CraftyPretender Projects

Stuff up to now!

2011-01-12T14:47:00.006+08:00

As you can see, I really have been stitching but I have greatly pared down the scope of projects. Thanks to someone who has successfully cured me of serial starter madness (I type this as I hear imaginary groans from all around the world), and I now rotate 3 projects, instead of 23.

For a while, I Was one-at-a-timing by stitching Celtic Banner, by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum... for the second time. My first Celtic Banner was gifted to a friend (who, alas perhaps, left it at his former flame's house). I've always loved the length, and the beautiful blending threads, as well as the subtle complexity of colour shades in this very very unique band sampler, but let me tell you, finding the linen (Glenshee....which is skinny and long) is a bitch. I phoned Drema at Needlecraft corner, and was told, no, it couldn't be found, and ditto some other shops.

At some point, I was considering switching some threads and stitching it over 1, on a long piece of evenweave but my pal Brenda contacted me one day and said "I have it as a WIP and I don't think I'll finish it, so do you want it?" And you can guess I jumped on it quicker than you can say "Happy Dance"... I have to say, the colour was lighter than the first one's fabric, and it actually made the colours pop a little more. Every moment spent on this sampler was an absolute joy. I wouldn't do it for the third time, but really, realising the second version really made it feel like it came full circle for me.

And the bonus: DH loves it!!! Thank you again, Bren!

Here's the sampler in its entirety:

As for the WIPS, I'm currently on a rotation for 3 pieces, like I said. Keeps the starting madness well at bay, and there's some actual visual progress at the end of each stitchy session:

Mette Puttfarcken, on Pg 3, now looks like this:

And DMC's Peacock, it is a nine pager, and I got lazy about fabric, so I decided to put it on 16ct aida. Besides, I tend to keep linen aside for samplers, or for Mirabilias, etc. So this is Pg 1 in the beginning.

And a new start, to commemorate the new year (like I said, 2010 in the second half was rife with issues and problems from unexpected parties, and stitching and blogging depleted to nothing), this is Metal, an art reproduction piece by Maria J William. I'm stitching this in tandem with my sisters... by which I don't mean biological (I dont have any...thank god), but my sisters in spirit, Joyce and Novia. (Incidentally, they, too, have no biological sisters, so it is perhaps fateful that we met and we just connected). Joyce is doing Fire... isnt she so sexy! And Novia is doing the beautifully demure Earth!

Metal has been assigned to me, because she looks like she could kick ass, go to a KISS concert. Oh, and because, according to Nov, because she has got the biggest boobs... (not much to see at this point... it's just a white blob)

Can you tell the girls push me around!

As an ending note, I just wanted to say, that I am so thankful for my stitching friends. They're as always, a source of support, comfort, joy and sharing... and I'm happy to call these people not just friends, but real family!

New year and resolutions

2011-01-04T15:01:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since I've been back, haven't I?

Almost a year, and so many changes have been done in life in under a year. The past six months were quite frankly, an eye-opener and not one that I care to repeat.

One long long geographical move, not including the cultural acclimatisation. Seeing all good intentions crumble to dust, big sacrifices completely trivialised, by the people you made the sacrifice for.

Relearning the meaning of friendships and blood ties...some good, some bad. And now, moving on along.

I've been stitching, but not a lot. In the midst of all the chaos and emotional crud, I also lost all desire to blog here (mainly because of the meagre stitching progress), but since its a new year and my stitching sisters, Joyce and Novia and of course, Soozie (aka Flossitute on some BBs) have been so supportive of EVERYTHING, hey, doing those tiny little X'es are just a reminder to keep sanity intact, and when all else goes to pot, make a new start.

Pictures will come in the next post!!! Happy 2011, everyone!

Managing the dreck and dross

2010-02-22T11:02:00.008+08:00

I've realise that I've been letting the pictures tell the story (and why not, right?) Lots going on in real life, of course.... shop's busy, work is non stop, family is up and down, pets are busy (and have recently multiplied... oops)...

And then we came to the whole point about project managing (cross stitch project, la). My WIPS were whittled down last year thanks to a spectular year spent on finishing. Not the most exciting (ok, I DID do a few new starts but I also finished a bunch of stuff)... but when I decided to throw caution to the winds for 2010 stitching, it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks... I have too many WIPs which pull me seven different ways from Sunday... and when I prioritise them, there's always something that says "Work on me" or "Start me". (starting obviously is more fun).

So in 2009, the grand plan was 1 main WIP, 1 sorta kinda WIP in focus, and it worked out great.
In Jan 2010, it was "Stitch what ever I damn well please"
By early Feb I had begun to see teh signs of projects about to burgeon out of control. So obviously, a rethink is needed. Boooo, hiss.... I know, I know

In the immediate future, I want to
continue working on Turandot.... I LOVE the art, and I Want my dad to love it too.
finish Name of God
finish Madonna.
finish White Lightning (joyce will be so proud to see so many F-bombs)
restart Celtic Banner, Bagatelle
start Hanky Pysanky
finish (maybe? haha) Auspicious Argosy. Should be quick and painless... PINN charts are huge and I am stitching this on grey aida
start DT Sanctuary (hahahahhaha!)
start Grand Marquoir 2009 (JL Grandsire)
start St Reatham, St Georges, Rosemarkie, all in HDF
finish Celle 1824
Find something to do for Novia's new one, and something for my Dutch nephew, P
continue stitching on Metta Puttfarcken 1811, Paradigm Lost (and obviously, stated starts)
Also considering stitching Bois le Duc. Have to work on my Longdogs...
maybe take up Spanish Rouge (or Spanish Poiple) that I inherited from Joyce
hrm, what else. Oh yes. Pelin Tezer's Sailors need to be done
Start a Mirabilia queen

As you can see... already out of control for Feb. Better whittle down the WIPS soon or DH is going to make noise and he has been indulgent so far (Even rush drove me to the LNS to buy my 28 x 35 inch 22 ct Oslo for Metta Puttfarcken). doesn't complain when I order HDF (Even if I use a small amount) Except when he sits on my Piecemakers. Then he gets very hissy fitty. I can't help it if Piecemakers are sharper...

Oh ya! I have finaly decided what to do with Madonna. I was RAKed that chart and the DMC and I lOVE stitching Mirabilias now (what took me so freaking long to discover that, as Sooz says). Well, I'm not Christian and neither is DH, so I'm likely going to gift it to a good friend. Think I'll gift it to Karen, who is a wonderful girl and a supportive, constant friend and has always been there. I owe her more than she thinks... the support and the listening ear when I had issues, and even what she taught me in my rookie year as a reporter... more grit and courage and integrity I learnt in 2 weeks with her than a lot of young journalists these days compile in five years. well, I have all the beads and filament, so here is hoping when it finally gets put in her hands, she will like it.

And here's some pics of WIPs, hehe:

Madonna of the Garden now: (thank god the fruit are all done)

Can you see the skirt better now?

And my new start... the gigantic reproduction sampler, straight from Sabine Tarterra-Gundacker, called Metta Puttfarcken. Done on HDF duochrome. Bought two hanks for it, hehe. This is a tiny dot in place of wehat is to come. and the floss toss:

I have a floss toss for Paradigm lost too (of course I can't do it in only one color... duhhhh) but I will save that for another time.

Updates, updates!

2010-02-11T04:13:00.007+08:00

Lots to do, and not enough done! So let's just get on with it, shall we?

This is a new start. One of many planned for this year.... (it's going to be another wild ride)

TURANDOT , HAED... going far too slow!!!! But I am trying hard. My father doesn't een know of this project.

and the Name of God is now like this:

This is MAdonna of the Garden now:

I was also bad... I bought a German Vierlande sampler (Mette Puttfarcken 1811), and soon I will also do Frau Puttfarcken's daughter (one day, one day....)

A new start for my dad!

2010-01-06T05:53:00.004+08:00

Ladies and gentleman, may I present this blob which is officially the start to Kinuko Y. Craft's Turandot. Dad is going to love it when it is done ... hopefully it won't take too long.... the chart is only 42 pages... yicks!

I am also stitching their 38th anniversary sampler, which will go into active rotation once the Name of God is finished. THe Name of God has officially past its 50% mark.

And the Madonna of the Garden is now like this:

Looking into the next decade

2009-12-24T08:35:00.002+08:00

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.

My Brenda is done!

2009-12-02T05:15:00.005+08:00

Here she is, a happy dance! Designer is Indigo Rose. Special thanks to my pal Magi who introduced me to this amazing sampler designer!

And here are some more progress pix...

St Sylvestre. I am stitching this, Rosemarkie and St Georges and I'll be presenting them to my brothers (2 of them). Then we'll each pick the one we want the most... so it symbolises us being part of the same family but all so very different. I have a sneaking suspicion that Bro no 1 is eyeing St Syl

I have also started my parents' wedding anniversary sampler, which I want to give to them in time for their 38th next year. I think it is in April. I think. Err.

Oh, and have I shown the latest pic of Peregrination yet? I am not sure but here it is anyway. Nine Lives (picture over it) is my half of the sampler, Peregrination is R's.

The 10 day road to ruin

2009-11-15T02:05:00.003+08:00

It starts with two people talking. I can't say that any good sense or brains may have been involved. And it always starts with one of my closest stitching cohorts. Joyce is the culprit, of course.

After unsuccessfully trying to get her to start her Chatelaine Japanese Garden... my god, the woman already owns chart and kit and fabric is no issue, ... and she is waiting on Jan 1 before dipping her hands into those silks and beads???

She is now concentrating on stitching Mirabilia's Circle of Friends in 10 days. That is, start, finish, bead, Kreinik, everything. Then I made the mistake of suggesting that I stitch alongside her for something.... couldn't decide so that woman named Peregrination.

At first (in our excitement induced stupor) we thought we could do it... well, after 4 days, we are seriously rethinking it...there is less time than we thought and I think our efforts may be valiant, but... I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

The before pic is below. THis is the pic as of yesterday afternoon:

Finished fans, a new start on green and more

2009-11-03T01:35:00.004+08:00

Well, I was meaning to update and blog sometime last week -- but work and an active schedule and a workout routine somehow takes the wind out of my sails and then the next thing you know, you defer blogging until a full seven days has passed... but I guess better late than never, right?

Here she is, finally finished. I might send it off to my mother before the year's end... maybe she can frame and hang it for Chinese new year? (but I am willing to bet the unframed stuff I have already given her is still.... unframed....)

It is a bit sad that my mom doesn't really understand the immense therapeutic value of stitching because I think she could get into it. But she prefers to sew curtains, etc, so I guess it is ok. My mother isn't very crafty... she prefers TV or books. My grandma is amazing... she could sew, embroider, crochet and she's handed me many a useful tip even after her needlework days are over. (And my god, can she cook)

Anyway, here is Joan Elliott's Fans of the Far East. 4 years a WIP, teehee. but a WIP no more.

And then after all these finishing, I was just itching for a new start. So, I begun a project ... St Sylvestre, Rosemarkie and St Georges are going to be stitched. Then I'll present them to my brothers, and we'll each have one of them. This is kind of to show we are so different, yet so much alike, hehe. (btw, they are all designed by Longdog Samplers)

This is St Sylvestre, just a small start:

And Indigo Rose's My Michelle. I renamed it My Brenda. Brenda is one of my best friends.

The East part is done

2009-10-15T00:35:00.006+08:00

I guess I have not posted here for a few weeks, though the stitching mojo waned ever just so slightly... the blogging mojo has been down even worse, and while I used to access blogs constantly about 2-3 years ago, these days there seems to be little enough time.

Anyway, Ink Circles stitching is going strong.... Nine Lives is now done. It is the East part of my East and West sampler (both of them in different styles but by the same designer, going on the same piece of fabbie).

Here is the West part, as a start: PEregrination

And the finished East Part. Ink Circles' Nine Lives.

And a badly lit pair of WIPs, from Joan Elliott.... Fans of the Far East.

Here is the middle fan, all backstitched:

And the last fan, not backstitched. You can definitely see the difference!!!

I need to go strong to finish as many WIPs (the ones about to end, etc) in order to end 2009, so it's really time to be determined and focused. Wish me luck!

Garden Stars

2009-09-24T07:53:00.004+08:00

ALL DONE! NUFF SAID!

Here's some scrap blanket knitting that I am also doing. IT's just one row a night, normally while watching a bit of TV... hopefully I can knock this one out before it gets too cold.

So... what WIP would we like to work on next? A tiger? Hmm.

The Ink Circles WIPs

2009-09-16T05:01:00.004+08:00

Goodness.... because Tracy Horner makes such wonderful, stitchable and addictive designs -- I kid you not... every single chart of hers is such a joy to look at and stitch, is it any wonder that I have a bunch of Ink Circles charts and some of tem are already wips.

Of course, the most "constant" project has been Garden Stars. (I also have a Cirque, and a couple others that don't warrant much pictures yet).

Well, I am so pleased to show the growth of Garden Stars and how it is creeping towards its completion. Maybe a week or two weeks to a HD? I hope? Err.

And during a stitchathon held at the Crafty Coven (organised by the one and only Joyce!), I put a few stitches into Nine Lives too. So now it resembles this:

I also had a couple of smaller finishes including non stitching that I have forgotten to post or photograph, so... apologies for that. Some of those are sent off as gifts already, hehe.

2009 has been a big year for finishing, so I'm just going to try to push through with as many as I can. There's another 3 more months or so to go before 2010. After this/these, I still have a couple of non sampler pieces that need a little work. One of them is for my mother.... a 2 year old wIP... oops...

And finally, a decent pic

2009-09-03T06:31:00.002+08:00

Now I have been taking photos of this in natural light and it's always turned out looking sort of muggy (see past posts' photos).

This time around, I put it under fluorescent light at the tattoo shop... and voila. Everything true to colour. And hasn't this green thing grown!

I've been knitting here and there, but not branching out into lace quite yet. And just trying to work on finishing some WIPs for the rest of the year. This has been such a stellar year for finishes.

Two pics but no words

2009-08-21T11:58:00.003+08:00

I have been soo soo busy working and making new things in the kitchen ... so I'm just going to show what I've been up to, and I hope to type a bit more in the next post. So sorry to be so taciturn *giggling* but I've been very naughty with starting new projects so that's starting to go out of control and need to take care of that!

Nearing the 50% mark

2009-08-05T11:12:00.005+08:00

Thought I'd show a couple of WIPs. Life has been busy busy busy but I have nothing to complain about. We're spending a lot of summer weekends outdoors picnicking at the lake and launching an inflatable catamaran into the water and having a real blast!

So I'm working on getting wet, not more WIPs!

Garden Stars is almost reaching its 50% mark, for which I am very very glad!

Also, Joyce organised a weekend stitchathon last weekend, though I started it late. (Had to work very late on Saturday), so I took about a quarter of Sunday to make a new start. My Michelle (renamed My Brenda) by Indigo Rose.. it's a long and skinny WIP, this. Done on HDF fibers... some D-bag fibers and with Tugtupite and BeGilted. Stitched up, I am in love with how pretty BeGilted is. It's definitely something to mess about on with dark fabric.

I have to say, HDF is a real addiction though I keep it strictly under control. The best part is: the other half doesn't mind in the least and he happily drives me out to the LNS for us to pick fabric for projects. phew!

Oops... more WIPs

2009-07-17T05:16:00.004+08:00

How could I have possibly forgotten to blog for over a month? Unacceptable!

I blame the heat. THat godawful sweltering GA heat that just makes me wanna sit in a tub of ice water and ... lay there. Ok, maybe with a cold beer in hand.

The stitching has slowed down considerably, and though i've had a couple of finishes, I haven't posted them. Garden Stars inches like the snail in my backyard (that is, before it gets killed and eaten -- yuck -- by my puppy)

And also on an Ink Circles theme, my Oriental interpretation of Nine Lives, done in my colors. The original has black, red and grey, but ummmm I no like grey too much.

Next in the sights

2009-06-17T04:59:00.005+08:00

More and more WIPS to take care of. At least the box of unfinished pieces is slowly getting thinned out... even as new starts are planned.

After the finish of Red Velvet, I have found that my mojo has slightly dampened, but it could also be the nonstop activity at the shop. The work does suck a lot of energy out of me, especially over the weekends when soldiers pretty much crowd the shop and want me to work on them. So by the time Saturday night is here and my weekend starts, I am so baked that all I can do, and want to do, is to sit in the living room and stare at the TV.

Also, the thought of resurrecting Bagatelle has been on my mind (pics to follow if I pull out the fabric again). But for the time being, here are the next on the list to get done:

Dimensions kit: White Lightning, gifted by Sooz.

Ink Circles' Garden Stars (about 30% finished)

Also, I've been thinking of taking a break from linens and evenweaves and am pondering hunting for an aida project to start. I'm really not a linen snob, (as is evident), and there are times when I love aida for its total ease of use. Currently, what's done in aida as wips are PINN pieces: 8 Immortals, Romantic Mandarin Ducks and Auspicious Argosy... as well Sailor Bear which is a Dimensions chart. Oooh, and Oriental Fans, which is a Joan Elliott design.

In fact, I'm thinking of doing the three Joan Elliott geishas. Novia, Joyce, Bren and I have talked about doing a SAL for the trio, and we already all have the book. Joyce is ahead, as she has done Wisdom, but we're all wanting to have the trio of lovely Japanese ladies all stitched up and framed together (for me, at least). But that's a new start that I want to contemplate a bit later this year. On aida.

Happy dancing the third time!

2009-06-13T07:33:00.003+08:00

I've a friend who calls me a WIPSlayer. Maybe for this year, I can try to aspire to the title. Here's finish no 3: Blue Ribbon Designs' Red Velvet Inscription Sampler.
Stitched on Edinburgh linen 35ct, in white, using Anchor threads. Phew!

I am almost done with White Lightning too... and maybe about 30% more to go on my old Oriental fans. Once all these are out of the way, I will feel a lot less guilt about some new starts (that I already have the fabric for...)

Happy Dance no 2 for 2009

2009-06-03T06:16:00.004+08:00

Wooohooo!!! It is done!!!
The last two pages were stitched in a week, which is a minor record for me. FIL gets his birthday present early this year, I think!

Someone asked me what colours were used for this one, which is My Big Toe's The Lord Is My Shepherd. I used a variety of colours from her detritus bags, and
Quiet Green
Yonder Blue
Sue Purple
Konini
Okika
Victorian Mauve
and Blue Biolets
All the fibers were from Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Fibers.

I am so happy this is done... the last page was done in a rush with thankfully no frogging. I stitched this alongside Joyce, who finished a day before I did. Joyce did hers in duochrome, which is both classic, dignified and oh so stunning!

My idea for this piece was actually based on the colours of a garden. I wanted each verse to visually resonate (if there is such a thing) in the mind as you read it, so I made sure the colours all complemented yet contrasted each other when put together.

Taking the foot off the long skinny one on the right

2009-05-18T15:01:00.003+08:00

After the finish on Mary, Queen of Scots, I returned to MBT's The Lord Is My Shepherd. In this one, I discovered a few things... I don't mind stitching alphabets or words, but I'd much rather put more emphasis on motifs. This is a fast stitch but is seeming to lose a bit of steam, but that could also be partially due to a lot of work at the shop.

Oh yes, I did have a comment that sounded a bit like (haha) disbelief, so I'd like to clarify something way out there. DH and I co-own and run a small, boutique-style tattoo shop. (and yes, I can tattoo and I have a nice selection of clients). So I also work with needles... just not the type you want to thread floss through. Couldn't ask for a better gig... this is the most enjoyable job I have ever had, beating hands down even reporting.

Anyway, MBT's WIP as of early last week looks like this below. I haven't taken a new pic yet but there is precious little progress from last week.

I also have done a little bit on Red Velvet Inscription Sampler... just want to finish this sucker quick!

Mary reaches the end

2009-05-06T04:32:00.003+08:00

At last, she is done!!!!

Details: Mary, Queen of Scots by Papillon Creations. 27ct Meran fabric done with DMC 115 variegated red.

I photographed this on the floor of my tattoo shop. DH came in and stared at it. And he said... "This is very cool."

THen he said "Ummm when are you going to do the sampler for dad?"

So it's back to Ps23...

Just an update (no pix!)

2009-05-03T04:21:00.002+08:00

When the Online Needlework Show was under swing, Tracy Horner (that marvellous Ink Circles designer) had her "tell me something interesting or unusual" prize draw, which I really appreciate because Ink Circles designs always have so much intelligent whimsy behind them, and her engineer's eye creates such wonderful designs.

I had won something two years ago (I Still Do), but after abstaining last year, I decided to try my luck. So I told her about how her mandala designs taught me how to create symmetry in my own designs for tattoos... and what a great surprise, she emailed and asked me what chart I wanted!

It was tough, because I already had so many (a bunch still unstarted hehehe)... but in the end it was a toss-up between Dutch Beast and Anatolia. My friends Brenda and Joyce were consulted but they voted for each one, so I brought DH in as a tie-breaker.

He loves sailing and he saw the boat in Dutch Beast, so at that point, I knew
a) what to pick
b) who to stitch this for!

I also bought her new Nine Lives (because... you can never have enough Oriental charts...)

Now on to other interesting things.... I'm going to dig around and find fabric for Hanky Pysanky and for Thai Di's Siam Fusion. I have Carrie's rainbow threads for HP, but for Siam Fusion, I thought of breaking some rules and making some designs pop on HDF... but first, I need to talk DH into driving to the LNS with me and picking up some black fabric.

Di hasn't seen the Spanish Rouge that's a WIP in my pile yet... I don't dare to show her... because it's not Rouge.

And I'm also looking to kickstart some Anagram designs soon. ElenaZ on the Forum is amazing... she finishes so many so fast and I have a few of them in my collection that are screaming to be stitched, one of which is the Grand Marquoir 2009, as well as the quaker (that she finished with I think Ethereal Blue or something)... and that mother of all samplers... Sampler Renaissance. I was thinking of how to tackle Sampler Renaissance, either on 18ct or Vikki's linen, but that's a project for much later. Those are projects that I would start after finishing some focus projects:

Mary Queen of Scots
Red Velvet Inscription Sampler
MBT The Lord is my Shepherd
Oriental Fans (Joan Elliott)
Garden Stars
White Lightning (a Dimensions kit)
Sampler Espagnole

There, I've said it... now, it's time not to cave in to another new start, hahahaha!

I need to finish this while the mojo still works!

2009-04-23T02:54:00.004+08:00

This is the latest update to My Big Toe's The Lord Is My Shepherd. Notice, that I refused to use the recommended threads and ummmm... created my own colour scheme. So far, so good... I have slightly over 3 pages more to go.
And then, it'll be back to focusing on finishes, like Mary, Red Velvet, etc.

Mary, in the meantime, stil looks like this:

Queens and prayers

2009-04-01T09:34:00.004+08:00

Here's an update... a lackadaisicalone, of Mary, Queen of Scots. I was powering along on this one until my grandma in law passed away and DH and I thought it would be a nice gesture for my father in law to stitch a prayer sampler for him... so, of course, who needed to talk me into a new start, right?

As of last night, the piece for my FIL (My Big Toe, The Lord is my Shepherd) looked like this:

This stitches fast, which is both refresing and fun, considering it was another one of those multi page projects I seem to love to get involved with so much.

Speaking of multi projects, Yvonne Horn of Papillon Creations has a mystery SAL called Castles in the Air (pay 1 pound sterling to join, then you get to download all 24 parts free)... I decided to wait until there's a bit more WIPS on it before signing up. God knows, I have enough on my plate.

new start!! Psalm 23

2009-03-20T01:43:00.003+08:00

Had to post this WIP for Novia to view... Mary is still being worked on but this one has just taken high priority. DH wants me to finish it for my FIL... and I am still on Page 1!!!!

My Big Toe's The Lord Is My Shepherd.
THreads: Various HDF, incl hanks, d-bag floss, Acts of Violets, Konini, Okika and others. Also, 1 skein of Caron Waterlilies in Moss.
Fabric: 25ct lugana, light taupe (courtesy of Brenda!)

oh yes, also, started but put aside... Reflets de Soie's Sampler Espagnole.. still on Pt 1

Mary as of last week

2009-03-04T07:35:00.003+08:00

This is a bad picture, I know... but it shows how much more to go. As of yesterday, I'm done with Page 7... 2 more to go!

I also ordered some d-bags from HDF and got a few spools to boot (pix to come when it arrives, if I have time!) ... Vikki Clayton gives a marvellous bunch of colours within each, and those will go towards smalls or spot motifs. Not to mention the marvellous quality of her silks and her efficient, speedy service! I got many of the free charts from Tante Zolder (My Aunt's Attic) blog, and I was briefly playing with the idea of doing a bunch of the motifs for a spot sampler for the heck of it.

More Mary... and a floss toss

2009-02-04T08:55:00.005+08:00

Judy and I, on the Crafty Coven, cooked up (I never say "organise"... it's too darn formal) a Craft-A-Long for the week leading up to the SuperBowl. I'm glad the Steelers won because my pal Brenda is a diehard fan and she cooked all Pittsburgh favourites for her party down in Chicago. Plus, I'm just trying to suck up so she can send me some homemade pierogies... hehehehe

We had a nice bunch of friends participating. Here's what I've been up to.

Mary now has that flower thing, and I've done the fleur-de-lis on the France side and am working through that licorne. 3 1/2 pages more to go!!!! Will this never end!

Also, here's a floss toss for Reflets de Soie's Sampler Espagnole. The 25ct evenweave in Light Cognac, which is a sort of muted pumpkin, was courtesy of Ms Brenda. I was looking around in Jo-Anns, and decided to try out some of their new Satin floss (all you silk snobs... shush!) in mother of pearl, prussian blue, medium and light antique blue.

Shout out to a new designer

2009-01-28T03:12:00.004+08:00

I found this as a link on either La Gatta's site or on the HDF Forum but I clicked and found myself on Stitchwiz Designs....

and came off being extremely impressed. This lady has a lot of talent! She offers Victorian, Quaker and French-inspired designs (and any sampler stitcher worth his or her own salt knows we cannot get enough of those beauties).

I don't often give kudos or shout outs, but I felt that this budding new designer definitely deserved a big one. Check out her link under my "Retail THerapy" links, or just click HERE: http://myniftyneedle.blogspot.com/
She sells her designs at 8 bucks apiece, but also offers some very beautiful freebies.

Picking up a old WIP

2009-01-16T04:51:00.004+08:00

So... the latest scheme for stitching in 2009:

Sooz said "Finish two, in order to earn your start for one."
Fact: I have a bad starting habit. Just think of it as my narcotic.
Fact: I have 22 active WIPs. Some of which I haven't worked on for four years.
Fact: I also have a small pile of fabric that tempts me every time I walk past that box it stays in.
Fact: I have a bunch of charts that need love.
Fact: I have two cats, one of which loves to jump and land on either my stitching or my chart.

So after weighing all of the above, I decided, Finishing two and starting one would be a great idea! So in my hair-brained willingness to earn my new starts... understand, this is my addiction, so I will do anything to earn new starts (even though I haven't decided what they are yet)...
I have decided to work on four pieces that are close to the end:
Papillon's Mary, Queen of Scots
Red Velvet Inscription Sampler (Blue Ribbon)
Oriental Fans (Joan Elliott)
and White Lightning (off a Dimensions kit)
I also have Garden Stars, which is a super fun stitch

I also caved one week before this Finish Two, Start One torture programme came into effect and put my first stitches into:
Sailors (Pelin Tezer)
Paradigm Lost (Longdog designs)
and Midsummer Night's Fairy (my first Mirabilia)

So in effect, it was like one step forward, two steps back... but I am resolute. I have to be strong. I have to stick to the deal. (or Joyce will come after me with a hatchet)
Here is the latest WIP of Mary, Queen of Scots.

After this one is done, it's off to Red Velvet.

As for new starts (oh boy, we had to go there)
Apparently, the Stab and Stash Element SAL needs to go into effect sometime soon.
We also cooked up a new SAL... we (Joyce, Novia and some other friends) have the Joan Elliott Oriental Odyssey book so we want to do three of the geishas there. I can't wait for this Geisha SAL.
Oh... and for some reason, I've managed to be suckered into a TW SAL. (thank you, Joyce...) Don't know which one to do yet, but I'm leaning towards something with peacocks.

ETA : Thanks for all these comments! Wow! I never expected such a response! Oh yeah! The floss is indeed DMC 115... thanks for reminding me to post this.

Some new HDF stash

2008-11-19T05:57:00.004+08:00

Miss Victoria Clayton of Hand Dyed Fibers fame recently held a clearance sale ... about half the price ... in order for her stock to transit to a newer brand of silk, said to be superior to the old one. (I've yet to try the new silk, but it sounds very exciting!).

What's a girl to do but to take advantage of the sale. I hope other HDF fans, like Mona and Veronica and the unforgettable AW (Aw, I know you read this blog!!!) back in MAlaysia also did some retail therapy.

Here's what came in the mail last Saturday: all variegateds, including some of her LE ones and a detritus bag, which was offered for six bucks. Out of the D-bag was a few partial skeins, full skeins and most of a hank of a variegated darkish green. Very pretty!

I wanted to make another order, but was persuaded to use some of the current stash first and then get others "at the regular price". That's ok, I've got a bunch of cool project ideas in my head for what I've got. More to come, after the tiger is done!

Thy fearful symmetry

2008-10-26T04:21:00.004+08:00

... yes, I apologise for wrecking the poem and making William Blake roll in his grave. The tiger is coming along slowly but surely.

One of the best and worst parts about stitching Dimensions pieces is the crazy amount of backstitching... best, because it cuts off so much time to do background areas, and worst because they often use 5-6 strands and pulling all of it through the little holes -- even on 14ct aida, which is what this piece is on -- is a royal pain in the rear.

I was talking to Brenda a few weeks back about stitching over one and all those nutty things stitchers are apt to do, and she said something about eyesight not being so good... well, Bren, you aren't alone. For that matter, while I love linen and evenweave, I've changed my stance on fabric. Aida has always been sort of a so-so choice for me... I wouldn't turn it away but I'd prefer to work on linen. But with the light in the house not being the best, sometimes, aida is a breeze to work on, not the freakin' 36ct edinburgh. I still have one piece I purchased from the now sadly defunct Needle Little Love in Singapore, which I am reserving for.... hrmmm... well, it was a quarter-yard cut, and I am reserving it for a red sampler. Or.... something. I don't know yet. Until this big cat is finished, I'm not allowed to make any new starts.

Took a look at my stash the other day, and figured out that it was high time I did
a) more finishes
b) more starts to use up the fabric

I know my friend Wanda in AK (see Boss of the Floss blog, on the left... she just finished Kathy's Violets bought a bolt (A WHOLE BOLT!) of lugana, but I'm trying to find out WHERE. She told me that a while back but I was really thinking and hoping Hobby Lobby would carry them. I love HL, way over Joanns and Michaels, both of whom have higher prices on most about everything, but Hobby Lobby has been slimming down their stitching shelves of late, which is sad. One of the times I went, I picked up a kitted Lavendar and Lace, WITH the Needlepaints (like 9 skeins) and the linen for a whopping $10. Another time I saw a small sampler kit -- not my style, but still cheap -- going for $1.50, and until today, I still kick myself for not buying it. DH tells me "Sale is just another four-letter word, honey."

But what a frickin' GREAT four letter word it is!

Ok... with this, I hope to zoom a bit faster on the tiger because after this, Novia is clamouring for a new start. And come next year, I HAVE TO stitch I Still Do for my parents' anniversary---it is long due and for one, I think my mum and dad would love it.

Tyger,Tyger

2008-10-17T07:08:00.003+08:00

Here's an update of White Lightning...

I decided to rearrange my work schedule and stop trying to bring work home as well, putting more concentrated design time while I am at my shop, while doing more relaxing things like crafts at home. As a result, there is finally some kind of growth when it comes to WIPs.

Joyce is having some minor guilt pangs about not stitching "Because it is a SAL". Well, I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes and saying "snap out of it, honey!" Always thought that if you force yourself to stitch, you won't enjoy it. Anyhow, her work is freaking amazing! (See FantasticFinishes.blogspot.com for more details)

Also I've realised that I've not finished a single sampler this year (How can this be?!) ... great, here is that F word again, huh?

So this time around, I might concentrate on finishing Garden Stars by Ink Circles. I absolutely love Tracy Horner's designs -- she has so much wit and thought put into each design and every one of them I have always found beautiful. They're also easy to stitch and fast... you know sometimes you love a sampler, you buy it and when you stitch it , it feels like ... mehhh... not as fun as I thought? (case in point: Red Velvet Inscription Sampler). It has never ever been that way with Tracy's charts. It almost seems as if they have some kind of positive vibe, you feel happy working on them and you love working on them... I don't know what it is that Tracy does, but I DO know that whatever she works is magic to me.

For 2009's project: I Still Do (for my parents)

Just for shits and giggles, I might commit to another finish for 2009:
8 Immortals or Romantic Mandarin Ducks

I really like PINN's stuff, even though it's done on aida, yadda yadda yaddda.... so what... my eyes are getting old and I'm not one of those crazy lunatics who do over 1 on 50ct linen, hahahaha. Nothing wrong with aida, I like it and it's just a different medium from evenweave and linen, etc etc.

Where's the White Lightning? All I see is grey and black!

2008-10-05T10:09:00.004+08:00

Here's a WIP update of White Lightning.

Actually, I felt compelled to post this by way of the reason that my partner in crime and 'big kakak" (that is bigshot older sister in Malay for all you non-Malaysian speakers there) Joyce did so on her blog, putting my laziness to shame.

You aren't going to see a really clear picture (thanks, camera phone...) but I started in the middle of the fabric -- something that many stitches do but I shied away from because I was always a "start at a corner" kind of girl. Anyway, enough nattering... here it is!

Yup... lots of background. Part of the stripey tail and one stripe on the face. (I got bored with the amount of tenting on the right side one night).

After the half year's worth of crafty ennui (yes, there is such a thing, much like how some people pretend to suffer from phobias and syndromes and disasters), I started pulling out my stash and seeing what I had. Goodness... it's a good thing I freaking DID because now I know how hard I need to stitch/knit/crochet/tat/whatever in order to thin some of this out... in order to buy more.

For the time being, The Despot... I mean, Joyce, has forbidden any new starts (boo, hiss) while we work on the tigers. We DID ask Novia to join in, but she demurred saying it was "too scary" or "Too much teeth and fangs and claws" or some funky excuse. Yes, Novia, we know, you are busy with your favourite WIP (the screaming, crawling one) and you are too hoity toity for Dimensions :P

She's just waiting for us to finish, so we can start on a couple of more SALS.

In the woodworks (oh what have I gotten my ass into again):
Mirabilia SAL
I think so far, this is what is happening:
Novia will do The Kiss
EeKoon will do The Kiss/Autumn Queen/Sleeping Beauty (or some thing she will change her mind 1000 times again)
Joyce will do... I dunno, Fairy Idyll? Joyce is damn picky!

Sean, the requisite three-legged-sister (geddit? hahahaha) is powering along and about to finish White Christmas and putting us to shame!

After Mirabilia, brace yourselves for some of the most beautiful kick ass graphite-based art charts that will cross our itchy hands:

Presenting the ELEMENT SAL. Months of planning. Even longer months of procrastinating:

We plan to do part of a series of elemental portraits done by a phenomenal black and grey artist, Maria J William. She is charted by Stab and Stash, and very expertly too.

Novia will do this: (Earth)... just so delicate and mysterious!

Joyce will do Fire... and she is such a smokingly sexy dancer, isn't she?

And yours truly has this one in her sights: Metal... a kickass woman warrior. Yehaw!

This will actually be my first Stab and Stash piece but I can't wait. Their charting is vastly superior to Heaven and EArth Designs, whose quality except for a select few new releases (they release a lot each week) has vastly degenerated in the past year or so.

In my personal opinion, some of their pieces can't even see proper detail in the faces, and some of the ones I bought are starting to look (to my increasingly panicked eye) blocky. I just freaking hope it isn't one that I bought!

Well, I think customers pay good money to get a quality product, and if you gotta shore up 60 bucks of Malaysian dollars to pay for something that will not look nice, put it elsewhere where you can be assured of a positive outcome.

Nyways, I have to get some things done! I hope to post a bit more often now that the stitching is back and a bit more active again.

New madness

2008-09-11T05:41:00.001+08:00

Joyce and I have been feeling rather blah about stitching of late... this is because we tackle large projects and with the stress of working life -- she is sooo busy and doing the job of a few people as at her editing job, and I am pretty much tied up with custom work at my shop -- that we've not felt excited about starting for a while...

so...

sometimes madness gets a hold of us, and we decide on the spur of the moment to start something...

this time, it's a Tiger SAL. Actually, it's two specific SALs, but they're both Tiger SALS, so let's just call this Tiger SAL 1.

We both have Dimensions kits, gifted to us from very good friends.
Joyce will do Regal Tiger:

And I will do White Lightning:

Let the insanity begin!

No more slaving over Spring buahahahaha

2008-05-16T00:33:00.004+08:00

After two years (ok, over two years) it is finally done... done on the hardest, most uncooperative aida that I've had the misfortune/stupidity to buy. I'm not a linen snob or anything snob... I do like aida for its ease of use even though its appearance may not be "fine" or... whatever. I mean, I work on 14, 16 and 18 count and it feels ok with me. It's not worse or better than evenweave o linen, it's just... different.

One more done for the 5 project challenge! It may not be a mega project but it sure took that long!

On starting

2008-04-01T04:24:00.002+08:00

I think after the discipline of school and work is over, it is ok to indulge in a little bit of ADHD. And I think I have a little bit of that. Nothing wrong with a short attention span -- in fact, from my experience, a lot of creative people and journalists (they are not always one and the same, though i've seen some sadly crazy creative journalism in the past) thrive from it.

Well, I have to address the problem of keeping with a project. See, I think in marriage, spouses must be faithful. But in cross stitch, we should be able to stray as much as we like.

I'd really like to start, not one, but about 7-8 new projects, and I dont know what is stopping me. Maybe it is the pile of unfinished things going "When are you going to stop neglecting me?"

WIPs are like children. The more you have, the less time you get to devote to each.

But begetting children is sort of the result of having crazy irresponsible and totally fun sex. (and let's face it, sex is always fun)

See, in the past, when I broke from the control of having "only 15 WIPs" --I have a suspicion I have more, but let's not go there, I would start whatever I liked. Without doubt. Without restraint. With rancor, delight and abandonment.

I'm feeling the urge again. I want to cut a bunch of fabric and put in 5 stitches into each piece, with all the starts I want to do. And then laugh wildly as I finish each one. Because it feels so good, so free and so fantastic.

Here's part of the list:
Mirabilia's Sleeping Beauty
HAED's Turandot
HAED's The Bride
A few more from there
some samplers
more samplers
some oriental stuff

But it might be payback after that. It's like maxxing out 50K on credit cards and having to even stare at the horror of the interest.

In this case, the payback's name is called... joyce...

Right now, I'm looking for the perfect reason.
An insanity plea.
Begging for mercy.

Or the simple, inarguable one: The Devil Made Me Do It.

Now I know that I've been really really late in posting stuff...

2007-11-20T04:05:00.000+08:00

... but honestly, I've been really busy. HAven't stashed a bit except for picking up a few skeins of yarn for a knitting project, and trying to finish some of the bits and pieces of yarn from here and there. I didn't realise that when I actually moved to Augusta, I ended up inheriting some of Randy's yarn stash and now I'm trying to finish it in in tandem with the increasingly cold nights.

This was supposed to be GA! I thought the Deep South was hot! Now I really wanna try to knit the Burridge Lake afghan, which is a perfectly symmetrical piece made out of Celtic style knotwork, which means tons of cable work, but it's challenging in the way that it makes me look at a problem or project in a different light.

Speaking of things Celtic, here's the latest finish, Celtic Banner by Butternut Road!

WIPS galore:
Blue Ribbon Designs' Red Velvet Inscription Sampler

DMC's Early Spring, inching to a finish

And because I could not resist any longer, a new start, Ink Circles' Garden Stars... heh heh heh

I've got some knitting projects in the background but they can't be posted yet, alas. Now why do you ask have I been so diligent? Because my friends (they know who they are) are threatening that if I don't finish, I don't start another thing. Now isn't that a fate crueler than ... the death of stash?

Wishlist on June29

2007-06-29T16:03:00.000+08:00

wishlist as of June 30.
Was RAK'ed an AMAP chart from Jean in Singapore... and Capella got me two lovely new ones too! Thank you, ladies!

Anagram Diffusion
Anagram Renaissance
New Sampler Rouge

Arelate Studio
Bright Ship
Fierce Warriors
Here Be Wyverns

Cindy Valentine
Midnight Arabesque
Raspberry Parfait

Dessins
Knights 1 to 4
Antique Dragon

Drawn Thread
Wayward Garden
Cloister Garden
Sanctuary

Elizabeth’s Designs
Galleon and Sea Monster

Affinity Arts
Wild Butterflies of Spring

Giulia Punti Antichi
Old Italian Sampler

Graceful Lily Needlework
ALL Ironwork charts!
Indonesian Medan Elephant

Heartland House
Saguaro Forms and Cactus Flowers
Waterlilies Art Glass

Indigo Rose
Catherine Agnes
Lilacs and Amethyst
White Orchids and Diamonds

Longdog
St Senoch
Opus II

M Designs
Celtic Heart

Mariska
Labyrinthe

Mirabilia
South Seas Mermaid
Maidens of the Seasons I and II

Queenstown Samplers
Queens Garden Sampler

SavoirFaire Vailly
Musical Sampler

Scarlet Letter
Anne Grimshaw 1818
Coraggio

Stickideen von der Wiehenberg
Ornaments II (monochrome traditional)
Altengamme
Neuengamme
Kathy (blackwork)

Ute Scheer / Studio for Historical Samplers
Morocco
Nanette Hassig (under Biedermeier)
Baroque Sampler (Dorothee Kandzi)
Old Saxon Sampler

The two needles, they do smoke

2007-06-24T11:57:00.000+08:00

Here are some knitting finishes! (my first)

A brown scarf (you can see the colour variegation here) for Dad. Long and skinny and he likes it! This was my first knitty project, if you recall earlier posts. However, I also managed to learn stitches the wrong way! (now since corrected). He tried it on immediately. And likes it!

And my first project on circulars ... a beanie hat in sort of a bright reddish plum for my Mom.

She had better like it!

Knitting was definitely not as difficult as I had originally thought. Pish tosh the talk about it being harder on lefthanders, because if you use nice needles, they work relatively well. Me, I learnt I prefer bamboo to steel due to the weight (marvellously light) and the fact that they look a lot less threatening!

I sort of started and frogged my blue lace project, because somehow, managed to miscount. Going to undo the Sirdar Country poncho project (keep it to get Lion brand in USA) and cast on with those.... yeah.

Some people have been asking about my quilting progress... I've got a few up so far, because I really don't enjoy pinning and frogging (I frog more than sew), but here's the beginning components of my sampler quilt.

So many crafts, so little time!

2007-06-10T19:09:00.000+08:00

As D-Day looms nearer and nearer, I find myself

a) not wanting to start once again)
b) trying really hard not to stash
c) trying even harder to finish Oriental Fans

It's probably a double edged sword having so many crafts that are too enjoyable. THat is, enjoyable to the point that I often wish I was at home pottering around the house rather than at the office. To say nothing of the job (which has dismal prospects of late), the list of crafts now extend to:

cross stitch (overwhelmingly addictive, credit card enemy)
tatting (nice break to indulge in from time to time, cost effective too)
crochet (nice to play with thread, also relatively cost effective... but cheaper in the USA)
patchwork/quilting (going soooo slow, and been playing hooky from class, I HAVE to finish that sampler soon
embroidery (fast, and fun, but also needs some home work)
beading (pretty damn pricey, even with my wholesale accounts!, but fast to finish and provides some of the quickest Happy Dances and wearable to boot) -- which reminds me, I have lost a part of a set of patterns I took classes for. THey're somewhere in the house but I don't know where
hardanger (fairly fast, and fun, except for the blanket stitch...nice to indulge in and good outlet when you rather perforate your boss' brain)

Hurm... what else?

Oh ya! I took up knitting a couple of weeks ago from Mona (see Knitnut/Mona at the knitty blog section on the right). Yes, don't we have enough to do already!! We went to Adeline's and picked up two balls of Schachenmeyer Apollo acrylic, which is like a double twist (loose twist) in a medium taupe and a variegated second colour which runs from light chocolate to ice blue to navy... very nice. Adeline retreated at the challenge of teaching a leftie (hander, not commie)... but Mona showed me just how to do it... cast on (using the knitted approach ... later I find out there are various ways to do this), knit and purl.

I put my first ones on metal Poney needles ... cast on five times and was about to give up when I saw the gradation of colour just slowly "grow", and then bang! A new crafty obsession. I can already see much stashing in this field, but thankfully together I can pair it up with crochet.

Truthfully, I'm not a housewife. But there are times when it's all I want to be. (But one who is interested in world affairs, current issues, stock market and pretentious books, but won't advertise it, of course

So here are some updates:

This is my first project. Of course, like all starters with no imagination, the choice was "scarf". It's going to my dad and there are one or two errata discovered along the way, but the experts I know say it doesn't really matter as is
ahem a) good for a first timer b) the variegation covers it up.

Ahhh.. and here is project number 2. It's a poncho-in-the-making using Sirdar Country in a sort of purple and pink. Boy I'll say one thing, knitting is not a craft you should go into if you're skint, because it does add up esp in Malaysia with its 30%over duty. Dumbass laws!

So far, I'm working to make flat pieces, and don't know how to increase or decrease yet (but I can bind off, I think)... but I would love to progress to things like cables and lace.

So the stash for this has begun: Here's 3 samplers ( I have two balls of each type)

Top one is sort of an eyelash yarn, the one of the left is a thin silvery-blue thing which I heard can be combined with a thicker yarn or another for a shimmery piece (think the Kreinik BF's for knitting)
The one of the right, the most recent acquisition (RM20 for two balls of that most gorgeous peacock blue/turquoise) is for lace knitting. And I don't even know how to do lace knitting yet!!! This is from Knitpicks, I think. (god, I just can't wait to MOVE so I can avail myself of great and cheap stas!)

On to cross stitch...

Oriental Fans, the fourth of the five-project challenge, now looks like this: 74% of the cross stitching done.

After this, HAED again. Yay! I LOVE James Christensen's art and have a bunch of his charts which I wanna do. At one point, it seemed that some of the charting was pretty suspect -- i.e. blotchy spots, and while I love the more "serious" art type or the ones that feature beautiful supernatural folk, I shy away from the cutesy style ones, but at the back of my mind, think that they might have better accuracy when compared to the original.

Also I need to get back to the lovelies I bought before but abandoned. And perhaps, acquire Kinuko Craft's Turandot -- finally, a chart that combines my love of opera and music and Oriental culture !! -- which I have been salivating since forever, like even before they signed Kinuko (a reputedly difficult artist but brimming with incredible talent).

...and Jan Houtman's Patchwork Sampler, always a addictive stitch, is now well into its second panel. Watch out for the big rectangular block coming, which I need to figure out how to fill... either to retake the motifs and stsitch it, or plonk some other motif in??? hmm

On the cross stitch stashing front, I picked up all 3 parts of 100 Birds, a famous Chinese painting good for feng shui from Haby & Wool.
Hans, a really famous Dutch stitcher, generously gifted me with a Permin kit (my first Permin kit!!!) and Terence Nolan/Dimples Designs' Wee Beasties. Thank you, Hans, you're a darling!
I also bought 3 Indigo Rose charts (used) from a stitcher, and am awaiting them in the mail. One of them, Jasmine and Sapphire comes with the Caron Waterlilies threads, so that is too cool.
Above all, participataed in the Needlework Show, wrote Tracy Horner a tale about her latest coup, I Still Do (gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous) and I WON THAT CHART!!!! Tracy sent it to me, and I also purchased Kaleidoscope, based on her colourful mandala paintings. I bought 1m of linen from Aw and am about to kickstart some new projects, once the urge hits. (in the meantime, still desperately trying to have more finishes and show less "stash" before BF's imminent touchdown in KL)

No pix of stitchy stash, I'm afraid... but I'll organise it all and post it soon, I promise.

Onward, to beading. Most of these are for girls at work. I have to admit, I work with some pretty awesome people. It's just the person we have to report to that makes me shake my head sometimes.

A bracelet I made for Kerry to match earrings (done earlier). I had to do some lengthening, because while Kerry is marvellously slim and I figured her wrist would be tiny, missed the circumferential mark by about 1" at first. Using glass pearls, gold and silver caps and smoky quartz she bought in China.

This is a fixer upper done by moi (readers, watch out for the label, which I finally hope to kick start towards the end of the year)... just to reshape the necklace. The restringing was not a problem until i reached the "pendant" which was a loop-de-loop ..and THEN the cursing began. Also, I might need to redo this (have to resize Ling's neck measurement again) because I think it's a tad short.

Some pairs of earrings, which are prototypes for my future easy-wear, easy-on-the-wallet line. Glass cubes and semi precious stones make them a whimsical pair. I've had to pick my models, Susan, Hung Yee, Ling and Kathy. Let's hope they LIKE them and will wear them, or it's back to the drawing board (or in my case, sweaty, small, over crowded, craft-shop-lookalike bedroom)

A finish and a minor resurrection

2007-05-29T13:04:00.000+08:00

Well, folks.... guess what.... i've been knitting. Very irregular stitches (or whatever they call it) at this point, but am getting the hang of it. Just another yarn craft under my belt but this is in preparation for "The Big Move", to the land of super cheap yarns and crafts... stay tuned for updates.

I've gotted the nod from the significant other for a collection of afghans and bedspreads and whatnot, so this literally means carte blanche to buy enough stash to roll in it for years (one hopes), or at least in my wildest fantasies.

First off...here's a finish. This looks like a year for finishes, cos this is number 4: Patricia Ann's A Secret Garden, a band sampler. The English style isn't really my style but it's for my mom, who's sort of anglophilic about such things. She still thinks the monarchy is relevant in this day and time for heaven's sake.

Mind you I'm sure the Windsor royal family are very nice people. I just don't see the need for them to be... royal :P

But enough yammering... here it is. Sorry... it's a real crap pic, I agree

And the next one to tackle in the 5-fnish challenge (the Bandits allowed me to swap Early Spring with Sea Stars hehehehhe since everyone started swapping projects) ... is Oriental Fans. Well I'm trying to get the second fan finished fast. (Yet another project for my mother... sheesh, I dont get any time in for myself :P

Quiz things again

2007-05-28T21:57:00.000+08:00

Couldn't help posting this one.

Oh yes... Secret Garden is finished :) I have photos, just haven't unloaded them yet. BADDDDDDD stitcher!

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Runnin' out of steam

2007-05-14T13:13:00.000+08:00

Phew! What a week. I feel that the needle in my hand is burning smoke, but there's also an achiness in the wrist and the knuckle bed due to the stitching I've been doing. (and frogging... oh my, I saw James Bond's Casino Royale -- Daniel Crag, not David Niven... and HUBBA HUBBA!!! And miscounted. And had to frog!)

The Malaysian Stitchers had pinkeep exchange, and of course, mine was sent out late. However, my recipient (Aniza) was really gracious and sooo kind and she likes it... woot woot! Esp with my multicolour approach to quaker stitching. I used perle cottons, which has a different sheen and pops up a bit more on the stitching.

And here's the one sent to me, done by the so-talented Zalita. She used DipnTwist variegated pink, and what a lovely pink it is!

And here's an update on freehand embroidery... the infamous heart (this was drawn by hand, before putting the stitches in so there is no name for it... as yet).

And Patricia ANn's Secret Garden, slowly inching to a finish. Slightly late for Mother's Day but it will be delivered for the occasion anyhow :P

I started Fine Art Cross STitch LLC's Mucha (Autumn) .... just 200 stitches, but found tenting on 28ct linen is actually.. pretty cool!!

Sea Stars, and tatting tries

2007-05-07T17:09:00.000+08:00

well, it's been 1 whole week of work in Indonesia... and it's non stop walking, looking, etc... very tiring. And now I'm back!

As usual, I overpacked the "stuff to keep me amused". But due to numerous plane rides, waits, bus rides, and now an aching back, here are some updates. (Will write more later, this is a pictorial post).

SEA STARS IS FINISHED!!!!!!! happy dance, woot woot!

And here are 3 tatting motifs, numbers 14, 15, and 16 respectively. Not all are done, though. At this point, I'd like to make a disclaimer for messy tatting... all of this you see down here is the result of the Indonesian trip, all of it done via:
a) tatting in a bus... very bumpy!
b) tatting on a plane, sans cutter or crochet hook so I was using the little tilted tip to hook the thread throuh in the joins.

There was a LOT of unpicking (followed by more cussing) and undoing and cutting and ... welll, much more mistakes than I care to admit. Have you tried to sew in the ends of thread in the middle of airplane turbulence? It's like being stabbed in the finger many many times. LOL

mini motif, in green Floretta thread. Size 10 (which I have learnt I hate)... because it sort of widens the little tips of the tatting shuttle, and it doesn't take any time to empty the shuttle again... I much prefer Size 20 and 30. (too chicken to try Dentelles)

This here is Beatrice, a doily from an Iris Niebach book. Sorry it's stopped (ran out of the variegated Anchor thread) I have to get more from the store... hmmm

Soo... out of boredom, I had to start another Niebach doiley, this one is called Cornelia, in Size 20 Cebelia in ivory and green. Now despite the bad reviews on Cebelia by some tatters, I really like this, because it's smooth and not too stiff, and it really has the better lace effect (IMHO!)

ok, gotta go watch Spiderman... blog laytah!!

The lazy needle

2007-04-29T12:17:00.000+08:00

Well, I have to admit, my needle's been a little gunshy of "smoking"status of late. Life just got in the way, with a bit of this, a bit of that... and I'm starting to think that a large number of WIPs may actually slow down stitching progress,because after 15 minutes on this one, you think...hmmm I wonder if Wip no. 4 needs a little attention today... etc etc

Sea Stars, on the last leg, is finally showing signs of lagging. I've heard that this "I'm seeing the finish line, and now I'm really dragging my feet" syndrome among stitchers is common (wonder why?) and it does happen to me for just about every project. Towards the end, there is a little bit of regret, like saying goodbye to a friend you spent a good time with. And also a tiny bit of "ohgod, I have to work on this Again?" sense of exasperation coupled with "will this thing never end?" '

The Coven had a Mirabilia SAL.... Garden Verses, bottom of ribbon,with some sparklies....very little done...dismal progress, in fact.

Here's a band sampler... stalled halfway (no mood to continue) Patricia Ann's My Secret Garden. I guess I should finish this.... it really is fast.

And I started to learn freehand embroidery.... this is sooo fast compared to cross stitch. This is a heart (or will be) with sort of vine leaves and grape things.... flowers to be added later.

Ordered some Vikki Clayton silks for the hell of it. I'd blame Mona *giggle* but then I don't really feel any guilt from it (ordered the premium ones as you get better mileage)

And new news for the 25-motif challenge.... I'm tatting again! I bought a small book called Tatted Doilies by Iris Niebach which has visual instructions and am testing the Beatrice one out. Once it's done (give it a little time) I can actually post a tatting project. This is a great takealong project and I can slip it into a small handbag all together and bring it anywhere, as oopposed to my triple storeyed floss boxes!

Wishlist update (again!)

2007-04-22T17:45:00.000+08:00

Uncomfortably Numb (sorry, Pink Floyd)

2007-04-09T18:20:00.000+08:00

So, really, we've been sort of semi having given up the five finish challenge race... the point was not to stash and once again, to reiterate things, boy did that idea go down the toilet! Whose crazy idea was it again to not buy stash until things are done???

probably mine. oops.

We had a Stitchathon over the weekend, at the Crafty Coven, largely to push Joyce into finishing Floral Retreat, something she is working on for her mother when she visits KL in late June. She's actually a very very fast stitcher.... puts in much more in a few hours than I can in a day, which is ... whoa!

So, to get things moving, I also cancelled my social appointments (well, most of them, except for one very important one). Unfortunately, a little hiccup called Bell's Palsy came a-callling... so it's like getting temporary facial paralysis, much like a mini-stroke. But only parts of the eye and jaw are affected and I'm supposedly recovering rapidly. Most BP patients take 3 to 6 months. Mine is expected to take a month.

Yes, it gave me a scare. Yes, the doctor gave me a big bollocking esp regarding my sleeping hours. ("How is four hours enough, can you explain it"... bitch ... so I was put in a spot, but was also made to see the vast error of my ways. Still, I do see the virtue in the doctor's orders... it's a bit uncomfortable to laugh my usual belly laugh because there's a distinct pull and I fear, squinting in the mirror creates an instant reflection of Ms Hyde. If you're giggling at this, shut the fuck up. Yes, I'm definitely bad tempered today. '

so, the long and short of it... I DID stitch, but due to the R&R directive (surprisingly, given my theoretical attraction to slothful habits, VERY hard to do)...

Here's what I did. Sea Stars finally moved over the giant DMC520 square star doldrums and into PAge 6 (this is about 40% of page 6 done).... almost to the end... just the bottom horizontal strip left.

And my first charity stitching project, for Love Quilts (where small things are assembled for children's quilts for terminally ill kids.... Google it and surf over -- I can't be arsed to send the link right now -- but if you read the stories about them (some of the kids have gone to heaven, un/fortunately), I promise you will cry. So... it's for a good cause. This is the almost done version of Dragon Dreams' afghan freebie called Patience. (thanks for the help, Brenda!) Don't worry about the little eyeless reptiles hanging over the mommy dragon ... the French knots will go in last.

Joyce's Floral Retreat is coming along swimmingly... let's hope she posts something on her blog soon. She's also encouraging me to write again (And you were such a talented little scribe, my dear Crafty Pretender, once a very long time ago)

On to bigger more exciting things... Sexy Fairy is expecting a mini-me! Mucho congratulations and the girl is smart enough to tell us (when I rashly asked her if she wanted anything stitched for e baby) that "Clothes will do, and just initial your name at the bottom".... clever Nov. Or maybe shrewd, knowing how long I will take to finish it. If it's a BAP, it might get done when her child is in college. Or My child. And I haven't even gotten preggo yet... or married yet. Nyet. This is starting to sound sick. Better give the BF a call.

Is Finish no 3 on the horizon?

2007-04-03T20:07:00.000+08:00

While we have long abandoned the "no stashing" caveat (we, meaning the Stitching Bandits), I think some of us have been sticking to the 5-new start limit.

Moreover, I am pleased to report decent stitching progress over the manifold projects that I've managed to start, just that they have been a little ummm slow in being photographed.

Joyce (the chief whipper of the Bandits), though, has been vewyyyyyy .. umm how to say ... slippery of late when it came to the 5 Finish Challenge. First she claims
a) she forgot the challenge was to complete BAP, and wanted to swap to smalls (SMALLS?? HELLO JOYCE have you lost your mind?!)
b) She forgot there WAS a challenge in the first place .... mppph, this is priceless

Whereupon being reminded there was not only a challenge, but a joint blog she occasionally posts to, she claimed... she forgot what her five focus projects were. ooooohhhhh my head!

Anyway, Joyce is headed back to Malaysia WHeeee!!!!! so i get quality time with another stitching sister and a fellow Bandit! and she HAS to start and finish Floral Retreat (a big Dimensions piece) in 2 1/2 months. We estimated 30,000 stitches in 75 days. I don't even dare to divide to see how many per day per quota as J and I have beeen busy making dolls and fun stuff online.

But enough of naughty forgetful Bandits ... I'm accompanying her for a Stitchathon this weekend because she HAS to start and put decent progress in soon. Novia's coming into help boost morale as well, so maybe Sean can spare al ittle time, and the rest of the BB too.

Here is Sea Stars, almost done with Page 5 .... 4 more pages to go (3 of those are partial pages) ... I can almost see the glimmer of a happy dance.

And last but def. not least, it is nice to know an overdye expert personally. Aniza of Dip n Twist ( I love to wanna say Twist n Shout, Guns n Roses, etc etc) couriered 51 whopping skeins of the most beautifu overdyes. This is really homegrown talent at work, and it was soooo hard to pick out what I really needed. Of course, I had the urge to take no prisoner but the wallet said "NO!" so I bought 22 skeins. And here they are ... Thank you Niza!!!!

Big Purple Monster is FINISHED!!!

2007-03-25T12:19:00.000+08:00

Yiipppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!! This is Big Purple Monster (original chart is from a Nordic Needle book of patterns but I forgot what it's called).

This tablerunner is over 2 feet long and I worked it in 25ct evenweave. It took me a good 7 months to do, with a minor break in between. I can delete this violet-coloured behemoth off my WIP list now... less stress, whoop-de-doo!!

I took it on my parents' dining table, so forgive the fruit basket and the miniature anthurium pot though it sort of "adds" to the arrangement, dunnit? Anyway, my mom is pleased as punch (the BPM tablerunner is made for her) and I am as well because I'm thoroughly sick of it and now I can stitch my projects (and start a few more, perhaps hehehhehehhe)

So on the 5 Finish CHallenge between the Stitching Bandits, it's 2 down, 3 more to go!

Alright, so I have been quiet, but it is not like I have not been busy! You know this girl... can't stand it to sit still. I think I've inherited (via osmosis) some of DBF's tendency to be doing something All the time... it used to be that I could read for 5 hours without moving. Now, if my hands and eyes and feet aren't moving in one way or another, it's just 'unbearable' (For lack of a drama word!)

(Speaking of DBF, he just got me a little giftie ... some moolah to stash overdyes and silks.... with support like that, I def. have to be with this man for life)

Still not tatting.. hmphh, been a very lazy girl with the shuttle. But I've been beading a bit... can show this scissor fob now because it's reached Nette (Crafty Coven bud in Australia). It's done using turquoise chips from Iran, turquoise round bead (I understand it is stabilised and recompounded into a round bead form) from China, amethyst, swarovski's, a bit of silver and dunno what else. That is me showing off the geologist geek wannabe in me. But this arrive well in time for her birthday.

There's more beadwork but I can't seem to find the pix for it right now... oops!

It really pays forward in the stitching world, for look what my dear friend Magi made me: a biscornu!

I understand this was her second attempt and the seaming is absolutely immaculate. then again, Magi is good with figuring out instructions!!! I'm a stranger to stitching smalls, as BAP is really more my cup of tea, but this biscornu makes me really wanna learn. There's some great tutorials online to try but right now, there's some obligation stitching to get done:

a) Love Quilt Square to be sent off to Wanda. I've decided on a freebie from Dragon Dreams (will show once started or completed hahaha)
b) Mona's Quaker Pinkeep Exchange. I've got the pattern I want to stitch, but no idea how to do a pinkeep... or what it is, come to think of it. Mona said she'll help me do it, and with that "Si fu" next to me, I know I am in more than capable hands. It also helps to have someone who's mad about crafting working in the same place.

I'm sending the pinkeep to ... whoops, cannot tell. I hope you are reading this, Novia :)

Onward ho... after obligation stitching comes a spot of blackwork to finish. Ack, there goes that F-word again!

Wishlist as of June 11

2007-03-07T15:03:00.000+08:00

Things change, and so does stash wishes :) Some of them I've got, others that I changed were due to changing tastes... then of course, I lost my Anagram YinYang chart grrrr ... and decided to surf to some sites to console myself, and before you know it...

AMAP
Legende (monochrome)

Anagram Diffusion
Anagram Renaissance
New Sampler Rouge

Arelate Studio
Bright Ship
Fierce Warriors
Here Be Wyverns
Mermaid something (the new one)

Cindy Valentine
Midnight Arabesque

Dave Shaw
Frigate, Eyes of the Fleet

Dessins
Knights 1 to 4
Antique Dragon
Chinese Junk

Drawn Thread
Wayward Garden
Cloister Garden
Sanctuary
Treasure Box

Elizabeth’s Designs
Galleon and Sea Monster

Four Oaks Designs
Love Song
Rhapsody in Blue

Giulia Punti Antichi
Old Italian Sampler

Graceful Lily Needlework
ALL Ironwork charts!
Indonesian Medan Elephant

Heartland House
Saguaro Forms and Cactus Flowers
Waterlilies Art Glass

Longdog
St Senoch

M Designs
Celtic Heart

Mariska
Labyrinthe

Mirabilia
South Seas Mermaid
Maidens of the Seasons II

PINN Stitch
Chinese Blessing Dolls II

Queenstown Samplers
Queens Garden Sampler

SavoirFaire Vailly
Musical Sampler

Scarlet Letter
Anne Grimshaw 1818
Coraggio

Stickideen von der Wiehenberg
Ornaments II (monochrome traditional)
Altengamme

Ute Scheer / Studio for Historical Samplers
Morocco
Nanette Hassig (under Biedermeier)
Baroque Sampler (Dorothee Kandzi)
Old Saxon Sampler

Seaing Stars

2007-03-01T00:50:00.000+08:00

Here's a quickie update... a lot has been done, but to some other projects who have not had their picture taken yet :)

Blame it on the stitcher, who is thinking of trying out patchwork classes.

Yet another craft... help!!!!

Page Three of Sea Stars... done! (now on Page 4 ... this is a slightly overdue update ... oops)

And over the Chinese New Year, my aunt gave me some pretty antique looking tatting books and patterns... here they are! THe patterns are distinctly different from some of the modern ones, and are used on clothes and to edge some linens, etc, but not a lot of doiley things. I'll try it out soon... i have been tatting to try to fulfil the 25 piece challenge, but they're sort of been jinxed.. the thread comes out, and I miscount, and find out at the last juncture... and I forget to join .... sometimes I close it an entire round too early .... you name it.

The finishing bug

2007-02-16T01:48:00.000+08:00

...is still here! I'm about to leave for Chinese New Year's festivities out of town at my Grandma's, so here's a quick peek at some of the work I've been doing.

Here's DMC's Early Spring II, done on the gnarliest, nastiest lousy texture aida EVER. (Regency... so crap) but it's at 40%

And this is Mary, Queen of Scots. This Meran has a cotton/poly blend and the threads seem to have some sort of elasticity to it, but the red gradations are quite nice (at least, so I think). I love the Renaissance style letters and the wonderful intricate French style, though the coverage looks a tad spotty. Mona says the lacy looks gives it a new sense of delicacy (I can definitely live with that!) The original piece is on either ecru or white, but the yellow gives it a different sort of cast.

Few projects here and there

2007-02-03T19:14:00.000+08:00

There's been a bunch of projects started lately, and some are ambling nicely on their way. Once again, we are short of pictures and this is going to be a stitching post.

But first, on the other crafts: I've half a ball of Petra yarn left for my red shrug/shawl (not sure what it will be), which is knitted in a pattern of climbing shells. Not sure if I will need another one but there's a full ball of eggplant Petra sitting in my tiny yarn/ball of perle cotton/tatting stuff plastic baggy, and some crazy part of me is thinking "this might make good sleeves. Arrgh. Any ideas?

I'll try to post a picture of the two colours later.

On tatting... I picked up the shuttle again, thanks to a small but encouraging proliferation of new patterns offered by experienced tatters and new designers. Look out for a designer who is prob going to be fairly well known in the tatting global community, coming up with her maiden publication soon!!
For some reason, I'm rusty but hope that it is just amatter of practise... using Size 20 Anchor variegated, I think I might start a small doiley for my grandma just before Chinese New Year.

And speaking of Chinese New Year, my mother will receive this long table runner (it's slightly over two feet), which is made in hardanger. You might have remembered a violet and white blob in some previous posts, but I finally
a) finish all the freaking eyelets
b) all the partial (not so freaking) eyelets
c) all the super freaking @$%#$#$ Holbein stitches
and d) all the French knots, which, as one discovers, is overrated as hellsbane.

So after that, I started cutting the threads and ripping it out, and finally... we see the beginnings of Scandinavian lacework! The needleweaving has also started. I love this form of needle lace, because it looks so pristine and elegant.
Without further ado, here's a pic of the Big Purple Monster (I'm kidding, it's a Nordic Needle pattern), all grown up.

And my secondary stitching project, for someone who's very into ships and sailing, is Sea Stars, well into Page 3. Pic shows Page 2 all done.

A new start! Anagram Difussion's Yin Yang, attempted in Size 15 Miyuki beads in red. The verdict is still out on this one whether the beads look like they work or not. The tight-packed areas look alright but where the single stithces are you can see little "gaps". I will consult the StitchingBandits on whether to stick to the beads or swap to red floss.

There's a ton of beaded work, but no time to update... yet!

The focus now is on the hardanger piece... after that is done, I have 3 more challenge projects. Oriental Fans will be next, but not after taking a breather and finishing a blackwork band sampler. Yummy, I can't wait!

Blogthings - a minor addiction

2007-01-25T22:23:00.000+08:00

I started doing one... then it sort of turned into a monster. Here's some results I got. You can click on the links for yours :)

Who Should Paint You: Gustav Klimt

Sensual and gorgeous, you would inspire an enchanting portrait..
With just enough classic appeal to be hung in any museum!

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind.
You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life.
Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling.
And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

You Are Rouge Red

Of all the reds, you are the most energetic and vibrant.
You never need to recharge, and in fact, you often recharge others.
Gutsy and brave, you've never let your fears stop you from doing anything.
You figure that life is all about experiences, and you'll always take that leap of faith.

What Color Red Are You?

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR MAGIC ???

MyGen Profile Generator

Your color of magic is Violet
Violet is the color of the mystic
You are a person who has a great connection with their spirit.
Magic came to you as easily as breathing
You use your magic for everything from cleaning your room to healing the sick
You are the highest among all magic users
You have the strongest magic
Some words that describe you are
Spirituality
Magic
Inner-awareness
Reformation
Royalty
Purification
Trust
Faith

Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

non work post

2007-01-19T23:06:00.000+08:00

Making this post in reply to my friend Ling's blog... Ling is so nice and tactful, so here's the evil version of how yours truly sees things.

I work with Ling. She's a hell of a writer, even double that of a journalist.

There was a round of promotions at the office. Needless to say, a bit surprising, a tad disappointing.

well, somehow, seven years of journalism and watching the promotions kind of sums up my career or the efforts I've made. Even if the choices were not made to benefit me, they should be made to benefit the deserving crowd, of which some of my friends belong to.

There are some who hold their heads up high and bravely soldier on.

Me, I might just opt for a new job. A sexetary, specialising in dicktation! hahahhahahaha

(one thing you are not, Crafty Pretender, is dignified)

Stop the insanity!

2007-01-17T18:41:00.000+08:00

I just made an actual wishlist of cross stitch and hardanger stuff. It's not even closed to being finished yet, (Haven't stared at Nordic Needle, etc etc)... Now think I have some kind of nasty sickness... look at this...(sorry for the colours in the beginning.. I was feeling bored hehehe)

My wish list

Abbey Lane
Cantata
New Beginning

Anagram Diffusion
Anagram Renaissance
New Sampler Rouge

A Mon Ami A Pierre
Quaker Style AMAP (off Kunst & Vliegwerk)
Abre Aux oiseaux positif

Arelate Studio
Bright Ship
Ferocious Beastie
Fierce Warriors
Here Be Wyverns
Luxuriance of Lions

Art Stitch
Waterlilies

Beardie Designs
Band Sampler

Butternut Road
Celtic Banner
Calico Crossroads
Gone Fishin’

Carriage House Samplings
Haunting Mermaid

Character Creations
Study

Chatelaine
Egyptian mandala (when out)
Indian Summer Reflections
Misty Morning Vineyard

Cindy Valentine
Midnight Arabesque
Raspberry Parfait

Dave Shaw
Frigate, Eyes of the Fleet

Design Connection
Garden in Blue
Rose of Sharon Quilt Sampler

Dessins
Knights 1 to 4
Antique Dragon

Diane Graebner (Lynn’s Prints)
Dad’s Day Out
Couldn’t Wait

Dimples Designs
Shroomhilde
Wee Beasties 4

Drawn Thread
Wayward Garden
Cloister Garden
Sanctuary
Treasure Box

Elizabeth’s Designs
Galleon and Sea Monster

Four Oaks Designs
Love Song
Rhapsody in Blue

Giulia Punti Antichi
Old Italian Sampler

Graceful Lily Needlework
ALL Ironwork charts!
Indonesian Medan Elephant

HAED
Jane Starr Weils
Lily Moon Storm
Enchantress

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
Page of Wands
Page of Cups
Snails

Meredith Dillman
Sweet Music of Spring

Sara Butcher
Autumn
Summer

Linda Ravenscroft
Red Witch
Free Flight
Rainforest Fairy

Heartland House
Saguaro Forms and Cactus Flowers
Waterlilies Art Glass

Homespun Samplar
The Hunt

Indigo Rose
Brittany’s Quilt
Catherine Agnes
My Daughter
Jasmine and Sapphire
Lilacs and Amethyst
White Orchids and Diamonds

Ink Circles
I Still Do (when released)
Purple sampler

Kustom Krafts
Moon Dragon

Little House Needleworks
The Bookshelf

Longdog
Beaute Spotte
Ages of Man
Bagatelle
Paradigm Lost
St Senoch
St Sylvestre

M Designs
Celtic Heart
Maw Maw’s Quilt

Mariska
Coussin Mandala
Coeur

Mirabilia
South Seas Mermaid
Lady of the Mist
Shimmering Mermaid
Maidens of the Seasons I and II
Queen Mermaid
Villa Mirabilia
Mermaid of the Pearls
The Kiss
Royal Holiday
Winter Queen

Papillon Creations
Ring o Roses
Peacock Panel
St Sophia
Quaker Gameboard

Permin of Copenhagen
Blue Sampler
1764 Stickmuster Celle
Sampler 1761
1826 Celle

PINN Stitch
Chinese Blessing Dolls II and III
Pai Xiao
Land of Paradise
Peacock

Queenstown Samplers
Queens Garden Sampler
Rosewood Manor
Red Threads

Samplers & Such
Bright Spots Sampler
Garden Spots

Satin Stitches
Summer Insects
Medallion Band
Critter Bookmarks

SavoirFaire Vailly
Musical Sampler

Scarlet Letter
Anne Grimshaw 1818
Coraggio

Stitchinspiration
Albemarle

Sweetheart Tree
North Star Sampler

Ute Scheer / Studio for Historical Samplers
Morocco
Nanette Hassig (under Biedermeier)
Baroque Sampler (Dorothee Kandzi)
Old Saxon Sampler

Tagging questions!

2007-01-16T19:39:00.000+08:00

I got tagged by this meme thing (Don't even understand what it is, but I will try)

So here goes: 6 Weird Things You Didn't Know About Me
1. I don't own a driving licence. At least, not anymore after it's expired about 6 years ago. Therefore, I don't drive. Living in the city means I'm a cab girl or just get ferried around.

2. I start to stuff my face during stress. Usually I know what I like to eat, but under stress, my mouth becomes the world's biggest garbage bin for any kind of food.

3. When frustrated, unhappy or trying to work some things out, I talk to myself. Possible psychiatric patient here?

4. I jokingly refer to my curved nosed jewellery plier as a sex toy, much to the embarassment of my beading teacher. Wonder why she blushed? hahaha

5. I smoke cigars on occasion. We will not go into how much my alcohol tolerance is, honed by years of drinking sessions at press parties, listening to grizzled and pseudo-grizzled media veterans yarn about the old days.

6. I once broke 2 of my significant other's ribs by accident. My knee went into his ribcage (also by accident). Luckily, he didn't even blink. And there was nothing to forgive. Is it any wonder, he is still my significant other and I'm a lucky girl?

I am tagging Joyce, Novia, Wanda, Faizon and Karyl.

Hair issues: 2 Gentlemen from Ancient China

2007-01-14T20:54:00.000+08:00

First, I hope Novia is going to smile when she sees this.

Second, I hope Tim will see this! He is so busy and never has time to update his blog, though does such great work (see Yummytimtam in the link). C'mon Tim, we wanted to SAL this one for ages!

Here's the before and after pix of the 8 Immortals. I took a while to finish Baldy. Can't remember his name but he's supposed to represent the sick and aging, but his flowers are a joy to stitch. DMC 347, 350, 351, etc are really fiery colours. After that, the dude with the long hair was surprisingly quite fast, considering how slow I stitch these things. The red part on his blue tunic is his scabbard... eventually you'll see a sword there.

Pic no 1. Top of botak head

pic no 2 ... facial detail and colourful clothes!!! YAY!

Watch this space soon for Hardanger Lesson 2. The pictures are

done... I'm just too lazy to write out the "class" at the moment.

Goals

2007-01-12T15:04:00.000+08:00

Let's see how far this gets by December 31 this year

8 is a lucky number for the Chinese, so....

1. I will restart my creative writing career for fiction/poetry
2. I will establish the jewellery biz formally
3. I will finish that damn purple hardanger runner
4. I will finish the floral blackwork band sampler
5. I will finish Oriental Fans (ha ha ha ha)
6. I will start either Fish City or Fantasies of the Sea on my birthday
7. I will finish beaded Peranakan shoe pattern (and maybe buy more)
8. I will finish the 25 motif tatting challenge even if it seems stalled right now

side quests:
Finish Sea Stars
Start Auspicious Argosy
Not buy more than 5 charts this year (yeah.... ok)

Hardanger Part 1

2007-01-07T16:31:00.000+08:00

At the request of all my friends in the Crafty Coven, I'm posting a hardanger tutorial on the basics and some different needle lace techniques. We're also going to SAL a Nordic Needle freebie, whee!!!

NEWBIE’S HARDANGER -- It’s not so very hard

Origins: It’s widely used in Norway, though research on the Internet also suggests that while traditional in Scandinavia, the earliest form of cutwork could have come from Persia. Yay, Persia!

pic caption: this is the back of a doiley i made called Flame of the Forest (renamed from a Nordic Needle pattern). It's useful to remember that the back of any hardanger piece is supposed to be as close and neat as possible as the front.

Part 1: What you need

Fabric. Hardanger is most often used on 22-count fabric (sometimes called Oslo), as well as various even weaves and linens. Thus, popular counts are as follows: 22, 25, 28 and 32.

Threads. Perle cotton is most often used. Perle no. 5 (whether DMC/Anchor or other brands) comes in a skein, while Perle no 8 or 12 comes in a ball.
The general rule is, the larger the number, the thinner the thread.

Needles. Usually used with tapestry needles, size 24 (generally for kloster blocks and blanket stitches, esp if you use Perle no. 5) and Size 26 (usually for needle weaving)

Scissors. A sharp slim-ended pair is best for cutting so you can slip it between the threads and snip them carefully. Hardanger scissors have a curve to them, but you can use any fine embroidery scissors.

Part 2: Kloster wha-???
These are made from satin stitches. A block of them in fives, are called kloster blocks. When you make these, there should be (in theory) three holes or four threads between where your needle goes up or down.

You only stitch them in one direction. Don’t try to save extra thread -- If your stitches go from down to up, that’s the way it always needs to be within that rung, or it will be a costly lesson in time and effort when you cut!

You can also make satin stitches to make floral patterns (like that Caron website thingy we're going to SAL)
Another rule is, your backs (unlike HAED backs) have to be as neat as possible, and closest thing to a mirror image with the front because a lot of pieces end up as doilies,etc

Here's how I did a mini sampler of a kloster block. We'll eventually turn it into a woven bar.

We start out making three kloster blocks. 3 of em, before we move horizontally.

Until we have some kind of grid looking thing here :)

Okay this is the end of Part 1. Blogger isn't cooperating and letting me upload a lot of things now.

Up next: Cutting and weaving

WIP it good, baby

2007-01-04T15:18:00.000+08:00

I finished 50% of Oriental Fans, sans backstitching last night! Actually, I went into Page 3 of the chart, but had to frog a lot of it, too. Pic to follow tonight, if I remember.

eta : here it is!

Also, here's some earrings I made for Susan earlier this year. I have more stuff to show but haven't taken pictures yet. They're named (aptly, I think) Sizzling Susan.

And a new start ... PINN's 8 Immortals... just the top left corner, with Baldy's head and stick

The CraftyPretender has counted her list of stitching WIPs... shocking... I never knew how out of control it has gotten.

Are you prepared for this? Nineteen. (listed on the right frame, below previous posts)

Nineteen times I laughed with glee as I pulled out a chart. Nineteen times I stroked floss and threw it into a shopping cart at the LNS. Nineteen times I did floss tosses.
Okay, I admit, there are people with more (if you are reading this, you know who you are), but all I've listed are BAP/big-assed pieces. Doooooom, doooooooooooooooooooom! And I have many many many more charts to stitch.

I know Joyce must be grinning as she reads this. I'll also admit, I hung my head in shame after the WIP count. Which might account for this sudden "I cannot start, I must finish" phase.

I'm going to do a quick plug of some blogs today, just because. They're all linked on the right frame as well.

Joyce - fellow Bandit (see 4 Stitching Bandits, our joint blog which features six stitchers who post at will or after rigorous prodding). A real darling angel, but the bossiest of the lot. But watch her stitching closely, because she's so darn good at it - immaculate stitches and she's so quick, esp. her magical piece, Metamorphosis.

Terry is a lady who posted a comment and I surfed over to her blog, Through The Hoop, for fun and was totally blown away by the amazing free style embroidery work she's done, as well as the blackwork and finishes. So she posts on my blog and I post on hers and next thing I know, we're linky-linked to one another.

Wanda (Happy Stitcher) - is a blog you can read because it simply just picks you up... her joy of stitching and life really permeates through her writing and she updates quite often and she writes in that kind of vein that is not (annoyingly) like mememememememe... I always think of Wanda's blog as a healing blog, don't ask me why, I always feel better after reading it.

Karyl - is a quilter, and not really part of any stitching ring/group I belong to, but I've known her via emails and chat for a few years now. She says it like it is, and she also runs a successful business selling her quilts and stuff ... she just started a blog, too. I hope she designs one day, because she's so good!

25 Tatting Challenge - Lace, lace, gorgeous lace. Need I say more! Many many great links.

Nikki -Sass and stitching put together = hard to say no to reading it. Look out for her WIP of Midnight Orchard (HAED). She also received a lot of Christmas stash, so it would be a good idea to stalk it from occasion. muahahahahahahaha

Kitt - She stitches and she knits. And she has got gorrrrrrrrrgeous silks and samplers. Need I say more!

last and def. not the least
Novia - The one and only Sexy Fairy. One of my stitching heroes, one of my bestest stitching buddies and someone I'm so happy to call a friend. Her WIP of Roots got me hooked onto art stitching for life. She's also a Bandit, though while J is a finisher, Novi is a huge enabler and starter. See Finished Stitched for more details

And oyyy, the rest of you lot need to update your blogs more!! like Heather and Brandy!

Eightsome Reel

2007-01-01T04:57:00.000+08:00

5 new starts sans nagging, for Novia and me!

Happy new year!

The long-awaited update

2006-12-30T20:44:00.000+08:00

Well, folks... the camera is back and behaving properly!

I will be posting numerous starts and WIPs to show how out of control it's become... no tatting today, but I will at a later date. The Taiwanese earthquake that damaged undersea cabkes wreaked havoc on a lot of picture uploading times, so we will try to put piccies up one by one.

This is the beginning of Page 5 of Papillon Creations' Eightsome Reel, using my colours. Joyce has challenged me to finish it by latest January 1 or she's going to give me hell for every single new start I have. EEEK!!

Speaking of new starts... This purty red thing here (me practising my redneck accent) is.... Blue Ribbon Designs' REd Velvet Sampler. I love this one so much but it's going super slow.

Also, this is the first time I've stitched using Anchor threads. The actual shade is actually a deep eggplant/dark plum, but it looks sort of reddish here.

Stitched on white 35-ct Edinburgh linen

And here is why Red Velvet is soooo slow....

I've been a bad girl with stashing ... heheheheh

Ink Circles' Sea Stars, Pg 1 done, into Pg 2,

also stitched on 35ct Edinburgh linen

And here is one I've been madly working on in fits and spurts. Jan Houtman's Patchwork Sampler... a Dutch sampler I got from a Dutch LNS. 30% done.

This is about all I've got to upload in this post.... there are more pix but I'll save that for in a few days' time :) Plus Blogger is not uploading properly now... grrr!

Look forward, don't turn back

2006-12-15T15:50:00.000+08:00

Well, we are almost at the year's end.

So here I sit (skiving at work) on a Friday afternoon, thinking about what has happened in the last twelve months or so and what may lie ahead for my crafting fingers.

First, a quick recap on the crafts. Well...it has definitely been big on exploration and broadening interests. I learnt hardanger and how wonderfully quick it is. I also learnt tatting, and how wonderfully portable it is. And I began what I suspect will be a lifelong love affair with beads. (you know you are besotted and the first word that comes to your brain in the morning is "bicones", not "shit, do I have to work today" or "I want to stash" or "I am horny") hahaha, ok, stop laughing.

I have gone stir crazy over
a) HAED charts
b) more BAP charts
c) samplers!!!!

On the latter, there are a few people who I would like to blam.. er, thank... some of these people know me well, others not at all, but here is the glory list:
Aida Marleena (thanks for introducing me to IR and Patricia Ann and all the hours we spend poring over Stitchings Bits and Bobs and trying to break each other's stash diet), Marc Davis (as always, such a great inspiration), Novia (Sexy Fairy, how can I even begin to describe your role in this one), Magi (I call her Mag for short... amazing taste in charts and great stasher!), Aw FC (again, impeccable taste... I miss writing to that woman), Tracy Horner of Ink Circles (for modernising the sampler)... the list goes on and on.

For other crafts, I would like to single out Mona for posting stuff that makes me drool helplessly and being so supportive for just about every craft I dabble with and Faizon for the enormous amount of support she's provided for tatting, not only to me, but to so many others. Faizon's career as a tatting designer may be set to take off soon, so be sure to haunt her blog many many many times!

2006 started out sort of quiet... I remember my first "action" for crafts this year was to purchase US$50 worth of PINN charts ... and it sort of mushroomed into buyingbuyingbuying.... and a stash diet... and another round of buying, and another stash diet. I am starting to think that deprivation is very bad for the pocket, so this means, should I make a note to stash or keep some money aside each month... and roll it over to the next when i need to stash? (like, say, save up for silks instead of plugging my gullet with beer)

It's been a year of establishing new ties. Strong ones. It's also been quite an eye-opener about other people (disappointingly so). Here's a rundown of the best parts of stitching communities

My local circle of real stitchy friends here...we don't meet often but we have fun when we do... and we share WIPs and show each other stuff ... most resounding one I hear during these meets are "When are you going to finish THIS one?" (hello ladies, I am a serial starter... means i may die with 1000 WIPs..erk!)

25 Motif Challenge... it is not a formal community per se but a bunch of tatters brought together by the fabulous Sharon to tat 25 motifs in the year. The best part about it, is, I've made some friends from on there, which I've learnt quite a bit from.

Crafty Coven. We know everybody's name, and yeah, where each other lives too hahaha... and the sharing of every day experiences is somehow... profound? bonding? meaningful? I really like it that we behave like a tight-knit clan, even when Joyce cracks that whip hehehehe, and we share joys and fears and happiness and woes and stress. We have a Ding Dong lover, a gay man (superqueen sean!), a straight man (nannerboy), a fabric dyer, a new designer... and we share good news like starting new things in celebration of pregnancies.. hehehe... Nikki just found out she's pregnant...

4 Stitching Bandits. I think this is really quite a special story to tell. We got 3 Chinese girls and 1 gay man (not Chinese, but might as well be our sista). We're spread out across the world, but most nights, we log in and chat ... we mix languages and stuff but it's like... so cool, you know? And we understand one another... (Well, except for OAATing). Ever met a group of different people , you just get together and you feel that you belong? That's the Bandits for us.

On sadder news, I quietly left Malaysian Stitchers in September (MYS) due to mounting unhappiness about the politics on the board. (this is cross fucking stitch...why inject politics into floss and linen???!!!) No, it wasn't about the entire group... it was just that the situation turned into something I cared not to be a part of, so I kept my friends and walked away.

I had thought "okay, there's the end of that, life moves on". However, I was e-mailed privately by a moderator about why I left. So I told her, in frank terms, about it. I didn't point fingers. I just stated what i thought was the facts. There was no need to lay any blame. Contrary to my expectations on what defines honouring the privacy of a personal e-mail, this person took specific details (without referring to the entire context of the letter) and plugged it onto the MYS board, in full public. And she made enough references for people to guess who it was. Without me having any chance of defending what i had written. Of course, in typical fashion, there were people who fell silent and some others who made fairly harsh references to me. And yet others who did their own round of backstabbing... funny how they won't say it to my face but prefer to conduct character assasination behind my back.

How bloody low can you get? And she's supposed to be some sort of responsible person?! Following this, she blew up some major drama and wanted to leave (don't know whether it has happened or she hasn't followed her word, but not like it matters). Well, I wonder how she sleeps at night.

So... that was quite an eye-opener. It's sad, because I once considered this person a friend. She turned around and hung me out to dry, and I felt like I was led to burn at the stake. And yeah, she never once owned up to it.

But then...I learnt my lesson and moved on. Screw the slings and arrows of misfortune. No more greedy, drama-centric, untrustworthy people for me! I got my Bandits, my Coven and my real friends.

Happy 2007, everyone!

Bad bad no image

2006-12-10T11:01:00.000+08:00

Just a short note to say that I've not entirely dropped off the face of the earth. I've been busy crafting quite a bit with plenty of lovely new starts but... the camera is in the hospital and is there for a mid-term recuperation. (one of the pins broke in the Middle East.. damn camera pin).

Will be back up and posting regularly when I get it back. In the meantime, a lot of new jewellery has been made for private commissions, and I've been stitching samplers like mad!!

Two more (darn Blogger!)

2006-11-08T21:34:00.000+08:00

Stupid Blogger didn't let me upload two pictures just now, so here are the other two that could not be posted with New Pix on the Blog.

Here's a girly girl necklace. Does anyone have any suggestions to name this pink thing? ..

Here is a sort of religious looking earrings, in ice blue glass pearls. (looks grey here) Sorry, no name also. Too teed off at having to post twice!

New pix on the blog

2006-11-08T20:31:00.000+08:00

Well, here we are slowly moving our way into the second week of November. Been trying to move towards more jewellery projects, but the nature of the beast (or job) is such that I come home tired, too tired to have my creative fancies tickled.

have spent a little time doing a little groundwork and planning for a future project that I sincerely hope will make some impact (no details as yet but all to be revealed later when the time is right)

I've been doing a lot of eyelets for my mom's tableruner. There are about 500 full sided eyelets and about 70 to 80 partial eyelets in that purple monster... but with the perle cotton no 8 I am using the colour detail is starting to pop up a little bit, so that is not too bad. Sorry, no hardanger pic for today.

I have been also working on a little bit of cross stitch. I have some progress on a couple of WIP but I only took this one... yes... it is a new start. It was a freebie by French designer Annick Abrial called Terre de France and it is a MONSTER of a chart... half a metre of buttercream Meran fabric dedicated to this alone.

Typically, it is done in one colour, red, on white fabric but like i always think, why do what everyone else is doing?. I was thinking of my tatting friend Snowy from Cahors, France (Terre de France also covers Cahors as one of its provinces) when I started this. Snowy and I are part of the 25-Motif Challenge, though I seem to be slacking off a bit in that.. erk! (trying to work a Bestitched.com piece and I keep miscounting)

A quick plug for Snowy here... she is a Wonderful tatter and she works with, oh joy oh joys, overdyed threads. Very yummy indeed ... Here is a link to her blog - http://flocondeneige-frivolite.blogspot.com/

Mme Abrial has a new mystery sampler (very pretty!) up, which she will reveal bit by bit of, but Terre de France has been taken off her website. Please google to see her website, as I cannot recall if she allows for links.

Didn't take any other cross stitch pix, sorry. It is turning out to be the most long lasting of all my different crafts. But here's some jewellery for you to look at.

Here is what I produced last week. Thinking for a name for it ... Golden Triangle, maybe?

This is a masochist's delight. It involves individually looping 103 wires to hold 103 beads together, (By hand, yes) and then linked. Yours truly was brave/idiot/mad enough to attempt ... and succeed ... 103 pieces in 90 minutes.

But I couldn't feel my fingers for a day afterwards. LOL! I will be making more of these for myself, probably with other 'ingredients'.

I also made a one of a kind custom scissor bracelet for my stitching queen bandit, Sean, but due to him either expecting a surprise (or not... grrr, he never replied to my email), I cannot 'publish' my product until it is safely in his hands. Up next will be custom bracelets for Novia and Joyce -- so it is likely I will post all of our bracelets once they receive it. Oops, better get back to work then, and then to the post office.

here are ...

1 pair of woven and looped earrings ... yes, the colour scheme, as always, is mine. The lighting is not the best because it was late afternoon when the pic was taken, but it looks like watermelon shades. So, here is Watermelon Men (an offshoot from famous Mongo Santamaria song).

I have to cut this blog shot because it won't let me upload mf other jewellery... grrrr!!!

phew! I think I covered it. Hope to post some new things before I go to Dubai next week!

No Pain In The Neck

2006-10-30T01:11:00.001+08:00

Well, this is, I warn ya, going to be a picture-heavy post.

Beading is big for me. I've grown to be as addicted to surfing beadshops as cross stitch sites. I know Joyce is going to crack the whip because I was supposed to pick up my needle but I had sooooooooooooo many obligation projects to complete and deliver that I had to get some of it out of the way. I'll stitch on Monday night, J, don't beat meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Back to beads... Today's projects are largely about/for my mother. You see, mom's one of those who seldom buy jewellery (a lot of it, I used to give to her... you know, one every birthday, mom's day, etc, since I was a kid) but she tends to hang on to her pieces because they're quite special.

When I was about 7 years old, she took me to Chinatown to look around some of the ethnic stuff. She bought a heavy beaded necklace made out of brass or bronze, encrusted with coloured stones. I dont know what they are but each bead can be pretty heavy ... it's more ethnic than fine jewellery... i've inherited her taste for trinkets, too. From what we gathered, it either came from a Tibetan or Nepalese tribe. Well, mom wore it for years with a white dress, until the thread finally came apart about 4-5 years ago. The long and short of it, she hung on to the beads and today, I sort of gave it a new lease of life.

Here are 3 shots, one with and without a flash each.

I redesigned the 'layout' of the original necklace by quite a bit, but kept to the red colour scheme, and added the large plastic and seed beads, black bicones and Miyukis for extra contrast. Well, she really likes it and is looking forward to wearing this colourful piece again. Since we still can't figure out if it's from Tibet or Nepal,(we have a good eye for spotting cultural styles), it's been given a generalised name -- Himalayan Summer.

Next up, (this is a crappy picture), I also gave mom her version of her floating pearl necklace. We had to visit a gemstone store to find the black and white freshwater pearls (my first original version was done with pink and grey glass read-- fake -- beads), and despite them having striations, I thought that the lustre was really quite good and the rice pearls quite uniform in size.

Ooops. Also made her matching earrings -- now she can take this to her vacation in Hanoi next month. Buy me some Vietnamese beads, mom!!!!

Here's the last piece I made today. Yepper, it's a 100% CraftyPretender original. (the others are more like... face-lifts hahaa). I had bought a strand of glass beads in smoky lavendar a month ago and wondering what the hell I was going to do with them, and of course, if you're a jewellery slut like me, you just need to look at other things and add. And add. And add. And add.

Here's the necklace

And the earrings to go with it (arty shot, hehehe)

I do plan to make more of these and keep a copy for myself :) That being said, the owner of the first set is a friend -- and I thought of what she's like, and her personality really gave me the inspiration to put the design together.

I think of it as more of a "confident woman's" jewellery -- it's not too "in your face" but it is a bit distinctive *cough cough cough*, a little elegant and just a little bit mysterious.

Yeah, Kerry, if you're reading this blog, it's about you! Apropos towards the true owner of this piece, I am christening it Hot Mama!

Here it is against some kind of shiny black fabric...(turns out, I had grabbed my black work trousers that someone accidentally burnt a big hole in the butt in, with the steam iron grrrrrrr)

Sorry, Bandits, it's not the secret stuff you're all waiting for...yet. I'll get to that one this week, I promise.

No Pain In The Neck

2006-10-30T01:11:00.000+08:00

Tatatatatatatatatatatat

2006-10-28T19:56:00.000+08:00

Sorry, it was a goofy title, but I couldn't help it!

Here are motifs 9 and 10, the ninth is a mini from Blomqvist/Persson, done in variegated yellow from Anchor, size 20. Why is it I hate stitching with yellow (Esp after that Christensen HAED piece... 20 shades of yellow for a crappy wing) but I love tatting with this, because the shades differ so greatly after a few double stitches.

This is a mini motif. My friend said it looked like a .... ummm ... nevermind. I blushed.

And here is the second piece, in a watermelon peach shade, size 10 Floretta from Hakelgarn. It doesn't look finished because it is actually part of a large doiley (free pattern courtsey of Be-Stitched... what an amazing designer she is!!) If you are interested, look under Be-Stitched's Pink Doily originally made for her mother. It was also her first designed doily and won first prize at the state fair, I think. How inspiring! Makes me wanna try to design my second motif!

More pix

2006-10-28T00:24:00.000+08:00

Some more craft pics... Sorry, I don't have much to say these few, feeling a little under the weather and spending time yakking on Yahoo! Messenger to Chinese girls in USA and Europe! (you know who you are !!)

First off, a woven beaded bracelet for Hung Yee. I swear, she's such a princess LOL

Karen earrings -- using bone beads, bugle beads, 2 freshwater pearls and 2 Swarovski bicones

Two tatting pieces, making motifs 9 and 10. FIFTEeN MORE TO GO!!!

The first from Blomqvist/Perrson, is this little yellow thing. My friend say it looks very sexy.

I sorta had to blush ; )

.... erm ok I just checked... Blogger is having PMS right now, so I can't upload anymore things, though there's loads I wanna put in. Sorry, I'll try again in a day or so.

Bead frenzy

2006-10-19T22:23:00.000+08:00

Lewis Carroll's immortal Alice (in Wonderland) once said "What is the use of a book if it doesn't have any pictures in it?".

I think Alice was indeed a smart girl. Also, tonight I'm lazy to type after a marathon of typing at work these past two days. So without further ado, here are some new pictures... and a rehash of one that didn't come ou right the last post.

First off... the floating necklace, tripled stranded, in pearlised powder pink and gunmetal beads.

Up next, is a woven bracelet, using glass and tube/bugle beads. I dig the icy green colour and turquoise, so here's said bracelet, tagged as Sea Foam.
You will see two alternate views, one conveniently draped across my oh-so-elegant-with-tiny-wrinkles wrist. The other over... uhhh.... my camera cover. *gulp*

Here's a bracelet with wire links. Getting wire to twist at first was a total pain, but I think I got the hang of it in the end. Called Smoke at Midnight.

Last but definitely not least, here is my SECOND original design (first being the Vampire Bat bracelet) ... a pair of earrings for my friend Hung Yee. I used fire-polished glass bicones, tiny Japanese delicas and some longish twisting looking beads, plus, of course, artful twists of my brain and wrist, buahahahaha

I was so hard pressed to find a proper name for it... it has a little bling of its own, with the sparkly brown and the glint of the bicones. As I am quite fond of Hung Yee, I also liked the colour scheme because I thought it was so her... very grounded yet with a personality that sparkles. So I was trying to call it something like Little Darling, or Cutiepatootie (which is what I call her sometimes haha). In the end, I just settled for her name... so here are the Hung Yee earrings.

p/s - Hung Yee has now dubbed herself Princess Hung Yee with a Royal Jeweller. mppphhhhhhh

a snowflake

2006-10-17T00:35:00.000+08:00

Hokay, after a weekend of guilt-free gaming and a Monday off, I still managed to find some time to have some mini happy dances.

Hardanger runner is going slowly (why??? grrr!!! ... I'll tell you why, because the blanket stitch is a b***h... you stab in and out, wind the perle cotton around the needle and pull taut. It's okay for an ornament, but for a 2 foot long runner with an unstraight edge, it's quite tedious. So, no updated posts on this for now (I'll likely stick that into the StitchingBandits blog, as well ... btw, take a look at Capella's/M's amazing quilt and the wonderful colours she is doing... it reminds me a tiny bit of the colour gradations in Genny Morrow's famous needlepoint on silk gauze project, Nova.

First off, a spot of tatting. Motif no 8 for the 25-Motif Challenge (again, from Blomqvist/Persson). It's a snowflakey thing! The trick to this is turning the rings and doing the chains in the correct direction. I'm not keeping this one -- it's something I promised to do for Elizabeth, one of my sub editors at work.

I do have an idea for a design in tatting in my brain... just haven't refined it yet, so I won't test it out until I see the stitch count and picots more clearly in my noggin.

On to beading... this is my second beading happy dance. This is a floating pearl necklace (you can actrually see the nylon thread here, but not when it rests against the neck).

eta - flipping Blogger is not putting my pic in ! I will edit later. grrr double grrr!

It was my second beading class session, but after that, I got inspired enough to pick up some beads of my own choosing and colour and come up with a scissor bracelet.

ta-daaa!!! The name for the bracelet is VAMPIRE BAT This uses seed beads, a long agate bead, 1 black freshwater pearl, 1 Bali silver bead and a big grey lampwork bead, which gives the end accent a shimmery effect. I used blue-grey long bugle-style seed beads and fiery red large sized seed beads, with some weaving detail in the middle. well there's all I got to show ... actually, there's more progress but I haven't taken a pic of that yet :P

Lace, lace and lace

2006-10-13T02:23:00.000+08:00

I've been busy with a few projects.... mainly the lace making ones. I haven't really done any cross stitch for the past few weeks, just lackadaisically working on Eightsome Reel here and there, but for now, the primary focus is the hardanger runner.

So here are some past times...

Motif no. 7 for the 25-Motif Tatting Challenge...

Edging for my friend Aida's little girl's Hari Raya baju, in variegated blue Size 10 Floretta. The pattern is a freebie from Be-Stitched.

Hardanger table runner ... a BAP by itself is coming along slowly but surely. This is the first focus piece in my five-motif challenge with the Stitching Bandits (blog link on the right) . I know, the colours are quite dull compared to my usual rainbow hues (but it must be said, that I am supposed to be decent in my colour selection... hopefully none of this is tasteless... ugh)

Finally, flaming red... crochet. It's a pattern from a Japanese pattern book that Mona loaned me (Mona is the knitnut, see blog on right), combining shells and lace. I think it's (At this point) going to be a stole... but if I get bored, I might find a way to turn this into a shrug.

Not gonna write much... going to Zzzzz now.

Like I needed a new hobby...

2006-10-08T02:07:00.000+08:00

...but here it is anyway ...

beads and jewellery, stringing and bending and playing with wires and pliers! This is my first ever necklace, done by yours truly, it's triple stranded and makes use of pearlised beads and large chocolate seed beads. I chose the colour scheme while thinking of an iced coffee, honest... so there's chocolate, champagne, mocha and olive-hunter green for a little contrasting colour.

It also has a name --- COFFEE DATE

Someone gave me stash!

2006-10-06T11:31:00.000+08:00

In light of my pending stash diet aka 5 BAP finish done with my 4 Stitching Bandits gang, I got a mini-break thanks to my friend Magi from the Malaysian Stitchers board. she had made a needlebook with a bee in it and my initials and also sent over some Anchor Perle Cotton she had gotten in Scotland.

I really don't know why I deserve all this... and I am so thankful to her. She says it is because I helped her to kit her HAED and helped her get a beautiful sampler, but really, it is my pleasure. That's what groups are all about, isn't it? Helping and sharing.

Anyway, my new needlebook (this really is such a novelty for me because I do not know how to do finishing and I wish I did, I have a needlebook keep kit here from Scotland bought for me by my buddy Karen, and I don't know how to get that done and dearly wish to.

I have been moving my online "social" stitchers focus of late to new circles and taking a backseat from places like MYS and moving to other things like Shuttles and Needles on Yahoo. But the most exciting these days are the 4 Stitching Bandits. I cannot plug them enough because Joyce, Sean and Novia and by extension, Audrey (is also a Bandit now, I figure!!) are such amazing, amazing craftsmen with the needle. Puts me to shame!

We've got a little joke among us
Joyce is the stitching angel (cos she is just soooooo sweet and nice)
I am the stitching devil (yeah, I know, if the shoe fits)
Novia is the stitching fairy (because Novia's just... well, magic)
Sean is the stitching queen (nuff said hahahahaha you know I love you, Sean :) )

Everyone needs a little royalty in their lives, my sweet. if Audrey is in, do we find a tag for her, too? hehehe.

Also an additional plug, Novia owns Titania Dreams, an online LNS and Audrey founded and manages Dark Lilac, another online LNS. Their shop links can be found in the 4 Stithcing Bandits blog (look at the links on the left).

Does this count as a motif?

2006-10-04T23:41:00.000+08:00

I was on a sort of roll for this ... okay, so the centre part looks a little bit crumply (and I still don't know what happened)... but I was doing great with the clovers (after a bad first start , this is a restart).... two rows of clovers in pink. And the final big row in that violet-blue which so many of my friends like.

and then I did the old faithful mistake ... not looking and tatting an extra clover and joined it... arrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhh.... this is the result. You can see the hole in there, if you look carefully.

Does it count as a motif ? I'm quite annoyed with it, so it's with my mother who promises to use it!.

The (botched) doiley is from the famous Blomqvist/Persson pattern book from Dover Publications. Tatted using DMC Cebelia no 30 in Blanc, 3326 and 3747.

well... on to the next!

Circle of friends, bonds of stitching

2006-10-04T21:30:00.000+08:00

Well, there's drama, and there's drama. (since most people are posting about it, why shouldn't I, huh?)

First off, there's been some sort of conflict/drama going on at the HAED BB (I missed most of it, but gathered bits and pieces), from what I understand, there's a lot of vitriol, finger-pointing, innocent people, guilty parties, hurt feelings, power tripping... you know, all the unnecessary rubbish that makes life so difficult.

But it doesn't just permeate in the HAED BB. There's also some nicey nice nastiness (you know, being nasty but acting nice) in some of my other stitching groups as well, which makes me wonder... why? When we're all just here because we love a certain craft and want to share that love.

But... there's a bright side to this update. I've gotten together with some really good stitchy friends around the world and we're forming a little circle called 4 Stitching Bandits (I guess we'll add more as the circle grows)

Joyce (of the ET fame, see blog links at the side)
Sean (who has yet to be an active blogger grrrrr)
Novia (empress of beautiful BAP)
and me

We've also got a blog, though we're still tangling the templates out and trying to finalise our little Five-Finish Challenge. THis is a challenge for our BAPs... none of that teeny weeny finishes, as we wanted to
a) slice down our WIP pile
b) take down the growing pile of to-do charts
c) have some decent finishes to boast about
d) learn how to get other people to stash for us hahahaha

So, here's to the Bandits... (long may the needles smoke). I guess you can check the link often to see updates, as it is no just one, but four people blogging bout their crafts in there, so I expect it mght be a cornucopia of WIPs in the time to come.

Bit o' lace, motifs 3 and 4

2006-09-28T09:49:00.000+08:00

Wow, I cannot believe it has been two weeks since the last post. It's been a bit busy outside the crafting world, unfortunately, with a lot of errands and events and distractions of late, but here is a quick update. I've been doing a bunch of lace work, in different mediums - tatting, crochet and hardanger.
My friend Aida had asked me what I was doing and really, there's so much slacking in the stitching area that I was a little bit ashamed. However, I gave in to the mini startaholic despot in me and worked kloster blocks for two weeks (arrrrgh in ONE colour..just white! on this large table runner... almost pulled my hair out in boredom). The runner's for my mom who had bought the fabric for me a while back. I make her all these funny squares but this is one of my last pieces of obligation stitching.

Other than involving a motherload of kloster blocks, it also has some back stitch, eyelets and mini eyelets and ... four French knots per 'flower'. I know a lot of stitchers dread French knots (the placing in one of mine is really out) but if you keep the thread taut, it's not so bad. Here's a really bad pic, taken when the camera was running out of power. (Will update with a better pic soon, I promise) ... can't wait to finish the klosters and start cutting and creating the lacy part.

On to tatting. I'm still hot on the 25-motif challenge. Posting Motifs 4 and 5 here, both done on variegated thread... my first time working with variegated thread and I love it! It's so fun to watch the double stitches and picots change shades and tones.

I'm working on a doiley now for tatting too ... it's a lot of picots and stuff and is moving but its moving too slow... serves me right for trying to make this Motif no 6... watch this space for updates.

There's been a sort of stitching challenge that is making its way by word, around the world... you need to finish 50 pieces before going ahead to buy new stash. FIFTY... is there another worse way to torture me... sheesh. Anyway, I'm on a chart buying diet at the moment due to the high number (don't ask) of stuff that's on my plate, but I think that is a good idea to race to a finish for the remainder of the year. So, I will buy floss and threads and fabric for projects (I might even treat myself to a Thanksgiving or a Christmas new start *cough*) but I will NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT buy stash (Barring one must-have .. it's only one) until I finish a few things that NEED to be finished. Oh, the drama! ... watch this space to see how the willpower rises to the challenge or wanes like the weakling it is. (oh the drama, again)

Frog n Fish

2006-09-14T02:34:00.000+08:00

First off, TWO motifs today! Wootwootwootwootwoot!

That's right... I've been both restless and presumptuous, and had been staring (enviously) at all the lovely tatted stuff fellow tatters on the 25-Motif Challenge (link on the right, darling readers) have been coming up with, the classics and the adventurous new ones, which are so great.

Someone's doing a piece of a geisha in different textures... so amazing. Another tatter did a dragon. A dragon!

So yours truly decided to take the plunge and try (I told you, presumptuous) at designing. Or more like "let's make things up as I go and see how it looks". This is Motif no 2... a CraftyPretender/EeKoon original tatted design. My first self-design! Quite proud of myself, even if it looks quite ... wonky. Er, does this qualify as a proper motif?

It also looks like ****. Believe it or not, this design, which I'll just call "Ribbit" (inspired by Chinese frog buttons, hehehe), actually marks a number of firsts.
1) first time doing Josephine Knots... you wouldn't imagine those little rounded boogers were giving me trouble but trust me, they twist in mid-knot and end up looking like a cross stitcher's French Knot nightmare... I hadda untwist it a couple times. Undoing tatting is even worse than frogging on high count fabby!
2) First time using Size 30 thread... never done anything so fine before, I knew it could have been a mistake when I started grappling with the threads and felt my palm starting to get wet frorm all the finger-picot wrestling... eucch. Liberace had a better time playing scales.
3) First time trying to see if a chain, a JK and a little seed-looking round works ... it works ... sorta.. but I think the tying leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully this comes with practice!

I put in a photo of this, together with REAL frog buttons from one of my Chinese cheongsams, to show some semblance of inspiration. (Motif no. 3 is at the bottom of this post, btw)

Next up -- Cross Stitch
A return to HAED's Conversation Around Fish. Once again (for those who want a reference for stitching HAED, you know who you are, esp since we were yakking at it on Gmail, on, might I add, working hours) this is
done using tent stitch
2 strands over 1
on 28-count evenweave
This is Page 3 of the piece,originally painted by James Christensen. When am I gonna finish this? Hopefully before menopause hits... I'm 32, which means there could be another good 20 years left. Nice to return to this after a stitching slump ... encouraged by a MYS member to return to it too ("I missed seeing CAF grow" were her words, while e-yakking on Gmail... love Gmail... it lets me fart off, er, I mean, communicate with important contacts, while staring at a sluggish stock market)

Finally, back to tatting. Motif no. 3!!!! 22 more to go. This is from the Blomquist-Dover tome (too lazy to find the correct title, as is almost 3am and I have an oil and gas thing to go for tomorrow morning). This one was what I went to (back to Size 20 thread) after grappling and struggling with Ribbit. Spent all evening doing this one because it was just a relief not untangling chains and rings from Ribbit and enjoyed every minute of it. Think those picots are improving.

Pretty, yeah? *i have no shame*

Hey, d'you think I shuld keep on trying to design some tatting stufff.. it is, oddly enough, easier to play with (with designs) than cross stitch. Nothing beats a craft that encourages you to get all knotted up.

25 motifs, 12 months, and other needlework

2006-09-07T21:54:00.000+08:00

That's what I signed up for, after two weeks of taking my first ever tatting lesson. Prior to this, I didn't even know what the shuttle thing was for.! The 2006 tatting challenge, called the 25-motif challenge and is bringing tatters from all around the world to see what they will tat and if they will also come up with some new original designs!

This is Motif no 1, from the one and only (so sad!) tatting pattern book I have, a Dover publication from two Scandinavian names. DMC Cebelia No. 30 thread. It's also my first completed proper motif... (I was just learning how to join last week, c'mon...)

Still having trouble with uniform size picots! I plan to tat published patterns and try my hand at designing my own motif (maybe 2-3, depending on how creative it gets or if I'm really feeling presumptuous).

Frankly don't really know what I'm in for, but I saw Faizon/Jon and Barbara on the MyStitchers group join in and I'd been taking tatting lessons as of two weeks ago, and recklessly plunged into the 25-Motif Challenge with some encouragement (you know who you are). Of course, Faizon DESIGNS her own things and Barb's been tatting for a while, so what's me, a rookie doing in there. Just last week, I was still practicising how to do a double stitch and producing little rolls of seed-looking things on a string... I'd take a picture but I threw them all out alreay.

Anyhow, I've linked the challenge blog (with a Ton of tatters' links to the frames, so you can take a gander at some totally exquisite work out there. I am actually reaally excited to be participating because I know this might zoom my learning curve exponentially, which is the greatest kick... out of all the tatters there, I'm probably the 'youngest' there with two weeks' experience, but what the heck!

Aside from tatting, here is an update on some other projects. This is Eightsome Reel.... inching along at a slug's pace (photo requested by Rachel, hehehe)

And DMC's Early Spring II. Notice how I'm such a corner starter for cross stitch... don't believe in centre starts at all.

I hope to get back to some HAED soon.... I've missed my Conversation project.

Purple sweetpeas

2006-09-04T13:20:00.000+08:00

As far as I know, they're supposed to be either blue or pink (sweetpeas)... and they're supposed to smell nice, if I remember the talcum powder from Yardley's...

Well, I've been on some sort of a mini stitching slump lately, and even the lure of the darling HAEDs have failed to pique my interest... what a pity because prior to the slump, I was doing some serial starting, heheheh.

Plus I stashed in Singapore as well... I bought some 28count for another sampler (more to be revealed if and when I reach that stage) ... Mabel from Knotty Shop kept chuckling as I zipped through her fabric and charts ( bought two charts for super cheap!!! and they were TIAG/L&L!)

Here's what I've been lackadaisically doing from time to time... it's the sweet pea shawl from Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker book (not about prostitution, it's CROCHET!) ... unfortunately, Stoller had called for some exotic yarn (I'm not very sophisticated about yarn brands... that area of expertise is my buddy Mona's (for Mona's blog, see frames on right)... so I just got DMC's Petra in 1154 (154 for DMC floss)... my favourite shade, deep eggplant, and started to hook and twist away...

unfortunately, the shawl is about 3 times smaller than the expected size, as Petra is
a) thinner
b) not stretchy at all

I look like someone trying on a six year old's play shawl with this sucker, so...I've decided to do a matching on and join the ends to make... a sweet pea micro-poncho! So... one down... one more to go .... wish me luck... even as I stare at new charts... arrghhh

Reeling

2006-08-15T22:58:00.000+08:00

I'm swamped! Well, sort of... with serial starter madness. After Sisters of the Sea, I went out and bought Eightsome Reel from Papillon Creations. And then stated my intention to get Mary, Queen of Scots or Days of Knights and Dragons for my next sampler.

Think I've gone sampler mad, really. Because
a) they're beautiful
b) they're special
c) they often require not a lot of different skeins of floss (when you work on a HAED, you know what I mean)
d) they're beautiful

Arrgh, what's wrong with me!

Ohh, and I also bought a GREAT band sampler pattern from my pal Aida.

Have to stop stashing...
Have to stop writing blogs like a numb-head, too...

Anyway, here's a small look at Eightsome Reel. It called for GAST threads but since I a) have none b) can't wait, I decided to use three colours of my own choosing instead.
Originally, I wanted blue-green-purple, but decided against the blue and put in a dark sea-green (DMC 3808) and here's the result! I'll provide the other DMC numbers later.

Also, Nicole and Lana over at the HAED BB have begun this great contest, where you are encouraged to stitch your HAED and compete in terms of either time or number of stitches. I've put some work in, but it's not going as fast as I like, mainly because coverage on 25 count when you usse a tent stitch is more of an issue than 28ct... a lot of undoing and railroading and unravelling, but still I'm glad Sisters of the Sea is getting the attention it deserves.

There already is the top of dark blue coral and some green on the right -- which, btw, is mermaid hair.

Clairol, anyone?

How the garden grows

2006-08-10T21:37:00.000+08:00

This is my post of the Lepak SAL for Friday for Malaysian Stitchers. It's also my first blackwork piece, taken from Classic Stitches magazine. Blackwork works out surprisingly fast, which is quite a good thing because I'm dying to start Eightsome Reel by Papillon Creations.

It's actually a band sampler, with different things like, err, Roses (I think), some marigolds (it looks like it, and what is definitely Scottish thistles in purple. Sweet... hope to finish this sosmetime soon, seeing as my WIP pile seems to grow and grow.

Eightsome Reel is designed to remind people of the Scottish highland reels, and has ... well, I'll post something soon and you will see. The designer asked for Gentler Art Sampler Threads, but since I'm skint and can't wait, decided to sub with DMC instead. I would've liked to try out silk but I think that's a step I will take when I can better afford shipping and a more patient frame of mind.

Typhoons, Belgian brews and the Hong Kong flu-ey

2006-08-04T02:18:00.000+08:00

So I got back from Hong Kong last night, surprisingly energised but come Sunday, I'm all out of air. This top pic is a t-shirt I bought for SO... he likes dragons. It's not exactly what I had in mind (something a lot cooler, but I couldn't find it) so I will continue to look.

In short, I stitched a little. I stashed a little. I worked hard. I probably partied harder. Instead of doing the overall winding story, here's the blow by blow account

Wednesday night
arrive in Hong Kong well past midnight. Turbulence, strong winds, slashing rain made the plane land late, so by the time I get to the hotel -- Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, possibly the best I've ever stayed in, it is well past midnight. GHHH has got an interesting contrast of rooms... the bathrooms were all black marble and gold taps, v. 80s uber-yuppie Dynasty TV show style, complete with a fat bathtub. The bedroom itself is zen, with sepia pictures of China scenes, and you can't find things like cubby holes, the minibar, even electric socket points because it's so well hidden.

As for the view... ahhh... the room overlooks the pool area and since GHHH has a circular-style structure, my room is partially safe from the pelting rain (some people complained they could not sleep) and I can see outward into the sea.

Day 2 -

Conference begins (let's not talk about work, shall we?) Top executives talk and talk, and want to tell you great things, but don't really reveal anything. I send in a story. But my office doesn't use it.
I'm not discouraged. It is, after all, close to the weekend and I know what work at home can be like. So I take the opportunity to call up an old pal, a managing ed. of a venture capitalist mag out for lunch. Behave like my usual obnoxious self (mainly because I can get away with it), and then he gallantly offers to save me from corporate humdrum by a drinky session in the heart of Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong's bustling, fashionable nightspot district.

Pic is of blackwork, adapted from Lesley Wilkins' Blackwork book... this is a band sampler, and it constitutes one of the vertical borders. Am surprised how quickly it works.

I hurriedly take in a session of blackwork (this comes shortly after I purchased Papillon Creations' Eightsome Reel, which I am now chafing at the bit to start 8some) before going for dinner. I get a decent filet mignon. End up having to sit with a couple of nice gentlemen and ladies, and a few other total f***ing bores. (boars? not a bad substitute of words too). Irritated enough to take in 2 glasses of white wine, 1 of red.
Stomp back to the hotel, a little disappointed with countrymen's behaviour... why can't some of us behave with a little more elegance in the appropriate setting sometimes? Then I get a call from my pal with a nudge to head to the Foreign Correspondent's Club (FCC) in Lan Kwai Fong. Oh... major journalist's (now also catering to corporate schmooze-noses) drinking joint, so how can anyone resist that?

I take a taxi in the heavy drizzle.... the cabbie asks me what I do, and then acts surprised. You don't look like a journalist, he says. Mainly because you're too .... well-dressed. (me, well dressed in fancypants Hong Kong... come on). Drops me off near the FCC, and with my limited Cantonese, can't understand exactly where the front of the building is. I get out and ask some pimply, concave-stomached slouchy youths -- pimply concave-stomached slouchy youths seem to abound in ANY corner of the world -- who don't know what I'm talking about. "De EFF SEE SEE... you know?" After mouthing that for four times to receive the non-comprende replies, I thank them and step around the corner and the freaking FCC is bang smack staring at me in the face!

Ahhh.. well, think very English Old Boys' Club. White walls, high ceilings, old style wood fixings. My kind of place! Journalists can spot fellow hacks a mile off... look for scruffy edges even in the cleanest of lines, and there you have it. Seasoned ones, old ones, retired ones, young ones, wannabe hotshot ones were all there. Later, I learn that there's a little old lady, over 90, but still coherent, but with failing eyesight who goes in almost every day to the FCC to eat and drink and read her newspaper. She's also credited as the first journalist to send a breaking story ... well, one of The breaking stories of the past century -- she phoned in the first story that World War Two had begun. Now how cool is that!! I didn't see her, but just knowing I'm visiting the same place this spunky old biddy was special.

My editor friend (Prat, for short) is late, so I wander around the huge square bar and take a look at some photos (Later, I find a supposedly unrigged magazine cover shot of two bare-breasted Tahitian girls back in the 1960s -- very beautiful, they are, that Prat describes as a dream assignment. The Prat (he knows this is an term of friendship and affection, ofcourse) arrives just as I am about to step out of the bar and head for upstairs or downstairs and shoots me an utterly apologetic look. I know he felt shitty having me wait. But I, of course, take full opportunity, tap my watch in a manner most reproving and say , "Oi, first rule of journalism. BE ON TIME!"

We get a few glasses of wine in our systems, then I get dragged to see the jazz bar downstairs (a bit more low key, but with a saxophonist going hog wild on a phrase... nice place to hang out and smoke a cigar, I think.

Then it's out into the rain and dashing over to inner LKF. I mention "The Cavern", which is where some of the conference ppl said they were heading. And I get this semi-negative look and a reluctant... 'if you like' reply, but in retrospect, it was good just to hear about the place. They play covers, and it's app a bit of a sleaze pit ... which won't be anything very different from Kuala Lumpur spots in some places.

We head for Hong Kong brewery, best known for an excellent selection of beers from around the world. The brew of choice is to come from Belgium, and I get piled with some GREAT choices. Malaysia is so set on its pilsners and lagers that it leaves little room for other things... red beers and dark beers and bitters, for instance. I won't go into the details but between shop talk, hang out conversation and mutual friendly insults, managed to put in a red Leffe, two very very excellent Chimays, a light fruity beer to which i forget the name, and a few others.

Hong Kong begins to storm. We get the picture, and the Prat sees me to my cab and says, "Tomorrow, clubbing!"

I get home and shower again, watch a little Rock Star Supernova on MTV and doze off after putting in some more blackwork.

Day 3 -
Wake up fresh. I can't believe this. (the Prat, apparently, had a mother of a hangover haha!) Head down for breakfast and dash up to shower. This is also day 2 of the conference. (let's really not talk about it) I make some plans to interview the local office, and ask for an appointment but the PR people forget. Oh well, I'll get to it once back in Malaysia.
But now, I'm hungry to explore. Hoffman's Distributing links indicated that the majority of LNSes are in Kowloon, and a ferry across and back cannot be done on time, so I look for a subsidiary shop of one of the LNS's, located in busy Causeway Bay.
Instead of doing the plebeian thing of taking a MTR over, I cabbed it to some of the busiest thoroughfares of central HK... now, I was on an LNS hunt and it is like trying to sniff out a good story. Nothing gets in my way. The cab driver is confused, but it IS the right road, on Hennessy Road. No one knows where it is, so I take out the address which I cribbed on a piece of paper earlier and hunt for it on foot. I run up a few shoplots, up against tight, dark stairways. Maybe it's tight because my butt is getting bigger.. ugh

Sometimes, I get some pretty hostile looks. And no one seems to know where it is, what it is or bother, but I know I'm on the right trail. Finally, I end at this place without a number or business front-sign and ring the doorbell ... if this t urns out to be an illegal gambling den, I'm just going to turn around and get back to the hotel and order a JCC Fantasies of the Sea from HAED (as it turns out, I did that anyway thanks to the sale... *cough*).

Round the corner to face a cantankerous old man. But! He points me to the LNS! It's hidden away, neatly tucked into a corner no one can see. T&A Needlecraft, here I come. I walk in to face... a wall of yarn. Literally. I turn to find... more walls of yarn. Acrylic, cotton, wool, etc... all in big bags.

well, come on! This is A Hoffman retailer... so I round the corner, and the shop suddenly 'grows'. Everything is in a royal mess. The shop is having its annual spring clean. Everything is jumbled up, all higgledy-piggledy, but there's some method to the madness, the shop assistant tells me. The Patckwork and embroidery things are on their own shelves. And 3 big ones dedicated to cross stitch. Somewhere at the back of my mind, I'm going 'pls pls pls maybe a rare sampler' but no such luck... apparently, Hong Kong stitchers like
a) flowers
b) landscapes
c) Oriental things
d) Christian things
I'm an Oriental fan, but they didn't have anything I wanted. One interesting discovery is that DMC in different countries chart their own things... the Philippines, for instance, had a lot of Catholic-style motifs and pictures. From Tthailand are rustic pictures. I found some of the stylistic faceless women in lavish ball gowns from DMC designer Helene Tran who has done a lot of the fashion-style charts and kits for DMC... but not the At The Ball (multi coloured and bright) that I want.

I turn to look at kits... and lo and behold, hidden behind a pile of things (nothing was arranged) were some L&Ls and two Mirabilias. And right at the back, way waywayway way behind... L&L Rose Sampler. And Mirabilia's Autumn Queen, which is my favourite of all the queens! I have to rescue the poor charts from its doom of staying dusty, tired and un loved. So it was purely an act of selflessness and generosity (for sake of chart) that it received succour and claimed refugee status at the Malaysian border. Rose Sampler and Autumn Queen, I am pleased to report, have rehabilitated well and are living in their new home in my room, together with new friends like the other Miras and L&Ls, my Papillon, Vermillions, PINNS, HAEDs and DMCs and others. See, it takes a kind soul to *cough cough* put them in a better place.

Well pleased with my hunt, I head for Times Square, a big mall where Lane Crawford is. At first I thought it was that line for women with big breasts and full butts (you know... real women, not stick figures) but remembered it was Lane BRYANT.. argh. Hong Kong was in a sale madness but I was looking for something cool to take home to wear... a pity that my tastes are little more edgy than a t-shirt with a new print.

I dash back to the hotel, but the prospect of another soulless evening making small talk with people who will make some lame joke in place of humour led me to phone the Prat again. so I duck out of the dinner, strap on my clubbing gear, and he says, "let's eat dinner". I get ragged a lot for not knowing the difference between Beijing and Shanghai cuisine as am Chinese.

After that, we walk. And walk. And walk. And walk. I think about whinging when I remember that I was the one who asked for the scenic tour. I got to see a big part of commercial Hong Kong at night, which is not a common sight if you are a tourist.

First significant nightspot we hit is called The Peak, up by Soho. I ask him about a famous naughty shop in the area that I had heard of and in fact, saw in passing in my first trip to HK 8 years ago, but that has closed down due to puritan authorities (though I hear that it was actually because the shop didn't pay enough bribe money). Then we hit the bar and order a few draught beers. Being the good buddy, I help him scope out the cute girls (I know... the things I do for my friends). I wouldn't say that HK girls are more beautiful but they can be sharper dressers, and are very savvy on how to make themselves more attractive. Quite different from, say, Malaysia, where girls tend to favour brighter colours, or Australia where natural beauty is more popular.

Then walking. More walking. And more walking. I thank my common sense that I didn't do the stupid thing by wearing a dress and heels. We enter Yumla, a smaller, more intimate sort of club, with expensive booze but some of the sweetest drum n bass and breakbeat I've ever heard. By 11pm, i'm already jumping on the dance floor... the music is edgy, very very addictive, but we get a summons to hit Dragon-i, Hong Kong's most glam nightspot... so we trudge off to it... it's an eye opener because it's like fashionable KL, only about 25 times more vamped up. The place is crawling with models, male and female, and some very good looking gay men (Sorry, girls ,no piccies). the music is so-so, they did do a good mix of Eurythmics and a Jamiroquai tune but it was nothing anywhere closed to Yumla's beats.

After that, we dash over to Drop, which has a good after hours crowd, as well. I get a pleasant surprise ... on the decks is none other than Joel Lai, Hong Kong's dj extraordinaire, in GREAT form, and still wearing his trademark glasses. It's so tight in there, because people are in there dancing and being 'happening' at the same time. We get some sweet house music and bop some more, as the music is so damn infectious but I remember that I also have a flight to catch ... and finally exit Hong Kong's nightlife and close a most amazing night I will likely never forget, at 4.30am in the morning. I get back to the hotel and call the Significant Other, and then slip into bed.

And to the Prat who put up with my jokes, insults, stupid questions, took me to a fab dinner, took me out drinking and partying, and who's handed me sound advice and is a great bouncing board for ideas and problems for so many years - THANK YOU!!!! I had a great time in Hong Kong thanks to you.

Day 4 - Not too exhausted yet. But it is time to go home. Regretting that I didn't ferry it out to Kowloon but there really isn't time because the PR firm apparently screwed up some travel details of a colleague who was travelling with me so in the ensuing confusion, I gave up one last go at the shops. But I did some hardanger (to match the first four I made for mom) on the plane. Here is a WIP.

But I came home, tired and sleepy and hungering to stitch a BAP. So I finished the first 20 rows of Sisters of the Sea before heading to bed last night.

Small waves (as am on top of Pg 1)

2006-07-30T13:03:00.000+08:00

Yipperoonie!!!!! It's a new start.

About 1200 stitches in for HAED's Sisters of the Sea!
This chart is my ultimate HAED chart, and I'm dedicating time for this because Novia's been encouraging me (And everyone knows I get motivated best that way hehehe)

Umm not a whole lot else, as I'm preparing for a trip to Hong Kong for a few days for work, but I'm also plugging some time into CAF and some crochet. Hope to get a post later, if not later into the week when I'm back.

Now to hunt for an LNS in HK...

Mystery of the floating orange

2006-07-28T01:56:00.001+08:00

Quick post of the latest stuff (though there are many more that I've not taken a picture of yet). Once again, I plead the hectic hours and high demands of my work took me away from stitching, both inclination and energy. Things are getting done, and my WIPs grow, but slowly.

I'm trying to keep a lid on my rotation before it blows out of proportion. Have seemingly transitioned out of a HAED-OAATness to include 3 pieces in my rotation (among my non-HAED, and non-XS stuff)

These include my CAF, Bridge Where She Waits (a restart) and Sisters of the Sea *drool*. I haven't taken a picture of the latter two because they are, at this point, mere blobs on page 1. Small blobs. Arghhh... need more time to play with my lovely charts.

Anyway, (pardon the lighting as it's done with my OTT-type light with a"soft white" bulb, which means it has a yellow cast.. it is kinder on the eyes, but shitty for pictures!), for the Friday WIP report, here's Conversation Around Fish ... with two new oranges, and one of them's floating in space...

Here's my other project, non-HAED ... my Oriental Fans, which sees a start into the second fan. Yay!

this is CraftyPretender, signing off at 2.03am Friday mornin'. good nite!

starting and stopping

2006-07-23T23:26:00.000+08:00

Not a lot of aesthetic work for the past week. This is because, for the entire week, I've been busy enough at work (dealing with le incompetent colleague...grrr) and have been tired enough to come home and just crawl to bed. I'm a little disappointed in that, but I DID stash for my birthday...

Well, all I can say is, I now have the fabric (almost done with the gridding... I hate gridding!! double grrr), the floss and a brand spanking new chart ... done in blues and greens.. buahahha... if you know my tastes and where they run, you might have guessed it.

Spent until 5am on Friday night/Sat morning reorganising my floss boxes, and the pile of "Spares" of DMC skeins has g otten so high it is almost impossible to close my boxes now. On the good side, Jenny from Haby & Wool told me "You're a great customer, but I think you better stop buying until you finish one of your BAP! In fact I'm not gonna sell to you until I see you show me a finish!" Hmph... (but in a way, my Visa thanks her!)

I still have 3 more hours of hardanger classes at Haby's as well, might just pop by soon, when I find the time!

I love starting a piece, kitting it out. I also have stopped pieces before (I have two UFOs currently, with little hope of ressurection) But sometimes, stitchers also stop stitching a piece. There are many reasons for this...

ran out of materials
sick of the chart
eyes giving trouble
heart no longer in producing the picture
no reason at all in fact

I get somewhat irritated when people query (or worse, assume) why there is a reason why a WIP gets stopped and turned into a UFO. First and foremost, stitchers love their pastime, it gives them pleasure because there should (in my ideal world) be no deadline, no issues or rules or time period or day specified to work on something (which means I can never SAL with strict rules) . They shouldn't be questioned on their choices, or have people assume the worst when they make a decision to add another to the rotation (that being said, how am I gonna sneak buying linen at Haby to start a Mirabilia?) or to stop a WIP. Stopping my WIP was a bit of a heart ache, but I just understood (prolly like a lot of people who DO stop) that it was just not the right time to stitch and finish that.

I'm like... bloody hell, I'm a rotation stitcher, there are LOTS of options for me, instead of having tunnel vision to concentrate on just one. In fact, it is my opinion that having more choices to stitch retains the joy in crafting, so when you get bored, you reach for another and your interest never wanes. I know a lady in Europe who has about 70 WIPs in her rotation ... wow... the point for her is not to finish fast, but to enjoy what she does, which I think is the true spirit of loving a craft.

Thistle pictures for a Wiltshire lass

2006-07-17T12:57:00.000+08:00

I had to do this because Gmail won't let me attach my pictures and I'm in a hurry to get out to work! My friend Sarah from the UK has asked about thistle patterns, and I replied in my usual 3am higgledy-piggledy fashion last night.

Out of my small amount of stash (small compared to some people I know heehee), I've managed to unearth two patterns.

Apologies for the matching purple fabric background in the pic ... for that is my mooch-around-the-house comfy batik block print sarong that I wore this morning before heading to work.

The first is a Tartan Thistles needlecase...bought for me by one of my bestest buddies Karen who was vacationing in Scotland last year (but I have not done it yet because while i know how to stitch it, I don't know how to finish it ...

Think the colours for this are just too too lovely! I think Sarah might be able to find this pattern a bit easier because it's sold where she's at. The front has a logo of a male deer in it.

arrr... think I'll bring this to work to show Mona.

I remember one of my local stitching pals Aida told me about another friend who does finishing for a small fee. Hmm..

The other is a chart taken from January 06(I think)'s Classic Stitches mag, done on DMC's linen threads. Quite different sheen, no?

In other news, I'm thinking of fast-tracking some WIPs to finish so I can start new things with less guilt ... still trying to rearrange my rotation here. More details later! I really was thinking of starting Fish City from Stoney Creek, but after looking at the floss list (it's even demanded more threads than HAEd's 3 Graces!) I think I'll wait for a salary bonus to kick in first.

CAF - Page 2 down, 38 more to go!

2006-07-16T12:20:00.000+08:00

Well... it's a bare few days after my last post, and i've really not stitched a whole lot, but compared to the previous updates, here's a gander at what I finished last night (after procrastinating for the past 72 hours)

HAED, Conversation Around Fish, Page 2 is finished! And I'm a tiny bit onto Pg 3...wahoo!
I'll just alert some of the BAP stitchers and the MYS circle ...

just posted onto the HAED BB a week ago, and blanging this one is a bit too soon... everyone else posts on a large piece of progress and a measly 3 strips is not enuff ... heh heh.

WIP Friday for the group

2006-07-14T09:41:00.000+08:00

Here it is... you can start to see the spokes on the fans on Page 2. This is going slow because I'm stitching my HAED as my focus and this one as my "relax the eyes" piece. I have so many WIPs to finish ... *big sigh* gotta get my paws on that koi chart as well.

Her cap, I see her cap

2006-07-10T01:48:00.000+08:00

On the HAED project (Conversation Around Fish by James Christensen)

After interminable stitches (or seemingly so) doing blocks and confetti stitches of these colours:

DMC 310(black) 319 (a type of leafy green), 890 (another leafy green), 986 (leafy green, but looks like a bit of moss on top)
3820, 3821, 676, 3822, 3855, and about a dozen more shades of yellow ... lemon yellow,canary yellow, ochre, light bronze.. you name it, they have it!!

I finally chanced upon DMC 161 ... grey blue. Joy of joys, it's the top of the fairy lady's cap. Coming after will be the little "ruffles" on the cap's edge. Sometimes I ask myself why I am stitching such a large chart. It has 90 colours, some you use for just 3-4 stitches then have to snip and rewind ... it has 36 pages, instead of my first HAED which has 20 (and has yet to be restarted hahaha). Almost done with Page 2, I think there's another 1500 stitches there ... here is a picture to show how much it's taking up of the entire piece of fabric (the gridded area is where the picture will be).

The entire top of the picture is leaves, black background and oranges and pears, so it's nice to see something that is not fruit n leaves by the time one gets to the bottom of the page.

Yep. It's been a slightly productive weekend. I turned 32 as well. Have come to realise, in my thirties, I get kinda down on birthdays. God, where did the time go. Older, but not wiser. Dad took me out to a smashing dinner. My brother says he's buying me jewellery, not craft stuff (wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! he said I've bought enough stash on my own... and I'm on a self-imposed stash diet (sort of) ... I was going to hedge for some linen too ... oh well... not like I need it). Incidentally, my brother was the same one who bought me my first HAED patterns last year...

I've also been alternating stitching the HAED against Oriental fans. The cross stitches on Part 1 (of 4) is done and I've done some work on Part 2 as well... (after all are done, it will need to be backstitched and french knotted -- or beaded, if I feel like it).

new stash, eheheheh

2006-07-08T10:33:00.000+08:00

I've broken my stash diet a tiny bit. And my brother grows strident trying to ask me to hint to him what craft stuff i want for my birthday, so here are some pictures. I am progressing slowly on my crosss stitch though that is for another post!

Here's a mag and a DMC chart I bought... I like the koi. I bought Classic Stitches and found out there's so much variety out there, but mainly, I got it for the blackwork chart here.

Also bought 4 skeins of Petra yarn in a delicious eggplant... because I wanna learn how wto crochet clothes now.... I do apologise for the photos... they're hard to "drag" this mind-befuddled morning.

Never mix Playstation2 with hardanger

2006-07-03T19:40:00.000+08:00

Well, I've had to toss one hardanger WIP, and it was coming along in such brilliant colours.
*grump* Well, who's learnt her lesson then?

A couple of weeks back, I picked another Nordic Needle pattern and together with my friend Aida, we picked out its colours for the next Feral Hardanger project ... just think ... pale teal blue, sky blue, violet and and a stunning iris blue-iris purple Anchor variegated Perle cotton. In fact, the colours reminded me of some of the shadings in Final Fantasy X where blue moves into purple. Pretty, right? Yup. Very.

Well, thanks to last weekend's orgy of alien-zapping, PS2-console abusing and being very engrossed in replaying (oddly enough) Final Fantasy X and about 16 hours of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, ... I'm a real RPG addict ...

I miscounted my kloster blocks... off by 2 klosters per side and put my stitches all in... then moved on to the centre part ... and found my mistake. Horrors. There was just no point in frogging so I tossed the whole thing out. Needless to say, spent the remainder of Sunday being quite mad at myself. But not mad enough to not continue Dragonquest, hehe.

Looks like I will need to restart it. It really does have a pretty colour scheme. But enough of gaming, it's back to stitching. HAED, I'm comin' home!

Alien-zappin' time

2006-07-02T10:35:00.000+08:00

No stitching this weekend. It's Playstation 2 overload!!!

Snowflowers, another CP original!

2006-06-26T21:12:00.000+08:00

Boy, the things that I do while playing video games. This is an original design! What's special about it, is that I only crocheted it on the spot using some old cheap acrylic yarn, without planning or idea about a pattern, while watching cut-scenes on the game because my hands were itching for something to do. Think it comes from looking at a lot of granny square patterns.

Anyway, I'm gonna name this one Snowflowers, as it looks a bit like snowflakes and blossoms.

On the HAED side, I managed 1400 stitches over the weekend. Overdid it on Saturday night, so I spent a Sunday delicately (a dubious word, if you know me LOL) nursing my wrist and fingers...

... by playing Playstation 2 for NINE HOURS!!!

Well, my brain hurt on Monday morning as I slept at 3.30am but at least my stitching fingers are back in form. LOL. Here is Conversation With Fish

Note to self: I should really stop posting a HAED update at every single strip I finish... it does bore readers, I think, but it's hard not to put the piece back, stand 3 feet back and go "wahhh, to think I did that".... I can't wait to restart Bridge Where She Waits, too, and really, had I tented from the beginning, I would not need to undo so many months of work :(

And on the side, Oriental Fans is crawling on its way... slowly, surely. Almost done with the cross stitch of page 1 (of 4) . I will only do back stitch and frenchknots/beads after the entire thing is done. Gosh, isn't this piece moving slowly. But I won't start anything else until something gets done.

Well, maybe just ONE start for my birthday...

Bite me on the wing

2006-06-23T13:27:00.000+08:00

Since I'm already stitching two fairies, and can't afford another start for Fairy Day (as in, if my WIPs expand anymore...*cue ominous music)...

I've decided to get into it another way. Ignoring previous disasters at art...

This is a piece that tries to depict fairies in different 'generations'... tell me I'm a nut now!

I'm using my oil pastels for this...

And on another note...stitched for the first time in the past 3 nights. 900 stitches went into HAED last night.

Flame of the Forest

2006-06-22T19:59:00.000+08:00

Here she is...Flame of the Forest!

Also known as a bastardised version of Mildred Torgerson's Star Crazy.

The colours were chosen by my friend Isabelle while waiting for a property developer's shareholder's meeting to end. Belle loves bright colours (she even wants me to make a dress with those colours in it, she told me over lunch today!... oh dear, guess I need to take up tailoring classes soon...)

I started it then, but really put in the majority of the satin stitches and blanket stitches on a journey to the East Coast to attend a friend's wedding, while sweating at the back of the car, dozing, fidgeting and filling the back of said car with loose ends of Perle Cotton no 5 in peach and variegated mango-ish colours.

Finally did the last of the needleweaving and the cutting late late last night...

I still have a bit if 25 fabric left to play with... going to start another doiley... this time in blues... time to look for a fancy name for it.

hmm, should I send a picture of Flame of the Forest to Nordic Needle?

Closing the margin to a HD

2006-06-19T12:16:00.000+08:00

Well I promised happy dances... *coughs guiltily* but they're not here yet. But!!!! they're in sight!

I'm naming this Flame of the Forest, after the tropical tree with the beautiful orange and red flowers ... actually, the design is from a Nordic Needle book (The designer is Mildred Torgerson who pretty much has my dream job). In the book, Mildred Torgerson called it Star Crazy, with the centre motifs looking like little stars... she also asked for Caron's Wildflowers and Watercolours (Caron's Perle 5 and 8) in Sandstone. Very 'dignified'

Well, you know me... nothing but colour makes me happy, so I tweaked the colours a little and came up with this 'new look'!

Really want to finish as much 25count as possible (I have loads since getting hooked on HAED)... but with my decision to tent ALL HAED, I'm just going to stick to 28count for BAP like that. I have decided to frog my Pirate and Mermaid and tent it on 28ct. Now, wondering whether it is worth my while to frog my 1 1/2 pages of SPML *sob sob... purple colours so pretty plus i spent so long on it* because the speed is that much faster.

On another note, after a mild HAED slump for the past week, I put in 2000 stitches over the weekend on Conversation. This is a little towards the end of the second row on Page 2! (see previous posts for progress differences)... 3 oranges and 3 blue flower thingys. I'm just so glad to get OUT of Page 1, you know... considering the whole chart is 35 pages.

Over the weekend, took my dad out for Japanese food. And nipped into an art store, and picked up mini sticks of Buncho's oil pastels (not that that I can draw yet but it is still fun). 48 colours for RM11.90 or roughly about US$3.20. You can't beat the price, esp when the hard chalk pastels go for quite a bit more.

There's a sample of the Buncho colours and some testing I did. The orange on the bottom right corner .... well, I took some similar colours from the HAED Conversation chart and it came out like this after some finger blending... again, it's fun, but there is still so much more room to grow. (anothre dream: To create my own art and be somewhat profitable.... like I said, only a dream) Well, Fairy Day is on June 24 ... no, not a day for gay men (it seemed to be Fairy Day for them last friday at the Mr Liquid final with many half naked men parading on stage hahahaha)

Fairy Day is a day for little sprite things with wings... yes... it's worth a thought... hmmm

Page 1 and farther

2006-06-18T02:28:00.000+08:00

Photo is of Sutter Home, one of the best (and smaller) public art galleries in California. I went there last year on a Sunday and spent a few house ogling the beautiful pieces. So figured I'd take a pic of the place, and can you beat the palms and colonial architecture against a bright blue sky!

No pictures of crafts on this post (it is 2.30am in the morning). Bad OTT light pictures on HAED really takes the vibrant colours out, but I wanted to report that after slacking off for the past two weeks -- thanks to the Evil Monster aka job -- I managed to kick in a couple of hours of stitching to finish page 1 of Conversation. yesssss!!

Also put in 500 stitches into Page 2, so now I have three oranges, a nice part of the fat lady fairy wing and at the bottom of Page 2 is ... her blue head covering.... a nice change from all the 20 yellow shades. hehehehe.

For the past week at work, I've been a little bit rebellious... have taken out my hardanger piece and worked on it from t ime to time when waiting for a crucial e-mail or taking a five minute break from writing/research. This isn't exactly a no-no, but it works to keep my hands occupied and my brain happy. I think the boss has seen it, but so far, no noise.

I have a hardanger HD coming around the corner, so watch this space for an update -- soon, I hope! It's colourful as well, but not with colours in random .... so you'll just need to wait and see what I mean.

On other WIPs and art, am afraid it's been a dry season.

Also, wrote a story about a lady who's managed to turn her creativity into something really fantastic. here is a link:

http://tinyurl.com/r2hul

Quick plug - Rina Matsui makes great bags! Flowerdrum Bags' web address is at the bottom of my article. I found her story personally very inspiring ... gives me ideas for how to be in control of my own life too.