I know I know

I thought I would do better this year, but evidently life keeps getting in my way. So I have gotten many things done since the last blog post. Plus I just started a new blog, For Sale, which is the various sorts of craft things I make and can sell and how much they are. (Plus the Facebook game called Bejweled Blitz is a little eeevil!) I've got to remember to edit this one to post pics, as it's a pain in the butt on my netbook.

Sooo since my last post I have gotten more things done. I got page 1 of SK Forbidden Doorway with about 2 weeks to spare until the next page came out.



My problem was then that it was like "but didn't I finish that one?" when it was only page 1 I finished with.



Plus . . . again I got distracted. I still have not finished the Ecclesiastes piece I'd started on the rest of the green aida.

I did find loads of patterns and kits I would like tho lol . . .

I started and finished a piece for my sister in memory or our granny, who passed away April 2011. She picked out Rosefly, which is available from White Willow Stitching. I hand dyed a piece of 28 count white evenweave which I stitched over 2 threads with 2 strands (full crosses). I think it took three or so weeks? I forget now. I got it framed at AC Moore, using this nifty black wood frame that has this interesting lattice on it that looks like a rose trellis. My sister decided she liked that one best as well, which is what we went with. :) Now I'm just waiting for her to pick it up.



I finally got SK Fragile framed! Yay! It took about 3 extra weeks and quite a pain in the butt to finally get done. The first frame was out of stock and then the framing place never did get it in. But they sent it back to allow me to select another frame. Which I did. But it finally did get all put together and is now safely on my wall.





Which made me realize ooops I took the nail I had had my Daniel Radcliffe picture hanging. Tho that was ok, since I was still waiting for them to send in the correctly sized mat. That took a couple of tries, but I was able to take it down there Wednesday and Tim popped him out of the frame, took off the offending one, positioned the new one and after cleaning the glass, finally put it all back together. And Daniel looks so very happy to have a mat that fits right. Plus, I decided I was going to find a nail and hang him up. I was going to put him back on the same wall he'd originally been on . . . then I saw where there was a space between my light switch and my entertainment center . . . so there he went! And looks quite happy there.

I've been planning where I want things to go when I move to the bottom floor. Even for things I've not even started stitching. lol

I also retroactively gridded Legend. Yes, that Legend. The one I haven't worked on since 2009. I also stitched a bit further along on it during the Memorial Day weekend. One day, it'll be done. I also found that while I started counting correctly, I did not continue counting correctly . . . oops.



Speaking of retroactively gridding, I gridded Heart of the World. It took me about 5 tries at the beginning. I also cut and then gridded a piece to stitch QS Rose Fairy on. Not sure when I will get to her, but I'd love to get her finished or maybe started by November 4th, which was Grandma K's birthday.

I think I also worked a little on the tribal butterfly. And also Tannith. Tribal Butterfly, from White Willow Stitching, stitched on linen (I think either 28 or 32 count) with Caron's Waterliles silk:



And here's a bit of sleeve of Tannith:





I finished SK Strength to go with SK Courage - some of the time, I doubted if it would look right, but I knew it should since there is a finished picture on the HAED website. It took until right at the end of each page before it all fell into place. it almost looks like there is a second shadow dragon in the piece. Courage is bold, while Strength can be subtle. And both of them are currently waiting for my friend Julia to frame them (no idea when that will be tho). She paid me with patterns, one of which is QS Snowflake.



Speaking of QS Snowflake, I am currently working on her. Well ok, I decided I wanted to work on some crocheting this week, but still. I started her May 2nd and thought I'd be further along with her. But then again, I was also working on other pieces (like Doorway) and didn't stitch the whole time. I've been able to work on her some of the time at my temp job. It had originally been a full time job, but they realized it was about 4 hours or so, and some of the time, I have to wait. At least this way, I can keep busy. Snow is going to look amazing once I actually get her done. Why am I stitching her? For the HAED rewards program of course! This is what she will look like:



Here's the last picture I took, I've gotten further on her though:



I decided I would select the Flower Fairy SK for SK Strength. And for QS Snowflake, I was going to originally maybe pick QS Paddy's Luck or something like that. But then I realized she really kind of goes with QS Bubbles. So that's waht I'm going to pick for her. And I realized I might just have enough time (since the reward program is June 30 - August 31) to maybe get SK Logan done. Plus I want to make him for Mom, since she loves ladybugs.

There is a ton of Krenik #4 braid on that one! lol It's a good thing I love Krenik! I had started him and decided to concentrate on Snow. Which wouldn't be bad, except ooops . . . one of my felt tip pens accidentally went in my TBBT bag with no cap on and bled through the bag . . . and the bottom margin of Logan. I washed and washed and washed and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and washed and rinsed again the darn thing. It's a lighter raspberry now. I will have to frog the bottom bit of the krenik as it's now sort of a pink color and oh well there will just be a bit on the bottom that will be pinkish. It will make it an original. I have a picture of him, but it's mostly white/sparkly krenik on white aida but with a patch of yellow, so not much to see yet.

Oooookay . . . I want to finish the two arms of the little girl bear I started early yesterday morning and then maybe try to get some done on Snow. And remember to go on the other computer and post pics. And stitch some more.

Ok it's been a while

I know, it's been a while since I last blogged. I've been busy and kept forgetting. Ooops.

Ok, let's see . . .

I finished Courage! I finished that on December 31, 2011 - with about an hour and a half left to go in 2011. lol only I will go to a New Years party and take my stitching. I can still be social.




I then started Strength when I got home. There are like twice the colors and about 50 times the confetti. lol This is page 1:

And this is page 2:



But I'm now on the last page and am hoping to get it done soon - like by Saturday! lol That's when the 62% sale at AC Moore for custom framing ends. Julia and I had gone a couple of weeks ago while it was still 61% off then and had them put together the mat/frame combos we liked. They printed up a paper she can take back in when she goes to put them in. They are gonna looke totally awesome when they're framed.
I'll post pics either later by editing the post or when I get on firefox if it doesn't post on IE.

I did start SK Forbidden Doorway, but haven't gotten very far. For several reasons. 1) I restarted it like 2 rows (I gridded) lower than the original start. 2) I have been working on other things. My original start was in the upper left corner, but I didn't like how far up I was - little room at the top with much more at the bottom. (She's being stitched on 22-count Hardanger, so far so good.) When I restarted her, I decided to do all the krenik #4 braid, which is on her skin. I worked on her for a few days after the 1st page of Strength was done, then again after the 2nd page was done. Then I got distracted on day 2 of my "2 or 3 days working on Doorway". Here she is, though it's not a gret picture:



What distracted me? My nephew, Logan, decided to a) join their church and then b) was getting baptized (which has happened). So I had decided I wanted to make him a bookmark for his bible. (btw - I say "my nephew" but that's because Julia told her kids to call me "Aunt Sarah" which I love) Sooo . . . I was going to stitch some angels, but then kept looking through my stash. I found a lovely, mostly backstitched bookmark. It had a church/house and says "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" and the verse. It took me like 6 or 7 hours total to stitch. I decided to stitch it on 14-count green aida and change the colors.



Then . . . I got further distracted by the pattern on the page accross from that one - a filagree/vining border around part of Ecclesiates 3:1. I realized the rest of the piece of green 14-count aida would work. Then I decided I would do the backstitched words in gold #4 braid, the roses in some of that rayon/satin dmc floss, backstitching those in a slightly darker color, and the filigree/leaves/vines in silver #4 braid. I still need to finish the bottom and to pick out a much darker color for backstitching, but I'm over halfway done. I just put that one down so that I could go back to Strength. Plus, I will need more silver braid - it was a brand new spool and I'm 2/3 done with it. lol

Ok . . . so off to grab a gerbil and work on Strength!

So

I thought I had fulfilled the requirements . . . not quite . . . oh and Doorway is bigger than I thought it was at first. Ooops 18" won't work for that.

Well

This was disappointing. The eBay seller claims she didn't know she didn't have the size 20 platinum lugana, that it was size 25. Huh? Like, um, shouldn't you know what you're selling on eBay? So now I have to find another piece of 20-ct lugana in something that will work well - or at least ok - with the colors for Strength. I have no idea what I'll be using now for Doorway and I so need that for January! I'm not even going to worry now about the 3rd piece, I'm not even sure what I was going to stitch anyway. But those 2 pieces need fabric! I'm not so tied to 20-ct for Doorway, but I definitely neeeeeeeed it for Strength, since that's what Courage is stitched on.

Speaking of Courage, I did make some nice forrays into the unstitched bits. I went around the dragon with the ( color, which was kind of neat to see how big it will be. I'm kind of looking forward to the 817's which are in the middle bits that show the dragon curving over. I can see the end of the middle page in sight!

oooh a 15% off the total on everything coupon at AC Moore (Sunday 4 - 10 pm)! I never usually get to use those because it's always during the game times and we're not gaming until after the new year. Actually, I think it's the day after page 1 of Doorway is sent out.

Edit: I wrote this a couple of days ago, but stupid internet explorer doesn't "publish post" and I kept forgetting to get on Firefox.

Progress on Courage and Tannith

Ok so I have been working on QS Lotus Wood aka Tannith as well as SK Oriental Courage. It's a bit hard to get a picture of Courage because it is black/red. I decided to try to fill in the background green bits on the first row of pages. So here are the latest pics:
Tannith:

Courage:

It's been a while, I know.

Ok so it's been a while since I last updated my blog. I had really meant to keep up with it more. I have gotten more done on the Courage SK. And my friend Julia wants it and the Strength one which goes with it when I'm done. As she says, she needs both courage and strength (while she's going thru this difficult time). I found a piece of platinum 20-ct lugana I can use for that, the Forbidden Doorway SK, and will maybe be able to get another SK out of it! Sweeeeeet! Maybe Logan? That might be a bit tight width wise, but if I don't do a 3" border for the height of the other 2, I might could squeeze him into the excess . . . waiiiiit . . . what about QS Queen of Swords Owl? I'm guessing it'd be 10 by 3.15 . . . that might just fit . . . oh well, I don't know. Oh back to Courage, sorry, I have gotten a bit further, but not enough to take a pic. I think I'll wait until I get the middle page done. I so want to get Courage done by the reward program on HAED.

I got some more done on Night Shade II, but I sort of lost steam on her. But here is the latest on her.


I had joined the HAED Bulletin Board several years ago, maybe 2008 or 2009? I had heard they did SALs on there, but I never seemed to know about them until too late to join. And I would have loved to be in the 2011 one - they did Ice Wind 1 as a SK. I have a particular fondness for that one, as she is who I picked for Corsira, Tannith & Corsaire's daughter. Ah well, I've got the actual picture. So . . . this year, I actually, finally heard when they were taking signups! Yay!
Basically, I have to post 4 pics (not the same pic) of my work on the SK (or if I'd picked a QS, 6) on the bulletin board sometime during the year and I'll get the other 5 charts for free. Aaand if I finish it, I'll be in a drawing for a free chart. Yes, please? I decided to not do any of the QSs, tho if I were to have picked one of those, I'd have picked Lovers.

The most popular of all the SAL charts is this SK - Blue Moon:


Here is the one I picked to participate in! It's called Forbidden Doorway and has the fewest participants stitching this one:


The floss lists were sent out, last week, I think. And people are picking their fabric and getting ready. I'll be using part of that nifty platinum 20-ct lugana I found. I think once I get it, I'll grid it up and get my flosses all ready to go. We won't get the first page (there are 3 dates they're being released - there's 4 pages but not much on pg 4) until January 6th, but I can get as much ready as possible ahead of time.

I thought Yarn Explosion was going to be ordering me some 20-count black lugana. Evidently, I was wrong. I never got a phone call either telling me that. I called and left them a message last night and they finally called me back today. :( You'd think they'd want to help their customers. Evidently not. I can get my sparkly threads and beads and such elsewhere online, I just liked supporting a local business. I think I might go make friends with that place in Lynchburg I heard about, called Backstitches.

I finally got pics of the pieces I made for my dad over the years. He told me "you're the only one who gives me cross stitch".
I made this for when he got married (which didn't last). He was asking if I'd mind it if he had it re-framed. He said he wouldn't bother if he didn't like the picture. I told him if he wanted to, sure. The background boxes are all blackwork - and yes, they do look almost identical to the front. I want to restitch it on black with grey floss and silver thread, so this is a day scene and that will be a night scene. lol I've been saying that for years!



There is a nice thing on the HAED website called the Birthday Club. Basically, you pay $10 and then on the person's birthday, they pick a chart and get it on their birthday. I asked Michelle from HAED - who btw, sent me a fb friend request [squeal!] - and she said yup more than 1 person could do this. So these are the ones I definitely want for my birthday:
Fright Night:


and Judith:

I love Fright Night, it's the only Halloween piece I've found that's not cutesy or nasty/gory. It sort of reminds me of the Addams Family, yet whimsical at the same time. I know I'll eventually get it, even if I don't get it for my birthday, and it'll be my annual piece to go up in October.
Judith was just released last week. And yes, that is a head in the corner. Yes, I know it has nudity, but its biblical nudity, so it's ok. Evidently there is much confetti, but she will be worth it. It's based on Judith from the bible.
This is what wiki says:
The Book of Judith has a tragic setting that appealed to Jewish patriots and it warned of the urgency of adhering to Mosaic law, generally speaking, but what accounted for its enduring appeal was the drama of its narrative. The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved. Though she is courted by many, she remains unmarried for the rest of her life.

I do think I'll use the Mystic Stitch pattern I got called Belladonna as what my Star Wars character will look like. I like her enough she'll also be my fighter/warlord Bella (Bellasaria) and my paladin, Gwennie (Brangwen).

It's been a while

Ok so it's been a while since I did any updates to my blog.

I haven't been able to work on the Courage SK as much as I thought I would. I sort of thought I'd be further along or even done. I'm about a third of the way through the middle page. I did take it to the Sunday games the past few weeks, but didn't do much on it there. Well some is better than none.


I wasn't going to start this one any time soon, but one of the ladies on facebook was talking about the fabric she'd bought to stitch hers on not getting there. She later picked out some other fabric and we decided to do a SAL. That's a Stitch-A-Long. They're fun because you can encourage each other. She did get her replacement fabric - it's nice, a blue/purple color with some nice white streaks that look like lightening.
Here's Night Shade II again for reference:


I started it 11/1/11 and this is how far I've gotten so far! I am definitely looking forward to having her done.