Country Life

Today is another day in the country, I'm still at my Dad's. He's off working today and I am left to my own devices. I have some fantastic photos I want to share but on a dialup connection it would prove too challenging. For some reason, Blogger isn't properly coding the ones I do share and they aren't opening full size (I will fix them once I'm back on highspeed). Here are 2 of my favourites, just to keep you occupied. Tomorrow, a piece of a purple monkey and maybe a finished orange monkey. Until then...

Heron At Waters Edge

Sunrise On The Ottawa River

1/3 Retreat Finish

I stitched longer than I usually would to finish my blue monkey, he's the "I Hear Nothing" one... moving on to the purple one. See you soon...

I See A Blue Monkey

Good morning! Check out the picture, see anything new? I am loving this Q-snap stuff. Why didn't anyone TELL ME how wonderful they are?! The hoop I picked up a few days ago left a dirty circle mark where I was holding it, there is a downside to stitching in a dirty environment. I washed my hands before picking it up but... dirt is everwhere out here. Oh well, I'll find a way to get it clean but if you have suggestions for washing a non-colourfast project, let me know? I have made progress on my 'What Happens At Retreat', perhaps not as far along as I would have liked but it's progress nonetheless. I am planning on spending today in bed, stitching. Keep your eyes peeled for more monkeys... and have a very nice day.

Happy Dancing

For those of you that don't stitch, upon completion of a project stitchers do a 'happy dance' much like the lottery happy dance you see on the TV commercials. Here's my finished Ottawa Sampler (with changes, as usual!). I am not sure I am 100% thrilled with the 'Ottawa' line, it sure looks like something is missing on either side. The designer went to considerable lengths to balance the piece from side to side and I feel bad that I've changed it so I was wondering... do you think it would look better if I used backstitching to connect the vines from the pumpkins to the branches of the flowers? Or what about the upper portion of the RCMP officer? One on each side? I didn't want to take him out in the first place!

Since uploading photos via a dialup connection is TORTURE, I will add more once I'm back in the city. Until then, have a wonderful day.

(One more note: I wanted to mention to Dani that I appreciate your comments, I only just got them today because for some reason Gmail did not deliver them to my Outlook inbox... so, thanks Dani! I will let you know about joining your CDC/Paradigm Lost SAL when (if) it arrives at the store and I see if I can afford another new start! Glad to see you here...)

The View From Here

Yesterday I hinted at the view I am being treated to while being at my Dad's (long story), so even though the upload time on dial-up is probably going to make my hair turn gray I cannot deny you the opportunity to see it for yourself. I could also post a pic of my almost done Ottawa Sampler but you can just wait and enjoy this instead. Until tomorrow, have a lovely day!

New Start

In more ways than one today is a new start for me but I won't bore you with those details. Instead I thought it might be fun to mark the day with a new project start and a picture or two.

Here's my Ottawa Sampler by Jeannette Douglas. Almost finished. Yes, it probably looks different from others you've seen. As usual I have to make little changes, I am odd that way. This particular piece was supposed to say 'Canada's Capital' underneath the word Ottawa but it wasn't centered the way I like things. Also, just to the left of those words is supposed to be a horse, representing the RCMP musical ride horses, but again I found this to be wrong for me. All the musical ride horses are pure black and the little pony in the original was brown and would have looked off it I had changed it to black. Lastly, to the right of the now absent words was an RCMP officer, which I didn't really want to take out since my step-grandfather was in the RCMP but again, it would have thrown the piece off balance. Spaz suggested the modifications and I agreed they would work well so... I am quite happy with them. (edited to add: there are seed beads missing still and beside the word 'Ottawa' is a small maple leaf button. Hopefully I've centered the word properly, we'll see)

I recently attended my LNS's retreat, and I had enough fun I could have blogged about it in 3 or 4 posts but I just haven't made the time. I'll take a second to mention my new friend Dani, whose blog link is in the right hand column of the page. Black Belt Stitching Wizard indeed! Check out her blog, she's quite an artist! My work pales in comparison but maybe she'll teach me a few things? Anyways, I brought up retreat because while we are there we are lavished in many ways (FOOD!) but this time we received a special gift, a kit and pattern designed by the LNS manager herself and I just adore it. I have decided to go ahead and make it, but instead of framing it when I am done I am going to make it into a panel on a stitching bag. I need a bag big enough to hold the Flower Power project, those scroll bars are just too big for any of my other bags and I carry that project around in a pillowcase when I travel. Seeing as how I have so many more BAP to do when Flower Power is done, I know I'll get years of use out of that bag!
Here's a picture of the finished one followed by my small start. I bet I get it done this week, so stay tuned and I'll post lots of pics!

Have a super day, you wish you had the view I've got right now! I am on dial-up so this afternoon I am taking a walk in the woods and will post pictures if I can...

WIP Challenges... and some new stash on the way!

This has been without any doubts my best year for 'finishes' and I think I've figured out why. As far as I know, I have roughly 20 projects on the go at any given time and while some are deemed completely as UFO's, other become the focus for months at a time and I usually have 2 or 3 nearly done at any given time. So, bearing in mind that the more I have on the go, the more I finish I have decided on 2 new starts, I just need to get them kitted up and going. I am also considering swapping scroll bars to Qsnaps, if you have an opinion or a cheap source for Qsnaps, drop me a line: missbehavin036atgmaildotcom remove the at and the dot. Here are the 2 new starts I've picked, I might just be insane:

Cirque des Cercles by Ink Circles stitched

Cirque des Cercles by Ink Circles beaded

Yes, you read correctly. I said BEADED that on second pic. With a 247 x 185 stitch count, apparently it comes in just shy of 20,000 stitches. That's 20,000 beads. Done with Delicas. I haven't priced them yet, so we'll see how it gets made. Either way, the pattern WILL be added to my stash, it's been ordered.

Dragonfly Happiness by Leisure Arts

It is sitting in a folder at my LNS waiting for me and I feel I must explain my choice for this one. Inside this leaflet are 3 different patterns, 2 of which I recently saw finished and framed. As usual, it's hard to appreciate a pattern but once you've seen it stitched... well, you'll just have to wait and see for yourselves. I'm thinking of doing them on black, and tiny. A nice trio for my entranceway.

I have a fondness for BAP (Big Ass Projects) don't you think? Here are some photos pf projects I have always wanted to do but just couldn't bring myself to...

Nova by Genny Morrow

The Princess And The Pea by Marion Scoular

Autumn Winds by Heaven And Earth Designs (own it!)

Erus by Heaven And Earth Designs (own it!)

I am very ambitious but I don't think in a lifetime I could stitch all this stuff. There's more I could show you, OH GOD is there ever but I have to run. Have a great day and if you are stitching something fun drop me a note about it!