Early start of spring!

This afternoon I stitched this little cutie! I've never stitched a Lizzie Kate design, but I saw this one at my LNS and couldn't resist purchasing it ;)






Design: Spring ABC's by Lizzie Kate
Fabric: 28ct antique white linen M.C.G Textiles
DMC: 727, 987, 3687, 3740, and 3853
Start/Finish: 2/28/2010

What do you think of my Spring-themed display? I bought the bunnies at Hobby Lobby. I had a hard choice to make from all the cute bunnies they had, but I came away with these two! I love the one on the right. He reminds of something that Hayao Miyazaki would have in one of his animations.

I purchased a white ceramic pitcher at Michael's this morning for 50% off! I got some hydrangeas to fill it up!

Did you guys watch the hockey game this afternoon? I was stitching this design while watching it ;) It was a great game! I was hoping the Canadians would win since it was taking place in their homeland! I'm glad they did!

On a closing note, I loved watching the Olympics! Thanks to Canada for hosting such an amazing Olympic Games ;)

Until next time ^_____^

February recap

February recap:

Read:
1. His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle
2. The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
3. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 1 manga by Clamp
4. Alice in the Country of the Hearts Vol. 1 manga by Hoshino Soumei and Quinrose
5. La Corda d'Oro Vol. 1 manga by Yuki Kure
6. Day of Revolution Vol. 1-2 manga by Mikito Tsuda
7. Three other manga volumes - single titles that I borrowed from a friend ;)
8. Steamed: A Steampunk Romance by Katie MacAlister
9. Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
10. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
11. All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga
12. Undead and Unworthy by Maryjanice Davidson

Stitched:
1. Home of a Needleworker Too by Little House Needleworks
2. Spring ABC's by Lizze Kate

Finishes:
1. Heart Biscornu
2. JBW Belle Fleurs box
3. JBW Amour pinkeep

My goals for March include stitching more! I have some small designs for spring that I would love to stitch ;) I hope to read some more books on my shelves! Yes, I have a shelf devoted to books I've purchased, but haven't read....I need to make a concerted effort to read more on that shelf!!

Of course, my plans all depend on whether I'm able to loan another book by Hannah Maria Jones. If I get the chance to borrow it, I'll be doing more reading than stitching next month.

Until next time ^____^

Home of a Needleworker finish

Design: Home of a Needleworker Too by Little House Needleworks
Threads: Crescent Colours
Fabric: 28ct cream-colored Cashel linen
Start/Finish: 2/6-26/2010 (9 days total)

What do you think? It's cute. There is another design with the same name by LHN that I will probably get in the future. It is more of a traditional sampler with an alphabet ;)

Until next time ^____^

Browsing the stacks

As you can tell, I was quite busy this morning! Stopping by my LNS and then a used bookstore. I've read a few of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series last year and was hoping to finish out the series. I found the rest of her series along with a couple of titles by Georgette Heyer while wandering the stacks. I had read Mrs. Heyer's Arabella last year and wasn't all that impressed with it. While I was at the bookstore, I decided to give her another try and came away with three of her books.

My only complaint about the used bookstore was the prices. Each of the Quinn novels were $4, which really isn't a good price on something that is clearly used with broken spines, yellowing pages, and shelf wear.

To continue my book geekiness, I ran by my local library to pick up a book on hold and found two reference books on 19th and 20th century British writers in their sales racks. Only $4 for both! Not bad at all!

Happy reading everyone!

Goodies!

Good afternoon! I went by my LNS today to browse for spring designs. In my cross-stitch induced frenzy I forgot the gift certificate I received for Christmas, but never fear I still came away with these designs.

Now I'll have to look through my stash of linen and threads to see what I have to start one of these designs!

Until next time ^____^

Blue house....

A house and the Olympics

My progress since Sunday's photo! Almost finished. I need to finish the stitching in the house and then on to the top border ;) Hopefully, I'll be able to finish it tomorrow while watching the Olympics.

Thanks to Christine and Sagami for their comments on my Olympics stitching post. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who is complaining about the coverage of the Games. I completely forgot, but Sagami is right. Those of you on the other side of world are seeing coverage of the Games after everything has already happened! We are getting that too, but I'm sure it's worse for other parts of the world!

I stayed up last night long enough to see the young ladies from South Korea and Japan compete in the women's short program for ice skating. I thought their performances were lovely! Unfortunately, I didn't stay up for the other competitors as it was already 10:30 pm here. I'm not a night person so I went to bed after seeing those few performances.

I can't wait to see the women's final! It should be good ;) I will try my hardest to stay awake for all the performance! Won't make any promises, but I will try!

Until next time ^___^

A Surprise Revealed

I sent a box full of Valentine's goodies to a dear friend of mine in CA. I promised her that I wouldn't go crazy with candy this year. One half of the package is candy, the other half is handmade crafts: the Amour pinkeep, Heart biscornu, and two cell phone charms that I made.

I couldn't post a picture of the package until now since my friend didn't receive it until Monday. Late, I know, but at least it got there, right?!

Until next time ^___^

Olympics stitching

Hi! I'm working on my LHN design. I've got half of the roof stitched on the house. I am hoping I can stay awake a bit longer so I can see the ice dance finals.

As much as I love watching the Olympics, I hate having to stay up so late to watch the ice skating! Why is it so late?!?! (sigh)

Hopefully, I'll have pics of my progress later this week!

Until next time ^___^

Home of a Needleworker progress

Design: Home of a Needleworker by LHN
Fabric: 28ct cashel cream Zweigart
Threads: Crescent Colours
Start: 2/6/2010

This is my progress so far after working on it this weekend while watching BBC dramas and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1.

You'll notice that I've made some changes to the design. I didn't really care much for the initial "H" and the little house that was composed inside it so I stitched the H without it and in the same color as the other letters. I also didn't care for the blackbird that was suppose to be over the "m" so I left it out. I'm trying to decide what to put in its place. I had stitched a heart in its place, but pulled the threads out as it didn't look right. Maybe a smaller heart or a silver charm of some sort. Hmm....

Anywho, I hope to finish this design later this week or at least by next weekend.

Until next time ^____^

Antiques

Yesterday, I spent some time wandering an antique show at our local Shriners' temple. I purchased two pins that were calling my name!


A Victorian/turn of the century bar pin decorated with white rhinestones and featuring a C-clasp on the back.



An oblong-shaped brooch with an agate stone surrounded by coral and faux pearls. This brooch features a modern clasp in the back so it probably dates to the early 20th century.

There were several other brooches that I would have loved to purchase, but I'll have to save my pennies and keep my fingers crossed that I'll see them again when the antique show comes again in July.

Until next time ^____^

A busy Saturday

Hi! It's gorgeous weather outside today. Puts you in a good mood to clean and organize or at least it does to my mind....since I'm crazy like that ;) I helped my mother take some things to storage this morning before going to an antique show at our local Shriner's Temple in Mobile.

I was good! No, really I was!! I only came away with two Victorian brooches....when I could have came away with quite a few and a depleted bank account O_o"

I'll have pictures of them tomorrow along with some new photos of my progress on Home of a Needleworker. Yes, I know, it's taking me quite a while to finish that design when it really shouldn't, but I've been busy reading, updating my iPod, etc. that I haven't gotten around to it until today.

I plan on stitching on it this evening while watching the Olympics. Did you guys enjoy the men's figure skating? I'm glad that Evan Lysacek won, but I felt sorry for Evgeni Plushenko. Both men were amazing on the ice. I wonder if they will continue and skate in the 2014 Olympics. Or is late 20s/early 30s too 'old' to compete in that sport? Hmm....I certainly don't think so, but if you've been in that sport for that long I'm sure it takes a toll on your body.

Pics tomorrow! Until next time ^____^

Sherlock Holmes

Watson, what have you done?

This movie was brilliant! If you've seen it already, you'll recognize the line I've quoted. Only Watson *cough Holmes cough* can take out a ship while fighting crime!

Until next time ^___^

Half way through the month? Already?! *Updated*

Hi! I hope you're having a great V-day with your family/friends/loved ones! It's amazing how time flies!

Reading:
1. His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle
2. The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
3. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 1 manga by Clamp
4. Alice in the Country of the Hearts Vol. 1 manga by Hoshino Soumei and Quinrose
5. La Corda d'Oro Vol. 1 manga by Yuki Kure
6. Day of Revolution Vol. 1-2 manga by Mikito Tsuda
7. Three other manga volumes - single titles that I borrowed from a friend ;)
8. Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
9. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
10. All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga
11. Undead and Unworthy by Maryjanice Davidson

Started Stitching:
1. Home of a Needleworker Too by Little House Needleworks

Finishes:
1. Heart Biscornu
2. JBW Belle Fleurs box
3. JBW Amour pinkeep

It seems as though I've read more than I've stitched this month! LOL Not that I'm fearfully broke up about it though.

Today I spent the afternoon reading the last of Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle. What a delightful story! I received the book as a blog giveaway gift from Ms. Doyle's blog in September. With all my stitching I didn't have a chance to get around to reading it until now, which is embarrassing to say the least. But I finally got around to it and loved every minute of it!!

I will have to see if I can find Betraying Season at one of my local bookstores. Hopefully I will have some luck in finding it as I couldn't find Bewitching Season when I was looking for it (lucky I won it from Marissa's blog later on!).

Tomorrow I hope to work on my LHN design if I'm not doing some sort of housework O_o"

Until next time ^____^

Saturday finishing

This morning I went shopping at Hobby Lobby for polymer clay for a future project along with some to braid to finish my Amour design. In spite of new colors of braid, I still went with the burgundy-colored braid and pink pins.


Front of design


Backing fabric

What do you think? I wish I knew of some good online stores that sell different colors of braid. I see alot of crafters who have gorgeous types of braid for their finishing. Does anyone know of an online shop for Dritz pins? I love the pearlized pins, but I only see a few colors at my local craft stores.

Our weather is back to normal for winter. Right now, it is 50 degrees outside. LOL You would have never thought it snowed yesterday. Go figure!

I hope our neighbors to the East are staying safe and warm! Be careful on the roads this weekend! I think the snow would be a great excuse to stay inside and stitch ;)

Did anyone get a chance to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics last night? I thought it was beautiful. I loved watching the director's vision for Canada. I was especially blown away by the 2-D/3-D whales on the arena's floor. It's amazing what you can do with projectors!

Did you see the lovely clothing that the U.S. athletes were sporting? I loved the knitted caps, but my sister said they sold out and were taken off Ralph Lauren's website?!?! Wow! Maybe they will get more in stock!

Well, I'm off to either read more of Bewitching Season or stitch on my LHN design. LOL I can't decide which one to do ;)

Until next time ^____^

Goodbye snow....see you in another 10 years!

Hi, everyone! The snow has passed us. It lasted for about two hours or so and then it moved on its way to GA. We most likely won't see snow for another 10+ years, which is fine with me ;) I love snow, but our city has enough trouble with people driving in the rain....give us snow and it's chaos on the streets!

I've been stitching and watching the end of Emma and start of P&P since noon. Here's my progress:



I hope to finish this design during the weekend or Mardi Gras holiday on Mon/Tues. I hope to go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and get some braid so I can finish making my JBW Amour design into a pinkeep. Hopefully, all the rain has passed us and it will nice tomorrow.

On another note, tonight is the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver! It starts at 6:30 CST. I can't wait to see what their city showcases to the world. Beijing was amazing and I'm sure that Vancouver will be too!

Until next time ^___^

Mardi Gras stash

Hi! My family and I went to the Mardi Gras parade for the Mystic Stripers Society. It was quite fun and a lot more people came out than we originally thought considering the fact that it was lightly sleeting! The crowds would have been huge if there wasn't the threat of snow.



As a child, my sister and I were never allowed to go the Mardi Gras parades, more to do with safety than anything else. I didn't go to my first parade until I was in college and some of my sister's friends wanted to go. Last night's parade was my fifth visit to see one. I've always gone with my friends, it was nice to go with my family :)

We decided to go last night because my cousin has never been to Mardi Gras before. He is originally from Michigan and has just recently moved to Mobile to finish his college studies. Being from a state that doesn't celebrate Mardi Gras, he was excited to be able to go to a parade. As a 'tourist' so to speak, he actually had his camera out and was taking pictures of the different floats :P

I caught a hat-full of beads and maybe one moonpie (they are hard to catch!). LOL I stole some of my sister's moonpies to put in the photo! My sister's friend caught the MSS spear for me as we were both reaching for it and he already had one from a previous parade.

What to do with the beads? I know I want to keep one strand, which was the first one I caught last night. It is a strand of pink hearts, perfect for a Mardi Gras memento as the parade is so close to Feb. 14th. I'll have to think about what to do with the rest.

Update: It is snowing again. Apparently, I know nothing about snowy weather. It will sleet for a second, snow the next. LOL

What do I plan on doing with the day off from work? Hmm...I think I'll work on my LHN design and watch the new version of Emma by the BBC. I purchased it Tuesday when it come out ;) Geeky, I know!!!

Until next time ^___^

Snow in the South

This morning I woke up to snow around 10am! No, I usually don't sleep so late, but my family and I were up last night at a Mardi Gras parade. It was fun despite the sleet.



Our chocolate lab Sam in the snow! I took him outside to stretch and play a bit, but he just sat down beside me in the snow. LOL I don't think he cared for it that much.

Right now, the snow has stopped and it has started to sleet again. The weather forecasters say that if the temperatures drop before the next way of storms come through it might snow again!

Be safe everyone! Take your time driving if you have to go to work today!

Until next time ^___^

To Snow or Not

Last time I saw snow: Royal Holloway campus, Egham, Surrey, England, 2007

Hi! If you live on the Gulf Coast, you have heard the news that we might get snow sometime on Friday. I don't know whether to be happy about it or not. Sadly, no one in the South knows how to drive in snow unless you are a snowbird.

Well, maybe we'll get lucky and have a snow day on Friday assuming it snows :)

In other news, I've been reading mostly this week. No stitching except for what I worked on over the weekend. Hopefully, I'll get back to it soon. My family and I might be going to a Mardi Gras parade tomorrow night, but that depends on the weather!

Until next time ^___^

Absolutely charming

Hi, I just got finished watching the finale of Emma. I was under the impression last night that the finale was at 9pm like usual on PBS, but it started an hour earlier at 8pm. By the time I tuned in, Miss Austen Regrets was playing. I'm quite glad that PBS allows you to watch the previous night's episode on their website.

In my opinion, this adaptation of Emma is beautiful. I loved all the actor/actresses who played in the film. I loved the fact that they chose Christina Cole to play the role of Augusta Elton. She was perfect for the role.

Blake Ritson and Jonny Lee Miller were wonderful in yet another Jane Austen remake. I adored Mr. Miller as Edmund in the 1999 version of Mansfield Park. While, Mr. Ritson was great as the same character in the newest adaptation of the film.

The ladies of Highbury were all lovely and equally talented in their roles. Praise goes to Romola Garai as the free-spirited and irresponsible Emma.

I might just say that this adaptation rivals in my affectations with the 1996 version starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam. Though I will admit that I watch the various adaptations of Jane Austen's books without feeling guilty :)

I think that Emma will soon be released to DVD, which is wonderful as I would love to watch the film without wonky volume problems or a blurred screen!

Until next time ^___^

P.S. If you have missed any of the episodes of Emma, you can watch them until March 9th online for free!! Woohoo!

Sunday stitching

Hi, I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday ;)

Here is my progress on Home of a Needleworker.



I was planning on stopping by Hancock's Fabrics today, but they don't open until 1pm on Sundays and I really did not want to drive through traffic on a busy Sunday with the Super Bowl shoppers everywhere.

Maybe I can persuade my aunt Snowbird to go with me sometime this week after work! *hint hint* LOL

I'm going to give my eyes a bit of a rest today, at least from looking at linen. I started to read Steamed by Katie MacAlister last night. LOL It is quite an interesting book so far. I'm off to snuggle in a chair and continue on with the misadventures of Jack and Octavia in Neo-Victorian England!!

Until next time ^____^

A new start ~

Start: 2/6/2010

I decided to start Home of a Needleworker Too! by LHN. I am using the recommended Crescent Colour threads. I picked up the linen and threads while my friend and I were in Huntsville. One of the owners of Patches and Stitches helped me to pick the linen color as I didn't really care for the recommended linen color, which was too dark for my tastes despite the look of it on the chart photograph.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!

Until next time ^___^

P.S. Never fear, I will start and finish the LHN Loving and Faithful design after I finish this one since I managed to pull out my stitches earlier!

Foiled again!

What's missing from this picture? A decent color of braid!! (sigh) I was hoping to finish my Amour design into a pinkeep this evening after my fabrics dried from being dampened and ironed, but no luck there! I rampaged through my stash of braid in search of some ivory or cream braid and I had maybe 7 inches of it left! I thought the burgundy-colored braid in the picture might work, but it is entirely too dark for the design and fabric I chose for the backing.

It is a dreary day outside and I don't have the energy to fight the traffic to get to my nearest craft store since everyone will be on their way to grocery stores for food for the football game this weekend. (Am I watching football this weekend? LOL No, I'm not a fan of it. The most I know about the game is that you run for your life with the ball to the opposite goal.)

Well, I'll probably go tomorrow in morning to Hancock's Fabrics to see if they have some nice braid. I'll have to bring my cross stitch design with me and see what works with it!

Until next time!

Belle Fleurs box! *Updated*

My Saturday morning finish! I decided to make my Belle Fleur design into a cover for a decorative box that I had bought at Hobby Lobby a while back when it was 50% off. I picked up the ribbon and pins from the same store ;)

What do you think? That's quite a lot of pink!

Finished:
In other news, I hope to finish reading The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes today. Hopefully, I'll have a post about my thoughts on it later this weekend.

Until next time ^____^

Hearts abound

Hi! My friend and I spent an hour or so making cell phone charms. It was fun. I'll have to keep a lookout for more designs for them!

When I got home, I was able to finish my Heart Biscornu.


Design: Heart Biscornu freebie by Lenka
Threads: DMC 3350
Fabric: 28ct antique white Zweigart
Start/Finish: 2/3/2010
'Finished': 2/4/2010

Isn't it cute? I've posted a picture of the biscornu beside a glass rooster that belongs to my mother so you see how small this little cutie is! It measures about 2 1/2" in size.



What do you think? I think it turned out well. What's next for stitching projects? Well, I plan on 'finishing' some of my other Valentine's designs this weekend.

Until next time ^____^ I hope everyone has a great Friday!

First finish of February!

Hi, everyone! Happy February! I was able to start and finish a small design today.


Design: Heart Biscornu freebie by Lenka
Threads: DMC 3350
Fabric: 28ct antique white Zweigart
Start/Finish: 2/3/2010

I just finished ironing the pieces. Tomorrow morning I will put fray-check around the edges before finishing the design as a biscornu. I love this little freebie by Lenka! Isn't it cute? I thought it was perfect for Valentine's Day!

Hopefully I'll have pictures of my finish later on tomorrow night. Tomorrow after work, I'll be teaching a friend of mine how to make beaded cell phone charms.

Until next time ^____^