, if needed.  I had to stay at home with a generator for 10 days to make sure that the parrots wouldn't die from the cold.  They even closed UK and that is pretty much unheard of.  This is when I just have to insert "it was better back in my days" (I graduated 6 years ago and they did not give us 1 hr extra when a really bad ice-storm hit back then....  ;-)).  Anyway, last year's adventure was actually pretty scary. 

Well, less babbling and more Show & Tell.  Here is the Prairie Moon Halloween fob I finished yesterday.  All the fun beads and charms were included in the chart pack, so that was really neat!

This is the project next in order - the address book.  Current state:

(BTW, this is what I use MY jug of liquid floor cleaner for - what about you?)

This next picture shows exactly why I tend to be so frugal with my linen and floss!  I decided to make an extra little pin-cushion to go with my Halloween Pin Garden, but since I (for once) actually started this project in the center of the linen cut that came with the kit, I will now have to squeeze everything in...  I knew it all along: frugal = good!

(BTW, some of the comments regarding Daffy-cats TUSAL were just hilarious.  Some stitchers feel that they are a bit too frugal to fill up an ort-jar at a moderate pace.  I am one of them.  Examples that were brought up were threading of the needle while it is inserted in the linen just to get those few extra stitches in with an 1 inch long (short) piece of remaining floss.  Or using the longer (like 2 inch) snippets later on in the project to save time and floss...  I use both tricks.  Regularly.

Speaking of Daffy-cat; I did yet another "spruce up session" with the TUSAL jar.  (Yes, I agree that I seem to have some difficulty focusing as of late.)  Here it is - note my ever-lasting Halloween tree - that baby stays up all year long:

And finally, some great e-bay finds.  One of the e-bay stitch stores went out of business, so the outrageously priced charts were more reasonable.  I found an old Prairie Schooler (12 Days of Christmas, #74), a couple of Goode Huswife (Angel of Tulips and The Easter Rabbit Sampler), Sheepish Designs (Life is a Flower), Carriage House Samplings (Baking & Roasting & ....), and Homespun Elegance Christmas ornament kit from 1997:

Well, take care, have a wonderful Saturday and talk with you real soon!

Too Cute Not to Post!

My work buddy Miss~S just showed me this totally adorable video:

Ah, the world is a happy place!