Ooops… My Wagon Tipped

Okay, I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I went to Silkweaver’s site. The whole picking a new fabric for Fairy Moon has been eating at me, so I started looking at my fabric choices again. Unfortunately, the fabric viewer I was using is slightly broken, so I couldn’t bring up some of the fabrics that I had previously noted. I looked at the Solos page and one fabric caught my eye. Okay, there were a total of 3 interesting ones, but this one just called to me. So, I pulled down the image, loaded it and Fairy Moon into a graphics program and put them together. Oh my!

Fairy Moon and SW Solo

You know what? When something calls to me that strongly, I listen and obey. 🙂 The fabric isn’t as dark as I wanted to try and go, but it has a lovely, swirly, kind of sunset in the clouds kind of feel to me. I can’t wait to see it in person and do a floss toss!

Of course, while I was there, I figured I may as well buy a couple of other things, so I indulged in a SoloFest Pack and a couple of small things from the Odds & Ends section. I limited myself to $50, which was better than the first total in the cart of nearly $90. I put a lot of things back. There truly is no point in buying fabrics at this time for an ornament magazine I don’t have yet. 😆

Well, I’m off to report my transgression on The Wagon board…

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Doggie Dreams and Stitching Queens

I’m working from home today, as poor Terry is still in bed with a cold. It will be a sick day for him, which is a good thing because he desperately needs the rest. He hasn’t slept well in days, maybe even weeks. So, here I am, laptop in lap (with a heat-safe pad in between so I don’t burn my legs), putting off my work. It’s Friday and there don’t seem to be a lot of people in, looking at my IM contact lists, so it is going to be a slow day. Good for me, if I can manage to switch gears and get back into my Java programming. I only have one JSP left to write to front-end the application I wrote a couple of months ago, but I’ve been working in Lotus in the interim and so Java is looking pretty foreign to me at the moment. I’m hoping everything will start to fall into place again once I get into it a little more and really focus on it.

Anyway, the dog is laying in her usual “Queenie” spot. Her royal highness like to plant herself on the soft, cushy arm of the sofa. She’s in REM sleep right now and/or dreaming, so everytime I glance over at her, something else is twitching. Her whole nose was going crazy earlier. Sometimes her eyes are half-open and darting all around. Her little paws twitch a little bit sometimes, as do her ears very faintly. Uh-oh, she just woke up! I wonder if the sound of my typing woke her? Of course, I couldn’t help myself and just had to pet her royal cuteness, which caused her to climb down from her throne, seeking more cuddles.

On to the stitching queens. You know, I truly wish that I had the prowess of you ladies in the stitching blogosphere. I would love to be a speedy stitcher, particularly like Carol. I have no idea how you can handle a full-time job during the day, manage to clean the house, work with all of those beautiful flowers in your garden and still stitch like the wind, Carol! I would also like to have even a fraction of Becky’s extraordinary finishing talents. You post such lovely finishes every week (if not every day), Becky!

Don’t worry if I didn’t mention your name specifically. There are plenty of stitchers out there who I envy; I’m just drawing a blank at the moment. But more to the point, if I had the quick fingers of Carol, I would be finished with the baby sampler already. As it is, I made good progress last night, completing the border. Yes, I know, I owe a picture, but I set myself a deadline of the end of September for this one and I refuse to change that, even if I started anew less than 2 weeks ago. I’ll be running a race against the clock tonight to finish before midnight, but I am determined to finish this! I just have the words “Cute as a button” to stitch, along with the dotted line below them, and then the backstitched personalization, which I already charted out, fortunately. The final touch is to add some buttons that I bought at WalMart when I bought the fabric for the pillow and then I’ll be done. I will be ecstatically happy dancing if I can pull it off.

This weekend is dedicated to model stitching… as is every weekend until I finish this project. I am nearly 2/3 done, so hopefully it won’t take too many more weekends to complete. In fact, I’ll be able to work on them during the week once I’ve finished the baby sampler, so maybe I can get it done that much more quickly. Once that’s done, I have to figure out what WIPs to get back to. I’ve lost my place since starting the model stitching project. 😆 I guess I’ll pull the next WIPs according to any deadlines that I have set in my stash list.

Posted in Life in General, Stitching | 3 Comments

Top 10 Reasons God Created Woman

#10. God worried that Adam would be lost in the Garden of Eden, because he would not ask for directions.

#9. God knew that, someday, Adam would need someone to hand him the TV remote. (Parenthetically, it has been noted that men don’t want to see what’s ON TV. They want to see WHAT ELSE is on TV.)

#8. God knew that Adam would never make a doctor’s appointment.

#7. God knew that, when Adam’s fig leaf wore out, he would never buy a new one for himself.

#6. God knew that Adam would not remember to take out the garbage.

#5. God wanted man to be fruitful and multiply. But, He knew Adam would never be able to handle labor pains and childbirth.

#4. As “keeper of the garden,” Adam would need help in finding his tools.

#3. Adam needed someone to blame for the Apple Incident and for anything else that was really his fault.

#2. As the Bible says, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

AND…

#1. God stepped back, looked at Adam, and declared … “I can do better than that.

Posted in Life in General | 2 Comments

Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week – September 28, 2005

Today’s “Stitching Blogger’s Question” was suggested by Cheryl and is:

Have you ever just quit a project while in the midst of it? (We’re not
referring to UFOs here, rather projects that you know that you’ll
never work on again.) Why? What did you do with it – throw it out,
give it away, put it away?

Oh boy, this is quite a relevant question for me! I have had this happen a couple of times this year, which is very unusual for me.

The first incident was with a model stitching project (UNHEARD of for me) which caused me to have a nervous breakdown a few months ago. Okay, contributed to a minor mental breakdown. I called the shop, explained that I was having personal issues and would be unable to complete the project. I also told them I would be taking a hiatus from model stitching for them for a while. I don’t know if I’ll go back, as there have been other issues… Anyway, I sent it back to them as quickly as possible and still got paid, plus it wasn’t deadline-based, so while I don’t feel good about not completing the project, I was just mentally incapable of continuing and they seemed to be very understanding. I’m not proud of that one. 😳

The second incident was with a bookmark kit from NMI (NeedleMagic, Inc?) that is stitched on white plastic canvas (not a problem) with this thin, yarn-like, non-floss stuff. I couldn’t stand stitching with the junky thread anymore and the kit only cost a dollar or so, so it’s going to whomever trades me for the other two kits I have unopened. 😈

The third incident was just last week with the baby sampler I was working on. I had been stitching a Dimensions Creative Accents kit called Sleepy Moon Birth Record (sorry I can’t find any pics on the web to link to), but it seemed to just be CRAWLING along. I finally decided that there was no way I was going to meet my self-imposed deadline of the end of September.

Coincidentally, after sorting through my stash for trade, I happened upon my chart of Cute as a Button from JBW Designs. It was leftover from when I stitched a model of the piece for a shop and I hadn’t liked it at the time and thought I would never use it again, hence it’s existence in my trade pile. At this point, however, it looked to be a much quicker stitch than what I was working on, so I kitted it up very quickly (all DMCs except for the green overdyed, which I happened to have in my stash) and got it onto Q-snaps to get started. I then ran out to WalMart early last week and picked up two lovely fabrics in pink prints to make a flanged pillow a la Summer Truswell (see yesterday’s post).

I have packed Sleepy Moon back up and put it away. I think I may finish it for another couple at some point, but definitely not right now!

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Monday’s Mail and Stitching

Yesterday’s news today! 😆

That’s right, I’m running a day behind so far this week. Hey, at least tomorrow is the SBQ, so I don’t have to think of something to blog about!

So, yesterday, in the mail, I had a nice package waiting for me. My receiving end of a trade for The Sweetheart Tree’s Vintner’s Sampler. I’ve been looking at this limited edition kit off and on for a little while to do for Terry because he’s a wine buff. He’s even talking about ordering and planting specialty grape vines on our property to be able to make a couple of bottle of wines a year. So, I was very excited to be able to trade for it and stay on the wagon!!! We each sent out our packages on Friday, so I thought that it might take longer to get here, but I just had a really strong feeling that it would be here on Monday. And so it was!

As far as stitching goes, I have my exchange gift for the christmas ornament exchange on Stitching Blogger’s Exchanges as my commuting piece and it’s going well. I should be able to finish it over the next two weeks, I think, which means I’ll be done far in advance of the deadline, thank goodness!

I’ve also been working on a baby sampler for friends, but I switched which design I was working on last week. The original one that I started just seemed to be going nowhere in a hurry, so I was going through my charts and found one that I had stitched a model for and had put up for trade. It is going much, much faster and might actually have a prayer of finishing it before we see the couple and meet the baby for the first time. I was so excited about it that I’m going to finish it as a pillow and even went out to WalMart last week with Terry and picked two beautiful fabrics for the pillow. This will be my first big pillow finish, so I’m a little nervous, but I have Summer Truswell’s Ultimate Big Book of finishing techniques, so I’ll use her instructions for a flanged pillow. I’ll post a progress photo sometime this week.

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Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to us! Terry and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary yesterday. Nothing big or fancy. Just time together, enjoying life and each other. We went to dinner at The Olive Garden last night. It my first time at an Olive Garden and I really enjoyed it. We don’t go out to eat very often, so it was nice to have a night out. We had a lovely, romantic time together. We decided we should do it more often (go out to eat and have anniversaries)!

Thanks for all of the kind comments on the change of templates for my blog. I’m happy with the look. I tend towards the darker colors in web design, so Becca’s template goes well with my tastes. Purple might be better, though. 😉 Anyway, thanks for reading and have a great week!

Posted in Life in General | 6 Comments

Crazy Dog!

I gave Phoebe a bath today and she gets SO wound up afterwards. She just runs and runs and runs around the house like a crazy dog. Sometimes I wonder if it’s her attempt to speed up the air drying process? What a cute little thing she is, though, especially when she’s wet.

Wet Dog!

That picture is from a February bath. I would take pictures every time because I think she’s so cute, but it’s pretty much the same thing. 🙂

Poor gal had a rough morning. I cut one of her dewclaws, which was a big production. I’m on the “one nail a day” cutting program with her and it works pretty well. Unfortunately, she chews on her dewclaws, so they get too short, sharp, pointy and scratchy. They sometimes split, too. So, anyway, one finally grew out long enough for me to cut. I pushed back the fur, pulled the dewclaw outwards slightly so I could see it, lined up and SNIP! Sure, she jumped up and ran around like she does every time. I checked the nail to make sure it wasn’t bleeding, like I always do. YIKES! She’s bleeding like a stuck pig. So, I tried to grab the styptic gel and a q-tip so I could stop the bleeding. She didn’t want me to touch the nail at this point, so I had to pick her up and move her into the kitchen before she bled on the couch. In the process, I got blood on her fur, on me, on the floor, on the bottle of styptic gel… Ugh.

I finally got the bleeding under control and cleaned off her fur. I rewarded her with a chew stick and she acted like nothing was wrong. Happy, bouncy little thing. We’ll see what happens when I go to cut another claw on Monday morning. She took the chew stick and I tried to do some model stitching. Hmmm… I suddenly noticed that she wouldn’t chew on the stick for very long. Oh darn, her paw must be sore. So, after a little bit of cuddling with her and her wandering around trying to find something to do (failing miserably in the attempt), I decided to take her upstairs and gave her a bath before Terry woke up. Afterwards, she got more treats.

So, she’s been roughed up a bit today, but she’s been rewarded quite handsomely, as well. All in all, she’s fine. I just feel bad about her claw, even though I was half expecting it. Next time I cut a dewclaw, though, I’ll have Terry there with the styptic ready to be applied. She’s now dry, soft and worn out, sleeping here right next to me on the couch. Sweet, crazy little thing.

Posted in Life in General | 3 Comments

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I just finished changing my blog theme again. Sorry for the change, as I know some of you wrote that you really liked the other theme. However, I just found the blog of another stitcher tonight who is using the same theme. She has been using it longer plus I want to be somewhat unique, at least amongst stitching bloggers. This shouldn’t be terribly difficult when the vast majority of you are using Blogger and I’m using WordPress hosted on my own servers.

So, in a gesture of goodwill about which the other blogger will probably never know, I switched to another theme designed by the same woman who did the other theme I was using. If I had all of the time in the world, I would use this as impetus to design my own theme, but it’s going to take quite a chunk of time to do so. Plus, I have to redesign my personal website first, so that I can incorporate the look and feel across all of my personal sites, including this blog and my photo gallery. Lofty goals for one who doesn’t have time to even keep up with basic life functionality at this point! 😉

Posted in Life in General | 5 Comments

Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week – September 21, 2005

Today’s “Stitching Blogger’s Question” was suggested by Carol and is:

What is the most challenging specialty stitch you have ever stitched?

This one was easy for me to answer, once I thought about it long enough. Without a doubt, bullion roses are the most challenging stitch (series of stitches) for me. I practice them and they come out reasonably fine, but I’m still afraid to put them onto a real piece. I’ve been avoiding this for a year now! 🙂

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Hair Raising Adventures – Part II

Don’t worry, it’s not bad. 🙂 I went at noon to a salon (the place was HUGE!) that’s just down the road a few minutes from where I work. A nice lady named April took all of 15 minutes to fix my hair, dry it and coif it. She was a very lovely person and thoroughly checked the work that the other stylist had done, snipping “corners” in the layers here and there. She did a great job and didn’t even charge me full price because she didn’t have to cut much. I feel much better and will be going back there for my next hair cut. I may even talk Terry into trying her, though I don’t want to twist his arm to change where he’s going.

Thank you to all of you wonderful ladies out there who commiserated with me, shared your own hair raising experiences and bolstered my self-esteem yesterday. I appreciate the boost! I have to remind myself that I should be grateful that I can even grow hair at all. Things could always be worse, even during your darkest hours.

So, if you couldn’t tell, I’m back to being Mr. Hyde today. I’m finding that I’m having some serious mood swings from day to day lately. I’m either Mr. Hyde, able to smile and laugh at nearly everything, being a persistent optimist, or I’m Dr. Jekyll, dark, moody, stressed out and unable to react to any situation in any way other than negatively. I’m trying to encourage Mr. Hyde to stay around a little longer! 😆

P.S. I never realized until my blogroll started failing today how much I rely upon it! When it comes back up, I’m going to have to bookmark everyone’s sites, just in case.

P.P.S. Good luck to Karen, who is visiting the dreaded hair mangler, I mean stylist, on Friday. 😀

Posted in Life in General | 3 Comments