In the light of tons of regular work for next week (the nice sides of free-lancing, where there's Internet and my laptop is, there money is being made...) and starting paint work in one of the rooms, writing inspiration is just low today, but I decided I just need to kick my b--tt and update, update, update... even with no chronological order... or I'll never be afloat again with this blog...
So here we go for the next short update....
Nath' sent me which I invite you to see HERE because her pictures are so much better than mine... I made shots at 3 am, just before leaving for the airport...
Linda H., a dear friend who really *should* have an updated blog, sent me a chart off my list, with a very lovely birthday card:
Mylene sent me one of her beautiful handmade cards... which she is famous for, and the 200th birthday issue of the Cross Stitcher (UK), in which I found at least two projects I have to do... fast! LOL
My dear Polish friend Ela from France surprised me with a recorded voice message which she sent by email! We haven't met in real life... yet! ... so it's been a very sweet surprise! Since then I keep thinking that it is such a neat idea to get to know a "virtual" friend better, over the many
borders and seas that can separate two stitchers :)
A few days later, I received the most gorgeous package which I'll have to show you another day because days are dark now that summer is over... rrrrr! and the shots I made are just awful!
Hakon's mother came with a card for me and a pot of flowers, included the nice pot.... Here in Norway, there is a big tradition of sending or joining cards for different occasions... a lovely custom.
It was my friend's Nath birthday last week and here is what I sent to her... This time the mail gods worked fast so I can show it here today :)
First, the little box I made... First one I did of this type, so I asked Nath for forgiveness... it has some imperfections... my perfectionist soul is not 100% happy but I liked the result! I reworked it twice, though.
I used a box from Panduro on the lid of which I placed the stitched piece and added the same type of ribbon in two widths to complement the whole thing. Inside the box, I cut and glued a piece of red felt in the shape of heart as well and I added some nice silks to make Nath' smile...
And here is the rest of the birthday goodies I enclosed...
(a cat, a dog, two big pieces of luggage and a backpack with laptop... a yearly summer challenge I am getting used to :)
Rrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! Major RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! I just accidentally deleted a long post... and I just don't feel like retyping it all.... aaaaargh, computers!
So I'll leave you for today with a photo of a last year's PS finish I never posted, I think... just found it again in my files. A favorite of mine :) I adore embroidered/stitched dollies, tableclothes etc. and collect them.
Now here's a true gem I am delighted to show. I've always wanted to try my hands on making one of these tea pochettes, but I delayed it in time thinking they're not easy at all. And I always thought how wonderful it would be to have my own, and have it with me in my new favorite bag (big smile to Tracy!), filled with a couple of my favorite teas... So imagine my surprise when I opened the package from Ela! Oh how I love it.... I love it!! The tag says Herbata on one side and Wiosenna on the other, which in Polish means Spring Tea. How suitable :)
Ela is one of the most talended ladies I know... and a person I'd love to learn a lot from. Her projects are so creative, so neat, so everything... I feel lucky to be the regular recipient of her work pieces.
And knowing my sweet tooth, Ela sent me not one, but two very special treats... I still remember the ones she sent me for Christmas, green marzipan with chocolate ends... it certainly was one of the best chocolate specialties I ever ate. Now, for the disclaimer - I seldom buy chocolate here in Poland. I just don't find it very good. There are a few Belgium chocolate boutiques in town but with their outrageous prices, I stay clear most of the time. But fancy French, Swiss or Belgian chocolate, I just don't resist. I so miss French pâtisseries... Along with good olives bought by kg, they must be what I miss most from a previous life... Heh.
I can be annoying at times... I don't miss one opportunity in France and Switzerland to have a cup of coffee somewhere with a lemon tartelette... H. follows but he just doesn't get it... Well, it's something I am totally fond of and which I can't buy here. Over the years I learned to make various French lemon cakes, much to H.'s grief because while I love lemon taste, he prefers chocolate :)
Don't get me started on Moroccan pastries... Oh, I miss them so.
But to go back to the main topic of this post.... I also received a piece of awesome sampler Moda fabric Ela knew I loved and couldn't find...
... and a cute chart!
... and another package was hiding this superb bird... with a belly stuffed with yummy chocolate figurines as well!
Donna made me a tin! I love the little girl on it and its colors, they look so subtle and sweet :) It's my first altoid tin and I love it, thanks so much, Donna!
Donna wouldn't be Donna if she didn't include lots of nice goodies... The self-stick notes are so lovely, and the Milky Way bunny was.... way too yummy!! The little flower-like thing is a little pack of golden ribbon.
The goodies included a pack of cute pink flower buttons, 3 pieces of R&R and hand-dyed fabrics, the new Blackbird Designs, 3 specialty threads, and a charm pack of 37 pieces of Moda fabrics.... I love to make good friends smile ;-)
Okay, I have to get it off my chest. I am sooooo in love with that set. And I understand that it contains 10 designs - but let's be honest, lots of small ones also. And I understand that the basket must be nice. But one hundred and eighteen dollars just for the basket and the charts? Is that fair... isn't that overpriced.... Tell me what you think. From what I read, the design is not sold without the basket. Not that I think that finding a basket with an oval/round top like this, of the correct size, would be an easy task. BUT. Or am I being cheap... I'd really welcome your thoughts on that. Drema has a special price for the set with the silks and linen, but 199 usd... Okay, kill me, but that was my rant of the day.
Maybe it's triggered by seing recently so many lovely kits - but I mean *very small* kits containing a couple of skeins of silk, a small design, a chart, all that for 50-60 usd. Some of them are really lovely. But I'm thinking more and more often if the market is not going in a wrong direction... sort of like computer manufacturers (won't mention the name) creating equipment that requires more and more ressources.
Oh, I don't know. Bear with me today :) I've lived the weirdest compact 10 minutes in my life. Minute 1: I meet a lady whose husband I loved and knew since I moved in here in 1993, who had one doggie, then another, we often walked a bit in the park and chatted, he was somehow a famous person in his specialty and a government expert, well, I learned he died within 2 hours three weeks ago, and he was in good health, and he took care of himself... anyway. I will dearly miss his presence during my doggie walks... he was a very special person. Minute 5: a man sneaks into the building right behind me, tries to push me in the lift - I resist, he barks something, his eyes are dangerous, I go out, he takes the lift, I hear noone opens the door for him so he might be waiting at one of the floors, I wait till someone else arrives and take the lift with that person. Minute 10: I meet someone at my floor who tells me that the plumber who took care of our building, a man that helped and repaired a bit of everything in the apartments, and who did lots of works in my own apartment over the years, and whom I knew well, died of a heart attack on Monday. That was a bit too much for this afternoon ;-)
That tops three other persons of a certain age from my building that died in the past few weeks but I wasn't close to them.
I wish I could learn coping with the unexpected death of someone I knew and cared for. Life.
Have you seen THEM? Frederick is a must-have no-matter-what, even if I have to sell my last shirt! LOL
Here is the fob I made for Milly. This is the first fob I ever made, partly because I don't own more than two pairs or small scissors and partly because I was never sure how to make one with a metal closing and beads. I am ashamed to say it was extremely easy! :)
