Looking into the next decade

Boy.... pick up a hobby 5 years ago and it is a downward spiral (when it comes to managing projects, sleep time and stash) but what fun. I'd never have made friends with some of the best people in the world if it wasn't for cross stitch. I think you all know who you are, from all parts of the world!

Anyway, I have been remiss in posting updates but I have two new ones to show. Apologies for the long-ish absence in Blogspot but there's just been a lot of personal stuff I had to deal with. For one, my dear dad had to undergo major surgery, which was stressful for everybody involved. He is now recovering and is back to his old jovial self, for which I am so thankful.

Anyway, on to WIPs. For some reason, while I am not the religious type, I have been working on religious cross stitch! Here is a stitch I am doing for Joyce. It was meant to be a secret but we are like sisters and we can't keep anything from one another (must be a Malaysian-living-in-the-US thing... or maybe we're just so close)... So she outed herself on a secret project for me, and what do I do... I do exactly the same.

Now that it is no secret, this is for her. I do this 1 strand a day minimum, so it is a slow and steady progress. My Big Toe's The Name of God:



And my first Mirabilia. OMG why did I wait so long to stitch Mirabilia... they are super easy and fun. Madonna of the Garden. Dunno who is gonna get this one... I might just keep it for myself. This is the bottom left corner.




Now, I have a few projects lined up for 2010 (about 12 to 15, honestly... this is so screwed...) but to help to herald in the new year, I have been given encouragement to start Turandot, for my dad. He's had a rough enough year that I want to stitch this for him. It's going to be a HUGE undertaking, and I don't have all my floss yet but Hobby Lobby is opening in January and I will make a trip out there. (or since they also go online, I might just order online when tax season hits).

This is what it will look like (below, lah!) the artwork is by Kinuko Y Craft. Why Turandot? Well... my father loves music... and what better way to remind him of me than to put a difficult, crazy, unpredictable (but hopefully unforgettable) Chinese princess on his wall?




I hope I can finish it quick (or at least, reasonably promptly). God knows I can't afford the real thing. The original painting, done oil on canvas, sold for US$60,000.