Stitching Diva

sort of random thoughts and snippets of the day…

firstly this is really interesting and reassured me i was not about to keel over from excess coffee consumption
death by Caffiene
fyi it would take
2377.35 glasses of Chocolate Milk
208.54 cups of Instant Coffee
110.57 cups of Brewed Coffee
198.11 cups of Brewed Imported Tea

of any of those in a sitting to wipe me out…. so i am safe… though i wonder what happens if you are eating chocolate at the same time….!!!!!!!!!
next, so i was looking at JBG’s site , as i do and i am in love.. i have looked at this girl numerous times but never enlarged the picture..
today i did  and i as i said am in love!!! Fairy of the Changing Moons
now would she be perfect for my new start in january a cropped fullsize chart…..
and what is that saying, if wishes were horses…
i need to add three more ACEO charts to my possible candidates for my new start in 2007 CCKuik Fairy of the Night, Blossom Witch and Harmony are all beautiful.. I looked at cropping Pale Rose today and it is possible.. though if my bewitching siliver haired girl from above, or Sugar magnolia were charted she would be dumped for either of them

and finally here is Elenia… i did have other stuff but i have run out of time…

i can’t think of a heading so i thought that one was appropriate… does anyone else get lost half way through typing that word.. appropriate.. i always get ahalf way and not know which letter i am upto…. no i am not in a silly mood…honest i am not … I really DO get lost typing that word.
I wish the weather would decide whether it is nearly summer or early spring. Yesterday was so hot i nearly passed out at our un airconditioned gym .. mind you i was not the only one even the instructor who is a national trainer for  les mills was struggling in the heat… and now today the wind is so cold i regretted not wearing my fingerless mitts when walking the dog… how silly is that… what we want is rain and we want it NOW..
don’t worry i won’t talk about weather for a whole blog entry…

now pictures and so forth… firstly i tried to scan my Dinky Dye silks the peridot green came out looking mint everytime so i gave up, but SB&B have the picturs of the new colours now they are way more vibrant IRL especially perdot and pink tourmaline but  here they are New Dinky Dye Silks 
next in my daily show /tell/share file is my Sea breeze picture… I must ask Diane if she minds me not posting until next week, i am not actually trudging into town this week.. my big moment out of the house will be going to morning tea with grumpy for his Birthday tomorrow… and then setting off for melbourne more about that in a minute..

anyway Sea breeze.. i have 95 % of the outlining done and it is only a section i am meant to stitch that needs to be done and i did some of the hair around the face so she was even prettier for all the RR girls to look at whilst stitching.. there would be more done except i convinced myself i had made a mistake, frogged about three hours work and then realised i had not made any mistake except to think i was wrong… hmph..

so melbourne .. we had this great idea.. do christmas shopping in melbourne…

so at 4.30 am on saturday morning we have to get out of bed… and be on a plane at 6.10 am… we will then run around like chooks with our heads cut off until sunday evening and get back to launceston at 10.30 pm… get up early the next morning and get back home in time for paul to start work..  easy … no worries…
the only thing keeping me from a complete spin out as opposed to the medium to full spin out i am currently experiencing is the thought of Replenishing my haigh chocolate stash, cos the next chance won’t be until probably June….. i wonder how much 6 months worth of dark choc caramels cost….. hmmm maybe i won’t get much xmas shopping done after all..lol especially as I want to buy mum a heap of the dark raspberry chocs from
koko black aswell .. i know dodgey website, but you get the idea, the chocolate is not cheap.

there will be another update later with Elenia picture…. i want to finish a black section in the background before posting

 You know if you lot want me to be bad and keep buying charts , you really need to stop sending them to me .. lol not that i am complaining i have been getting the most lovely gifts but i wish you would all stop treating me.. i really do struggle to keep up with the return gifts !!!!

anyway i think i am going to make next year the year of four samplers,  Cirques, patchwork sampler, ONE other Ink circles sampler… not sure which and ONE french Sampler most likely my AMAP 8…
plus after xmas i will buy the charting software and start trying to design my own,.. so who knows maybe the others won’t get done.
the question is which other Ink Circles Sampler will i succumb to..

I have Kaleidoscope and Sea stars ( though i don’t really have either one is enroute the other is locked away to officially be opened on my birthday) plus a little pixie has sent garden Stars which is also enroute, and then there is the purple sampler in the pipe line from Ink Circles probably early next year… HOW WILL I CHOOSE!!!

When i ordered my eterna silks this morning using my  discount voucher i included some nice blue and green overdyeds which i though would be good for either Garden or Sea Stars if they get a guernsey, and the purples i ordered can be used for either patchwork or purple sampler, so i am hedging bets a bit.. also think my sampler will be blues theme… just a feeling i have
I love the names of my eterna overdyeds…
Dragonfly, Wild Orchid, Dreamscape, Geranium, Sweet peas, Wildflowers, twilight, Dawn, Navajo, Hibiscus, Periwinkles, Glass Beach, Sea Grotto, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Adriatic..
i love the names designer/dyers come up with for colours
i also got a heap of white silk for later…
I also started trying to narrow down which Quickstitch i would start from HAED next year and when i had a list of 10 and had not even gone throough 50 charts i realised i was in trouble.. i know i could do the annette randomiser, but knowing i will probably only have 1 QS start for the year makes it really hard..
on the list so far are
Autumn Frost Lisa Victoria
Keeper of Secrets Selina fenech
PurpleRose Witch ..CCKuik
Peachy Pink… CCKuik
Broken Angel Meredith Dillman
Scarlet Witch Caron Vinson
Violet and Gold… Molly Harrison
Pink Braids ..Elaine Cox
Gentle… Elaine Cox
calla Lilly Fae …nadia tate

So you see my dilemma.. i sort of think i might actually be leaning towards the Keeper of Secrets , as i ordered the white silk with that chart in mind, but i have also toyed with making my own JBG QS from Pale Rose as i am giving up hope of any of her charts being Quick stitch charted, and after looking at Sue’s amazing Red Eye from A  Pale Comparrison
but knowing me a few more releases and 50 more walks of the dog and i would have changed my mind ten times.. and i just realsied i did not even consider the Black lace Sampler.. sigh…see plans go awry before i even hit publish
goodness i ramnbels on a lot this post didn’t i!!!!

I have tried three times to blog and just ended up closing the page..

i have bloggers block…. giggle, sounds painful doesn’t it!
I had little pixies and sprites sending me gifts during the week
I won’t say what Sonya sent me yet i will leave it until my birthday when i officially open it, as it was my xmas/birthday present final installment, but she sent cool stuff ..{{{{{hugs}}}}}
Then a norty gang of pixies sent me a Craft fair care package, cos i live in the back of no where and there are no such thing as the big craft fairs as there are in civilised  cultures . So Vicky, Nic and Annette sent me the most gorgoeus Dinky Dye silks… and as far as i can wok out they are limited ed release colours cos i can’t find them on the website, colours like Violet, Pink tourmaline, Peridot, turquoise etc.. on all the websites the range stops at number 105, these are numbered above that, and trust me they are very strong and vibrant… and i Love them..
there was also yummy sugared snickerdoodle fab from SMF, dragonfly print purple fab, gorgeous purple dyed silk fab from colourstreams, some yummy Happy soap from lush ( one of my 3 regular soap purchases from lush…clever girls!!) some lollies..of course, and a cute kitty note book, but the mega highlight for me was a copy of Stacey’s Summers Gate Sampler  it is just beautiful!!

thankyou norty pixies, though as i said to each of you , you should be smacked for spending so much money!!
I intended to have a new scan of my progres on my RR, but i don’t, suffering chronically from lazyitis/grumpyitis/slothitis/flatitis
hmmm flatitis  sounds sort of rude… So i don’t have a scan i will try my best to remedy that next entry
I am going to order some eterna silk overdyeds this weekend, they sent me a $5 dollar voucher and i am easily swayed, i need white silk any way, and to replace that silk that was wonky in my Fire Wip and the overdyeds i had before from them were lovely so i guess i should just buy some that voucher will cover the postage which is fine by me… Strangely they do not have the white in minitwist anymore, only in stranded, unless i have serious search issues.. and we all know one thing i do well is search for stitchy stuff…lol
Hopefully paul will interrrupt his precious golf tomorrow and get me to the woolshop to get some eyelash yarn for my hedgehog chart, i also bought the fighter charts so i also need black . I did have white felt for the fighter dude, but beetle atttacked the felt and rolled round and round on the ground with it, throwing it the air with her paws and biting it lots… so its dead…. yep i have dead white felt….

i think i will buy These Kokeshi Dolls next, they are cute… ,
I love these , i think they would make awesome pincushions, i might get them after christmas.
Finally , i encourage you to go check out Terri’s latest Blog entry.. and dare you not to drool….
and to look at the latest Wip of the purple sampler model, and again, NOT drool

bye xxx

sorry not feeling creative today, could not think of a heading..
I spent some time the other day and overhauled my wishlist..
it needed overhauling as my tastes have shifted slightly again.. takes ages to do things like that.. and i only do links the people doing notefish .. have way more time than me obviously!
I blame cathy for the carriage House Sampling ones.. i s looking at something from her blog and boom i started wanting various charts… i actually have 3-4 more there i like but i got sick of linking
i especially like this one though, well i have just discovered my links on my wishlist don’t work.. sigh.. see blogger hates me.. i will have to start again another day..
well from my list on links that don’t work lol
I really like Squirrels tree and A Diminutive Dutch Sampler sorry it isn’t a better pic, the better pic i found is one of the links i can’t get to work.. shrug..
and i have seen This one being worked on on the Vikki Clayton site and the chance to play with colour is wonderful A New Beginning
I really want to start collecting up books on motifs so i can design my own though..
i am going to probably use my xmas club money i don’t spend on Pauls birthday and Xmas presents ( there will be some left over this year i think) on getting my own charting software.. Sharon remembers which one i am getting, i can never remember.. good thing i have friends with brain cells and memories!

Sorry boring blog today..

here is my monsty…. I have just done links so you can see him in a reasonable size.. as i still can’t master thumbnails on wordpress.. sigh
the eyeballs are meant to be detachable so you can swap them around etc, but as this is for Mossy i thought i would stitch them in so they don’t get lost
Monster 1  

Monster 2   with this one you should be able to see i gave himhairy eyeballs, it is hard capturing fine whait hairs when you are a bunny at taking pictures..
these things are addictive, i ordered a hedgehog pattern yesterday and i really want to do a Ninja and a one eyed alien as well..

Actually i made a body too…
I went a whole day without stitching!!! don’t faint. I crocheted instead, which is sort of like learning to ride a bike once you can do it.. etcetcetc.. though i have never hurt myself crocheting and trust me i have really hurt myself bike riding several times, actually knowing me it is a wonder i have not accidentally stuck a hook in my eye , or removed a section of brain via my nose or some such dorky thing..
Anyway i digressed.. I crocheted eyeballs ( actually did 4 ) Eyesockets ( 3 of those) and a body, i also constructed them to the point of being a three eyed google monster minus the coloured google bits of the eyeballs. So until i get more than the boring old white felt i had, you get  no pics. I loved making him, and it only took a half a day and I fiddled  a bit, walked the dog, played on the computer a bit, ate dinner etrc in that time so with a serious effort i could do the others i need in 1 day.
so the pattern ( one of 4 ) i got off etsy was a real gem of a find very easy to follow and a great result..

on more serious stitching note.. making the google monster made me realise how little time there is to christmas , so i will have to pack all my samplers and QS away until all presents are done.. luckily i only have 2 more google monsters, a name tree for Pauls mum ( Jan) a little sampler i have been stitching for my real life in the flesh friend Vix… yes i have one friend who i have actually set eyes on.. and she is someone i met on a BB too..
see i am a  little antisocial recluse .. you all honestly have no idea
and maybe one more thing but i doubt it…
plus i want to blitz my models up to christmas as i take a week off over xmas to do some jeannie-maree stuff, and apparently i have to go to hobart for some stupid 40th birthday thing to keep everyone happy except the person whose birthday it is..pout.. SHE wants to go camping but has been told that she is being  antisocial little recluse….

vent over… but be warned

no not mine.. not even one of my girls …

she is my Seabreeze baby by the very talented artist CC Kuik (see my links for more of her work) for the RR.  She is stitched on SMF 28 ct lugana jellybean 1×1, the outline is done with one strand of petite treasure braid in a dark burgundy/maroon colour.
I doubt i will get much more done as i still have some outlines to do and i will need to post it to Diane soon
here is the full pic

an aside i may be giving away all my 28 count lugana so watch this space, i really do prefer 28/32 ct jobelan and 30 ct /32 count linen, or Graziano 28 ct linen

only musings, nothing in concrete, or even a list really, just ponderings..
One would assume i will finish the two models by february, so then ther would be 2 new models slipping in there, not sure if Michele will want me to start a new one or go back to LR, not sure if kerry will ever want me to stitch for her again i have been so pitifully slow, no one would believe i spend more time of that model than anything else i do, i just can not stitch 2×2 anymore both Elenia and the CC model would be done if i was doing 1×1 i honestly believe that… but such is life…

I also believe i will finish Maggie and possibly snow pixie in 2007, and there will be the ongoing RR
added to these are patchwork sampler which will also be ongoing, i have a 2 year philosophy on that one, and cirques which i would like to finish within a year if possible, though i suspect i will start another ink circles chart as i have kaleidoscope on its way from sharon, garden circles from paula nd i think sea stars from another little pixie… you lot are so bad, you are trying so hard to make me start new things…
and what do i want to start? well i would like to think i start 2 more QS, 1 fullsize and    1 more sampler, maybe 2 and do some major work on my CC chart and Sea of Roses..
the dilemma is which 2 QS, which fullsize chart .. which i want to be a B&W chart and which samplers.. i thinkthe leporello will be one sampler…

hmmm more pondering needed

and just a clarification for judy from the last posting, mixed lollies are a must have for any sugar junky in australia they are a wide assortment of jelly and chocolate lollies, like jelly snakes, jelly raspberries, jellbeans,  mainly, but musk sticks, bananas etc also get a look in, sometimes if you are really lucky there are even luv hearts… only decent picture i could find.. unless i went and bought some lol!! mixed lollies
this one shows strawberries and cream and the lolly teeth lindy was talking about…. mixed lollies 2 and these are the EVIL bananas
and Lindy did you used to play the clinker game were you had to put the clinker in your mouth say what colour it was and then see who guessed correctly…. i LOVE clinkers

yummm, i should not have used that title, now i want mixed lollies…
see how easily i am distracted! I love mixed lollies, especially when there are ripe raspberries, chicos, honey bears, spearmint leaves  and strawberries and creams in them.. oh and choc bullets and freckles, my corner store has a a good mixed lolly collection except for honey bears and choc bullets, and if i am lucky i can always find a bag in the basket that does not have ukky lolly bananas in them…blech don’t like them..

Ok i will focus now..
Polly is a darling… we all know that, but she sent me some Stacey Tippen prints for an early birthday pressie… and then Stacey is a darling cos she slipped a third print in, so now i own feelin Girly ( from the lovely paula), Night, Aqua Bubble mermaid and Marina..
how beautiful is Marina, those colours are amazing, maybe i should stitch her… ( hysterical laughter.. like in 10 years time or something….) So thankyou sweet polly, your BB name suits you so well {{{hugs}}}
Next i treated myself and bought the new fenech calender and it is lovely, it arrived yesterday along with a few little things i ordered to go in xmas gifts so i can’t mentin them, though i bought myself an ACEO print of Keeper of Secrets to go in my wallet… if she makes keyrings of her i will buy one she is just so beautiful.
i hope to have a progress pic of Sea breeze tomorrow for you all maybe..

Kerry did her new releases too *bounce*
and LOOK!!!!!! She released SPML’s Dark Angel, it looks wonderful I know sharon has already succumbed and i might not be far behind, the other new release is of one of my favourite trees, or i should say favourute non native trees, nothing beats a flowering blue gum really, i digress, it is called Daisy Day Revisited by Wendy Leach and has what we Know as a New Zealand Christmas Tree in it, they are so beautiful around christmas time with their happy red flowers

For those of you who know about my Leporello… i finally ordered the finishing book, so now when I have all the charts in front of me , and my lovley kit and my finishing book i will actually be able to start it.. assuming i ever decide on fabric, i think i want porcelain from Silkweaver but i will need to get a biggish piece so I will have to wait a bit.. or one of the nice fabs from Passione ricamo, i love her linen/evenweave i could go for the pinkish cream one of those i spose…

My Pandora Braclet thing is out of control, i might have to buy myself a second one , between paul, mum and a few lovely little fae folk who have already contacted me and bagsed certain charms to send me i will have the first one filled before i own it,  no joke You lot are so beautiful, if not totally undisciplined, unruly and very norty, but i guess thats why i love you {{hugs}}