Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week – September 14, 2005

Posted on September 14, 2005 by Jenna Magee

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

Do you stitch for events like weddings, engagements, or other things that might not last? If you have been unlucky and the two people broke up, what happened to your stitched gift?

Ahhhh… what a question. Yes, I have stitched a (notice, I said A) wedding piece, for my best friend many years ago. She was married the year Terry and I were engaged. And, unfortunately, my friend’s marriage did not last. Her husband fell in love with a co-worker and the marriage ended so that he could pursue the new relationship. Notice I’m good and not putting any sort of spin or commentary on anything. 🙂

Anyway, my heart was broken, not just for my poor friend, but for my poor stitching. I had custom framed it myself with this beautiful, hand painted moulding, had my dad cut glass to match and the piece was this lovely cross stitch design with lattice work in the background, ribbon embroidered flowers and acccents, and wonderful, curvy script lettering. I have no idea what happened to it. I should have known when they accidentally damaged the frame while moving into a new apartment that the piece was destined for the trash. Gosh, though I hope that isn’t what happened to it!

I kept the chart and leftover threads from the kit, but given the history of the piece, I decided not to stitch it to commemorate my own wedding. 😆

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Testing Comments

Posted on September 13, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Okay, so a lot of you have added word verification recently to your comment forms to try and thwart the comment spammers that have recently increased their efforts. What you haven’t seen is my silent struggle to delete all of the spam comments that come in every day and still preserve and approve your valid comments. Tonight, I added something into my blog to hopefully allow you to post comments directly through to my blog without having to wait a day for me to approve them and yet still keep the spammers at bay.

If I succeed, great. If I fail, those of you in Europe and elsewhere will be the first ones to see any spam comments that are posted overnight which aren’t caught. 🙂

Posted in Life in General | 2 Comments

Thanks, Mini Disc and Random Thoughts

Posted on September 13, 2005 by Jenna Magee

First, I wanted to send out a hearty THANK YOU to everyone who has stopped by over the past couple of days and left a comment on my bellpull ornament finish. My scanner always gets the colors wrong, so it looks a little darker than it truly is, but I am thrilled with it. I love The Sweetheart Tree’s designs, even if this is only the second one I’ve managed to stitch. 😉

We had a pretty rough weekend, so I was glad to have treated myself to some mini disc player accessory purchases on Friday because they came Monday morning! I bought a leather case for $35 and a plastic 6-disc carrier. I wasn’t happy with the price on the case, mostly because I wasn’t looking for leather, I was just looking for a simple belt clip! Everything they have now are arm bands. Look folks, I’m just trying to find something so that I can clip the player to my belt, so that if I get really wrapped up in my music and walk away from my desk still attached, the player doesn’t smash to the floor, open up and dump the disc out. Yes, it is a funny sight and yes, I have done it before. I’d just rather not test how robust the player or the discs are!

So, with the player attached to my hip, and a new set of ear buds ($40 for a pair that fits without hurting my ears after a while – sheesh!) in my ears, I’m in business. I even went home last night and recorded two 1 GB discs and three of the smaller 80 minute discs last night. WOW, did they ever expand the number of CDs you can fit on the smaller discs! Before, I was able to squeeze 5 CDs to a disc, which I thought was pretty good. Now, with the Hi-MD technology, I can fit 16 CDs to a disc! And how many to a 1 GB disc? You don’t want to know. I stopped counting after I was able to fit my entire classical music collection onto one with room to spare.

I am extremely grateful for my music, this week, though. After this weekend, Terry and I have been feeling really down and I’m having trouble concentrating and have to focus on something (anything) or my mind wanders off into unhappy spaces and I start to cry. I found out yesterday that music is the only surefire way to ease my mind and I feel blessed to have that outlet.

And now for my random thoughts. I was reading a post on Debbi’s blog about spiders. I had to laugh because I’m afraid of spiders, so I could totally relate to her post. It gave me chills just thinking about it! Anyway, I just wanted to share something that happened to me yesterday (or was it Sunday night) while I was upstairs working on my computer. I have a stuffed Ty Beanie Baby that is perched on top of my monitor. It’s name it Spinner (yes, it’s a huge spider) and I adopted it because I thought it was appropriate as a web designer to have a mascot named Spinner. Okay, yes, it’s corny. I’m corny. Deal with it. 😆

However, as I’m casually looking up at Spinner the other day, I see a *REAL* spider slowly crawl across the top of my monitor towards it. Of course, I called Terry up to kill it. But, it just struck me as odd that a real spider was crawling across a stuffed one. Was it drawn to Spinner? What is it narcissistic or something? Well, I guess we’ll never know because it’s dead. And I don’t feel bad about it because I warned the spiders when we moved into the house 3.5 years ago that they were not welcome in the house. They can be outside, in nature, where they belong and are a welcome part of the ecosystem. Otherwise, I put my foot down. Or a tissue. Actually, if you read my meme from yesterday, it’s actually Terry who puts his foot down, but … same difference. 😀

Posted in Life in General, Stitching | 1 Comment

Guilty as Charged

Posted on September 12, 2005 by Jenna Magee

I stumbled across this one on Belinda’s blog last Friday. I found myself dreaming about it this morning during snooze periods between alarms, so I figured I should do it!

Bold all those that you ever were guilty of doing. When you are done, add one thing that is true about yourself to the end, then post the list to your journal.

I’ve run away from home.
I listen to political music.
I collect comic books.
I shut others out when I’m sad.
I open up to others easily.
I am keeping a secret from the world.
I watch the news.
I own over 5 rap CDs.
I own an ipod. Nah, I’m an old school minidisc fan.
I own something from Hot Topic… What’s Hot Topic? LOL
I love Disney movies.
I am a sucker for hair/eyes.
I don’t kill bugs. Look, I *swear* I heard a millipede making a high-pitched squealing noise when I washed it down the drain one time. I was tainted forever by that experience. I’ll do it if I have to, but if I can, I’ll call upon my husband to do it for me. 🙂
I curse regularly. I’m working on this one. It’s directly related to my stress level, which has been high for a while.
I have “x”s in my screen name.
I’ve slipped out a “lol” in a real conversation.
I love Spam.
I bake well.
I would wear pajamas to school.
I own something from Abercrombie.
I have a job.
I love Martha Stewart.
I am in love with someone.
I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS. Li’l Miss Anal? I don’t think so… 😉
I am self conscious.
I like to laugh.
I smoke a pack a day.
I loved Go Ask Alice. Who? What?
I have cough drops when I’m not sick.
I can’t swallow pills.
I have many scars. On my hands and my heart.
I’ve been out of this country. You betcha!
I believe in ghosts.
I can’t sleep if there is a spider in the room. I can sleep, but I REALLY don’t like spiders. I’m pretty afraid of them.
I am really ticklish.
I love chocolate.
I bite my nails.
I am comfortable with being me. I still fight it sometimes, but for the most part, I am. I’m still learning who that is, though.
I play computer games/video games when I’m bored. And not just when I’m bored!
Gotten lost in the city.
Saw a shooting star.
I have had two serious surgical procedures.
Gone out in public in my pajamas.
I have kissed a stranger.
Hugged a stranger. Depends on your definition of stranger. I’ve hugged internet friends that I met in real life for the first time.
Been in a fist fight with the same sex.
Been arrested.
Laughed and had milk/soda come out of your nose. Yes, but it was water.
Pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
Made out in an elevator.
Sworn at my parents.
Kicked a guy where it hurts.
Been skydiving.
Been bungee jumping.
Broken a bone. My left thumb while playing softball as a kid.
Played spin the bottle.
Gotten stitches. New Year’s Eve several years ago. Cut a finger badly enough that it wouldn’t stop bleeding. DON’T go to the ER on New Year’s Eve…
Drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.
Bitten someone.
Been to Niagara Falls.
Gotten the chicken pox. Twice!
Crashed into a car.
Been to Asia.
Ridden in a taxi.
Shoplifted.
Been fired. Yes, a summer job when I was in college. The lady was a real… well, you know.
Had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back. Are you kidding me? Who hasn’t?
Stole something from my job. Does the occasional office supply count?
Gone on a blind date.
Had a crush on a teacher/coach. College age teaching assistants in high school. Plural.
Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Been to Europe.
Slept with a co-worker. My husband and I work for the same company, in the same building, with our offices facing each other across the hall! 😀
Been married.
Gotten divorced. Hopefully never.
Saw someone dying. This one hits a little too close to home for comfort. Let’s not talk about it right now, okay?
Driven over 400 miles in one day.
Been to Canada.
Been on a plane.
Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Thrown up in a bar.
Eaten Sushi.
Been snowboarding.
Been skiing. Yes, but I need to tie a pillow onto my backside.
Been ice skating. See above.
Met someone in person from the internet.
Been to a car show.
Gone to college.
Done hard drugs.
Taken painkillers. Nothing hardcore, though.
Met a celebrity.
I like playing practical jokes.
Once swore Disco would never die.
Seen a ghost. More like “felt” a ghost. When my grandfather died last year, I think he may have paid me a visit.
Attended a professional sporting event.
Attended a live rock concert. Rush, baby! Saw them in Philadelphia (at the Spectrum?) in the mid 1990’s. Loved every minute of it.

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Merry Christmas Bellpull (Stitched)

Posted on September 11, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Here it is – my pride and joy from this weekend. Now to find some nice brass 3″ bellpull hardware for the finish!

The Sweetheart Tree - Merry Christmas Bellpull (Stitched)

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“Me” Stitching Finish!

Posted on September 10, 2005 by Jenna Magee

I put the last bead on The Sweetheart Tree’s Merry Christmas Bellpull Ornament this morning. Now I just have to figure out if I want to search for nice brass bellpull hardware for it or not. My in laws don’t have a flat-bed scanner, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow night or Monday night for a picture. Sorry!

In the meantime, I am going to keep hammering at my model stitching this weekend. I think that I’m going to need a break from the models at some point so that I can focus on stitching the small birth sampler I need to do for friends who are having their first child this month!

I probably won’t have any additional significant progress to report this weekend. At least, not anything that I can share. 😉

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Happy Dance This Weekend?

Posted on September 9, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Progress continues on the Sweetheart Tree Merry Christmas Bellpull Ornament. It’s looking really nice, as I have nearly all of the major stitching completed. Basically, I just have the north star stitch, a tiny scotch stitch band and the satin stitching along the entire border.

So, while I fully intend to focus on model stitching all weekend, I will have time in the car to stitch tomorrow and I’ll have tomorrow night to finish it before I strap myself down to work on the models. I won’t be home until Sunday night to be able to scan in the completed stitching, so you’ll just have to twiddle your thumbs until then! 😉

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Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week – September 7, 2005

Posted on September 8, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Yes, I’m a day late, but hopefully not a dollar short. 😉

Today’s “Stitching Blogger’s Question” is:

Which way do you stitch (/// and then \ or \ and then ///)? Can you (or if you haven’t done it before, do you think you could) change the way that you stitch temporarily if it is asked of you?

I stitch the traditional DMC-taught way, which is /// then \. I have never attempted to change this at all, but imagine that I could if it was required of me. I know I’ve recently had to change how I bead to match a designer’s style and it’s tough at first, but I’ll rip it out and redo it if it’s not right.

I’ve read that this was related to an issue with a Round Robin piece. I’ve never done a round robin before, but if I were stitching on something for another person, I would make every effort to do it whatever way she wanted. After all, she’s the one who has to look at it all of the time after it’s finished! 🙂

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Making Time for “Me” Stitching

Posted on September 7, 2005 by Jenna Magee

As of Monday night, I’m now pretty much at the halfway mark with my current model set. Woohoo!

I came to the a couple of realizations today. The first is that I haven’t been posting much stitching-related news. I feel bad about that, but since my focus has been on unpublished models, I can’t share my progress, as exciting as it may be. 🙂 The second realization came directly on the heels of the first because, in figuring out that I haven’t been posting must stitching stuff lately, I realized that I haven’t stitched anything for me in several months.

Don’t get me wrong, I stitch the monthly ornament for the JCS ornament SAL I’m part of, but 9 months into it, you start to realize that it’s more like obligation stitching than “me” stitching. It’s often a fun little diversion, but they’re usually fairly quick and I won’t keep the end results, so it really doesn’t count. Except for this month. This month is one of the two ornaments that I’ve been waiting all year to stitch. This month is The Sweetheart Tree’s Merry Christmas Bellpull Ornament. And I decided that, instead of waiting until I had completed the model stitching assignment, I needed a little break, so I started it last night.

So there, some stitching progress. I’ll even try to do a quick scan of my very minimal progress so far at some point this week. Maybe my new rule for this month should be model stitching only on the weekends. That way, I stand some chance of actually finishing the other items on my list for this month. 😉

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September Stitching Goals

Posted on September 5, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Here are my goals for September; you’ll notice they’re very simple:

  • Finish current model stitching project
  • Finish small baby sampler
  • Start and finish this month’s JCS SAL ornament

I’m not sure if I’ll manage to do all of these, but I’m hoping!

Also, as a complete aside, I have posted a centralized stash wish list on my website. This is more for my benefit, so I don’t have to maintain lists in several different locations.

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