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:

French Alphabet Sampler (FAS) progress

Fabric: 40 ct linen

Color: Cameo, from Silkweaver

Threads: Gloriana silks

Color: Jacaranda

Stitched with 1 thread over 2.

I finally got to upload my current WIP :)

So here is where I am at now. It goes unbelievably slow, I didn't expect that. But one over two on 40 ct is that - slow, and the chart is big.

On the photo, you can see I've done 1/3 of the pattern. Two more rows like this to do, 2-3 months in the making, I think. I don't have as much time to work on it as I would hope to have.

One day, it's going to be gorgeous when framed. But it's one of those pieces where I am chasing time (Christmas, possibly, to offer it to H.). I am so sad I can't give it to him for his birthday in November, but this order was handled so bad... I am still very upset with the LNS owner. To make the story short, and omitting many elements, she also managed to send it to the wrong address where I got it 2 months later than I should. And she swore so many times she would remember to send it to the correct place, and she was so unhappy when I reminded her a couple of times, and still she did it wrong. Vrrr.... just the thought makes me angry! :(

The whole plan was to give it to H. for his 50th birthday...

For the moment, what you can see hidden in the sampler is his birth date, my initials and his father's first name. Soon more will show! :)

Whaaaaat?

Just discovered that in our main newspaper. An Austrian businessman has been ordered to remove "these" from the opera in Vienna, because it was hurting feelings. I don't want to hurt yours, so if you want to see, you'll have to click LOL!
see here

And here I thought I've seen everything ;-)