Yummytimtam's Cross Stitch

New Zealand

2010-10-07T13:29:00.003+11:00

I went to Auckland for work in March last year, and I baught this small kit at an LNS there. I pulled it out and started it recently as I have found some time while waiting to pick up Vivienne from school + tutorials etc. It's a perfect little thing to work on in the car. I did dropped my needle once and could not find it still. LOL Anyway, it's finished 2 days after the big happy dance. Now I've laced it, cut the mat and here it is. I'm using just a standard photo frame with standard glass hence you can see my reflection taking the picture. Thanks for looking.

Happy Dance Time

2010-09-29T16:07:00.003+10:00

Yes, it's finally finished. My 40th birthday sampler. I put in the last stitch the night before last. I did run into trouble with the frog on the last big tree. Initially I thought I could cheat around it after some thinking, I'm probably too anal and ripped most of the big tree out. And I'm now happy.

Started on my birthday 9 May and finished on 27 September 2010. Using 40 count hand dyed linen and HDF - Dragon blood for the main colour + beguilted, bewitched, bebopped, beredded, and begrimed. There are 40 animals in the various colours.

Thanks for looking

Page 5

2010-09-06T09:34:00.003+10:00

was done last week, but I'm a bit slow in blogging. Progress had been slow this last weeks. But here it is

I've added my birthdate + initials using Beredded and Beleaved. I removed 2 small trees from the design to put the birthdates in. I've borrowed the letters + numbers from my Jan Houtman's Tulip Sampler. Not entirely happy with their colours, Beleaved or the green initials needs to be changed and I don't like the alphabets given as well. Might use the ones from Jan's sampler as well.

Page 4

2010-08-10T13:13:00.004+10:00

As promise this is Do Bears as of Friday. As you can see the 5th page is on the way.

This was taken with a normal camera instead of the iPhone one. As it is a bit big now for the iPhone camera to handle.

So far for 2010

2010-08-04T16:07:00.003+10:00

I'm splitting the update into 2 as, it's getting a bit pictures intensive.

Being a new decade, I'm trying something new, blackwork. This is butterfly from one of the New Stitches magazines and it's quite fun. I dislike backstitch in general but this is not bad. That's the body so far

2010 started with an SAL in memory of Marc Davies. Marc is the designer for Needlemania who passed away unexpected in June 2009, Marc and I had been communicating in the XS cyberspace for some time being in various groups together. We went on and were both the co-owners of Long Dog's yahoo group. . This SAL were organised and charted by Sabine. I finished this in Feb and changed the middle to put in my Chinese surname. This is again with HDF.

Mystery X or Secret Victorian Garden then received some well deserved attention, It's at least over 1 year since I worked on it. I'm hoping to finish it this year. I worked on it for over 2 months. This is how it is now

In May, I reached a major point in my life by turning 40. Yes, I am now in my fifth decade of life !! Do I feel old ? Of course NOT. LOL I baught Jan Houtman cross stitch book some time ago, and I really like how he designed and stitched a special project when his partner Theo turned 40. So I want to do the same, well I'm not a designer so I searched through my stash and found Do Bears. I counted the animals in it, and would you quess there were 40 of them excluding the small butterflies + snails. I think this is perfect. I pulled out my hand-dyed 40 count linen and started it on my brithday. The animals motifs are done with some of the Be's from HDF, the main colour is Dragon Heart, also from HDF. I'm nearly done with the 4th page now and will take a new picture soon, this is how it was 2 weeks ago. New photo will come out this week

I've been very good in being OOAT this year, though I did steal 1 or 2 nights to work on St Sophia

Others were worked on as well but not much picture yet. I have also acquire so many stash in the last year but I'm not going to list them now.

Update in 2009

2010-08-04T10:30:00.002+10:00

Wow, it's been nearly a year since I was blogging. I decided I was going to do more stitching rather than talking about it. But blog is like a stitching diary for me. I do have a small calender on my stand which I keep track of what I was stitching on those day that I was stitching. Let's recap what I've been doing for nearly a year.

After Twinkle Twilight, I started another Maria Van Scharrenburgh project. My friend Joyce told me now I need a piece for our self rather than the children. So here is the Kiss

In the mean time, I also finished up my dovetail box, which was fun with the different colour woods. There were some chip on the edges from the router, but not bad for the first box

Then it was Autumn festival, so I finally started Charng Er, the moon goddess which celebrate the festival, I'm really happy with the face of Pinn's chart. I should pick this up again soon.

In December, Julie was leaving our workplace. She is having a career change. So I decided to stitch this for her. I used the Bright Rainbow from HDF and she was really pleased. I think it is now sitting in her new desk.

First in 2009

2009-09-22T21:08:00.005+10:00

Yes, my first finish for this year, considering how close 2010 is coming. It's about time. LOL I finally finished Twinkle Twilight for Natalie at about 2 am today. Just couldn't go to sleep while putting in the last of the metallics. My friend Joyce suggested I changed the colour of the border to purple rather than blue, and I'm really glad I did. It turn out fantastic and more fitting for a girl. Maria Van Scharrenburg designed this for a boy, but I think it could go either and the purple border made it a girly piece.

I told Amanda hopefully now Natalie will be able to sleep better now. You I finished Vivienne's piece when she was just a few months old and she has been a perfect sleeper. This one however had been a long journey. Natalie is now 14 months old and is still not sleeping very well at night.

It had been a long while since I last blogged. Life is just not like before anymore, very limited time with works + Natalie. There had been some major changes, I have now moved office and have a better view of some forrest and more sunlight which is great. Natalie is now walking more and more. Apart from TT, I have also done some other stitching including Cosima

and a new project Cirque des Carreaux by Ink Circle

What am I going to do next ? I'm not sure yet, I could start more projects or maybe finished some old WIPs or UFOs which most had become now.

Cosima

2009-05-20T00:31:00.004+10:00

This month, I've been working on Cosima again. Just finished the 4th motif and also the second big motif. I had to do some minor adjustment as the chart wasn't very symmetrical. I've also done the letter K. This was also to check if the colour combination works, what do you all think ? The floss were Vicky Clayton's Tuscan Rose for the motifs and Attar of Roses + Zinnia for the alphabets.

This is the first time I upload a photo using my new iPhone. It was fairly easy and straight forward. This makes uploading wips much quicker from now on. Anyhow I'm off to another conference tomorrow

I'm Still Alive !!

2009-04-14T22:43:00.003+10:00

LOL. I seemed to have disappeared from the earth. But I'm still alive. I haven't much time to do any crafts these days. Natalie had been alot more demanding than Vivienne was. Virtually no time for stitching. Thankfully the last 2 months or so she is improving. And I have managed to do some stitching last 6 weeks or so.

Since I last blogged, we've had a holiday to Hong Kong in Nov 2008. No stitching related activities there at all even though I did get some addresses of LNS. 2 weeks ago I went to Auckland for a week. That was for work and it was a very full weeks, very long days and I was a lot more tired than I've ever been. I did visit 1 LNS there called Homeworks during lunch one day. First time I visited an LNS this year. I picked the latest issue of Just Cross Stitch which featured InkCircle's growth ring, and 2 locally made kits, a small map of NZ and a mini carpet kit. This is a needlepoint kit using 42 count canvas, to be done 1 over 1. It will be very interesting.

Anyhow here are some pictures of what I've been doing. I have frogged out about 20% of my mistake for Bouquet for Cheryl, and worked on it briefly while in NZ, still haven't covered back my mistake yet, but I'm now making progress at least. Hopefully no more frogging. It was painful. Here it is now

Next is Tenderness, I've been working mainly about 1 length at a time between settling Natalie etc last few months. Only a small progress from last picture. I really like these sepia look.

Lastly, this is St Sophia. This is what I've been concentrating on last few weeks. I'm really liking the colour, though I did discover a few inconsistencies in the chart. I don't know if it was on purpose or not. I always though it was asymmetrical, but there are one or two stitches here and there just different. Easily fixed though.

Thanks for looking.

Cosima Update

2008-11-09T00:26:00.003+11:00

How come time goes so fast ? October is gone. I haven't done much stitching at all, Twinkle Twilight now has an arm, but not much to show so I haven't taken new picture. This weekend, Amanda and the girls have gone to Sydney for some birthday party. I had to work hence stay at home alone.... Which means STITCHING time !!!!

I picked up Cosima as I was not in the mood in changing colour and finished the first motif in 2 evenings. YEAHHH. It feels great. A mini happy dance, eventhough it's only a small part.

This is actually a huge project, that's 1 out of 18 larger motifs. Ther are smaller ones and also alphabets. The stitch count is 401 x 401. To give you an idea, this is the whole fabric now on my scroll frame.

When am I going to finish this ? I'm thinking maybe 5 years. LOL. At least. I also have Clarissa, its companion which is the same size. Both were limited edition patterns which are out of print now.

Thanks for looking

Twinkle Twilights for natalie

2008-09-16T13:14:00.002+10:00

I haven't done much stitching this past month. Natalie is very different to Vivienne was. Very unsettled at night hence lots of sleepless night for both of us. But luckily she is improving now at least she gets back to sleep after feed last 2 weeks. I also had to give a major presentation last week, hence all my free/stitching time had been taken for preparing that. Hence at least no stitching for about 2 weeks straight. I'm in withdrawal !!! LOL

I have done a bit more on TT last 2 nights. Enough to show a progress anyhow, including the cute face. This is actually Twinkle Twilight Richard by Maria Van Scharrenburg which I wil personalise to Natalie at the end. Just like Vivienne', which was from TT RIchard. It's not a very big project hopefully I get to finish it this year.

Here are the pictures

2008-08-19T16:40:00.003+10:00

This is the placemat of the fabric weaving that I did.

I didn't end up doing the finishing myself. My MIL had a special foot on the sewing machine which did all the binding or tape around the piece. It was done in 30 second. Had I done it, I don't think it would look like that.

This is another picture on our table with the tea pot plus mug on it.

I'm probably going to weave more fabric to make some boxes in the future.

Frogs !!!!!

2008-08-16T09:45:00.002+10:00

Okay, Natalie is more than 1 month old now. As per Chinese tradition, we are having a celebration with all the family this weekend. So we are in Sydney. As per usual, this time I decided to take a small project with me to stitch away from home. I decided on Cheryl's banquet.

So I was stitching away last night after the girls gone to sleep. Only to notice that I'm 1 stitch off. Grrrrrrr. Trace back the mistake and it was back a long while ago. Mind you, I don't work on this very often. Now I need to frog out about 20% of what I have done !! Man oh man, what didn't I notice this earlier. And of course neing a symetric pattern, I can't cheat out of it either. Needless to say, I didn't do any more stitching after.

On another note, we were at the annual Craft fair last weekend in Canberra. There was a stand there where the lady was doing some fabric weaving. It looks very intersting so I baught some of the tools. I've been trying this last 2 nights, and I have finished a small block. It will be a placemat for our teapot. Amanda's sewing machine is at service this week. So I can't do the finishing yet. Of course I had to learn using the sewing machine as well. I have will post a picture when I get back home.

Finally, Novia had finished her Orange Tree. You can see it
here. It's beautiful. So I guess I need to go and pull out my Abduction of Psych. As you know, Novia and I were trialing these beadpoint projects from Golden Kite. I beter get a whip for mine.

Happy Dance # 3 for 2008

2008-07-22T22:38:00.003+10:00

YYEEEAAAAHHHHH

Rosemarkie is done. Finished it last night, now uploaded. You can click on image to see a bigger picture.

This is my first sampler, it was also the first project which I chose my own colours. I'm so glad on how it turned out. I used gloriana SPring Green, Poinsettia and Holiday Blue. I'm still contemplating if I want to add beads or crystals in it. Or maybe just leave as it is. I will also sign it.

Now however it's time for a happy dance.

YYEEEAAAAHHHHH !!!!!!!!

Presenting Natalie

2008-07-12T11:50:00.003+10:00

Here she is, our beautiful Natalie.

Yep, that's the name which we have finally decided on from a few short lists. And she looks very similar to Vivienne when she was just born. She weights 3070 g. It was a very quick labour, and both mother and baby are doing well. This is a picture of Natalie and Vivienne.

I had some problem with my desktop, it's mostly fixed now thank goodness. It still can't play any sounds yet, but at least I can edit and upload pictures now. These are some of the stitchings which I've been doing last month. This is Tenderness from Vervaco. I've decided to use the original aida from the kit as most of the piece will be covered anyhow.

There are only 8 colours floss used, and you have to step back to visualise it. It will be a picture of a father kissing a baby. That's the face of the father or mother I supposed now.

Next one is Cosima. This was a limited edition pattern from Monistereium. Im using Vikky Clayton's Tuscan Rose for it. It's the first time I'm using the premium floss and it's fantastic. It's also in single stranded spool which is so much easier to used. I dislike seperating floss now. You can click on the picture to see a bigger and better picture.

Finally this is Rosemarkie. I'm trying to finish this asap so I can use the gripit frame to put the new Twinkle Twilight on it for Natalie. I received that kit as well other stash last week.

Ok, that's a lot of posting. I also want to thank everybody for all your congrats this week for the arrival of Natalie. We really appreciate it.

It's been a good draughts

2008-06-16T13:28:00.002+10:00

I've been good, lasting till the middle of the year. You see, I've been stopping myself from stashing this year. Ok internet shopping that is. I did get Isabella Garden in March when I was in Melbourne. The out of print Beatrix Potter quakers was re-released in pdf format. There were a few discussion about that as it was supposed to be a limited edition. The designer just released it as a different format. So I decided to get that before it's not available all together. That starts the ball rolling. I ordered Clarissa, Black and White, Jardin D'Jour and Ink circle's CDT. I also been visiting Vikky Clayton and got some of her spools too.

This weekend was also the Craft shows in Darlling Harbour, so we went and I got more stash there. The Garden Stitching chair, Sepia baby's pattern from Vervaco+ more fabrics were added to my stash. I'm also thinking about getting Chatelaine's Mermaid Box + a few others which from European XS. Yes, once I start I can't stopped. LOL

Stitching wise, there had been some progress but can uploaded photoes at this stage. Some nephew and niece came and the kids wanted to play some internet games/video. For some reason the Anti Virus was TURNED OFF. Not sure how, but it did. And now my desktop is not happy. I hope it's fixable. Grrr

I did put in the beads for MX up to part 4. Then I went back to Rosemarkie and all the green outline are done. I also pulled out A Banguet for Cheryl and of course I had to start the sepia pattern on the night which I got it. LOL I thought it would be nice for the new baby coming next month.

Rosemarkie Update

2008-05-22T23:41:00.002+10:00

Here is the progress. I've been stitching on and off last week or so. I'm very happy with progress, it's now nearly 2/3 of the way. Hoping for another HD soon. I'm going to take a short break from this for a while to pay some attention to my other wips, but I would like to come back to this very soon.

The Assemblying Process

2008-05-11T01:20:00.006+10:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I took some photoes during the assembly of the box. But first of all just a few notes about this project. This was an Online Class from Martina Weber of Chatelaine in 2006, I started the panels as each part was being released each month. I stopped after the panels as I wasn't too keen on the other accesories that come with this 1 year class. I then had a gap of more than 1 year where it was sitting in my wips piles. (I had lasic eye surgery and couldn't bear the idea of over 1 stitching on 32 count fabric.) I finished the lid + bottom last month. The finishing kit was from Judy Odell. In total it took 5 evenings to finish.

This is the panels after being laced up, I used glue gun as per instruction initially but got worry very soon after. I'm using all acid free materials including the mat. I'm not sure if the glues is going to do to my stitching in many years to come so switched to full lacing instead for the rest. Hence took a little longer to do the whole project.

This is after the panels are joined up. The curve need which Judy provided had been magical in this so is the ladder stitch. The ends just joined up so beautifully. The stitches disappeared after pulling tight. You can't see the join here, can you ? I am so happy , I wish I knew about these when I did the finishing for my simple needlebook many years ago. This is just so much tidier and easier. The finishing was a breeze. I didn't have to ask DW for advice at all. Whereas previously she got sick of me asking her what and how to do next. LOL

Now the secret compartment is done and the bottom is also stitched in. I have made the secret compartment taller than Judy's instruction. The seperator was also thicker as I used 2 mats joined together instead just 1. You couldn't see the secret compartment in the video as I forgot to show it and it was dark anyhow. Maybe the net video. You can also see the lid half done. I need to add the 'catcher' underneath. The knob was very hard to do as I was too scare to break a thread in my stitching. Luckily DW has knitting needles of various size which did the job for me.

And voila this is the finished project.

I decided not to put the cord and tassels in as I think it will obstruct the view of the panels at the bottom, but I might change my mind later.

Gosh this is a very long post and thank you for your attention.

Japanese Octagonal Box

2008-05-10T01:31:00.001+10:00

I'm Done !!!!

2008-05-10T01:09:00.004+10:00

YAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first ever Chatelaine finish !!!

I finished this a few hours ago now, but as I thought it would be much better showing this as a video instead of picture, I've been playing last 2 hours how to upload a video. But here it is. Not the best quality, but you get the idea. I'm so happy and proud of it. And I finished it within my birthday too.

I also took some pictures during the assembly, but I'll upload those later. It is 1:30 in the morning now, I need to sleep and will post more later. LOL

Hmmm somehow it wouldn't show the video here together. I'll have to post in a seperate post.

2008-05-04T22:10:00.003+10:00

Here it is, my Chinese surname, for the bottom of the box. All done, finished it last night but was too tired to upload it. Yes, it's all over 1, and on 32 count, but I used tenting with 2 threads, so a bit more easier. Because of the size, over 2 won't have much detail but I grindded my teeth and designed the chart over 1. I'm quite happy with it. Now time to assemble the box, which I'll start tomorrow.

Box Lid Finished

2008-04-28T23:11:00.003+10:00

After nearly a month, this is finally done. There was actually quite a lot of beadings to be added. Also Vivienne had been caught with a virus, so my stitching time was also decrease, but she's on the mend now. So this took longer than I anticipated. Boy, is this sparkly ? I tried took a pickture at an angle to show the beads but it didn't work. I think I need more photography lesson. LOL BTW this is a link to a bigger picture if you want to see it.

I was going to leave the box bottom empty, but recently I came across Easy Cross Stitch It seems I can create my own pattern, so I've uploaded my surname in Chinese and voila, a simple pattern come out. So I'll attemp this next so hopefully it'll turn out good. We'll wait and see.

The Over 1's

2008-04-16T00:22:00.003+10:00

I don't understnad how some people loves them. Maybe I'm getting older. LOL. But since my lasic surgery over 1 year ago, it had been more difficult to see that small. Luckily now my eyes are returning back to normal, I can see those over 1 much better. So I picked this JOB lid, and just put in the last over 1 stitch. Hooray !!!

The rest should be easier now, and soon I'll have a first Chatelaine happy dance. The finishing into the octagonal might be tricky (yes, I decided to do it into the octagonal box as per original design) but I'll have a go. I think I will actually have enough floss to another panels, so might frame that if I feel like doing the panels again.

Rosemarkie

2008-04-01T00:48:00.002+11:00

I think I may have caught a finishing bug. LOL. I decided to pick this up and concentrate on it, secretly hoping for a finish. This had been my "when I'm tired of colour changing" project. I usually work on it in between projects so I don't have to change colours. Just did 1 or 2 length. This time I did a lot of it. I started and filled in all the red on the right side. I used the light pink for filling in the middle, however the 3 colours don't do well together so I frogged it up. I went through my stash and chose this Holiday Blue gloriana. This was intended for my CDC. The result however is much nicer. It also mean this will be entirely done in gloriana. I will fill in the blue for the left next, so at least this project is >50% done. Closer to a finish. Another happy dance this year ? That would be even better, assuming I don't start other project. LOL

Happy Dance Time

2008-03-24T21:48:00.002+11:00

Wow, this is a rare post. It's been a long time since I have a major HD. The previous ones were the RR, but this is bigger, though by no means huge. I don't know when I will have one of those buge BAP finish. Anyhow, wedding blessing is finally finished. I started this in 2004 when I was still living in London. After some major long breaks in between, here it is, finally finished

You can't see much of the numerous backstitch which I did over the last week, but they are there. I also add in some beads from Amanda's collection. This was using mine and Amanda's creativities as the chart don't call for beads. I used black beads for the dragon and phoenix's eyes, also add in some beads in her dress and flowers in her hair. I also put in a few beads in his hat + collar. As I said you probably can't see much on the computer.

Also photobucket has a feature to make a slideshow which I've been meaning to try, However I can't find my earlier pictures of this now, I saved them to a disc somewhere when I changed computers since the beginning. They might appear in a few more days time. The slideshow took a bit of hassel to create. But I'm happy with it.

What's next ? Well I have so many wips and stash. I might try to finish off one of my chatelaine, That will be a huge HD. Also I'm involved in a few SAL. Too many choices, so little time. LOL

New Toy/Tool

2008-02-20T12:45:00.005+11:00

Part 2 of HDYGG is done. This part had the most annoying stitch for me to do, the Queen Stitch. I've decided this is the most annoying specialty stitch for me. Somehow it just doesn't sit well for me. After some frogging, part 2 is finally done. I had to use the magnifying glass as well in this part. I'm getting old. LOL

While doing this, specially with all the specialty stitches particularly on those QS. I found it quite difficult to hold or rest my q-snap. I need it to 'float' firmly to free up both my hands to stitch. I have been considering this for some time. The solution - get another lap frame. My stitching stand is good for the big scroll frame but not for the small 11 inch q-snap. So I searched and looked at various stands available and decided to create one. Then follow by a brief visit to Bunning (the hardware store) and one hour or so later in the garage. Voila, here is my new toy/tool

Well, I didn't make the whole lap frame, just the parts which hold the q-snap. They are attached to my old lap stand. But the spacer in the middle is too big for 11 inch q-snap but a 14 inch fits ok like this

I was able to finish this Part 2 much quicker and easier on it. The cost of this clamps - about A$12 for the woods, screws, springs and bolts. Pretty cheap and works too. Now I need to make another smaller base which can hold 11 inch q-snap. And it can be very mobile that I can take it when travelling.

The Bride is Done !!!!!

2008-02-06T00:09:00.000+11:00

Hooray, just put in the last stitch and uploaded it. I'm so pleased.

Though the whole piece is not finished as yet. There are still lots of backstitching with gold metalic to be done, around the bouguet and their clothes. Then there are also the flowers around their feet which I was going to leave out, but now I think I will probably do them. Looking also closely at her dress, I think I will be creative and add some beads on them, particularly in the middle of the small flowers and I will also use black beads for the eyes of the dragon and phoenix on their clothes instead of 1 confetti black stitch each. So still some more works to be done , but I'm glad it's so close to a finish now.

How Does Your Garden Grow ?

2008-01-31T22:54:00.000+11:00

That's the name of a new mystery sampler which is being offered by Papillon Creation It's coming in 13 parts and part 1 just come out. It's very pretty that took me away from my focus wip. You are free to choose the 6 floss colours and I thought what better opportunity to try out my floss from Vietnam. So after a week or so of stitching, part 1 is now done. There is still beads to go but I have no idea what colour I want to use. I think I will wait until more is done before deciding on the beads colour. I'm so happy with it and here are the photoes,

The first one is a scan of the project, but unfortunately the opalescent of the fabric is loss, so I took a picture with my camera for the second photo which is a bit darker. The scan one shows the colour of the floss better.

The floss actually didn't turn out so bad. It was suggested that they may be rayon floss. I have no idea about them. I have heard many unpleasant things about stitching with rayon and was a bit worry. But I had no trouble, it does behave different to cotton though. One things I wish also is the colour variation within the floss are a bit far apart hence make the flowers different. However you could say, that's a good point too. Anyhow thanks for looking.

Another Thing

2008-01-23T16:57:00.000+11:00

How could I forget ?

While we were in Vietnam, Amanda wasn't feeling the best at time. The question was raised, could she or couldn't she ? By the time we got back, it seems most likely that she is. So we went and had a scan after we got back and YES, there is a heart beat in there. Which is great !! This one is due on 20 July 2008. Another July baby !!! So I've created another ticker above now. And I think I might have to change the layout of the blog soon. Here is the scan of the little one at 12 weeks

Stitching wise, I'm doing great progress in Wedding Blessing, this is how it was after the weekend. I've been working on it for the last 2 weeks. I did some more on it last few days but haven't taken a picture yet. Hopefully this will be my first finish for 2008. Not bad from starting in 2004. LOL

Wow, how time flies

2008-01-17T21:41:00.000+11:00

This blog desperately need upadating....

September and October 2007 went by so quickly. They were 2 of the busiest months at work. Then come November which we spent nearly 3 weeks off holidaying. We went overseas. First to Saigon, Vietnam. We met some of Amanda's families including her 91 years old grandma. Everyone adores Vivienne of course. We then travelled up north to Hanoi and the amazing Halong Bay. Flied down to the lower midland in Nha Trang, Danong, Phan Tiet before returning back to Saigon. Then off to Singapore for a short stopover before heading back to home in December.

I did braught a small stitching kit during the trip but hardly had any time to work on it. We visited an embroidery shop in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City called XQ. They sell many amazing embroideries. I got talking one of the worker there regarding the floss they were using. SHe gave us a direction to a shop in a market. As we had sometime, the cousin then brought us there. Apparently they sell the floss by weight, so I grapped 1 kg of floss which looks like this

That's a skien of DMC 310 on the side for comparison. Best of all, all these only cost me about A$14. What a bargain !!!

After we come home. I had to rush to complete our RR. Due to the busy time I haven't had time to do much on Larry's piece. Hans and Larry had actually finished in September. They have also posted the finished piece out. I felt terrible as I was the organiser of the RR yet I'm the one who bogged down. So I stitched as much as possible and managed to finished Larry's piece and post it back to him before the new year. I also added the year '2007' on my piece. Overall it had been a very succesful RR. If I ever participate another one, I need to be extra careful regarding my commitment. Here are the 3 finished pieces of the RR, Hans, mine and Larry's

Non Stitching Post

2007-09-05T17:23:00.000+10:00

Well, someone showed a link about youtube. It's something I'm not familiar with, so I went and play around with it, searching miscellaneous videos and come across this. This is the first time I'm linking youtube to blogger. Sorry, it's in Mandarin for those who can't understand it.

It's one of my favourite song. She was my all time favourite singer, sadly is dead now for 12 years. He is a world famour actor recently also into singing. Isn't it marvelous they can remaster this together ? Apparently they used to date each other, I'm not sure how true that is

Our Round Robins Status

2007-08-22T09:46:00.000+10:00

Yay !!!! Everyone has finished their round of stitching. I ended up being the last one to finish, it's been lots of fun. We'll be posting out this week for the next and final round. It's exciting. Here are how the 3 projects stand so far.

This is Larry's, I 'll be stitching on the top right next.

This is mine. Larry has done a great job adding his name, Hans will stitch his name in between.

And this is Hans'. Larry will add the next side

Also I've been stashing in a big way the last month. We went to Darling Harbour for the craft show, got lots of hand dye fabrics. During our skiing holiday (which was cut short at the snow), we had a detour to Dragonflydreams in Blue Mountain, I got 2 Dracolair charts + specialty fibers there. Then I got more fabric + small kits at the Canberra craft show. Why do the shows tend to occur so close to each other ? I attended one of the workshop there to dye your own fabric. The technigue seems easy so I will try that sometime. In between I also received my biggest order from ECC consist of 4 Chatelaines kits + 2 Passione Ricamo kits. I think I need to go on a stash diet now. LOL

I have also done a bit more stitching as well. Part 1 of Annivesary Castle is done, I don't think I will do part 2 for now as it is the outer border, and as you can see, my 14x17" q-snap just fit the design. If I stitch the outer border, It will be a bit too big to handle like my mystery X now. I know I can go over the stitched piece with the smaller q-snap, but this has large rhodes stitches with 3 plies of silk. I'm a bit hessitent. Anyway here it is

Also you can see the 1st roof of Mystery X here. There will be more rhodes to go in the middle chimney + more backstitching, I will do those when I come to do the other 3 roofs together.

Thanks for looking.

Half Ways

2007-07-30T17:06:00.000+10:00

Well, we are more than half way through the year now, I'm also reaching a couple of half ways marks with my stitching.

First is wedding blessing. This is my longest wip, from 2004. It's now more than half way. The groom is done apart from the backstitching on the bouquet which I'm going to do with the bride as it is connected. Hopefully it won't be another 3 years before it's done. LOL

Next is Chatelaine Annivesary castle. Ok, this is only about halfway of part 1, not the whole project. I got the fabric from Stitches and Spices on the needlework show in darling Harbour which we attended last month. This is a small project, so hopefully I can keep up with it. Still waiting for my kits from ECC.

Finally mystery X, this is part of Part 6. It has been a lot of fun, and the backstitching or blackwork around the windows were now a joy to do. Finished these over the weekend while in Sydney. The roofs are next, but I will get to that in a while. I need to attend to Hans' RR first.

On another note, Vivenne turned 2 nearly 2 weeks ago. How time flies, she is now running around, making many noises and say 'No' way too often. LOL Soon I think she will start communicating better. We think it will be a bit slow as she is spoken to in 3 different languages, Mandarin from dad, Vietnamese from Mum and English from both at times. Not sure which she is going to learn first, but we would like to keep her multilingual just like her parents. But somehow English will likely to be her main language.

Mini Happy dance

2007-06-26T12:03:00.000+10:00

This is Hans' RR. Not bad just under 2 weeks with a few days break in between as I got caught up with works, Thought it is not too big. However there is more to do. As we are now down to 3 people, I will try to do half of another part, that is the top middle box. Though I will probably take a break from this for a short while, will attend my other wips first.

I'm also a little bit excited as we will be going to a needlework or craft show next week in Sydney. I know I've been there before, but this time I'm looking for fabric for St Peterburg and Tuscany. And Amanda is also excited about the beads show that is going concurrently. Stashing time coming up.

Part 4, 5 and 6 wip

2007-06-15T11:02:00.000+10:00

Well, I have to take the fabric off my q-snap so I decided to take a picture as well. This is half of part 4 and 5 plus a bit of part 6 in mystery X. I'm really enjoying this. And with so many blackwork with metallics. I am actually enjoying this now. Go figure... I quess we all change our like and dislike

On another note, our RR is off now. YAY...

There will only be 3 people in it now as Sean was getting a bit busy and could not participate. So it's going to be a smaller RR but hopefully the next RR will be bigger. And we had the first posting. Mine is on its way to Larry in Alaska now. And I have actually recieved Hans project which I have been working on the last 2 nights. (Yes Mystery X is on hold a present.) I'll post a picture soon.

However I got hit by the frog last night. No I didn't miscount, but it's the stitches. You see, Hans' top stitches go from bottom left right to top left and I usually go the opposite. However for his RR, I have changed my way of stitching so the whole piece will fit. I was admiring the whole border at the end, but somehow, it looks slightly odd. Then it hit me, on the last part I have gone back to my style of stitching without realizing. So the project has stitches that goes in different directions. Lucky there weren't that many, so I ripped them out and restitched it last night. I have to pay more attention next time. It's actually giving me a new experience in stitching and it's fun. Ok maybe not the frog part, but that's a lesson to be learned.

BTW if you want to see our projects, Hans had set up his website quite nicely to show them off. You can see the whole projects here

So I am a Magician

2007-05-29T13:43:00.001+10:00

This is who I am according to the Tarot card link I get from EeKoon's blog. I'm not sure that I'm smooth talker, my wife said I'm too abrupt sometime LOL. And Cunning ? Interesting .....

You are The Magician

Skill, wisdom, adaptation. Craft, cunning, depending on dignity.

Eleoquent and charismatic both verbally and in writing,
you are clever, witty, inventive and persuasive.

The Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things so just by speaking them aloud. Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is represented by Mercury. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the slight of hand and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Here are the photoes

2007-05-10T23:06:00.000+10:00

This is Forest Goddess as of May 2007 (all are clickable links)

This is my DVD cabinet when close

and open

Yes I am proud of my works !

My Birthday Present

2007-05-10T16:04:00.000+10:00

Yes, I'm a year older. Man, I'm getting away from the midway of that 70. Or rather closer to retirement. LOL Still along way to go. So what I got my self, well 2 more chatelaines !! Yes, I'm a big addict. Martina released Tuscany garden plus her 5 years anniversary medieval palace. Italy was one of my favourite country, and those building are just amazing. The second was chart was also specially as Martina will only release these in her class. Both of these are a year long class, but I'm not sure when I will finish these maybe after retirement which is nearly 30 more years. LOL

I haven't been stitching much last weeks. I did work on my Forest Goddess as per the sal. I need to take a picture for that. I've been building a DVD cabinet. I saw this on a TV show so I went and baught the magazine and build it. It took abit longer than I planned and finally it's finish and now house our DVDs. The finishing/lacquering was a bit rough but it works. I should take some pictures of this. I took my RR out again as it is May, and we were to post out this month.

I also have a new toy. Found out or realize that all my CC bills over the last many years have been collecting points and I never look into claiming it. Lucky they don't expire, and after browsing the catalogue, I decided to get an iPOD. It's wonderful. Now I'm storing all my CD collection onto it so I can carry them with me whenever I go. I can play all my music in the car too when I go for the long drive.

Part 3

2007-04-18T13:57:00.000+10:00

of Mystery X is done, well, maybe some stitches on the corners. But I'll do those with part 4. I think now that Chatelaine is better done after the next part come out. As with the way the chart is split into parts, often there can be some stitches with the same floss that would have been better done together rather than starting again. I don't mind confetti or starting and finishing but it would have been good to know that if caould have been avoided. Below is the clickable thumbnail.

Actually I could have finished this earlier but I got addicted with my playstation 3, that I was playing games rather than stitching. Benji, days of blade is so much fun, though I keep dying, LOL I'm going to work on my mirabelia now as the Coven is having an SAL. Then I would also need to finish my RR in time to post out in May.

Part 2

2007-04-11T23:42:00.000+10:00

Yes, part 2 is finally done. I know it's a bit late but this is a huge part, with so many of the honeydew colour which is similar to my fabric hence you can't see much of it. Also you can't see the sparklie in here. There are so many of those silver metallic threads in here too. Part 3 will see some flowers added to the waterways, also mostly in metallic. Thanks for looking

My RR wip

2007-04-01T02:09:00.000+10:00

Yes, I know. Another wip. Well, I am a startaholic. LOL or in the coven known as the FBC (fun butt club) or serial starters.

In my male stitchers group, we are doing an RR. This is the first time I'm doing this type of project. There are 4 of us in it, Sean from Florida, Larry from Alaska and Hans from Netherland. This is my piece. I chose the red inscription sampler and will get everyone to stitch their first name on my fabric. If you look closely the 2 squares actually has 'I' and 'M' hidden there x4 in various view. I will add 'T' in in the front. I will also put in a border around the title as well. This should be a great fun project.

I am putting this on hold for a short break as I need to catch up on Mystery X which is now in part 4. Hopefully I can catch up on that and finish this RR as well before posting it out in May.

A new girl in my life

2007-02-02T23:09:00.000+11:00

We went down to the coast last week end. It's about 2 hours drive. Anyway, my wife saw this little cutie in the shop and we couldn't help but decided to take her home with us. Vivienne is getting bigger now and she probably will appreciate a new pet of her own. We decided to call her Snowy to relect her white coat.

Don't you just love her ?

It's a Maltese and is only about 8 weeks old. Amanda is toilet training her now, hopefully she'll learn soon, as at present she is not allowed in the carpeted area, for good reason. Our other dog, Mimi who is 15 years old is well trained in the poo and pee area. A skill which Vivienne needs to learn soon too so we can get rid of the nappy.

Mystery X Part 1

2007-01-29T22:29:00.000+11:00

There had been some new changes to blogspot, photobucket etc. I 've had some difficulty uploading photo to photobucket + blogging. Gosh technology gets updated so often. Anyway here is my part 1 which I finished about 1 week ago now

It's on 27 count Linda fabric. The first time I'm using this kind of fabric. I've come to realisation that Chatelaine are so sparklie and beautiful that I don't need a hand dyed fabric, just plain simple fabric will do. It's not that I don't like hand dye fabric but often with Chatelaine, there are many background fabric showing hence it's not much point. I will continue to use hand dyed for some other projects.

A much needed blog

2007-01-24T13:30:00.000+11:00

Yes, this blog desperately needed an update.

Life had been too busy for last few months. So much had been happeningin these time. My stitching had been suffering, not as much done as I would like. Golden Kite has launched a new website + community, which as one of the moderators I have been involved a fair bit as well. I run another successful competition at IntricateXS before Xmas + celebrating this new community. Marcus donated 3 prizes this time which was great. During this time, my dear brother in law lost his battle with cancer.

The holiday season came and went, I can't believe it is almost a month since it was Xmas !!

I do have picture to show of my stitching, the panels from JOB are done. The backstitchng with metallic were killers, but it's done now, here is the picture

Also I have now completed Part 1 of Mystery X, yes I know, too many Chatelaine. I will stopped any more Chatelaine for now, I've been Chatelaine out I think, but Martina keep coming out with more and more beautiful projects. This will be my first big mystery and I shall try to keep up during this year. The keyword is "TRY" LOL Unfortunately I can't show picture of it as for some reason, photobucket won't load my picture. I'm not sure why, I'll keep trying.

Eekoon has reminded me about our SAL for Eight Immortals. Yes, some of us on BAPXS were going to start this last year, but never did. I see that she has done page 1 now which look very colourful and pretty. And apparently our friend Novia is going to do this as well which is cool. So I better get moving as I have all the stash just need the time.

Panel 6

2006-09-16T00:52:00.000+10:00

Well, this is a stitching update for a change. LOL. Just done Panel 6 of JOB. I've been going through a stitching slump lately, with home renovation and being involved in other crafts as you would have seen. But I'm glad this part is done for now and I can update my blog about stitching again.

This panel had also been a bit long. The worst part was the flower. It consists of small backstitching which is not my favourite stitch, and also in metallic. Luckily there aren't that many. I'm beginning to dread as well since I have intentionally left out many of the backstitching with metalic. Oh well that's the project and I know the metalic make the project shines. At least they aren't backstitching over 1.

I think I will give this project a mini break for now and do some other projects. Hopefully I can start using my stand again next week so I will my other BAP which are on large frame at present.

Bonsai !!

2006-09-11T21:54:00.000+10:00

Well, as we now have our own house with a backyard + garden etc. Amanda wanted to grow some flowers. So we headed towards the nursery and gardens shops. In one of this nursery, there is an area for Bonsai. I have always been facinating by bonsai. Hey, I''ve watched The Karate Kid with Mr Miyagi. It's amazing looking at some of the trees that they have. One was planted in 1951, and the prize was A$8000 +.

Anyway, I started talking to the shop owner about these bonsai in general. And he informed me that he ran courses for people who are interested. So I signed up the 1 day beginner course. And yesterday I attended the course and this is my tree at the end of the course. What do you think ?

Yes, it is actually an old tree. The owner has many starter or young trees for us to choose from, but he also some old starter trees as well. And I picked one of the more mature one of course. This was actually a bonsai before and was initially planted in 1962 hence the thick trunk. Apparently there was some problem so he had to cut the top of the tree off. He then let the newer bark grows on the side and yesterday I made it into my tree. It is a Juniper tree, I don't know what species though. Apparently it is a popular first bonsai. We started off by cleaning the tree by cutting and trimming the new parts. Then wired up the branches. Next we freed up the roots and trimmed of some of them as well. Finally potted it and I decorated it with some mosh and gravel and I bought an on figurine to put on top of the gravels. Doesn't it look good ? I am so happy with the outcome.

I really enjoyed my experience. This morning I went through my roster and do some swapping around, so I will do the introductory course next. Which will run for 6 weeks and this time many of the technigues will be given in more details and we will also do different type of trees. At the end of the 6 weeks I will have 5 more trees of different types. That will start in October, and I can't wait.

Ok I better get back to stitching now. Oh if you are interested, here is the link to the bonsai shop

My latest crafts

2006-09-04T21:55:00.000+10:00

No this is not a stitched piece. We had a craft show in Canberra a few weeks ago. My wife went and attended a decopage (?spelling) course. After seeing what she was doing and Vivienne finally fell asleep. Yes, I had the babysitting duty earlier. I decided to do it as well. And this was what I did 3-4 hours later. We both had fun on that day.

What did I actually do ? Basically, I got the print which was on paper and glued it onto the canvas. Then extend the painting background to the rest of the canvas with paints. Yes, paints. That was my great weakness as while I'm good with colour and thread, but when it come to paints and brushes. I'm terrible. Nerida, the instructor had to come and help me out frequently. Notice the wings on the edge, that's my work with the brushes. You can tell it's so much different from the original painting from Louvre. LOL But I'm quite proud of my achievement and it is now hanging in our bedroom

We finally have and moved into our first own house now, with a big morgage on the bank of course. We also need a little bit of improvement, mainly downstair which is also our craft rooms. Hence most of my stitching goods are packed away so I can't use my stitching stand. I have been stitching with q-snap in hand, but my progress is slow as I can't stitch with both hands. So I made a resting stand. And here it is.

It is made from some left over wood pieces which I joint together. Then I decopaged it with some Japanese rice paper. This time there is no painting involved, just overlap the paper to get coverage. Much easier !! After a few layers of vanirsh. It turn out a lot nicer than I think. Now I rest this little gadget on my lap while I'm in the sofa, then I rest my q-snap on top and I can stitch with both hands again. Not bad for a few days of work.

Vivienne is One !

2006-07-21T14:39:00.000+10:00

How time flies, Vivienne just had her first birthday 3 days ago now. She is now standing but not walking as yet. Laughing and making lots of noise most of the time. Everyday when I come home, she just scream and hold her hands up wanting to be picked up and cuddled. It's an amzing welcome home from a tiring days. I need to post some newer picture of her.

We have also move house. Now we finally have a home of our own, well we have a huge debt to the bank. But it's our home. It's a split level home and has lots of space for Vivenne to run around and working space down stair for my crafts. We haven't finished unpacking yet but it's getting there.

Anyway, gotta go and back to work

May Mayheim

2006-05-28T13:10:00.000+10:00

Time flies, May is nearly over. This had been a hectic month. We had a holiday/conference in Adelaide. It was the first time Vivienne went on an aeroplane. We were a bit anxious how she is going to cope but she was excellent, didn't cry at all with all the pressure changes during take off and landing.

We visited a few LNS in Adelaide. My friends from XSERS, another yahoo group of Australian stitchers, gave me some addresses to visit which is fantastic. I notice many of them carries TW charts. So I have added those to my stash, the Castle sampler + her fantasy book which has 10 charts in it. Most of these charts have lots of blending and over 1 work. I have never done any of TW's work yet. They are very intricate. Looks like I have to add another project to my wip list soon. LOL

Stitching wise it's been a bit mayheim. I didn't do much stitching in Adelaide even though I brought 2 kits with me. When we got back. There were so much work to catch up, plus I was visited by the dammed frog twice on my Jap Box. Grrrr... Hope it will stay away now. The 3rd panel is nearly done now. The beginning of Mount Fuji is showing and it's exciting. We will do more of the mountain next month. Here is the link to the bigger picture

Also on another note, I've been asked by someone who want to trade some of my GK stash. And looks like this person contacted a few other members of IntricateXS as well. My charts are in electronic formats hence can not be passed around. Of course I say no. This is an illegal activity. I hope it doesn't happen again and that person would stop asking other people.

Abduction of Psych

2006-04-26T16:00:00.000+10:00

This is my new project, which I started last week. It's another fineart piece. Only this time I'm doing a trial project. Click on the picture above for a bigger picture. Marcus and Bjorn of Golden Kite are trying to create patterns using delica beads instead of DMC. I am one of a few who is doing this. Novia is another person whom you can follow her blog from the link on the left. This beads count for this is 185 x 352, making it a total of 65120 beads !!!

This is the first photo after about 3 and a half rows or around 650 beads or about 1%. So far I am really liking the way it's turning out. You can't see much yet, mostly the white sky with some clouds on the left + the tip of cupid wing on the right. I'm looking forward to more beading and see how this trial is turning out. You can see more picture in my new webshot album, GK beading, including my organisation of beads.

First Time I'm Up To Date

2006-04-13T23:51:00.000+10:00

With this Chatelaine online class. Well, almost. Here is the picture

As you can see, I still left out the 2 rhodes on top, few stitches on the side, some backstitch and the metallic and of course beads + crystal. I decided I'm going to put the metalic stitches a bit later when there is more to do with the subsequent panels. I am really happy with how this online class turn out. Looking forward to the next part already. I might start the next panel borders now so the future instalments are faster to do.

Thanks for looking

Samplers

2006-04-12T15:08:00.000+10:00

Who would have thought ? A few months ago, samplers aren't my kind of projects. But after seeing a few of these from various group. Now I'm getting more into it. I have started Rosemarkie, my recent stash acquisition include Red Velvet, St Georges, St Germaine, The World of S - A & S, Celtic Banner just to name a few. I also have St Sylvestre on order. This one I already have the fabric + silk for. I really like working with variated silk on them and let the colours take effects. I have to stop my self very frequently as I seem to go into buying spree too often.

I have been communicating with Marc Davis regarding my new love of samplers. He is very much into it as anyone who know him. We noticed there is no support group for Long Dog, which my Rosemarkie is from. So we decided to create one. What a success we had with it. Julia Line, the designer is in the group as well. Within 1 week of it formation, we had more than 100 members and we keep growing. That is a few weeks now. Here is a link to the group page.

Long Dog Samplers

First Panel of Japanese Octagonal Box

2006-04-06T12:52:00.000+10:00

Ok, not completely finished, I've still got 2 rhodes to do and a few cross on the medaliion. But I will do these together with the second panel. The over 1 on the bird was not fun to do, specially doing them with metallic. Thank god there wern't that many. I will do the second panel before moving to other projects. This is my first Chatelaine online class which I start from the beginning. I want to keep up with this one so can do the finishing at the end while the class is still on.

Forest Goddess' Face

2006-03-17T01:26:00.000+11:00

Here is the latest scan of my Forest Goddess. Using my scanner, you can actually see the colour of the fabric I'm using. It's hand dyed Jacaranda from Stitches and Spices. I'm also putting in some beads and treasure as I want to see her face. Unfortunately the 28 count jobeline is a bit big for the treasures. There are gaps around it. I will have to go back and put some quater or something to cover it up a bit better.

Long overdue blogging

2006-03-15T16:22:00.000+11:00

Wow, how time flies. I can't believe I haven't written anything in here since last year. I did do a little update on the side panel. I quess having a little one at home changed a lot of our activity.

Where do I start ? I decided in december/january to do a complete rotation of my wips. Now I have completed 1 round. Mind you some of them just involve a few stitches while others I worked on them more. I updated some newer photoes for some.

I did have 1 start and finish. Victoria sampler Gold was finished in Feb. This was a very quick piece. I did it in 2 weeks which is a record. There were a lot of specialty stitches hence fast. It was a SAL with Hans from Netherland. He started this and I got tempted and baught the chart and kit.

I have started many projects as well. Startaholism at its best. Cranes, Rosemarkie, Angel of the Morning, Forest Goddess and Japanese Box were the recent start. Don't ask me about the stash department. There had been too many that I have decided I won't update my stash album on webshot anymore. I baught stashes from Golden Kite, HAED, Dimensions, Mirabelia, and many samplers. Yes, I have gone into stitching projects which I didn't like before. And there seems to be no stopping. I have also been searching ebay as well. LOL I need to retire young and stitch all these projects. LOL

Tutenkhamun Finish !!!

2005-12-31T01:20:00.000+11:00

Here he is. I finally finished this bead kit yesterday. This was Amanda's project. She started putting in a few beads and decided not her type of work so I inherited it when we were still in London. I was enjoying it for a while then the other wips jumped ahead and I stopped doing it for a while. Picked it up again this week and now it's another happy dance. Yeah.

I also had some update on Flaming June, and now finish all but a few stitches on page 1. I will filled in those missing stitches when I come to do those section. So 15 more pages to go. I think it's going to take a while specially as I have a few projects on the go as well. It would give me break from those orange as well. Here she is, you can just see her shoulder started to show

As you might noticed, I've been trying to work on all my wips this month, hoping to put in a few stitches. So far I have also update Wedding Blessing, the groom has a coat now. I also worked on Snow Wolves, no picture yet though as not much difference. I will work on Harmony and Cupid the next week before getting back on my Chatelaine.

There was a sale on Lincraft, so I now acquire a cushion kit of a kitten. It will be on canvas with wool but still doing cross stitch. This will be interesting. I also acquire some other stash as HAED was having a sale. I got 2 small chart this time - the Quick stitch Storyteller and story keep Atlantis.

I should also add, I hosted an internet competition in my yahoo group. It was a question and answer thing which ran for 2 weeks. I had a lot of fun doing it. Marcus from GK donated a free pattern for the winner which was Debbie from Sydney. It made a great Xmas present. There were over 100 entry and it was a surprise when Amanda drew out an Aussie's entry. Hopefully I can get to host another one next year

My WIP list is coming down

2005-11-26T00:32:00.000+11:00

Well, I finish all the backstitch and specialty stitches on the Tori Center. The new picture is in my webshot album. I packed it away yesterday for the moment and gone back to my wip. I picked up this small Doctor bear as it was very close to finishing. I restarted this while I was away 2 months ago. It's only a small kit but there are a lot of fractional stitches in it. The kit originally comes in 18 count Aida, would you believe ? After I realised about the fractional stitches, I tossed it away quickly and restarted it on 32 count linen. And I am glad with that decision. The backstitch on the briefcase looks ugly on the design, it uses white for some reason. I dislike the picture of the smodel on the kit. So I changed it to brown and cut out on many of them. You can't see it well on the picture but it is a bit better. Anyway here is a picture of it

At least now, my wip list is down to 10 now. Maybe I should get it down to single digit..... But then again I would probably just start some more projects LOL. I already have quite a few ready to go.

My Japanese Garden

2005-11-19T19:19:00.000+11:00

Updates on My blogs

2005-10-07T15:09:00.000+10:00

Wow, it's ben a long while since I last update this blog. Life is getting a little bit busy. Vivienne had her 1 month celebration sometime ago now. It was a great family gathering and celebration.

So much has happened in stitching wise. I went to a stitching show in Sydney. I found the stand from Dragonfly Dream then. there on displays were several of Martina Weber's Chatelaine designs. I was quite taken back from them. I have seen some of them on the net before and weren't quite interested on them. But seeing them in live really changed my view. I bought my first Chatelaine (watergarden) then and started stitching it. It's marvelous stitching with silk. Since then I found out more about her online classes + mysteries etc. Now I have joined and started Alpine Season. There is Japanese Garden starting next month. I bought her charity New Orleans Help chart. I'm waiting for my kit + fabric for Midi Mystery 1. Next year, I want to join Illuminated Medical Sampler, Midi Mystery 2, ? Mystery X and Martina just announce a new Japanese Box which I had to have. Needless to say I have been bitten by the Chatelaine Bug for sure. Most of my wips have been ignored for a while now.

I did manage to finish TT for Vivienne. This is stunning with so many metallics in it. I need to frame it with my new framing kit soon. My problem is I don't have a big enough table to use my kit. My problem for getting the larger kit. LOL

I also have a few things to report as well. Caroline, the owner of Yahoo IntrincateXS had decided not to continue running the group. I offer to help and was made a co-owners of the group. It's exciting to run a large yahoo group. This was the first XS internet group which I joined about 1 year ago. I needed some lessons, Caroline + Mayte and Francois, the other co-owners were great in helping me setting into my new job. Here is the link to IntricateXS

I have also created a new community for male cross stitcher. This was after I was invited to join a similar community, however I left soon after as it was not a forum for me. So a few of us boys decided that we need a new place to hang out and chat about our hobby. We did not meant to discriminate against the ladies but just prefer a place of our self. Ladies are welcome to view and read some of the forums but only registered members can post and view other forums. I called it Y-XS, the Y is for indicating the Y chromosome of the male population. You can find the link in here. At the moment we only have a very small community but hopefully it will grow as time past.

Anyway I better stop writing and get back to some stitching.

Watergarden

2005-08-29T14:49:00.000+10:00

Tiny Happy Dance

2005-08-13T22:35:00.000+10:00

Well, I've bored with my current projects and thought I need a finish to cheers me up. I quess that's the problem with BAP's, they are lovely and joyful to stitch but they take forever to finish. So the solution, got out the free kit I got from a magazine recently and stitch it. It's only a tiny piece and I knew I can finish it quickly. And here it is after 3 evenings of stitching. It gave me a sensation of actually finishing something.

It's Tom mouse from the Country Companion character. There is a bigger chart in the Quick & Easy magazine which I might stitch one of these days.

I've made some more progres on Vivienne's TT. The colours are great with so many metallic treads on them. I have lost my thread heaven though !!! I don't know where it went thus the metallics are a bit harder to do without it. Unfortunately the LNS don't sell Thread Heaven. Maybe at the Stitching show next week in Sydney.

I went to the Quilt & Crafts show this week in Canberra. I attended the DIY framing workshop. Framing has cost me a lot of fortune lately. So after seeing the demo I've decided to get the kit and will start framing my own piece. I got the complete mat cutter system and joining system as well. I didn't purchased the saw as I think it will be safer to get frame mold cut by professionals which are cheap anyway. Next week I will start doing some framing. I also acquired 2 kits from the show as well. They are Oriental Butterfly and Classic Kimono from Dimensions. They are not too big to do so hopefully I can finish them quickly when I do them. I thought the Butterfly would be a good present for mum as I haven't given her any XS pieces.

Before I go, I have to talk about my precious Vivienne. She had been a good girl, smiling a lot now. She sleeps for long period at nights which is great. Few people in my XS groups mentioned about reading to children and I have baught a few books and started reading to her as well. She seems to enjoy this though usually fell asleep not long after. I'm going to get some books in Chinese next time we are in Sydney as we want her to be multilingual. Now is that asking too much for a 3 week and 5 days old baby ? LOL

Introducing Vivienne

2005-07-23T13:56:00.000+10:00

As promise, here is a picture of Vivienne on the day she was born. She had just been been weighted and dressed. She was opening her eyes and I caught it on time. Isn't she gorgeous ?

Well, we came home yesterday. As it was also shopping night, after dinner on the day she arrived home. We decided to go shopping. Vivienne doesn't have any girly clothes. We have been getting neutral colour clothes as we were not sure about the sex. So mummy picked up some nice pink/purple clothes for her. Here she is today after bath and put on her new clothes. I have also model her in front of Twinkle Twilight. I'm about 45% finished now. This will be my main piece of my rotation at the moment.

Hopefully I can finish it soon.

I am now a DAD

2005-07-19T22:12:00.000+10:00

Well, after all the wait. Our daughter Vivien had been born. Amanda started having contractions around midnight. We stayed at home for a while and finally went to the hospital. I can say I am not a very good support person. At 8:18am on the 18 of July 2005. Vivien entered our wonderful world. It was really exciting. Amanda and the sonographer had been right, it is a girl.

Her birthweight was 2970 g, length was 49 cm and head circumference was 35 cm. And she is gorgeous. Of course I'm bias !!! She slept pretty much on her first day. She was very interested on the breast which is a good sign. Today she was a bit more noisy, crying a bit when hungry or needing her nappy changed only. Otherwise just sleeping most of the time and looking around in between. I will post some photoes when I can. There are too many things on my mind at present.

Harmony Started

2005-07-06T19:19:00.000+10:00

Well, I finally started this BAP. It was among the first few charts I got and was my first goal for 2005. Not bad starting it after six month of the year is gone. I don't think I will finish it this year though. I've started few other projects already. It is actually 3 charts join into 1. Namely Cherry Blossoms, Fragrants Carmelias and Lotus Pond. You can join the 3 into 1 big fabric to make Harmony. It was designed by Serendipity.

It is actually quite pleasant to stitch on as there aren't too many colour changes. Since Sunday I have done part of the bamboo and leaves. No picture yet, Once I've done more I will post it. However one surprise thing I find in this chart is that the symbols are not the same for the 3 charts. In Cherry Blossom it would use a symbol for particular DMC but when you look into Fragrants Carmlis, the same symbols is for a different DMC. It could lead to a lot of mistake and frogging if you don't tripple check. I just have to be careful. I don't know why they did that.

Update on Stitching & Stashing

2005-06-26T23:30:00.000+10:00

Here is a picture of Twinkle Twilight. I have been concentrating on it more than my other projects at the moment. It's got a face now, I don't think I will finish this before the baby is born but I'm gonna keep trying

Our recent ultrasound went ok. The baby 'girl' (looks like it will be a she, Amanda is excited) is growing appropriately however the fluid around is slightly low. Everything else is very good, thus we are a bit cautious about it. We have started closed monitoring, by having CTG monitor twice weekly. We had the first one on thursday and going for another one tomorrow. We may need to bring on the baby earlier due to this minor problem.

We also just returned from Sydney over the weekend. The Quilt and Craft show is on again at Darling Harbour. I didn't buy any charts or kits this time. I have too many of these already, not to mentioned I just ordered 4 more charts from HAED. What can I say they were having a 25% sale. There were too much quilting stands rather than needleworks. Nevertheless I picked up a few fabrics. I now have fabrics for Eight Immortals, Monalisa and a few smaller ones which I'm thinking of doing for the baby's nursery. I got the charts from magazine which I have. But the best stash was a hand dye fabric. I spoke to the girl Naomi from The Stitches and Spice stand. They speciallise in hand dyed fabric. I asked if they have a recommendation for Angel of the Morning. Naomi is actually doing it at present and she showed me this blue fabric which look faboulous that she is doing on. I didn't like the linen and got the jobelin instead. It looks slightly paler and I think it will go well with the design. When will I start that ? I am a truly startaholic.

More Rotations and Stash

2005-06-09T15:15:00.000+10:00

Hmm, I've noticed something interesting. I can't do html correction on the Apple at work. How weird ? Maybe I'm just not familiar with Apple as yet. I have to do those later at home. Anyway, more update. Since March I have now finished the Horse. thus getting closer to my new years goals. I don't think I will have any of my new BAP finished by the end of the year. Still have Tutenkhamun adn Wedding Blessing to go from last year. WB had become UFO for a while, but my African Stitch yahoo group is holding a monthly UFO day so I have been doing it at least once a month. Tut is nearly finished. I have to sit at the dining table to do this due to the space I need to handle the beads which is why it is slow.

I have also started another project, Twinkle Twilight. This is a new kit I got from visiting the LNS in Canberra. It's not a big piece and I hope I can finish it by the time the baby is born and add his/her name on it. I changed the aida into Jobelin which I hope will make it looks even nicer. You can see the design by Maria Van Schrrenburg below. Wouldn't it be a nice decoration on the baby's nursery ?

I also started Snow Wolves as my lap frame was a bit lonely and naked on the shelf so I put the fabric on it. I figured it's small enough so I can take it with me when we go away on short trips (Sydney). Both these were started in April. Also after a few discussion with Amanda I now pick up her baby afgan that she started a long time ago. The baby will be born soon she said and you are better than me in XS. I don't enjoy working on free hand though. I'll post some pictures when there are more to see.

Harmony was on top of my new year goal. I had some difficulty getting the fabric I want. I got a 32 count Belfast linen initially but after close look at it at home. Decided I don't like the slubs on the fabric. So I went back to the LNS and got a 32 co Jobelin. I like this much better and should start on this in the near future.

I have also been browsing on ebay and have manage to add a few more stash. I got Angel of the Morning frm L&L, the seller at the time was offering combine postage thus Angel of Freedom was also added.Talk about instant buying. I'm not sure when i will stitch these but they are in my collection now. Also I saw a cheap deal on Dimension Gold Japanese Maiden and baught that too. I thought it would look good with my Mighty Samurai. What do you think ?

So that's another Oriental female designs on my stash now. What can I say. I am Chinese by decendent. LOL. If only I don't have to work and just stay at home and stitch all these stash.

More Stitching Update

2005-06-07T14:16:00.000+10:00

Okay, now I'm going to catch up what I've been stitching the last few months. As you know started the Flaming June SAL but by the time I caught up, I think people were losing interest. I was the only one doing the instalment. In May Michelle from HAED stopped giving instalment. So I continue stiching and was manage to do more than. I'm about 2/3 of the page finished now. I haven't touched it for a couple of weeks now, will need to get back to it soon.

My stitching stand finished and I'm love it. Also recently I came across a DVD cabinet on sale. I got an idea looking at it. I'm converting it into a floss storage cabinet. It took a while for me to finish it as there was some missing part and the hooks took longer to be install. Unfortunately I can't fit in 465 hook for each DMC floss so I have to double up on them. I have also instal a light in it so I can see the floss better. You can see them here together

My GK project has taken me back a bit. It is very slow as there were a lot of blends and confetti stitches. I keep thinking back what I should have said when Marcus asked me how many colours I want in my custom chart. I should have said as little as possible rather than the other way around. LOL. But it's looking beautiful. Stitching on 40 ct is also different. It is a lot tighter to pull the needle through eventhough I'm using the smallest needle. So far I've mange to put in about 1000 stitches. I need to take breaks frequently when I'm doing this one as I get sick of starting a new colour. LOL

Stitching Update

2005-06-05T22:02:00.000+10:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I last update this blog. I've been a bit preoccupied I suppose. I've been telling myself to update it but something just always got in the way.

We have now settled down in Canberra and the winter is also here. I need to update my stitching electronically. Meaning take new pictures, upload them etc. So far I have changed some parts of this blog to reflect more of what I'm doing. I'm now 35 years old for instance. LOL, time to reach my midlife crisis as I told Amanda. Anyway will add more in a few days to come.

Check in from Canberra

2005-03-06T12:05:00.000+11:00

Well, how time flies. It's been a month since I last posted in thic blog and so much has happened. Our flight to Singapore was great though still had to paid for excess luggage despite sending many out via courier. I visited Knotty, the LNS in Singapore a few times during our stay there. It's walking distance from our hotel. I purchased all the floss for Harmony, Cupid, Monalisa, Eight Immortals, Flaming June and Chinese Landscape. It was also just before Chinese New years so Singapore was very busy. We also caught up with a few friends.

We arrived in Sydney on New Years days and soon started to look for a new place in Canberra. We had to drive back and forward of the 2 and 1/2 hour journeys until we found a house to rent. I am picking up the key on monday and then start moving in soon after. The new job started this week, it's going well so far. It also means better access to internet. I didn't want to instal internet at the home in Sydney as we won't be there long. And I am very disappointed to know that we won't be able to get broadband internet at the new place in Canberra. Only 1/3 of Canberra can get broadband currently hopefully our suburb will get the upgrade soon. The little problem about work is there are no PC, only Mac computer. So I also have to learn the new Computer language.

Stitching wise, I gridded Flaming June and have started the SAL. I'm about 2 months behind but I'm catching up. Luckily the instalments are not very big. This is the first time I'm stitching on 22 count, and it's actually not that bad. I can see ok so maybe next project I may tried 25 ct as suggested by HAED. I have also got the 40 count fabric for Cupid and I'll start it after after we settle in our new place on my new frame.

That's right, after we arrive in Sydney we visited Amanda's sister place. Together with her husband we went to the local hardware stores and got the materials for a new standing frame. I design the stand my self combining many of the features from the stands that I've seen. This is the first time I'm doing some wood work and it's actually fun. I quess you need some one you know what to do and do it with you. It turned out to be quite big and thus I have left it at their place. It still need some 'luckering' to be done on it as this process takes time and I haven't been visiting them again. I'll post a picture when i can. I might do other woodwork project as well to help with my stitching. Amanda is laughing anfd wondering if I will leave XS and concertrate on this new hobby. I don't think I will leave xs as it is more relaxing.

Gosh this blog is getting long. One last update, Amanda had another formal scan. This time they can get a good look at the sex of the baby. It looks like it might be a girl but of course you can't be 100% sure. Amanda is happy and frankly I don't actually mind what the sex is. Boy or girl does not make any difference to me.

Anyway, better stop now. Will post again soon

Mighty Samurai Finished

2005-02-03T14:11:00.000+11:00

Here he is, my Samurai is finally finished. Will need to post more and change some of the feature in this blogs at other time as I've got a plane to catch in a few hours. Singapore , here I come and then home in a few days. YEEAAHHHH.

Backstitch/outline

2005-01-29T01:35:00.000+11:00

My progress on Samurai had been slow this last week. We have been busy packing. 8 boxes of goods were sent off yesterday by seamail. They should arrive in Sydney in 2 months.

Plus I'm up to the part of stitching which is my least favorite. Backstitch. Yuck. I keep miscount and end up having to take the stitch out again and again. I know they meant to make the project stand out and nicer but there are part which I don't see any need for it. I mean putting black backstitch on back cross stitch. I fail to see the point, but that's what the chart say so. It makes me looking forward to my Golden Kite or HAED charts with no backstitch even more.

Anyway I'm beginning to wonder if I can finish this piece before our flight next thursday. Just have to keep going I suppose.

Nuchal Transluciency test

2005-01-18T03:41:00.000+11:00

Not much progress on stitching wise I'm afraid. Been busy with work and I've been sick. Have high fever at the moment resting at home.

Amanda came to ANC last monday for her booking blood test. We use the sonacaid and heard the baby's heart beat for the first time. It was exciting !! We also went for another ultrasound on friday. This time, it was for the Nuchal Transluciency. It's hard to describe the feeling of seeing the baby this time. It's much bigger now with most of the anatomy visible. In combination with the blood test, the risk of Down for this baby is reduced to about 1:9000 which is practically nil.

We have also been checking the freight company to arrange for our stuffs to move back to Australia, so there will be a lot of packing as well thus stitching time will be cut down even more. Hopefully I can still finish the samurai soon.

Our flights had also been confirmed, we were on a waiting list to go back earlier. We will be flying out of Heathrow on 3 Feb to Singapore, we will stay there for 5 days to get over the jetlag and shopping. We will leave for Sydney on 9 Feb which is also Chinese New Year. :))

Brand New Year

2005-01-09T08:01:00.000+11:00

Well, the festive season is over and back to normal now. I haven't been stitching much due to work. Only small progress on Samurai. It is also slow as I'm filling the confetti stitches. Found out a new feature to add on my blog, expecting baby bar. I hope it works well. We are going for another ultrasound next week

New Year's Eve + Goals for 2005

2005-01-01T15:58:00.000+11:00

Here it is, update picture of Mighty Samurai. I have actually done a bit more on it since my last post. The paecock is now finished. I've put in one of his foot, another one to go. Have also put in some of the confetti stitches. Tried put in one of the Lazy Daisy stitch but wasn't happy with its appearance, will try again. Hopefully I can finish this BAP very soon.

This is another picture of my current wip. The Tutenkhamun beads stitch kit. I found that some of the beads are not of the same size which make the project not as neat. But with some tension adjustment, it looks a bit better now from my previous picture in the web album. Nearly half way now. There is another to do, its partner, queen Nefertiti. Hopefully Amanda will be interested in her own project again and will pick it up again. I have become her project finisher.

I have forgotten to put in my stitching goals for next year. This had undergone some changes wth recent events. Here they are :

Finish current WIPS - Samurai, Horse, Wedding Blessing plus Tutenkhamun
Start and finish Harmony, this has been in the stash for too long. Baught it about 3 years ago, though haven't finish kitting it.
Start and finish My Custom Cupid from Gloden Kite
Start and join in the SAL of Flaming June from HAED
Start my Monalisa from Golden Kite, I'm sure I won't finish it next year
Maybe start The Eight Immortal after I finish one of the above new start

Hmm, it will be interesting to what happen this time next year. I'm sure starting will be easy but the finish will be a little bit harder. This is the first time I'm writing my goals down.

Happy New Year everyone.

Double Good News

2004-12-22T05:24:00.000+11:00

Well, I finished the purple part of the Samurai's gown and now onto the Peacock next to him. I was glad to start stitching with different colours for a change. The constant multiple shades of purple can be overwhelming. I still need to add the few isolated /confetti stitches plus the detail back and specialty stitch on him. I changed the little picture on my profile blog to show him. I will post a bigger picture here. I also created a new album for my WIPs. You can see them on my webalbum link on the left.

I have also been playing around with the appearance of the blog, added my favorite shop link on it as well as the blogs of my fellow stitchers so I can easy access them.

We went to the hospital for a scan, Amanda is now 8 weeks pregnant. There was a singleton fetus with heart beat. I wish I had a scanner to scan the ultrasound picture of the baby, will have to get one. This will be the 'Made In England' baby when we get home to Australia. Well we plan it that way.

Another good news, I had the phone interview last week for a consultant job. On monday morning I got the call stating I got the job. Faboulous. Double good news. It is what I'm looking for, it will be in Canberra so the weather will be colder than Sydney. But we survived 2 winters in London, Canberra weather will be warm compare to here.

Now we need to start planning our move, need to book the flight, cancel the phone, tv counsil tax etc. More importantly we need to ship our stuffs back. It will be a busy next few weeks.

More Stash and Progress

2004-12-10T04:46:00.000+11:00

Yes, Heaven and Earth Designs website is back this week. I had some difficulty email Michele from the site for a while. We thought it was the ICPG (internet chart purchasing gods) doing as I had too many charts already. Something must be wrong with my yahoo email account. She never received my emails. Luckily we were able to keep in touch within the yahoo group. Finally I email her with my hotmail account and it worked. I don't know what has happened to my yahoo email. I got no problem with posting within the group though.

Anyway I am now the proud owners of Flaming June and Lady on a Swing. You can see them in my web album. The last one is a tapestry chart and was suppose to be done on 40 count silk over 1. Somehow I don't think I'll be able to do it that small. We'll see. It was also Amanda's choice as I would prefer to have Oriental Cranes, then again I have something similar already, Harmony from Serendipity which is still on the waiting to be done pile back in Australia.

I also went to LNS and bought a piece of 22 count hardanger fabric. I think I will enjoy stitching on this though it might make it more difficult to do a pin head start so harder do it on chart with blends I think.

My Samurai is coming nicely and I also restarted on one of Amanda's project, the Tutenkahmen. This is a complete bead stitch kit we purchased from Singapore. She started it and now not keen on working on it anymore. It's a small kit ans has lots of luster in it from all the bead's colour. It gives me a nice break from my samurai.

Progress and Stash Collections

2004-12-01T12:37:00.000+11:00

Well, I've gone back to the rotation on Samurai now. I have been ignoring it for a while. It felt and looked a bit different with 18 ct aida than the 14 ct, but I get used to it quickly. After a couple of days, I'm close to finishing his gown, on the purple part now. Hopefully can start on the peacock beside him soon. I'll post a picture when I finish the gown I think. Also put in a bit of more of the metallic threads. I've purchased a thread heaven from LNS and together using the securing methods on the needle. Metalic threads are easy to handle now. I'm getting the use of it and it makes it look more sparkly. It's great with all these extra helps or tricks I picked up from my yahoo group.

My favourite Golden Kite is raising its prices on the chart from December. The American dollars had gone down against the euro apparently. So been looking and purchase more charts before the price go up by 19%. I've finally decided on the 3 patterns, The Creation of Adam, Galatea and La Belle Dame Sans Merci (medium). The last one was Amanda's choice. We were tossing between the large or medium size but chose the medium as I would more likely to finish it. I am happy cause now I have a chart from each of the 3 great geniuses from the Renaissance period namely Da Vinci (I bought the Monalisa 2 months ago), Michaelangelo and Raphael. God knows when I will manage to stitch all this charts. LOL

I also heard that Heaven and Earth Design is having a sale. I was interested in the Flaming June chart. Amanda loves that painting. However the website is down at present, will need to check on it later.

Recently finished TAPs

2004-11-27T06:39:00.000+11:00

Here they are, my 2 recently finished TAPs. The 'Hampton Court Damask Rose' needle case and the 'Dragon Fly and Pond' scissor keep. I finished both these TAP's in the last 2 weeks. The needle case was a kit we baught while visiting Hampton Court early in the Summer. I've been meaning to stitch it but just didn't get round to it until now. It took nearly a week to do. The back was empty in the middle, but I added some backsticth writing on it as a momento to the palace and added a small rose bud in the middle. Amanda did the final touches of stitching the felt in between to hold our needles. I don't like 'free' stitching.

The scissor keep was a kit we baught in the recent stitching show. This was a kit using anchor thread. It only took a couple of days to do after the needle case. I stuffed the inside using the free fringe of a baby afgan which Amanda is doing. It looks beatiful. Anchor threads are actually not bad. I think it gives better coverage on 14 count aida with 2 strands than DMC, but like Amanda said DMC is more shinny.

Now we can our stitching accesorries in better organise places .

We have also visited some LNS, I've been looking for 40 count fabric. I want to use it for my custom cupid. Unfortunately not many shops carries them. I'd like to see them before I can maybe order them on the net if cheaper. Might have to keep trying.

I also visited the National Gallery not long ago. They are having a Raphael exhibition. In there, they have borrowed the La Donna Velata, one of his masterpiece from the Italian museum. It is beautiful. I have seen many chart made of it, the Golden Kite one was the best, one of the guy did it as his WIP which was fantastic. Seeing the real picture makes me want to get that chart my self. But I've got too many charts that I want to get as well. LOL

I've done it !

2004-11-19T17:47:00.000+11:00

Thanks to Caroline, the moderator from IntricateXS yahoo group. I have managed to do a lot of changes to my blogs !! She has taught me how to edit my side panel, add links and photo to it. Though I had a lot of difficulty doing the last one as it wouldn't show the photo. Well after about 2 weeks of trials and many error, I did it just then. I have managed to add the little head of the groom from the wedding blesssing on the side panel. Yippee

As for stitching, have not been doing much. Had a few thing to do last 2 weeks. I had managed to purchase my most expensive chart so far. It's a custom chart from Golden Kite. It was a picture which was taken in Louvre by my friend. I really like it and Marcus charted it for me. He had to do some digital removal of a leg behind the cupid. The final product is beautiful and so cute. Here is the link for My Custom Cupid. It's 241 by 401 stitch with >148 colours. Yep, it's going to be fun with the colour changes. I'm planning to it on 40 count linen over 2. That would be fun too, first time stitching so small. I'll just wait and see.

I did manage to finish the Needle Case kit. I'll post a picture once I got a photo of it. It's only a small kit so was fast. I'm starting a scissor keep kit too and hopefully will finish it soon as well.

Photoes

2004-10-31T04:00:00.000+11:00

Well, I've managed to post picture to my blogs now. These are the 2 projects that I finished. Now I need to learn to do link.

Vervaco Dog

2004-10-31T03:48:00.000+11:00

Sistine Angels from Lanarte

Week 1 so far

2004-10-28T06:40:00.000+10:00

Well, it's been a week since I created this blog. I'm still experiementing. I'm trying to learn to change the look, post picture etc.

As for stitching, finished 2 project this week. Lanarte 'Sistine Angels' and Vervaco dog, Amanda want it named 'Mimi'. I'm going to try to post the picture here. It was first time I stitched on Linen and I like it. The finished looks so much nicer than aida, specially if you have many fabric showing. I'm going to try to stitch in linen as much as I can now. Have to learn a lot more about it though.

I have started stitching the 'Wedding Blessing' from Pinn, it's a cute kit showing 2 oriental childen in wedding gowns. I'm using it on the 'grip-n-stitch' frame which is giving me great tension. Though I find that with the stiffer aida, it's actually a bit hard to push it into the teeth, but it's ok. Only the cap of the groom is finished so far.

I received my first Golden Kite chart this week. It's a special version when stitch on 18 count, it would come out to be the same size as the painting. Won't start on it for a while. Need to buy the floss + fabric. Maybe when we go back to Aus.

Have been looking at large stitching frame. Finally decided to get the 'millenium frame'. It's a bit expensive I know but it will be worth it as I will be doing some BAPs on it. Hopefully it will arrive by the weekend. The lady on the phone "Needle Care" came from Perth originally.

Have only done a small part of 'Mighty Samurai' and 'Horse' Kit. Will get to them when I get more time .

That's my progress so far.

My New Blog

2004-10-23T06:41:00.000+10:00

Well, just signed up. Not sure how this would work or look. But I've got a blog now. This will be like my diary for the progress of my cross stitch projects.