Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Museum geekiness!

No stitching news today, just something fun. I saw this while looking at the National Gallery, London website!



I thought this bag was extremely funny, especially to someone like myself who has had experience dodging the Trafalgar Square pigeons while heading to the National Gallery in London numerous times!

Until next time!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Book Review ~ Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Hi, everyone! I hope you're having a great weekend so far. While watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailers, I noticed an interesting one for a movie called Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Later in the week, while at my local bookstore, I happened to pick up the book by Rick Riordan.

Quite a fun read, if I do say so myself. I haven't read a kids' intermediate series book in a long time, I'd forgotten how much I love sitting down and reading them ^___^

The story revolves around the adventures of a twelve-year old boy named Percy Jackson, a troublemaker whose been kicked out of several schools for starting fights and having extremely poor grades. Things take a dramatic change when Percy is attacked by a Fury at school! He destroys it with a sword given to him by his Latin teacher Mr. Brunner. Strangely enough no one believes Percy's story after it happens including his teacher! Percy is expelled for a horrible grade in his Latin class, LOL (because killing a Fury in front of his fellow students doesn't count)!

So begins the events that will lead him to Half-Blood Hill Camp, a summer camp for half-bloods or demi-gods. He finds out that his teacher Mr. Brunner is actually Chiron and his friend Grover is a satyr! That's only the beginning of Percy's story, it turns out that he is the son of Poseidon and he has unknowingly started a war between his father and Zeus. He goes on a quest with his friends Grover and Annabeth (daughter of Athena) to prove that he isn't the thief who stole Zeus' lightning bolt.

I have to say that I enjoyed this book. A modern twist on the Olympians, I especially loved Charon's addiction to Italian suits ^__^

I can't wait to see the movie for this book in 2010. It is directed by Chris Columbus who also directed the first two Harry Potter movies.

Until next time!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Herbs and a bunny!

Hi, everyone! I finished up LHN's Herb Garden this evening while watching So You Think You Can Dance. There were some amazing performances tonight!


Design: Herb Garden by Little House Needleworks
Threads: DMC
Fabric: 28 ct Lugana Lavender Bliss
Started: 7/19/2009, Finished: 7/22/2009


As always, LHN designs are fun to stitch up! I can't wait to start on another one soon!

In other news, the book that I had loaned in to my local uni library has arrived! I'm going to pick it up tomorrow. I don't think I'll be doing much stitching for a bit while I start this book. It is another book by Hannah Maria Jones called Emily Moreland or the Maid of the Valley. If the book is in good condition I'll post some pics of it, but you never know with a book from 1829.

Until next time!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A bunny tail

Some more of LHN's Herb Garden! I hope to have this finished by Friday if I'm lucky in my stitching time ;)



I got some more stitched today while on my lunch break and tonight while watching BBC Persuasion by Jane Austen.

Until next time!

Monday, July 20, 2009

A herb garden!

Hi, everyone! I finally got a chance to start LHN's Herb Garden design!


Not a bad start! I love the little bunny even if he's missing his tail!


Close-up of verse and brown bunny ;)

For this design I am using 28 ct Lugana Lavender Bliss Zweigart with DMC threads that I received from Down Sunshine Lane last week. Thanks again, Amy, for such great service!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I woke up this morning to cool weather for once! It's a bit odd for July, but I won't say more....don't want to jinks our cool temps while we have them O_o"

Until next time!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

A great day for antiques ;)

I went by today to the local Shriner's temple for an antique show. They have one every three months during the year until the Fall when they have one every month up to December. I found several brooches that got my eye. You know I was going to get something, right? Who can resist jewelry?

The oldest brooch that I purchased today. The backing on this one is a C-clasp. I like the agate inside the brooch, it's pretty. I've noticed though that the agate on the sides has faded....can stones do that? Do I have a real agate brooch? Hmm....regardless, it's a nice piece of jewelry.


A small delicate circular brooch with three faux pearls. My birthstone is alexandrite, but the alternative is pearl. As I was growing up, I never cared much for pearls, but I love small delicate-looking ones especially in brooches. I would love to have an alexandrite brooch, but as they are expensive stones, I'll have to save up for one.


A fun pin for next year's St. Patrick's Day! I love looking for holiday pins when I'm out antiquing. I was looking for Fall-themed brooches with pumpkins, leaves, or acorns, but I saw more Christmas pins than any other holiday pins.

Isn't is lovely? I love this little bar pin with its red stone in the center and pearls on the ends. No, the dot in the center of the red stone isn't really there. It's the reflection of my camera lens ^___^"

In other news, my friends and I went out last night after work and saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I will admit that I cried at the end of the movie; I cried while reading the book when it came out as well. It didn't help with the musical score in the background during the end either.

There were some great previews at the beginning of the movie. I think I'll probably go and see Sherlock Holmes as I love period dramas. My friends and I also saw a poster while we were walking into the theater advertising Ponyo on the Cliff by Hayao Miyazaki! We were very excited that the movie is actually coming to our city. When Howl's Moving Castle came out, the only theatre showing it in our area was in Baton Rouge! And yes, we are such Hayao Miyazaki fans that we drove all the way out there to see it (3 hours away) ;)

Until next time! Happy antiquing!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Pretty stash!

When I got home from work today, I had a package in the mail from Down Sunshine Lane! Woohoo! I spoke with Amy at DSL on Saturday about fabric recommendations for the Little House Needlework designs that I had ordered from her. She was very nice and knowledgeable. She was saying that she liked the LHN designs that I had chosen because two of them had bunnies! LOL I'm glad that I'm not the only person who likes bunnies and garden scenes.


Two of these designs will be Christmas gifts this year ;)

My sister says I'm showing everyone up! She's joking, of course, but I like stitching gifts for people! It's more satisfying than buying something.


Yummy Crescent Color threads!!


28 ct Lugana Lavender Bliss and 28 ct Natural Cashel Zweigart ^___^

I was hoping to start Herb Garden tonight, but when I looked through my thread box....I only had one DMC thread color for the design O_o" I'll have to make a run by Hobby Lobby this weekend!

I need to stitch on it as much as I can over the weekend since I've loaned in another book by Hannah Maria Jones! It should arrive next week and of course, you know I'll have pics of it for all my fellow bibliophiles!

Until next time!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Halloween Pumpkin

Another finish tonight! I love this little pumpkin, but I think I'm half-blind now from stitching over one on the small leaves, numbers, etc.!!


Design: Halloween Pumpkin by Jeannette Douglas Designs (JCS Halloween Issue 2008)
Threads: DMC 310, 801, 919, 921, 977, 3011, & 3012
Fabric: 32 ct oyster evenweave by M.C.G. Textiles
Finished: 7/12/2009


I don't think I'll be attempting another design with one-over-one motifs in it for a while!! However, I did learn some new stitches with this design: boxed upright cross stitch and the Italian cross stitch ^___^

Until next time!

Spooky Tree

Hi, everyone! I went by Michael's this morning and bought some fabric and threads for two Halloween ornaments that I wanted to stitch.

I stitched up this one when I got home. It only took me a couple of hours ;)


Design: Spooky Tree by Elizabeth's Designs (JCS Halloween Issue 2008)
Threads: DMC 869, 921, 935, & 3820
Fabric: 28 ct antique white evenweave by M.C.G. Textiles
Finished: 7/12/2009


My readers who have the JCS Halloween Issue from 2008 will notice that the border isn't completely done around the edges and I'm missing the required bat glass beads. I'm thinking of putting this design into a nice antique-looking frame since with the DMC threads, the tree doesn't really look 'spooky' just 'Fall-ish.'

Hopefully I can start the other ornament I want to stitch up tomorrow! Or maybe tonight!

Until next time!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Lovely historical manga!

Yesterday, I got the newest volume of manga in the Emma series by Kaoru Mori in the mail!! Woohoo!

This series is by far my favorite manga/anime. It is set in Victorian England and deals with the story of Emma and William. They have many obstacles to overcome in their love for one another as Emma is a maid and William is a member of the gentry.

Isn't it pretty?! Mr. and Mrs. Meredith, Emma's German employers as the cover art for this volume.

Volumes 1-7 chronicle the story of Emma and William while volumes 8-10 are short stories that detail the other characters' lives after the series ends. The best part of volume 10 is the fact that we get to see the marriage between Emma and William. Kawaii!!! ^___^ I can't wait for December when that volume comes out :)

My favorite stories in volume 8:

- Erich and his lost pet squirrel (too cute!)
- How William and Hakim met :)

If you love Victorian England or just anything historically-themed, you don't want to miss the Emma series by Kaoru Mori.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Egads! A snake!!!!

This evening we were all 'unwinding' from the work week when our dog Sam starting barking outside like crazy!

My mother looked outside and Sam had a snake?!?!?!? My mom screamed and ran outside to try and get Sam away from the snake. Of course, Sam is not your typical dog, instead of leaving the snake alone, he picked it up in his mouth and starting running around the backyard with it!

We all started panicking and ran outside to chase Sam down and make him drop the snake. My sister was about to start crying because the snake was trying to bite Sam in the chest while he was running with it.

As we finally got Sam to drop the snake and our uncle killed the snake with a hoe, my sister had called the emergency line of our local vet and asked what the symptoms were of a snake bite because we thought we had a rattlesnake! Luckily, Sam had not been bitten by the snake, but we were all shaken up by the whole thing. We have no idea what type of snake it was....definitely not your average garden snake!

If you don't like snakes, don't look at the picture below. My mother measured the snake and it was 4 ft 7 inches! O_o"


Holy Moley!!

There are two animal/insects that scare me the most: snakes and spiders. You think I would be running for the hills when my mother said they was a snake outside, but when she said Sam was near it we all ran out there to save him from being bit. LOL It's amazing what adrenaline will do for your fears!

I think I've had enough drama for my weekend!!

Give me some safe cross-stitching any day! I'll pass on the snakes.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

How many more pages?!

I just finished the 1st page of my Saisons sampler chart while watching So You Think You Can Dance.



I have seven more pages to go. Can't complain though because I'm enjoying this design.

We've got some more rain coming our way! Woohoo! Maybe our garden will perk up a bit!

Until next time ^___^

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Rain and a rainbow!

I hope everyone on the coast is enjoying the rain! We definitely needed it; our garden is looking sad.



We got a nice rainbow after the rain ^___^

Until next time!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Weekend stitching

Update on my Saisons sampler! I worked on it alot yesterday since I had finished watching My Love Patzzi on Friday. My family and I celebrated the 4th of July by watching a few episodes of John Adams. LOL



I loved stitching the small alphabet on the right. It was fun with cross stitches and backstitching.

Ugh, so the work week starts again tomorrow! (sigh) I vote for another day off, what do you think?!

Until next time ^___^

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone is having a great 4th of July with their family and friends.

My family and I are making a menagerie of foodstuffs for our trip to Uriah, AL tomorrow. We are going to visit our great aunt and uncle for the day and we decided to make lunch and bring it with us.

I got up early this morning and made orange brownies.


Yummy!

I used Paula Deen's recipe for the orange brownies. They are very easy to make and my family loves them! A great summer treat in lieu of traditional chocolate brownies.

Until next time!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Saisons sampler update!

I know I've been bad about posting any new updates on my Saisons sampler, but I haven't been working on it enough :*(

LOL I know I should be ashamed about not working on it, but I've been watching a Korean drama called My Love Patzzi and I'm trying to finish it. I can't stitch and read subtitles at the same time so I have to do one or the other. Yes, I admit it....I'm a drama addict! *Shh...don't tell anyone!*



I've been working on my sampler during the mornings before I go to work. I'll get back in my stitching groove eventually and work on it more!

Until next time!

Lovely England!

My aunt and I made our usual trip to Barnes and Noble. We try to go at the end of every week as a treat from the work week. Since we both have tomorrow off from work, we went tonight.

I didn't see any cross stitch magazines that I wanted and they didn't have the newest Piecework magazine out yet, but I did find some nice travel magazines ^___^



I couldn't resist either one of these magazines. Realm always has neat articles and tidbits on areas of England that you shouldn't miss while you vacation there and The English Home had an article title that drew me in: Period delights: The Charms of Victorian Interiors. They had me at the words Victorian and Period delights!

Until next time!

B-day Goodies!

My b-day was a while ago in June and I meant to post pics of my gifts, but I got sidetracked.


I got two of the Christy movies along with the TV series. I love period pieces so these were great! I need to get the last movie and I'll be all set. I had read the book a couple of months ago and quite liked it! I'm glad Christy picked the doctor ;) How can you go wrong with a Scottish accent?!


I almost bought the Jane Austen Treasury for myself, but had to resist since my b-day was coming up. My aunt bought me that book along with the Sew Darn Cute.

Another brooch for my collection. My friend bought me this brooch along with the 100 Applique Motifs book! My favorite season is the Fall so the maple leaf brooch was perfect! I wore it the next week at work....even though it was 100 degrees outside! Wishing for cooler weather, we definitely need it. I'm so jealous, my sister and mother had gone by Hobby Lobby today O_o" They were browsing the Fall goodies without me >__< Not fair! The last time I was there, they had a lovely Welcome sign with each letter made in a glass pumpkin. How nice would that be on the front of the house?!

I've been eyeing this brooch ever since I saw it in the catalog from the Victorian Trading Co. My sister knew I wanted it so she got it for me ;) I saw that she had gotten a package from VTC, but I didn't realize it was going to be a brooch. Isn't it neat? I thought it was very unusual, but a fun idea that a cupid has the job of feeding the Moon pearls to make him shine and become full!

I also received a New Moon t-shirt and pins from my mother! LOL Our entire family, including my aunts, are addicted to the Twilight books. We can't wait for the next movie to come out in November though we are equally excited for the Harry Potter 6 movie that is coming out later this month ;)

Until next time!