Progress on ornament #1

Here's a short post just to show what I've accomplished today on the Sue Hillis ornament 'Happiest of Holidays' in the JCS magazine I got yesterday.





I went to Hobby Lobby this morning got some 25 ct Zweigart because I didn't really like the linen I was using last night, it just wasn't good quality. To my surprise when I got home and was looking at the chart and directions for this ornament I had actually picked out the right color of linen!! Bravo Hobby Lobby for the one bag of 25 ct linen on the shelf that just happened to be the one I needed!!!

Just this bit stitched on the ornament took me a couple of hours, I'm not used to stitching 'over one' with just one thread.

Hope you like my progress. Happy stitching :)

More books and an eagerly awaited magazine!!

LOL I told you that books were the bane of every bookseller. Well, two were calling to me at work today. (sigh) For me, books are little temptresses....completely devilish and full of charm....I can't ignore them.

(sigh)


They followed me home, I swear ^ - ^"

I recently saw a neat idea on a cross stitcher's blog where they were reading 10 of their favorite childhood books over again. What a marvelous idea! So I picked up Jane Eyre as my first book. I loved this book when I read it in middle school and thought I'd pick it up again. And by the way, if you haven't seen the latest movie version by the BBC.....I recommend watching it. It's a very good adaptation while making it a bit more racy for today's audiences....perhaps to draw people back into the classics.

Today I also got two books in the store that I ordered. I read one of them on my break because it was actually quite short, but good nevertheless. The book I read on my break was called Editha's Burglar by Frances Hodgson Burnett. She is by far one of my favorite childhood authors. I read The Secret Garden and A Little Princess at least twenty or more times when I was growing up. I think I probably fell in love with England while reading those books and listening to The Nutcracker on my cassette player :)

Editha's Burglar was a small children's book that Frances Burnett wrote in 1888. It was less than sixty pages since there were some illustrations in the book. The plot was adorable to say the least. A girl named Editha is described as an oddity, mostly because she doesn't have any friends her own age and she is constantly reading. She reads about burglars one day in the local newspaper and soon meets one in her home at night. She pursuades the burglar to take her possessions instead of her father's or mother's because it would upset them. The burglar does just that and leaves, but later as he sits in jail he summons her. He gives back her possessions and at the end of the story leaves her a box with a beautiful silver watch because she was so nice to him when he was 'burgling' her house.

It was a sweet story. I recommend anyone who loves Frances Burnett's books to pick it up at your local library if they have it. It's a quick read and quite enjoyable.

I didn't buy it since I read it so quickly. I would have, but sadly the copy the bookstore sent from their warehouse was dirty :( But I did buy the other one that I ordered by the same author. It's called The Lost Prince of Samavia and was published in 1915. I can't wait to start reading that one after I finish Totto-chan and Jane Eyre. LOL I've got to stop buying books......sigh....but it's pretty much pointless. I'm a certified bookworm. I swear it's an addictive. I blame my mom for instilling the love of reading in my sister and I so early in life :)



On to other news, the Just Cross Stitch Aug '08 magazine finally came on the bookstore's truck yesterday so I grabbed a copy as soon as I got to work this morning. I can't wait to get started on two of the ornaments in this issue. I love Sue Hillis' design. I'm going to start that one either tonight or tomorrow. Unfortunately, I don't have the recommended 25 ct linen for it so I'm going with 32 ct antique white linen. And somehow, out of all the Q-snaps I have....I don't have the 6 inch one!!! (Sigh) So I'll have to stitch this ornament up on a hoop, which isn't a bad thing....I think I just got spoiled with the Q-snaps. They hold quite well compared to your everyday embroidery hoops.

The other design I want to make is the one by Country Cottage Needleworks. I think it is adorable, but I might change the colors a bit :)

The best news about this issue of Just Cross Stitch is the fact that since they put out the Christmas preview early....we get more Halloween stuff in the October issue. They are going to put out a selection of Halloween-themed ornaments. (sigh) I can hardly wait for it! The fall is my favorite time of the year :)

Thanks for visiting my blog, happy stitching ^__^

B's for Tuesday....

A) Books
B) Blog
C) Biscornu

Since I had the day off I thought I'd catch up on some b's for the day such as reading a book I borrowed from work, write a bit on my blog, and show everyone a biscornu that I made a while ago in March ;)

To be honest, I was watching tv earlier today. Somehow I ended up watching The Mummy, which I've seen before, but not in a long time. I think someone told me at work that there is another one coming out. How many sequels can they make with this movie? Admittedly, I never read Anne Rice's book that accompanies the movie so I'm not too sure on the plot and if the sequel to The Mummy is another story line in the book. I'm surprised I've never read that book of hers, I read all the others in the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches series. Hmmm.....if someone out in blogger-land recommends it, I just might pick it up ^__^

So after watching that movie, I pulled out the book I borrowed from work yesterday. I was determined to finish it so I could return it tomorrow....I wasn't too thrilled with my selection. I just happened to see it as I was wandering the stacks on Monday and picked it up since I'd read the previous books in the series. Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot...hmm......what can I say.

Nothing really. It seemed to have the same plot as all her other series regardless of whether they are in adult fiction or teen fiction. Girl falls for boy, obstacles to overcome, happy ending...end of story. I won't complain too much because I know how Meg Cabot writes, but I think I got my hopes up for a little bit more. I gotta find something different out there in the endlessness that is book world to read.

I do have another book picked out to read....LOL from my towering stack of books at home (bane of every bookseller)!!! It's called Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. I'm enjoying it so far. It is basically the recollections of the author when she was a kid growing up in WWII. I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves anything to do with Japanese culture. It makes me miss my Asian history courses I took as an undergrad.

Up next in my list of b's besides writing on this blog is the biscornu that I made in March.


Design: Thistle & Clover biscornu
28 ct antique white linen
DMC 823
Start: March 11th
Finish: March 14th

One of the best things about working in a bookstore is the fact that once in a while you'll get some magazines that come in early. That was the case with this biscornu design in the May issue of Cross-stitch & Needlework. They had several articles on new needlework techniques and I had seen biscornu projects on other blogs so I had to buy the magazine for their design by Jennifer Mitchell. Of course, her design was completed on 28 ct Tile Blue Jazlyn by Zweigart with ecru thread, but I decided on antique white 28 ct linen and royal blue thread. My choice of linen and thread color were mostly due to the fact that the closest LNS are about an hour and half away :( So I have to make do with Hobby Lobby's selection ^__^'

I think my biscornu come out alright for a first-timer with this finish. It's a bit lop-sided only because I backstitched around the edges too much!! LOL The magazine said to avoid that, but I didn't think it would be much of an issue....I was wrong. But I like my biscornu, I would definitely attempt this finish again. Despite it being lop-sided, I brought it to work with me to show it off. LOL If that's not a cross stitch geek than I don't know what is ;)

Thanks for visiting my blog!

So Pretty!

I bought these patterns through Etsy yesterday from Aimee Ray's store. I love all her patterns in her book called Doodle-Stitching. I saw these patterns after seeing a link for her store on her blog Dreamfollow. When you order the patterns from her Etsy store, they come in a PDF file that Aimee sends to your email address. I loved corresponding with Aimee about my order. She was very nice and suggested that I send a pic of my work after it was completed. LOL It might take me a while, but I'll definitely finish the patterns.
Here's the two patterns that I bought from her Etsy shop...sorry about the quality of the photo. Not very good lighting in the kitchen when it's eight o'clock at night :(



Aren't they adorable? I love the squirrel gazing up at the tree with all the blossoms. It reminds me of cherry tree blossoms. The man in the hill is fun. Oh, and the Ghostbirds pattern is beautiful!! The little deer is very cute. On her Etsy store, Aimee has the patterns in color to show you what colors you could attempt for them :)

I can't wait to get started on these patterns. A week or two ago I bought half a yard of creme-colored broadcloth to practice my embroidery stitches on. Today I had my aunt show me how to stitch a lazy daisy since I was having trouble reading the directions in one of my embroidery technique books. LOL Sometimes those books aren't helpful at all even with all the diagrams!!

If you haven't picked up Doodle-Stitching...shame on you :) I highly recommend it. She has many lovely projects to choose from. One of my favorites in the book is the bunny in the moon. LOL It will take me a while before I even attempt that project, but it is beautiful. I've always loved the Japanese story of a bunny in the moon instead of our man in the moon.

Now the agonizing task of deciding on colors for the patterns......so many pretty colors of thread to choose from....sigh :)

Summer Solstice fun :)

Hi,

This is my first blog post! Woohoo! I've had everything else put on my blog so far like favorite books, LNS, and blogs, but no posts. I was trying to think of what to post about! Well, since I was at work on the summer solstice (yesterday) I didn't get to do anything fun for it :(
So after today's cleaning around the house I decided to pick some blueberries. My grandmother came out and helped too. This is the second batch of berries to come from our bushes. We think we might get one more batch of them before the summer is over!

I hope everyone enjoys my blog.