Friday, November 30, 2012

November Recap

Recap:

Read:
1. She by Henry Rider Haggard
2. Ayesha: The Return of She by Henry Rider Haggard
3. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
4. Book Girl and the Wayfarer's Lamentation by Mizuki Nomura

Stitched:
1-3. Kokeshi dolls
4. Happy Holidays by LHN

Finished:
1. Kokeshi doll scissor fobs
2. Egg tart earrings
3. Sailor Moon origami stars ornament
4. Kawaii Christmas tree feltie ornament

It's been a busy month with a few crafting projects and a whole lot of the month taken up with reading Hugo's unabridged version of Les Miserables.

I've been working on the Kawaii Winterland pattern, but I'm far behind on it as all four weeks worth of patterns have been released and I've only finished the first row this week! I blame house renovations and many nights reading Hugo's tome!

Until next time ^_____^

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Happy Holidays

Pattern: Happy Holidays by Country Cottage Needleworks, JSC Christmas 2012
Fabric: 28ct Antique White linen by M.C.G. Textiles
Threads: recommended DMC
Start/Finish: 11/12-17/2012

I'm sure some of my readers were wondering where I had wandered off to. As I mentioned before, my family and I are renovating our house so I spent last week helping my mother paint our living room. Our house was built in the late 70s so we have wood paneling and a popcorn ceiling. Which means lots of work! We painted the ceiling and washed the paneling before priming it for paint. We will probably start painting next weekend.

After that.....search for carpeting!! Then on to other areas of house that need work. Definitely a work in progress, but one that is well worth the time :)

With all of that, my stitching time has been limited to after I come home from work during the week and after we are done working on the weekends.

I've got a few more designs to stitch for Christmas. I'm flipping through my back issues of JCS and other magazines to see what catches my eye.

Until next time ^____^

Fun with Felt

Please excuse the horrible photo!

While I was at Michael's this month, I saw a fun kit for making a felt cell phone case! I couldn't resist buying it as I had a great coupon, which made the kit only $3. Isn't it cute? One advantage to these felt kits is that they are perfect for kids who want to learn how to sew by hand or create something using felt. The kit comes with instructions on how to backstitch and blanket stitch.

Definitely check out Michael's selection of felt kits! Well worth the investment and it gives your child an hour or so of fun creating something!

Until next time ^___^

Kokeshi Dolls



Pattern: Japanese Kokeshi Dolls by Soda Stitch
Fabric: 32ct Cream Belfast Zweigart
Threads: DMC
Start/Finish: 11/5-9/2012

Friday, November 2, 2012

Halloween packages

I received a Halloween package from sunny CA courtesy of my friend Amanda! How fun that is arrived on Halloween?!


She sent me a lot of cute items for my Halloween display next year! A lovely woven basket full of amigurgumi plushies and candy, a very soft black cat pillow and a folder full of paper crafts and a sheet of stickers!


First up, an adorable white pumpkin amigurumi charm. Don't you just love the little purple spider on top!? Cute!


Secondly, a tiny ghost amigurumi. He's ready for the cool autumn weather with a little red scarf :)


Third, a black cat amigurumi. There is a name for this type of cat, but for the life of me, I can't remember. Usually Japanese women make them for their loved ones out of fabric scraps......if I remember the name, I will let you know :)


Candy, anyone? She included a bag full of macadamia nut Hershey kisses and green tea Kit Kats! (Can't wait to try them!) Also two small bottles of bubbles! As you can see I actually opened one of the bottles. Our cat Bella was not enthused by the bubbles, she promptly left the room!

Thank you for such a wonderful package of goodies for Halloween, especially since I know how busy you are at the moment!

In other news, I've put the Horn of Plenty aside for the moment as the month of November has officially started which means Christmas stitching!

Also, I sent two packages out to my friends Amanda and Constance. Please see Amanda's blog for all the contents of that package as I didn't have time to photograph it. Constance's package finally arrived in Canada on Halloween (fun times). Luckily, the cookies that I had baked for it were still good. I wish I had taken pictures, but yet again, I was terribly busy.

In her package, I included the JBW Black Cat pinkeep, the Halloween and Christmas JSC magazines, B&BW lotions and hand sanitizers, lots of candy and goodies, and a tin full of cookies! I'm probably forgetting something, but that's ok. I'll try to be better about taking photos of my Christmas packages to them :)

Until next time ^____^

Thursday, November 1, 2012

October Recap

Recap:

Read:
1. The Candy Country by Louisa May Alcott
2. How They Ran Away by Louisa May Alcott
3. The Treasure of the Lake by Henry Rider Haggard
4. Allan and the Ice-Gods by Henry Rider Haggard
5. Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan by Bruce Feiler
6. God Save the Queen by Kate Locke
7. Cleopatra by Henry Rider Haggard
8. Undead and Unstable by Maryjanice Davidson

Crafts:
1. Black cat amigurumi

Stitched:
1. Started Horn of Plenty design

Halloween