Anudder One!

I gave into the urge and stitched up a second ornament today!

Blackwork Snowflake

by Carol Storie

from A Needle Pulling Thread vol. 2 iss. 1

Stitched on 28ct Nordic Blue Linen

Using DMC

This didn't photograph too well... the linen is a much darker blue.

Who Knew Dust Bunnies Were Cute?

Well I decided that while I visited with Chrisanne that I would stitch up my September Ornament which I just finished this morning. I'd say it took about a day and a half to stitch up. Well, its cute too! Thanks Jen for another great design!

Christmas Bunny Ornament

by Jennifer Aikman-Smith

From A Needle Pulling Thread Vol. 2 Iss. 1

Stitched on 28ct Almond Jazlyn

Using DMC, Krenik & Whipser

I've found another ornament from this same magazine so I'm going to go a head and stitch it up!

A Qucik Post

Well, after work tomorrow I'll be hitting the road to go and visit with Chrisanne! I didn't feel like sitting around at home. Well of course... be stitching!

I've hit the 1/2 way mark on the cross stitching for The Castle... just BS to do on the current page and I'll officially be 1/2 done! Then I can move onto the awesome draggie.

Here's where I stopped tonight!

Judy's Gift Arrived!

Sometime back in the summer I had an 800th post draw... I know it was the summer because I still hadn't finished Noah's Sub and my promise was the gift would be stitched up "sometime" after Noah's Sub had been finished.

Well I finally lived up to my promise and stitched up a giftie for Judy and got it in the mail!

This is JBW's French Country Cat

c2007

Stitched over 1 on 30ct Coconut Macaroon Lakeside Linens

Using Silk 'N colors Rusty Amber

Finished into a needlebook

The back

I also included a few other goodies that I didn't photograph but Judy did over at her blog.

Judy, thank you for being a reader!

Tonight I also finished up my biscornu... both the stitching and assembling. This is my first and I have to say it looks great! I won't be able to share that with you until it received by my exchange partner!

Now I can pick The Castle back up for an hour or so before bedtime.

Photo Hunt #72 "Happy"

I found this gem of a picture going through my old files... This is my niece Emma at the age of 4, taken in 2004 by the shores of the Mississippi River (the Canadian one). I took her and my nephew, Nick down for a walk through the trails in Blakeney in the fall and for an ice cream afterwards. Aunts get to do the best things!

I put in some more time on my biscornu for my exchange this evening and worked on The Castle for the rest of the night. I should be hitting the 1/2 way mark really soon!

TdM Monday!

Well I put in a few hours on Tour De Marques tonight... just couldn't really get into it. I should of known when I kept trying to put it off. After a few hours of over-one madness I pulled out the biscornu I'm working on for an exchange. I finished the first side tonight and have a good start on the second side.

Anyhow here's where I'm at with Tour...

I think tomorrow I'll finish up the stitching on that biscornu and continue on with The Castle!

Fair & Square Round 2 Received

Today my squares arrived from Lin... she's not a blogger but I dicovered upon opening the envelope that she runs the shop Cross Stitch Treasures! Now I really hope she likes what I stitched for her... I feel the pressure! I kinda picked the floss colour in a hurry so its a little wild.

I asked for Quaker designs in red/white and the design she picked was just perfect!

Thanks Lin!

I've now got my parnter for Round 3 and am browsing for something to stitch for

End Of Another Weekend

Well I was a good girl, and stayed home all weekend nursing my cold. I've got a bit of a cough now, but I'm not as miserable as I was Friday night... and you can ask Christin I was starting to whine!

So between naps and blog surfing this weekend I got this far on The Castle :

Hmmm do you think we can finish this by November 1st when the Paradigm Lost SAL starts???

Tomorrow being Monday I'll pick Tour de Marques back up!

Yup, Its A Cold

The human body is amazing thing (sarcastic note to my voice). Remember that scratchy throat I complained about? Well, I am sick... I have a cold! The same cold Todd has had for over a week now. So I'm going to lay low this weekend just stitch and nap when the urge hits me.

Soooo here's my progress on The Castle before I pick up need and thread today...

Yehawww An RR Done And Dusted!

Finally! There has been delays in the Sweetheart Tree Round Robin I've been in. I did receive the last installment a few weeks ago but I was in no rush to get it done... I guess because no one seemed to be in a rush to work on mine and send it on. I now know that mine is finally at the last person and hopefully will be coming home soon.

I decided it was time to get Marjean's stitched up and back out the door. Marjean had a particular colour scheme in mind. So I took one of the Teeny Tweenies which was done in blues and completely changed the colours to match Marjean's scheme.

Moody Blues

c2003 Sandra Cox Vanosdall

The Sweetheart Tree

Here's the whole thing...

I think I've picked out what I'm going to stitch for the biscornu exchange I organized on Needle and Thread BB. I've also got some ideas for the next round in the Fair and Square exchange for my partner Pokua. But for the rest of tonight I'll be working on The Castle.

Vieux Montreal

Can you believe, I'm still recovering from my weekend? Actually... I think I'm fighting off the cold that everyone at work and Todd has! I'm not sick but I'm pretty darned tired, and I've had this very slight scratch in my throat for days.

Sunday started off bright and early after a late night on Saturday at the Genesis concert. We hopped into the car, and on the way to Montreal picked up Kathy who was visiting her son. Lucky girl just got to sit in the back of the car and stitch! No fair... but then I guess that's the sacrifice one can make when you're a road warrior like I am (LOL).

For the last couple of years Mum and I have gone to the Lakeshore Guild's annual exhibit at Stewart Hall in Point Claire in the West Island, the area that I grew up in. Mum and I find it a great excuse just to go to Montreal and take a trip down memory lane. Last year's trip included a walk on Mont Royal, this year it was a walk in the Old Port of Montreal.Before we hit downtown, we met up with my oldest friend Andrew, we were neighbours growing up and we've known each other since he was born (I'm six months older). He was a sweetie and gave up a part of his day... escorted us downtown which was actually convenient since he had to be on the other side of Montreal later in the day. We had a beautiful day! It was sunny, a balmy 17c with a lovely breeze. Old Montreal is beautiful! I'd like to go back and spend more time down there really discovering all the old alleyways, cobbled streets, and the beautiful buildings... once upon a time a building was a work of art. Today they're all functionality, and glass. But then, beauty is in the eye of the beholder right?

We found a great little place for lunch downtown... it turned out to be three restaurants in one... we all were able to have what we wanted. Kathy and I had to have Montreal smoked meat sandwiches of course! Too soon it was time for Andrew to head out and for us to make our way back West to check out the needlework show.

The show was small, but then it always is ... and lovely. The Lakeshore Guild is certainly prolific, they manage to have enough pieces amongst their members to put on a show every year! Also they put on a lot of classes for their members! I'm just jealous!

It was a full and wonderful day... thanks to

Andrew for being our glide,

Kathy for coming along despite her poor feet (I feel your pain!!!),

and my Mum who I always enjoy a trip down memory lane with!

I'm still plugging away with the last installment in my Sweetheart Tree Round Robin (did I mention I started that Sunday night?). I think I should be able to finish it tomorrow night, then I think I'll be picking The Castle back up for the rest of this week to give it a little love.

And The Winner Is....

Congratulations to Julie of Weathered Barn!

She has won my 4th Blogiversary Draw! Now Julie has to be patient with me to find the perfect thing to stitch up for her!

Yesterday morning I finished up Judy's prize for my 800th post so that will be going in the mail shortly!

... I Can't Dance...

Wow, Genesis was fantastic tonight! My Mum and I really enjoyed the show minus a few ahem interruptions. They played for three hours straight... with no pee breaks.

The first thing that irked me tonight was the woman who had the seat to the left of me... she asked me to sit down ... we were sitting in the first row of the 100 section at the Scotia Bank Place (home of the Ottawa Senators) so with all the people on the floor standing I really couldn't see anything when I sat. So we compromised and I leaned against the boards. We were both happy.

Then a little later on in the show the Scotia Bank Place employee who was working the entrance to the floor which was at the end of our section came over to me and asked me if I could sit every once and while. EXCUSE ME ITS A ROCK CONCERT??? Also there was the fact that I had already sat down a couple of times, I was just standing during the songs I really liked. If I wanted to sit on my A$$ I would of stayed home and listened to a Genesis CD.

Pooh, pooh on you Scotia Bank Place... I think you'll be getting a call from me on Monday morning to complain about this.

In the morning my Mum and I are hitting the road to Montreal. We'll be stopping shortly at Emburn to pick up Kathy. We're going to go for a bit of a walk in the old city... meet up with my oldest friend Andrew. The main reason for the trip to Montreal, to check out the Lakeshore Guild's annual exhibit at Stewart House.

I'm about ready for bed!

Photo Hunt # 71 "Two"

Here's Two Giraffes.

This picture was taken in 2005 during a day trip adventure with Chrisanne and her daughter Lindsay to Parc Safari in Quebec. We had so much fun!

I'm plugging away with Judy's gift... I finished all the XS tonight and got a start on the finishing. If I wasn't going out for dinner with old work friends I'd say it would be done tomorrow. So I'm not going to be that optimistic!

Ooops...

You know when you remind yourself to do things over and over again for weeks on a particular date?

Well yesterday I was going to share with you that its my Blogaversary! I started blogging on September 11th, 2003... four years ago! Wow that's a lot of blogging.

To celebrate my blogaversary I'm having a draw for a stitched gift from me... what it'll be will depend on who the winner is.

You have until the end of Sunday to leave a comment to enter you in my draw!

Photo Hunt #70 "Row"

Tulips Row-On-Row. Taken in May of 2002

Every spring Ottawa has a Tulip Festival. The tulips are a gift from Holland we receive each year. During World War 2 Canada sheltered Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. While in Ottawa she gave birth to her third daughter, Margret, in Ottawa. They designated land at the hospital as Dutch so she could be born in Holland. The tulips are a sight to see!

I've been working away on Judy's little giftie tonight. Its stitching up much quicker than I thought it would and is turning out quite nicely. Now I just hope once the stitching is finished that the finishing will look just as good!

August's Ornament In September

Finally! Another commitment done! I've finished up the ornament I should of finished in August (remember I like to stitch up one ornament a month).

Snowman Mitten Ornament

c2005 Ursual Michael Designs

Just Cross Stitch 2005 Ornament Issue

Stitched on 28ct linen using DMC

I've started up another small project tonight but I won't be sharing pictures or details. Its the gift I promised to Judy for winning my 800th post draw. Finally Judy I've gotten to it... and well it took awhile to pick the right thing. Once Judy's giftie is done I have one more RR to stitch (Sweetheart Tree) and then I'll be obligation free for at least a few weeks which will be nice!

Lynn also wanted to know what type of camera I use... its a Panasonic Lumix its probably their middle model in that line (not cheap but not super expensive) I bought it about a year ago now. If I could afford one I'd kill to have a Digital SLR so I could truly have control over what pictures I take... they are coming down in price but still that's a chunk of money to come up with! When it comes to digital cameras you really do get what you pay for.

Photo Hunt #69 "Funky"

I started going through my files to find something "funky" it was a bit of a trip down memory lane when I started looking... but then I remembered this picture I took back in May of a tulip and for some reason the colours are over exposed or something because it had this funky/cool effect.

I have been stitching this weekend and I was hoping to finish the ornament I've been working on. But we went and spent some time with family today so while I did stitch outside for a bit while we visited I didn't stitch anywhere near as much I would if I had been at home by myself. Needless to say its not done, and I'm too tired to take a picture of my progress right now.

I should finish it tomorrow evening.

Photo Hunt #68 "Creative"

Alrighty ... time for another PhotoHunters update!

When I think of creativity my first thoughts are of crafting and such activities. It takes a lot of creativity to turn pieces of fabric, or other items into something beautiful. My first thought is of my Mum's quilts. This is called a shadow quilt while it was in process back in 2002. Its now finished and I covet it every time I visit my Mum.

Photohunt #67 "Tiny"

Its been a long time, since July that I've participated in Photohunt so I've got about 10 or so to catch up on! Number 67 is where I left off with the theme of tiny. Look at that wee bug on that wee Forget-me-not.

Finished Von's RR!

Finally! Its done! Between my travels, work and life, and getting Fair and Square done, its taken me about two weeks to get Von's Neighbourhood RR stitched up. It took some thinking to pick something for Von's RR as she wanted a English Cottage theme. I knew I had nothing in my stash of charts, so I pulled out my magazines. I got lucky and pretty close to the top of the stack I found a pattern in an old Just Cross Stitch Issue. This is actually a part of a larger design with a fox hunt but this small section was just too perfect!

I put in the final back stitches tonight! If I hadn't been so exhausted from work I probably could of finished this on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Hunt

by Angela Pullen Atherton

Just Cross Stitch October 2005

I hope you like it Von!!!

September Goals (a little belated)

Whew! What a week and just one more day to go at work! (I'm looking forward to being at home this weekend!) I think I've finally got enough brain power to think about my goals!

August Recap
Finish Noah's Sub - Yes! Done!
Stitch One Ornament - Got it started
Stitch Kathy's Instant Gratification RR - Yup
Stitch Neighbourhood RR that shows up next - Got it started
Stitch Fair and Square exchange - Yup
Work on The Castle - a little

September Goals
Finish Von's neighbourhood RR
Stitch up gift
Stitch Sweetheart Tree RR
Finish ornament
Work on The castle

Long Weekend Update (Finally!)

Well my long weekend started as soon as 2:30 rolled around!

Bye, bye work! See you on Tuesday!

After a stop for gas and a caffinated beverage, my radio set to my favourite station it was time to hit the road! Just over three hours later with a stop for dinner I made it to Kathy's! As usual its a greeting with hugs and lots of catching up (its funny despite things like e-mail and MSN you still can find things to catch up on!). We settled in to stitch and watch movies. Kathy worked on her floral wreath and I started my fair and square exchange. We stitched late into the night (as all good stitchers like to do).

Saturday we woke up to a beautiful day on the shores of Lake Ontario! Kathy and I stitched the morning away as we waited for 1PM to roll around when a couple of the Brighton Thursday Stitchers to join us. We ended up with a nice cozy little group of me, Kathy, Judie, Angie, and Lisa, it was nice enough (but a little chilly at times) for us to stitch out on the deck overlooking Lake Ontario. Finally, late afternoon we were driven inside by the chill in the shade. Kathy fed all of us a most excellent spaghetti and everyone stayed to stitch until 8PM!

We had a beautiful sunset that evening.

Of course Kathy and I kept stitching... I even finished my Fair and Square exchange. Of course I can't share pictures of it yet.

Sunday was our finishing day! The main reason for my trip down. Kathy and I both had numerous ornaments to finish and other techniques we wanted to play with. What a long day too... we started our foray into finishing at about 10am... we didn't finish until 11pm!

Boy did we make a mess! If Kathy's hubby ever saw the mess we made... I think he would of just walked right back out of the door (he was away).

Of course some of the stitching ladies came by to stitch and sake their heads at our flurry of finishing!

Ann (left) & Kathy (right)

Beatrice (left), Barb (middle), Ann (right)

But we weren't totally done, we still had the trim to do on our ornaments we left that until the next day. I'll share pictures of all my finishing with you another day... I made one flat fold (still need to make some cord for that), one cube-it, and a stack of ornaments.

Here are the cube-its we made...

Left & Center Kathy's, Right mine, Dragon Dreams A Spot of Tea. We're really happy with how these turned out!

Kathy, thank you for a fantastic get-away! I enjoyed every moment of it!

I'll Post Soon...

Hi Folks! Just stopping in for a moment...

I had a great weekend and will tell you all about it soon (and pictures)... However its the first week of school and I always find it one of the hardest physically I'm just exhausted and don't have the time/energy to post just yet.

So I'm around... please check back, it may be the weekend before I find the oomph to get a nice entry put together for you.