I x-stitch

Is this mic on?

2006-10-01T14:03:00.000-04:00

I am totally embarassed for not posting all summer. I am so sorry that I vanished like that. Basically I haven't done any stitching in months and have tried to spend almost all my time with the kids. I found myself stressing over what to blog about and since we are still in financial troubles my stash hasn't increased.

As a way to try and post more regularly though, I will try to share more about my family life and hopefully stitch a few projects along the way.

Let's start with a happy news... for me! My kids are back into figure skating!!! I love the sport but last fall Miss Ladybug decided she didn't want to get back into the sport after skating for two years. I understood her decision, she had trained with two private coaches that she disliked and she really loved skating so I did not want to push her to hate the sport. See, when she skates, you can sense that she's in her element, she glides effortlessly on the ice. She spins, does jumps (small ones!) and smiles, oh does she ever smile when she is at the ice rink. My heart broke when I didn't register her for skating last fall but I smiled and said it was her decision and I was ok with it. We went to the rink when it was free for the public to skate a few times last winter though.

Little monkey did about 1,5 season of skating, he enjoys it but lacks a bit of coordination doing it. ;-) He did enjoy it enough though to start again this year. Miss Ladybug was 5yo when she stopped skating and was already training with kids around 9-10yo, so it was tough sometimes around bigger kids for her. Little monkey would skate with the toddlers but 'run' (skate) away from the group to the other end of the ice and join his sister. It was so funny, he was 3yo and on a mission to not skate with the "babies". He wanted to skate with the big kids and it looked like no one else noticed him. So once he was with his big sis. the coaches then sent him back to the other end with the young ones. Half way through the season, the coaches decided that if my Monkey could skate from one end of the ice to the other just to see Ladybug, then he was good enough to join her in the group lessons. Sure he wasn't as far in the program as they were but the teen coaches made sure to show him techniques for his level nonetheless. You can imagine that I wasn't surprised when at the 1st class this season they placed my two kids together. LOL! I am happy that the teen coaches are ones I really liked in other seasons and they really care for my kids so everyone's happy! :-) (They may remember me as being the mom that gives them free movie tickets at the Christmas party!) lol!

I don't expect them to get many levels completed this year but that's ok. We tried private lessons before and it wasn't for us. So the group lessons are good for the kids (and way cheaper for my wallet!). Ladybug has 5 of the 6 badges already and Monkey has 2. In a week or two the kids will get their club gear and I'll post a pic then, they'll look so cute. LOL! Oh and on a side note, of course my kids are the only ones wearing helmets in their group. What can I say, I may overproctect my kids but ice is hard and their minds are fragile.

To celebrate this post, I vow to pick up some stitching today and stitch at least a row or two. ;-) Sorry for the lack of pictures today but I totally forgot to bring my camera at the rink. Soon though... you wait and see.

Happy and sad,

2006-07-11T16:49:00.000-04:00

Yay, we are back with working internet and you have all been pretty busy. My Bloglines list showed almost 300 posts unread. Luckily I've had more than time to catch up with everyone, I didn't leave comments or I'd still be reading blogs. LOL!

I am so proud to show off the fairy!!! :) Her hat is finally done, which means I can start a new color. I've had enough of the pale purple, now onto dark purple for the boots! LOL! I think I have a almost 50% of the piece done, not really sure though, the clouds will take forever to be done. Can't say I am eager to start them... The colors in the picture are off, the top shows the closest what the true colors are, the bottom, I'm not sure what happened there. I find it pretty difficult to take picture of my cross stitching.

I need to get this out, it's about Little Monkey's soccer game last night. We have all seen parents over react over sports right? Well it's sad to see when it involves a game of soccer played by 5 year olds. This dad was screaming his head off to the opposite team that my son played against. At one time Big Fox just belched at his: "Hey, just let the kids play!". The guy turned beet red and walked right up to Big Fox. I tried to calm him down but once he stood up it was confrontation time. I tried to get my word in but that father was just sooo mad. Finally another dad (from our team) came closer and just told the evil father that this is a game for the 5 year old kids to have fun. The "rules" can be bent a bit when all they want is a chance to kick the ball. We don't mind that much that they sometimes keep on playing even if the ball is crossing over the side lines. Hey, the kids are so into it running and having fun, who really cares?

At each game, us proud parents of the Pumpkins never know exactly who won, why? We don't care! We high five our kids when they make a goal, and we praise them for a good game. That's all! We are the most relaxed parents of the 4 teams. Next week though, let me say that I will be avoiding the Grasshopers team, I prefer no more confrontations until the end of the season. Our team still has 4 games against them and I'll be sitting farther away and biting my tongue at each game. This dad, we hear him scream at every single game, we hear him even when your kids aren't playing his team. It's sad and he sure lost the focus on this being a game for the kids to enjoy themselves. Luckily, the ball kept on rolling so the kids never really noticed the confrontation but I'd prefer it never happened nonetheless. Once we got home, it took me an hour for my heart to stop racing like crazy. Even know a day later, I still feel stressed over what happened and even worst, over what could've happened if another dad hadn't come and calmed down the evil dad. I mean, what's the use in punching another kid's father in the face? This isn't boxing...

Back to stitching, my heart is starting the race again...

Uh oh...

2006-07-07T13:45:00.000-04:00

Calling out an SOS!

Computer down, limited access, no stitching progress at all. We've been spending family time outside, Big Fox has had a few days off. Water heater decided to go on strike for a day after a huge storm. Bought all school supplies for both kids, even splurged in some very much needed new clothes for me.

I repeat computer down, help me! LOL!

Hope to be back soon and get back to stitching but family time has been great too! I have missed reading blogs and will have a ton to catch up! Until then enjoy the warm summer days! :) I miss you...

I love pixie dust.

2006-06-30T20:19:00.000-04:00

Well we just survived the 1st week of summer vacation! It started out with great sunshine and fun at the kiddie pool in the park. Then an allergic reaction to make-up crayons kept the kids away from their beloved wading pool for two l-o-n-g days but finally the rash has vanished. Then today has been a day filled with beautiful bouts of sunshine in between bouts of thunderstorm. We got cought in the 'wall' of rain once but it was a fun experience, people in cars smiled and laughed at us running crazily. We were being crazy 'cause we did enjoy singing in the rain after all. ;-)

Although we were pretty busy, with the two kids at home, I tried my best to keep on with stitching progress. I didn't do as good as I had hoped for but it still is progress. The fairy is starting to look like she is wearing a hat. I actually missed stitching on this piece, it's fun to do a few rows of simple X's even if I have to stitch them one by one. The missing parts in her face and the eyes and mouth, I know it looks odd, I will add them in soon.

Fleur de Lys is on break for a few days, I finished Row 1 and am pretty pleased. It looks a LOT better than I expected for my 1st sampler. The 2nd row is only backstitching so it should go well... I hope. Then the 3rd row is a simple speciality stitch so progress should go well with the sampler.

Now to keep with tradition here's Joy's question of the day! LOL! I keep having questions and basically this blog is where I can get a few answered. ;-) Today's question is a basic one but I have to ask, what are needlerolls used for? I often see charts for them but I am not sure what the purpose of them are, it would be nice to know before I make one.

Tomorrow is Canada day celebrations but in Quebec we have another meaning for this day. It is the official Moving Day for many, many and many more quebecers. Most people that rent apartments have their 12-months lease start/end with july 1st. It is a very crazy day on smaller streets and there are moving trucks EVERYWHERE! For the last few years tv crews from other countries have been filming some of this phenomenon, apparently it's quite unique to see so many people move on the same day. Oh well, I'm just happy Big Fox isn't working as a mover this summer 'cause he'd never be home again. The Canada flag is a cross stitch design by Lynne Nicoletti, she has created a collection of designs that include hidden images in them. Very neat!

Hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend. :)

Again with the question,

2006-06-26T12:10:00.000-04:00

How do you end your floss? I know how to start by either leaving a lenght and stitch over it along the way or the loop method which I like and makes a neat start but not for overdyed floss. The problem is with ending the floss though, I usually will pass under 4 stitches and cut my thread. How about when you do blackwork or backstitching without stitches around to tuck the thread under?

Shoot! I totally forgot about Fairy day on June 24, wish I had remembered, though possibly it had something to do with not finding my wings that day. LOL! ;) I hope a few of you celebrated with pixie dust and whatnot! I hope to stitch the freebie fairy from Passione Ricamo, isn't it just beautiful? I really like the arabesque alphabet collection they made as freebies too. Now here's my question, how do you know how much floss you need for solid color project? Is there a way to calculate it or do people just buy extra floss for a 1-color project?

I never made it to stitching the fleur de lys flowers this weekend. That's ok, I put a schedule for fun and no pressure at all, I am still learning to stitch so I am not going to worry about speed yet. On that note, I will pull out my daughter's fairy project this week, she will be happy to see me work on it for a while.

Big Fox started a new job today, it's a really good one with a union and all the stuff that a 'real' job includes. He has 15 days of working to get into the union then his job is assured. So the countdown begins... 14 days left. ;)

Backstitch,

2006-06-24T08:07:00.000-04:00

First, a huge thank you for all of you who left me birthday wishes. They warmed my heart in the best of ways. :) Big Fox gave me a 2 page wide magnetic board, which is perfect for stitching my sampler. On the left I can read the chart and of the right I see the instructions for the sampler. :) My mom gave me a gift certificate for new clothes which I so badly need but I keep hoping I will magically loose a few pounds first. LOL! My magical powers must be off because it hasn't been working. ;)

I am amazed at the difference backstitching makes. I had some trouble on the church but I am satisfied on how it looks. This is a learning piece after all, I'm all by myself in this so I do my best. I hoped to get the Montreal sampler for my birthday but that's ok, I will get it on my own at a later time. I am a big shopaholic so I will try to hold off getting the chart until after I finish this one. I have already bought floss for ±3 other big projects so I won't be left dry when I am done the sampler. Also I am having a blast trying to see what project to stitch from Barbara's generous loot! I am thinking ornaments on some smaller pieces. :)

To keep up with my Big Fox drama, yesterday when the kids got up, they saw that he hadn't come home to sleep. It was my daughter's last day of school before summer break and he had promised all week he would go to her class recital in the afternoon. My son had an all-day activity also and it broke his little heart also. He even asked me in the morning if daddy had left an email for them. Ack! My heart ached so much for them. When at around 11am Big Fox just stormed in the house like nothing happened, let's say he got an earful from me... His 'excuse' was perhaps a good one but my kids hearts were broken and he just doesn't get it.

We ran to the park to see if our daughter's class was still at the wading pool. We caught up with them just before they left, when she saw her father, her eyes just light up. I told her he'd be there for her recital and she gave me a huge hug. I knew that she'd have a great day from then on and it was important for me that she enjoys the last day of school. They were eating in class so it would be a good 3 hours for her before the recital. Our son went to China for the day, well at least visited the neighborhood. LOL! He talked to his 'teacher' about daddy, I don't blame him but then let's just say it doesn't stay private when the teacher's learn stuff like that. The community center is quite small yet everyone knows everything about everyone...

Big Fox starts his new job on monday, this is a good job, the best he's ever had actually. Within three weeks he would be in the union and let's cross our fingers it will mean a better future. Let's hope it involves a better family future too, a cat has nine lives, I am not sure how many more chances we can give Big Fox. The kids are growing older and each event affects us more and more each time.

Off to stitch, I have to finish the hungarian stitches so I can move onto the fleur de lys. It's celebration today, a huge holiday in Quebec and the weather is wonderful out. Perhaps we shall install the tent and sleep outside even? ;)

Number 29!

2006-06-21T07:59:00.000-04:00

Today I am a year older, I turn 29 years old for the first time. LOL! I believe some people stop counting after that age. On the other hand turning 30 has been on my mind a lot these past few weeks. I am very far from what I had imagined my life would be or my dreams for when I would be thirty. I still have a year to change that, we shall see what adventures this new year will bring me. At 29 years of age, I never thought I would see my two kids start school, I never knew I'd be blessed with having two children to start with.

Now onto stitching, less than 10 days ago I won a contest on Barbara's blog. I received her package yesterday but let her know that I would torture myself and wait to open it today! It makes it even better to have received a birthday present from the Netherlands if you think about it! ;) Now could I get a better gift or what? I think my fabrics stash just tripled. LOL! I even got some beautiful floss including some SILKS!!! This will be something very new for me to try. I couldn't be more excited!!! :) Barbara, thank you, thank you, thank you, who knew Dumbo would make me win so much. ;)

I didn't quite meet the schedule I had row my Fleur de Lys sampler but I shall be right on track for Row #2 on June 24! The second row is composed of fleur de lys which are the flower emblem of our province. June 24th is St-Jean-Baptiste holiday, our fête nationale for all quebecers, I believe it compares to July 4th in the USA. It usually is the first official day where all kids start their summer holidays so it is celebrated with a big bang. Also it's all about french on that day and how many quebecers want to seperate and politics are just not my thing. ;) We prefer small gatherings and picnics rather than joining the half-million people that listen to a concert in a park. So hopefully on St-Jean-Baptiste I will be stitching my fleur de lys and participating on that day in my own special way. ;)

After having quite an eventful weekend with Big Fox sleeping elsewhere... we celebrated father's day on monday then my birthday the next day. I think lack of sleep caught up because by 9pm last night I was already in bed snoozing, how is that for partying? LOL! Some better news are coming our way though so happier times should finally happen for us. :)

Not the stitching progress you expect,

2006-06-17T07:42:00.000-04:00

Last week I bought a scroll frame and didn't know what to expect, would I like it or not? At first I was pretty intimidated by the scroll bars but it's been going well. I still prefer the ease of my 'fake' Q-snap though, so I may invest in more at a later time. My fabric store sells 2 sizes of quilting frames that look just like the Q-Snap but at a fraction of the cost. I sure wish they had more sizes, right now I have tubes to make up 11X11, 17X17 or 11X17, not very practical for smaller pieces or samplers though. What can I say, it takes time to build up stitching stash, either patterns and floss or accessories like scissors, needles and all that. Maybe if I cross my fingers really hard, I will get a needleshop gift certificate for my birthday! ;)

This may look like little progress but I have spent quite some time of this. I can't wait to try out the specialty stitches even if they scare me a whole lot. LOL! You have no idea how happy I am to stitch this sampler, I just like it so much but of course, couldn't have been busier all week. I did find that if I put the kids to sleep earlier we all win, they are more rested and I.... get to stitch. Sneeky, right? ;)

In the past week, I have been cheating and stitching a different way... I have been knitting most of my stitches these last few days. ;) I just finished a pair of socks and already started a new pair using Regia Cotton. I don't recall knitting cotton socks before but these will be great for summer wear. I need full concentration to stitch so the knitting is good to keep my hands busy when I'm outside with the kids playing in the yard and times like that. Perhaps if I started a few small projects I could stitch more throughout the day but for now I just aim to stitch at night.

Just got this in the mail and saved with shipping half of what it would have cost me to buy it locally. Ever since I first saw it, I have loved the Country Bloomers but I didn't know the name so couldn't figure out who had designed it. Luckily I noticed many liked it too and found the bloomers on a few blogs. Some stitchers are so creative and changed some designs for the bloomers, as for me, I'll just go basic and do it as charted. I am too scared to change anything to be quite honest. LOL!

When I bought the scroll frame I received this chart from my mom: Wings Of Courage by Dragon Dreams

Have a nice weekend, we have full rain for the next 2 days, just like last weekend. At least we like the rain, the garden too so we just wear raincoats and jump in each puddle we meet. Makes the day more fun if you ask me! ;)

A great designer!

2006-06-09T08:52:00.000-04:00

I am smitten! After reading on a board that Jeannette Douglas was an easy person to communicate with, I took my courage and emailed her. I had a question about the embellishment package I received for the Fleur de Lys sampler. Within a very few hours she replied and I am simply smittened. She sounds like such a great designer, very generous with her time and knowledge. Now, more than ever I can NOT wait to start the sampler, all fears I had about learning new stitches have vanished. I feel more confident that I can do it. She gave me the assurance that I was lacking. I can learn something new and frankly this isn't rocket science right? I even bought linen to stitch on for this project. I am so scared though. LOL! Just whip stitching the edges has been nerve wracking enough, the linen seems so much lighter than the Jobelan I am stitching on.

Freebie alert, you can download a free issue of the Gift of Stitching. I was eager to see what was hiding in this online publication. It's a great way to see what you'd pay for if you did buy it. It's a freebie, what's not to love? ;) I love freebies, I am in fact building quite a collection of charts, I can't wait to start but for now I am trying to keep focus on just a few projects at a time. I know how many knitting wip's are lying all around the house. I'd like to prevent that from happening with stitching projects too. ;)

I thought I'd share a little something I just stumbled upon online. I know many like to stitch while watching a movie but how about stitching while listenning to a classic book? I just started chapter one of A Little Princess last night. I was brought up in a french province so I never got to read many classics that are in english, guess I am catching up now. ;) The catalog is called LibriVox and they have a few books at the moment, I'm loving the children's literature.

Special thank you to Barbara for doing a contest on her blog, in a big surprise, I won guessing her current wip being Dumbo. I think being around the kids helped me out on this. LOL! ;)

p/s: Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to comment in the past weeks. I am a bit overwhelmed at home and didn't have the time to respond to each stitcher but please know that it touches me a lot that you read and comment on my little blog. :)

Gotta love online shopping!

2006-06-03T12:47:00.000-04:00

I have received my order from Traditional Stitches yesterday and I am happy to report that the sampler from Jeannette Douglas is even more beautiful than I expected. Imagine how happy that made me! :) Then I spent my afternoon sitting outside checking the Just Cross Stitch magazines I bought. The two M Designs patterns offered in the issues were totally worth it, I am eager to stitch the Joy and Peace trees!

I also went window shopping on Ebay and clicked a buy-it button, oh dear! LOL! I should mention that I found something unsettling though. One seller was selling hard to find charts, after searching a bit, I found out they were selling pages from a magazine (that is easy to find old issues of). Now if it were said in the auction, I guess it would be ok but they are selling the patterns at the same price the whole magazine sells for. At least in a mag, there's a potential of liking more than just one pattern. So that's that, my wish list grows longer each day. I am starting to see which designers I like and themes that appeal to me.

Fairy update, I am now up to the face. I will be changing the hair color but Ladybug wants me to keep the blue eyes. I was trying to make the fairy look more like her but she's the boss. I am itching so bad to start other projects though, at least the DMC colors I can stitch small rows of half cross and back. All that single cross stitching is boring me. Lesson learned, don't buy 90% of hand dyed floss for a full piece. Last night was the 1st time I dealt with cutting a length of floss. I didn't know how long to cut, I felt so foolish but this is my first non-kit piece. Since the beginning of stitching this fairy, I have been using hand dyed so haven't had to cut floss lenghts yet. LOL! I wonder if there's some sort of rule of thumb so that I don't waste too much.

Now here's a question for the very few that stumble upon my blog. How do you buy fabric? Do you buy by the yard/meter at your local needle shop and then cut it up as you need it. Buy what a pattern suggests or buy some fabrics and then use from stash when you start a project? At the moment, I am kitting my charts, so I buy floss and fabric so that all is ready for when I will start it. I'm not sure it's the best way as I have to go to the LNS each time I buy a new chart. I want to start some little quick stitches like ornaments and freebies that are available online. I don't think I should just buy tiny pieces of fabric each time and I feel like I'm bothering the seller each time I go in with questions, boy do I have questions too. ;) Also how does one build a floss stash? At the moment I am buying DMC floss as each pattern requires but I don't know how to store them. I am still quite disorganized with my stitching, I'd love to know how people store there work in progress, floss and all that.

Off to stitch I go. :)

Ten little toes

2006-05-30T10:10:00.000-04:00

My daughter's 7th birthday prompted me to work on her birth announcement. LOL! It's never too late, right? ;) I'd say more than 50% is done by now and that's a great motivator. I am trying to keep my works in progress to a minimum and resist starting something from my new stash acquisitions. The fairy seems to take forever since I am stitching one full cross at a time. When I bought the floss the lady from the LNS encouraged me to get all hand dyed threads. It costed an arm and leg at the end and some of the colors weren't worth the price. Let's just say I don't go in and ask for her help as much... So the progress seems really slow compared to stitching a full row of half crosses and coming back to complete them.

Stitching is a learning hobby but I am just so eager to know everything now. LOL! I want to make my son a birth piece too but he's only 5 so I still have at least two years to make his. ;) I spent the day on the computer today, found many new freebies all over the place to add to my collection. Not sure how to organize myself though, should I print them or not? I have quite a few already but at least I could store the charts in a binder or something.

He said he loved me today, I know it's pretty basic in a couple but it is the 1st time I've heard it in two weeks. I think it was said out of routine at the end of a phone call but still he did say it. It got me tears, does he really feel that way? It has been quite a bumpy ride and I wonder, I just don't want to hurt anymore and I really want me and him to work out. Our latest bomb has been droped yesterday, he got a call that was telling him he is fired. Argh! It seems his boss's mother didn't like seeing that Big Fox has tattoos, sadly it took her 4 months to notice... On the bright side, he's available to work tonight at another place that pays daily and he'll have fun with the guys.

Other news too is that he already has a new job in the same field, he didn't know when he was starting as he wanted to be nice and give his boss a 2-weeks notice before leaving. Well, that plan changed quickly so he may start the new job sooner than we expected. After 120 hours he'll be in the union and that will brings it's own benefits to all of us too. Let's hope the rollercoaster ride that is our life has less bumps for a while. ;)

Off to stitch,

Fairy progress

2006-05-26T09:51:00.000-04:00

For Ladybug's birthday I wanted to finish the fairy's dress and I made it. She was so pleased and decided I should start stitching the collar, then go up for the face and hat. I like to involve the kids, that way they stay excited about the project I make them and they feel they have helped out in there own way. ;)

Ladybug just celebrated her 7th birthday this past week and I am amazed to see how much she has grown. This is a picture of both kids on our way to breakfast on that special day. Who knew you could get birthday cake for breakfast at a restaurant. LOL!

I couldn't resist a sale and bought new stash again... Traditional Stitches had a chart and it's coordinating embellishment pack for 25% off, then I added the JCS 2005 Ornaments issue and since the 2004 issue was 75% off, I clicked it in my basket too. LOL! It will be fun to try stitching my 1st sampler, I am a bit scared of speciality stitches but one thing at a time, I still have a few projects before I start the sampler. The Just Cross Stitch magazines are mostly to make holiday ornaments but I know they include some designs that cost more than the issue to buy seperately. It's scary, I am starting to build a small stitching stash but geez! it is SO MUCH FUN! teehee!

Slowly but surely, Big Fox's and I are trying to become friends again, we have strong feelings for each other but I hurt just so much from his last 'escapade'. I feel like I want him to feel my pain, yet that is not fair to him, he is trying to make things better, especially when it comes to the future. I am actually very proud of what he is doing, which would include a job change. We just haven't found our way to communicate together yet. Hopefully that will change though...

By the way, I am sorry if my blog doesn't show up too well for some, I use Firefox and see it like I would want others to see it, IE doesn't seem to work well though. I wish I knew how to change it but I don't, so go get Firefox, it's free and safer for your computer than IE!

Blue and roses

2006-05-20T12:46:00.000-04:00

You know how it goes, you enter the needleshop for one thing and come out your hands full and a hole in the wallet. Good thing the day I went I needed a little or perhaps big pick me up, so I was 'open' to buy more than I was going in for. This store is downtown, where I don't go often so in itself it was a treat. I went in for two colors of floss I was missing to complete the Blue Flowers by Permin of Copenhagen kit. I like that I have everything ready for when I want to start.

Then I walked around the store numerous times, the poor lady there was worried aobut me I think, she kept checking what I was doing. LOL! By the time I hit the cash register I believe she was happy that I bought quite a lot, well at least for me. In the sales bins I found a pattern that was reduced from 10$ to 2$, so I then got the floss needed and fabric to stitch on. I found the charts for Knotwork bookmarks 1 which I am so happy to get. I just love celtic knots and although I never really knitted cables in my knitting days, I can at least stitch them easily in cross stitch. ;)

Had a very eventful week but hopefully things will slow down from now on. I really don't think that, as a family, we can take any more than we've experienced in the last two weeks. Big Fox is back and is trying more than ever to make our relationship work, he's been seeing someone to talk too and has mentioned that it would be nice if we both went too. I will go see my doctor (eventually!) and once I know that I am a-ok on the health side, then I will look more into support for the emotional side.

I have been thinking of getting a job also, something that doesn't really make me happy but it might be good for me and the family. It would have to be part-time so I can still spend lots of time with the kids this summer and then once both kids start school we shall see. It would be nice to have a bit more funds, even if it's just to buy more stitching stuff. LOL!

This week I received my first stitching related catalog, it's been a great inspiration and has many items I never saw before. I think everyone living under our roof has looked through the Nordic Needle catalog, each saying which charts they preferred. I think they were hinting for future gifts, right? lol!

I am almost done with the fairy's dress, picture tomorrow as I want to finish it before posting it. LOL!

One down, one to go

2006-05-12T19:44:00.000-04:00

This is my 1st cross stitch piece from a kit. I bought this on sale as it represents my son's favorite movie. This was an Aida fabric and I modified (aka fudge a few errors) but haven't signed it yet. I'd like to frame it so he can look at it in his room. :)

About two weeks ago I started this piece using a chart (not from a kit!). This is the very 1st time I buy everything seperately, floss, fabric and chart. I think I spent an hour in the needleshop to find that one chart I really wanted to make. See the lovely fabric? It's from Sugar Maple Fabrics in the Gelati colors, I had to return it once I realised that the piece the owner of the store sold me was too small. Thanks to the online fabric calculators or I would've never found out. Now I get that I should have kept it and bought fabric instead of exchanging it. Anyway, fabric #2 was a white evenweave with silver thread throughout but then little monkey somehow got cherry popsicle on it... We washed it twice and then I ironed it forever and still I could see A) stains B) wrinkles. I was starting to hate that fabric altogether so I went to a different store and bought Jobelan 28-count in pale blue.

I'm trying not too start too many projects at once because I need to focus and I don't have enough supplies either. LOL! I just started stitching so I haven't invested much in equipment (needles, scissors, floss organizer) yet. Tonight I will stitch on the fairy a bit more and will update with a pic of how far I am soon. :)

In unrelated news, Big Fox or my mate, has packed all his gear and left for work. That's after his one day escapade without news and sleeping here barely a night. We have communicated once but it's very difficult to understand what's happening right now. Also Miss Ladybug is taking it a lot harder than Little Monkey is. I hope to get more news, to at least tell the kids what is going on 'cause I sure don't know. :(

Another new stitcher in blogland!

2006-05-08T13:23:00.000-04:00

Hi and welcome to my world. I just started stitching a month ago and since I do not know any stitchers locally, what better way to make friends than to start a blog.

So I am Joy, mother of 2 kids that can be wonderful once second and little devils the next. ;) They are girl aka ladybug 6yo and boy aka little monkey 5yo. One is in 1st grade, the other will start kindergarden next fall. At the moment I am a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) and live with my own SAHM. I hope to be able to stay home for the summer and only start work once little monkey starts school. Around here though, plans are meant to be changed, from one second to the next we never know what to expect.

Here's a prime example, my boyfriend aka big fox (the kids father) has not come home last night after work. Who knows, perhaps there's a valid reason.... or not, only time will tell. So this blog helps me cope with life and it's unexpecting surprises. ;)