One more Happy New Year!!!

I'm still in bed, worse instead of getting better, and that is the first New Year Eve in my life when I'll go to bed much before midnight. It's soon 10pm here, I'll just watch a TV program I want to see and fall asleep - if the sound of fireworks doesn't get too disturbing. People started popping them as early as 8pm tonight. Neither my dog nor queen-cat seem to care though :)
H. snored in bed most of the day as well, my father and wife decided not to go to the New Year Eve concert at the opera and instead handed the tickets to a (delighted) neighbor. Since they've been ill since two full weeks I don't see much hope for me for the moment :(.
My brother, wife and son were supposed to travel to spend a few days with them on Tuesday before they head back for Switzerland but the news being as they are, neither me nor my father are going to see them this time. Not sure if my father can accept not seeing his grandkid though!
The thought that out there, there are healthy people who dance, celebrate, kiss and laugh is so.... unrealistic LOL!
Back to bed, enjoy your evening wherever you are, whatever you do, just have it nice for yourselves! Happy New Year in 2 hours (my time)!

G'night...

... last night before 2007 arrives! :)

I've stayed in bed and concentrated on feeling poor, miserable and abandoned by the world LOL! H.'s plane arrived in time and he's also been staying in bed all day and we talked on the phone several times, exchanging experiences (is your nose running now? does your throat ache? mine has stopped, have you taken your medicine?) Yeah right, what a lovely week we're having! :)

I was planning to blog about the lovely gifts I received from several stitching friends including a wonderful Prairie Schooler quickie exchange with Suzanne, but it's too dark to take good shots now and I feel ill and... plain lazy... LOL! I'll catch up tomorrow.

I should write among my goals for 2007 not to start a project when down with a cold. I stitched half the border on LHN's Coffee chart just to discover it's too long for the piece of SW's fabric I chose. Will restart the whole thing tomorrow on a different shade of fabric, as I don't have enough of this one in lenght. Vrrrrrr!

Was planning to watch some movies on TV but I'll just pity myself in bed with some pills against the cold and hope to wake up feeling better tomorrow. I'll try to fall asleep very soon. Nity nite, everyone!

Happy New Year!!!

To all xstitch fans and friends, I would like to wish a wonderful 2007, filled with stitching, laughter and warmth!

(me and my dad's wife)

I am back from Christmas at my father's and back from the airport, H. is now on his plane to Oslo. Christmas was nice, really, just that both my father and his wife had a bad cold so the main topic was illness, coughing and running noses, doubled with sinusitis and fiever ;-) and well, yes, despite all protective measures I and H. got it too. With the zillions of bacterias flying in the air there we knew it would happen. We spent the last 3 days in bed, the greatest part of the day, but it didn't help. Today is the worst (hopefully, I mean, I really wish this won't continue), I cough with bad sounds, my nose is like a leaking pipe, oh well, you know how the story goes. We've been taking medicines since many days so we hope this will end soon.

Christmas... well. No snow, no hopes of snow, and up till +6 Celsius. Warm. It did NOT feel like Christmas and I almost have the feeling there was no Christmas :(. My brother, wife and kid couldn't come this year from Switzerland because my SIL couldn't get days off around Christmas and they only arrive tomorrow for a week. Somehow I got used to having Christmas with my 4,5 y.o. nephew, with the laughter, joy and all the Santa-seriousness. And I think for my father it just isn't the same when he doesn't have his both kids around, and now also his grandkid. But don't get me wrong, it was a lovely time, very relaxing.

H. spent a lot of time installing Windows XP on my father's computer, we also drove to buy him a new HP cheap printer and he got a Skype phone and a bigger hard drive from us - and he's thrilled. He immediately started calling acquaintances in various part of the world. And he is sooooo happy to have his computer modernized!!!

Their doggie is not going to live much longer, his heart is very bad now and he was out of breath and coughing terribly....

During H.'s stay, we threw out my new couch :( from last year. It was an expensive one and really beautiful but the system didn't work well for extending it daily, I think it just wasn't meant for such an intense use and some wooden elements broke, making it very hard to extend. We drove to Ikea and got a new one and I just looooooooove it! My cat and dog love it too LOL!

H. also helped me to sort what seems almost the last batch of old stuff, I threw some and we drove twice to the storage, where we repacked it all into boxes. H. insisted and pushed me to do that job while he was here, saying it would be so nice, clean and empty in my tiny flat and that I would gain so much space for storing stuff. And it is true :) Now I just need to wash and clean here and there and I can rediscover a neat flat after several years of having it clogged completely. It is such a great feeling! I worked 4 months by bits to get to that result and yes, it was worth the bone aches LOL!

So now I will just go to bed to help my body get rid of that %$#%#%^# cold and in some hours I will upload more pictures+++.

Happy Saturday, everyone! :)

"My first Christmas" ornie

I made this one last night for a friend whose first baby girl was born this summer. A month later they both followed hubby/dad far away to Tahiti so I haven't yet had the opportunity to see the little princess, only on photos - and she definitely is the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen :)

Anyway, this is for little Helenka (or Hélène, her daddy being French).

The pattern is by Echevette, who creates the most gorgeous freebies and shares them with all the stitching community.

Ah yes, the picture is really bad. It shows a weird pinkish colour while it was a sparkling white. I seem to always take pictures in the evening, when the light is too bad for the digital camera.

Swiss Birdhouse :)

We couldn't resist to this birdhouse :)

We found it at a huge Christmas market in Switzerland, in the town where my brother lives. It was organized in a gardening center and it occupied several buildings! We spent quite some time in there. Unfortunately I had to be reasonable with money this year.

This is a real birdhouse; the seeds are put from the top, by opening the house's roof and down the building, there are little openings on each side where the grains come out. And the little birdies can sit around on the edge and stuff their little yellow Norwegian butts! LOL I can't wait to see it hanging in H's garden.

There were about 5 different such houses to choose from. Oh, and it is quite big, about 35 cm tall.

Busy, busy Tuesday

Can you believe that I spent 7 (yes, SEVEN) hours preparing and packing Christmas gifties for friends abroad? This should be the last batch and I am happy to have it done. I also prepared wrote and packed several Christmas cards for customers and friends. All will leave early tomorrow morning. Still, it is beyond me why it took me such a long time! Luckily, I didn't have work today on my desk.
I also took photos of some finishes (including the secret [...] PS exchange for Suzanne - I am so proud of this one! It is the first time I made a [...] and two more, little .... for ... and ... LOL!). I've uploaded them to a secret folder on webshots where they will wait till they will have reached their destination! :)

Soft trees freebie

I just can't resist sharing this one with you. I just discovered it but apparently it's been popular for a while as confirms this site with photos of some of the trees made by its fans, and the pattern is here.
I fell in love with it the moment I saw the one Elisabeth made and posted to her blog. Yay! I hope I'll find a short moment to make at least one to offer this Christmas! It looks so simple to make and its up to anyone to make her own version. I love it, love it!

Isn't the new Trilogy lovely?

I am on a stash diet for money reasons till at least the New Year, but I love looking at the new designs :) That new one from Trilogy is co cute with its lines of red robins, penguins and mittens... I can already visualize a little pillow or cube with it :)

New 24h Freebie!

Hurry up, Tonia from OakHaven Cs Designs has made it available for one day only.
You need to scroll up till the bottom! It's called Loving Swirly Snow and it's available at http://site.oakhavencsdesigns.com/index.html.

Afghan delivered...

...in good hands! H. got it in Switzerland. And you know what? He appreciated it to its real value, many months of work. Now to see it hanging somewhere... LOL! But he was amazed with the amount of work, the details etc. I managed to fringe it by hand before leaving (that alone took many, many hours, so I think I'll let myself be tempted soon by a sewing machine LOL!) and two squares in the bottom left corner are not done yet, but I'll stitch them fast during a next trip to Norway. It's only a piece of broken tree trunk.
For those who don't know yet the little story.... A few years ago as we were hiking above Zakopane, in the Tatra mountains in Poland, we met a mommy bear with two adorable cubs, just 2,5-3 months old, not more. This was one of THE moments of our relationship... We sat for a moment on broken bits of trees with my old aunt to watch the view, look at the map, and go further after a short moment of relax, and then what do I see? The first baby bear. I don't think I realized the danger, I just pointed at it and said: "Oh look at that!!" with delight. That all happened before I read anything about bears and danger and wilderness - and the outcome of such meetings. It would never occur to me to feel in danger there, so close to civilization. H. and my aunt froze, looked at each other and ordered we pack everything fast, but without panick. The little one was just jumping around. Mommy not in sight. My aunt decided we should go further up - and what do we see? Another little bear rolling in front of our feet, on the path, sort of intentionnally falling from a higher path border made of sand, I think. Now that was scary. We turned back. I still remember the look and the eyes of the second cub - he looked at us so surprised, almost friendly. I think he just couldn't figure what those two-legged creatures were! We didn't see Momma bear. She certainly was *very* close and as we were told later by specialists, she probably didn't attack not because we were 3 humans, but because we behaved perfectly (judging by bear's criteria) and because neither of her kids made a sound. They were too young to be scared, they were just there to play and eat berries, they never met humans before and didn't understand the danger, that is what saved us. We returned fast (very fast, if you ask me) to our car. An unforgettable experience... Since then we've been reading lots of reports about meeting bears and well, there are not many people who met cubs so close and survived.
And when I saw this afghan pattern, I just couldn't believe my eyes: the scene is almost like the one we lived, but maybe a moment after? The bear mom and her two kids dancing around, happy that the humans left LOL! The ones we met were much, much smaller than on the afghan design and I can tell you that no soft toy can reproduce how sweet a real small bear looks! :) Even the view of the mountains is like the one where we were sitting, and the fallen trunks... just the eagle wasn't there, but what do I know?
So many reasons why H. really loved his gift... :) and I was delighted! Though I must say, I am happy to be over with it. I didn't find it very pleasant to work on a biiiig piece of heavy, warm fabric, with a multitude of colors (a whole bag of DMC)... Now to move on to other projects!

Prairie Schooler exchange from Linda McM

Tonight I wanted to share the wonderful Christmas finished ornament exchange I received from Linda McM, the listmom of our Prairie Schooler group, and what a listmom!
Linda sent me not one but two ornaments, one bigger - from the Blackwork Angels leaflet and the second is from Christmas miniatures. I hope I am not making any mistake, but the Angels are done in silks (the gold is shiny Marlitt) and for the small ornie, Linda substituted the recommended DMC : the red is GAST Brick, the green is a Needle Necessities... I love both dearly, but I'll tell you in secret I am madly in love with the little cutie: it is sooooo bright in colors, so intricate, so beautifully finished... This is not to say I don't like the Angels, I love them too! But somehow this little one is a gem.... a real gem.
As I often say, I tend to be pathetically nostalgic at times when it comes to gifts from friends... especially those gifts where the person has put a special care and attention to make it, buy it, suit my tastes, you know what I mean.... This week I was spoiled by Mylene and Linda... Two wonderful persons I only know virtually, but they are one of those special people met on Internet, whose friendship is maybe virtual physically, but very real.
Linda also sent me several leaflets and she picked them right into my tastes, how did she know? :) She chose Heart in Hand's "A Christmas Wish", from A Stitcher's Hand a leaflet named "Needle Station", also "Pear's wreath" by Sisters and Best Friends.... and an out of print leaflet from Prairie Schooler, the sought after "Summer Samplers"!! Thank you so much, Linda!!! :) :) :)
The fact that Linda's mother worked on one of the ornaments gives in a very special value in my heart... Linda described the process in her blog, this was a very touching report (you might have to scroll back a few).

I feel a lucky gal this week... tomorrow I'll post about my trip to Cheeseland.

What a beauty from Mirabilia!

I must say I generally prefer L&L designs to Mirabilia, but this one (the new Christmas Tree) is a real gem. I can't afford it currently but I'll remember it when there is a sale in 2007! In the meantime I'll be watching others' progresses on this one... it looks amazing!

Mill Hill exchange

And here is the lovely MH exchange I received from Mary (Ozark Samplers): 4 skeins of Ozark threads, 1 Vicky Clayton silks, 1 DMC light effects and a MH buttoned and beaded kit from the Christmas Village series. And a piece of lovely pink fabric... I am sooooo spoiled this week!! More to come tomorrow.... a gorgeous Prairie Schooler exchange from Linda McM!!

Moose from Mylene!!

See that handsome moose guy I received from Mylene, am I not lucky? :) I have this thing about moose and reindeer.... and this is such a lovely addition to my home decoration!! I love the fuzzy cording and the ornie is soooo cute, so soft, so everything... Thank you again here, Mylene!!!

I think everyone knows Mylene's cards, she is such a talented card-maker. See the beautiful one she sent me for Christmas!!

I am back!!!

Thank you everyone for your care and crossing fingers, the beginning of the trip was awful! I'll send a detailed report about my trip tomorrow or during the week-end, it's been soooo lovely!

Coming back home, I had several lovely packages waiting for me to open...

I have tons to blog, so watch that space over the next days!!! :) Missed you a lot!!

Here is the new Pine Mountain Tie One Up Christmas pillow, I basically stitched it for H's mother, just waiting for him to tell me if it's okay enough ;-) It was a fast stitch, just two hours yesterday and tucking the pillow was a breeze!

I am in Cheeseland!

Hi everyone, i AM in Switzerland, I am here!!! It "only# took me TWO days!!! I was supposed to leave on Tuesday morning and I arrived to Geneva on Wednesday 21:20 PM!!!!!
Will write more when I can, currently I am typing, H. asking questions, my nephew playing with me with a dinosaur and asking me to scare him, his nanny babbling about men and I am trying to work.... LOL! Can't concentrate on writing anything more clever!!! :) Till soon!

MYLENE! Thanks a zillion for your support!!! I arrived DEAD but I arrived!!! :)))

Anxious Wednesday

Thank you Mylene! Please continue having your fingers crossed :). The smiley is here to force myself to smile as well ;-). I am working on a text overnight (slept some in the evening) and around 7, I'll take a shower and take a taxi to the airport. There is really almost no hope - I just watched the detailed latest weather forecast for Warsaw and Poland in general. The fog is here till Friday. There might be little moments when it will lift a big but I would have to have tons of luck.
I talked to H. and my brother in the evening. It was heart-breaking for me. Must be the enormous stress, but I do miss H. so much at this moment that it is almost physical. Like if an internal clock inside me was counting every minute we're losing of our stay together.
The concert is tomorrow in Zurich. We were supposed to borrow my brother's car, drive to Zurich and back in the night after the concert. If I can't fly to Zurich before tomorrow, I'll have to think of a solution, like staying in Zurich and waiting for H. who'd then take the train to join me, I don't know really. I want to be IN A PLANE today!!!! ^%%^#%#
So they were having nice family time in the evening, great dinner (my brother cooks wonderfully). They told me that my 4,5 years old nephew made a very sad face, he was about to cry when he saw "uncle H." alone. He called me in the evening to comfort me and said: there is no fog tomorrow, auntie, please come tomorrow. It was sooooo sweet :)
We *will* remember that 10th anniversary, oh yes we will... :(

Please cross ALL fingers...

I am back HOME after 8 hours at the airport. In short, it's even worse. Just a few flights departed in the very early morning. All the rest are cancelled. Cancelled. Cancelled. We were already at the gate, full of hope, when we were informed that the plane from Zurich was diverted back to Berlin. The fog is incredible. I can't see the next house. Zero visibility. And that's the second day, so you can imagine the thousands of exhausted/angry passengers in the airport halls. No information. I was smart [...] and with another girl, we rebooked our flight for this evening. I was supposed to be in Geneva before midnight. And no. Again. Still no flights starting or flying in. Cancelled. I have now rebooked for tomorrow morning. The terrible news is that the fog is expected to stay till FRIDAY. H. is already in Geneva. Picked up by my brother. Now enjoying nice family time and all. I am close to crying - it really doesn't look like I'll be able to fly tomorrow either. The concert in Zurich is on Thursday - will we miss that too??? This was supposed to be a short romantic stay to celebrate our 10th anniversary. With every minute, it's getting shorter. I am devastated.... Please cross all fingers for me, I so want to fly tomorrow morning... I have to. I just have to.... H. is there alone with my family and he'll be fine, but it all wasn't supposed to be this way, really not.... :( :( :(

Crisis crisis crisis crisis....

Warsaw airport is not accepting any incoming flights and not releasing any. The reason? We're having today the biggest fog since 1968.... Yep, you read it right. It hasn't lifted since the morning. Want to see the situation? Click here. Want worse? It's supposed to be the same tomorrow. I love it! First I need to board onto my plane to Zurich, which might or not happen tomorrow, then I need to be rebooked on a flight from Zurich to Geneva. Looks like my brother is going to pick up H. alone at the airport, he's taking a direct flight from Oslo. Please cross all available non-stitching fingersfor me!
Not sure if I'll be able to blog from Cheeseland, will try to.
Stitching wise, I machine-washed the afghan for H - still need to iron it. I'll spread it out on a big bed at my brother's and make a picture. It took me *hours* to fringe it [..] by hand. It's missing two blocks in the left corner and I hate it, but at least it will be clean, ironed and really, it looks gorgeous! Great feeling to see it after all these months I spent working on it. Lynne, if you read this - yes, I neeeed a sewing machine!!! LOL
For the travel, I'm taking with me a mysterious project for a quickie exchange for Suzanne from the PS group. Hope to send it next week when I'm back!

On Sunday, I and H. be celebrating our 10 years together... I am all nostalgic about it... I am thankful for each and every day with him... he's the best! :)

Saturday Quick Post

I mentioned the other day in our PS group my first stocking I stitched last year for my nephew. It is a Bent Creek 2005 pattern. I received it too late from the finisher (end of January, two months in the mail) last year but my nephew will get it this year. I was so surprised to find out it's so small. I was expecting to get a biiiig stocking! Also, I sent the template to the finisher but she "cut" the bottom part in a very strange way. If she had followed the pattern, the shape would have been nice and the stocking much bigger. I am not sure why she decided to cut close to the stitches. Now that I think of it, maybe she did something wrong and eventually just had to? The LNS had mentioned she was doing her first stockings. Anyway - I didn't like that finish but my nephew won't care. Probably he won't care much about it at all - though my point was to create a sort of family heirloom he would keep forever.

I am babbling too much tonight! Must be all the work I need to do ;-)

Almost 11 pm here and I haven't found the way to the couch (=relaxing and stitching) yet :(. First I overslept. I did hear the alarm clock but decided to sleep just a little bit more... you know the system. Glad that H. called to ask about something, it was just 3 minutes before my appointment at the hair-dresser. I was able to delay it one hour, so I had a quick shower, a fraction of a breakfast and had a hair "balayage" and this time I told my fav' hair-dresser how to cut the front - it's wonderful this time. I am very satisfied with the result. Then I spent 5 (five) more hours in town, I didn't know that toy shops can be that tiring!!! Especially on a Saturday....

Anyway, I got enough gifts for my nephew to make him very, very, very happy and I also bought little somethings to add to Christmas gifts for friends. And I bought a pair of winter shoes!! Much too expensive for my taste but instead of two pairs (one for jeans and one for skirts - for the one or two times I wear a skirt every winter, but parties can happen! LOL) I found an ideal pair that will be great for both. The price was not ideal... but seeing as time is running and my to-do list seems to elongate constantly, I should say I'm happy. I am just a bit worried because the shoes seem a little bit too loose in the heel zone. Anyway. They're bought and they'll be used. We'll see if they become favorites or not ;-) Here's how they look with the fur cuff down and up.

Missing in action?

Definitely, yep, missing in action, flooded and all the rest. Flooded with work and life. I manage to squeeze in 2-3 hours of sleep each night or during the day and I am by now totally exhausted, so those of you I owe a reply to, please please please forgive my being late, I am really doing my best. Don't ask me when I'll buy a pair of shoes, go to the bank, to the post office, buy gifts, clean the flat, work (still more to do!) or even wash my hair - I am lost. I also have an appointment at the dentist - and I'm taking the plane in 4 days!!! Impossible, I tell you.
When I have a moment and seriously need to stop thinking about homeopathy, yet another legal text or construction details, which my clients generously ask me to process with my head, I work like a rocket on the afghan for H. There is still a tiny, tiny chance I will be able to give it to him on Tuesday, though if I maybe have time to put the last stitches, wash and iron the piece, I won't be able to fringe it. But who cares, heh.
I just can't wait for that week together and unplugging from work (clients allowing, but I am taking my keyboard and most important files). In just a week, one of my biggest dreams will come true! Chris de Burgh's concert in Zurich, I mean. He started the European tournee for his new album last Saturday in Birmingham and from the reviews I read, it's going to be almost 3 hours !!! of pure craziness. I caaaaaaan't wait!!!! I think I'll dissolve on my seat listening to his best songs because yes, he sings a lots of his most beautiful songs this time.
I just need to survive my brother, SIL and nephew for a week, but I'll do my best LOL!
Four days, just FOUR days! Dam di dam di dam!! :)
And yes, I promise to answer to all late mail tomorrow. Sure thing! Just need to get through one more sleepless night and deliver 3 more jobs till Friday noon.

Mill Hill purchases

It's been a loooong time since I bought any Mill Hill kits. I still haven't got the medieval Santas and the Santa clothes from earlier this year, those are on my To Buy list, but that has to wait. I got a couple of pins with some bigger order recently, and yesterday I couldn't resist several older spring pins on ebay, including this one:

I just can't wait to put my hands on it! :)

Prairie Schooler ornie

This is Joy to the World from the book Songs of the Season by Prairie Schooler, stitched for our PS group Christmas finished ornament exchange.

Hah, now that Linda received it, proud me can safely show it. Don't ask how many hours it took this bad finisher to get to this result! LOL

The photo doesn't show the sparkles in the opalescent fabric nor the real "bright", "golden" and sparkly colors, but that's the best shot I was able to take. For the hay, I cut rafia in tiny tiny bits and glued it safely in place. I forgot to take a picture, behind is a Christmas red and green fabric.

It is stitched with my choice of overdyes, I didn't use the DMC the chart called for. Also, I used gold braid for the rays and the halo around the heads instead of regular floss.

I am so glad you like it, Linda! It was a pleasure to stitch it for you!

Pay it forward

I put my name on Mary Kathryn's list so now it's my turn!

The first five people to respond to this post -via the comments section- will get some form of needlework made by me. After you comment, please email me your regular mail address (to fjordgirl at gmail dot com). I’m setting a 365 day deadline but I'll certainly try to send your items much, much earlier ;-)

The rules? If you sign up to receive from me, you must post the same Pay it forward offer in your blog so the idea goes on! :)

So, who's first? :)

Monday French freebies

Cyperphenicia has a real beauty I'm sharing with you to start the week with a big smile! You'll find it here and you can see more finished versions here.

Also, Echevette posted a heart in two colour versions "Mon 1er Noel", for the French challenged, this means My First Christmas. Right on spot! One of my good friends had a baby in July and this will be a perfect fast stitch for the little one! :)

I'm back

Yesterday I, my aunt and grandma made 285 tiny, tiny "uszka" (like pierogis, but much smaller and the shape is different, I'll post a picture in a month) for Christmas dinner's borstsch (red beet soup) and 100 cabbage and mushroom pierogis, also for Christmas dinner. I brought half of that frozen back to Warsaw, and they're now waiting in the freezer till it's Christmas time. My culinary contribution to xmas dinner is thus done! I might bake some sort of xmas cake or cakes at one moment, but all the rest will be done by my father and his wife. Good. I was totally pooped yesterday, we worked from 11am till 6pm in the kitchen.
Today my cousin and his wife arrived with supplies for a nice breakfast, we ate together and had nice chats/laughters later. And then it was time for the 3,5 h trip by train. I spent all evening catching up on my mail and other urgent stuff.
Time is flying... I will be super busy all the next month and I fear I won't be able to do all I've planned. I was hoping (and still am!) to finish H's afghan in time to give it to him in 10 days in Cheeseland, but I got work and I'll be working a lot all next week, so stitching time will be very limited.
I didn't take anything to stitch for the trip, I hate train time so much that I try to half-sleep to survive LOL! and I was right in guessing that I would be to tired yesterday to stitch. Tomorrow I plan to pay a lot of bills, which will take a long time, clean the flat and stitch, so I can work hard from Monday morning.

Isa V has a new freebie on her blog, it is Joyeux Noel shaped as a heart. Happy stitching!

Away....

If you're looking for me, I am away till Sunday... change of plans, I decided to visit my aunt [...] this week-end instead of before Christmas....
I'll reply to any emails when I'm back, sorry...

Today's French freebies...

...are from Miss T. Check them out, and if you scroll down, you will find several biscornu patterns which seem to be the rage lately! :)
http://misst.canalblog.com/archives/mes_petites_grilles_gratuites/index.html

New freebie from The Sampler Girl!

Yet a new freebie from Tanya! This time, December-themed, well in time to stitch before Christmas. It is so easy and cute! See here.

Almost all tickets bought

(some of you might know I'm nuts about moose and reindeer decorations... here is Christmas reindeer from Angi!)

We had incredible luck tonight. It is now 2 months since I've been pressing H to buy his Christmas plane tickets. We'll be spending it at my father's this year, and 12 days together after a whole week in Switzerland just two weeks before, so I can't say enough how delighted I am. The luck, you'll ask? It's that plane tickets prices have been going up gradually, after all Christmas is in a little bit more than a month away now and I wasn't that happy with my stubborn partner who likes to delay everything till the last moment... We're a great couple, me who likes to plan everything *very* long in advance and H who hates it LOL! Anyway, we were planning to finally decide on the dates for Christmas today and while he was on his way home, I checked the airline's website and what do I see? Several days had prices several times lower than even last month! I called H, made him run home and tickets were bought, for 1/3 of the price!! The flight from Oslo to Warsaw cost 297 NOKs, while just an hour later it cost 1297!!! Delighted, delighted I am, I tell you... So, we get to spend almost 3 weeks together in total between end of November and end of December. Yooopla! I've been checking tickets prices every day the last month, sometimes several times per day, so I really don't know why this ONE cheap ticket was released... Of course, he will now use it against me forever, he's already joking that if we had bought the tickets yesterday as planned, he would have payed a fortune more than today! LOL

Stitching - I received a small order from 123stitch.com with [...] to finish my PS exchange for Suzanne. At least that's what I am planning, tomorrow I'll see it my idea can be brought to life. If it can, it is certainly a miniature challenge :)

I finished two more blocks of the Spring Thaw afghan for H. Only 8 more to go within two weeks (sigh). I hate speed-stitching. I've put the FAS away. I just don't like working on it at all. Too bad there was no chance to make it in time for his b-day or Christmas, but the LNS send it only :( 2 months after my order, and sent it to the wrong adress, meaning I got it end of September. Oh well, he'll get it one day. No need to hurry anymore.

H's 50th birthday was yesterday... we celebrated it over the phone, there will be plenty of time in Switzerland for more romantic moments, especially since on Dec. 03, we'll also celebrate 10 years of being together! :) To me, this is a magical date...

Off to stitch a little bit and head to bed... night night everyone!

Blackwork Furry Friends

Yup, Monday procrastination... while working on two texts... I ended buying Blackwork Furry Friends by Tam's Creations, I just loved it! Tam finally has a nice place to sell her designs from. It is nice, because you get the chart directly by email.

And if you want to see the pattern I bought, it is this one :)

Lost Saturday

Yup, I feel like it's lost, but there'll be a Sunday ;-)
I started working again in the flat in the evening yesterday and decided to pause... at almost 7 am!! I am nuts, I know, but I just have to have the flat neat again. At 4am there were beads, threads, frames, magazines, books, charts and kits, and what have you, *everywhere*!! including my bed, the floor, my keyboard etc. Now most of it is sorted and put into boxes of various kind with really (I amazed myself LOL!) some sort of system. One thing I don't know how to solve is little insects that seem to love fabrics. They are everywhere where I store fabrics in the flat, after they die they leave little dry skins and some sort of miniature coccoons. They drive me nuts! They are even in the closed plastic boxes. I will attemt to put soap (because of the fragrance) and see if that helps.
Now, the floor is still covered with a zillion items but there are walkable "channels" for the furry kids ;-)
Do you ever have moments like this? I discovered I have *dozens* of lovely tuck pillows (I seem to have bought more on ebay last year than I cared to admit), twice the number of Silkweaver hand-dyed fabric packs than I thought (granted, half are not colors I really like for my usual projects, so they were stuck in the back of a big drawer), I have quite many charms and other nice stash. Far from what some ladies have, but I only discovered US stash about 4 years ago... I also prepared a huge pile of charts to sell on ebay. The situation being as it is, I can't afford buying stash still for the next half year, so I decided to sell a lot, making a copy of the occasional pattern I think I will stitch and especially get rid of some precious doubles. Lots of these are samplers and Birds of a Feather patterns, but none of the BOF charts are the expensive OOP found on ebay.
Waking up today, I was thinking what I really need as stash... Scissors, probably. I only have two small pairs received from stitching friends with fobs. Overdyes and silks - I wish I would win the lotto. I am sure I would spend half the sum (however high it would be) on these, much to H's despair! LOL Hand-dyed fabrics, always. Buying some charts/kits from both my wishlists, certainly. Isn't it awful that designers always have new patterns we need to have? :)
So I'm thinking... 2007 will be (decided!) more Mill Hill stitching (especially some samplers from a book I bought earlier this year), more Prairie Schooler and stitching runners and tablecloths again. I must have mentioned earlier that I really miss those. Especially since stoopid me gave all my most beautiful accomplishments to family. I wish I didn't! Except for one which my aunt always proudly exhibits, they are hidden somewhere in closets gathering dust. Not the fate I want for a piece it took me a year to finish.
I'm flying to Switzerland in a little bit than 2 weeks and I need to have H's afghan ready, so I have to talk to myself and quit working on other stuff till then.
Off to start the day at past 5pm (told you it's a lost day :( ). Thank you everyone for emails, comments and other messages in the past few days, I'll do my best to reply this week-end! I only have one small job on my desk for Monday, so Sunday should be free for catching up on email.
Have a nice week-end, everyone!

At 5pm, I also took out a big pile of clean (go figure!) clothes and bedclothes to wash again and iron, and a moment later, I noticed that Happy found a comfy place to sleep in! LOL

Meet Lil' Mouse!

Fabric: Sunshine Sparkle (Silkweaver), 25ct Lugana

Chart from Cross Stitch Crazy (Christmas 2006 issue) UK magazine

Threads used: my choice of overdyes

Finally finishes I love! I couldn't resist to this little mouse...

Basically, I stitched it for a friend's daughter. Now, please help me - what should I do? I love it so much that I have a hard time parting with it. And no, I won't stitch it again, I know I won't, I never do, there's plenty of other designs I always want to stitch :(. Should I keep it and have it finished or should I send it, what would you do?? And if I keep it, how do I finish it (=I'll have a finisher do it for me)? I'm perplexed though I have some ideas, but the first question is, do I send it, really...

Dragon Dreams new freebie

There's a new freebie, have you seen it? It's a little dragon with a pumpkin on his head, too cute :)
I just love DD designs!

Today's French freebies...

...are from Vivapetitmonde.fr

See here, links in the center and archives list in the pink sidebar to the right, including a nice hardanger ABC (Mylene should like that ;-))
Also click directle here.

More freebies here, but they're presented in a way I don't like and which I usually find not that attractive. I found a couple of cute ones though! :)

I don't remember if I ever posted those. Anyway, the scissors cases, for instance, are so beautiful!

And a fall design, two leaves from Ursulaschertz.de.

New yummy patterns

I just can't take my eyes off the new Janlynn kits (granted, I wouldn't do them on Aida). I especially love the winter piece and the autumn piece, aren't they stunning?

While procrastinating, I'd like to mention the new Spanish Church freebie by Michael Powell at http://www.michaelpowellart.co.uk/ (you need to subscribe to subscribe as member). It is wintery, not too big and certainly nice once finished :)

Small M letter finish

I stitched the first of several (but not many, I won't have time with my big and exchange projects) small gifties for stitcher-friends. I haven't been able to take a good shot tonight with the digital camera, so I'll upload a much better one once I have it finished - as a small hanging ornie. It is from the Holly and Ivy alphabet published in the UK magazine Cross Stitch Crazy, Christmas 2006.

TGOSM Sampler finish!

I so fell in love with this sampler that I stitched it in 3 evenings. I just couldn't wait for the Olde Willow Stitchery Threads so I made my own conversion to overdyes (see below).

Fabric: Silkweaver's linen 32 ct
Color: Sandcastle
Threads used: overdyes and silks

My conversion of the major colors:
OWS Virtue Teal-WDW Kentucky Bluegrass
OWS Yorkshire Blue - Gloriana silks : India Ink for the birds and Charcoal for the windows
OWS American Quaker Gold: WDW Whiskey
OWS Chestnus- GAST Currant

Stitched with 2 threads over 2.

Birthday/Christmas bloggers stitching club

I subscribed to Becky's exchange this week. Just passing the info... would love to see my stitching friends in there too! :)
More info here and here.

I'm so upset with myself!

Why, oh why is it that way that I regularly think I will remember a little bit of info, which of course it is impossible to do for a longer period, and why can't I learn to write down that little piece of info somewhere...
Tonight I found back Miss Mary Mack (by Lori Markovic) which I started before the summer. Of course I customized it by picking a color of floss I wanted. I know it was GAST or DMC, and it's done over one. I was sure I would remember that OBVIOUS (^%$^%#%) color name to order one skein more... But know I don't. Wait, I think it might have been Crescent Colors.. All I can do is to order several skeins of colors from different companies and check what it was. Aaaaargh!!! I like this piece so much!
DON'T ASK - I forgot the name of the Silkweaver fabric as well! (sound of head banging on wall)
Actually the digital camera distorted the colors - the floss color has nothing to do with coffee, it is indeed more like dark ink.

Good traveling news

I'll be blogging less in the end of the year. Decisions are made and plane tickets were bought today - we're flying to Switzerland on Nov. 28 for a well deserved week at my brother's and to attend Chris de Burgh's concert in Zurich. We'll do some traveling in the country as well to discover places we haven't been yet, with mandatory trips to Geneva and Lausanne as well, as I need to find some items related to my work.
I won't be able to describe what that concert means to me, so I won't even try, especially in English. This is simply a dream come true.... I still can't be believe we're going to attend!
It'll be nice to stay at my brother's and spend time with my 4,5 y.o. nephew. It's been a long time since I saw him last... oh my, can it really be a whole year?
And then on Dec. 3rd, we'll celebrate the 10th anniversary of being together... probably with a nice dinner somewhere on the French side.
Still unsure if H. can fly in here for Christmas, that should be solved tomorrow or within the next days. There's hope!
That all means I'll be traveling a lot between the end of November and end of December (Christmas at my father's).
I'm starting to prepare little Xmas packages for several cross stitch friends, I can't make them big this year, so they will just be little somethings to say I think of you during this special period of the year...

All Saints Day

In Poland, we do not celebrate Halloween other than as a new fashion imported from the US, but we celebrate All Saints Day on Nov. 1. It's also a day off as well as tomorrow (All Souls Day). The tradition is to light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives. Everybody, I mean everybody except for people whose condition makes it impossible visits graves - usually at several cementaries during the same day. We visit the graves of all family members, friends, other people we knew, and we light a candle. There are also big crosses where we light a candle for a special 'occasion' - WWII victims, Polish people buried abroad etc. - this is what the picture above shows.
From what I know, this tradition is very similar to how Mexicans celebrate this day. In East Poland, there are regional customs such as bringing food for the dead, singing and rejoycing, but for most people this is a day where we think about those who left...
Graves are decorated with enormous pots of chrysanthema (usually), and the atmosphere in the evening, when it's dark, with all those small red lights everywhere, is just magic. I would recommend people visiting our country to discover this day here, with all its customs...
More photos:

And here's a picture from last year, from the cementary where my mother is buried (I just realized I uploaded above only pictures made in the evening):

Lovely freebies and other stories :)

Today's find, hoping you'll like them.

3 sweet French freebies - click here
and more here

A few lovely French designers/companies to discover (beware, they're addicting!):
* http://www.deshistoiresabroder.com/ (click on Broderie, Cartonnage etc.). Incredible beauties!!!
* http://www.craftcorner.be/accueil.html - this one is in Belgium (click on Nos Modèles and follow the links)
* http://www.madame-la-fee.com/index.php?cPath=24_2 (follow the links Kits complets and Fiches, then go further in each cathegory)
* more stunning, colorful samplers also ">here

I just can't take my eyes off that one! (Michele, if you see it... LOL!)
and also these: http://www.accrostitch.com/craftica/craftica_nouv.htm

That'll be all for today.... happy dreams!

Stash days

Today, I received from Drema a kit she had on sale and which I've wanted sooo badly for quite some time. The kit alone usually costs around 16 usd and I paid in total about 12 usd with the shipping cost to Poland. Additional plus, for a reason unknown to me, I always receive packages from her within 2-3 days. Ah, forgot to mention the name, it's an older knob knocker kit from Sweetheart Tree called 'Dog in, Dog out'. Why do I like it so much? It's because in Norway, the house is big, with a garden, and during my summer stay with Happy H. had to shout several times daily to ask: "Is Happy in or out?" This was because sometimes he wanted to open the door for a longer time and Happy has to be in a special (very) long leash when out in the garden - plus, he's very good at running away if he gets the occasion. Now it's just to finish the knob knocker and have it hanging at the front door! Hah, I am sooo happy!
And yesterday, I got a bigger order from Stitches 'N Things which I had put back in May, when I used a birthday coupon.

It took time to get the frames and The Victoria Sampler's "Jingle Bells Tree Farm" with the threads for it, then I was in Norway etc. Now the frames are here and they are such a joy for the eye!!! I got the Kitchen frame for the Hinzeit's mini-block of the same name and the Moose frame - I received the Moose mini-block from Michele W. earlier this year and just had to have the right frame for it!!!

While we are at that, Drema offers the small pieces of different fabrics needed for the 2006 JCS ornies, see here. And she always has nice items in her clearance section! :)

Happy Halloween to all who celebrate it
or just like this tradition!

Dull Saturday

I didn't do anything today. I went to bed extremely late, woke up extremely late and I've been extremely lazy since then. It's already Sunday here on the old continent and I'm heading to bed. Tomorrow I plan to get up at a more normal hour and go on with sorting/packing/throwing old stuff and books in an efficient way. I want my flat sparkling clean and much more empty in time for Christmas. Yay, looks like H. might be spending it in Poland this time!!! I can't remember now, but it must be 3 Christmases now that we spent apart. One time he wanted to stay in Norway so that his mother wouldn't be alone, then there was the heart operation, and then neither of us wanted her to stay alone. I am still undecided... on one hand I feel it's going to be another partly sad Christmas for me, it just isn't the same when he's not here, but on the other hand now that I know his mother well and we get along so well - I just don't like the idea of her being alone on this special evening. It's not easy the way we have it, my father in Poland and his mother in Norway. Impossible to make everyone happy. Tomorrow probably we'll make decisions and buy tickets. Still unclear if I'll fly to Norway for his birthday in 2 weeks or not. Money is a big issue this year.
XSTITCH: I've decided to keep the .... ornament I stitched for the PS exchange. I used gorgeous Gloriana Lorikeet silks but there's something I am not fond about - either it's the colors (too sad) or the chart, or both. I am already half done with the new ornament I picked - and that one starts to look quite nice :-) Can't upload a progress photo though because Linda might be lurking here! LOL

And here's just to show what a pet owner's life can be. I changed my bed clothes, sat at the computer and soon I watched Toska occupying my pillow, later replaced by Happy. Pets! :)

Progress on the Spring Thaw Afghan

So here's as far as I am as today. I'm putting the FAS aside as I will not be able to complete it in time for H's birthday anyway (will try for Chrismas - I can always dream, right? LOL).

This is where I stopped working on it on my last day in Norway in the middle of September.

Now that my PS exchange ornament for Linda McM is stitched (just need to do the finishing part), I will work very fast on the afghan, and I should have it finished within a week or so. If I'm fast, that is ;-)

2,5 squares more in the last row visible and one more row down from that to do.

Today's freebie find...

For sampler fans :
http://www.pcbdijon.com/accueil/TMP1072434954.htm

I especially like the little "A" chart in the second row from the bottom.

Prairie Schooler crow

Here's a crow I stitched early this summer but was too lazy to post ;-)




Pattern name: Crow from Garden Birds (Prairie Schooler leaflet #56)

Threads: my choice of overdyes

Fabric: can't remember, will update!

Stitched over one with one thread.

One day I plan to send it to a finisher to make it into a rustic pillow.

Oldies but not goodies! LOL

Okay, so I am still sorting, throwing out and packing into boxes to drive to the storage. In one of the boxes with (very) old stuff which I packed when my father moved from their new house a couple of years ago, I re-discovered my first cross-stitch pieces. Well, I must have been 8 to 11 at the time, and I really really really remember that everyone including me was making those ohs and ahs! over those pieces, but... they are plain ugly!! Except two which might look acceptable once framed and hung somewhere in a dark place :), the rest is awful. H. begged me not to throw them, he's such a garbage-collector, worse than me LOL! So no, I won't throw them and no, I won't exhibit them, at least not until I move into a huge house with a small dark room to put them in. I washed them, didn't iron, and drove to the storage with a bag full of clothes. They'll be safe there and out of sight! ;-)

See some of the horrors I'm talking about: