Sorry About the Pictures!

Well folks, sorry you can't see my pictures at the moment. I've managed to exceed my bandwidth limit on my webspace. Everything will be back to normal on December 1st.

I'll have some U2 concert pictures for you at that time! *TEASE*

Stocking Progress

Wow I got the tree done!!! I'm doing all the backstitching on the fireplace now and then I can finish up the dragon!

Heather's Question and Some Fobs

Well I'm at home on a sick day today. I did not have a good evening last night. I felt sick to my stomach all evening and had a headache. On top of that I had an allergic reaction (to what I don't know) and broke out in hives!

On the weekend I made a couple of beaded scissor fobs and I have one to share with you from awhile ago now that Erin has received it.

So this first one I made as a thank you for Erin who lent me one of her magazines earlier in the fall to stitch TW's Tole Heart



The next two are orders, people who e-mailed me with colour and charm requests for Christmas gifts.





I made a lot of progress on Nick's stocking yesterday, and hope to make a lot more today so you'll not get a picture of that until tonight!!!!

Now Heather asked in my post with all my finished Ornaments where the design for Sapphire Star Came from. Sapphire Star is out of the 2004 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. It was a quick stitch and really is very pretty in person.

I Think... I Have A Horseshoe Up My... You Know

Oh my GOD! I think I had a religious experience tonight... that or I was just at one of the best concerts EVER!

Well, by lunchtime today I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I was not going to be seeing U2 tonight... well actually last night now that its 1am.

Here's how today started.... still no luck finding a U2 ticket that wasn't being sold for 2-3 times the face value (can you say scalping... can you say slightly illegal?). But there were folk out there willing to pay it, and that's what creates such price gouging!

At 7:10 am I pulled into the Corel Center to fill out a ballot for 106.9 FM The Bear's draw. At 10 am I called Catpital City Tickets to find out if any last minute tickets were being released. No they hadn't and didn't think they'd be releasing any... Called again at 12:00 PM... still the same answer.. NO. I put a final plea out on the e-mail at work to call my cell is anyone had to get rid of a ticket at the last minute before I left for my afternoon meeting. When there I was jealous to find out another person I knew was going, and I still wasn't! Our meeting wrapped up at 3:30pm while I was waiting to pull out of the parking lot I decided to call Capital City Tickets again on a whim. They could only say no right? Well I got through and went on hold for quite awhile. So I asked the question... "Is there any chance that any tickets have been released for U2?" I got the answer

"how many tickets are you looking for?"

"Just one" "

"I can get you one of the floor"

"Oh my God, yes I'll take it!"

Soooo... I got a ticket on the floor at U2 for the actual ticket price of 49.00 plus various charges!!!! Not $200.00!!!!!

When I got there I found a couple of ladies I knew from work, so I had some people to enjoy the concert with, which made it all the better!

All I have to say is it was amazing! Better than the Rolling Stones... better than Pink Floyd! At times when Bono went along the outside of the ellipse of the stage he was no more than 1.5 Meters away from me!!!!! Never in my life did I think I'd get that close to Bono!

If you ever get the opportunity... take it from me, go see U2!!!!

Wising on A Star & SBQ

Wow! I saw a shooting star tonight! So of course I made the requisite wish.

Now for tonight's SBQ :

Q : Do you always sign your projects? If not, why? If so, do you use your first name, initials or what?

A : Oh yes! Definitely and always! I think the provenance of an item is very important down the road if someone actually keeps something and it becomes an antique. My large pieces are signed with Dani and the year. My smaller pieces are signed with my initials and year.

More stocking stitching tonight!

This Just Sucks!!

For a lack of a better title because I can't think of one and I'd like to rant.

Back in March of this year tickets for U2 at the Corel Center went on sale. I was driving home from my March Break trip with my Mum so my two good friends tried to get the three of us tickets online. Well there was such huge volume on Capital Tickets website that many people had trouble finalizing their purchases ... this happened to us.

So no U2 tickets for Dani.

I've been keeping an eye on the For Sale conference at work, The Ottawa Citizen, E-Bay, and many other sources to get REASONABLY priced tickets. The face price for U2 tickets at the corel center were 49.00, 95.00, and 160.00 well I can't find a single ticket for less than double the ticket price! 160.00 tickets are suddenly 500.00, 49.00 tickets are 200.00! This is F&*^ing outrageous as far as I'm concerned! Some of the tickets going up for sale at work have been best offer accepted... well I can assure you that's more than I can afford.

This past year has been an awesome concert year for Ottawa.. I've barely been to a single show because I feel that many concerts are SO EXPENSIVE to attend where the cheapest tickets are 70.00, that's before your assorted fees and taxes. Then you have to add 10.00 for parking, so on and so on!

As long as we the fans continue to pay this outrageous prices for tickets then the shows will keep getting more and more expensive.

The best example of bands keeping their shows reasonable I can share with you is The Tragically Hip. When they come to Ottawa every seat in the Corel Center is one price... no more than 35.00! Way to go Hip. More acts could learn from you.

Dragon By The Fireside Progress

Nick's stocking is coming along nicely... I just wish I had more stitching time!!!

Ornament HD!

Yay! Like I promised I started and finished TW's Beginner's White Work Ornament! Its stitched on 28ct Queen Ann's Lace Joblean using Caron Waterlillies in Holiday.



Now I can pull the stocking back out for the rest of the evening (except for when I go play soccer... I think, I still haven't decided if I'm going to play tonight).

Ormentificatin 2005! And a Pressie

Well I have been a total Domestic Goddess today! I've cleaned, I've stitched, I've ormentified, and I made the best lasagna ever!

Today I started another ornament, this one for an exchange. I hope my partner doesn't read my Blog... becuase I'm about to blab. I've started Teresa Wentzler's Beginner's White Work Ornament on 28ct Joblean - Queen Ann's Lace using Caron Waterlillies Holiday. I'm hoping to stitch and finish it this weekend.

On my way to my Nephew's for his Birthday I stopped in Almonte and took some photos of the falls there. We've had a lot of precipitation lately so the falls were just roaring!











Then when I was at my Nephew's my Mum had something she had been working on for me for ages finally finished! Here's Raphael by A Muse Inc. he's done all in Delica Beads some are real gold! He's gorgeous!!!



When I got home this evening I proceeded to finishing the ormentificaton of my ornaments. All they needed was cording picked out and glued on!

First here's a shot of all of this year's ornaments to date (except for my latest finish)



Now for the detail shots! I'll be just giving you the name of each design as exact details for each ornie were given at the time of HD.


16th Century Christmas


Blackwork Frenzy


Candycane Stocking


Carre Noel


Happy Holidays


Noel Birdhouse


Peace Tree


Sapphire Star


Trust

Le Weekend

Wow, I'm at home... I'm not sure if I remember what this place looks like!

I've cleaned the floors and the bathroom, I've straightened up my stash room, now I'm here online taking care of business before I start stitching for the day!

Todd is out of the house for a couple of hours so its all peace and quiet, me, my stitching, and the Lethal Weapon marathon I'll be having.

I will have to go out later this afternoon as its my Nephew's Birthday!

Happy 11th B-Day Nick!

November Ornie, Last Retreat, SBQ and More!

Hi Blogger readers well its been awhile hasn't it?

Well lets go back to Friday of last week. After work I had to stop in at Wal-Mart to pick up a prescription I would need over the weekend. I had tried to pick it up at lunch time but they were closed until after 12:30. I mean its fantastic that they respect the fact that it was remembrance Day but it annoyed me to no end because I wasted half of my lunch to drive there and back and I would have to go after work instead of leaving right away.

It was a three hour drive to Ann's home in Brighton, Ann is the owner of Knowledge and Needles a small needlework shop run in her house. Ann and her husband Dan were nice enough to let me come out the evening before the retreat and to put me up for the night. I got properly greeted by the puppies!



We had a good visit and a soak in the hot tub (heaven). I stayed up and stitched until midnight while my hosts retired early. But I was determined to finish my November Ornament!


I finished A Merry Tree For Thee by Full Circle Designs c2002 from the JCS 02 Ornament Issue. Its quite pretty.

Saturday morning I stitched away on Nick's Christmas Stocking. Ann had all of us ladies over for lunch before we headed over to the Butler Creek B&B where we would be stitching and spending the night. Dan was a true man and BBQ'ed some chicken for us. Lunch wrapped up with a unique experience for most of us.

Our attention was drawn to a deer in the field across the street from Ann's. It was off in the distance a bit at first we thought it had just gone over the hill. But then one of the ladies spoke up, she thought it had dropped. There was a bit of debate over it either going over the hill or dropping, but the hunter showing up in his neon orange with a rifle slung over his shoulder quickly ended that debate. So did the pickup truck showing up to take the carcass away. Oh well one less deer/car collision.

Sooo we went off to the B&B we quickly staked out our stitching spots for the next 24 hours and started stitching!



Left to right : Beatrice's Mom, Angie, Beatrice


Ann is really concentrating on that stitching! Joy, in the background.

I stitched until midnight then chatted for a little longer on Saturday. I got to meet a number of new stitchers and a few ladies I had met through Ann again. I had a lovely room to myself at the B&B and its run by a sweet couple. Sunday morning we were made a fantastic breakfast of either Eggs Benedict (which I had) or Apple Pancakes. The retreat came to an end wayyy too soon! By noon some of us were heading back to Ann's.

Dan was awesome! He let me take his new toy out for a drive all by myself, no chaperone! I got to zip around (cautiously because its Dan's new toy and I'm not as familiar with the roads around there) in a 2003 Convertible GT Mustang 5-speed. What fun!

I was polite in Ann's shop! I bought M Designs letters A&B and Floral Sampler.

I got home in time on Sunday to take a 2 hour nap before my 6pm soccer game, I've just checked our standings and we're in 3rd place in our division, very cool!

Okay I think I'm really rambling now... so here's the SBQ and I'll shut up...

Q : How do you feel about staying totally true to a pattern? Do you feel that you have to rip out stitches to fix a mistake or do you feel it's acceptable to incorporate a mistake into the design?

A : Well it really depends on the design and how anal a mood I'm in. If I'm feeling anal or its integral to the design I'll rip it out and stitch it. If its not noticeable and I'm feeling lazy it'll stay. It just depends.

Oh and what do you folks thing of my new profile photo?

On Retreat Again!

I'm off hitting the roads again tomorrow evening. I'm off to Brighton once again for the Knowledge and Needles Retreat. This one is much more low key than the Cross Stitch Cupboard's retreat. It should be much more relaxing. This one is just visiting and stitching, no classes. I am going down a day early though, and spending Friday night at Ann's, I'm looking forward to a relaxing dip in the hot tub! I'm sure my muscles need it after this week!

Tonight I didn't pray to the treadmill Gods but I went to TKD and we worked up a good sweat with some patterns and sparring. God I hate sparring with a passion. I find my mind just blanks out and its all reaction instead of strategy. And it would help if I kept my hands up.

On the stitching front the ornament is coming along more slowly than I'd like. Last night I just couldn't get into the groove, I just plodded away with my Algerian eyelets. I would of liked to have gotten more stitching done before I left for TKD but my eyes just wouldn't stay open! So I napped on the couch during Dr. Phil until Coronation Street came on. Once I'm done blogging here I'll get back to that ornament. I'll have it done for you before the weekend is out!

SBQ

Wow blogging two nights in a row!!! Can you imagine it? So, its that time of the week again... SBQ

Q : When comparing large projects versus small projects, which do you get more excited about finishing?

A : Once again this is one of those questions I don't have to think too hard about the answer. I get excited about any HD!!! As the project gets closer to completion I get more and more excited.

Well I didn't stay behind for the advanced TKD class tonight, it wasn't the instructor I thought it would be. So I came home and put in another 12 minute jog on the treadmill and a 4 minute walk, with 25 sit ups and 25 push ups. Yay! Two days in a row.

Now if I could just get all this online stuff done I could get back to my November ornament.

Why Is Exercise So Hard?

Okay this is a totally non-stitching post but I need to get this out of my head.

Once I start exercising I have very little trouble with doing it and getting it done. My biggest downfall... I talk myself out of doing it!

"Oh I'm too tired tonight..."
"I've got a headache..."
"I'm not feeling well..."
"I've got to go to..."
"I'd rather be stitching..."

Yes, I've got a nice long list of reasons to talk myself out of getting started! I really have little excuse, I bought a treadmill about two years ago and it sits here in the living room ( did use it daily for about a year!). So its not as if I don't have the equipment... not that you really need any.

During the spring I would take a 25 minute walk at lunch time but then during the summer with 30c + temperatures and high humidity I used that as another excuse. Some days it wasn't so much of an excuse as the air quality was really bad and there were advisories. But I could of used the treadmill at home where I have central AC.

Then there's TKD, I always make it out to teach my classes... I have to be there but for the last month I've barely gone to my own classes. Why... see my reasons above. I do have the added excuse, on Monday night my class is at 8:30 at night and when you get home from work at 4pm I'm just so settled in at home I don't want to leave. I really am going to try to train two times a week. So that leaves Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Now a new way of "forced exercise" for me this fall is indoor soccer on Sunday nights. Boy am I ever enjoying that!!! It also gets a good sweat going... but my feet don't love me for it, its tough on my poor tootsies.

I really admire people like my friend Marj who has the dedication to go to the gym 5-6 days a week!

So tonight I did it, I got home from work and got on the treadmill. I was going to walk for 15 minutes but I felt like jogging. Boy, was I impressed with myself I jogged for 12 minutes and walked for 3! I think playing soccer has really improved my cardio because before this I could never jog for more than 5 minutes! Yeee hawww! Now hopefully tomorrow night after I get home from teaching my TKD classes I won't talk myself out of going for a jog. Unless I stay for my class at 8:30pm and that will be my exercise for the day.

So is anyone else out there as good as I am at talking themselves out of the things they should be doing?

Stitching Progress

Well its been awhile since I've shown off any stitching.

I've had one partial HD... I've just finished part 5 of Chatelaine's Midi Mystery 1, its coming along beautifully!


And as I have been saying I've been working along diligently on my nephew's stocking. Its starting to come together.


Now, my next stitching goal is to get my November ornament stitched up. I should also finish... the finishing on those ornaments I started completing. Its time to start getting organized for the exchanges I'm in.

Its Been Awhile

Hi Blogger readers, its been awhile! I should be in bed right now but I'm still too wound up to go to sleep!

Its been a busy week! When I've not been running around on Guild business, Taekwon-Do, or other things I've been working away like mad on Black Swan's stocking! I'm trying to get it finished for Christmas. Also I got part 5 of Chatelaine's Midi Mystery 1 earlier this week. So its also been a scramble to get that stitched so I can get right back to my stocking. There's also that Ornament RR waiting to be done! Oh la la! I have no time!!!!

Okay time to dry my hair and go to sleep.

November Goals & SBQ

Well, well, well its November already! Where has the year gone?

Its time for November goals and my October re-cap!

October Recap
Stitch Midi Mystery part 4 - YES
Work on Stocking - YES
Work on Noah's Sub - NO
Stitch One ornament - YES

November Goals
Stitch Midi Mystery part 5
Work on Dragon By The Fireside Stocking
Stitch one ornament

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

Q : If you have stitched for a while, can you usually pick out the DMC colors you need from memory when you go to your LNS? (For example, you know that 610 is a brown.)

A: Well I can't do it for all colours but I can do it for a lot of the colours I commonly use! I know that 666 is Christmas Red, 498 is a deep red, and so on. It just comes with time.

Tonight I'm going to start part 5 of Mid Mystery 1 by Chatelaine.