Category Archives: me

February WIPocalypse

Posted in Christmas, cross stitch, embroidery, goals, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stash cache app, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

Hello everyone! WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more. If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers!

February Goals were:

  • Finish the second panel in 12 Days – just scraped in
  • Finish the second panel in Celtic Sampler – done & moved well past
  • 200 over one in Fairy Idyll – nope, maybe I should rename her Fairly Idyll 🙂
  • Walk every day I don’t bootcamp – mmm, most days I hit goal. Just the one rest day each week, and I am noticing a lot of changes.

I also completed another of the Cloudsfactory Disney minis that I am doing for Aurora’s Christmas present – Belle is done now too. So that’s Ursula, Rapunzel, Lady T, Eric, Oscar, Belle, and half a Dopey and a bit of Mulan.

Celtic was my work (yay, aircon) and travel project. It got a bit of time in hospital, doctor’s surgery, waiting for dawn etc as it’s much, much smaller than 12 Days (and a different fabric too).

20200301_115210.jpg

It was sooo hot (most days it was well over 27/28/29 degrees Celsius, and a muggy hot too, and I didn’t want a lap quilt worth of floba anywhere near me! Some days I barely managed one thread length on the 12 Days, other days were a little better.

March Goals:

  • Finish the third panel in 12 Days
  • Start a Chatelaine – see below.
  • Late Edit: add March is the first one-a-day SAL, I’ll be working on the beading of Atlantis. Copying Measi & getting the wheel to decide how many beads.

In honour of “Leap Year,” tell the story of a time you had to make some sort of a “leap” in stitching – taking the chance on a new style of stitching, attending a meet up or class, etc. I’m not very good at leaping – hence the growing collection of Chatelaines in my basket! I’ve made it a goal for this month to at least start one of the banners (I have three of the Mini Mystery Castle range) and master some of those embroidery stitches. After all, I’ve attended a class or two AND I’m not that stupid. I will be using mostly DMC rather than the original silks tho. My budget simply won’t stretch that far! And due to the expected intensity of this project, I’m not committing to much this month. I have looked into joining the local chapter of the Embroidery Guild, thanks to Anne’s advice & experience, and I’m attending my first meet up next week.

Stitch From Stash: I ended up finishing January in the red, mostly due to a fabric purchase. I’ve pulled that back in Feb, as I sold the spare Lady Mirabilia chart/bead pack that I had (broke even too) and had a couple of small finishes. However I’ve ordered the Duchess of Rouen (companion piece to The Baker’s Wife, both by Nora Corbett/Mirabilia) and the Hands on Design Nashville release, Well Rounded (expecting both in late March, early April). I also brought a kit by Tis The Season, a new-to-me business that I found in Whitianga, a coastal resort town here in New Zealand.

WIP Wednesday #266

Posted in cross stitch, goals, me, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

No photo this week – I haven’t done much stitching since my WIPocalypse update earlier this week; I’ve nearly finished the second block of this side row and have worked out how to fit “2020” into the “2013” space. Go, me! I am taking part in a 6 week challenge RESET (which is as you know, my One Little Word for 2020) and am focusing on a few key things:

  • Being conscious of what I eat
  • Becoming more physically flexible
  • Losing some weight (obviously – stress is terrible to your health)
  • Getting back on track looking after ME

Because I now throw myself into adding at least a walk into every day I haven’t stitched this week at lunchtime, and home is cut down a bit too. Part of this is the need for the spa – my thighs are sore!

January WIPocalypse Wrap

Posted in Christmas, cross stitch, embroidery, goals, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stash cache app, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

Hello everyone! It’s a hot & muggy Auckland Anniversary Day here in NZ, and I celebrated the day off by running myself into the ground, lol! Bootcamp, a hospital visit to the MIL, finished loading the trailer then a dump run, dropped a dresser off & finally sat down. My arms hurt, my butt hurts & I really want a nap!

Anyway, let’s get into the Wipocalypse wrap. You can find our group in FB & in wordpress. Click the icon over on the right to be taken to Measi’s site.

My January Goals:

  • Complete the first panel of Jim Shore’s 12 Days (new start)
  • Complete 500 stitches in Fairy Idyll
  • Christmas Ornament FO
  • Disney Cloudsfactory item for Aurora FO

I got EVERYTHING knocked out this month. I’ve stitched every day (although one day was only 39) & made huge progress in big parts of Fairy Idyll. I did avoid any over one, so that helped, but I can’t ignore that forever.I also started Antique Celtic Sampler on a piece of 28ct lugana that I dyed myself. I was going to do it on cream, but this is the fabric MIL chose.

February Goals:

  • Finish the second panel in 12 Days
  • Finish the second panel in Celtic
  • Another 200 over one stitches in Fairy Idyll
  • Walk every day that I don’t bootcamp.

  • The question of the month is about what SALs we are participating in and the current answer is – a big fat NOTHING. Hooray for gap year!

    • SFS is still going for the month, so I’ll update that later. Right now, healthy as.

    WIP Wednesday #265

    Posted in cross stitch, family, grateful, me, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

    Hello everyone! As I write this, it’s Wednesday afternoon and I am at work, plodding away at work. I keep ducking and diving away to the hospital – I was there until 1am today, back home for a nap, back in for a catch up with the doctors and a natter with Mum, then into work. It’s tiring, for sure, but it’s not permanent. Meeting tomorrow with the palliative care team, hospice team, family & medical. If you can, I would appreciate prayers for grace and peace in this last season of Mum’s life.

    A quote via Vonna, who is The Twisted Stitcher: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia

    Stitching wise, I have been plugging away at Fairy Idyll while watching the Miss Fisher Mysteries and last night (until I got an urgent call) the fictional Agatha & the Truth of Murder. I’ve got about 45min of that one left, which I probably won’t get to until the weekend now. Out & about I’ve finished the first panel on Antique Celtic Sampler and started the second. I’ll show you all the FI progress in my WIPocalypse update next week, it’s impressive!

    WIP Wednesday #264

    Posted in cross stitch, family, goals, me, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns by

    Hello everyone! If you follow my IG, or know me IRL, you’ll know that this week has been a bit off. Hence putting the minced garlic in the dishwasher…

    Stitching wise, I’ve done something every day this month. Quite a bit was done en route or at Hospice visiting Mum, or this week at hospital again with Mum. She only managed three days at home sadly. And right now we don’t know what the immediate future will be. But it is exhausting.

    I want to save the two finishes for WIPocalypse, so here’s my WIP. Elizabeth Foster designed Antique Celtic Sampler, which I’m stitching with the recommended Weeks Dye Works threads, but on my own Mottled Frost lugana (Mum chose this). Despite stitching each cross as I go, it’s still quick.

    Well, it would be quick if I didn’t keep miscounting!

    January 2020 WIPocalypse & Intro

    Posted in cross stitch, goals, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stash cache app, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by

    Hello everyone! This is my sixth year of WIPocalypse. It’s the most committed I’ve been to any SAL & I put that down to the pressure free, encouraging environment that Melissa hosts. If you’re a crafter, please join up either on your blog or via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers!

    If you’ve not read from my blog before, I’m in my mid-40’s, a working mum to four (ranging from 25-10. I am book-mad, often found stitching & listening to podcasts or audiobooks, and I’m working more in my garden than ever before. We own our home near the base of Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges & can often be found working on it (new deck, gardens & a swim spa were added this summer) walking on the beach or in one of the many beautiful parks Auckland boasts. I’ve been hand stitching since before I was 10, can’t knit an even scarf or crochet to save myself and don’t often pull my machine out (not at all in 2019!!).

    I didn’t do a December catch-up so here goes:

    December Goals:

    • Keep up with weekly #magicalstitches homework YES
    • Plan January WIPs YES
    • No Spend! EH, NO

    With Magical Stitches now finished, I stitched 5439 stitched in December, bringing my annual total to 77051 stitches (which I am certainly NOT counting in 2020!). Most of this was on Shakespeares Fairies, as this is my current favourite to work on, and is now about 2/3 complete after 12 months. I finished the year so far in the red for Stitch from Stash that I am a little embarrassed in myself, and have unsubscribed from a number of emails. This is not necessarily a bad thing; we crafters could all do with less time on the electronic things but a bit of a wake up. My One Little Word for this year is “reset” – and I’m applying it to my crafting as well as thinking.

    January Goals:

    • Complete the first panel of Jim Shore’s 12 Days (new start)
    • Complete 500 stitches in Fairy Idyll
    • Christmas Ornament FO
    • Disney Cloudsfactory item for Aurora FO

    Year Long Goals:

    • Complete all panels of Jim Shore’s 12 Days
    • Complete Fairy Idyll (I bead as I go with this one)
    • Complete Mermaid of Atlantis (which honestly is just the beading to go)
    • Complete the stitching on Shakespeare’s Fairies
    • Complete Tapestry Cat (my oldest WIP).

    Let’s see how I get on!

    WIP Wednesday #263

    Posted in Christmas, cross stitch, family, grateful, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, Teresa Wentzler, work by

    Hello everyone! Another week down, and as I write this, only a few more working days until a decent break. I need it; I nearly ripped my boss a new one Monday. Twice. Eep.

    Last night we went to 7 Days Live. 7 Days is a weekly panel show of comedians who take the mick out of the current events but because this wasn’t a filming episode, there were no holds barred (I’ve been at a previous live show where the stage director came screaming onto the floor as Legal were vetoing one line of piss-taking). The opening half was individual stand-up and I was crying with laughter. My cheeks still hurt this morning!

    Stitching wise I kept to the homework prompts. I managed a couple of EC credits but I am really looking forward to not being part of a SAL in 2020, and getting some finishes under my belt. I’ve changed my mind a few times about what my focus next year will be, and I really want a Teresa Wentzler finish – which means the border in Tapestry Cat and the last few hundred stitches in the cat. That’s also my oldest WIP, as it was my Christmas present to myself in December 2006. I think I might work in Big WIP/small WIP weekly rotation…oh goodness only knows. The “screaming” rotation doesn’t work for me, as sometimes what is screaming is a new start and I need one of those like a hole in the head.

    Anyways, have a lovely week, don’t get too stressed about Christmas day activities, enjoy some time away from work pressures and I’ll talk to you sometime over the break. Here’s a “summer” shot for you – Mase the Ace enjoying a swim in the pouring rain yesterday afternoon. Kids!

    Book Review – A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

    Posted in books, me by

    madness.jpgBLURB: On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.

    That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

    Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

    It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.

    MY THOUGHTS: Nalini has been a must-buy for me for a while now, with the exception of her Archangel series. When she revealed that she was moving into a suspense genre, I was pumped to read it and pre-ordered as soon as it was available (note Nalini, I STILL hate a Tuesday release. Especially when I couldn’t take the day off. Please talk to your publishers about that one!).

    Initially my thoughts were that the overall format was like a Nora Roberts suspense (thinking of 2016’s The Obsession) but there are solid reasons for picking this one up over a recent Nora. It’s well-crafted and the characters are more than one dimensional right from the start. I loved the pacing and flow, and at no point did I think this was either rushing me or wasting my time.

    There’s several possibilities as to whom the killer is, and each one is very plausible. There’s other spooky stuff going on in the background – alcohol, abuse, lying – all the things you find in any community. I’ve read one review which was indignant that Singh didn’t re-phrase this book in “woke” terminology and had everyone learn from their mistakes – oh whatever. We all know someone who relies upon other’s view of themselves as gospel. We all know someone who has p*ssed their life away for whatever reason and is angry about it, but doesn’t change. We all know someone who relies on an artificial product (alcohol, drugs, shopping, gossip) to bleed away any pain they might have. We all know someone who focuses on a trait & choses partners based on that, be it physical or emotional. And that makes the characters real, IMO.

    This gets a solid 4.5 stars from me & I’ll be buying copies for Christmas presents. Can’t get much better than that!

    AUTHOR SITE: https://nalinisingh.blogspot.com/

    WIP Wednesday #262

    Posted in cross stitch, embroidery, friends, grateful, Journal, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Project Life, scrapping challenges, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, travel by

    Hello everyone! Can you believe it? I’m not only posting on a Wednesday, but I am living up to the “scrap” part of my name. Hallelujah for a creative pulse!I mapped out a very simple template in my notebook and when push came to shove, actually used it. And used part of my growing Ali Edwards stash. AND pushed past that “it has to be perfect” mantra that I so often am crippled by. Super happy that I got our short Sydney trip journalled.Yes! We went to Sydney. Just Si and I, and our plans to catch up with some friends and lots of shopping and exploring. It was a much needed break from reality and allowed us to refresh from day-to-day stress and come back to the family a little bit happier. Well, I am… we crammed a lot of shopping in, with two Costco visits (cannot wait until it opens here in Auckland! My fav purchase is the Ott Lite now gracing my stitching table), Sydney Tools (even I could have cut loose with their Makita selection, let alone other stuff), Target (I like that I can buy some clothes for work that no-one else will be wearing) and other places, but the best customer service came from Peter Wynn’s Sports Score in the main street of Parramatta. We’d been there before, but this time we got talking (eep) and got a perfect something for each of the boys. On Saturday Anne (feather stitching) took me to her stitch group meeting out in Bligh Park & I enjoyed the fellowship & meeting Judy in person. It was a hysterical ride home (until we hit, literally, Judy’s drive).Stitching wise I have done the bare minimum. Fairy Tales got a few strands in while we were away (airplane cattle class is not conducive to stitching) and there’s been so much going on at home/work. I may be behind the scenes in the retail group that I work for, but Labour Weekend thru to New Years is a long silly season.Last week was Year 7 Week 4 and about the horcruxes. Because there were 3 people to share the load of the horcrux, we had to stitch 100 on each of 3 WIPs – so Shakespeare’s Fairies, Home of a Needleworker and the Mill Hill Celestial sleighs each got 100. Then for a bonus 1 point per 100, we could chose one of those WIPs and keep going – I chose to forgo extra points and complete the Celestial Sleighs. So that’s two more ornies finished before Christmas!This week is W5 and about Travel. We have to do 100 on 4 tasks and I’ve managed to get Fairy Idyll to fit 3 of those and knocked off 150 stitches last night. My other piece has to match a Freshwater Plimpy (don’t ask) so I’ll start to bead my Mermaid of Atlantis.Anyway, must go back to work mode now. Have a great week!

    November WIPocalypse

    Posted in Christmas, cross stitch, goals, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, Smalls SAL, stitch from stash, stitching patterns, WIPocalypse by

    Hello everyone! I hope you’re well. WIPocalypse is the monthly check-in SAL hosted by Measi on her blog, and via the Facebook group – we welcome all enablers! Click on the icon to the right to learn more.

    November Goals:

    • Keep up with weekly #magicalstitches homework
    • Finish some CF or Mill Hill pieces

    I managed to keep up with both of the above – 4 Mill Hill finishes (two each of the Celestial Sleigh and Pumpkin Carriage) and four Cloudsfactory items for Aurora’s parcel – Prince Eric, Oliver, Rapunzel & Ursula. All the weekly homework was done, some to the bare minimum, and I got one Extra Credit in. I’ve completely slowed down with regards to stitching.

    December Goals:

    • Keep up with weekly #magicalstitches homework
    • Plan January WIPs
    • No Spend!

    November Question: What new stitches or techniques did you learn this year? The short answer is – nothing. I didn’t take any class or attempt embroidery or anything else. A crochet class or at least the embroidery refresher at Liz’s is on my wish list for 2020, but I wasn’t in the headspace to try anything new this year.

    Stitch From Stash: I am so far in the red I won’t be climbing out this year. Even with a gift from Mum specifically for my stash budget, I have overspent on Miras and fabric that I may not even touch next year, & I’m a little horrified at myself. I have seven FO’s, but they are all relatively small. At least it’s only stash I have spent my feelings on this year, and not all the other things like previous years. Overall, fiscally I’m in better shape than previous.