Tag Archives: work

September WIPocalypse

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

I am finally back in the office and thinking things should be back to “normal”, whatever that might be. It’s not as nice in the office as it is at home – I work better on my own timetable and without distractions – and I am struggling to find enough to do. The boss has suggested that I go out to one of the stores and work from there…which is always an option, except I couldn’t do on my feet all day like I have previously. But being back in the office has made me realise I’ve really let this blog go… so here’s a long post.

I didn’t upload July or August notes. I did create some July (points for me!!) so here’s a summary: My July should have been quiet, but we’ve had a rush of stuff on at work and in the weekends, we’ve had rugby or escape from Auckland on our minds. We’ve seen some lovely little spots in Northland but I’m ready for some time nesting at home.

My July plans were simple when I started out – beading Shakespeare’s Fairies, put a little into Fairy Idyll and start When Life is Done – but I made them even simpler. I’ve worked nearly every day on When Life is Done, as it feels so good to complete each word. I did take my Chatelaine Castle I with me to Out West (a guild meeting) so at least I picked up another project.

I also found, quite by chance, a framed Elizabeth and the Lavender Sky by Mirabilia. I wonder what happened to the stitcher or her recipient, but reaching out on FB hasn’t netted a result.

The question for this month is What new charts or designers are catching your eye this year? Well – I have brought a few more “new to me” things like a Hands Across the Sea sampler (the fundraiser Jane Marshall 1857) & When Life is Done from Silver Creek, and subscribed to the bi-monthly Sassy Pouch. I am turning to more of my previous favourites from designers and have managed to get my WIP pile back under almost control. My impulse to BUY ALL THE THINGS is really high and I am trying not to submit to that.

August, if I had created a post, would have been a confession that I did indeed BUY ALL THE THINGS. I finished When Life is Done, and that’s at the framers; then picked up several Nora/Mirabilia, so I have Holly and all her seasonal Queens now; plus Silver Moon Tea which I will reverse so it faces Elizabeth; I brought a Just Nan, Sirens of the Sea, and stitched this in September and then sold the chart this month. Shakespeare’s Fairies was completed, hooray, then my order of Princess Elliana +fabric + beads arrived as well as HOD December and the annual Just Cross Stitch Christmas magazine. I am so far in the red it’s not funny…but I don’t really care!

August’s question was Have you participated in any of the mystery SALs on Facebook (or other social media)? What do you think makes a successful mystery SAL? I am NOT a mystery stitch person. Either the designer has to be one that I enjoy or I have to know what the result might look like…so I haven’t done anything. However, if Nora Corbett or Dianne from Silver Creek or Cathy from HOD did one, I’d probably jump on in.

September’s question was Are you a seasonal stitcher, or can you stitch on any holiday/seasonal stitch at any time of year? I LURVE Christmas, and I could stitch on something every month. I used to do the Sandra Cozzolino Santas all the time but I am well behind that target this year. I’ve maybe finished two Wales? I am currently using the older HOD Chalk December and the Mill Hill Carribean Santa for travel/work pieces so yeah. Heading into summer season here in NZ and I’m so ready for it.

May WIPocalypse

Posted in cross stitch, family, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, stitch from stash, Teresa Wentzler, WIPocalypse by

Hello everyone if you’re still following! I have been deliberately limiting my web activity during the NZ lockdown (I worked thru apart from the one week of bereavement leave, and an afternoon where all I wanted to do was throw this !#$%*$%! laptop out the window) so I cut down on everything else. I read a lot (lots of romance, as I couldn’t follow non-fiction to save myself) and stitched and gardened and Lego. Nearly every cupboard has had a clean out, a lot of maintenance is already done and I’m ready for a long, solitary holiday.

Since I wrote the March WIPocalypse, I’ve had a few finishes. The Antique Celtic Sampler by Elisabeth Designs; Hands on Design covid freebie, Choose Happy; two Sandra Cozzolino Genoa Santas; a mash-up snarky hoop for a friend using a Brooke’s Books Elphaba and lastly, Nora Corbett’s Garden Party Cakes. I haven’t brought much, a Santa from Michelle Bendy that still hasn’t arrived and I spent a whopping buck fifty at the op shop in Paihia this weekend. I’m actually $20.30 in credit, so should finish the first half of the year in the black.

Currently I am beading Shakespeare’s Fairies, and I took Fairy Tales away last weekend. I have been more about finishing all the things rather than starting, although I would have liked it to be about working on 12 Days it’s nearly all Mirabilia. But I’m not beating myself up about goals or haul or tidying up or whatever – simply surviving without a breakdown is the short term goal, and measured daily.  

April’s question was Talk to us about your longest-running WIP or UFO. My oldest WIP is still Tapestry Cat by Teresa Wentzler. It’s still about 75% complete and I don’t think I’ve touched it this year. It’s not something I can focus on as yet…

May’s question was Tell us about a piece that you absolutely loved stitching. For me, this was my first Mirabilia, Stargazer. I adored this piece from when I first saw an image but it would be 10 years before I came across the chart, and I only completed it 4 years ago. She is in my hall so I walk past her daily, and she’s one of the few charts I would consider stitching again.

All the best to you and yours – I’m not sure if I will rejoin as a weekly post yet but I will try to post for June WIPocalypse at the least.

YAY Friday.

Posted in books, embroidery, family, grateful, High Five For Friday, Journal, league, me, music, scrapping challenges, Week in the Life by

I’m pretty happy to have got to the end of the week! It’s been fairly chaotic & with the league season kicking off properly for our house (now that Tag has finished) it doesn’t look like Saturday will be a day of rest. I think that for my own wellness, I will need to go back old-school and adopt Sunday as my day of rest. This will mean doing some housework every day during the week to gain a “day off” but long term, I suspect this will be best. What do you think? How do you balance work/home/rest?

My top things for the week include:

  1. It looks like the Screaming Teen has decided his next step & is signing up for an academic course. It’s a combination of sport & management & PT but it’s a step forward.
  2. My new devotional arrived – and thanks to Book Depository, it was postage free & I had a good laugh when it arrived with a wine voucher (I’ve passed that one along already). The devotional is already working for me. I was able to carve out space (even tho I was at work) to shut the door and spend 10 minutes with God. And Pinterest for the last few moments, as visually pretty things are working for me right now. It will be interesting to see where I am at in 40 days.
  3. I re-discovered Ali Edwards and have ordered the kit, an album & some stamps to do Week In The Life. You can go to her blog www.aliedwards.com if you’re curious, but expect some scrapbooking/journalling things mid-May. My parcel shopped from Oregon this morning. Double yay!
  4. I went to Stitch Group on Tuesday & had a really good laugh. Barb & Linda have the best sense of humour. Next month it’s at ours. Eeep. I hope the house elves aren’t on strike.
  5. I’m pretty-much up-to-date at work, after Conference took me out for three days last week. I’ve even passed 39/60 Axonify modules, altho I’m getting very tired of the things. And one more week of my boss being in China equals more time to deep dive into issues.
  6. I love the sounds coming out of this song. Current earworm that I am sharing! Love Spotify. Sorry Elizabeth – you won’t like it but you might have liked the Brene Brown lecture that was on audible instead?

WIP should-do-this-on-Wednesdays

Posted in cross stitch, goals, round robin by

HI everyone! I’m so glad it’s Thursday. This has been a looooong week.

20170115_145556Friday – shite day at work then a hot walk to the Domain as that tag season has started. Moved Lou from one flat to the next while S+B ref’d there.

Sat & Sun – S+B had refereeing commitments, so it was just Z, Mase the Ace and myself at home. None of us felt very energetic so we lazed around. Slept. Hurting a wee bit after getting back into bootcamps. The Stitch Maynia and Stitch from Stash SAL both featured red, so I did a small part of home♥stitch♥ness  Flowering Poinsettia pattern. This is on a 26ct navy Elixar, as it was in my stash. Planning a small hoop finish for my tree. Check out her etsy shop (link on the name) for some more cuteness.

I also put the next round robin piece to work and started Passione Ricamo – it’s the head and shoulders of Into the Darkness. Not my cup of tea but Andie had already done Artemisia, so this one will face that. Not enough progress to show, as I only spent 30 min or so on her.

Discovered the rabbit warren that is Audible. This has been the high-light of my work week, altho I see it as potentially quite expensive! If you know of deal sites, please do let me know. I have worked out that it is often cheaper to buy the Kindle book and add on the Audible file…

 

Monday – work early (before 6!) to get the internal and vendor reporting done, before I went with Lou for her surgery appt. Letter said surgery at 11, under general, so we arrived at 9. Huh. Surgery at 2:30 – we left at 4. And they did it under a local block.

Tuesday – work then bootcamp. I did an extra set of the finisher and managed to bear crawl (fast!) up the hill. I cannot do it backwards. That is something to practice.

Wednesday – Watchman tag started again last night, so while S+B ref’d, Z & I went to an Ankor class at Waitakere. It’s a bit intimidating, TBH, to be doing that among the fit young rugby and netball peeps that are also training but once I had my glasses off, I pretended they couldn’t see me. Plus, I’m pairing up with Annike who I find motivates me. I hope I entertain and motivate her as much!

And now we’re back to Thursday. No stitching since Monday, when I did a little more on Fireflies. I am now into the navy, which is the last colour before the beads. Fingers crossed I get this done to bead this weekend, I’m tired of it already!

You Can Quote Me

Posted in books, grateful, me, OLW, work, You Can Quote ME by

YCQM is linked to my One Little Word for 2015, Serenity.

image

I’m not sure how much I’ll pick up out of this book but I’ve got one thing already. 15 minutes work can eliminate a lot of stress.

Sunday morning I grabbed a Project Life card that I’m not likely to use in my album and plotted out what I’ll wear this working week. I added in that Monday is a board meeting (I have to be a grown up, & hence the necklace reminder) and Wednesday is rep training (extra layer) and Friday is casual so I get to wear my Chucks.

You might notice that I write down leggings. Here’s a confession for you; I cannot keep a pair of stockings or hose unladdered for more than five minutes. I’m hopeless there.

This card is up inside my vanity door for a daily reminder. I’m feeling less pressure already!

What’s your top tip for getting ready for the working week?

Learnings from today

Posted in Uncategorized by

I am trying to compile Terms of Trade for the business as a whole and I’ve realised two or maybe three things.

1. Parent was right – I should have been a lawyer.

2. Then-boyfriend was also right – just because I like to argue doesn’t mean I’m any good at this stuff.

3. I freaking hate this legal shit. What if I miss something out?

4. I’m not paid enough for this crap.

5. Maths maybe isn’t my strong point. Good thing I only analyse the numbers, right? Right?